Chapter 38
As their bodies drew closer, Juha’s body naturally fell backward. Taeri climbed on top of him.
After kissing his lips, he sucked and pulled at his cheeks and earlobes before spitting them out, then Taeri’s lips came down along his neck with little kisses. How could he find the soft and weak spots so expertly? Every time his lips touched, Juha’s body trembled.
“Lee Juha, you owe me something, don’t you?”
“Hng, what?”
He wished Taeri would continue doing what he was doing now instead of talking about other things.
Unaware of Juha’s feelings, Taeri opened his mouth with meaningful words.
“I taught you to dance, and you said you’d repay me.”
At Taeri’s words, Juha’s eyes flew open.
“Th-that, you want to collect now?”
It wasn’t something he could pretend not to know.
Thanks to him teaching dance, Juha had beaten Taeri and passed the death match.
“Then when will you repay me?”
“What… do you want?”
Juha’s pupils shook tremblingly.
“What could it be?”
Taeri enjoyed the frightened gaze and spoke in circles.
“Qu-quickly tell me.”
When Juha urged him, Taeri’s lips moved toward his ear. The moment Taeri’s low voice whispered something, Juha’s pupils froze white.
“Yo-you want me to do that?”
“I won’t accept refusal.”
Taeri said with a grin.
Juha swallowed his dry saliva and looked at Taeri. Then, Taeri ostentatiously got up and sat on the sofa. With a cast on one foot, leaning back against the sofa like a king, heat-filled anticipation appeared in Taeri’s eyes.
“Hmm…”
As a low moan flowed from Taeri’s mouth, Juha got up from the floor as if enchanted and stood in front of Taeri.
* * *
“Mm…”
The first thing he faced upon opening his eyes was Choi Taeri, who was sleeping while holding Juha tightly. Seeing Taeri sleeping peacefully, a smile naturally appeared on Juha’s face. Though his appearance and build were manly, he was beautiful in everything – sleeping, eating, dancing, and even in bed.
He couldn’t believe that such a beautiful person liked him.
When Juha stirred, Taeri slowly lifted his eyelids.
“You’re beautiful, Choi Taeri. I wish you were mine.”
Juha murmured while stroking Taeri’s cheek. Taeri took Juha’s hand and kissed it repeatedly.
“I’m yours, so don’t even think about running away from my side.”
“I won’t run away.”
Juha smiled and lightly kissed Taeri. When Taeri pulled Juha closer, their skin rubbed against each other.
Unlike his masculine muscular body, Taeri’s skin was soft. Touching and rubbing against it brought infinite peace to his mind.
Because that touch felt so good, Juha kept rubbing his body against Taeri. The fact that only he could see this sight, only he could feel this touch, made Juha newly satisfied.
“How did something like this roll into my life?”
Juha grinned and teased Taeri.
“Hmm, rolling? Are you seducing me again from the morning?”
Taeri whispered lowly while embracing Juha’s neck.
“You give in too easily.”
Juha giggled and turned his body away as if escaping. Unable to stand it, Taeri suddenly hugged him from behind.
‘Huh?’
As his body was pulled back by Taeri’s strength, Juha felt a heavy dull pain in his head.
“Wait a moment.”
Juha loosened Taeri’s arms and supported himself on the bed with his hands. When he raised his upper body, he suddenly felt dizzy. Before his feet could even touch the floor, Juha collapsed back onto the bed with a thud. Taeri was startled and caught him.
“Lee Juha, are you hurt?”
“I’m just a bit dizzy.”
Before Juha could touch his forehead, Taeri had already covered his forehead completely with his palm.
“I think you have a fever?”
“Really?”
Juha asked faintly and touched his forehead. He could feel a slight fever filling his palm.
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful, I was a bit too rough.”
Like someone who had committed a crime, Taeri’s eyes drooped down. Seeing him act as if it was only his fault when they had done it together was cute but also made his heart ache.
“It’s okay. It was good.”
Juha stroked Taeri’s face and comforted him. Still, the worry that remained in his eyes didn’t disappear easily.
“Should I buy you some porridge?”
“No. I should go home. My parents will worry too.”
When Juha spoke, Taeri’s gaze fell disappointedly.
No matter how much he liked Choi Taeri, he didn’t want to groan and suffer in someone else’s house in this condition. Above all, if he stayed here like this, Taeri would probably be restless all the time with that guilty look in his eyes.
“I really have to go. If I go home and sleep well, I’ll get better quickly.”
Juha forced himself to act okay, got up, and picked up his clothes to put them on. Taeri hurriedly put on his clothes behind him.
“I’ll take you.”
“I can just take a taxi.”
“Still. What’s your address?”
He just wanted to go downstairs and catch a taxi, but he didn’t have the energy to argue. His head was dizzy and he had no strength in his body at all. Thanks to enjoying themselves all night yesterday without thinking about the aftermath, his body was full of feverish heat.
When Juha gave his home address, Taeri called a taxi.
Soon the taxi arrived and the two got into the taxi side by side.
After the taxi started and confirming that the driver was looking straight ahead, Taeri carefully took Juha’s hand. Juha slid down and leaned against Taeri’s shoulder. He thought it would be hard since he was muscular and had a large frame, but for some reason, Taeri’s shoulder was softer than a teddy bear. Juha’s eyes closed pleasantly.
Choi Taeri was truly a mysterious person.
From afar, he looked strong and confident, but up close, he had aspects like a baby kitten abandoned in the rain.
Born into a well-off family and equipped with both talent and looks at the highest level, it was too unexpected to see this side of Choi Taeri.
Juha even liked the contrast between Taeri’s strong appearance that wouldn’t even provoke competitive spirit and his endlessly weak side. With his eyes closed, thinking about this the whole time, Juha dozed off.
“We’re here.”
“We’re here. Juha.”
At the taxi driver’s words, Taeri gently stroked his cheek and woke Juha up.
“Mmm…”
Taeri carefully lifted Juha’s head and helped him get out.
Juha staggered out of the car with half-closed eyes. When he came to his senses, they were in front of his apartment building’s main entrance.
“I can go by myself now, so you go straight home.”
“Let me take you to your front door…”
Juha pressed down on Taeri, who was trying to get out after him, and pushed him back into the taxi.
“It’s fine. It’s not that bad. Driver, please go back to where you came from.”
Juha shouted to the taxi driver and then closed the door. Taeri in the car window looked at Juha quietly. Looking at him with watery eyes as if he didn’t want to part, his heart ached for no reason.
“Go quickly.”
Afraid his heart would weaken if he stayed any longer, Juha hurriedly waved goodbye.
As the car started and slowly picked up speed, Taeri rolled down the window and said something. Since he was speaking with lip movements, it couldn’t be heard clearly.
“What?”
When Juha asked back, Taeri spoke again.
‘I love you.’
With eyes that looked like they were about to cry, Taeri’s lips moved.
The moment he confirmed those words, forgetting even his pain, Juha’s mind went blank.
The taxi carrying Taeri went down the hill road and soon disappeared onto the main street. Taeri clung to the taxi window the entire time, looking only at Juha until his neck turned. Juha also stood in a daze, watching him disappear.
Every moment moved slowly. Like being deaf, the situation reflected in his eyes felt unreal.
‘I love you.’
After acknowledging each other’s feelings, Juha and Taeri had exchanged words of liking each other many times. Even those words still didn’t stick to his mouth, so Juha put deep emotion into every time he said he liked him.
A man liking a man, and conveying those feelings within a jungle-like audition program, wasn’t easy. Juha wanted to convey to Taeri his sincere feelings of liking him enough to consume even all that burden.
But suddenly Choi Taeri had made an tremendous confession.
He had thought the words ‘I love you’ were just an upgraded version of ‘I like you,’ but actually hearing those words made his heart race as if a major event had occurred.
Could this be an emotion they could have when they had known each other for barely even a month?
However, Choi Taeri was someone who might joke around but would never speak empty words.
‘How much do I like Choi Taeri?’
Though the size of emotions couldn’t be measured by quantity, certainly Juha’s current feelings toward Taeri were of a size he had never experienced before. If feelings of liking reached a certain mass or volume, was it okay to say the word ‘love’? If so, did Taeri have the qualification to use the words ‘I love you’ because he had reached that point?
Juha’s mind became complicated enough to forget that his body was sick.
Ring ring ring.
At the sudden ringing of his phone, Juha suddenly came to his senses. It was his mother.
“Yes, mom.”
-Where are you?
“In front of the house.”
-Mom is going to Aunt Miyoung’s, so make sure to eat. And if you’re going to stay out overnight, at least send a text.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m going in now.”
Juha hung up the phone and entered the apartment’s main entrance.
With even his mother out on a weekday afternoon, the house was completely empty. Juha led his dizzy body to take a shower. Though he had showered after finishing their relationship yesterday, since they had been kissing until right before falling asleep, it felt like Taeri’s lip texture was still all over his body. He was still dizzy, but after washing up, he seemed to feel a bit better.
When he came out of the bathroom, he could see the food his mother had left on the dining table, but he had no appetite. Juha went into his room, shook his hair dry, lay down, and picked up his phone.
Since Juha had surprisingly good stamina, there were many years when he didn’t catch a single cold. Even if the stress from the group stay and competition was severe, suddenly developing a fever like this was different from Juha’s usual physical condition.
It was fortunate that the break was 2 weeks, or his condition would have been affected if it had been shorter.
Juha threw his phone aside and closed his eyes. Lying in his room, he naturally fell asleep.
* * *
“Hey, Lee Juha. Wake up quickly, it’s time for the live broadcast.”
His younger sister Yunha burst into his room, causing Juha to open his eyes with a start. He had slept for two or three hours after coming home. He ate in his sleep and fell asleep again, then woke up to find it dark outside. He had forgotten while making a fuss with Taeri yesterday, but today was the broadcast day for episode 3.
‘How many hours did I sleep?’
It was past 10 PM, long after the sun had set. When he checked his phone for the time, there was a text from Choi Taeri.
[Choi Taeri: Are you feeling better?]
[Lee Juha: Yeah]
Just as he was about to continue writing, Yunha knocked on the door urgently.
“Come out quickly!”
“Got it.”
Juha put his phone in his pocket and got up. After sleeping well, his body felt light.
In the living room, his mother and father were already sitting on the sofa, focused on the TV showing commercials. Meanwhile, Yunha received the delivered chicken and put it on the living room table.
“Come sit here.”
His father tapped the seat next to him on the sofa and spoke to Juha.
His family had so opposed him going on the audition, but seeing them all gathered to watch the live broadcast he was on made him feel embarrassed.
“It’s starting!”
Yunha poured cola quickly and gulped it down urgently.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
