#126
The distance from Seoul Airport to the guild building was very short. The car quickly arrived in front of the guild building. The driver opened the car door on Choi Hanseo’s side, and a guard watching the main entrance opened the door on Eunseok’s side.
As they entered the building, all eyes on the first floor turned to them at once.
“Guild Master! Eunseok oppa!”
Kwon Eunchae, who was sitting in the cafeteria, stood up abruptly and waved her hand. Moon Bora was also sitting across from Kwon Eunchae.
The two of them got up and approached. Watching them walk side by side, the image of Ji Taeuk, who was always by Moon Bora’s side, briefly crossed Eunseok’s mind. But Eunseok deliberately erased that image.
“I heard you became quite famous even in America?”
Moon Bora said with a beaming smile. Kwon Eunchae nodded with sparkling eyes, as if agreeing. Suddenly, Kwon Eunchae made an “oh” sound while looking at Choi Hanseo’s earlobe. Then she looked at Eunseok and widened her eyes with an “ah” sound.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Moon Bora asked with a puzzled face. Kwon Eunchae then cupped her hand to Moon Bora’s ear and whispered softly. After hearing the whisper, Moon Bora’s eyes darted between Choi Hanseo and Eunseok’s earlobes. Then she made an “oh” expression.
“Couple earrings?”
Moon Bora finally blurted out.
“Ah, unnie, you’re not supposed to mention such things.”
Kwon Eunchae, who had told her herself, poked Moon Bora’s side and blushed.
“Ah, this.”
Choi Hanseo raised his hand and fiddled with his pierced ear. Eunseok felt a strong urge to cover Choi Hanseo’s mouth. But Choi Hanseo was quicker with his follow-up words.
“Eunseok insisted on buying it for me, so I tried it out.”
Moon Bora and Kwon Eunchae looked at each other and made expressions of trying to hold back laughter.
“Wow! So Eunseok oppa bought it for you. It suits you both so well, Guild Master, Eunseok oppa!”
Kwon Eunchae said with sparkling eyes, giving two thumbs up. Moon Bora nodded in agreement.
Eunseok saw a smile of deep satisfaction appear on Choi Hanseo’s face. His face seemed to be glowing with radiance.
You childish person!
Eunseok’s hands itched with the desire to grab Choi Hanseo’s collar and shake him. But there were too many eyes watching to do so. Instead, he quickly changed the subject.
“Ah, right. I bought gifts for you two as well.”
When Eunseok said this, Moon Bora and Kwon Eunchae’s eyes lit up.
“Gifts?!”
“Gifts? What kind of gifts?”
The two of them had expressions full of anticipation.
Eunseok pointed to the guard holding boxes behind them.
“Oh!”
Moon Bora ran towards the boxes first. Kwon Eunchae quickly followed behind her.
After distributing their respective gift boxes to the two, Eunseok asked for help delivering the remaining gifts. Moon Bora, who was swinging her new long sword back and forth, gladly agreed to the request.
Upon arriving at the penthouse via elevator, Eunseok did what he had been holding back first. He shot Choi Hanseo a reproachful look.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Choi Hanseo asked innocently, though he clearly knew why.
“Did you have to brag about it like that?”
“Of course I had to brag. It’s a gift I received.”
Choi Hanseo said, touching his piercing with satisfied eyes.
“This won’t do. Give it back to me.”
Eunseok reached for Choi Hanseo’s earlobe. Choi Hanseo caught that hand with a slap and wrapped his other arm around Eunseok’s waist, pulling him close. Their bodies pressed together. Their faces were also very close.
“Even if it’s you, Eunseok, I can’t give this back. I won’t take it off my body even if I die.”
When Choi Hanseo said it like that, Eunseok felt unnecessarily embarrassed. Of course, it was an extremely expensive item, but it was just a mere piercing. However, Choi Hanseo seemed to be attaching enormous meaning to that piercing. While it felt good and satisfying… it was also a bit embarrassing.
“Well, you don’t have to go that far…”
Eunseok muttered, slightly avoiding eye contact. It felt strange to be liked this much.
“I’ll never take it off for the rest of my life. You should never take yours off either. Okay?”
Choi Hanseo whispered softly, then gently bit Eunseok’s pierced earlobe with his teeth, not painfully, urging for an answer.
“……”
Eunseok remained silent for a moment, then nodded very slightly. Choi Hanseo, seemingly pleased with the answer, deeply overlapped their lips.
The two headed straight to bed under the grand excuse of needing to adjust to the time difference and recover from travel fatigue. As they kissed while removing each other’s clothes one by one, they soon found themselves in their underwear. Choi Hanseo alternated between kissing and nibbling on Eunseok’s earlobe. When Eunseok showed signs of genuine sleepiness, Choi Hanseo, as always, offered his arm as a pillow and pulled Eunseok into his embrace.
“It was nice in America too, but lying here at home like this feels even better.”
Choi Hanseo whispered with his nose buried in Eunseok’s nape.
“Indeed.”
Eunseok replied in agreement, even in his slightly drowsy state. And he thought to himself, “Ah, this is home now.”
#14
“Oh! Ohh!”
“Wow… looking at it like this, he really does have a handsome face.”
Kwon Eunchae kept cheering, while Moon Bora alternated between looking at the TV screen and Eunseok while drinking a can of beer.
On the TV, a cosmetics commercial that Eunseok had recently filmed was playing. It wasn’t a live broadcast. Kwon Eunchae was playing an internet video on repeat.
On the screen, Eunseok was wearing white pants and a loose white shirt. He remembered wearing a lot of makeup, but on screen, he looked like he had no makeup on at all. He just looked fair and transparent. There was no dialogue. The entire scene consisted of Eunseok washing his face alone, drying it with a towel, looking into a mirror, and smiling slightly. It was a cleansing cream advertisement.
“Even though I see oppa in person every day, my heart still skips a beat every time I watch this commercial. How did they capture him so well?”
Kwon Eunchae marveled with sparkling eyes, as if she was about to enter the screen. Then, looking at her phone, she muttered,
“Wow. Look at how fast the video view count is rising in real-time. And the number of comments on the cafe post, what’s with that? Eunseok oppa, the reaction here is crazy right now. It’s insane. Insane.”
Kwon Eunchae no longer even tried to hide that she was a cafe member. Of course, Eunseok pretended not to understand what she was saying.
The three of them were currently gathered in Moon Bora’s quarters, drinking beer. It was the result of Moon Bora’s invitation and Kwon Eunchae’s persistent pleading to drink together. Of course, Eunseok initially refused. Even though he was close with Moon Bora, it felt too awkward to enter a women-only space.
Of course, the moment he stepped into Moon Bora’s quarters, any fantasy about a woman’s room was completely shattered. Moon Bora was always serious about muscles, and her room was filled with exercise equipment, except for the bed.
“I’m so excited for our 1st Combat Team photo shoot in a few days. They say we’ll be taking group shots wearing the Baekho Guild uniforms. Ah, I’ve gained weight recently, I need to lose some.”
Kwon Eunchae lamented after putting down her phone, having left comments on the cafe. It was impossible to tell where she had gained weight on her petite body. But Moon Bora seemed to understand, patting her own biceps.
“I need to build more muscle too for the photo shoot. That’s why I’ve been doing an extra set every day lately.”
“Unnie, you’re so cool. Everyone’s going crazy saying how cool you are. I’ve put up that huge poster of your fitness model shot in the living room of this place.”
Kwon Eunchae flattered Moon Bora while massaging her muscular biceps. Moon Bora, who was serious about muscles, seemed to like the flattery and showed off her bicep muscles in various ways. Every time Moon Bora struck a pose with her arms, Kwon Eunchae clapped and gave a thumbs up, saying, “You’re so cool, unnie!”
The drinking session ended close to 11 PM.
Eunseok and Kwon Eunchae, seeing off Moon Bora, got on the elevator side by side. Kwon Eunchae pressed the button for the floor where her quarters were, and Eunseok pressed the penthouse floor. Since everyone in the guild already knew that Eunseok lived with Choi Hanseo, there was no need to hide it.
“Thank you, Eunchae.”
Eunseok said softly as he watched the elevator doors close.
“Me? For what?”
Kwon Eunchae asked, tilting her head.
“Thanks to you, Bora noona has regained a lot of her spirit. The atmosphere in the combat team has improved a lot too.”
At Eunseok’s words, Kwon Eunchae seemed to recall something and made an “ah” shape with her mouth.
“Hunter Ji Taeuk… Bora unnie talks about him sometimes. She gets really depressed whenever she thinks about him. But don’t worry. Unnie isn’t that weak of a person. I’m the one who’s grateful to everyone. Even though I’m a new recruit, everyone has been so nice to me, and I’m really thankful for that.”
Ding-.
The elevator stopped. Kwon Eunchae waved her hand as she exited the elevator.
“Good night, oppa.”
“Oh, good night.”
After exchanging brief greetings, Eunseok pressed the close button.
As he entered the penthouse, soft lighting was on. Passing through the hallway, he saw Choi Hanseo sitting on the living room sofa, watching the news and drinking whiskey.
“Why are you drinking alone?”
Eunseok said as he plopped down next to Choi Hanseo.
“I was having a drink because I felt lonely.”
Choi Hanseo replied reproachfully, raising his arm to put it around Eunseok’s shoulder. Eunseok leaned against Choi Hanseo’s body without resistance.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
