Episode 32
It was a sharp, pointed remark. Sadly, it wasn’t an insult. Woo Gi-bbeum, Woo Hyun-se, and even Woo Ji-hye, the youngest who received all of the old man’s affection, were all in the same position as stud horses in this family.
Woo Hyun-se just laughed. Now he understood why Woo Gi-bbeum had come all the way out here to smoke.
“Don’t worry about unnecessary things yourself, sis. And ‘hookups’? What kind of cheap language is that for a gallery director?”
Even when Woo Hyun-se mocked her, Woo Gi-bbeum didn’t bat an eye. As if she had finished her business, she just tapped the car body twice. It was a signal that he could go now. Woo Hyun-se, not wanting to get further entangled, waved his hand as if shooing away a bird and rolled up the window completely.
He came down the steep hill and entered the main road. Only when he was stopped at a red light at an intersection did he pick up his phone. There was just a single message from Kwon Si-yul saying, “I’m up.”
With his hand on the steering wheel, Woo Hyun-se stared at that message. Even though it was just text, the voice seemed to burrow into his ears like an auditory hallucination. Perhaps it was because he had heard it so much last night.
“…”
He had doubted whether he could get aroused by a man, but it turned out to be a completely unfounded worry. They had good chemistry. The body beneath him was seductive. The skin was fair and smooth, but the elbows, knees, lower parts, nipples, and heels were strawberry milk pink. There was only peach fuzz for body hair under the arms and down below, making him momentarily question if he was really an adult and feel a pang of conscience.
But it was truly just for a blink of an eye, and the moment he touched Kwon Si-yul’s body, any conscience he thought he had evaporated without a trace. After all, Kwon Si-yul was an adult. He clearly remembered the date of birth printed on his ID.
Though not skillful, it was clear he had been touched by others before. Every time fingertips grazed him, his nape, cheeks, and ears would turn bright red, and he would writhe and whimper. He was tearful and wet. He would get hard at the slightest touch and leak profusely with just a little stimulation.
Woo Hyun-se had wondered if he would even feel it when inserted, but Kwon Si-yul had taken in the whole length that others had complained was difficult to take, raised his hips until it touched his stomach, and climaxed. The image of Kwon Si-yul trembling, eyes tightly shut and gripping the sheets, was vivid in his mind.
The young one was quite brazen.
Though it was vexing, Woo Hyun-se wasn’t in a position to criticize. If Kwon Si-yul was used goods, then he himself was a worn-out rag. He had never cared about others’ pasts and wasn’t the type to do so anyway…
“…Still, he’s too young.”
Despite having fooled around at an even younger age himself, Woo Hyun-se clicked his tongue as if scolding a dog that had gotten into something. Irritation rose up to his throat. If he could, he wanted to open up Kwon Si-yul’s head and erase all the nights he had spent with others before, and make it so those people could never stand on two feet on this earth again.
Isn’t this kind of thinking too childish? Even in his days of partying without regard for day and night, he had never had such delusions. This was like, what, an old man going crazy with jealousy after taking a young concubine. Woo Hyun-se bitterly laughed at his own state.
His fingers hovered over the keypad as if contemplating whether to send a reply. But instead of sending a message, Woo Hyun-se brought up the number on the screen. When he pressed the call button, the dial tone started.
He tapped the steering wheel in rhythm with the intermittent dial tone. Five times, six times… Just when he thought Kwon Si-yul wouldn’t answer, a proper “Hello?” filled the car. The voice overlapped with the sounds he had forcibly extracted while tormenting him in the early morning, and Woo Hyun-se smiled, resting his cheek on the back of his hand on the steering wheel. It still seemed a bit hoarse.
“Mr. Kwon Si-yul, isn’t it too cold to just send a message like that after spending the night together?”
By then, the red light had turned green. Woo Hyun-se stepped on the accelerator while making what sounded like a complaint. With the clear voice resonating in the car, the unpleasantness and stress that hadn’t been relieved by a single cigarette instantly vanished.
* * *
Unless there was something special, Woo Hyun-se would come to pick Si-yul up in front of the store. It was useless for Si-yul to tell him not to come. Even when Si-yul worried about Manager Kang finding out, Woo Hyun-se brazenly said it didn’t matter if everyone knew. He would often wait in front of the convenience store, temptingly waving that yogurt drink as bait for Si-yul.
Once, Si-yul had tried to sneak home early but was caught on the way. Despite Woo Hyun-se honking from behind, he pretended not to know and kept driving slowly, hugging the shoulder of the road while calling out to Si-yul.
‘Why don’t you just get in?’
‘I said I’m walking.’
He had clearly notified by text. That he was going home early today because he had something to do, that he would walk. Still, Woo Hyun-se appeared like a ghost that materializes at that time.
‘It’s far.’
‘It’s not far.’
‘Then shall we go to your house together like this?’
It was dawn, so it wasn’t a major obstruction to traffic, but there weren’t absolutely no people around. Delivery bikes and occasional taxis passing by would curse, “Hey, you crazy bastard!” Woo Hyun-se remained unfazed by such insults. He was just eagerly waiting for Si-yul to get in.
Worried that someone might call the police, Si-yul had given up and gotten into the car. That was just recently. Since then, when Woo Hyun-se appeared, Si-yul would sit in the passenger seat without a word. He had learned firsthand that resistance was futile.
“I need to go home early today.”
Si-yul spoke up before Woo Hyun-se could say anything. Lately, Kwon Yuwon had been giving him disapproving looks because he kept coming home late every time they met. Sometimes Kwon Yuwon would wait up until Si-yul came home, then open his sleepy eyes wide and demand to know what he had been doing to come home so late.
It would be okay to honestly say that he had recently started seeing someone, but the problem was that the partner was an alpha. The moment Kwon Yuwon learned of the partner’s nature, it was clear he would cause an uproar, grabbing a knife and threatening to slit the person’s throat.
‘Didn’t I tell you! That alphas! Are not allowed!’
He would shout while bulging the veins in his eyes and beating his own back. Even though he hadn’t actually heard it, the voice was so vivid it made his eardrums hurt. Si-yul shuddered and rubbed both his arms.
It would be fine if Woo Hyun-se just dropped him off in front of his house, but he wouldn’t let Si-yul go right away. Despite the late hour, he would keep him for at least an hour, two hours, sometimes until dawn was breaking.
They weren’t just doing lewd things. Sometimes they would just sink into the seats and listen to the radio, or sit on a park bench drinking beer for Si-yul and other drinks for Woo Hyun-se.
“Then just one hour.”
“No.”
“That’s too harsh.”
Dissatisfaction clouded his furrowed brows. Feeling a tickle of laughter about to burst out, Si-yul quickly bit his lip. Looking at the clock in the car, it was 2:30 AM. Thinking it would be okay as long as it wasn’t later than his usual return time, and swayed by the other’s expression that clearly showed disappointment, Si-yul quietly held up three fingers.
“Then 30 minutes.”
“How about three hours?”
“Why is it increasing? I said no.”
“You’re so cold.”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll go in now.”
It was only about a 10-minute walk to the inn anyway. Woo Hyun-se silently turned the steering wheel. That was his answer.
“Come here.”
After parking the car in a secluded spot, Woo Hyun-se patted his thigh. Si-yul shook his head.
Since spending the night together, Woo Hyun-se seemed to have lost all inhibitions and would naturally reach out when no one was looking. He would touch Si-yul’s cheek, fiddle with his earlobe, trace his eyebrow with his fingertip, and when Si-yul turned to look, he would press his lips to his forehead. Every time Si-yul would startle and look around, Woo Hyun-se would smile brightly like a boy, as if pleased that his prank had worked.
“I don’t want to.”
But not now. Even though it was late at night in a place where people rarely passed by, what if someone happened to see? He knew the car had good tinting, but still.
“Come on. We don’t have much time.”
Two minutes had already passed. The remaining time was indeed tight. In truth, Si-yul didn’t want to go in right away either. Just sitting quietly with Woo Hyun-se made him feel languid, sometimes with a tingling sensation like static electricity, and when they occasionally kissed, it felt like his feet were touching air.
Si-yul hesitated, then let out a short sigh before unbuckling his seatbelt. Grunting slightly, he climbed onto Woo Hyun-se’s lap, straddling him with his legs spread. Despite being a man with considerable weight in bones and muscles, Woo Hyun-se didn’t even flinch.
He fiddled with Si-yul’s waist before slipping his hand under his clothes like a snake crossing a wall. Si-yul flinched at the hot body temperature, then quickly grabbed the hand squirming under his clothes.
“No.”
“No?”
“We did this yesterday too.”
“But I didn’t put it in.”
“That may be true, but…!”
Si-yul exclaimed, flustered. They might not have gone all the way, but they did almost everything else. After causing a commotion in the car, Si-yul had returned home completely drained, and Kwon Yuwon had looked at him suspiciously. If he came home in the same state today, Kwon Yuwon might immediately realize that he was hiding something with his quick intuition.
“Still, we can’t.”
“If everything is off-limits, what can we do?”
Seemingly upset by the repeated rejections, the corners of Woo Hyun-se’s lips slightly turned down. He hugged Si-yul’s waist with his arms and nuzzled his forehead against his shoulder.
