Gentle Giant Chapter 15
This must be exactly what they call a “blanket kick” situation.
Standing under the shower head, Dain pounded the wall with his fists as waves of embarrassment washed over him like a flood.
It wasn’t like he’d watched some erotic movie or anything, yet his heart was pounding like this just from seeing another guy’s bare torso!!
If only Juho had been a bit more perceptive… he might have died of shame.
Thinking of Juho’s plain and clean face, so different from his own lewd thoughts, Dain finally managed to calm his mind and came out. Juho was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall, fast asleep.
It was still only 2 PM. Juho’s pale face, bathed in sunlight streaming through the small window beside the bed, blended with that light to create an almost sacred atmosphere.
Dain, who had never thought anyone’s sleeping face was pretty before, found himself staring at this overwhelmingly beautiful sight with his mouth hanging open.
His hair still damp and not fully dried, or his lips that remained red even after showering.
In any case, Juho was clearly not only a rare species of beast-man but also possessed rare beauty.
Even though his noona Dahee worked as a celebrity, compared to her, the aura emanating from Juho’s face seemed far more special.
Lost in admiring Juho’s handsome and cool face, Dain suddenly snapped back to attention when the air conditioner breeze hit him from behind.
“He’ll catch a cold sleeping like that.”
Dain frowned as he muttered to himself. He couldn’t let Juho, who had come as a guest to his home, sleep even for a moment in an uncomfortable position while being hit by the cold air conditioner breeze.
Trying not to make any loud noise that might startle him, Dain quietly approached Juho and gently touched his shoulder.
Juho, who had seemed to be sleeping soundly, opened his eyes wide at the small touch on his shoulder as if he hadn’t been sleeping at all. Then, in an instant, he grabbed the arm that had touched him and twisted his body.
The two found themselves in a standoff, their positions suddenly reversed, staring at each other for a moment.
Juho was startled to realize that the person who had touched his shoulder was Dain, and Dain was startled that it was Juho pinning him down like this.
And that brief silence disappeared without a trace at the sound Dain made.
“Ah.”
Dain unconsciously let out a pained sound as he felt pain in his wrist from Juho’s forceful grip.
Startled by that sound, Juho quickly released his grip. However, despite releasing it quickly, red marks had already formed on the wrist that had been gripped tightly for that brief moment.
“Hyung! Are you okay?? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize… Ah, what should I do…!”
“Oh, I’m fine, Juho. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“How can it not hurt? It’s this red. Haah… I’m really sorry. Even if I was half-asleep, I shouldn’t have done that. I should have been more careful since hyung is delicate.”
Juho examined Dain’s wrist with a pained expression. At Juho’s serious self-reproach, not just his apologies but also his harsh words about himself, Dain let out a hollow laugh.
The way he treated him as if he were incredibly fragile and weak… honestly, it was amusing. His skin was naturally quite dark, so redness like this would disappear without a trace in a little while.
Juho’s touch hovering over his wrist like he was handling fragile porcelain was also enough to make him laugh.
“Juho. I’m really fine. I should have been more careful too. It’s natural to be tense in a space you’re visiting for the first time, but I approached you without making any sound trying to be considerate… It was too sudden. I’m sorry.”
“What does hyung have to be sorry for? It’s all my fault. Anyone who saw this would think hyung hit me. Sigh, hyung, what am I going to do with you being so kind? This is serious.”
Juho’s eyebrows twitched. It meant he didn’t like what Dain was saying right now. The atmosphere suggested that if he apologized even once more, he’d get a lecture from Juho.
So Dain quickly changed the subject.
“Well, you’re the only person who says I’m kind.”
“Really? That’s a relief. You’re also the only person I’ve felt was kind.”
Though his voice was indifferent, the content was truly sweet, making Dain scrunch his nose and grin widely.
Finally relaxing his expression at that smile, Juho still examined his wrist carefully, turning it this way and that just in case.
At that tender care, Dain’s fingers twitched and his throat tickled, making him let out a small cough.
From the airport, no—from when they talked on the phone before that, he had felt it.
Juho saw him simply as “Jung Dain.” Not as a cat beast-man who was just big and scary-looking, not as a cat beast-man who was unpleasant because of his dirty eyes… An ordinary and somewhat delicate cat beast-man “Jung Dain.” One who might even be cute, at least to Juho.
As Dain thought alone about his relationship with Juho, he felt embarrassed. It was a thought too earnest and serious to simply call them close hyung and younger brother.
Scratching his right ear that felt like it was getting hot, Dain said:
“Juho, you really are a tiger beast-man.”
“Huh?”
“Your strength is incredible. Even though you were half-asleep and released your grip incredibly quickly, if it’s this much, when you’re really angry and using your strength, it would be tremendous.”
“Ah, um. I suppose…”
Juho looked sheepish at Dain’s words.
“Right? I’ll have to be careful not to make you angry from now on. If you really hit me properly, I might have to be hospitalized.”
Touching his wrist, which had now returned to its original skin tone, Dain gave a mischievous smile.
He’d heard that when tigers are in animal form, their front paw strength is tremendous, and tiger beast-man Juho seemed to have inherited that strength—it was grip strength he’d never experienced before in his life.
“Hyuung. What would I have to be angry with hyung about? That won’t happen. Don’t worry.”
Though it was meant as a joke, Juho took Dain’s words seriously, jumping up with a serious expression and ruffling his own hair.
“Ah, I’m really sorry. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
“Juhoo, stop apologizing now. If you do it one more time, I’m going to grab your wrist until it’s just as red. You know I’m strong, right?”
“Huh?”
It was a joke like before. But at Juho’s reaction—seriously surprised and questioning like before—Dain flinched.
Had he crossed the line again this time? Or was he upset because he said he’d do the same thing back?
Just as Dain glanced up at Juho’s face and was about to take back what he’d just said while reading his mood, suddenly Juho started laughing with his eyes crinkled.
“…?”
This time it was Dain who looked at Juho with a surprised expression. Why, why is he laughing so hard…?
Despite Dain’s gaze full of curiosity and bewilderment, Juho finally composed his expression after laughing for a while and held out his wrist to Dain.
“Hyung, then will you grab my wrist tightly until it turns red? Um… an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That’s right, isn’t it? Wow, I didn’t know there was such a good method. Hyung should also do to me what I did to hyung. Really tightly. You have to grab it, right?”
“Ju, Juho…! That’s…”
Never expecting him to actually ask to leave marks on his wrist, Dain panicked and put his hands behind his back. At that reaction, Juho burst into laughter again and brought his wrist close to Dain’s face.
“Won’t you do it?”
At Juho’s expression that seemed to say of course he should, Dain shook his head vigorously enough to make noise.
He felt like he couldn’t even joke properly in front of Juho. Or maybe his expression had been too serious when he said that.
Watching Dain shake his head as if it might fall off right in front of him, Juho thought he understood why people liked it when others acted coquettishly.
Saying he was strong with those small, cute hands, then refusing to do it when asked—yet instead of being annoying, it only felt cute and charming. People must keep poking at someone they like to see things like this.
Though it was obvious Dain was genuinely flustered, regrettably Juho’s teasing ended there.
It would have been even better if he’d really grabbed his wrist, but seeing Dain’s expression gradually hardening, he couldn’t go any further.
With inner disappointment, Juho clicked his tongue quietly and stretched his hand back, settling into a comfortable position.
A languid atmosphere enveloped Juho again.
Dain, who had been only watching Juho’s mood, finally realized that the precarious teasing was over. Only then, with a relieved expression, did he speak to Juho.
“Ah, that’s right. Juho, you’re tired, aren’t you? You seemed to be sleeping uncomfortably anyway, so I was trying to wake you up to lie down comfortably. Look at me losing my mind. You can use my bed here.”
“What about hyung?”
Juho asked, seeing Dain point to the single pillow.
“Me? I can sleep here on the floor. There’s a spare blanket in the closet, so it’s fine.”
Dain tapped the floor with his foot. At those words, Juho frowned and immediately shook his head.
“Hyung, I already feel bad about suddenly imposing on you at your home… How can I sleep on the bed alone? Of course hyung should sleep on the bed. The floor is fine for me.”
“No way! That won’t do, Juho. How could I make a guest like you sleep on the floor! Besides, coming from America, you’ve probably never experienced sleeping on the floor. If you sleep on the hard floor, your shoulders will get stiff and your back will hurt, right?”
“Then would I let hyung sleep somewhere that makes your shoulders stiff and back hurt?”
“Uh…?”
Come to think of it, that was true. If it was the ‘angel Lee Juho’ that he knew, he would have gone out to sleep before ever making Dain uncomfortable.
Of course, Dain also couldn’t possibly stretch out comfortably while leaving Juho to sleep on the floor. Then what should they do? Dain’s eyes went back and forth between the bed and floor, examining them carefully.
Just from the serious expression filling his small face, Juho felt like he could tell what Dain was thinking, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Hyung, can’t we just sleep on the bed together?”
“…Together? You and me…?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t it work if we both sleep on the bed?”
Juho’s lips curved in a deeper arc as if it were an obvious solution. Dain was about to agree when he shook his head again.
“But Juho. My bed is super single size, you know?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
