MIM 101

The sound of birdsong naturally opened his eyes. As bright light filled his vision, Shin-woo furrowed his brows. While his whole body ached as if beaten, he noticed the blanket that carefully covered him up to his neck. The one who had covered him was nowhere to be seen, and only the morning sunlight warmly heated the empty space beside him.

“Ah…”

Shin-woo sat up with a groan. Having drunken alcohol and had rough sex when he wasn’t feeling well, his body couldn’t possibly be in good shape.

He seemed to have passed out during the sex. Expecting a mess, he lifted the blanket to find it surprisingly clean. Seeing that the blanket was slightly smaller than the bed, it seemed like it had been brought from another room’s bed. Shin-woo absently spread his legs to check between them and tilted his head to one side.

It was clean. Normally, there should be dried bodily fluids or an unpleasant slickness between his buttocks, but it felt rather fresh and dry. Maybe he hadn’t actually had sex but had a drunken dream. Well, if it was a dream where he’d reached climax, dripping what might have been urine or semen, that might be better in the end.

Knock knock. Shin-woo looked up at the knocking sound. Soon, silver hair peeked through the door crack. Ma Jae-seung, wearing a robe, was rolling his eyes around while holding a tray.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.”

“Have some breakfast.”

Ma Jae-seung sat down with a plop and placed the tray on Shin-woo’s thighs. A fresh baguette sandwich, yogurt, some fruit, and a glass of milk. The menu was quite substantial, suggesting that he must’ve gone shopping in the village.

“What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

“You should have woken me. What about Maro’s food?”

“I fed him so that you can sleep as much as you need. This trip is for resting anyway.”

His eyebrows flattened as he immediately thought of the gun upon hearing those words. Ma Jae-seung read his expression and showed him the bedside drawer.

“I put the gun here. Don’t worry and eat.”

“Thanks.”

Though the feeling of being cared for was quite unfamiliar, Shin-woo exercised his social skills and expressed gratitude. Then he quickly started eating. Always having to move efficiently rather than sitting down for leisurely meals, two minutes was more than enough to finish one sandwich. As he was opening the yogurt while stuffing the sandwich in his mouth, Ma Jae-seung openly chuckled.

“Eat slowly. Do you have somewhere to be?”

“…”

“Let’s shower after you finish.”

When Shin-woo looked at him questioningly at the suggestive phrasing, Ma Jae-seung awkwardly wrinkled his nose. Looking closely, with his disheveled hair and robe, he didn’t look like someone who had properly showered. He wouldn’t have gone shopping looking like that, most likely the old owner had brought the food and he had arranged it nicely on a tray. He might have included breakfast in the reservation for their month-long stay.

Realizing it was food brought by someone else made him more careful. Belatedly, Shin-woo examined the nearly empty fruit plate and dishes in detail. Looking closely, something suspicious showed between the blueberries on top of the yogurt.

“Ahem, well…there’s a huge bathtub in that bathroom over there.”

Finally speaking after avoiding the topic for a while, Ma Jae-seung broke the silence. 

Half-listening, Shin-woo removed blue flower petals one by one from the yogurt bowl. After scraping five small petals onto the plate, he remembered what they were.

Gentian flower.

“The tub is big enough for both of us to fit.”

“Are you suggesting we shower together?”

When asked again, Ma Jae-seung scratched the back of his neck. His awkwardness made him feel self-conscious too. Despite having had sex so many times, they had never bathed together.

“What’s wrong with it? Using such a large bathtub alone is wasteful.”

“I suppose.”

Shin-woo deliberately responded indifferently while playing with a flower petal between his fingers. Following Ma Jae-seung who was carrying the tray out of the room, he casually put on the robe that had been neatly placed on the edge of the bed. As he stepped on the floor, he felt a burning sensation from behind.

{Hey, young men! Open the door!}

While in the living room petting Maro, who was wagging his tail three times per second, someone suddenly shouted from outside the door. Although unable to understand the French, Shin-woo recognized the landlord’s voice and picked up the tall, slim vase from the living room table. If necessary, he thought about breaking his head with it.

As soon as the door opened, they saw chubby hands holding new bedding. The landlord thrust it at Shin-woo while catching his breath, his T-shirt soaked with sweat under the arms from carrying it up.

{Phew…The requested bedding and sheets.}

{Thank you.}

Ma Jae-seung, who had appeared from somewhere, suddenly poked his head out and replied. He furrowed his brows while checking the bedding one by one.

{One isn’t enough. We need two large blankets.}

{Why do you need two for one night? One is enough.}

{No. We’re going to have sex.}

{Shit, are you kidding?}

They seemed to have a serious disagreement about something. Shin-woo carefully read the atmosphere while gripping the neck of the vase.

{Even so, one is enough. This isn’t a hotel, and everyone manages with just that. Don’t make a fuss.}

{If there’s only one blanket, we’ll have to do it on the sofa, friend. Your sofa is beautiful, but its value will depreciate.}

{Damn it, fine, fine! If you do it on my sofa, I won’t let it slide! Understand? Don’t contaminate my precious vintage furniture.}

{Thank you.}

Somehow, the conversation seemed to end well, as Ma Jae-seung chuckled and gave the landlord a pre-prepared cash tip. When the old man got the bills in his hand, the wrinkles on his forehead softened. Despite his earlier aggressive tone, he turned away muttering quietly and left without saying goodbye.

“What did he say?”

“He agreed to give us another blanket. The bath is running. Let’s go in.”

Led by Ma Jae-seung’s hand, Shin-woo put down the vase and headed to the bathroom. As mentioned, there was indeed a bathtub large enough that using it alone would be wasteful. Steam rose from the water that had filled to ankle depth.

Ma Jae-seung casually threw off his robe and stood beside him. His body, like a large sculpture, revealed all its curves in the bright light. Shin-woo stared blankly at the smooth back muscles moving before his eyes. Last night’s memory of desperately digging his nails into that back briefly crossed his mind.

Shin-woo, who had been caressing his waist area, sighed deeply and untied his string. His blemished body was explicitly reflected in the full-length mirror in the bathroom. Not only the scars but also the marks where Ma Jae-seung had bitten and sucked remained clearly visible on his chest and back.

Fortunately, while Ma Jae-seung’s marks on him were deep, none of his marks remained on Shin-woo’s body.

“Should have run the water before coming in. It’ll take quite a while.”

When Shin-woo sat in the shallow water, Ma Jae-seung slowly moved to sit beside him. With two men in it, the water started rising faster than before.

They silently enjoyed the warm half-bath without saying much. Aware of Ma Jae-seung, who was sitting hunched and stealing glances, Shin-woo picked up a rubber duck toy nearby and floated it on the water. There were quite a few things prepared for children to play with.

When he floated the duck toward Ma Jae-seung, Ma Jae-seung grabbed it firmly with both hands. Trying to bounce it back to Shin-woo, he misjudged his strength and the duck flew through the air and hit Shin-woo on the forehead. After getting hit by the rubber duck, Shin-woo scooped up water and splashed it at Ma Jae-seung. Though he tried to hit softly, seeing Ma Jae-seung’s hair completely flattened from that one splash, it seemed he, too, had failed to control his strength.

Laughter erupted. After that, it was chaos.

Shin-woo learned for the first time that you could swallow water even in such shallow depths. He also learned for the first time that you could cry from laughing so hard your stomach hurts and breath becomes short, and that you could puncture a rubber duck with fingernails. Ma Jae-seung only came to his senses with a start after breaking the duck. He too kept wrinkling his nose which stung from swallowing too much water.

“Huk, ha…the duck.”

“Time out. Let’s stop.”

“Your forehead is…sniff red.”

Ma Jae-seung belatedly worried about Shin-woo’s swollen forehead. His hand, softened by the warm water, gently rubbed the forehead and caressed his cheek. When Shin-woo sat quietly without reacting, Ma Jae-seung gathered courage to softly touch his ear. Finding it somehow amusing how the round ear twitched, Ma Jae-seung enjoyed it with the most harmless expression.

When their bodies had softened from the somewhat intense half-bath, Ma Jae-seung placed his hand on Shin-woo’s back. Shin-woo lifted his head at the touch that covered the red burn mark.

“Was the bath too hot for you?”

Ma Jaes-eung asked with his cheek resting askew against the rippling water. Shin-woo smiled slightly and shook his head.

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

“Really. I was so caught up I didn’t even know it was on fire.”

It really was true. Only after splashing water on Ma Jae-seung’s face and making sure he was breathing did he smell the burning flesh.

Ma Jae-seung didn’t ask more and just quietly looked at Shin-woo. When Shin-woo gently touched the silver hair beautifully scattered on the water with his fingers, Ma Jae-seung slowly straightened his body. The hand resting on his back pulled Shin-woo into his embrace. Ma Jae-seung’s entire arms, shoulders, and chest covered Shin-woo’s back.

The soaked face came closer. At a distance where their noses touched, Ma Jae-seung closed his eyes and kissed him. Shin-woo opened his heated lips in response and kissed deeply. The water droplets caught on Ma Jae-seung’s long eyelashes fell down his cheeks like tears.