Kim Sibaek was just opening his mouth to say, “We’re close like brothers,” when—
“This kind of relationship.”
Tae Woon, who’d been feigning innocence up until now, suddenly leaned in close. Tilting his face at an angle that suggested a kiss, he instead licked Kim Sibaek’s earlobe and gave it a gentle bite. Ugh, fuck, my eyes! Gwak Yoonsang screamed internally, squeezing his eyes shut, while Kim Sibaek jolted in shock.
“Waaagh!”
“Come on, hyung. Why are you acting so startled? It’s not like we’ve never kissed before.”
“Tae Woon! You’re seriously pushing your luck!”
Gwak Yoonsang bitterly lamented the fact that he couldn’t simply enjoy the spectacle of Tae Woon laughing happily even as Kim Sibaek repeatedly slapped him on the back. Meanwhile, Biendeoé continued sleeping peacefully amidst the chaos.
After Gwak Yoonsang had left, Tae Woon remained quite satisfied, savoring the lingering sting on his back. Kim Sibaek noticed Tae Woon’s subtly content expression and decided that the next time Tae Woon tried something similar, he wouldn’t smack him again. His instincts warned him that Tae Woon would probably enjoy being hit just about anywhere…
…I’ll worry about that later.
He still had the ultimate backup plan—moving out of Tae Woon’s place entirely.
Unaware of Kim Sibaek’s unsettling plans to run away from home, Tae Woon pointed at Biendeoé.
“Is it normal for her to sleep through all this noise? Nothing’s wrong, right?”
“Kids usually sleep deeply.”
“For a moment, I thought she’d died. Wait, can gods even die?”
“They can once they’ve had offspring.”
“Really? Should you even be telling a non-believer like me such sensitive information about gods?”
Tae Woon eagerly leaned in close, obviously delighted at the chance for a secret conversation. Kim Sibaek gently pushed his forehead away.
“It’s not exactly a secret in Mak Slechth. Chaos has killed gods before. Even the previous god of the Underworld was killed by Chaos.”
“Huh.”
Despite being the one who’d asked first, Tae Woon seemed suddenly disinterested and grabbed Kim Sibaek’s hand, which had been pushing against his forehead. Kim Sibaek realized his mistake too late and tried pulling away, but Tae Woon tightly intertwined their fingers and pressed forward, causing Kim Sibaek to fall back onto the sofa.
“……”
Because of their sudden closeness, the lips he’d been trying desperately not to notice came clearly into view. Feeling flustered, Kim Sibaek quickly diverted his gaze.
Looking up from beneath him, Tae Woon’s face felt strangely unfamiliar. It wasn’t simply because he’d grown taller while they’d been apart. After all, one month had been more than enough time to get used to the 35-year-old Tae Woon.
No, the strangeness came from those eyes.
Eyes that were playful yet deep, openly revealing the desire he didn’t bother hiding. Those dark irises contrasted vividly against the whites of his eyes, resembling an abyss so deep they couldn’t even reflect Kim Sibaek’s own face clearly. Unsettled, Kim Sibaek stared upward into those shadowed depths.
He wanted to dismiss this as playful teasing and lightly push him away, but Tae Woon’s firm grip above his head didn’t allow it. Kim Sibaek gently flexed his fingers, knowing he had enough strength to break free if he wanted to, yet…
He hesitated. He worried that confronting force with force might escalate things unnecessarily. More importantly, he didn’t want to risk hurting Tae Woon, not even slightly.
No matter how strong and accomplished Tae Woon became, even if he was praised as one of the world’s greatest Hunters, Kim Sibaek’s memory of him was still that little boy from the basement room—wounded, terrified, unable to even cry properly.
And that was why this couldn’t happen.
He blinked once, and the shadowy image of the small boy hovering before his eyes vanished, replaced instead by the adult Tae Woon whispering with unmistakable desire.
“How exactly should I seduce you, hyung?”
The hand gently caressing his cheek was tender but unmistakably intimate, no longer hiding Tae Woon’s true intentions. The sensation of those desperate, impatient lips returned vividly to Kim Sibaek’s memory.
Trying to erase that memory only emphasized how difficult it was to forget.
…Why the hell does he have to be such a good kisser?
No matter how casually he tried to dismiss it, the attempt felt futile. The unfamiliar sensation that had spread from his lips seemed to burrow deeper, stirring his heart, forcing Kim Sibaek to swallow back a sigh.
It had been a very long time since a single kiss had thrown him into such turmoil. At first, he tried rationalizing it—maybe it was just because it had been so long—but quickly rejected that excuse. It wasn’t about time, but rather because it was Tae Woon.
He’d always viewed Tae Woon as a young kid, no matter how mature he’d become physically, and now Tae Woon had suddenly thrust himself into his consciousness as an undeniable adult. Even more troubling was the undeniable way Kim Sibaek’s body had reacted. Kissing someone who was practically his younger brother was absurd enough, but physically responding to it was even more bewildering—yet undeniable.
He imagined giving in to Tae Woon’s temptation, kissing him again, and going even further.
Setting aside whether he could genuinely see Tae Woon as anything other than a younger sibling, Kim Sibaek evaluated him objectively. Tae Woon had striking good looks, considerable status, and had always treated him with warmth and affection.
Even if it was purely a physical relationship, Kim Sibaek knew deep down that spending his days here with Tae Woon in such a way would make his time richer, more beautiful, and infinitely more intense. Realizing during their kiss that his pounding heartbeat wasn’t unpleasant, despite his confusion, only confirmed that thought.
“Besides, I’m pretty adorable when I kiss.”
Perhaps sensing the hesitation flickering in Kim Sibaek’s eyes, Tae Woon pressed his lips softly against Kim Sibaek’s cheek. The kiss landed as lightly as a butterfly settling onto a flower, fragile enough to disappear at any moment—but in that delicate pause, Tae Woon swiftly seized the chance, stealing away Kim Sibaek’s breath.
Slipping through the parted lips, Tae Woon’s tongue was soft yet urgent, moving as though last night’s deep exploration hadn’t satisfied his hunger. He kissed Kim Sibaek as if their time was running out, as if he’d been holding back until this very moment.
This intense, desperate sincerity was exactly what kept Kim Sibaek from either responding outright or pushing him away immediately.
Only when Kim Sibaek choked slightly from lack of air did Tae Woon finally pull back, reluctantly breaking their fierce, tangled kiss. Even after ravaging Kim Sibaek’s mouth so thoroughly, Tae Woon’s gaze still dripped openly with insatiable desire.
“If you have sex with me, you can get cute kisses like this every day—or even every thirty minutes.”
“……”
“I promise our sex will be adorable, too. But doing it too often would wear you out, so I’ll limit myself to three times a night.”
It was oddly precise—almost absurdly specific.
Tae Woon’s kiss, burning hot like last night’s, confirmed that what happened then was far from a dream. It ignited Kim Sibaek’s heartbeat, stirring feelings he’d desperately tried to suppress.
Had his moral boundaries been even a bit weaker, Kim Sibaek would’ve completely surrendered.
I never realized I was this vulnerable to temptation…
Or perhaps it was simply because the person tempting him was Tae Woon.
Hiding his troubled thoughts, Kim Sibaek rubbed his face with one hand.
Since when had Tae Woon’s eyes begun looking at him in this inappropriate way? Was it yesterday? Last week? Or even earlier, perhaps from the moment they reunited?
Every drop of unfiltered desire seeping from Tae Woon made Kim Sibaek rethink all their past interactions—the overly suggestive jokes, the casual touches that were a little too intimate to be purely brotherly affection. Had it been anyone but Tae Woon, he might have recognized the signs sooner. He might have yielded to the temptation and moved into something deeper.
…But this is Woonie.
It was Tae Woon who stirred him, yet it was also Tae Woon who held him back.
After becoming an adult and leaving the orphanage, Kim Sibaek had regularly returned, always playing the role of reliable older brother to the kids. Among them all, Tae Woon was the most vulnerable and precious to him. Initially, Tae Woon had replaced his lost younger brother, but eventually, he grew into something far more significant, deeply embedded in his heart.
Kim Sibaek couldn’t bear to lose the child inside himself—the boy he’d once saved, who in return had saved him. Amid his difficult life, this selfishness was something he simply couldn’t relinquish.
Kim Sibaek lifted his hand toward Tae Woon’s face, but instead of gently caressing his cheek, he gripped it firmly and pulled it sideways. Tae Woon’s expression became amusingly distorted as his cheek stretched, yet his dark eyes stayed steady, locked onto Kim Sibaek’s.
“Stop it. There’s no way to seduce me.”
“Why not? You said yourself—I’m pretty.”
“The prettiest in the world…”
“And still no?”
“What’s impossible stays impossible.”
As Kim Sibaek firmly drew the line, Tae Woon’s eyebrows twitched briefly before sliding downward. His fiercely sharp eyes softened immediately, becoming pleading as he spoke softly, his voice dripping sweetness right into Kim Sibaek’s ears.
“Hyung-ah…”
“…!”
Kim Sibaek’s heart started racing even more violently than it had during the kiss.
