Chapter 76
I had no strength in my body and the world was spinning. I barely managed to grab hold of my hazy consciousness and open my eyes to see a bluish light coming through the broken window. I lay in bed, staring blankly. It seemed to be dawn. With my foggy head, I looked around and pulled up the blanket that had slipped down, wrapping myself in it. My whole body ached and my throat hurt.
Was it the flu? Why did everything hurt so much? As I examined myself, I gradually recalled what I’d forgotten. The member pushing inside me and me gasping between sobs. I hurriedly tried to sit up, then grabbed my waist and curled into a ball. My entire body flushed red with embarrassment.
“I’ve lost my mind…”
I banged my head against the bed repeatedly, groaning. Given how clean my body was despite all that happened, Doyun must have wiped me down. He seemed to have changed the bedding too…
But Doyun was nowhere to be seen. I lifted my head slightly to look around the room. The door was slightly open, but I couldn’t hear any sound from outside. Wrapping the blanket around myself, I checked every corner of the house. Doyun wasn’t in the children’s room where they were still sound asleep, nor in the living room, nor in the kitchen. Where could he have gone?
I felt anxious not seeing Doyun, but he might have gone to take care of the clothes and wet bedding. I carefully crawled back into the master bedroom bed. I wanted to check the other floors too, but the unspeakable part of me hurt too much to move any further. I rubbed my face once more, tightly closed my eyes and then opened them. I really did it with Doyun… we had s-se…
“Augh!”
I writhed again and rolled myself tightly in the blanket. Perhaps because I was so tired, once I wrapped myself in something soft, sleep quickly overcame me. It didn’t feel like I’d fallen deeply asleep, but when I opened my eyes after dozing off briefly, there was a warm arm around my waist. The room was a bit brighter than when I first woke up. Was it around 5 AM now? When I turned my head to look beside me, I saw a handsome face.
His good-looking face with tightly closed eyes looked so beautiful as he slept. Without realizing it, I swallowed dryly and gently stroked his hair. Unlike my somewhat stiff hair, his felt incredibly soft in my hand. I stared, entranced, as his eyebrows twitched. His dark eyes appeared softly between his thick eyelashes.
“…Are you awake?”
He smiled slightly at me, then tightly hugged my waist and nuzzled his face against my neck. I flinched at the ticklish sensation, then gently embraced him back. When we first entered the forest, I never imagined I’d end up like this with Doyun… My chest felt fluttery and my fingers tensed.
“Let’s sleep a bit more.”
Doyun spoke as he rubbed his face against my shoulder again, as if having a sleepy fit. It was incredibly affectionate, but it was difficult to fully accept given how he had thrust himself inside me. I still felt like something was stuck inside me, so I lightly rubbed my lower abdomen. My face burned and my throat felt dry.
“…Where did you go at dawn?”
“I took care of the blankets and clothes, and washed up a bit. Were you awake?”
“Just briefly. When I got up, you weren’t here…”
“Ah…”
Doyun chuckled softly and tightened his arm around my waist. As our bodies pressed closer together, I cleared my throat awkwardly, then tried to get up from the bed, feeling embarrassed about being naked alone. But the arm around my waist wouldn’t let me go. I tried to break free a couple more times, but his arm didn’t budge.
I half gave up and studied Doyun’s face. He looked strangely languid today, like someone who had eaten their fill. As I curiously examined this unfamiliar expression, I remembered what I’d seen before passing out.
“Do you need anything?”
Doyun asked, perhaps misinterpreting my gaze. I pondered how to phrase this. Your eyes turned completely black and you choked me. Honestly, I was completely out of my mind, so I couldn’t tell if what I saw was a hallucination or reality. Just recalling it made my face flush with heat. I fumbled to touch my neck.
“Does your throat hurt?”
“A little…”
“Maybe it’s because you screamed so much…”
Doyun gently stroked my neck with a concerned expression. His face was completely different from when he had choked me with those blackened eyes. So it was a hallucination after all.
“Your neck is a bit red.”
“…Is it?”
“Yesterday, Seongho was so… um, sensitive that you scratched it too…”
His words made me snap to attention and feel embarrassed. I couldn’t remember what happened after seeing that hallucination. I didn’t even know if Doyun had finished. My stomach felt heavy, but I wasn’t sure if it was from being stirred up inside or from him coming inside… As I continued these embarrassing thoughts, I buried my face in his chest. Doyun gently stroked my head and asked what was wrong, but I couldn’t answer right away. After hesitating for a while, I asked him.
“…How was it for you?”
“For me?”
I was too overwhelmed by pleasure and sensation to observe how Doyun felt. Honestly, I wasn’t in any state to look… What if I was the only one who enjoyed it? Worrying, I gently caressed the arm around my waist.
I had thought we would take our relationship slowly… but we rushed through to sex, which made me feel strange. It had only been a few days since I was happy that our feelings were mutual, and now this happened. I was gnawing on my lips when Doyun pressed his lips against mine, preventing me from biting them. In the past, he would have used his fingers to stop me. With a flushed face, I closed my eyes feeling his tongue press against my lips.
“It was fascinating.”
His unexpected answer made me open my eyes slightly to look at him.
“Doing it with me?”
“Yes.”
Not good or bad, but fascinating… I looked at him with a dubious expression. Doyun said it was his first time with a man too, so was that it? The fascination of realizing it was possible, rather than the pleasure? Something like that?
“And it felt good.”
My uneasy thoughts melted away at his single statement. More than anything, Doyun was smiling beautifully right in front of me. Perhaps because I thought of us as dating now, his face seemed to shine even more brightly than before. He was so handsome. To think this was my boyfriend. Without realizing it, I gently caressed his face, and he smiled with his eyes and pressed his lips against my palm.
“It feels like I’ve eaten something delicious to the point of overflowing.”
“Am I food?”
I laughed at the absurdity, and Doyun laughed along as he carefully caressed my shoulder.
“Really. I’ve been feeling hungry all this time…”
He gently bit my shoulder. It didn’t hurt, just felt like a light scratch, so I hunched my shoulder at the ticklish sensation.
“Today I feel full.”
He looked so refreshed saying that, I couldn’t bring myself to scold him. I touched my warm ears and grumbled. Well, some people do compare sex to food… so that’s his preference. I felt more embarrassed myself and turned my head away, but Doyun whispered again as he caressed my stomach.
“Maybe that’s why. It’s harder to wait.”
Wait for what? Before I could turn to look at him, his soft, warm lips pressed firmly against my temple. It stung briefly, as if from static electricity. As I reached to touch my temple, Doyun rubbed his face against my hand and pressed his body against mine again.
* * *
“Uncle.”
“…Yeah?”
“You’re walking weird.”
I laughed softly and hid my face. I had tried to appear as normal as possible to the kids, but… that unspeakable place was stinging, and I must have been walking awkwardly without realizing it. My face flushed as perceptive Seungwoo pointed it out.
“Uncle, aren’t you hungry?”
Seungwoo’s question made me lift my head suddenly. I realized I’d forgotten to feed the kids. As I hurriedly got up, I noticed a savory aroma filling the air. I was surprised to see the bowls of food in the children’s hands and asked.
“What are you eating?”
“Um, fried rice. The mister made it.”
“Mister?”
I hobbled down to the second floor. Since the ventilation was poor, all the cooking was done on the second floor, and Doyun seemed to have realized this as he stood in front of the stove looking at a frying pan.
“Doyun.”
“You’re up? Eat quickly.”
He handed me a bowl as I approached. It contained fried rice made with canned food. It was the first proper meal I’d seen since entering the forest. I hastily shoved a spoonful into my mouth, then cleared my throat awkwardly when I saw Doyun’s smile.
“Is it good?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. You need to eat well to have energy for the nights ahead.”
“Kack!”
A rice grain went down the wrong way.
“Cough, cack, hack!”
“Oh dear, eat slowly.”
Doyun patted my back with a worried face and handed me a bottle of water. I hurriedly drank it and sighed with relief, then noticed Doyun adding more rice to my bowl.
“…Doyun, isn’t this too much rice?”
“You haven’t been eating properly, so you should eat well when you have the chance.”
That’s true, but… I was happy he was taking care of me, but his earlier comment made me feel oddly uncomfortable. It’s not like he was fattening me up to eat me, but to make me stronger for… The memory of what we did made my appetite disappear. I had some idea of how men did it, but experiencing it physically was too difficult. As I smiled awkwardly and continued eating, I realized Jang Jae-gyeong still hadn’t returned.
“Jae-gyeong still hasn’t come back?”
Doyun nodded with a smile. I had worried he might be completely ignoring him like Jae-gyeong did, but Doyun’s response reassured me. I sighed as I looked out the window. Even though I thought he would be fine since he was good at taking care of himself, anxiety kept welling up inside me. As I put down my rice and just chewed my lips, Doyun placed the bowl back in my hands and patted my back.
“He’s the kind of person who would survive even if you threw him somewhere, so don’t worry too much and eat first. I’m sure he’s enjoying a good meal somewhere.”
My worry dissipated and laughter burst out. It was funny and amusing how they spoke similarly about each other despite their mutual dislike. I nodded and carefully ate my rice.
“Come to think of it, we don’t have much food left, do we? I think we need to go to the convenience store and get more.”
“Ah, I’ll go.”
I grabbed him as he naturally stood up and waved my hands.
“How are you going to enter alone, Doyun? I should go with you.”
“But… you look like you’re having trouble walking.”
My face turned bright red. I mumbled with my head down.
“I’m fine. It’s just temporary, that… part is a bit sore.”
“Ah…”
Silence fell between us for a moment. After a while, Doyun said he understood and told me to finish my meal first. I couldn’t meet his brightly smiling face and just bowed my head as I shoveled rice into my mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
