“No.”
“Really? Okay then. I guess you can feel things like this too, right?”
Han Jun’s hand, which had been gently stroking the tail, slowly moved upward. Tension hung in the air, and Yi-hyeon shrank into himself, stiff with nerves, staring blankly at the long fingers traveling slowly along his tailbone.
From the tip of the tail to the root, from the root to the waist, from the waist to the back—
Four fingertips tapped and moved across Yi-hyeon’s skin as lightly as fingers brushing the surface of water. Maybe it was just his imagination, but Han Jun’s breathing, which had been steady until now, seemed to slow slightly.
Drowsy afternoon sunlight filtered through the dust-coated window, and just as sleepiness threatened to wash over him—
In that languid wave, Yi-hyeon suddenly felt an intense itch surge up, and in the end, he couldn’t help but shudder violently.
“Mm—ngh.”
Unable to endure the itch that spiked sharply, a strange sound slipped from Yi-hyeon’s mouth.
“What was that?”
When Han Jun asked, Yi-hyeon clamped his mouth shut and hurriedly shook his head.
“You just made a sound like a newborn puppy.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“No.”
When Yi-hyeon stubbornly denied it, Han Jun said they’d get an answer if he just stroked the same spot one more time and lifted Yi-hyeon’s tail again.
“Don’t—don’t do it, stop!”
Just as Yi-hyeon was about to reject Han Jun’s hand, crunch—a sound like sand being crushed underfoot reached them.
Startled, Yi-hyeon turned his head, trying to duck back into the gap—and in the process, accidentally brushed his lips lightly against Han Jun’s cheek, which had been turned toward him.
Eyes wide with shock, Yi-hyeon was about to apologize when Han Jun gently covered Yi-hyeon’s mouth with his hand and gestured toward the window with his eyes.
“Shh.”
Biting lightly into his own lips pressed against Han Jun’s palm, Yi-hyeon nodded.
After a moment, when the presence outside faded, Han Jun removed his hand and stood up. Uneasy, Yi-hyeon followed him with anxious eyes.
Han Jun carefully opened the dust-clouded window a crack and checked the surroundings, then turned back to Yi-hyeon with a look that said it was fine.
“Looks like lunch break’s over. It’d be best to go while people are moving to the field.”
“Yeah.”
The thought of being alone made Yi-hyeon feel a little lonely, and he answered in a small voice.
“If I hurry, maybe ten minutes? Ah—and if anything happens, contact me right away.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t crawl out on your own saying you’ll go by yourself. Wait.”
“Got it.”
Han Jun came back to Yi-hyeon’s side once more and tidied up the hiding place a bit more. Then he stared at Yi-hyeon, who was blankly watching him.
“Yoon Yi-hyeon.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
Yi-hyeon asked, eyes widening.
“For letting me touch your tail. For a moment, it felt like Louis was back. I was really happy.”
After saying this with wistful eyes, Han Jun left the gym storage room.
Even after the door closed and Han Jun disappeared, the scent of him—warmed by his body heat—remained behind.
“What am I supposed to do if you thank me like that…”
When I’m actually this selfish and awful. If you knew the truth, you’d……
Haa.
Left alone, Yi-hyeon stared blankly at the closed door, then carefully traced with his fingertips the spot where his lips had brushed Han Jun’s cheek. A sensation sweeter and more fragrant than the caramel Han Jun had once placed in his mouth spread from his fingertips through his entire body.
What am I supposed to do? I really don’t have the courage to tell the truth.
Letting out a low sigh, Yi-hyeon bowed his head.
***
For some reason, Han Jun—who’d said it would take about ten minutes—didn’t show up even after an hour had passed. Thinking he might’ve gotten busy, Yi-hyeon waited silently.
Then two hours passed. Three hours passed.
That was when Yi-hyeon began to worry—what if something had happened during the games?
After agonizing over it, Yi-hyeon left a message, careful not to sound like he was rushing him or becoming a burden.
1 [Nothing happened, right?]
1 [I’m not trying to rush you]
1 [I’m feeling better now, so I’m thinking of heading home soon]
1 [I was worried we might miss each other]
1 [So if you’re busy or something urgent came up]
1 [It’s really okay if you don’t come]
1 [And thanks for today]
For thirty minutes, the number 1 didn’t disappear.
If only a reply saying “okay” would come, he could leave the gym storage room with peace of mind. But since the message hadn’t even been read yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave or stay—he could only clutch his silent phone.
Only after the light streaming through the dusty window faded did Yi-hyeon finally stand up. Rubbing his numb thighs, he headed for the storage room door—then froze, eyes snapping wide at the scent drifting through the crack.
Han Jun?
He flung the door open and immediately began tracking the scent Han Jun had carried on the wind. The school, its sports festival over, was far quieter than usual.
In that stillness, Yi-hyeon spotted a man running toward the gym storage room—and a bright smile bloomed across his entire face.
Even if Han Jun had forgotten their promise. Even if he’d been too busy to reply to the message. Yi-hyeon ran toward him with a heart ready to understand anything.
“What the heck, I thought you weren’t coming!”
“How could I not come when you were waiting like this? And why are you so inflexible? If someone doesn’t show up by this time, you’re supposed to curse them out and go home, not do something this dangerous, you idiot.”
Even as Han Jun scolded him worriedly, Yi-hyeon couldn’t stop smiling.
“But you came.”
“What if I hadn’t?”
“You did, so it’s fi—”
The joy of his return lasted only a moment. Catching the metallic, sharp smell coming from Han Jun, Yi-hyeon’s upturned lips fell sharply. Normally, even accidentally brushing fingertips with Han Jun would make him blush—but now, without hesitation, Yi-hyeon grabbed Han Jun’s arm and pulled him close with force.
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
“Hold still.”
With Han Jun’s body closer to his nose, the smell grew stronger. This was—alcohol mixed with blood.
“Are you hurt?”
Yi-hyeon asked urgently.
“No?”
Han Jun answered casually. But there was no way Yi-hyeon could mistake the smell of blood coming from him. As Yi-hyeon began frantically checking him over with a worried expression, Han Jun told him to stop with an awkward look—yet didn’t firmly push him away.
“Don’t lie. You smell like antiseptic and blood.”
“Whoa, that’s insane. Seriously, just become a detective. You could probably solve twenty percent of cold cases.”
Yi-hyeon’s chest was burning up, yet the injured one was joking around, and it irritated him to no end. If he was hurt badly enough to smell like blood, why did he even come here? Yi-hyeon was on the verge of snapping at him.
“Is this funny to you right now?”
“If I cry about how much it hurts, will you blow on it for me? Then I’ll cry.”
“Stop joking around. How badly are you hurt? What happened? No—if you’re injured, you should’ve gone to the hospital! Why would you come here?”
So this was what it felt like when someone you liked got hurt.
When Yi-hyeon had injured his arm in an accident, or even when he’d fallen down the stairs and broken his ankle, it hadn’t hurt this much. But now, his chest throbbed as if it were being gouged out with a long nail.
“I went to the hospital and got treated. And how could I not come? I promised you. Ah—sorry I couldn’t contact you earlier. I lost my phone.”
Yi-hyeon’s throat tightened.
“What are you even apologizing for? You got hurt and still came all this way—what do you have to be sorry to me about……?”
If he was hurt badly enough to need the hospital, he should’ve ignored a promise like this and gone home to rest instead of coming here like an idiot.
To hide his burning eyes, Yi-hyeon had no choice but to lower his head.
But Han Jun, quick to notice, didn’t give him time to calm himself or swallow back his tears.
“What—are you crying? No, I’m the one who got hurt, so why are you crying……?”
Han Jun asked, flustered at the sight of Yi-hyeon standing there with reddened eyes—but Yi-hyeon, who had been struggling to suppress his emotions, couldn’t bring himself to voice the heaviness in his heart.
