IPSTDS Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Nahyuk had no intention of being dragged back. He was ready to slap Seo Dowoong across the face as many times as it took to break free.

Seo Dowoong must have thought that if he pushed far enough, Nahyuk would eventually give in like the old Yoon Noah and start liking him again.

But just then, from beyond the front door, came an unexpected yet familiar voice.

“Noah.”

It was Lee Kangil. He must have grown worried when his calls went unanswered and had come all the way here.

The moment Nahyuk heard that familiar voice, tears threatened to fall. No—perhaps they already had, as his vision blurred faintly.

He leaned into Kangil’s chest, and Kangil, as if waiting for it, pulled him close, helping him break away from Seo Dowoong.

The two men, nearly the same height, stared each other down.

Caught between them, Nahyuk felt suffocated, the air pressing down unbearably around him.

It was Kangil who spoke first.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad… but I guess I was wrong. I feel like an idiot for ever calling you a friend, Seo Dowoong. I don’t keep dogs for friends.”

Though Nahyuk said nothing, Kangil seemed to understand well enough what had happened.

Seo Dowoong, however, wasn’t shaken by Kangil’s appearance.

“Get lost. I’m not done talking with Noah.”

“No, you get lost. Don’t you dare lay a hand on him again.”

Kangil gently but firmly pulled Nahyuk closer to his side.

“Let’s go.”

They turned to leave, but from behind, Seo Dowoong’s voice rang out once more.

“Stop.”

The grip on Nahyuk’s shoulder tightened. Kangil turned half toward Seo Dowoong and kicked the door hard with his heel.

“You’d better quit while I’m telling you nicely. If this gets any bigger, you’ll be the one in trouble. Unless you want to fight like a dog, go ahead—try provoking me more.”

“…”

It wasn’t a demand for an answer. Kangil turned his back completely.

As they walked down the hall, Seo Dowoong didn’t follow. The only sound Nahyuk heard from him was a weary sigh.

* * *

Lee Kangil first settled Nahyuk into the car parked in the officetel garage, then got into the driver’s seat himself.

He slipped off his thin jacket and studied Nahyuk’s face closely. His expression was so serious, as though searching for what had happened, that it felt strangely unfamiliar.

What kind of look would Kangil give him if he confessed that Seo Dowoong had kissed him?

Would he reproach him—ask why he had let it happen, accuse him of secretly enjoying it because he had once admitted to liking Seo Dowoong?

He might even suggest they end their fake relationship.

At that thought, Nahyuk’s chest sank. He hoped Kangil wouldn’t say such words, wouldn’t be disappointed in him.

But reality rarely matched his wishes. The longer their eyes met, the more Kangil’s expression twisted.

Kangil was the type to tease, not the type to scowl as if truly displeased.

What if the lips that had kissed him this very morning were now about to say the word “end”? Nahyuk clenched both hands tightly.

But what reached his ears was nothing like what he expected.

“Sorry.”

“…Huh?”

He could hardly believe Kangil was apologizing.

“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“…”

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you—it’s that I should never have trusted Seo Dowoong. That bastard… what did he do to you? Ha…”

Kangil’s head lowered with a sigh, and soon his face rested against Nahyuk’s shoulder.

“Noah, hold me. I’m so angry I can’t drive.”

Nahyuk quietly stroked Kangil’s heated head and wrapped an arm gently around his shoulder.

Just by holding him, even the fear and shock he had felt with Seo Dowoong seemed to calm. It was a strange thing.

“Maybe I should go back and smash his arrogant face in.”

But clearly, Kangil hadn’t calmed down yet. His hand trembled slightly as he spoke, threatening Seo Dowoong.

“No, don’t.”

“You’re never going alone again. Understand? Even if he asks you to come out, you’re not going without me.”

“Yeah.”

Twice now, he had been forced into kisses. Once was one thing, but twice carried too much meaning. Nahyuk wanted nothing more to do with Seo Dowoong.

“But Kangil… how did you know I’d be at his officetel?”

Kangil had appeared at just the right moment to help him.

He probably could have escaped on his own, but it had been reassuring to have Kangil there. Still, it amazed him that Kangil had managed to find him so precisely.

Straightening from where he leaned on Nahyuk, Kangil met his gaze steadily as he answered.

“When you said you’d be meeting him alone, I couldn’t sit still. Daon and I stayed nearby. I went back to the café intending to keep an eye on you.”

But when he returned, Nahyuk was nowhere to be seen, so he asked around.

“Someone said they saw a man carrying out another who had collapsed. I knew right away it was you and Seo Dowoong.”

“…”

“After that I searched everywhere. I went to your hospital first, then to Seo Dowoong’s officetel. It took some effort to convince security to let me up. I was debating how to get through the door—whether to break it down, even—when it suddenly opened.”

“And that was when I came out?”

“Yeah. And you collapsed into my arms, a complete wreck… I’ve never been that angry in my life. If you hadn’t been there, I might have gone for him. Thought I was past the age for fistfights, but…”

“Sorry for worrying you. I suddenly blacked out, and when I woke up, I was in Seo Dowoong’s bed.”

If he hadn’t fainted, he never would have stepped into Seo Dowoong’s home. The frustration ate at him as well.

“You’re alright now? Nothing hurts?”

The gentle voice made him want to be spoiled.

Nahyuk shook his head slowly.

His illness made him collapse when his breath caught, but thankfully the pain never lingered long. It was only a lightning bolt of agony in the moment.

Kangil didn’t take his eyes off him, and his voice turned softer.

“Can I ask what he did? You don’t have to answer if you’re uncomfortable.”

“…”

It wasn’t that the words themselves were hard to say. What frightened him was whether Kangil would be disappointed in him after hearing them.

But avoiding the truth felt worse—because Kangil might imagine something even worse.

His gaze drifted to Kangil’s lips.

Though his face looked worn, his lips still gleamed faintly. But today his lower lip was cracked, as if he had been chewing it raw with worry.

“I won’t ask,” Kangil said quickly, sensing his hesitation.

Instead of answering, Nahyuk leaned forward and brushed his lips softly against Kangil’s split ones. For once, Kangil’s usually steady eyes widened slightly.

When he pulled back from the brief touch, Nahyuk looked up at him.

“…He forced a kiss on me.”

“…”

“I felt sick just moments ago, but kissing you now… it makes me feel alive again.”

Even that fleeting kiss seemed to erase the foul weight of Seo Dowoong’s forceful touch.

Once, he had dreamed of even casual skinship with anyone.

But what if the first person he had touched after possessing Noah’s body hadn’t been Kangil, but Seo Dowoong?

Even then, even if Seo Dowoong had been first, he would have liked Kangil more.

Because Seo Dowoong, even while admitting he liked Noah, had always belittled him.

Kangil, on the other hand, looked like someone who thought only of himself—but to those he opened his heart to, he was endlessly gentle.

Even now, though he was dying to know, he reined himself in after seeing Nahyuk hesitate.

It was almost tragic that Kangil wasn’t the main protagonist of the original story, so full of charm as he was.

And then his voice came.

“Let me live a little longer?”

“How much longer will you live?”

“No more, no less—just as much as you’ll allow.”

It was a roundabout way of saying he wanted to kiss him again. Nahyuk liked that.

He liked Kangil’s simple answer, promising no greed—just as much as Nahyuk would give.

So once again, instead of replying with words, Nahyuk pressed his lips to Kangil’s. This time, Kangil wasn’t surprised. He cupped Nahyuk’s head gently with both hands.

The kiss was plain, yet it ached with quiet longing.