A Certain Moment (2)
I thought he would answer quickly, but surprisingly, he just pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time. It seemed like he hadn’t expected me to actually accept his proposal. Sa Hae-geon’s cheeks flushed red as he looked at me.
I couldn’t help but laugh seeing him just blushing instead of taking the opportunity I’d given him.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Having second thoughts now?”
At my teasing question, Hae-geon hastily shook his head and responded.
“No. I’d like that.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I might have misunderstood… I wanted to hear it again.”
“As if you could misunderstand something like that. Would you misunderstand something so important?”
“Still… I couldn’t believe it.”
Hae-geon mumbled that way and snuggled into my arms. Then, with his reddened ears visible, he asked.
“So… when will you do it?”
“Shouldn’t we do it now? Didn’t you ask me to Guide you with a kiss?”
“N-n-now? S-so suddenly?”
“It’s what you wanted.”
“N-no matter how you look at it, this is too…”
Hae-geon stammered as if flustered, then suddenly lifted his head. He stared at me with his reddened face and took a few steps back. Wait, who should be embarrassed here…
I felt strange seeing him backing away in shock despite being the one who had begged for a kiss in the first place. He clearly looked embarrassed, but looking more carefully, it seemed like something else… it was a peculiar feeling.
“Forget it if you don’t want to. I only agreed because you kept begging, I wasn’t particularly eager to do it. So calm down.”
“I-it’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just a bit surprised. There’s no way I wouldn’t want a k-kiss from you.”
“So what do you want to do?”
At my question, Hae-geon shifted his gaze around as if contemplating, then cautiously began.
“…Can I do it later?”
“When is later?”
Since it wasn’t like him to say such a thing when he had been acting like he couldn’t wait, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.
“That’s… I don’t know. I’ll just do it later on my own.”
“Well… okay. I’ll go with that. But the offer expires after today.”
“What? Since when is there an expiration date?”
“There is now. Just know that after midnight today, it never happened.”
“…Alright. I’ll do it today. As long as I do it today, it’s valid, right? Can I do it without you knowing?”
“How is that even possible?”
“I’ll figure out a way. But if I do it without you knowing, you really shouldn’t notice.”
“What? How would I notice if you do it secretly?”
At my response, Hae-geon pouted with a dissatisfied expression. Even his sulking after acting so willfully appeared cute, which was troublesome. This was almost like a parent’s gaze on their child. It’s not like I’ve fallen head over heels for a lover or anything…
‘…Wait. Lover?’
The subtle and wrapping connotation of the word “lover” that flashed through my mind made me feel a bit strange. Lover? Could I really describe my relationship with Hae-geon using such a word? To me, Hae-geon was just a quirky and cute younger brother, or a junior Esper.
I couldn’t shake off this doubt as I headed home with Hae-geon.
After arriving home, washing with warm water, and lying in bed feeling refreshed, sleep began to come. Perhaps because I had focused all my energy on Hae-geon’s mock battle, I was unusually sleepy today to the point where it was hard to bear. Even though it wasn’t my own mock battle, I thought it made sense to be so tense since it was the first mock battle of someone I was quite fond of.
I was sprawled out on the bed without even properly covering myself with the blanket, in a completely defenseless posture, half-asleep. The sound of the door sliding open tapped at my ears. It seemed that Cream, who had been playing with Hae-geon in the living room, had come in to sleep next to me.
Since we had started living together officially, Hae-geon hardly ever barged into my room without saying anything, so I naturally thought it was Cream. However, this thought was half right and half wrong.
Even in that moment when only a trace of consciousness remained, I sensed a presence that wasn’t Cream. Something much heavier than the chubby one sat on the edge of the bed. If it wasn’t Cream, there was only one person it could be.
‘Hae-geon…?’
For some reason, it seemed that Hae-geon was sitting on my bed. He wouldn’t have come to my room to play with Cream… As soon as I thought that he might be watching me sleep, the drowsiness that had taken over my body began to fade.
At that moment, Hae-geon pulled the blanket up to cover my body. Soon after, the weight I had felt on the edge of the bed disappeared, as if he had gotten up.
‘…Is he leaving?’
My body, which had been tense just from Hae-geon’s presence, was starting to relax a bit. With a soft breath, something soft and tender touched my forehead and quickly pulled away.
“…Sleep well, hyung.”
Hae-geon, who had quietly bid me goodnight, smoothly left my room. As soon as I heard the door close, my eyes flew open.
‘What was that just now…?’
What was it? What had touched my forehead and then pulled away? I touched the spot where I had felt the strange sensation, trying to guess what it was, and soon had a lightning-like realization.
‘…Can I do it later?’
‘That’s… I don’t know. I’ll just do it later on my own.’
‘…Alright. I’ll do it today. As long as I do it today, it’s valid, right? Can I do it without you knowing?’
Hae-geon had definitely said that. That he would do it without me knowing. I never imagined I would receive a kiss in such a shy manner… surprisingly, it wasn’t bad at all.
I couldn’t help but smile again at Hae-geon’s actions, which were as cute as his appearance. I lay there for a long time, unable to fall asleep, touching my forehead where his lips had barely brushed against it.
The next morning, Hae-geon’s face, as he prepared to go to the Center, looked as composed as ever. Perhaps he was confident that I wouldn’t know what he had done last night. Hae-geon had no hesitation in making eye contact and talking with me.
“Hyung, should I bring fruit like yesterday? It’s nice to have as a snack, right?”
“…”
“Hyung?”
Instead, it was me who avoided his gaze and couldn’t speak properly. Not only that, I had even lost sleep. Hae-geon was the one who had kissed me, so why was I the one who couldn’t sleep and couldn’t even make eye contact with him?
I had a genuine question. And as soon as I faced that question, I found myself avoiding Hae-geon regardless of my will. Even in the car, I declined when Hae-geon tried to fasten my seatbelt and did it myself, and at the Center, I sent Hae-geon, who was trying to stay by my side, to Jong-hyeok, making him continue intense training from early morning.
It was a situation where I couldn’t argue if someone called me cruel, but I couldn’t help it. Whenever I saw Hae-geon, my heart kept beating abnormally, making me uncomfortable. Not only that, but my ears felt stuffy, and I had the sensation that my head was emptying, which was troublesome.
“Hyung, I need Guiding.”
When Hae-geon requested Guiding between his strenuous training sessions, unlike usual, I only held his hand for Guiding. The perceptive guy noticed something and blinked. Hae-geon looked at me for a moment and then spoke.
“Isn’t Guiding faster and easier when you hug me?”
“Uh, well… Let’s just do it this way today.”
I avoided his gaze and gave an awkward smile, and Hae-geon seemed completely certain that I was acting strangely. However, there was nothing he could do as he had to return to the training ground right away.
“Hyung, during lunch time…”
“Hae-geon, let’s head back in. The Guiding is done, right?”
“Yes, hyung. You can take Hae-geon back in.”
When I responded to Jong-hyeok before Hae-geon could finish, he looked at me with a betrayed expression and trudged away. After focusing on training all morning, as soon as lunch time came, he walked into the Guiding room where I was.
The moment I spotted Hae-geon, my legs moved regardless of my will. Before I knew it, I had escaped to the corridor to avoid him. The team members who had gathered in the corridor glanced at me briefly before resuming their conversations.
Just as I was stealthily moving while staring at the training room door, it flung open and Hae-geon came out, looking around the corridor. He spotted me immediately and his eyes lit up.
“Oh, Esper Sa Hae-geon. Good timing. Come here.”
However, there was a hand that stopped Hae-geon as he tried to come to me. It was our team’s defense-type Esper, Yeom Jae-min. I took advantage of the opportunity to quickly exit the Center building. Having been unaware of the passage of time all morning, I wasn’t even hungry.
It seemed best to just sit on a nearby bench, get some fresh air, and organize my thoughts. But my plan was ruined when someone approached the bench where I was sitting.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
