61
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Kang Taein.”
“What.”
“Kang Taein.”
“Call me one more time and see what happens.”
They were in a car going somewhere. Gu Wanjae, who had left the guesthouse in the morning, returned around noon and told him to get dressed. Taein was still in his nighttime state until then. He was naturally nocturnal, but since he started having sex with Gu Wanjae, there was no boundary between day and night. Gu Wanjae’s situation was similar, but when he had business, he had to go out and come back. Wasn’t he tired? Taein had these thoughts as he crawled to the closet when told to get dressed.
“Just one more errand, then let’s eat.”
While nodding at those words, he couldn’t shake off the thought that it was bothersome. His body was also drowsy.
When he slowly came outside, there was a car he’d never seen before.
Gu Wanjae was still trying out various cars.
He usually brought black sedans to the guesthouse, but what he brought today was a white SUV. It wasn’t a car you’d see often on the streets. Everything from the front hood to the rear bumper looked heavy and weighty. When Taein asked dismissively if he could even drive something like this, Gu Wanjae made a gesture of poking Taein with two fingers, telling him to just get in.
So now they were exchanging words inside the car.
“Kang Taein.”
“Ah, why do you keep calling me?”
“Come here.”
Gu Wanjae nodded with his eyes closed.
It was when the car had stopped at a traffic light. Just staring at the red light, Taein didn’t move. Gu Wanjae’s hand would come anyway. He only said to come over, but most of the time he reached out his own hand. Taein sat upright in his seat like a statue and lowered his eyes to the hand groping his chest. It seemed like casual groping, but it wasn’t. He persistently touched specific areas with his pinky finger. Even though he wore a thick hoodie, when rubbed like that, the nipple’s outline was revealed.
The more the movement repeated, the more Taein’s cheeks trembled slightly. His nose tip shook and one eye opened slightly. Taein clenched his fist and raised his arm at the blatant touch.
“Hey, you… stop touching.”
“Why.”
“Why?”
Taein looked to the side with an incredulous expression. The car was heading toward a road that seemed to stretch endlessly beyond the traffic light area. Feeling his gaze, Gu Wanjae looked at Taein with only one corner of his mouth raised. He repeatedly looked ahead, then at Taein, then at Taein again, then ahead.
“Uh, why.”
“Fuck, do you call that talking, you fucking pervert?”
“Is that something to say to a friend?”
Gu Wanjae grabbed Taein’s nape as if he found him annoying. A smile was fully spread across his lips. It was a face that didn’t even react to being called a pervert anymore. Taein, who looked to the side while avoiding him, saw that face and frowned deeply.
“A bit, when driving.”
“What if I’m not driving.”
“Fuck, what.”
Taein’s face flushed red. It was partly because of fighting with their hands like a sword and shield, but also because Gu Wanjae might do something weird. Sure enough. Gu Wanjae, who gradually slowed down, pulled the car into any empty lot. It was in front of a restaurant with big signs saying “Cold Noodles, Set Meals.” Gu Wanjae went near some parked cars, stopped the car, and turned off the engine.
Taein, whose face was slightly red, rubbed his neck and deliberately looked elsewhere.
“Hey. I stopped the car, so it’s fine now.”
His head turned at those words.
At the same time, Taein’s body, whose arm was grabbed, tilted to the side.
As soon as his elbow hit the console box, his lips met Gu Wanjae’s.
Taein sharply turned his head at the tongue that suddenly pushed into his mouth.
“Fuck, hey.”
Taein covered his mouth and glared at Gu Wanjae.
“Don’t you see the people?”
Although cars were parked, there were gaps in between. Through those gaps, four people who could be customers or staff were standing. The front windshield was almost transparent glass. If things went wrong, they would have seen all of this behavior. He glared at Gu Wanjae irritably. From the moment their lips separated, Gu Wanjae had been looking at Taein expressionlessly. He seemed to have no thoughts at all.
“What? Don’t you see them?”
“If they look, they’ll see.”
“Ha… really, what are you saying, you crazy bastard….”
Taein lowered his head and sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand and looking up.
Actually, the frequency of kisses had become too frequent, so he had wanted to address it once. When they were alone, he accepted it like a joke, and since it didn’t feel that bad, he let it slide, but doing this anytime outside was somewhat incomprehensible. Why? When things were fine, why suddenly kiss? Since the situation had become like this and he’d never spoken seriously about it, Taein made up his mind.
“Hey. Let me ask you one thing.”
“What.”
“Why do you do this outside?”
“Do what.”
“No, fuck…. I at least understand when you act crazy when we’re alone. Honestly, if I really hated it, I wouldn’t have done it from the beginning. But doing this outside is a bit much, isn’t it? Even if I concede a hundred times, doing it at night, hiding somewhere, fine, let’s just let that slide. But at least, doing this during the day where everyone can see is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
It was a lukewarm reaction. Taein, who had spoken at length, frowned as if he’d lost his words. He’d expected there wouldn’t be a proper answer, but even considering that, it was a lukewarm reaction.
“Is that all?”
“Then what.”
“Hey… really… I wonder if this is right.”
The small doubt soon spread to a bigger question: is it okay to have sex with a friend like this?
Taein, who ran his hand through his hair and looked out the window, just read the letters written on the signboard.
Summer menu cold noodles, lunch special….
Gu Wanjae’s words came when he was reading something about reservations.
“What are you curious about?”
Taein turned his head silently and looked at Gu Wanjae.
“Your words were so fucking long I couldn’t hear it all? What are you curious about? Whether I have to do this during the day?”
“……”
“Since I don’t really care about others’ opinions, honestly, since it doesn’t matter whether other people like what I do or not, I just did what my body wanted, but was that so bad?”
“Hey, that’s not a matter of being considerate.”
“It’s not like I did it on the street. I did it inside the car.”
“……”
“Still, if you really don’t like it, I shouldn’t do it. Limited to daytime. And what else?”
A question seemed to come to mind quickly.
“The reason for doing this outside?”
“……”
“I told you, didn’t I? Because I get horny. Once I do it, I get horny all the time. Isn’t it the same for you?”
“……”
It was difficult to answer. Taein just licked his lips with his tongue and looked at Gu Wanjae.
“Bodies that exist to penetrate and be penetrated by each other. What’s the point of saving them? It’s about friends helping each other out.”
“…Fuck, still.”
“Still what? Can you fuck other guys? I can’t. It’s fucking disgusting. Plus those guys can get pregnant too. Isn’t that fucking crazy? If I ruin my life by sticking it anywhere, who’s going to take responsibility?”
“……”
It wasn’t wrong logic. He too had often rationalized while having sex with Gu Wanjae, saying there’d be no pregnancy anyway and nothing to be responsible for. There were no downsides, and if he just got over the momentary shame, this relationship would only make him healthier – was there any reason to refuse it? Taein had nothing to say to Gu Wanjae, who was thinking similarly.
Right, that wasn’t the problem.
It was just a matter of giving some advice to Gu Wanjae, whose body had gotten used to physical contact so his hands moved freely even outside, and moving on.
Taein slowly nodded and made eye contact with Gu Wanjae.
“Yeah, that’s true, but….”
“I knew it.”
Gu Wanjae grinned.
Taein also let out a short laugh and added words.
“What we do is, as you said, what does it matter? Between us. But during the day, when everyone can see, restrain yourself. It seems like it’s because your body got used to it.”
“Oh, I’ll be careful about that.”
The only person Gu Wanjae, who didn’t care about others’ eyes, was conscious of was Taein. If Taein said not to do something, he usually wouldn’t do it, and if he said he didn’t like it, he showed an understanding attitude. Taein knew this about Gu Wanjae well. Gu Wanjae’s face, who immediately said he’d be careful, even showed determined will.
But then he added this:
“But secretly doing it is okay, right? Like inside those bathrooms.”
He pointed with his eyes to a public restroom. Taein, who looked back, replied in an incredulous tone.
“Let’s not… invite danger.”
“Not full-on fucking… but sucking chest or kissing is okay, right?”
“Hey, that’s the same thing….”
“Is it?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know, we’ll see then.”
As if he was tired of talking more, Gu Wanjae tilted his head and looked ahead. As soon as he started the engine and backed out, the restaurant quickly became smaller. The public restroom was the same. It was a place with only sinks and partitions inside a narrow temporary building without even a sign, so it quickly became hard to even distinguish its purpose. Taein turned his eyes and looked ahead. The car that had quickly entered the road was following closely behind the car in front.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
