“Did I sound too serious?”
Knowing how his expression looked when he wasn’t smiling, Sa-yoon quickly relaxed his lips.
“You’re cute, so I’ll let it slide one time.”
There was no reason for big lies between them anyway. Even when he threw out a playful remark, Shin-jae’s serious expression didn’t ease in the slightest. Was his face really that aggressive?
From the start, he and Shin-jae already knew each other, so the premise didn’t even apply. Besides, even if Shin-jae did try to lie, he was too transparent for it to work.
“……Really?”
Exactly.
“You’re really going to let it slide once?”
The way he asked was unnatural. Sa-yoon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
There were only two reasons why lies could drive a wedge between close friends: money or romance. If anyone was borrowing money, it wouldn’t be Sa-yoon, and the chance of the opposite happening was slim. Romance? That wasn’t even an issue in the first place—Shin-jae had already confessed that he liked him.
“Actually—”
“As long as it’s nothing too serious.”
Just then, the movie playing in the background showed the male lead getting scammed by a friend. Crime was a bit hard to excuse, after all. With that in mind, Sa-yoon clarified, and Shin-jae’s expression became unreadable again.
“Actually, what?”
“……No, never mind.”
“What kind of huge lie were you about to tell, Sa Shin-jae?”
“I was just asking.”
“Just asking?”
“Just…… because I don’t want to drift apart from you.”
What had started as a joke was met with a serious response. Sa-yoon bit his lip and shifted his gaze.
‘He’s been fidgeting with his fingers and sneaking glances at me since earlier……’
Even now, he was hesitating, biting his lip as if there was something he wanted to say. That only made Sa-yoon more certain. Shin-jae had a habit of trying to figure out the personality of the person he liked, and somehow, Sa-yoon had completely missed the signs.
Oh no…… Does he like me too much?
“As long as things stay the way they are now, we won’t drift apart.”
Even after he said that to reassure him, Shin-jae’s expression didn’t brighten. For some reason, that bothered Sa-yoon, so he kept talking, casually mentioning his likes and dislikes.
Thankfully, Shin-jae gradually showed interest and actively engaged in the conversation. At some point, the movie became mere background noise, while their conversation took center stage.
……He clearly remembered talking with Shin-jae, but when he woke up, they were tangled together on the couch. He had no memory of watching the ending, which meant he must have dozed off somewhere in the middle.
He tried to get up, but behind him was the couch, and in front of him was Shin-jae. In other words, he was trapped. He didn’t have the heart to wake him up after keeping him up all night, so Sa-yoon chose to stay put until Shin-jae woke up on his own.
With nothing else to do, his gaze naturally landed on Shin-jae’s sleeping face. He looked like a prince straight out of a fairytale. Even while lying on his side, not a trace of awkwardness could be found—it was like a scene from a commercial.
He saw this face every day and thought he had gotten used to it, but seeing it up close made it feel brand new. So, he simply decided to enjoy the show of beauty unfolding before him.
‘He really lives in 4K all by himself…’
They say looking at attractive people is the most entertaining pastime. He had been watching for about ten minutes when, suddenly, Shin-jae’s brows furrowed. A ray of sunlight had crept onto his face.
Sa-yoon raised an arm to shade his eyes. Under the shadow of his hand, the furrowed brows smoothed out again. It wasn’t much of an effort—he was just resting his elbow to block the light. With that settled, he resumed his appreciation of the view.
And then, the second crisis arrived.
“Mm…”
Shin-jae shifted slightly before pulling Sa-yoon into his arms. A sudden ambush. His hands were warm, and his entire body radiated heat.
Feeling the warmth spreading to him, Sa-yoon made a troubled expression. Against his lower body, something hard pressed insistently.
He tried to inch his hips backward, but the moment he moved, Shin-jae sensed it and held him even tighter. On top of that, a firm thigh slipped between his legs.
There had been some space between them earlier, at least… but now, their position was something only a lovesick couple would assume. Below, he could feel Shin-jae’s arousal, and above, his lips brushed against Sa-yoon’s earlobe. A shiver ran through him at the warm breath tickling his skin.
“Shin-jae.”
Sa-yoon called him softly. No response.
“Shin-jae?”
“…Yeah, hyung…”
Sa-yoon bit his lip hard. That voice—what the hell? It was already deep to begin with, but now, thick with sleep, it sounded like he was hearing someone else entirely.
“Let go and move.”
“…Don’t wanna.”
“What?”
“I wanna fly… with Sesame…”
“What?”
“I’m flying… with Sesame… I don’t wanna go…”
There were people who mumbled nonsense when woken up in their sleep. It was such a ridiculous yet adorable sleep habit that Sa-yoon was momentarily speechless.
“Hyung, Sesame smells so nice…”
As if even his allergies had disappeared in his dreams, Shin-jae nuzzled his cheek between Sa-yoon’s neck and face, mumbling as he did. Sa-yoon was about to lose his mind.
“Sesame… kiss…”
The disaster didn’t end there. As if making up for all the times he couldn’t cuddle Sesame in real life, Shin-jae clung to Sa-yoon desperately. The real problem, however, was that the one in front of him right now wasn’t Sesame—but Sa-yoon.
It happened.
Smack.
Sa-yoon quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, exhaling a breath of relief. That is, if Shin-jae hadn’t started sucking on his palm.
Soft lips pressed against his skin, leaving short, fluttering kisses. Completely convinced that he was kissing Sesame, Shin-jae looked utterly content. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he even mumbled, “Sesame is so good…”
Sa-yoon was going to lose his mind.
Finally, he grabbed Shin-jae’s shoulders and shook him.
“Wake up.”
His tone was noticeably sharper than before. He’d realized that gently trying to wake him wasn’t going to work. He shook him hard enough that Shin-jae’s perfectly smooth forehead wrinkled.
His eyelids slowly lifted, revealing pale-colored irises that gradually sharpened into focus. At the same time, confusion spread across Shin-jae’s face.
And then—like he’d been burned—he shot up. He was so startled that he stumbled while getting off the couch.
“This is my first time being a body pillow. Was it comfortable?”
Shin-jae’s face, which couldn’t even look directly at him, was so red that a single poke might make it explode.
“I’m going to shower.”
As he stepped away, he heard the sound of Shin-jae collapsing back onto the couch. A glance over his shoulder revealed him clutching his head.
And as for Sa-yoon, who walked into the bathroom as if nothing had happened…
Click.
“Fuuh—”
The moment the door closed, he gripped the sink with both hands and let out a long sigh.
When he lifted his head to look in the mirror, there was another bright red-faced idiot staring back at him.
‘Looks like it’s been too long.’
Things down below were not looking good.
Sa-yoon exhaled another deep sigh as he glanced downward. Then, without hesitation, he stripped off his clothes one by one, stepped into the shower, and turned the lever.
A blast of freezing cold water poured down from the showerhead.
***
He was definitely losing his mind.
Otherwise, how could he be thinking about Shin-jae—
Again.
The real problem was that, at every spare moment, his thoughts kept drifting back to that morning. The warm breath tickling his ear, that husky voice, the broad chest… He couldn’t even deny that he’d found it attractive.
“Haa.”
“Oppa!”
“Huh?”
He looked up to see Hye-yoon brushing her teeth, eyeing him with suspicion.
“Why do you keep rubbing your legs? Did you get a rash or something?”
Wait—he had been absentmindedly petting Sesame’s back, hadn’t he?
But when he looked down, his hand was just sitting there, resting on his thigh.
Sa-yoon shot to his feet, scanning the living room with anxious eyes. The fluffy little ball of fur was nowhere in sight.
“Where’s Sesame?”
“He’s sleeping with Mom in the master bedroom,” Hye-yoon mumbled before shuffling back to the bathroom.
As he sank back onto the couch, his fingertips brushed against a rough patch. It was a set of deep scratch marks—Sesame must have gone wild earlier, unable to contain his excitement.
That instantly brought back memories of the morning. The couch they had been lying on was twice as wide as the one he was sitting on now, and on it, he had been tangled up with Shin-jae…
Smack.
Sa-yoon abruptly raised both hands and slapped his cheeks. Yep. He really had lost his mind.
Hye-yoon, who had just finished brushing her teeth, stepped out of the bathroom and froze at the sight of her brother self-inflicting harm. Was he still traumatized because Sesame was in pain earlier?
Ignoring her concerned stare, Sa-yoon gave himself a couple more smacks. The sharp sting brought him back to reality. He slumped against the couch and let out a deep breath just as a notification popped up on his phone.
It was from Divine.
***
[Event Notice]
Posted by: GM Nymph
Hello, Hero!
New updates have arrived in Divine, blessed by the gods!
The second teaser has been revealed.
▶ [Watch the 2nd teaser]
A character enhancement feature has been added.
▶ [Enhance your character]
The Cash Shop now offers <Netherworld: Lord of Darkness Supply Box>.
▶ [Check supply box rewards]
Weekend Fever Events start every week!
100% FEVER! ▶ [Join the event now]
***
