As if he could read Se-min’s mind, Cha-hyeon let out a soft snort through his nose and pressed his lips to Se-min’s cheek hard enough to mash it flat. Se-min’s flushed face crumpled like a soft white rice cake forgotten in the bottom of a bag.
“Uagh!”
For a kiss, that was a pretty violent reaction. Cha-hyeon’s chuckling grew louder. Maybe it was thanks to the guiding energy he’d drunk in so avidly last night? Even though the cheek-press felt more like teasing than a kiss, a clean, refreshing current of energy streamed out of Se-min and straight into Cha-hyeon, more than usual.
“Uuugh….”
Already wrung dry of guiding energy, Se-min groaned on reflex. Still pressing those lips to his cheek, Cha-hyeon finally let go and laughed out loud.
“Ha-ha, fu…ck. Sung Cha-hyeon. Sung Cha-hyeon, Sung Cha-hyeon. How the hell did you hold back?”
With his mouth stretched in a grin, muttering a little testily to himself, he switched topics with a sunny smile before Se-min could give him a what-are-you-even-talking-about look.
“Haa… Let’s eat first. Ah, should I carry you to the table like a princess?”
“…I can walk on my own.”
Listening to Cha-hyeon’s laughter, Se-min climbed out of bed. He’d been up for a bit, so the pain was more bearable than when he’d first opened his eyes. Still, the moment his feet touched the floor, a strange tingle skimmed up his calves and thighs.
Heat climbed into his cheeks at the faint ache from his surely swollen private area. It really did feel like proof of what they’d done last night.
“Maybe you should take your meds before we eat. Where are the pills you wanted, Se-min?”
Supporting him by the arm as he started walking with a discreet limp, Cha-hyeon asked.
“In the kitchen cabinet… Wait, you probably don’t know. Never mind, I’ll find them.”
Only then did Se-min remember he’d even forgotten things about the house, and he changed tack. But Cha-hyeon only arched his brows in a sly curve.
“Ah… I took a quick tour of everything last night.”
The red that had begun to fade rushed back into Se-min’s face like a ripe persimmon.
***
They finished the hot soup and rice that Cha-hyeon had set out in advance. Even Se-min—never picky and always a good eater—scraped his bowl clean. He’d thought the pain would make swallowing hard, but mixed with warm broth, it slid down easily. He didn’t forget to take his medicine, either.
Cha-hyeon carried out Se-min’s request to wait on him today to perfection. Strictly speaking, rather than “waiting on” him, it felt like he was checking off every newlywed fantasy even Se-min hadn’t known he had. After all, on top of preparing the meal, he’d even drawn a bath by hand.
“Wow…”
A surface piled with fluffy white bubbles, a tub breathing warm steam, and through the small window beside it, a view of the trees outside. It was the same bathroom as always, but today it looked unusually cozy.
He hadn’t really expected him to actually run the bath. He never imagined just looking at the water Cha-hyeon had prepared would make him feel this romantic. The joy of him doing something for him was bigger than he’d imagined.
“I even wanted to float one of those rubber duckies. I looked but couldn’t find any. Do you have one somewhere and I just forgot?”
“…I’m not a kid. What rubber duck…”
Instead of answering, Cha-hyeon merely lifted his brows in mischievous agreement. The warmth rising off the bath turned Se-min’s cheeks a deeper pink.
He grumbled just to grumble, but his face softened quickly. Looking again at the tub his Hyung had filled for him made that fluttery feeling in his chest swell even more. In a small voice, he murmured thanks.
“Thanks, Hyung.”
“For something like this? Please.”
With a single shrug from Cha-hyeon, Se-min nodded quietly and just looked at him. Cha-hyeon likewise studied Se-min in silence.
A short hush settled. Se-min made a small “mm” and scratched his cheek, but Cha-hyeon stood rooted to the spot. In the end, Se-min asked, hesitant.
“…But… you’re not going out?”
“Should I stay just long enough to see you get into the tub?”
The brows that had relaxed into a soft line pinched again. We were doing so well, and now this… He obviously wasn’t getting in fully clothed; wasn’t that basically saying he wanted a front-row seat while he stripped?
Se-min gave him a long, steady look. But with that same saintly, who-me? face, Cha-hyeon pled innocence.
If he’d just keep quiet, I’d soak in the warm fuzzies and be done with it—why add something weird that makes me glare at you? Sure, he’d seen it all last night, and they were the same sex, so showing his body wasn’t impossible, but still…
“You’re trying to pull something shady again.”
“What? Ha-ha.”
Cha-hyeon laughed like he couldn’t believe it. The wrinkle between Se-min’s brows slowly smoothed out.
He’d trusted his Hyung—practically his guardian all his life—without a doubt, but maybe he was being overly wary after getting burned big-time last night.
“Who knows? But if you slowly peel off your clothes for Hyung, all sexy, I’m not gonna complain about the view.”
…There it is! The eyebrows that had been melting into a gentle curve shot right back up. The amusement in Cha-hyeon’s voice deepened.
“Pervert.”
In the end, Se-min muttered it like a jab. Cha-hyeon broke into open laughter. As if he’d been praised, he laughed and then shook his head. His intrigued gaze settled on Se-min, almost like he was observing him.
“Ha-ha, I swear… You’re fascinating.”
As a response to “pervert,” it was off-kilter, and it was awkward to ask what he meant. After hemming and hawing, Se-min chose silence.
Drip… drip… In the quiet bathroom, droplets fell from the faucet with a small echo. Suddenly, the odd stillness felt ticklish.
“……”
Staring straight at him, Cha-hyeon’s black eyes suddenly slid off to the empty space on the left. With his gaze just slightly askew, he murmured, amused,
“Aha?”
Folding his arms in a slow, lazy motion, he tipped his head. Just then, bzzzt—there seemed to be a faint vibration from somewhere. But it was hard to be sure. With the vent fan running, the bathroom thrummed with a constant hum.
Casting a glance at the smartwatch on his left wrist, Cha-hyeon looked back to Se-min. As if to put a bow on the conversation from a moment ago, he smiled gently and spoke in the same gentle tone.
“Kidding. I won’t get in your way, so take your bath.”
His hand came down to cover Se-min’s head. Se-min’s shoulders flinched and curled. After ruffling the soft hair a few times, Cha-hyeon let his hand drop.
With one last smile, he turned away. In the back he showed as he left the bathroom, there wasn’t a trace of lingering scheming.
Left alone in the bathroom, Se-min muttered in puzzlement only after quite a while.
“…What was that?”
He half expected his Hyung, who’d left so cleanly, to fling the door back open, but even with his ears pricked, things outside stayed quiet. Maybe the rooms were just well soundproofed, but he couldn’t sense even the faintest presence out there.
Only then did he realize he’d been a little tense—specifically, a tension with a sexual edge, heat pooling low in his belly.
Did he actually want to pretend to resist and let him watch him undress?
Uncertain, he puzzled over himself, then quickly shook his head at how insanely pervy that sounded. Both his cheeks bloomed rosy.
Shoulders loosening, he started peeling off his clothes. Under the bright bathroom lights, his skin—like he’d been bitten by bugs—was blotched all over in red.
“Gasp…”
Startled, he drew a small breath and pressed a fingertip to one of the flushed marks. It didn’t hurt, but it looked awful, like some kind of allergic flare-up.
He’d known he’d be sore, but he hadn’t thought there’d be hardly any clear skin left. Confronted with the visible proof of pain, his lower back and those unmentionable places throbbed even more.
After rubbing at the red spots a few times as if they might fade with enough scrubbing, his gaze slid to his wrist—and his eyes flew wide. There was a bruise there.
“Whoa…”
He bruised easily, but the marks on his wrists were still a shock. And looking closer, it wasn’t just one wrist—both were mottled a deep blue in irregular patches.
Why are there bruises here? It’s not like I was tied to anything… As the thought trailed off, heat crept steadily up Se-min’s face.
