#079
The two, who had arrived at school in Yechan’s car, headed to the lecture hall. And their ordinary daily life passed quickly.
The two went to school together, came home together, slept together, and woke up together. Yechan slowly adapted to the changed routine.
The increased time with Jiwoon rapidly encroached on Yechan’s time spent alone. Yechan when alone had always harbored some degree of emptiness and anxiety.
Until now, no matter what Yechan focused on, Jiwoon had always occupied a corner of his mind. But now that the real Jiwoon was by his side, paradoxically, the Jiwoon in his head who had been scratching at his nerves gradually disappeared.
Yechan became little by little, increasingly more comfortable.
The only discomfort was sexual desire. When Jiwoon woke up in the morning, he would go running and come back or do bodyweight exercises in his room, and the sight of his sweat-soaked clothes clinging to his broad, solid body and his flushed face was too stimulating.
Of course, Jiwoon’s sleeping face and the white face that woke him from sleep were all severely stimulating too. As time passed, Yechan had to quietly head to the bathroom every dawn to soothe his lower half that reacted even to Jiwoon’s breathing.
If he wasn’t there at all, it would be one thing, but being there and not being able to touch him was literally torture. Yechan was currently being tortured.
* * *
Friday was the day of their first midterm exam. The two, who had prepared steadily, both finished their exams satisfactorily.
During their free period, they had lunch while discussing the exam questions. The 2-credit liberal arts class in the afternoon ended with a short lecture.
“This one’s a report substitute, so it’s still somewhat comfortable.”
“Did you finish writing it?”
“One more revision and it’ll be done. What about you, hyung?”
“I finished writing it.”
“You’re fast. Are you aiming for top of the class?”
“I’m a regular admission all-in. The oppa asked me to get top of the class.”
“Aren’t law school grades important?”
“Top of the class isn’t necessary.”
Yechan, who had been nodding and heading toward his car, suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
“Ah, speaking of regular admission, I just remembered. Last time I only talked about myself. You also got a perfect score on the Suneung. I still haven’t congratulated you for that.”
On the day he talked about his Suneung scores, the reason Yechan couldn’t bring up congratulations to Jiwoon, even belatedly, was because he didn’t have the courage to dig up that time.
He wanted to express gratitude, but he didn’t want to dig up that memory. Yechan was afraid.
And Jiwoon also hadn’t brought up any particular story about it. Thinking of him, Yechan felt a little lonely.
“How did you know?”
Jiwoon had asked his parents to handle his score report themselves, giving the reason that he didn’t want to make a fuss until his final acceptance.
Even after going that far, Yechan knew about his Suneung scores. Jiwoon was a little puzzled.
“It would be strange not to know. The school was in an uproar.”
“…Right.”
Only then understanding Yechan’s meaning, Jiwoon nodded. It seemed it couldn’t be kept secret forever after all.
“A perfect score came out, but the person himself wasn’t around, so the teachers were really disappointed.”
At Yechan speaking with a grin, Jiwoon turned his gaze to the lush greenery filling the campus. The completely green tulip tree leaves swayed in the wind.
“What about you?”
To Yechan blinking his eyes puzzled as if asking what he meant, Jiwoon asked once more.
“Were you disappointed too?”
Yechan, asked that way, thoroughly examined Jiwoon’s face. In Jiwoon’s expression, eyes, and voice as he asked, there wasn’t even a light breeze.
At Jiwoon’s serious face, Yechan raised the corners of his mouth and spat out half a truth. In the other half of his heart, indescribable emotions were mixing and rippling.
“…You must have been busy, hyung. I was proud too.”
Lie. Jiwoon’s heart sank.
But contrary to such feelings, Jiwoon nodded as if he understood. A sudden gust of wind swept through and brushed his bangs.
Only after walking a bit more did Jiwoon notice that he was disappointed. He seemed to have wanted to look a little deeper into the heart of Yechan, who was gently taking revenge on him.
Yechan, who had skillfully hidden his emotions, was smiling as if sincere.
* * *
Jiwoon, who had finished showering, lay on the sofa and turned on the TV. The meaningless, senseless noise of a variety show could be heard. Lying down looking at the ceiling and covering his eyes with his arm, strength drained from his body.
Jiwoon carefully looked back on five days of cohabitation.
Yechan was pretty, cooked well, and was kind and gentle. He was so considerate that he wouldn’t let Jiwoon do anything, taking household chores from his hands, and mainly used external services for laundry. He had a neat personality and was faster with his hands than expected.
Unlike Jiwoon, Yechan tended to exercise in the evening. When exercising, Yechan would focus on strength training for a full hour, and every time Jiwoon glanced at such Yechan through the open door, heat would rush to his face.
Even occasionally seeing him do push-ups with his shirt off made Jiwoon squeeze his eyes shut. On the other hand, his preference for long, warm showers was cute like a child.
Yechan often held books even when it wasn’t for studying or assignments. Whether on the sofa, desk, or bed, books were always within reach. Jiwoon had come to like the sight of Yechan reading with glasses on too.
As promised, Yechan didn’t touch Jiwoon. There was no opportunity to do anything suggestive because of assignments and exam studying, but even sleeping and waking up in the same bed, he remained quiet.
Jiwoon’s slight frown at such Yechan was only momentary. One dawn, faint sounds had come from the bathroom.
And that day, Jiwoon, who had intuited Yechan’s condition from that sound, had to close his eyes again while trying to calm his heated body…
“Hyung, are you sleeping?”
At Yechan’s suddenly heard voice, Jiwoon, who had been lying on the sofa, quickly sat up. Perhaps because he had been thinking about such things, his heart pounded as if he had committed a crime.
“I’m not doing things I didn’t even do as a child.” Watching Yechan sit beside him holding a book while wearing glasses, Jiwoon flopped back down on the sofa.
“You’re not sleeping.”
“I don’t usually nap.”
“You won’t be able to sleep at night. If you nap.”
“That’s true too… but I’m too addicted to sleep.”
Jiwoon recalled the time when he could only meet Yechan in dreams. Before going to the military and after discharge, there was a period when he spent more than half the day sleeping.
The past swept through his body coolly. Jiwoon, lying down and reaching out his hand, ruffled Yechan’s wet hair.
The sensation touching his hand was clear. It was fortunate. Yechan was now by his side.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
Yechan, who had put down his book, stared at Jiwoon. He remembered the time when Jiwoon used to dry his hair.
Jiwoon, lying down, received the gaze from beyond the glasses.
“What.”
“Touch my hair more.”
At Yechan’s words, Jiwoon, who chuckled and sat up, caressed his wet hair this way and that. Soft light brown hair fluttered between his fingers.
His hands were busy for a while, making horns like a goblin and shaking it out as if to dry quickly. Yechan took in Jiwoon’s face and briefly immersed himself in distant memories.
“Hyung.”
Suddenly Yechan called him. Jiwoon took his gaze away from the hair and met Yechan’s eyes.
“How is it living together? Is living with me tolerable?”
“Yeah. It’s fucking tolerable.”
At the immediate answer, Yechan grinned and asked.
“What makes it most tolerable? What’s the best thing?”
“Food.”
Jiwoon answered immediately. Of course, everything about Yechan was good, but the cooking was really delicious. Thanks to that, Jiwoon, who had increased his morning exercise amount for fear of gaining weight, was now considering increasing his muscle mass too.
Watching Jiwoon’s round, innocent eyes, Yechan’s smile deepened. His sparkling pupils were beautiful.
Jiwoon thought he wanted to take off Yechan’s glasses. He wanted to see his bare eyes.
“What about you? Is living with me tolerable?”
“Hmm… except for not being able to touch.”
“Not until exams are over.”
“What about after that?”
“Depends on how you behave?”
Yechan pouted his lips. At the already expected behavior, Jiwoon let out another chuckle.
“Fucking interesting. Cute.”
“Anyway, feeding you is the best thing? When exams are over, I’ll make you more delicious things.”
“Yes, oppa.”
Jiwoon, who had gently pressed and arranged Yechan’s head, withdrew his hands.
Yechan grabbed both of Jiwoon’s wrists and tilted his head slightly. Unlike his raised lips, his eyes had deepened.
“But hyung. Today’s Friday.”
“It’s still early to call it evening.”
Jiwoon said, looking at the wall clock beyond Yechan. Yechan, who narrowed his eyes as if protesting, slowly caressed Jiwoon’s hands.
At the ticklish sensation, Jiwoon smiled and bit the inside of his mouth.
“Since I have to feed you dinner… I’ll feed you something else now.”
Yechan, who smiled lewdly, brought both of Jiwoon’s hands that he had been holding to his cheeks.
“I’ll eat dinner too. So I want to eat something else now.”
Yechan, who had pulled Jiwoon’s hands, made him grab his glasses frame. The sensation of bending Jiwoon’s fingers one by one while meeting eyes and smoothly removing the glasses was thrilling.
“Crazy, I think I’m going to develop a weird fetish.” Jiwoon’s eyes became dreamily unfocused and his lips curved up more.
“I want to eat you so much I’m going crazy. I’ve held back for too long.”
Yechan said while placing his glasses on the table. Jiwoon, who didn’t hide his now-deepened eyes, lightly gripped the tip of Yechan’s chin.
“Yechan.”
“Yes.”
“Do it yourself. Let me see how much you want to eat.”
At those words, Yechan slightly opened his mouth and smiled with just the corners raised. Jiwoon thought he could come right now at that face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
