By Zephyria After work, Lee-eum dragged his exhausted body to his Noona’s house. He felt uneasy about leaving the puppy with her. He had already contacted the shelter and promised to take it back in the morning, so he decided it would be better to keep it with him tonight.
He rang the doorbell, and his Noona appeared holding the dog. Lee-eum stared at his Noona and the dog in her arms with a bewildered expression.
“Why are you holding it…?”
“Huh?”
“No, I mean, you’re holding the dog right now.”
His Noona looked at the dog in her arms with a surprised expression. Oh, why am I holding it? Am I already getting dementia? She went inside with a puzzled look, and his nephews hugged him at the same time.
“Uncle! We have a new puppy family member! Dad and I already took him for a walk earlier.”
Both of them clung to his legs, making a fuss. His Hyung-in-law came out of his studio, waving his hand and smiling kindly. “You’re here? Well, everyone here likes animals, so I understand, but I just don’t get my Noona. Why is she still holding it?”
“Noona, are you okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“You hate dogs….”
“I thought I did too. But I’m okay with Bbomi?”
“Who’s Bbomi?”
His Noona held the dog like a newborn baby and swayed it from side to side.
“This is Bbomi. The kids named him. Bbomi, your Hyung came to pick you up, what should we do? You have to go home? No way. I don’t want to! Bbomi wants to live here with his Hyungs! I like it here! No, Bbomi. You can’t.”
Lee-eum was quite taken aback to see his Noona playing two roles by herself. She clearly said she hated dogs until yesterday, that she was disgusted by them. And he noticed dog supplies in the house that he didn’t know she had bought. The twins were lying on the dog cushion, rolling around.
“Um… Noona, can you give him to me first…? I promised to take him to the shelter tomorrow.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his Noona flinched. Then she looked at the puppy in her arms and became serious.
“Will they find him a new owner if he goes to the shelter?”
“They said they’d look for someone to adopt him, but it doesn’t seem easy.”
“I heard they euthanize them if they stay there for too long?”
She seemed to have looked into it and had a lot of worries. Lee-eum waited quietly, and his Noona sighed softly and patted the puppy’s butt with a helpless expression. “Well, this is also fate, let’s live with us. Our Bbomi is now the youngest daughter. Right?” Looking at her expression, it seemed like she had no intention of giving him up in the first place.
But….
“Noona?”
“Yeah?”
“He’s a male.”
“Huh?”
“Not a daughter. A son.”
Then his Noona’s eyes widened and she checked between his legs. “What? Is this a penis? I thought it was a belly button?” Lee-eum was dumbfounded and laughed at her ridiculous words.
“The belly button is above that. Where is there such a big belly button?”
“I thought it was an oriental melon belly button.”
“……”
“Oh, should I change his name first? But Lee-eum. Doesn’t he look like he has a pedigree? Look at his bright eyes. He understands what I say and he’s very smart. I heard that’s how dogs with a pedigree are.”
Lee-eum couldn’t bring himself to tell his Noona that Bbomi was a mutt. Like Wonhyo Daesa’s skull water, if she believed he was a purebred, then he was a purebred. As he pretended not to know, his Noona hurriedly packed him kimbap to take home and eat. She said she made plenty in the evening, and seeing the ingredients neatly arranged inside, it was probably his Hyung-in-law’s handiwork.
Lee-eum greeted his Hyung-in-law, who was playing with the kids.
“I’ll enjoy the food. Hyung.”
“I cut the cucumbers.”
“Okay, Noona. I’ll enjoy the food. I’m going.”
His Noona, who followed him to the front door, grabbed the puppy’s arm and shook it. “Lee-eum Hyung, goodbye.” Lee-eum laughed absurdly and went outside. He was relieved that the dog had found a new owner. At least his Noona wouldn’t abandon him after raising him.
With that, he dragged his tired body to his own home. When Lee-eum arrived in front of his door, he looked at the house across the hall.
Did Choi Won-joon sleep here last night? Did he sleep well? He wondered. If his insomnia had disappeared because the land was good, as he said, then that would be really fortunate. Of course, he didn’t believe in such superstitious stories.
He swiped his card key and the door opened, and Lee-eum went inside. The rice cake he received from Choi Won-joon was still on the table. He put the kimbap he brought next to it and headed to the bathroom first.
He quickly took off his clothes and filled the bathtub with water. After showering, he lay in the bathtub for a long time. He was watching a video on his phone while soaking in the water, but his eyelids kept drooping because he hadn’t been able to sleep. In the end, he couldn’t even finish the time and came out.
He dried his wet hair and took out a beer from the refrigerator and sat on the sofa, and just then the doorbell rang. Lee-eum, who checked through the intercom, didn’t take any action. He stayed as quiet as a mouse, and this time the phone rang. It was Choi Won-joon. He didn’t answer, but he kept calling persistently, and when he reluctantly answered, he heard his voice from the receiver.
“I know you’re there, open the door.”
He sighed and went to the front door and opened it. Choi Won-joon was standing there in comfortable clothes. He tried to come in without permission, so he stopped him, and he pleaded with a pitiful expression.
“I got scammed. Detective Kim, help me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was really looking forward to it, but do you know that I had insomnia plus a nightmare last night? Can you see my eyes? They’re bloodshot.”
He turned his eyelids inside out, so he pushed him away, but he had already come into the hallway and was standing there. Then he naturally took off his shoes and went to sit on the living room sofa. He found the beer on the table.
“Are you drinking again?”
“Get out, quickly.”
“Are you an alcoholic?”
“I was going to drink just one can and go to sleep because I’m tired. Get out.”
Won-joon lay down on the sofa as he was. Wait a minute. Just for 10 minutes. Huh? I’m really sleepy. Lee-eum was just as sleepy. Even now, the back of his head was heavy and his eyelids felt like lead. He grabbed his arm and pulled him to get him out, but the guy didn’t budge.
Damn it, he’s just big.
He didn’t have the strength to fight anymore, so he left him alone and sat at the table and turned on the TV. He was watching the news, and there was a story about Kim Yong-taek and Kim Ji-cheol. The national petition was increasing rapidly, and people’s interest was not waning. Lee-eum glanced back at Choi Won-joon while drinking his beer. He thought he was watching TV, but he was really tired and had his eyes closed.
“Are you asleep?”
There was no answer. It was past midnight, so he must be tired. He was going to wake him up more, but he stopped and finished his beer before getting up. Then he brought a blanket from inside and covered Choi Won-joon. He was bothered by the fact that his feet were sticking out of the sofa because of his height, so he even supported them with a stool.
He stood next to him and looked at his sleeping face, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why he was erect. He had only met women and only slept with women, so why Choi Won-joon?
Was it because of his face? Objectively speaking, he was very handsome. Was he weak for handsome men? That wasn’t it either. Was it the pheromone effect? After thinking and thinking, he gave up on coming to a conclusion and finally went into the bedroom.
Just in case, he locked the door and went straight to bed, and sleep came pouring in. There was a violent beast outside the bedroom, but he was too tired to care. He thought he slept soundly like that.
At the faint sound of the alarm, he barely reached out and groped above his head, but something touched his back. Lee-eum turned off the alarm and frowned as he turned around. Choi Won-joon, who had been sleeping outside, had somehow come into the bedroom.
“Ah, shit….”
Hey. He shook his shoulder, but he didn’t budge, so he looked closely at his face. He must have really fallen asleep, because he could hear his breath coming in and out. He thought about shaking him awake, but he stopped and turned his back and lay down.
Okay, I’ll give you this much since you helped me. He was too tired to even move his body. He was about to fall asleep again when an arm suddenly popped out from behind him and hugged his waist. He knew it would happen.
He tried to get up and kick him out, but he tightened his arm. His broad chest touched his back, and his lower body pressed against his butt. Was this guy crazy? The more he tried to escape, the more he wrapped around him like a vine. Lee-eum wasn’t small either, but it wasn’t easy to get his body out because Choi Won-joon was tall and big.
“This is your last warning. Get off.”
He was about to hit him with his elbow, but Choi Won-joon rubbed his face against his neck. Instantly, goosebumps rose all over his body and heat gathered below his belly button. Lee-eum was flustered by the physiological change and tore off Choi Won-joon’s arm.
“Get off while I’m being nice.”
“Let’s just sleep like this today.”
“I warned you. I’ll count to three.”
“I’ll give you a big one later. You’ll like it.”
What does this guy think I am? He was about to argue, but he shut his mouth. Was there anything else left related to Kim Ji-cheol? While his head was complicated, Won-joon stroked the back of his head as if he had been waiting.
“Stop thinking and sleep. I won’t touch you anymore.”
He was horrified when he kissed the back of his head, but after a while, he could only hear even breaths without any movement. But Lee-eum couldn’t sleep properly. Not only was it the position, but Lee-eum was also worried about the changes in his body.
Think of something else. Something else.
He tried to suppress the heat that had gathered in his lower body by imagining even the heinous criminal he had caught escaping from prison, but it wasn’t easy.
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