#Side Story 06
The journey home was silent throughout. From deliberately fixing my gaze only on the outside scenery, my neck eventually became stiff and painful. Although Saheon hyung could have sat by the window, he chose to sit in the aisle seat and attempted to negotiate with me from time to time, but the negotiations failed to materialize until the bus arrived in Magok.
“Magok!”
As soon as the bus stopped at the driver’s shout, I jumped up from my seat and walked out with heavy steps. The morning sun was now fully up. Saheon hyung hurriedly followed behind me.
I opened the trunk facing Magok on my own so the driver wouldn’t have to trouble himself, and like a scoundrel, I only pulled out my own carrier. The gazes of people waiting at the crosswalk for their morning commute naturally focused on the two of us in uniforms.
I turned my body sharply and left first while Saheon hyung was urgently searching for his luggage. A boring song was playing from the playlist that had already gone through one cycle. I could feel Saheon hyung hurriedly gathering his things behind me.
“Cheongmyeong. Let’s go together!”
Saheon hyung, following a few steps behind, called out. I responded with silence and quickened my pace a bit more. It was almost like half-running. Saheon hyung also increased his speed.
“Honey!”
I pulled my carrier along without any response. It was like we were having a race to see who could go faster. This ridiculous strange race continued until we reached the apartment.
Saheon hyung diligently followed me until I arrived at the front door. I awkwardly rode the elevator up and entered inside as if I couldn’t see Saheon hyung.
The familiar air of our home warmly enveloped me. Without looking back, I pulled my carrier into my unfamiliar room. The distinctive smell of dust in an uninhabited place was strong.
Since I usually stayed in Saheon hyung’s room, my bed had become a guest bed, but still, what was mine was mine. After roughly setting the carrier in a corner, I easily ignored the sound of Saheon hyung carefully knocking on the door.
“Cheongmyeong. Can I come in?”
Having nowhere to escape, I crawled into bed instead of answering. When there was no response, Saheon hyung silently opened the door and came in. I pulled the blanket over my head to signal a severance of communication, but it didn’t seem to work on Saheon hyung.
It was uncomfortable lying down in my uniform, but I wriggled under the blanket to find the most comfortable position possible. I felt Saheon hyung’s presence approaching me.
Plop, the bed sank with hyung’s weight. Hyung’s hand caressed the bulging blanket. It was around my arm.
“Why have you become a sad fried shrimp?”
Sometimes Saheon hyung would make strange, incomprehensible comparisons. I pulled the blanket further over my head. Saheon hyung, who had climbed up over the space where the blanket had disappeared as I pulled it towards me, hugged me wrapped in the blanket.
“…I can’t breathe.”
“Then you should show me your pretty face.”
Saheon hyung whispered softly as he lowered the blanket that was covering me up to my head. I, who might have suffocated due to the air hole being blocked by hyung hugging me, allowed space only up to below my eyes.
The sensation of uniform touching uniform was uncomfortable. I lowered my reddened eyelids. I could feel my slightly moist eyelashes touching below my eyes.
Saheon hyung lightly kissed my exposed forehead, then put more strength into the arms hugging me. The body heat coming from hyung was very warm.
“Are you still not over it?”
I didn’t answer, but my lips that had been jutting out sulkily since the airport were still the same. Hyung’s hand covered my forehead, which was exposed due to the wax styling. I quietly closed my eyes.
Hyung’s hand slowly cupped my cheek. As my cheek was cradled while I avoided eye contact, my cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish. Saheon hyung murmured pitifully with his eyebrows lowered:
“Honey. Look at me. Okay?”
I glanced at Saheon hyung. It was a face that was always so handsome no matter when I looked at it. When our eyes met, hyung smiled lightly with his eyes. The faint wrinkles around his eyes that had appeared with age seemed to make hyung even more attractive.
But I, who had let out a strong snort to indicate that I wouldn’t easily let go of my hurt feelings, lowered my head again. Saheon hyung’s hand fiddled with my cheek.
“This is strange. Usually, Cheongmyeong’s anger subsides when I do this…”
At these words muttered shamelessly, I looked at hyung once more with an incredulous face. Saheon hyung, whose eyes met mine, grinned playfully.
What was more surprising was that being held in hyung’s arms and seeing his face really did start to chip away at the hurt feelings I had been harboring. My brain, which had cooled down a bit with time, was now reexamining the moment I had felt hurt by hyung.
Saheon hyung had chosen the best possible method in that moment. It was a fact I clearly understood in my head.
If hyung hadn’t intervened, there was no telling how far the purser’s nitpicking would have gone, and if hyung had told her to stop, I might have been bullied throughout the flight.
Pretending to take the purser’s side to some extent and ending the situation was the best option from Saheon hyung’s position. Of course, understanding with the head and understanding with the heart were on slightly different tracks.
“…Why did you speak to me so coldly?”
“Did I do that?”
“You did.”
“I thought I was speaking as calmly as possible…”
Saheon hyung trailed off. The words full of sadness that I had suppressed throughout the flight continued to leak out between my lips.
“You spoke to me… the same way you speak to other crew members.”
“…That’s. In that situation, like usual…”
“Then you should just go date that purser now.”
Once again, a sulky feeling burst out. I wriggled out of Saheon hyung’s arms and turned my back. Saheon hyung pressed his body against me like the concave part of a spoon. It was quite an urgent movement.
“She was pretty. Go.”
“How could there be anyone prettier than you?”
“I said go.”
“Ahhh, Cheongmyeong.”
Hyung whined and hugged me tightly while showering my cheeks with random kisses. Receiving smacking kisses while captured from behind, my lips automatically pressed tightly together.
Now the blanket was only a thin membrane covering Saheon hyung and me. A slightly uncomfortable sensation dominated my body due to the uniforms touching each other. I pressed my lips together tightly and corrected the part I had said but felt uneasy about.
“…But really, don’t date her.”
I heard Saheon hyung laughing softly behind my back. My ears felt hot. Saheon hyung, who had firmly captured me with his arms and legs, whispered dejectedly:
“Now I’m too old for that. She wouldn’t accept me anyway.”
At these shameless words, I glanced at hyung with sulky eyes. When walking through the airport with Saheon hyung, we would receive an enormous amount of admiring glances. To me, it seemed like he was getting more handsome with each passing year, yet hyung was saying such unbelievable things.
“Now go. I’m going to sleep.”
“Has your anger subsided?”
“Depends on what you do.”
A curt response popped out. Saheon hyung rubbed his forehead against my shoulder like a purring cat.
“What should I do to make Cheongmyeong’s anger subside?”
Saheon hyung’s hand, which had been wrapped around my waist, slowly moved downward.
“Should I suck you here?”
At the touch heading towards my uniform pants with clear intent, I panicked and blocked hyung’s hand.
“Don’t. I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
“Want to finish in my mouth?”
Saheon hyung said embarrassing things shamelessly even though it was morning. It was a choice of words that I couldn’t get used to even after years of hearing them. With a red face, I opened and closed my mouth, then hurriedly added in a trembling voice:
“D-don’t touch me. And I’m dirty because I haven’t washed…”
“What’s dirty about you?”
“I mean I feel gross.”
“Then should I suck you off in the bathroom? Can you hold back your moans well? The bathroom isn’t very soundproof.”
Saheon hyung spouted lewd talk without his face changing color at all. Though I still wasn’t used to it, I managed to awkwardly retort:
“Even if you do it for me, I won’t do it for you.”
“That’s fine. I like eating you anyway.”
Hyung’s eyes sparkled. For someone who had just finished a 6.5-hour flight, his face was excessively full of vitality.
Whoosh, my position was flipped over. A few strands of Saheon hyung’s hair, which had been neatly combed back with wax, fell onto his forehead. Hyung whispered while looking down at me:
“Is there anything else I’m good at besides this?”
I pressed my lips into a straight line. My cheeks burned at the undeniable fact. But I couldn’t just give in so easily like water being mixed into alcohol. I boldly asserted my opinion:
“Th-they say it’s not good to make up like this…”
“You mean it’s not good to reconcile through sex?”
Saheon hyung asked mischievously. When I couldn’t say anything, hyung laughed softly and answered full of self-confidence:
“That’s just what people who can’t do it well say.”
It didn’t seem like he was wrong. My gaze was directed towards Saheon hyung’s left thigh. Although it wasn’t very noticeable due to the black uniform, it felt like the fabric in the middle of his thigh was getting damp.
Meanwhile, Saheon hyung’s hand had already unfastened my pants buckle. Just from that, my body jumped as if an electric current had passed through it. I overlapped my hand on top of hyung’s.
I shook my head. I had just expressed my hurt feelings, and it felt like losing if I gave in to hyung’s seduction like this.
“No?”
Saheon hyung asked meaninglessly. His lowered gaze was seeking permission. I took a shallow breath, then said firmly:
“…If we do it, I’m going to Yongin.”
Hyung’s lips pressed tightly together. Perhaps because I had escaped to Yongin several times while we were dating – for various reasons – he seemed to realize I was serious. Saheon hyung let out a sigh, then chose to lie down next to me.
Saheon hyung hugged my body tightly again. I felt like a human teddy bear. My body felt a bit hot, perhaps due to the uniform that didn’t conduct heat well. Hyung’s hand slowly crept down and burrowed between my unfastened buckle. It was an instant before the large hand occupied the gap between my drawers and bare skin.
