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Junghyun, whose thoughts had reached that point, shrank back with a shudder. Seunghyeok stared at Junghyun with an unreadable expression as he added, “Just in case.”
“…… Ha. It feels like I brought an innocent kid here and did something bad to him.”
At his self-deprecating murmur, Junghyun frowned. Realizing that Junghyun was looking at him, Seunghyeok smiled.
“It’s not like that, so you don’t have to worry.”
After saying that, Seunghyeok moved his hand again. On the contrary, Junghyun watched his reaction.
“No, but…..”
“They’re kiss marks.”
“What?”
At his next words, Junghyun’s eyes widened.
It’s not like Junghyun lived in the mountains, and it wasn’t the first time he heard the term ‘kiss mark’. However, he didn’t expect them to look like this.
“They’re not lip-shaped?”
“Lips? Ah…… those are called lipstick marks. Usually, kiss marks are made by sucking with the mouth.”
Junghyun, who was listening to the kind explanation, nodded his head without realizing it, then belatedly noticed the bite marks near his chest. Seunghyeok, who thought it strange that Junghyun was staring at one spot, followed his gaze and seemed to realize what he was looking at. With an awkward cough, he gently stroked that part with his dry palm.
“I got a bit excited. Does it hurt?”
“…… No, it doesn’t hurt.”
His face felt hot.
Junghyun stutteringly opened his mouth.
“I occasionally made them, but I didn’t know they were called kiss marks.”
“You occasionally made them?”
Seunghyeok’s voice lowered as he stopped stroking Junghyun’s skin.
“Who did it?”
“What? Oh, on the inside of my arm here. When I was young, I tried sucking on it once, and it was fun to see the skin turn red, so I sucked hard and it didn’t go away for a few days. I did it a few more times after that, but later I found out it happens because the blood vessels under the skin burst. But I was thinking, oh, so that’s what a kiss mark is…… Hyung……?”
Seunghyeok’s expression noticeably softened. Without a word, he began wiping Junghyun’s body as he observed his reaction.
His sweaty neck, chest, and flat stomach. And even the parts that couldn’t be described in words. Junghyun, who was too embarrassed by the unfamiliar experience, struggled, but he didn’t have the strength to push him away, so he ended up letting Seunghyeok do as he pleased.
His meticulous touch seemed very familiar. Junghyun wondered if he had done this to other people he had dated before. It wasn’t a very pleasant thought. He wondered how absurd Seunghyeok would find it if he knew. It wasn’t polite to have such thoughts while someone was diligently washing his body.
“……”
It was useless to change the past now, but he felt unnecessarily petty. Jealousy boiled up toward Seunghyeok’s former lovers, whose names and faces he didn’t even know, who had received this treatment from him.
But in the end, he couldn’t say anything. It felt like he was acting like a child to bring this up now. How ridiculous would it be from Seunghyeok’s perspective, who was a bit older than him, to nitpick about things that were already in the past?
Moreover, wasn’t he the one who had been insisting that he wasn’t a kid?
Junghyun, who had been trying hard to suppress his burning insides, made eye contact with Seunghyeok and smiled faintly.
Seunghyeok, who had briefly left, saying to wait a moment, was holding a tray with bread and salad. And seeing that, Junghyun frantically waved his hand.
“I, I’ll go out and eat. You shouldn’t eat on the bed.”
“Are you worried I’ll scold you? It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
“…… No, but……”
He couldn’t help but be concerned about it.
It wasn’t like that for Junghyun from the beginning either. But living alone, there were a few things he naturally realized, and one of them was that he shouldn’t spill food crumbs on the bed.
Moreover, it wasn’t even his own bed, but Seunghyeok’s bed, so he didn’t want to do that.
He didn’t feel like it even if Seunghyeok said it was okay.
“I, I can get up. Let’s go out and eat.”
Junghyun, who had gotten up while groaning with only a sheet wrapped around his waist, tried his best not to fall. He had only taken a couple of steps, but he felt the unfamiliar sensation of his thighs not closing properly. A small moan escaped from Junghyun’s mouth as he staggered.
Unable to watch any longer, Seunghyeok set the tray he was holding on a nearby side table and quickly lifted Junghyun in his arms to move him. This situation was also quite embarrassing, but the house was too big to refuse. In fact, he couldn’t even imagine walking, and Seunghyeok also casually said, “You asked me to help you get up,” so he surrendered his body, pretending not to know.
Junghyun sat in a dining chair and obediently ate the breakfast Seunghyeok had prepared for him. After taking a sip of the orange juice that filled the glass, Junghyun glanced at Seunghyeok.
He wondered how Seunghyeok addressed the people he had dated before. Just calling him ‘hyung’ felt a bit bland. He had the urge to call him by a more affectionate term, like lovers do.
“By the way, ……jagi*……?”
[*term of endearment, like ‘dear/honey’]
Seunghyeok, who was about to sit across from Junghyun, stopped moving at the sound.
And at that reaction, Junghyun also shut his mouth.
“Is startling people your specialty, Junghyun-ssi?”
As Seunghyeok laughed softly, Junghyun stammered and continued.
“Oh, no. That…… I was thinking, since we’re lovers……. So, you know. If we kiss and sleep together, we’re lovers, right?”
He fiddled with the fork in his hand.
He kept glancing at Seunghyeok, who wasn’t responding, as if his reaction was bothering him immensely.
“…….We’re not?”
There was still no answer from Seunghyeok. He was just quietly looking at Junghyun. Junghyun felt like the blood was draining from his fingertips, thinking that attitude could be considered an answer in itself.
“Are, are we just sl, sleeping together?”
Even his voice trembled.
Eventually, a sound like a sigh flowed from Seunghyeok’s mouth. Seunghyeok, who burst into laughter, even shook his head.
“Where did you learn to say things like that?”
He had seen it on the internet, but he shut his mouth, thinking he would really be treated like a child if he answered that way. Seunghyeok also didn’t seem to have asked the question intending to hear an answer.
“You’re right.”
“What? That we’re just sleeping together?”
Junghyun asked with wide eyes. What if he affirms it here? The thought of throwing a tantrum and telling him not to answer crossed his mind.
While waiting for Seunghyeok’s answer, Junghyun’s mouth went dry. He wondered what he would do if Seunghyeok really affirmed his question. Although it probably didn’t even take a second in reality, it felt like it took several minutes.
“No, that we’re lovers.”
“…… Ah…… Hyung?”
The startled Junghyun had already forgotten that he had changed Seunghyeok’s title back to ‘hyung’.
Seunghyeok rubbed Junghyun’s lips with his thumb and then licked his own tongue.
“It’s really sweet.”
“What? This dressing tastes like oriental sauce.”
Junghyun glanced at the bowl containing the salad. It definitely wasn’t a sweet taste, so he dipped the fork slightly into the brown sauce on the salad and tasted it. Does he call this sweet? He didn’t know Seunghyeok’s taste buds were a bit different from other people’s. He wondered if that’s why Seunghyeok had said his food was delicious all this time, and various thoughts flashed through his mind.
“I said it’s sweet, Junghyun-ah.”
“……”
Junghyun looked up at Seunghyeok approaching him, at a loss for words. Seunghyeok trapped Junghyun between his arms and bent his waist. Their lips touched. A low sigh flowed out between their lips.
“It’s even sweeter eating it directly.”
At his words, spoken with a chuckle, Junghyun’s face heated up.
It was definitely oriental dressing. This is sweet?
Apart from thinking that in one corner of his mind, he also felt like he didn’t even know where to look. The thought that he was bringing attention to it that way made him feel shameless.
Seunghyeok lightly kissed Junghyun’s cheek.
“I wiped your body earlier, but I think it would be better to wash properly.”
“Ah, yes.”
It certainly didn’t feel refreshing to just wipe with a wet towel and end it.
Junghyun answered awkwardly and tried to get up from his seat, but Seunghyeok lifted him up again. Startled by the unexpected action, Junghyun made an “oh” sound and wrapped his arms around Seunghyeok’s neck.
“I’ve thought this for a while, but you’re too skinny.”
“Me? I think I’m just average.”
“From now on, let’s eat a lot of delicious things together.”
Upon hearing those words, Junghyun unknowingly turned his gaze elsewhere. He suddenly felt inexplicably shy for some reason.
To someone, it might have been nothing special, but to Junghyun, it was quite something. ‘From now on.’ He repeated the pleasant resonance in his mouth. Junghyun smiled, twitching his lips, happy that Seunghyeok was talking about the future.
* * *
After entering the bathroom, Seunghyeok sprayed warm water on Junghyun’s body.
Junghyun’s face had quickly turned red at the suggestion of washing together, but after repeated offers, he soon reluctantly nodded his head and accepted.
Seunghyeok looked down at Junghyun, who was sighing because the warm water felt good, without any ulterior motives. The kiss marks he had left yesterday and this morning bloomed like flowers on Junghyun’s white skin.
Although he had brought Junghyun here to wash, seeing Junghyun who had truly come thinking only of washing, Seunghyeok felt a strange feeling.
His partner was innocent enough to not even properly know what kiss marks were.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
