#68
The CEO seemed very pleased with Eunhong. Gil Dong-wook had introduced the job to him, saying he was definitely hired. Still, it was different when the client directly expressed that they liked his work style. It felt like a good start.
“I want to make a big hit with the characters Eunhong draws. Since we’ve started this, we should aim for meaningful results,” the CEO said ambitiously.
The two employees sitting next to him exchanged glances. Eunhong smiled along with their awkward laughter. He went ahead and signed the contract, confirming his email address and contact information. They agreed that future work could be done online, and they all added each other as messenger friends.
Once outside, Eunhong contacted Gil Dong-wook to thank him for introducing him to this good opportunity and for the successful interview. He had been worried about not finding work, but now he felt proud and happy that he could find a breakthrough with his accumulated experience. He was purely happy, apart from getting busy in the future.
As soon as he started his car, emails containing project briefs and work instructions poured in from the company he had just contracted with. Eunhong sat in the car, scrolling through and reading the emails. Being familiar with this type of work, he could easily envision the plan and guidelines.
He took out his pad, allocated time considering his company work, and shared the schedule via messenger. The CEO’s emoticon danced in the messenger window, thanking him for the quick response.
‘If you’ve caught a rich alpha like an idiot, shouldn’t you take advantage of it? What’s with being so noble? Do you think you’ll be on the same level as him by acting so noble? It’s pocket change for him. Can’t you squeeze a bit more out of him?’
As he put his pad on the passenger seat and drove up from the underground parking lot, Woohyun’s voice came to mind. Eunhong took a deep breath, expanding his chest. He felt frustrated. How did it come to this? Whenever these thoughts suddenly arose, he kept looking back, wondering if he had some responsibility for Woohyun changing like that.
***
The green dot that had been stationary on the map started to move. Only then did Jaeha relax his shoulders. After noting down the information about the address where Eunhong had been staying until just now, his tension finally eased.
He resumed the game he had been playing while waiting for Eunhong. It was something Eunhong liked, and he was trying to create common ground, but it didn’t really suit Jaeha’s hands. Eunhong teased him, calling his hands cat paws and saying he had “falcon hands.” True to his words, Jaeha’s character died miserably again.
As he mechanically tapped the controller in his hands, not long after, he heard the voice guidance for vehicle entry. It meant that the car Eunhong had left in was entering the underground parking lot. Jaeha put down the controller and walked to the entrance.
When the door opened and Eunhong entered with a tired face, he immediately brightened up upon seeing Jaeha.
“I’m home.”
“…You must be hungry. Wash up and come out.”
It took a moment to realize how touching it was to hear him say he was back. While Eunhong went to wash up, Jaeha prepared dinner, pressing his stiff chest. He took out the things he had prepared as soon as Eunhong had left. He put the marinated sirloin in the oven and took out salad and wine. He even thinly sliced some hard-to-get truffles on top of the cooked meat.
Eunhong came into the dining room with his body still slightly damp, smelling moist and sweet. Jaeha tried to control his nerves that were completely drawn to him and set the plates.
“Sit down. Let’s eat.”
“Wow, what’s all this?”
Jaeha cut a large piece of meat with his knife and placed it on Eunhong’s plate. Cutting it into bite-sized pieces and adding truffles and cheese, it was heavenly. Eunhong’s face glowed red.
“Wow, it’s so delicious.”
“Eat a lot.”
He looked like a baby bird, stomping his feet while eating the meat. Jaeha smiled broadly, showing his canines. It was quite fun to feed him as he chewed and swallowed each bite. While he was busy cutting and feeding Eunhong, Eunhong stuck meat and garnish on his fork and held it out to Jaeha.
“Ah, open your mouth. Ah…”
Although he offered the meat, Jaeha’s gaze was fixed on Eunhong beyond it. The way he looked at him was intense, unnecessarily encouraging embarrassment. Eunhong shook the fork, urging him to open his mouth.
‘An alpha who seems like he could make pheromones pour out just by looking at you.’
Suddenly, the CEO’s words came to mind. The scene of Jaeha opening his mouth to eat the meat and licking his lips with his red tongue played out slowly before his eyes. It was hard to take his eyes off the traces left on his lips. Eunhong picked up the untouched wine glass and wet his burning throat.
“Nothing unusual happened, right?”
Feeling awkward, he asked, and Jaeha nodded indifferently. He was still mechanically transferring food to Eunhong’s plate. As he was about to pour another glass of wine, Jaeha suddenly spoke.
“I was bored preparing this alone… Why are you suddenly taking on so much work these days? Does Bunhong need money?”
The wine that was going down his throat almost came back up, but he managed to swallow it. Eunhong rolled his eyes, choosing his answer. He felt burdened by Jaeha’s gaze fixed on him.
“How many things are you juggling along with your company work? You only have one body.”
“Just for a while. I heard about a project and got a bit greedy.”
Jaeha sighed lightly.
“I’m bored playing alone.”
He smiled awkwardly, pulling up the corners of his mouth. He stuffed the remaining meat into his mouth, two pieces at a time. He didn’t forget to shove some into Jaeha’s mouth, who was just staring at him without eating.
“You’re allocating time to play with me too, right?”
“O-Of course. I’ve allocated time.”
In the car during commutes.
“Don’t leave me too lonely just because I told you not to worry about me.”
Hearing him say he was lonely felt strange. It seemed like Jaeha’s mood had changed subtly. It was hard to explain, but was it because he had let his hair down? Somehow it felt like he was being more clingy… Eunhong downed his third glass of wine, wondering what that indescribable thing was. As he was about to refill the empty glass with wine again, Jaeha snatched the bottle away.
“Stop drinking. Or, do you want to sleep with me again?”
“…Did I make another mistake?”
“…No.”
After finishing the meal and cleaning up, his body felt completely relaxed. As he was about to go up to his workroom, Jaeha caught him, asking him to play with him. Coincidentally, the game Jaeha had been playing was still on the living room TV. The words “Game Over” were plastered in bright red in the center of the screen.
“Can you help me with this?”
Eunhong sat on the sofa as Jaeha led him, taking the controller. He was conscious of Jaeha sitting sideways and watching him instead of the screen, but he started the game anyway. As it loaded to the last save point, a giant half-human, half-demon monster came charging with a massive halberd.
He rolled to the side to avoid the downward strike and deflected the swinging spear with his shield. He used an electric-attribute sword to inflict damage and stun the monster, then charged up his most damaging weapon for a powerful strike. Eunhong’s eyes sparkled for a moment, forgetting his fatigue.
“This one, like this.”
“……”
“If you mount it from behind.”
“……”
“It’s easy to catch.”
The monster fell with a final death cry after taking the last hit. As he was busily picking up the dropped items, he suddenly froze at the touch of a hand sliding around his waist. Jaeha had wrapped his arm around Eunhong’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“From behind, like this?”
“…What are you going to do by catching me?”
Eunhong looked down at the bridge of Jaeha’s nose as he rested his chin on his shoulder.
“Well… Depends on what drops when I catch you.”
“Only dust will drop if you catch me.”
“I’d like that too.”
“Are you crazy…?”
The nonsensical talk wasn’t unpleasant. Eunhong couldn’t help but laugh out loud. As if sparked by his playfulness, Jaeha’s fingertips pressed in. Eunhong screamed as he tickled his sides, twisting his body.
“Hey! Ahah! Hey, stop it! It tickles!”
Unlike his playful fingertips, his arm strength was formidable. No matter how much he struggled to break free, he remained immovable. He persistently followed even as Eunhong collapsed in laughter. After a while of tumbling around, he came to his senses to find Jaeha crushing him on the sofa.
“Do you surrender?”
“I never resisted. Move over a bit.”
“I don’t want to.”
Jaeha stubbornly sat straddling Eunhong’s thighs. He slightly lifted the hem of his T-shirt with the hand he had placed on his waist. Eunhong squirmed with a troubled expression at the cool touch sneaking in.
“Let, let go. Just a moment.”
“So soft.”
“Move, Jaeha. Move over…”
Eunhong’s fair skin had been flushed pink for a while now. It started reddening from the tickling, but now his whole body was heating up. Moreover, he was starting to feel something other than ticklishness, which was problematic. Eunhong twisted his body wildly, avoiding Jaeha’s gaze.
“M-Move…”
“……”
Jaeha’s forearm brushed against Eunhong’s member, which had been gradually hardening. Their eyes met briefly, and Eunhong’s face burst into flames.
“Ah… Come on! I said move!”
As Eunhong struggled and looked ready to kick, Jaeha pretended to give in and lifted his body. He felt reluctant to let go. He wanted to keep touching him, but if he did, Eunhong would really get angry.
