#79
When a different term of endearment came out, one I wasn’t quite used to yet, I became even more restless. Saheon hyung’s eyes sparkled mischievously. I instinctively realized that hyung was going to cling to this topic.
“Honey.”
“…Hyung, please…”
“Darling. My love.”
Until the elevator doors opened with a ding, Saheon hyung listed all kinds of sweet terms of endearment. For some reason, the elevator seemed to be on the top floor today. I wanted to cover my ears, but my hands were tightly held by hyung, making it impossible.
“Baby. Cheongmyeong. Mungmung. Meongmeong. Our baby.”
“Stop, stop it, stop! Don’t do that!”
Finally, the barrage of pet names stopped only after I snapped at hyung as if angry. Saheon hyung grinned. My face exploded. Flushed and hot, I was dragged into the elevator, and because of the heat coming from me, I had to fan myself with the hand that wasn’t being held.
I came to my senses when the cold air came in through the open elevator doors as we arrived on the 8th floor. I yanked my hand away from hyung’s grasp and firmly pressed my reddened eyes. I heard Saheon hyung laughing softly.
Of course, it was true that I wanted to make future plans with Saheon hyung first. But to do it so suddenly, in this joking manner, was unfair. I glared at hyung’s broad back as I followed him into the apartment while he entered the passcode.
Unlike hyung, I was good at organizing things, so I breezed past Saheon hyung and went to my room first to put down my bag. I remembered the sweet list I had written in my bag.
Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and left the room again. Saheon hyung was slowly walking down the hallway. I stood in front of hyung again.
“There’s really something I want to do with you first, hyung.”
“Marriage? Let’s do it. Shall we? But you’re too young now, so let’s do it when you’re about ten years older.”
“Then you’ll be old!”
Because Saheon hyung spoke as if soothing a tantrum-throwing child, a harsh response came out. I didn’t mean to say something violent, but Saheon hyung’s face became like that of a dumbstruck person. I, who had spoken as if angry, pressed my lips together, then carefully apologized.
“Sorry.”
“…Ah, it’s okay.”
Saheon hyung muttered glumly. Hyung’s face looked pained as if he had been hit. Saheon hyung suddenly sighed. Seeing his complicated expression, I had to apologize once more.
“I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s fine. I’m the one dating a kid I’ve raised.”
Another deep sigh followed at the end of his words. It seemed like an unconscious action. After staring at me blankly for a moment, hyung suddenly asked.
“How old are you again?”
“T-twenty…”
“…Right. You’re an adult now. Um… Give hyung a moment… I need to drink some water.”
“Okay.”
I took a step back and stood close to the wall. Hyung went straight to the kitchen and gulped down cold water. His face, with its expression gone as if lost in thought, looked cold.
Standing against the wall, I observed hyung’s face with an uneasy feeling. While he seemed to be pondering deeply, the cool aura surrounding his expression made me suddenly feel anxious.
What if Saheon hyung suddenly changed his mind and said we shouldn’t date? ‘Thinking about it again, you’re too young. How about we meet when you’re older?’ The imaginary voice dominated my thoughts.
The cold winter wind between sixteen and seventeen momentarily enveloped my body. Too young. Mistaking emotions. You’re too precious for me to like you, Cheongmyeong… The inexplicable anxiety somehow seemed plausible.
I firmly gathered my wavering, anxious heart once again. The first thing that came to mind was to divert Saheon hyung’s thoughts elsewhere. But in cases like this, I had only learned to resolve things physically, so I wasn’t confident in my actions.
“Um, hyung…”
Cautiously approaching hyung, I called out to him carefully. As hyung tried to turn around sensing my presence, I hugged him tightly from behind. I could feel the firm muscles of his stomach. Hugging his taut waist tightly and resting my cheek on his broad back, Saheon hyung laughed softly.
Every time hyung laughed, a small vibration was created. After inhaling deeply the scent of hyung’s cologne and body odor from his shirt, I gained a bit of courage from the stable and pleasant smell.
“You know I really like you, right?”
I mumbled timidly. Saheon hyung laughed more loudly, and the vibration seemed to shake my mind. Hyung placed his hands over mine, which were wrapped around his stomach. Gently swaying his body left and right as if rocking, hyung patted the back of my hand.
“I want to see your face.”
At those words, I loosened my grip slightly. Saheon hyung turned his body while still holding my hands. In an instant, we were face to face, and my lower back touched the kitchen island bar.
Hyung lowered his gaze and fiddled with my hands that he was holding. After playing with the bones of my knuckles, he interlaced our fingers. Hyung gently opened his mouth while touching the plump part of my palm below the thumb with his thumb.
“Do you want to marry hyung?”
After looking at hyung for a moment, I nodded almost imperceptibly. The corners of Saheon hyung’s mouth lifted in a smirk.
“You just said we should date yesterday, and now this. Our Cheongmyeong is fast.”
“…Don’t you want to?”
I asked carefully. I had always thought that dating naturally led to marriage, and while I had made several exceptions for Saheon hyung, I had never imagined making an exception for this. I looked at hyung with an anxious heart. Saheon hyung laughed once more.
“It’s not about whether hyung wants to or not, but we need to see how Cheongmyeong feels. You shouldn’t easily talk about marriage. Especially the younger one. What if someone with bad intentions completely devours you?”
Saheon hyung answered surprisingly seriously, but for me, who had only looked at one person since childhood, it was a question that was somewhat off track. While I was bewildered, Saheon hyung playfully made a “Wah!” sound as if to surprise me and hugged me tightly.
My mind instantly flew away, and startled, I flinched and fell into Saheon hyung’s embrace. The hardness of the island bar pressing against my back pushed into my waist.
“But if we’re going to get married, you should call me ‘yeobo’ (honey) instead of hyung.”
Saheon hyung was very skilled at making sure my mind, which had already drifted elsewhere, would never return. My face burned. I opened and closed my mouth in silent shock. Fortunately, my burning face wasn’t visible as I was embraced by hyung.
“Isn’t that right, yeobo?”
Hyung hugged me so tightly it was almost suffocating. Because he held me as if lifting me up, I felt my toes slightly leave the ground. Standing on my tiptoes and then coming back down, I had to try not to pant too heavily.
Soon after, lips descended on my flushed cheeks. Hyung’s lips, making kissing sounds, formed an arc. After firmly pressing against my lips, hyung pulled away with a smacking sound. I could feel our heartbeats through our tightly pressed chests.
Hyung, who had been smiling playfully, buried his face in my shoulder. I heard hyung take a deep breath, and then his lips touched my sensitive earlobe. Once again, I heard the sound of membranes colliding. Saheon hyung whispered without removing his lips from my ear.
“For now, baby.”
His languid voice sent chills down my spine. As I tensed up, Saheon hyung laughed lowly. With his lips against my ear, it seemed to sound even more erotic than usual.
“Let’s take it step by step, starting with what couples usually do first. You might end up disliking me after actually dating… That would break my heart, but anyway, if you still want to marry hyung after that.”
Every word, every breath, every respiration from hyung became a thrill. My heart was beating incredibly fast.
“How about we think about it again then? You’re too young now.”
I swallowed hard. My Adam’s apple moved up and down greatly. Thinking I had shown too much nervousness, I nodded slowly. I was so tense that I only realized what I had done after I finished nodding.
Only after my response did Saheon hyung slowly detach his body from mine. I could feel the lingering body heat gradually cooling. Saheon hyung grinned playfully and ruffled my hair vigorously. Thanks to that, expression slowly returned to my blank face.
“Ah, then what should we do first? We should go on a date first so we don’t lose to Hyun-dol, right? Like normal couples do?”
I heard a voice full of mischief. While fixing my messy hair with sharp eyes, I carefully lowered my hands. It felt like I had heard something unexpected. Dazed, I awkwardly uttered words of agreement.
“O-okay…”
“Is there anything you wanted to do? Besides making future plans.”
Saheon hyung added the last part with a smirk, as if joking. But that was no longer important.
The list of things I wanted to do with Saheon hyung that I had written this afternoon came to mind. But I didn’t have the courage to recite it saying I had made a list once, so I had to mumble awkwardly as if I had just thought of it.
“Um… Shopping… together?”
“Shopping? You want to go shopping?”
“Ah… I want to go to the mart, watch a movie, and just casually look around. At night. Doing it suddenly on a whim… On the way back, stopping by a playground or park for a walk… something like that?”
Like newlyweds do. Ah, I should implement drinking cola with one straw on the spot. Swallowing the complete thought, I realized how trivial it sounded once I said it out loud. But Saheon hyung responded as if he had heard a grand plan.
“Sounds good. When should we do it? If I say let’s do it today, it might seem like I’m pushing too hard and kill the mood.”
Saheon hyung laughed softly. I had to bite my lip slightly to keep my mouth from curling up too much. The smoothly curved line closed, and suddenly Saheon hyung made a ‘hmm’ sound and spoke seriously.
“Cheongmyeong. There’s something I want to do.”
Hyung made an expression as if he was pondering something, though it seemed like he was acting. I stared at him blankly, wondering what he was going to say.
“I have to fly tomorrow night so I can’t do it then. I’ll be back early Friday morning, and Kwon Chaehun is coming over that evening. Want to go shopping together, watch a movie, and take a walk on the way back? We can eat something delicious outside too. If there are cherry blossoms blooming, we can go see them.”
I burst out laughing. It was funny how he was presenting what I had said as if it was his own idea. It was ridiculous, but hyung also looked cute. The cherry blossoms were clearly a check against Choi Hyun-oh. For the first time, I was glad that Saheon hyung was checking Choi Hyun-oh.
“What’s that?”
As I spoke teasingly and laughed, Saheon hyung continued steadfastly and nonchalantly.
“This is me asking you out on a date. Do you like it? Or do you love it?”
There were no other options. And, to begin with, there was no need for any. Seeing hyung’s brazen attitude, I answered with a bright smile.
“I love it.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“I like it. Ah, I saw in front of the house that they seem about to bloom soon. I think it’ll be pretty by the weekend.”
I recalled the cherry blossom trees that looked ready to burst into bloom, which I saw every day on my way home from school. Saheon hyung’s hand cupped my cheek. He made my lips pout like a fish, then lightly tapped them, and slowly moved his hand to cradle the back of my neck. A deep shadow fell under his slightly lowered eyelashes.
“I’m already looking forward to it. Sightseeing, eating delicious food. Having sex.”
“…Huh?”
Something strange was mixed in there. When I cautiously questioned it, Saheon hyung smiled gently and whispered languidly.
“The end of a date is usually sex. Didn’t you know?”
