Chapter 88
Si-yul buried his head deeply between his arms. Woo Hyun-se was affectionate. Excessively so. He wanted to stop being swept away by that kindness now. His heart was stirring again. Even though he hadn’t taken a single sip of alcohol yet. Would drinking allow him to blame his uneasiness on the alcohol?
Si-yul moved close to Hyun-se and opened the cupboard, reaching out his hand. Whether because of the villa’s high ceilings or because the upper cabinets were made to fit Hyun-se’s height, Si-yul couldn’t reach the inside of the cabinet even on his tiptoes. As he strained and grunted, Hyun-se smiled and easily took out the glasses.
“Don’t drink on an empty stomach. The food’s almost ready.”
“I saw some tequila, can I have that?”
“Why ask for permission? Just take it out.”
“Well… you’re the owner after all.”
“You can take out whatever you want. Just don’t drink too much.”
The cooking was done. Seeing the food being transferred from the pan to the dishes, Si-yul moved to the display cabinet and took out the strong liquor from the corner. This was the drink he had wanted from the beginning.
“That’s strong, are you sure?”
“I’ll just have a little.”
Salt and lemon slices were placed next to the appetizers. Saying he was using lemon instead of lime, Hyun-se poured the drink into a small shot glass and placed a lemon on top.
“Do you know how to drink it?”
Si-yul nodded slightly. He had never drunk tequila before, but he had seen it done.
He dipped his index finger in salt and touched it to the tip of his tongue. As he was about to raise the glass and drink, Hyun-se, sitting across from him, burst into laughter.
“Looks like you don’t know after all.”
“Huh? Isn’t this right?”
He had definitely eaten the salt. As he alternated between looking at the drink and the salt, tasting the saltiness in his mouth, Hyun-se pulled Si-yul’s hand with his own.
“The salt goes like this.”
Hyun-se lowered his head. His tongue touched between Si-yul’s thumb and index finger. The moist tip of his tongue wet the skin as it passed. As Si-yul’s shoulders flinched, Hyun-se withdrew his tongue after licking thoroughly and sprinkled salt grains on it.
“Ah.”
The snow-like salt stuck to the wet skin. Hyun-se placed a lemon in Si-yul’s curled fingers.
“First, exhale.”
He slowly exhaled. As he pretended to lick his hand, he finally licked the salt Hyun-se had sprinkled. Before the salty taste faded, he downed the drink.
An involuntary “Ugh” escaped him. His vision blurred. His esophagus felt more than hot; it felt like it was on fire. Clutching his burning chest, he bit into the lemon. As the tear-inducingly sour juice flowed down his hot mouth and burning esophagus, the strong sourness made saliva pool in his mouth and his face contort.
He took a deep breath. It felt like he had nearly died from just one shot. Hyun-se laughed heartily at Si-yul’s scrunched-up face. He stabbed a piece of broccoli, sautéed golden brown in olive oil, with a fork and put it in Si-yul’s mouth.
“You drank it well.”
“Wow, I thought I was going to die. Is it always this strong?”
“It would have been fine if you drank it like this.”
“It feels like it’s on fire.”
He rubbed his chest. It still felt like embers were burning inside. He shook his head lightly at the sudden onset of intoxication.
“I guess three bottles of soju or three shots will be your limit.”
“Ah, it’s not that bad. I can drink more.”
Hyun-se picked up the bottle. Si-yul thought he would pour into the shot glass, but Hyun-se poured his own drink into a larger cup. He took a sip without lemon or salt. Si-yul expected him to make a face like he had, but only a small wrinkle appeared between Hyun-se’s eyebrows. In contrast, Si-yul grimaced as if the alcohol had gone down his own throat.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
Saying that a single sip wouldn’t even reach his liver, Hyun-se took another sip without any appetizer. Si-yul wondered if he was just showing off, but Hyun-se’s complexion remained normal. Instead, it was Si-yul’s face that had turned red after just one shot.
“What about the salt?”
Hyun-se silently extended his hand. Si-yul tilted his head, then a beat later said “Ah” and put his lips to Hyun-se’s hand. He stuck out the tip of his tongue to lick between the index finger and thumb, then glanced up at Hyun-se, wondering if he was doing it right.
Seeing Hyun-se’s faint smile, he slowly withdrew his tongue. Hyun-se sprinkled salt gently on it, then withdrew his hand and put his lips where Si-yul’s tongue had just been.
“One more shot?”
Si-yul was distracted by Hyun-se’s downward-fanning eyelashes, the lips he often kissed when bored, and his smooth tongue. Only upon hearing the amused voice did he snap out of it. Trying to hide his dazed state, he quickly poured a drink and downed it. There was no salt or lemon this time. Naturally, his esophagus burned like firewood in a fireplace.
He exhaled shortly and tried to focus his swaying vision. He couldn’t end with just two shots. Si-yul aggressively held out his empty glass.
“One more, please.”
He felt dizzy. His vision was shaky. Si-yul furrowed his brow and raised his head. With his head drooping like a willow branch, he propped his chin with his hand and looked at the table. Several empty bottles stood there. One of them was the tequila that had started the drinking session.
Hyun-se was right. Three shots were the limit. After that, his memory of what he drank was patchy. As dizziness overwhelmed him, Si-yul slid down under his arm, about to rest his head on the table again. A large palm cupped his cheek just before it touched the table. He nuzzled the warm hand.
“Are you drunk already?”
There was laughter in the questioning voice. Si-yul slowly shook his head.
“No…”
His words were slurred. Anyone could tell he was drunk. Suddenly feeling indignant, Si-yul removed his face from the palm and looked across. Hyun-se kept his hand on the table, worried Si-yul might collapse again.
Whether alcohol had clouded his retinas, Hyun-se didn’t appear clearly. It was as if someone had sprinkled a mist in front of him. Even rubbing his eyes and narrowing them didn’t make Hyun-se any clearer.
Instead of straining his eyes, Si-yul took a deep breath, inflating his chest. Hyun-se’s scent was deeply dissolved in the air heated by the fireplace. It was like a scent of white-barked birch forests densely lining up like windows against the white snow field visible outside, mixed with a soft spring scent that seemed to sprout green buds in the snow when they were together.
He wanted to smell it from closer. Si-yul gave in to the impulse and stood up. He stopped Hyun-se from getting up and staggered around the table to stand beside him. Leaning on the table for support, he buried his face in Hyun-se’s nape. He inhaled deeply and exhaled languidly, as if he had taken a handful of medicine rather than just inhaling a scent.
He wanted to drink more. He wanted to be completely drenched in this scent. He didn’t know his desire was this great. Si-yul plopped down on Hyun-se’s thigh. Grunting, he spread his legs to sit facing Hyun-se and tightly hugged his waist with both arms. As he rubbed his forehead on Hyun-se’s shoulder and pressed his cheek against it, the scent became even stronger than before.
“You’re drunk.”
It had been a while since they were in this position. Hyun-se firmly supported Si-yul’s back. Si-yul burrowed into his embrace.
“You smell like a winter forest.”
His pronunciation was a mess, slurred with intoxication. Yet, Hyun-se understood somehow.
“A winter forest?”
“Yeah. A forest where you can only see white birch trees… covered in snow.”
No matter how much buds sprout and spring comes, the instinctive chill of snow never completely disappears. Si-yul felt a similar emotion when he looked at Hyun-se, when he was intoxicated by his scent. After being overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery, the deeper you go into the forest, the more its coldness makes you feel eerie.
This time, Hyun-se buried his nose in Si-yul’s ear and inhaled. His exhaled breath made the skin on Si-yul’s nape rise. His toes curled inward as tension ran through them.
“You smell like wisteria flowers.”
Si-yul had never heard about his own scent before. He tried to lean back to look at Hyun-se, but couldn’t pull away due to the hand pressing down on his lower back.
“The scent gets stronger when it rains… It’s the same with you, Kwon Si-yul.”
“On rainy days?”
“No. When you’re wet.”
His earlobe was sucked between Hyun-se’s lips. The tip of his tongue, carrying the scent of alcohol, traced the curves of his ear. Si-yul’s shoulders hunched. His lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, and his tightly closed lips parted slightly.
The flesh of his buttocks rose slightly, and the inside quickly became damp. No matter how much he tensed his thighs to prevent it from flowing out, he couldn’t stop the moisture that thoroughly wet his inner flesh and pooled below.
“Like now.”
His neck flushed red all at once. It wasn’t just his scent that had intensified. The scent pouring from Hyun-se’s ears and fingertips also surged as if to fill the entire villa.
Si-yul’s eyes became hazy. Moistening his dry lips, he cupped Hyun-se’s cheeks with both hands. He tilted his head and pressed their lips together. No matter how cold and dry the scent was, if it came from Hyun-se, Si-yul wanted to possess every last drop of it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
