***
Contrary to Kang-woo’s worries, Seok-ho soon fell asleep again. The lullaby that had continued for a while gradually faded, and steady breathing began to sound above his head. Kang-woo slowly lifted his head, his eyes wide open.
“Hyung… are you asleep…?”
Doubting his own ears, he cautiously called out to him, but no answer came back.
“…Hyung?”
Even when he called again, Seok-ho only briefly tightened the muscles between his brows without opening his eyes. Kang-woo’s strength drained out of him, yet at the same time he felt relieved. He had been racking his brain over how to resolve this awkward situation.
Only after confirming several times that Seok-ho had truly fallen into a deep sleep did Kang-woo carefully slip off his body. Quietly suppressing his footsteps, he went straight back to the room. Then he crawled under the disheveled blanket and placed a hand over the left side of his chest.
His heart was still pounding like crazy.
The aftermath of the kiss had completely chased away his sleep. His eyes were far too wide awake.
It had been his first kiss.
And not just with anyone—his first kiss with the person he had a crush on.
Worse, it had happened after he got caught trying to steal a kiss, turning into an accidental first kiss.
The back of him was still damp, and a ticklish sensation lingered in his lower abdomen. His attention kept drifting to embarrassing places, and his toes curled for no reason.
It was embarrassing.
People said those in their twenties were full of passion, but even so, feeling this much from just one kiss made him feel both unfamiliar with himself and a little dazed.
The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind. The rough breathing, the dense, intoxicating kiss. Seok-ho’s large hand slipping under his clothes.
Just remembering it made him damp again below.
At the same time, his hand kept wanting to drift toward his center.
Kang-woo shook his head from side to side, forcefully pushing the thoughts away.
When it came to sex, he had always been rather indifferent. Even when he was forced to hang around Baek Kyung-wook’s group—who constantly blabbered about dirty topics—he had only found them pathetic. He had never once listened with any real interest.
From the beginning, he had never been particularly curious about sex. He rarely masturbated either. He didn’t go looking up pornographic videos.
Which meant that a situation this stimulating was completely new to him.
It was confusing.
Why had Seok-ho kissed him?
They weren’t dating. They weren’t even in that ambiguous “some” stage.
Was it old-fashioned to even worry about something like this? Was he overreacting?
He had kissed Seok-ho, and things had almost gone further—but that was all.
What era did they live in now? The time when people talked about taking responsibility for a single kiss had long passed. These days, people even said relationships sometimes started with sex first.
Right. That could happen.
…But even if that was the case for others, Seok-ho wasn’t just anyone to him.
Kang-woo definitely liked him. And because of that, he couldn’t help but harbor a bit of hope.
Maybe Seok-ho likes me too.
But Kang-woo also knew that such hope was nothing more than cruel torture for himself.
Judging by Seok-ho’s state, there was a high chance he wouldn’t even remember what had happened last night by tomorrow.
How am I supposed to face hyung from now on?
His head ached. Having never experienced anything like this before, he couldn’t sort out his thoughts at all.
After tossing and turning for a while with the blanket pulled over his head, Kang-woo grabbed his phone and lay on his stomach on the bed.
[Drunk and kissed]
He typed it out, hesitated, and then pressed the search button.
He had no friend he could ask for advice, so even if it was an unreliable method, this was the only way he had to satisfy his curiosity for now.
He searched through the portal site diligently. None of the stories matched his situation perfectly, but there were a few that were similar.
[Q: I got drunk and kissed someone]
—We’re just acquaintances, but we were drinking together and ended up kissing while drunk ㅠㅠ The next day it was awkward so I didn’t say anything, but it seems like they don’t even remember…ㅠㅠ It keeps bothering me. Should I bring it up? Or should I just keep pretending not to know like I am now?? It was probably just a meaningless drunken kiss for them, right??
Kang-woo quickly read through the replies under the post that caught his eye the most.
—If someone’s drunk, pecks or kisses are just drunken antics. Don’t overthink it.
—If they don’t even remember, why bother bringing it up?
—You really think they don’t remember…? They probably just regret it and are pretending they don’t know. You should pretend not to know too…
Kang-woo’s expression darkened further.
“…Was hyung’s kiss just drunken behavior too?”
Two thoughts clashed in his mind.
It could happen.
But also…
Even so, how can a kiss just be drunken behavior?
In the end, Kang-woo stayed awake the rest of the night with his eyes wide open. Only after seeing the morning sun rise did he finally fall asleep.
But even that lasted only a short while.
***
When he opened his eyes again, not even two hours had passed.
Kang-woo got out of bed and hesitated in front of the door for a long time. Finally gathering the courage to step into the living room, he saw that Seok-ho—who had been sleeping on the sofa—was gone. The sound of running water came from the bathroom.
Walking over to the kitchen sink, Kang-woo splashed some water onto his messy hair to roughly tidy it up, then picked up a mug.
He planned to make honey water.
Whenever his father came home after an important gathering, the housekeeper would always prepare honey water for his hangover.
After filling the mug with lukewarm water from the purifier, Kang-woo added two spoonfuls of honey with a plastic spoon. Then he sliced a piece of lemon and dropped it in as well.
He had heard that doing so improved the detox effect. He gently stirred the contents so they would mix well.
Right then, the bathroom door opened.
His eyes met Seok-ho’s, whose hair was still dripping wet. At the same time, the events of dawn flashed rapidly through Kang-woo’s mind.
“Slept in.”
While Kang-woo was wondering what he should say first, Seok-ho greeted him casually as if nothing had happened. Studying his expression, Kang-woo nodded.
“…I went to bed a bit late yesterday.”
As he mumbled the answer, his cheeks heated up for no reason. The spoon in his hand began stirring faster along with it.
Seok-ho nodded without saying anything, but suddenly frowned.
“What’s wrong with this?”
He strode toward Kang-woo and reached out. His fingertip touched Kang-woo’s lips.
“Huh?”
“Why do your lips look like that?”
When Kang-woo asked in confusion, Seok-ho pressed him in a voice that had dropped frighteningly low.
Kang-woo unconsciously traced the spot Seok-ho’s finger had touched with his tongue. At the same time, something caught at the tip of it.
What is this?
After pondering for a moment, a quiet sigh escaped him. It was the wound left when their teeth had collided last night.
If he was asking about this, then it probably meant…
The moment he finished assessing the situation, Kang-woo hesitated.
Should he tell the truth, or just brush it off with an excuse?
“Did you go outside alone?”
Seok-ho seemed to interpret his hesitation in a different direction. His voice dropped even lower than before as he shot him a sharp look.
“No.”
Kang-woo hurriedly shook his head.
He thought he understood what Seok-ho was misunderstanding. Perhaps he thought Kang-woo had gone out alone again and run into those students from school who had caused trouble before.
“Then what is this?”
“I accidentally bumped into something at home.”
Kang-woo muttered vaguely while avoiding his gaze. He had no idea what kind of idiot would injure themselves like this at home, but he couldn’t think of any other excuse.
Of course, as expected, Seok-ho didn’t accept it easily. Instead, his expression twisted into something even more severe than before.
“Accidentally?”
“…Yes. I think I hit the wall in my sleep.”
“You really…”
He let out a sigh.
“How bad are your sleeping habits that you get injured like this?”
Being stared at like that by the very person who had caused the injury felt a bit unfair, but what could he do? Now that he had lied, he couldn’t suddenly confess the truth.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt.”
Kang-woo muttered quietly and leaned his head back slightly.
But Seok-ho’s expression showed no sign of easing. He kept staring at Kang-woo’s lips with dissatisfaction, as if he himself had been injured.
Actually… even if Seok-ho had been the one hurt, Kang-woo doubted he would react this sensitively.
“Still, you shouldn’t let it scar. You need to put medicine on it.”
While Kang-woo was lost in thought, Seok-ho released his chin and began rummaging through the living room drawer.
For some reason, Kang-woo felt like a criminal and could only stand there awkwardly holding the mug.
Seok-ho soon found some ointment and cotton swabs, then sat down on the sofa. When Kang-woo continued standing in the middle of the living room blankly staring, Seok-ho gestured to the seat beside him.
“What are you doing? Sit next to me already.”
Only after receiving the urging look did Kang-woo hurry over.
“Hyung, this is honey wa—”
Just as he sat down beside him and tried to hand over the honey water, his chin was grabbed.
“Don’t move.”
The command was firm.
“Don’t move.”
The deep memory of last night overlapped with those words, and Kang-woo froze instantly.
The cotton swab coated with sticky ointment touched his split lip. The wound had already formed a hard scab, so it didn’t sting when the swab touched it.
If it had hurt a little, maybe his attention would have shifted elsewhere. But because it didn’t hurt at all, his focus wandered.
He quietly watched Seok-ho’s lowered eyes as he concentrated on the wound. Perhaps because he was aware that Seok-ho was looking at him, the act of breathing in and out suddenly felt overly noticeable.
At the same time, the kiss from dawn kept resurfacing in his mind. It felt as if Seok-ho might lean in and kiss him again at any moment.
Strangely, Seok-ho’s movements also seemed slower than necessary.
…Though, of course, it was probably all just Kang-woo’s imagination.
It should be done by now.
He thought that, but if he moved his lips he might interrupt him, so Kang-woo stayed silent, only rolling his eyes around.
After enduring the slow passage of time for a while, the hand finally withdrew.
“Put ointment on it every day until it heals.”
“…Okay.”
Kang-woo obediently accepted the ointment Seok-ho handed him.
Even then, Seok-ho’s gaze remained fixed on him for quite a while. Just as Kang-woo began wondering about that sticky stare, Seok-ho spoke.
“So what were you trying to say earlier?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Kang-woo remember. He quickly held out the cup of honey water.
“Here, drink this.”
“What is it?”
