#123

The the man seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep in the physical therapy room. Coming out with his hair a mess, he looked refreshed. Tae-heun, on the other hand, was hungry. His stomach rumbled. The the man must have heard it, because he laughed.

“Let’s eat first. I’m hungry.”

To enjoy a delicious dinner, they decided to have a simple lunch. They went into a snack bar and ordered tteokbokki, sundae, fish cakes, and kimbap indiscriminately. The small shop, with only a fan running, was connected to the kitchen, so there was no place for the heat to escape, making it feel like a sauna. But even though sweat poured down like rain, he didn’t feel hot at all. Everything he ate was so delicious that he exclaimed in admiration and scraped the plates clean.

“You must have been very hungry.”

“Yeah, terribly.”

He picked up a napkin with a satisfied expression, then realized he might have been the only one eating. He hadn’t paid any attention to the Man.

“I wasn’t the only one eating, was I?”

“No, I ate a lot too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

The the man replied, pretending to pat his stomach.

“If you get hungry, tell me. Don’t hold back.”

“Yes, Tae-heun, you too.”

“Okay, I will.”

Tae-heun pushed the Man, who was about to pay, out of the narrow snack bar and handed over the money.

As he received the change, he said to the Man, “We’re on a date, don’t forget.” The the man looked at Tae-heun with a puzzled expression.

“I’m paying for the date. So, Ki-beom, don’t keep trying to pay. It hurts my pride.”

“Why does that hurt your pride?”

The the man asked grumpily.

“It does, of course.”

He explained that if the other person kept trying to pay on a date, it meant they didn’t like him. The the man waved his hands.

“It’s not like that.”

The embarrassed Man’s face turned red.

“If it’s not like that, then stay still. I asked for this date first, so I’m paying. If you’re really upset, Ki-beom, you can ask for the next date first.”

After saying that, it sounded like a nagging, so he gently grabbed the Man’s arm. He shook the Man’s arm playfully, as if to say, ‘You know what I mean, right?’ He tried to act cute in his own way, but the Man’s serious expression made him feel like a jerk. He was feeling awkward when the man smiled. He was just joking again.

“Oh, Ki-beom! Are you going to keep doing this?”

As Tae-heun complained, the man apologized with a face full of laughter. His face looked so happy that he felt good too.

Taking a taxi to Chungju Lake, he asked the Driver for accommodation with a view of the lake. The Driver was terrified, thinking Tae-heun and the man were gangsters. He was so frozen that he wanted to ask if there had been a gang fight in Chungju recently. He answered the questions quickly, but he seemed eager for them to get out.

Anyway, it seemed that the accommodations near Chungju Lake were all love hotels, just like those near Yangpyeong or other rivers. The Driver said there was an amazing place among them and told them the name. He said that it had the best view around Chungju Lake because there were no buildings blocking the view. He praised it, saying that the facilities were quite clean because it had been remodeled recently.

There was no need to look any further. Tae-heun told him to go there. After driving for another ten minutes, the Driver dropped Tae-heun and the man off in front of the hotel and picked up a couple who had just checked out. That seemed to melt the Driver’s heart, and before leaving, he introduced them to a nightclub in the city that was famous for its good-looking women.

“If you go there, you’ll all hook up with women. The booking is so good.”

He wished them luck.

The two of them looked up at the seven-story hotel almost simultaneously. It was called a hotel, but the exterior was no different from a motel. All the hotels around there were like that, so they didn’t mind.

He was excited to think that this was the place where they would spend a historic night. Even if it wasn’t a luxury hotel, even if it was in a tent, if he was with the Man, it would be a first-class hotel and the best place for Tae-heun. He entered the lobby triumphantly.

The problem was the room. It was Friday, so it was fully booked. But he couldn’t give up because this place had the best view. So he asked for the manager. He had never seen a place where bribes didn’t work, so he was willing to offer as much as necessary. But he received the key before he could even take out the money.

“This is a room that was set aside for VIP guests, but we’re giving it to you specially.”

The manager said the obvious and handed over the card key.

Only after receiving the key in a daze did he realize that he had received the favor, not out of kindness, for the same reason as the taxi Driver. He was grateful that they hadn’t called the police, and he was thrilled to have found a room.

The Man, who didn’t know the situation at all, followed Tae-heun to the elevator and asked, “Is it a few hours rental?”

“Rentals aren’t allowed. Because it’s Friday.”

“Then let’s return the key and go somewhere else.”

“They say it’s like that everywhere. Only on weekends.”

The the man was fooled by Tae-heun’s lie and said, “Ah, I see.”

“And if we eat spicy fish stew, go to a live cafe, and have a drink, the buses will all be gone. The taxi fare will be more than a night at the hotel, right?”

“Ah.”

“So, since we’re paying for a night anyway, let’s just sleep and go tomorrow. If you take the first bus, it won’t interfere with Ki-beom’s work. It’s a waste of money if we just leave.”

It wasn’t wrong, so the man didn’t insist.

“Just drop off your bag and come out.”

As the elevator doors opened, the man said this and stepped back.

“You want me to go to the room alone?”

“Yes. We’re going to ride the Paddle boat right away.”

“Let’s have a cup of coffee first.”

“Then I’ll be over there.”

He pointed to the lobby coffee shop.

“Without even looking at the room?”

As Tae-heun lingered, the man hurriedly pressed the open button as the elevator doors were about to close.

“I’ll be at the coffee shop.”

The the man pushed Tae-heun into the elevator. As if he had been waiting for it, the doors closed.

“That guy, really. As if I’m going to eat him.”

He grumbled. He laughed to himself, thinking that his true feelings had been revealed.

Tae-heun threw his bag on the bed and was about to come out when he noticed that the curtains were closed. He didn’t want the man to see the dark room first when he came in later. So he quickly opened the curtains and came straight down to the lobby without even looking at the view.

The Chungju Lake was clearly visible from the lobby coffee shop as well. The color of the lake was murky due to the hot weather, but it still felt refreshing. The the man was sitting by the window, sipping water. Tae-heun swallowed hard as he looked at the Man’s neat, almost ascetic appearance in a white shirt and black suit pants. White looked so sexy on his dark skin. He didn’t even notice the bruised, swollen, and torn face.

As soon as Tae-heun sat down opposite him, a hotel employee placed a menu and water as if he had been waiting.

“I’ll have an iced coffee. Ki-beom, what about you?”

“A parfait.”

The Man, who liked sweets, said shyly.

The parfait that the employee brought was dazzling. Between the vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream, all sorts of colorful fruits filled the long glass, and even a straw-like cookie was stuck on top. The the man said “Wow” like a the child. He smiled so brightly that he frowned again this time.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yes.”

“If you eat it and it’s delicious, have another one.”

“Yes!”

The the man admired the parfait with expectant eyes, then bent his back slightly and bit into the cookie straw first. A smile spread across the Man’s face. He frowned at Tae-heun and said, “It’s delicious.” He was a truly amazing the man to make Tae-heun excited even with that face.

Tae-heun couldn’t take his eyes off the Man. At the same time, he slightly regretted not hitting him moderately yesterday. The pain didn’t matter, but he couldn’t properly admire the man because of his torn eye. And that wasn’t all. His left cheek, which was swollen a lot, had almost no sensation. As a result, he kept biting the inside of his mouth whenever he spoke, and the taste of blood kept rising.

“The lake is sparkling.”

Tae-heun looked at the lake belatedly at the Man’s words.

It wasn’t the lake that was sparkling, it was the Man. The Man, who didn’t know that, kept praising the lake and the parfait and diligently emptied the glass. The silver spoon in his big hand looked adorable. He was eating so deliciously without even realizing that there was ice cream on his lips that he felt spiteful for no reason.

The the man thought that Tae-heun wanted to eat it too and pushed the parfait towards Tae-heun, saying, “Would you like to try some?” Oh, what should he do with that Man? Tae-heun smiled faintly.

A Paddle boat in this scorching heat. He was crazy.

Even though he was wearing pants, his butt was hot as soon as he sat on the Paddle boat. To be exact, it was burning hot. Both the man and Tae-heun regretted it, but they couldn’t turn back, so they reluctantly sat on the Paddle boat. When two adult men, especially two sturdy young men over 180 cm tall, got on, the Paddle boat swayed.

“Isn’t this going to sink?”

As Tae-heun looked around the Paddle boat with worried eyes, the man suddenly shook the Paddle boat vigorously from side to side. As a result, the Paddle boat almost tipped over. The the man laughed loudly as Tae-heun was startled.

“You surprised me.”

“It’s fun, isn’t it?”

The the man was so happy that he couldn’t get angry. In fact, when he saw the Man’s bright face, he didn’t care about anger, he could jump into the river for the Man’s sake. Tae-heun pouted on purpose, pretending to be sulky.

“Tae-heun, can’t you swim?”

“I can. I’m good at it.”

“Then why are you scared?”

The the man asked awkwardly.

“Because I’ve only done it in swimming pools.”

“Hey, the lake is not like the sea, it’s just like a swimming pool.”

“It’s deep.”

“Swimming pools are deep too.”

“It’s only 2 meters deep there at most.”

“Ah… I’ve never been there, so I didn’t know.”

The the man felt sorry.

Tae-heun, who was trying to joke with the Man, felt bad at the Man’s words. Swimming pool, what’s the big deal, I went there for the first time last year too. He added to the man as if making an excuse.

“Ki-beom is right. A lake or a swimming pool, it’s all the same. Let’s paddle hard.”

They weren’t the only crazy couple riding a Paddle boat in this scorching heat. The boat that Tae-heun and the man were riding was the only one that was enjoying themselves.

The two of them overtook several Paddle boats as if they were racing, went far out and came back, and went next to couples who looked tired from pedaling and made waves, and even splashed water on purpose.

“You two look good together.”

When Tae-heun said this casually, they usually smiled, even if they had to force it. Or they would pedal hard to get away.

Even Tae-heun, who had been lukewarm, got excited and pedaled hard. He and the man kept giggling. He even extended the Paddle boat time. The two of them pedaled for almost two hours in the scorching heat, on top of the Paddle boat.

They were soaked not in water, but in sweat. Tae-heun’s face, which had scabs, was sunburned again and turned red, and the man also added a reddish tint to his yellowish bruised face.

“I like the sea.”

The the man said on the way back to the hotel after returning the Paddle boat.

“Why?”

“Because it’s wide.”

“The river is wide too.”

“It’s wide, but there’s a limit. But the sea isn’t like that. You don’t know where it will flow, because there’s no end.”

The the man said with a distant expression. His face looked so desperate that he wanted to take him to the sea right away.

“I’m just saying.”

He smiled at Tae-heun like that.

“Let’s go together when Ji-hye has vacation. You said you were going to Daecheon, right?”

“Yes. The water there is shallow, so it’s good for the child to play in. The sand is soft, and they have a mud festival every summer.”

“Ah, the mud festival! I saw that on the news too.”

Tae-heun recalled the scene of young people with mud on their faces and bodies, including their faces, being interviewed. The women were mostly wearing bikinis, and the men were boasting their meager abs with only swimming trunks on. There seemed to be quite a few foreigners too.

He was already excited at the thought of putting mud on each other’s faces with the man there.

“Tae-heun, you’ve never swam in the ocean?”

“Of course…”

He hadn’t. He really hadn’t. He’d only ever been to saunas and hotel swimming pools; he’d never even swam in a river. Tae-heun’s life hadn’t really involved playing in the water.

“Wow. You really haven’t. Going with Ki-beom will be your first time.”

The the man liked the word ‘first’.

“I’ll put mud on you.”

The the man said with a mischievous expression.

“Can I put it inside your underwear?”

“Of course. There’s a shower room, so you can wash it off quickly.”

Tae-heun was having lewd thoughts, but the man was innocent.

They each had different thoughts as they got on the hotel elevator.