The moment I spotted the blotchy skin that looked like it had broken out in a rash, sleep fled instantly.
Above me, as if he’d noticed the sharp breath I sucked in, a soft snicker followed.
Yeah, that’s right. I definitely confessed to Min Siheon last night. Honestly, I thought I’d get rejected after all the ridiculous stunts I pulled.
But contrary to my expectations, we confirmed each other’s feelings through Min Siheon’s fervent kiss.
Even though what happened after that was something I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud.
Embarrassed, I raised a hand to cover my face. Min Siheon, who had just set a glass of water down on the bedside table, wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to my forehead. His lips settled slowly, as if I were something precious, pressing gently into my skin before lifting away.
I drank, I cried, and everything else… Anyway, I had to look swollen and ugly as hell. The thought that he had a pretty strong stomach crossed my mind.
“Did you sleep well?”
Shameless bastard. The guy I faced again in the morning looked completely different from the one last night.
The gap between this gentle version and the one who ignored my pleas to stop while relentlessly pushing me was enormous.
I wished I could’ve just fainted, but maybe because of my naturally sturdy constitution, I stayed conscious the whole night, tossed around without losing awareness.
I pouted and grumbled, my voice coming out so rough it was hard to believe it was mine.
“…You think I could’ve slept well with you around?”
Ah, fuck, my voice. My throat was completely wrecked. I thought it was just temporary dryness from thirst, but… it seemed I’d actually strained it.
Memories of the sounds I made all night surfaced, and a wave of embarrassment surged up.
I made noises like that? I wanted to deny it and turned my gaze away from Min Siheon.
But he didn’t seem willing to let it slide. Tightening his hold around my upper body, he made me look back at him.
I wasn’t trying to deny the night we spent together—just the sounds I made.
A dull ache throbbed through my pressed-down waist. When I lowered my head to signal it hurt, Min Siheon immediately apologized.
“Ugh, my back.”
“Ah, sorry.”
Considering I’d been the one lying down most of the time, the muscle soreness made no sense at all.
Was sex always like this? Even for someone who wasn’t exactly inexperienced, last night felt excessively intense.
Well… he is in his prime. Thinking of Min Siheon’s age, I forced a smile, deciding to be generous.
Sure, the mind inside me was twenty-nine, but physically I was the same age as him.
His lukewarm body heat felt surprisingly comfortable, and even while his voice carried a worried tone, Min Siheon stubbornly refused to loosen his arms around me. I’d already surrendered both hands and feet to that persistence.
Relaxing my body, I leaned my head against his chest. Trusting the solid arm supporting me, I lifted my chin.
Min Siheon’s face, backlit by sunlight, gradually came into focus. Gentle, affectionate eyes—my favorite expression of his.
“By the way, why are you the only one wearing clothes? That’s unfair.”
As the sheet slipped down, I caught sight of both of us. Unlike me—completely bare without even a pair of drawers—he had pulled on training pants while tidying my body.
His upper body was still bare, showing off those impressive muscles, but compared to my natural-state nakedness, he looked practically modest.
“I think you look better like this, Jungwoo.”
“…That’s disgusting, you crazy bastard.”
Even seeing me barely covered below the waist by a blanket, Min Siheon said he preferred how I looked right now.
His eyes gleamed as he examined my upper body, a mess of bruises and bite marks. Something threatening lingered in that gaze, and I quickly gathered the blanket around me.
Forget calling him gentle. I stretched an arm out to defend the blanket, and Min Siheon pressed another kiss to my forehead.
I flinched. Unlike when I was half-asleep, receiving skinship while fully awake was unbearably embarrassing.
When my grip tightened, Min Siheon responded by tracing his lips across my skin.
Down from my forehead, between my brows, over my lowered eyelids, slanting across the bridge of my nose, along the ridge until reaching the tip—
As he passed my left cheek, warm breath tickled my lips.
“…Jungwoo, close your eyes.”
“Huh?”
I straightened my shoulders at his whisper—
And at that exact moment, my eyes met Min Siheon’s flickering gaze. With a faint smile curling his lips, he placed his mouth over mine.
Chup— A light bird kiss landed with a soft peck. Before I knew it, my hands were on his chest, tilting my head as I kissed him back.
…This should be ending soon, though. It felt like it was dragging on a bit too long.
As if confirming my bad feeling, Min Siheon’s lips tried to pry mine open.
I barely swallowed the saliva pooling between us. A red warning light flashed instantly in my head.
Damn. Maybe at night it would’ve been one thing, but now it was bright morning. And I was completely sober.
With my body already a wreck, going to bed with Min Siheon again was absolutely not happening.
At least I could still move right now. If we went another round, I’d be headed straight for medical leave.
Thinking I needed to take a step back, I hurriedly pushed against his chest and slipped out of his arms, issuing a warning.
Was he even human, or some kind of beast? Honestly, I was the one who jumped him first. But right now, that didn’t feel important at all.
“You didn’t forget we have class today, right?”
“Do we really have to go?”
I knew he’d say that. With a slow smile, Min Siheon leaned toward me, and I could read exactly what he was thinking.
Love was love, and reality was reality. But right now, Min Siheon didn’t seem entirely sane. It looked like I’d have to make him understand.
“We’ve been skipping classes alternately for a whole week. At this rate, we’ll be repeating the semester.”
“Even if I don’t graduate, I can still provide for you, Jungwoo.”
“You crazy bastard, why are you talking about providing for me here?”
What I meant was that even if we dated, we should still keep our responsibilities as students. But to Min Siheon, it sounded like I was asking him to support me.
I corrected him, making sure not to leave room for misunderstanding.
…Just in case he felt hurt. I wanted him to know I wasn’t pushing him away.
“You might be able to support me, but if I don’t graduate, I won’t be able to support you.”
“You’re going to support me, Jungwoo?”
At that, Min Siheon let out a soft laugh. Brushing back his bangs, he smiled like something tickled him.
This guy, seriously messing with my mood…. Pretending not to notice, I grumbled and turned away.
“Yeah. You think you’re the only one who gets to provide? I’m going to take responsibility for you.”
Even before transmigrating, I never starved to death. And with my current academic background, I figured I could earn more than before.
If I wanted him to live without lacking anything, I’d have to work hard. To make that happen, I absolutely needed to go to class today.
Well, something would work out. While mentally running calculations, I hunched my shoulders, suddenly aware of how exposed my body felt. I figured I should at least grab something to wear and started looking for the clothes I’d taken off.
But strangely, the bedroom floor was clean. Where were my clothes? Everything I’d scattered in a rush last night was gone.
That’s when Min Siheon’s voice sounded from behind me. Before I realized it, his chest was pressed against my back.
In the blink of an eye, his right arm crossed in front of my upper body, pulling me firmly into an embrace.
My body tilted forward, and I ended up sitting across his thighs. Before I could even pull the slipping blanket back up, hot breath spilled over the back of my neck.
“If you mean your clothes, I washed them all. They’re probably not dry yet.”
Was he always like this? His actions felt so bold they bordered on provocative. The moment our eyes met, I could already imagine what would happen, so I froze in place.
Just look straight ahead. I repeated it to myself like self-hypnosis. Haha…. Forcing an awkward smile, I made a request that wasn’t quite a request.
“Can I borrow some of your clothes?”
Preferably a pair of drawers too. I swallowed the rest of the sentence. Instinct told me it was something I absolutely shouldn’t say out loud.
It was a morning where I had to coax and appease him just to make it to class. Exhausting, yet strangely thrilling.
***
This bastard really bit everywhere. I examined my body in the bathroom mirror. The glimpse of my stomach earlier wasn’t all—bright, showy marks bloomed across my entire body like flowers.
Thanks to Min Siheon, who said he’d taken care of me earlier at dawn, I was at least relatively clean.
Still, I stubbornly came into the bathroom because I felt like I couldn’t leave the bedroom without some kind of excuse.
Anyone could tell this wasn’t the aftermath of an ordinary night. Even for someone my age, it was honestly a bit too embarrassing to look at.
I opened my mouth awkwardly and turned my neck, only for a distinct bite mark to steal my attention.
“Of all seasons….”
With the weather getting warmer, it was hard to wear anything that covered my neck. So instead of worrying about body aches, I found myself stressing over what clothes I could possibly wear.
Thinking back to what just happened earlier, I couldn’t help but feel that this relationship was going to be a trial by fire.
“Seriously, this is ridiculous.”
It had taken quite a struggle just to make it into the bathroom.
Min Siheon had been lingering by the door, trying to come in with me. The way his eyes scanned my body was still vivid in my mind.
I worried that if he didn’t hear water running, he might barge in.
“…Let’s just wash up first.”
In a hurry, I grabbed the showerhead and turned on the hot water. I poured it over my body, muscles knotted from strain.
The heat felt like it was melting away the aches from being overworked all night.
Ah, my whole body hurts. Could one night really leave someone this wrecked?
It seemed Min Siheon was a person whose sense of normalcy was just slightly… off from what I knew.
…Well, he’s pretty, so I’ll let it slide. Apparently, the rose-tinted glasses I wore for him weren’t weak either. Thinking that anything was fine, I replayed what happened earlier.
After stubbornly rummaging through his closet and grabbing whatever I could throw on—
At least it was good that I managed to get away. Right before I got up, I’d felt something off from the lower half of his body pressed beneath me.
Seriously, why was he like that first thing in the morning? Heat rose to my face again.
Smack— I slapped my own cheek lightly and focused on washing up. Dating again after so long felt overwhelmingly intense.
Trial by fire indeed lol