#124
Choi Hanseo was also turning slowly like the table. At this point, slurred speech was a natural option. Eunseok closed his mouth, not wanting to speak with a twisted pronunciation.
“You’re quite drunk.”
Choi Hanseo muttered in an amused voice. Then he got up and approached Eunseok.
“Let’s go now. We need to get you to bed and let you sleep it off.”
Choi Hanseo helped the slowly blinking Eunseok stand up.
“I want… to walk a bit.”
Eunseok said, trying his best to pronounce clearly.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
Choi Hanseo readily agreed.
The two left the restaurant and walked shoulder to shoulder down the glittering streets of Las Vegas. Though trying to walk straight, their alcohol-soaked bodies occasionally stumbled slightly. Each time, they bumped into Choi Hanseo. His solid, muscular body bounced Eunseok off well.
“…This is nice. This kind of thing.”
Was his heart loosened by alcohol? The words escaped his mouth without going through his head.
“You like walking with me like this?”
Choi Hanseo asked. Eunseok nodded.
“Well, we were too confined within the guild in Korea. But you never complained, so I thought you didn’t mind. …No, to begin with, you’re not the type to complain about such things.”
“It wasn’t particularly stifling. Just… No, thinking about it now, maybe it was a bit confining.”
Even as he spoke, Eunseok couldn’t properly understand what he was saying.
As they walked for a while, they soon found themselves by a fountain. Eunseok blankly looked up at the large fountain and its high-rising water streams. Seeing the water jets rising against the backdrop of the city and hotels glittering with all kinds of colorful lights made him feel refreshed.
“Eunseok.”
As he was blankly staring at the water streams, Choi Hanseo called out. When he turned his head, Choi Hanseo asked,
“Can I kiss you?”
Eunseok stared at Choi Hanseo. Whether it was because of the sparkling, fancy lights behind him, or because he was too drunk on alcohol, he seemed especially handsome and attractive today. It was as if his face was glowing with light.
“No?”
When Eunseok just stood there staring silently, Choi Hanseo asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“You look like you’re going to do it even if I say no.”
Eunseok said exactly what he felt. At that, the corners of Choi Hanseo’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Correct.”
Choi Hanseo said softly, then suddenly pulled Eunseok by the waist. And as he tightly embraced the stumbling Eunseok, he poured out a passionate kiss.
The sparkling lights and the hot kiss scattered his mind. Like an orphan thrown into space, he couldn’t gauge up, down, or direction. Even in the midst of this, Eunseok clung to Choi Hanseo’s neck, who was firmly holding him. It was very, very satisfying.
At the end of the long, passionate kiss, Choi Hanseo pulled away and met Eunseok’s gaze while holding his chin. The city lights sparkled in his eyes.
“I like you, Lee Eunseok.”
Choi Hanseo confessed, firmly locking gazes. It was a clear and distinct pronunciation, seemingly in consideration of the heavily drunk Eunseok.
Eunseok couldn’t react. No, he didn’t know how to react. His body and mind were blank. As he slowly blinked and took deep breaths, Choi Hanseo confessed once more.
“I like you, Eunseok.”
“…Ah.”
Eunseok ended up letting out a stupid sound. There was no reason, no thought, nothing in his head. Just Choi Hanseo’s presence, filling his eyes, dominated and overwhelmed all of Eunseok’s senses.
Choi Hanseo waited for Eunseok’s answer with intense eyes.
“I… I…”
After moving his lips several times, Eunseok finally managed to spit out one sentence.
“Me too.”
At that short answer, finally uttered, joy spread across Choi Hanseo’s eyes. Eunseok felt that the change in Choi Hanseo’s eyes was like a slot machine blinking crazily after hitting the jackpot. It was as if fireworks of joy and delight were bursting in his eyes. It was a bit cute.
“…Cute.”
Eunseok muttered softly and hugged Choi Hanseo tightly. The solid, muscular body that filled his arms and then some felt incredibly good. Eunseok rubbed his forehead against Choi Hanseo’s shoulder and repeated once more.
“You know what? You, Choi Hanseo, are really cute.”
Choi Hanseo hugged Eunseok tightly back. And whispered,
“Keep finding me cute.”
At the ticklish whisper, Eunseok slightly nodded.
***
No matter how much one trains their body, it doesn’t control tolerance to alcohol. Eunseok, who had drunk excessively the night before, naturally suffered from a terrible hangover the next morning.
A hangover was always formidable, no matter when experienced. Although Eunseok didn’t like showing weakness to others, there was nothing he could do about groaning from a hangover.
“Here, take this medicine.”
Of course, it was Choi Hanseo who nursed Eunseok, who was groaning as soon as he opened his eyes. He fed him cold water, an ion drink, and headache medicine in order. He even spoonfed him hot soup.
After pushing water, medicine, and hot soup into his stomach, he felt somewhat better. Of course, it was only “somewhat” better, not really okay.
Eunseok, leaning back against three pillows, took heavy breaths. With each exhale, the smell of alcohol wafted out.
“You should have stopped me.”
Eunseok blamed the innocent Choi Hanseo.
Despite receiving this misplaced blame, Choi Hanseo’s face was beaming. His eyes and face were so bright and shiny that it was almost dazzling. Seeing him looking so happy while Eunseok was groaning made him feel spiteful. But knowing the reason why he was glowing, he couldn’t bring himself to be petty.
They had already deeply mixed their bodies several times. So the formal confession could be considered a bit late. Even without him saying it explicitly, Eunseok knew his feelings. But still, receiving a confession in the proper way felt different. How should this feeling be expressed appropriately? Excitement? Elation? It was difficult to define it in just one word.
“How do you feel? Do you think you can get on a plane today?”
Choi Hanseo asked, gently stroking Eunseok’s forehead.
“Are we going back today?”
When Eunseok asked, Choi Hanseo nodded with a reluctant face.
“I was thinking of staying and playing for a few more days since we’re already here, but they’re making such a fuss in Korea.”
Choi Hanseo just used the word “fuss,” but they were probably causing more than that. It was understandable that they would be anxious about an S-rank hunter and S-rank guide, important national assets, staying in the United States, famous for talent acquisition.
Now that he thought about going back, he felt regretful. Once they return to Korea, it will be difficult to go out freely, dine out, and walk the streets like they did yesterday.
“We should go back.”
Eunseok said, cleanly cutting off his regret. Although there was certainly regret, ultimately, Korea was home for both of them.
“Alright. Then let’s eat lunch and leave. I’ll have them prepare the private jet.”
Choi Hanseo said with a regretful face. Then he took his phone and went out of the bedroom.
Eunseok, leaning back on the bed, suddenly felt a small vibration. Turning his head, he saw his phone vibrating next to the pillow.
Kwon Eunchae
[Eunseok oppa! I heard you hit the jackpot at the casino?! Amazing! >_<b]
It was a message from Kwon Eunchae.
The jackpot had just happened last night, but it seemed the news had already reached Korea.
Eunseok glanced at the bedroom door and opened the cafe window. Then he logged into the couple’s fan cafe.
[Chat/Gossip] Are Choi-Lee couple secretly getting married in Las Vegas? [536]
[Chat/Gossip] Are they settling in the US? Why is there no news of their return? ㅠㅠ! [795]
[Chat/Gossip] Eunseok is raking in US dollars. As expected of a patriotic youth ^_^b [1,696]
[Chat/Gossip] Am I the only one looking at the Choi-Lee couple fountain kiss photo all day? [12,656]
[News] <<Breaking!!>> Choi-Lee couple kiss photo appeared on SNS! Photo & link included [13,963]
[News] Eunseok hit the jackpot at Las Vegas casino! 20 million dollars ㅇㅇ [16,968]
The latest posts on the fan cafe fully captured the two’s movements. He had let his guard down thinking they were in a far-off foreign country, but that was a mistake. He never thought the news would spread this quickly.
Good grief.
Lamenting inwardly, Eunseok fixed his gaze on one post in particular among the latest ones.
[Chat/Gossip] Am I the only one looking at the Choi-Lee couple fountain kiss photo all day? [12,658]
[News] <<Breaking!!>> Choi-Lee couple kiss photo appeared on SNS! Photo & link included [13,963]
The kiss photo these posts were talking about seemed to be referring to the kiss they had in front of the fountain last night while heavily drunk.
Eunseok hesitated for a moment before clicking on the post that said it had photos.
As soon as he clicked, the photos popped up one after another.
The two were passionately kissing with Las Vegas’ fancy lights and fountain as the background. There were photos of them standing close and talking, tightly embracing, kissing, and quietly looking at each other…
The high-quality photos were not just casually taken. They were clearly the work of professional paparazzi. This was the result of overlooking the fact that America is a paradise for paparazzi.
Thinking about how these photos must have spread all over Korea, he felt the headache that had subsided with medicine coming back. It was unbearably embarrassing. But even in the midst of this, Eunseok kept moving his finger, looking at the photos over and over again. The two people in the high-quality, clear photos looked truly smitten with each other. If even Eunseok, the person involved, saw it that way, it would be even more obvious to others.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
