#29
Taeseong pressed what he was holding in his hand. A sound came from the SUV visible in the distance. What Taeseong had taken out from the glove box was the SUV’s smart key.
“Whoa, you have another car?”
“Yeah. I bought that one for car camping, but I haven’t really used it properly yet.”
“But why is your car in this parking lot… Wait, do you live here?”
When Taeseong nodded, Bonoh covered his mouth with his hand.
“Crazy, let’s get along well.”
Taeseong brushed the arm that Bonoh had been holding just moments before. Bonoh’s warmth remained lukewarmly.
The two who switched to the SUV headed to Gangneung. On the way, they stopped at a rest area and bought lots of food like baby potatoes and walnut cookies, causing more delay than the navigation had predicted. Taeseong absolutely hated eating food in the car. He disliked the smell accumulating and hated food crumbs falling even more.
However, even seeing Bonoh get into the car with his arms full of food, he didn’t say anything. Bonoh seemed to want to fulfill his responsibility as someone sitting in the passenger seat and diligently brought food to Taeseong’s mouth. He picked out small baby potatoes that could be eaten in one bite and offered them to Taeseong. Although they were foods he normally wouldn’t even touch, Taeseong obediently ate them.
When they arrived at Gangneung Beach, the sun had already set. Taeseong parked the car in a spot with a good view of the ocean. When he turned off the engine, the inside of the car became quiet in an instant. Bonoh felt awkward with the silence and just looked straight ahead. The ocean spread out in front of them. Because it was night, the distinction between the darkened sky and sea wasn’t clear. The black ocean bringing waves from afar seemed like it would swallow everything.
Bonoh got out of the car as if enchanted and drawn by the ocean. Then he could vividly hear the sound of waves approaching the beach and breaking.
“Wow… It’s been a while since I heard the sound of waves.”
Bonoh smiled brightly, turning back to look at Taeseong who had followed him out. Then he took the hand of Taeseong, who was just standing still and watching, and headed toward the convenience store.
“Yes, this is it. When you come to the ocean, you have to eat cup ramen.”
Sitting at the outdoor table of the convenience store, Bonoh slurped the cup ramen broth. Taeseong, sitting across from him, hadn’t been able to look directly at Bonoh since earlier. But he wasn’t completely avoiding looking either. He would glance at Bonoh, then avoid eye contact when their eyes were about to meet.
Why is he acting like that again? Bonoh thought about where Taeseong’s gaze was directed. It seemed like he was looking at his face, but strangely his gaze kept dropping down… Could it be that he wants to eat cup ramen? Bonoh looked down at the cup ramen he had brought to his lips. He had said he wouldn’t eat because he was full from the rest area food on the way, but maybe his stomach was stirring after smelling it.
“Want to try some?”
“…Yeah.”
Taeseong seemed to hesitate, then took the cup ramen Bonoh offered.
“Wait! I’ll get new wooden chopsticks.”
“It’s fine.”
Taeseong used the chopsticks Bonoh had been using without any concern. For someone who had been staring at the cup ramen with longing eyes, he picked up a small amount of noodles. However, when drinking the broth, his lips touched the cup ramen container for a long time. It was the part where Bonoh had put his lips to drink the broth.
After clearing away the finished cup ramen container, Bonoh crossed the sandy beach and approached the ocean closely. Seeing white foam rising as waves broke at his feet made his toes tingle.
His family home in Jeju Island wasn’t far from the ocean. Thanks to that, he had seen the ocean to the point of being sick of it since childhood, but not only had it been a long time since he went down to his family home, but Gangneung’s ocean felt different from Jeju Island’s ocean, so it was fresh again.
Bonoh approached the ocean closely, then quickly stepped back to avoid the incoming waves.
“Oh.”
While stepping backward, his two feet got tangled and his body leaned forward. If he fell like this, he would obviously fall into the water and get all his clothes wet. Just before falling face-first into the water, Bonoh’s body was pulled up like pulling out a radish. Taeseong, who had been watching from behind, had embraced Bonoh’s waist and lifted him up.
“Wow, crazy. If it weren’t for you, I would have fallen.”
“Be more careful, will you?”
Bonoh’s heart was pounding, so he pressed his chest area firmly with his palm. After calming his startled heart and settling down somewhat, he noticed his two feet dangling in the air. Only then did he realize that Taeseong hadn’t put him down on the ground.
Taeseong’s arms were wrapped around his waist and Taeseong’s chest was touching his back. Suddenly, that night came to mind – when Taeseong had roughly fondled his dick. He had barely managed to forget about it, but recalling it again brought back the vivid sensations of that day. His face seemed to flush hot.
“…I’m okay now, so put me down.”
Bonoh lightly tapped Taeseong’s arms that were embracing his waist. His feet immediately touched the ground. He had lifted him lightly when picking him up, and even after holding him for a while before putting him down, Taeseong’s breathing wasn’t disturbed at all.
This was a stark contrast to Bonoh, who had struggled to carry the sick Taeseong to the first floor of the dormitory. I should start exercising tomorrow… Bonoh resolved inwardly as he unnecessarily squeezed his own arm to check his muscles.
“Ah, I really don’t want to go back.”
“Then don’t go.”
“Huh? Sleep here and go?”
“What did I say earlier? I bought that for car camping. I purposely chose a car with a big interior.”
“Really? Is that okay?”
Bonoh, who had been feeling regretful while enjoying the cool sea breeze, brightened at Taeseong’s words. Excited about car camping, Bonoh dragged Taeseong into the convenience store where they had eaten cup ramen earlier. Perhaps because it was a convenience store near a tourist area, they were indeed selling toiletry packages.
“If we buy two of these, it should be fine.”
“It’s fine. No need to buy them.”
Taeseong stopped Bonoh’s hand as he was about to pick up two toiletry packages.
“Why?”
“We’ll wash up at the hotel.”
Taeseong said he absolutely couldn’t wash in public restrooms and booked a room at a nearby hotel. If we’re going to do this, why are we car camping? We could just sleep at the hotel. Such thoughts occurred to him, but soon Bonoh accepted it, thinking ‘Rich people are indeed different. I should have known from when he lived in that apartment.’
After checking in, Taeseong and Bonoh stood in front of the elevator. While waiting for the elevator, a couple approached from behind. The closed elevator doors were smooth gold without a single fingerprint. Through the mirror-like doors, Bonoh kept making eye contact with the couple standing behind them.
Shortly after, the elevator arrived. Taeseong, who tagged the room card and pressed the button, seemed nonchalant, but Bonoh felt strangely awkward standing in the elevator with Taeseong. Even though that couple would obviously see him and Taeseong as friends who came to hang out.
Taeseong’s state wasn’t much different. Taeseong didn’t have the capacity to worry about other couples right now. He had thought that since he lived in the same room as Bonoh in the dormitory, entering a hotel wouldn’t be much different from usual. However, the moment he entered the hotel entrance, he was seized by a strange feeling.
The moment he received the room card, Taeseong began to feel nervous as the reality of entering a hotel room alone with Bonoh hit him. Bonoh standing next to him was also strangely quiet. Normally, he would have been busy chattering about how they even gold-plated the elevator.
The two, who had gotten off the elevator where a strange atmosphere had been circulating, entered the room.
“Crazy…”
As soon as Taeseong entered the room, he unconsciously cursed. The bathroom wall was made of transparent glass, making the inside completely visible.
“Do you want to wash first?”
“…No, you wash first.”
Bonoh yielded the order, thinking that the clean-freak Taeseong might dislike entering a bathroom full of humidity and moisture, but unusually, Taeseong declined. Moreover, Taeseong, who never batted an eye at anything, seemed to be strangely embarrassed since entering the room.
Bonoh, who had been wondering why he was suddenly acting like that, thought he understood the reason the moment he entered the bathroom. The glass was transparent, so everything outside was visible from the bathroom. Come to think of it, while Taeseong had seen Bonoh’s body a few times, Bonoh had never seen Taeseong’s body.
The fact that he had never seen Taeseong’s naked body suddenly struck him as remarkable. Considering that he had even been jerked off by Taeseong, it felt unfair.
But why didn’t Taeseong want to show his naked body? It might be due to his personality, but living in the same room as fellow men, they should be comfortable enough, yet seeing how he had protected it until now, maybe he had some complex.
Maybe he has a big mole on his back? Or maybe that place that could be called a man’s pride is so unsightly that he can’t show it to others. It was hard to imagine that Taeseong, who seemed perfect in everything, would have such a complex.
Although he didn’t know exactly how much one night’s accommodation cost since Taeseong paid for it, befitting a hotel that looked expensive at first glance, the amenity composition was good. Even the soap was from a brand famous for perfume, and the body wash and shampoo all had good scents. Washing without thinking about anything, Bonoh soon became unconcerned about whether the bathroom wall was transparent and the inside was visible or not.
“…Huh?”
Bonoh, who was about to leave after washing, realized there were no towels inside the bathroom. Looking around the room through the glass, he saw bathrobes and towels placed next to the bed.
Looking at Taeseong sitting resolutely with his back to the bathroom on the bed, Bonoh was torn for a moment. Should I just go out? When Taeseong has his back turned, couldn’t I quickly put on the bathrobe? However, remembering how Taeseong had thrown a fit when he came out without clothes after showering in the dormitory, he gave up.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
