Episode 38
Although the act was difficult, Si-yul didn’t dislike being held in Woo Hyun-se’s arms and receiving kisses here and there. It felt like a reward after enduring a hard journey. Si-yul clung to him, acting spoiled, and embraced him tightly with both arms.
“Shall we go to the bed now?”
“…Pardon?”
The strength drained from Si-yul’s arms. His flushed cheeks turned pale, and his eyes trembled slightly. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. While Si-yul was on the verge of fainting, the other looked refreshed as if he had just warmed up.
“We should do it one more time.”
It wasn’t a joke. The hand caressing his thigh was sincere. Si-yul belatedly realized that he was sitting in the tiger’s mouth. He tried to get up at lightning speed but couldn’t escape from the thighs. The trap that caught him was one step ahead.
“Is this why you brought me here?”
His voice was completely hoarse. Even to his own ears, it sounded painful. He tried to clear his throat, but the roughness wouldn’t go away completely.
Si-yul lay sprawled on the bed like a corpse. His hair was disheveled over his eyes, but he didn’t have the strength to brush it away. Lying face down, he barely managed to turn his head to the side. Pressing his cheek against the sheet, he looked at the person lying next to him with resentful eyes.
His gaze met Woo Hyun-se’s, who was lying on his back looking at the ceiling. Smiling, he reached out and brushed Si-yul’s sweat-soaked hair back from his forehead.
“Half of it.”
“Then what’s the other half?”
“To feed you something delicious.”
Come to think of it, they hadn’t eaten lunch. But Si-yul wasn’t hungry. Perhaps because Woo Hyun-se had been in and out so much, he felt full even without eating anything.
“I’m not hungry…”
Even uttering one word made his dry throat ache. He coughed slightly, and Woo Hyun-se got up to bring him some water. Seeing that Si-yul had no strength in his hands, Woo Hyun-se opened the cap himself and took a sip. He then pressed his lips to Si-yul’s, passing the water. Si-yul gulped it down.
As his thirst subsided, he felt a bit stronger. Si-yul slowly sat up and held the water bottle with both hands to drink. After losing so much fluid through sweat and other bodily fluids, the water tasted like honey.
“What delicious thing were you planning to make?”
“I don’t know how to make many things. Pasta?”
Although he wasn’t hungry, Si-yul couldn’t miss this opportunity to have Woo Hyun-se cook for him. Wrapping the sheet around his shoulders, he nodded vigorously.
“Please make it. I want to eat it.”
Woo Hyun-se smiled as if looking at something cute. He ruffled Si-yul’s hair and kissed his forehead, telling him to rest. Si-yul sat blankly on the bed, staring at Woo Hyun-se’s back as he left the room. His broad shoulders and back were marked with scratches that Si-yul had left in the heat of the moment.
Only after Woo Hyun-se had completely left the room did Si-yul collapse back onto the bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of their activities lingered faintly in the bedroom, both tangy and sweet.
He placed his hand on his chest. His heart was beating heavily, more profoundly than any other heartbeat he had felt before. It was unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.
Si-yul hugged a pillow and rolled onto his side. Burying his nose in the soft, fluffy pillow, the scent became stronger. It might not have been pheromones, but it was precious to Si-yul nonetheless. He inhaled deeply, exhaled briefly, and then filled his lungs with the scent once more.
As fatigue started to set in, he was about to close his eyes when he heard clattering sounds from outside. His curiosity was piqued. He wanted to see Woo Hyun-se cooking. Si-yul’s drowsy eyes suddenly opened wide. He couldn’t stay with him all night anyway, so it seemed a waste to fall asleep now.
He got off the bed and looked around for his clothes. But they were nowhere to be seen – not under the table, not on the sofa, not anywhere. Even though they had seen everything of each other, it was still embarrassing to go out naked. Si-yul was about to wrap himself in the sheet when he spotted one of Woo Hyun-se’s tops on the sofa and quickly put it on.
Due to their size difference, the t-shirt alone came down to his thighs like a skirt. The neckline was also large, revealing his collarbone dotted with red marks.
“Isn’t there any other clothes?”
But there were no other clothes in sight. With no other choice, Si-yul adjusted the shirt that was slipping off his shoulders and tiptoed out of the room.
Cooking was in full swing in the kitchen. Water was boiling, and Woo Hyun-se was chopping ingredients on a cutting board. When Si-yul made his presence known, Woo Hyun-se turned around. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but upon seeing Si-yul’s state, he covered his eyes and chuckled.
Was his appearance that amusing?
Not having looked in a mirror before coming out, Si-yul didn’t know how he looked. The oversized shirt hanging off him like a sack, his hair disheveled in all directions, his eyelids and cheeks puffy.
There were round teeth marks on his cheeks, and traces of being bitten, licked, and enjoyed were visible on his exposed skin. The inside of his thighs, barely visible beneath the hem of the shirt, was marked with reddish handprints. He looked like a walking advertisement proclaiming, “I just rolled out of bed.”
“Did you plan this?”
After laughing for a while, Woo Hyun-se asked an unexpected question. Si-yul didn’t understand the meaning right away and asked back.
“Plan what?”
“The clothes.”
While the fabric did feel soft and expensive, Si-yul wasn’t the type to covet other people’s clothes shamelessly. Worried that Woo Hyun-se might misunderstand, Si-yul quickly waved his hands and explained.
“Ah, I had nothing to wear… Where are my clothes?”
“I put them in the washing machine. They were wet.”
For a moment, Si-yul didn’t understand why they were wet, but then he realized. His cheeks immediately turned red. He covered his face with one hand. They had started on the living room sofa. His clothes had been scattered carelessly under the sofa, so he was probably the culprit who had made them wet.
“They won’t dry by today…”
“We can use the dryer. If they don’t dry, you can wear my clothes.”
Si-yul hadn’t thought of the dryer. That would solve the problem of what to wear when leaving. With that worry off his mind, he now became conscious of his exposed lower half. He hesitantly asked if he could borrow some underwear, but Woo Hyun-se told him to stay as he was, saying they would be too big and fall off anyway.
Next time, maybe he should bring a change of clothes. With this frivolous thought, Si-yul circled around the island counter and approached Woo Hyun-se.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Just sit comfortably.”
The only cooking Si-yul knew how to do was instant ramen. Cooking was Kwon Yuwon’s responsibility. And since he was a Korean food enthusiast, pasta had never appeared on their table.
Wanting to help somehow, Si-yul couldn’t just sit still and wandered around Woo Hyun-se. He stood on his tiptoes to peek over his shoulder, sat on the table only to jump up again immediately, and stuck close to observe the cooking process.
“You can’t stay still, can you?”
Woo Hyun-se commented, watching Si-yul fidget. Si-yul, who had been on his tiptoes trying to see over Woo Hyun-se, quickly gauged his reaction.
“It’s boring to just sit. Am I in the way?”
“No.”
Si-yul thought he might be told to get lost for being annoying, but Woo Hyun-se’s usual smile played on his lips. No, it might have been even a bit deeper. Si-yul grinned and clung to Woo Hyun-se. Despite the hindrance, Woo Hyun-se didn’t complain. He moved just fine with Si-yul hanging onto his side like a burdensome attachment. From afar, they might have looked like a cicada clinging to an old tree.
The pasta was soon ready. Si-yul had only eaten it in school cafeterias and had never bought it with his own money. He didn’t particularly like it, but strangely, looking at the pasta Woo Hyun-se had served, his mouth watered. It looked delicious. He could almost hear his stomach growling.
“Thank you for the meal.”
After seeing Woo Hyun-se take the first bite, Si-yul twirled the pasta around his fork as he had seen on TV and put it in his mouth. His eyes widened. It wasn’t the ketchup-drenched taste he remembered from the cafeteria or the orphanage. Was pasta supposed to taste like this? It was as much of a revelation as the yogurt drink had been.
His forgotten hunger revived. Si-yul’s hand movements quickened. He didn’t even realize sauce had smeared around his mouth. After eating frantically for a while, he suddenly became aware of the intense gaze on him and looked up with a start.
Had he eaten too ravenously? Kwon Yuwon’s teaching flashed through his mind: “We grew up without parents, so we should be careful how we eat wherever we go. We shouldn’t eat like starved ghosts.” Belatedly embarrassed, he put down his fork.
“It’s just so delicious… I ate too messily, didn’t I?”
“It’s nice to watch, why stop?”
Woo Hyun-se kindly wiped the sauce from around Si-yul’s lips. Si-yul licked his lips where Woo Hyun-se’s fingers had touched. It tasted of tangy tomatoes.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“I didn’t. It’s basic. Pasta is easy.”
To have such skill without having learned… Si-yul had once heard from a restaurant chef that cooking requires innate talent. It seemed that God had made a mistake in distributing talents.
“I thought you wouldn’t do things like cooking, Mr. CEO. I assumed you’d order in or have someone do it for you.”
“That’s usually the case. Today is special, just for Kwon Si-yul.”
It wasn’t boasting. His voice was matter-of-fact, as if stating a simple truth. Yet Si-yul’s heart fluttered. Trying not to show it, he lowered his head and took another bite of pasta.
