“Since you’re already paying for my father’s hospital bills… it’s only right that I earn my own spending money.”
Yeonwoo spoke as if he knew exactly what Ho Munbeom was thinking. He lifted one corner of his mouth as if it were nothing, but seeing no change in the other’s expression, he quickly lowered it. Then he fidgeted with his hair before tucking it behind his ear. He looked down at the right side of where he was sitting, beneath the enormous floor-to-ceiling window that made his heart feel open.
Looking at the streets sparkling with various colored lights, Yeonwoo murmured.
“It’s beautiful.”
“…”
“Where I used to live, everywhere would be pitch dark by 7 PM. Since no one would be out walking around, all the shops would close by then too. The streets would become darker than the night sky.”
At least the sky had stars.
Occasionally, on nights when the stars were clearly visible, the streets would brighten because of them. Yeonwoo liked that. During summer, he would deliberately climb up to the rooftop, crouch on the wooden floor, and stare up at the night sky for a long time. Though it was a place more underdeveloped than Seoul, darker, and with fewer people, looking back, he thought those were probably his happiest and most joyful times.
“When I first came to Seoul, even with the lights off in my room, it wasn’t dark because of the streetlights. I liked it at first, but at some point, it became uncomfortable, so I bought blackout curtains. Working at the mart, I could buy them cheaper than the regular price.”
“…”
“When I first thought about getting a part-time job, I considered a convenience store. I saw on TV that many people my age work there. But the store owner seemed strange, so I gave up on that. Then as I looked around, I noticed this huge mart. When I worked at the supermarket before, I was praised a lot for organizing things well and cleaning thoroughly.”
“…”
“Working at the supermarket, I’d often see people who lived in the neighborhood. When I greeted them, they were very fond of me. Said I was admirable. Their positive view gave me courage to greet them first and have conversations. So I went to the mart and asked if they had any part-time positions.”
The mart had been planning to hire a few people anyway. The people there gave him paper and a pen to fill out an application and even recommended a photo studio on the first floor. That’s how he was able to start working right away.
Yeonwoo seemed to have thought of the mart as like the small neighborhood supermarket where he used to live.
Though he had no connections there, he thought that by working at the mart, he could exchange greetings with passersby and become familiar with their faces. But there were so many people visiting the large mart, they didn’t properly acknowledge greetings, and there was no telling when someone who came today would return. They truly just brushed past like the touch of a sleeve, appearing and then disappearing.
Yeonwoo himself had too much to do. Working busily, several hours would fly by. That’s when he realized it. That a part-time employee at a large mart was like a small component. That casually exchanging greetings with people like in his old town was just a fantasy.
If it had continued like that, he might have quit. But after working for a few months, he became friends with some employees, received one free meal a day, and the monthly coupons helped with his living expenses.
Above all, the biggest advantage was being able to work without revealing his type. Of course, there were several uncomfortable incidents with some people who assumed with certainty that he was an Omega and said or did strange things.
Come to think of it, Director Park, who was always talking about sexual harassment lately, hasn’t been seen much. Had it become too difficult for him to continue working at the mart because of that incident? Hoping that he would never appear again, Yeonwoo let out a small sigh.
“Working can’t be easy… with the check I gave you, couldn’t you take a couple of months off?”
Is there such a thing as easy work in this world? Yeonwoo, who was trying to speak lightly and move on, looked up at Munbeom involuntarily upon hearing his words.
He wanted to know if he was being sincere, or if he was just testing his reaction. And seeing the casual expression of the man sitting with his legs crossed and his back against the chair, Yeonwoo couldn’t help but smile.
“If I use it sparingly, I could live for over two years, not just a couple of months.”
Though, he wasn’t sure how it would work out when considering rent, utilities, and so on.
The difference was so vast that rather than being dumbfounded, he just found it amusing.
But for Yeonwoo, the benchmark for money was his father’s hospital bills. Thinking that it would cover ten months, Yeonwoo suddenly realized, quite naturally, that he was excluding his own living expenses.
Even when living with just his father, he had never thought they were well-off. But he had never worried about money like this before.
Then he became curious about how much a night’s stay here would cost. Since it was a room on the top floor of the hotel, it would be over 100,000 won.
“Yeonwoo.”
When Yeonwoo looked up at the call, Ho Munbeom slightly pulled back the chair he had been sitting on.
“Come here.”
“…”
Yeonwoo, who had momentarily forgotten the reason for coming here during their conversation, hesitantly stood up. He had been feeling better, but now he was tense again. Moving slowly, almost stiffly, he stood in front of Ho Munbeom, who uncrossed his legs and looked up at him. From Yeonwoo’s eyes to his nose and lips, he examined his features carefully, then smiled faintly.
“Do you know what you look like, Yeonwoo?”
“…”
Yeonwoo nodded obediently.
From the time he began to understand things, people around him had said things like, “What a pretty baby,” and “Is this really a boy?” While in school, he often received confessions. In high school, there were even people from neighboring areas who came to see him.
In his senior year, he once attended an academy in the busy district, taking the bus there because math was difficult. From the first day, it was chaotic. Though Yeonwoo just wanted to study quietly, the academy tried to seat him in the very front or in prominent places. He didn’t realize it then, but they seemed to have been trying to use him for promotion.
Uncomfortable with people glancing at him throughout class or those who acted like they would follow him home, Yeonwoo quit before completing a month. That was the extent of it because it was a remote and quiet neighborhood. If he had attended school in Seoul…
Reaching that point in his thoughts, Yeonwoo spoke calmly.
“I look at the mirror every day.”
“…”
At the composed response, a smile spread across Ho Munbeom’s lips.
Though he couldn’t look at him directly and was shy, he would occasionally make such bold statements nonchalantly. Perhaps that’s why. Words that might have seemed strange from someone else were surprisingly fine coming from Yeonwoo.
Ho Munbeom had never thought he had a preferred type before. From a young age, he had been surrounded by all kinds of people, most of whom were extraordinary. Surrounded by those in the top 1%, whether in terms of family, appearance, or talent, the aesthetic sense accumulated and forged through them was incredibly solid. So he had never been particularly moved by anything he saw…
If it hadn’t been Yeonwoo who emitted that faint pheromone when he came to that blind date, would things have turned out this way? When Yeonwoo raised his head to Ho Munbeom, who approached with interest, if it hadn’t been this face, would he have sat across from him?
He also wanted to ask the reverse.
That day, at that place, if it hadn’t been Ho Munbeom, would Yeonwoo have made the same choice?
Ho Munbeom reached out and gently grasped Yeonwoo’s small chin. He liked the feel of his soft skin. And the way his lips parted in surprise at his touch.
Looking at Yeonwoo’s eyes, which were gazing down at him, Ho Munbeom said.
“Smile for me.”
Like before.
He wanted to see that unexpected burst of laughter one more time. Of course, he didn’t expect Yeonwoo to actually smile just because he asked. As expected, seeing Yeonwoo only looking down at him, Munbeom’s lips relaxed.
He placed his other hand on Yeonwoo’s waist and pulled him closer. The body that had initially stood still moved as guided, sitting with his buttocks against Ho Munbeom’s thigh.
Looking at Yeonwoo, who was sitting with his back straight as if uncomfortable, Ho Munbeom lifted his head. When he pressed his lips to Yeonwoo’s chin, Yeonwoo flinched but lowered his head.
The short breath that escaped between their touching lips tickled. With a sensation like a tickle near his neck, Ho Munbeom’s Adam’s apple moved significantly, and his hand delved into Yeonwoo’s robe. He touched Yeonwoo’s thigh, which was sitting on his own thigh, and pushed further in, feeling the tension. Though his hand was caught as Yeonwoo clenched his thighs together, Ho Munbeom didn’t stop.
When his hand, pushing deeper, touched Yeonwoo’s dick, Yeonwoo’s shoulders hunched. Ah. Hearing a moan softer than a breath, he wrapped his other arm around Yeonwoo’s back as if to support it firmly, and pulled him closer. Only then did Yeonwoo carefully raise his arms to embrace Ho Munbeom’s neck.
With Yeonwoo’s arms embracing his neck, Ho Munbeom sought Yeonwoo’s lips again. Covering the small lips with his own, he sucked forcefully a few times, then placed his tongue against the closed gap. As the hesitant lips parted, he delved in, meeting Yeonwoo’s small tongue. It was hot and sweet.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
