#056
After that, their daily life subtly changed. Even their usual words and actions were filled with affection.
Kang Dojun stretched his arm out in his sleep. It bumped into something. When he opened his eyes, he saw a bulge in the blanket in his field of vision.
Every night, he would sneak into his room while he was sleeping and burrow into the empty space on the bed.
When he pulled back the blanket, a small head was revealed.
Despite the hot summer, he would sweat profusely while covering himself with the blanket all the way to his head. Thanks to that, the air conditioning in his house ran at full blast even late at night.
He didn’t seem to sleep much, but on nights when he slept with him, he would sleep so deeply that he wouldn’t notice even if someone carried him away.
He liked that change. He briefly kissed the crown of Yeonwoo’s sleeping head and got up.
He had gained a new hobby. Serving delicious meals to his lover. Thanks to that, he even looked up various cooking programs.
Among them, there were foods that were to be avoided. Spicy and salty foods.
‘This is totally drinking food, though?’
Yeonwoo had quit alcohol along with the medicine he was taking. When he occasionally missed alcohol, he would calm his mind and body with the candy and chocolate that Kang Dojun had stocked up.
For such a lover of his, he lately tried to be selective about the food he made.
‘Egg fried rice should be okay, right?’
He started cooking while looking up recipes on YouTube.
When it was almost finished, someone hugged him from behind. The hair he felt on the back of his neck was ticklish.
“Did you wake up?”
Yeonwoo seemed to be still half asleep as he buried his face in his back and stood still.
Even when Kang Dojun headed to the refrigerator to look for ingredients, he stuck to his back like a remora fish and moved together.
Even though it must have been uncomfortable for Kang Dojun to have his feet kicked from behind with every step, he instead held tightly onto the arms wrapped around his stomach, telling him not to fall off.
“Want to try some?”
When he scooped up a spoonful of the finished fried rice, Yeonwoo immediately took a big bite without even cooling it down.
“Hot, heh.”
He even ate food combatively. Even when his mouth was burning, he endured it and chewed. That sight was so cute that he kissed his forehead.
After confirming that his Adam’s apple had swallowed, he asked.
“Is it delicious?”
“It’s too hot to taste.”
“Did you burn your tongue? Let me see.”
Yeonwoo immediately opened his mouth like a baby bird.
Actually, it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye whether his tongue was burned or not. He himself could tell by the rough feeling on his tongue.
Kang Dojun knew this too, but he liked how Yeonwoo carried out what he asked without complaint. He could feel that he trusted him.
“Is it burned?”
“No.”
Yeonwoo’s eyebrows drooped slightly. His tongue felt rough.
‘But hyung said it wasn’t burned!’
His opinion was much more important than his own.
And Kang Dojun, whether he was joking or not, was already preparing cold water. He liked that kindness. There wasn’t a single thing he disliked about what he did for him.
Kang Dojun was holding Yeonwoo in his arms while channel surfing on TV during his phone call with a friend.
None of the TV content entered his ears. It was because all his attention was focused on the phone call.
“Yeah, no, yeah, right. If I have time. Oh, hang up.”
Yeonwoo had many friends. From what he observed, he talked to friends several times a day. Kang Dojun buried his face in his shoulder and pouted.
“I don’t even have friends, so what should I do about being lonely?”
“I’m here.”
Yeonwoo, who had finished his call, replied as if stating an obvious fact.
Friendships with many people, one and only lover. Yeonwoo, who was often lonely, liked special things.
Friends were good too. However, they had other relationships excluding himself and also had lovers.
Of course, there might be people who prioritized friends over lovers, but he thought the specialness that came from the word ‘lover’ was more than enough to offset that.
There was only ‘one person’ who could sit in the position of lover.
Among all the many people, he sat in Kang Dojun’s lover position, and Kang Dojun sat in his lover position.
How special an existence.
Yeonwoo unconsciously burst into a beaming smile.
“What did you talk about?”
“Nothing much.”
“What kind of nothing much?”
“He said to meet up since I came to Seoul.”
“Will you see him? When?”
Kang Dojun questioned persistently. His interrogating questions could have been tiresome, but Yeonwoo didn’t frown once and told him everything in detail.
The attention that his ‘one and only lover’ gave him was always welcome.
It was a fantastic match – one anxious to know, the other anxious to tell.
Yeonwoo popped a piece of apple that Kang Dojun had cut into bite-sized pieces for him into his mouth and said.
“I declined.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to play with hyung.”
Kang Dojun was so happy that he hugged Yeonwoo tightly in his arms. He always said pretty things. In comparison, he went out for filming every other day.
This must be exactly how an owner feels when leaving for work, abandoning a dog that waits for him earnestly.
“…Should I quit being an actor?”
He had earned money to his heart’s content, and his bank account already had enough money to last a lifetime of eating and playing.
Acting career or Yeonwoo? When he didn’t know better, he couldn’t give up either, but now he had gotten a taste.
No matter what he compared it to, he would choose Yeonwoo.
“When this contract period ends, want to go down to the countryside and live together?”
Yeonwoo blinked as if flustered.
“Uh…, but I lack the financial ability to support hyung too.”
He gradually watched his expression.
“With beekeeping income, I can live alone, but for two people it’s a bit…”
Kang Dojun, who had been quietly listening to Yeonwoo’s words, burst into laughter.
“That was the problem?”
“Are there other problems too?”
“Don’t quit acting…, won’t you say anything else?”
“If you stop me, will you continue?”
Kang Dojun fell into thought for a moment. Yeonwoo leaned comfortably against his chest and crunched on apples.
“Well. I’m not sure. I’m fine with anything as long as I have you.”
Yeonwoo’s eyes snapped open.
‘As long as he has me…!’
“I’m fine as long as I have hyung too. Ah, but I’d still like to see the village elders occasionally, and if we’re going to live together we’ll need money, we need to have some money…”
As he thought while folding his fingers one by one, there were quite a lot of things needed. Most of all, money was the biggest problem.
Kang Dojun unfolded Yeonwoo’s fingers and intertwined them.
“I have a lot of saved money. Take it all. Is that good now?”
He blew away his worries all at once. Yeonwoo looked back and forth between his intertwined hand once and Kang Dojun’s face once.
Capable, rich, outstanding looks, good personality – even he thought he had caught a good lover.
He turned his body around to face Kang Dojun and gave him a deep kiss.
Kang Dojun’s center of gravity, who had been leaning back against the sofa, shifted and his head was pushed back. Laughter burst out at Yeonwoo’s aggressive approach.
It was like a big dog marking its territory by drooling all over its possession.
“Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo, wait a moment.”
Kang Dojun tightly hugged the waist of Yeonwoo, who was kissing his face as if it would pour down, and spoke. His words and actions didn’t match.
“What.”
Yeonwoo stopped kissing and glared at him with sulky eyes. I want to kiss what’s mine, so why. Still, since it was his lover’s request, he did listen.
That feeling was clearly visible and only made him more endearing. Still, he had to ask what needed to be asked.
“You barely make a living alone with beekeeping income, so how do you pay Uncle Cheolsu’s salary?”
“…I need to use the bathroom for a moment.”
“Where are you going?”
Kang Dojun held tightly onto him trying to escape his embrace and wouldn’t let him go. Yeonwoo struggled for a moment, then became quiet as if he realized he couldn’t escape.
‘Strange. It’s rare for me to lose in strength.’
He tried to escape once more, squeezing out even the strength he had when nursing, but was easily restrained.
“What.”
“Huh?”
Sensing something strange, Yeonwoo kneaded Kang Dojun’s forearm that was holding his waist. He could feel firmness.
Since he was wearing thin long sleeves, he rolled up the sleeve to check the real thing. Muscles toned by consistent exercise caught his eye. Blood vessels were standing out as if he was flexing.
He pressed firmly for fun. It was hard and wouldn’t give in.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah.”
He momentarily forgot and attempted a second escape, but failed this time too.
Kang Dojun found such antics of Yeonwoo cute and asked with wide eyes.
“So how are you paying the salary?”
“…I’m paying with appearance fees.”
‘Appearance fees? The remaining appearance fees from broadcasting?’
Kang Dojun frowned and said.
“What will you do when you spend all the appearance fees?”
“Then I’ll have to… go back. I don’t want to go. I want to stay with hyung longer.”
Yeonwoo burrowed into his embrace.
Kang Dojun felt the same way. He wanted to be closer somehow, to stick together.
“I’ll supplement the money…”
“Should I sell the apiary?”
“…What?”
Eliminate the source of income entirely?
He could confidently mention retirement since he had money to live luxuriously for a lifetime, but Yeonwoo didn’t seem to have any saved money.
He was grateful that he would make such a decision because of him. But that didn’t mean he wanted to ruin Yeonwoo’s life.
Whether he knew his feelings or not, Yeonwoo continued speaking. Kang Dojun decided to listen quietly to see if he had any countermeasures planned.
“Uncle helping with beekeeping is learning under me to later start his own apiary. We can visit the countryside anytime…, should I move to Seoul?”
“What will you do in Seoul?”
“Delivery? Riding a motorcycle?”
…That wicked mouth. Motorcycles are already dangerous. What if there’s an accident?
“I don’t like it.”
Yeonwoo, who had been rubbing his face against Kang Dojun’s embrace, stopped his action and stared at him intently. He wrapped his arms around his neck and said playfully with eye smiles.
“Then hyung, please take care of me.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
