#90
The cardigan Eunsol had taken with him had slight pilling near the cuffs. Despite good care, signs of wear were inevitable with such soft material.
‘…It’s smooth.’
But the cardigan Eunsol was currently wearing had clean sleeves, like a new garment. This wasn’t something that could be fixed by mending.
The conclusion was that this cardigan wasn’t the one Eunsol had taken with him.
‘Come to think of it…’
That cardigan had been in the car when Eunsol had the accident. He learned later that after Eunsol and Ryu Jeong-woo escaped from the car, it had exploded.
This meant that the cardigan Eunsol was feeling with his fingertips was newly purchased by Hyun-oh.
‘…Why?’
Did he know? Did he know with what feelings Eunsol had run away with his cardigan?
Though perfectly smooth without a single pill, the cardigan was heavily infused with Hyun-oh’s scent. As if Hyun-oh had worn it for a long time.
In his dressing room, he had at least ten similar items. Yet he specifically bought this one and wore it enough for his scent to permeate it before covering Eunsol with it—his intentions were inscrutable.
“Drink this.”
The endless train of thought was abruptly cut off by Hyun-oh approaching with mugs in both hands.
True to Hyun-oh’s words, the fingertips of Eunsol’s tightly clenched fists were cold. It was evidence of poor blood circulation—a temperature quite different from the warmth spreading across his shoulders and back.
“Just a moment.”
As Eunsol nodded slightly and reached for the mug, Hyun-oh stopped him. After placing his own mug on the table, he checked the temperature of the mug with the back of his hand.
“It’s better to hold it like this.”
Hyun-oh personally placed the mug handle in Eunsol’s hand. The motion flowed smoothly as he pulled the sleeve of the cardigan Eunsol was wearing to wrap it around the bottom and outer surface of the mug.
As a ticklish sensation kept trying to blossom around his heart, Eunsol deliberately avoided making eye contact with Hyun-oh.
The warmth spreading in his hands felt hot, as if it contained a temperature that was warm yet almost burning.
Carefully, he took a sip of the tea. The gentle, cozy aroma unique to chamomile tickled his nose as it went down his throat.
“I’ll be working from home for a while.”
Hyun-oh also sat down across from Eunsol. In truth, he yearned to sit beside him. If possible, he wanted Eunsol sitting not on the sofa but on his lap.
But that might cause Eunsol to flee in surprise. In his effort to suppress the darkly rising desire, his grip on the mug tightened.
“…Oh.”
Eunsol tried to get up from his seat in surprise. It was because he saw the tea spilling over the surface of the cup and soaking Hyun-oh’s hand, due to his unconscious squeeze.
Though not boiling, it was hot enough to potentially burn skin.
“I’m fine, so stay seated.”
Hyun-oh quickly put the cup down on the table as his hand felt the heat. While he had cooled Eunsol’s tea to a comfortable drinking temperature, he had just poured hot water into his own cup.
Seeing the black eyes looking at him in surprise, he almost wanted to smile. It was good to see Eunsol showing concern for him.
‘I wanted to ask if you were okay.’
Wide eyes followed Hyun-oh as he hastily turned his back to hide his slightly softened expression.
Eunsol raised his hand to grasp his throat, which only produced dry sounds. Thanks to holding the warm mug, his hands had become much warmer.
‘…The first aid kit should be here.’
Things might have been moved since he left, but that’s where Eunsol remembered it being. After placing the mug on the table, Eunsol walked toward the cabinet.
Click. Upon opening the door, the white first aid kit appeared just as Eunsol remembered.
Taking out the box, Eunsol looked up to the second floor where Hyun-oh had gone. He seemed to have gone to either the bedroom or the study.
After chewing his lips anxiously, Eunsol seemed to make a decision and headed toward the stairs.
Though the stairs weren’t steep, by the time he reached the second floor, his chest was heaving slightly. It was the aftermath of being bedridden for so long.
The sound of small footsteps echoed through the long corridor. Eunsol noticed a faint light coming from the study.
‘…Should I leave it here?’
Since he’d carried it this far, he wanted to give the first aid kit directly. However, the study was Hyun-oh’s exclusive domain that Eunsol couldn’t intrude upon.
After hesitating, he was just about to bend down when—
“It’s not good for you to move like this.”
Sensing Eunsol’s presence, Hyun-oh came out to greet him at the study door. Before the startled Eunsol could move away, his wrist was grabbed and he was pulled inside.
Only after seating Eunsol on the sofa inside the study did Hyun-oh exhale deeply.
Eunsol glanced awkwardly at the first aid kit resting on his lap.
Upon entering the study, his toes curled inside his slippers. Though it wasn’t his first time here, the tension that had once pressed down on him resurfaced.
“Eunsol, you can come in whenever you want. We can even add another desk.”
Though not as much as Hyun-oh, Eunsol also had work to do occasionally. As Hyun-oh’s spouse, there were quite a few responsibilities.
Eunsol’s workspace was set up in the room he used alone.
Hyun-oh’s words were hard to believe. Although he had apologized to Eunsol, hovered around him to the point of worrying about company affairs, part of Eunsol still believed there must be another reason for his behavior.
He had been frantically trying to block out Hyun-oh’s sincerity that confronted him directly.
But when Hyun-oh said he would unreservedly open his space—a space even Kim Myungjun wasn’t allowed to enter—to Eunsol, for the first time, he had a strange certainty that perhaps Hyun-oh truly had developed feelings for him.
“Come over here.”
Hyun-oh gently wrapped his hand around the wrist of Eunsol, who was blinking blankly, lost in thought.
He had just come to deliver the first aid kit. But in the blink of an eye, Eunsol found himself sitting in Hyun-oh’s chair.
The feeling of being comfortably enveloped by the seat was characteristic of custom-made furniture.
The desk was cluttered. Considering Hyun-oh’s usual disposition, it was such an alien sight that one might think it belonged to someone else.
Then he noticed a dent on one side of the desk.
As Hyun-oh moved his head in the direction of Eunsol’s gaze, an embarrassed expression flashed across his face.
He subtly picked up one of the folders scattered on the desk to cover the shameful traces of his past.
“Did you bring this to treat my wound?”
To divert Eunsol’s attention, Hyun-oh placed the first aid kit he was holding on the desk.
“Having injured my right hand makes it difficult to treat.”
It was an obvious lie. Until just a moment ago, he had used that injured hand to grab Eunsol’s wrist and seat him here.
However, Hyun-oh’s face was fearlessly shameless. Though the tips of his ears, hidden beneath his hair, were as red as a burn.
Hyun-oh casually extended his reddened hand to Eunsol.
“Ah…”
Eunsol opened the first aid kit and took out a burn bandage.
Since it wasn’t a severe burn that would blister, it seemed applying burn ointment and a bandage would suffice for now.
“It stings a bit.”
As Eunsol carefully applied a little burn ointment from his index finger onto the back of Hyun-oh’s hand where veins were visible, a blunt voice dropped from above, startling him into looking up.
He had tried to be as gentle as possible, but realized it might still hurt from the injured person’s perspective.
“There’s a first aid method for times like this.”
Eunsol immediately understood what Hyun-oh meant. Obediently following Hyun-oh’s wishes, he rounded his lips and gently blew a breeze over the back of his hand.
Unlike Eunsol’s, Hyun-oh’s thick-jointed fingers curled as if tickled by the attack.
Then, although clumsily, he also attached the burn bandage well over the wound. But suddenly, it felt as if a tickling breath was blowing on his forehead too.
It was the moment he raised his head after bending down to examine the wound up close. Eunsol held his breath as their gazes intertwined at close proximity.
Reflecting his startled feelings, his long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. Butterflies also found their way into Eunsol’s stomach.
With the unfamiliar sensation gently rising around his solar plexus, Eunsol could no longer meet Hyun-oh’s eyes and lowered his gaze.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
