PIA 99

Jeong Hee-seo’s body temperature was higher than usual, and the slightly messy touch of his hands felt good. Ji-an wondered if there was anything he could possibly dislike about him.

Ji-an, who had already finished all the fried food Jeong Hee-seo had brought while sitting there, suddenly stood up.

“Since you’re drunk, hyung-nim, let’s have you drink some honey water, take a quick shower, and go to bed.”

“Hmm, sounds good. Does Ji-an want to sleep with me?”

Ji-an’s steps faltered as he was about to go get honey water for him.

“What? No.”

“You don’t want to sleep with me?”

“Uh, what?”

It seemed Jeong Hee-seo’s drunken habit was to throw out oddly suggestive remarks with no context. He sat on the couch, resting his head at an angle, and waved his large hand at Ji-an.

“I’ll wash you. Ji-an.”

His gaze was so blatant that Ji-an unknowingly blushed again. He had been talking about washing him for a while now, making Ji-an feel strange. Ji-an lifted his t-shirt and sniffed it.

‘Doesn’t smell like anything.’

“Come on, Ji-an. Let’s wash up together. Raise your arms. Hands up!”

Before he knew it, Jeong Hee-seo had come close and reached out to grab Ji-an’s t-shirt, pulling it off. His brief worry about whether he smelled was forgotten. The simple summer clothes came off easily, and Ji-an found himself suddenly naked in front of Jeong Hee-seo.

“Ah, no… hyung-nim. Wait a moment.”

“Hurry, hurry.”

Ji-an thought Jeong Hee-seo might be planning to have rough sex right there on the living room floor in his drunken state, but that was a big misjudgment. Jeong Hee-seo took Ji-an to the largest bathroom in the house and gathered body wash and a shower puff.

Standing naked in front of him, Ji-an’s face turned bright red. The atmosphere was completely innocent, and the lighting in the bathroom was absurdly bright.

“Sit here.”

Jeong Hee-seo seemed truly intent on bathing him, pulling up a bathroom stool for Ji-an to sit on.

“Hy-hyung-nim, aren’t you going to undress?”

“Oh, I should. If Ji-an tells me to.”

“No…”

Jeong Hee-seo boldly stripped off his clothes. As always, he had no hesitation about being naked in front of Ji-an. Even as he adjusted the water temperature and lathered body wash to scrub Ji-an’s body, his touch remained utterly dry and clinical.

‘At this point, I don’t know anymore.’

Ji-an thought it would actually be easier to handle if they were having sex. Feeling more embarrassed than ever, he couldn’t stop his imagination from running wild, wondering when the mood might shift to something more intimate.

Though the atmosphere suggested nothing would happen, Ji-an’s lower half was slowly raising its head, oblivious to the situation. Ji-an closed his legs, watching Jeong Hee-seo’s reaction.

“Arm.”

Ji-an gave him his arm when asked.

“Leg.”

He gave his leg when asked.

“Turn around.”

“……”

Jeong Hee-seo washed Ji-an thoroughly and diligently, as if he truly wanted to wash him and had been singing about it all along. With gentle hands, Jeong Hee-seo leaned Ji-an against the bathtub, skillfully washed his hair, and rinsed off all traces of soap from every corner of his body with warm water.

‘…Is this some new kind of drunken behavior?’

After the bath was over, he brought a large towel and personally dried him off completely, then took out a hair dryer and dried his hair too. He picked up the bewildered Ji-an who didn’t know what to do, sat him down in front of him, and even trimmed his fingernails and toenails.

Even when he applied lotion with his large hands, carefully rubbing it all over Ji-an’s body, nothing happened. Ji-an had been bracing himself, certain that at some point Jeong Hee-seo would try something, but it never came…

‘Is this really how it’s going to end?’

Jeong Hee-seo put a fluffy bathrobe on Ji-an and picked him up. Upon reaching the bedroom, he planted a firm kiss on his smooth forehead like a boiled egg white, then hugged him tight as he lay down and turned off the lights.

‘What’s going on?’

In the pitch-black bedroom, completely enveloped in Jeong Hee-seo’s arms, Ji-an blinked in confusion. In a moment, the man’s body enveloping him relaxed. Soon after, he could feel his even breaths scattering over the top of his head.

“……”

It was only then that Ji-an started to feel that something was off.

First of all, wasn’t it odd that he had drunk enough to get intoxicated? Ji-an suddenly recalled Secretary Yoon making a slashing gesture across his neck the moment he saw him.

Why hadn’t he realized it then?

Ji-an wriggled around to face Jeong Hee-seo.

“…Hyung-nim?”

Even when he whispered his name and gave him a light kiss, there was no response. Jeong Hee-seo had fallen asleep like someone truly drunk, as if his power had been switched off.

“……”

What’s going on, really?

* * *

Even when morning came, there were no particular signs.

“Did you sleep well, Ji-an?”

Jeong Hee-seo was as impeccable as always, and feeling sorry for the inadequate dinner last night due to him, he prepared a massive breakfast that nearly bent the table.

“Is the abalone dish delicious? Should I ask them to bring more?”

“Oh, yes.”

Jeong Hee-seo asked about Ji-an’s morning schedule and made their usual lunch date before leaving the house. Ji-an stood at the front door, watching until his car left the garage and descended the hill.

‘See you at lunch.’

Even the light kiss on the forehead was the same as usual. There was no mention of why he had drunk so much last night or what had happened.

He just hugged him a little longer and tighter than usual before letting go… ifJi-an had to find any difference, that was all.

‘Is something going on at the company?’

He was clearly different from usual… but it seemed only Ji-an felt uneasy about it.

Feeling unsettled, Ji-an paced around the living room, looked up JM’s stock price, and even scoured the politics and economy sections of the news to see if anything unusual had happened. For some reason, Secretary Yoon hadn’t replied to his messages today.

After stewing over it for a while, Ji-an finally decided to ask Jeong Hee-seo directly. He had questions in mind like, Why did you drink so much yesterday? or Why did you just hold my hand and fall asleep last night without doing anything?

But just as he was preparing himself to ask, a call from an unknown number unraveled all the mysteries.

After a long conversation with someone who introduced themselves as a real estate agent, Ji-an asked:

“So, you’re saying someone wants to purchase the officetel. The entire building… And you’re asking me to sell unit 602, which I own?”

-Yes, they want to buy the whole building, so we’re contacting all the owners individually.

“What did you say the buyer’s name was again?”

-It’s Jeong Hee-seo.

Ugh. Ji-an held his forehead.