CI 3.8

He wouldn’t have been able to say anything even if Won Hee-yeon had grumbled about him not saying anything earlier. Furthermore, Won Hee-yeon had been waiting for the past week for Son Yeo-il’s busy schedule to end. The thought that he had ruined their long-awaited date made Son Yeo-il feel even worse.

However, Won Hee-yeon simply wiped the cold sweat from Son Yeo-il’s forehead and gently massaged his cold hands to warm them, responding kindly.

“What are you sorry for? I’m the one who’s awful for not noticing that our darling’s face had turned so pale.”

“No, it’s not Hee-yeon’s fault.”

“Oh, come on, just come here. Let’s rest for a bit and see if you feel better, and if not, we’ll go to the hospital right away, okay?”

Won Hee-yeon supported Son Yeo-il as they headed to the bedroom. As he followed Won Hee-yeon unsteadily, Son Yeo-il hesitated, worried about the rest of the date Won Hee-yeon had planned.

“The movie…”

“You wanted to watch more? You’re sick right now, what can we do? Just be patient. We have all weekend. We can watch it later.”

Even though Son Yeo-il hadn’t promised to stay over, Won Hee-yeon spoke as if it were a given, and took out pajamas for him. In fact, Son Yeo-il had brought a toothbrush and underwear in his bag, fully expecting to stay overnight. He just hadn’t expected to collapse from exhaustion like this.

After Son Yeo-il changed into his pajamas, Won Hee-yeon laid him down on the wide, soft bed and tucked him in up to his chin. He pulled a chair over to the bedside and looked down at him, his gaze so sweet and tender that Son Yeo-il suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion.

“I threw up earlier, so I look ugly. Don’t look at me too closely.”

He said it out of spite, afraid that he would burst into tears in the next second if he didn’t, but Won Hee-yeon replied without any hesitation on his part.

“You’re pretty, what are you talking about? Our Yeo-il has never been anything less than pretty, not even for a second, from the moment I first met him until now.”

Those words melted Son Yeo-il’s heart. He bit his bottom lip, making a walnut chin, and began to shed tears. Won Hee-yeon panicked and fussed over him. Afraid that he would start blaming himself again, Son Yeo-il quickly said, even as he choked up,

“I’m not crying because I’m in pain. And it’s not because Hee-yeon did anything wrong.”

“Then why?”

“I don’t know. I want to sleep.”

He turned away abruptly, as if throwing a tantrum. Won Hee-yeon quietly lifted the blanket and climbed into bed. He lay down next to Son Yeo-il, coming close behind him, and said casually, “Okay. I’ll sleep with you.”

Hearing his gentle voice and feeling the warmth of his body, Son Yeo-il realized why he had been so concerned about Won Hee-yeon’s past. It wasn’t just a simple matter of disliking that Won Hee-yeon had more experience than him.

It was because every time Won Hee-yeon looked at him tenderly and said warm words to him, he felt so happy and overwhelmed. The thought that he had whispered those same words to someone else and looked at someone else with those same eyes in the past made his heart ache.

While Son Yeo-il swallowed the tears that were welling up, Won Hee-yeon put his arm under Son Yeo-il’s head as a pillow and wrapped his other arm around him. Enfolded in his embrace like this, it felt like nothing in the world, not even his own weakness, could hurt him.

How can this man be so strong and kind?

Even if it was Won Hee-yeon, he couldn’t have been such a big tree from the start. He, too, must have deepened his roots and grown lush leaves over many days. In that hardened state, Won Hee-yeon was now giving all the kindness he possessed to Son Yeo-il. Only for Son Yeo-il.

That’s right. So it’s okay.

Under Won Hee-yeon’s slow, comforting touch, Son Yeo-il gradually regained peace of mind and body. His tears stopped, the tension that had been gripping him loosened, and his hands and feet warmed up.

Only when his mind and senses were fully restored did he truly realize the situation: he was pressed right up against Won Hee-yeon. He had slept in the same bed with him before, but this was the first time they had simply lain there without any physical contact.

The feeling of only their body heat touching was strangely tender and exciting. Thump, thump. His heart was beating too loudly. Just as he was fidgeting and moving his body, something thick and hard touched the back of his butt.

…Huh?

For a moment, he thought it was his imagination, but it was definitely not something he could mistake. The strange incongruity was confusing. The atmosphere in the bedroom was so tender and warm, but only that one thing was throbbing as if it didn’t belong here at all.

Is he doing this at a time like this? Did I keep touching it when I moved?

Thinking that this could potentially cause a big problem, Son Yeo-il decided to stay as still as possible. He lay there without moving a muscle, just breathing, but that thick thing touched his butt again.

It was inexplicable. Was Won Hee-yeon’s lower body like this even when he was comforting him so tenderly earlier? Son Yeo-il suppressed a laugh and asked, “Why do you keep moving?”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not me moving.”

The moment Won Hee-yeon feigned innocence, the fleshy pillar moved back and forth, tapping Son Yeo-il’s butt as if knocking on it. It seemed that Won Hee-yeon’s head and lower body were operating separately. Son Yeo-il finally burst out laughing.

“You’re definitely moving.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not doing it on purpose. I don’t have any intention of doing anything to sick Yeo-il, but this guy just won’t listen to his master and wags his tail as he pleases.”

He joked as if his thing was a puppy. Even as he did so, Won Hee-yeon’s thing became harder and harder, as if it understood what he was saying. He was worried about how it could get so big and wondered if this was not the time to be laughing, but Won Hee-yeon was still worried about Son Yeo-il in that situation.

“What should I do? I hope this guy isn’t being too loud and disturbing my darling’s sleep?”

“I’m okay, but what about Hee-yeon…”

“Eh, a dick will calm down on its own if you leave it alone. Just ignore it.”

Then, he stubbornly ignored his rampaging lower body and hugged Son Yeo-il tightly.

“This thing is always being a nuisance, no matter the time or place. Our darling understands. It’s just that I’m so happy to be hugging you like this. I can’t believe how good this feels.”

The date had completely fallen apart, and he was wondering what good could come of it, but Won Hee-yeon spoke as if he was truly happy and delighted. “How can it be this good?” Son Yeo-il quietly repeated those words to himself and somehow felt a lump in his throat.

His heart must have broken down too—just a moment ago, he could only laugh emptily, but now he felt like he would cry again. However, Won Hee-yeon didn’t give Son Yeo-il a chance to cry and completely embraced him with both arms.

A sense of languor and comfort flowed through their overlapping body heat. As if there was no need to cry, worry, or feel sorry. Thanks to this, Son Yeo-il fell asleep more comfortably than ever.

***

The next morning, Son Yeo-il’s back and forehead were covered with a light sheen of sweat. His body had become warm because the blanket was wrapped around him like a sorabang bread. And an even warmer gaze woke Son Yeo-il from his deep sleep.

“Aah! Ah! You startled me.”

Won Hee-yeon was lying on his side next to Son Yeo-il, staring at him with persistent eyes. Son Yeo-il, who was gathering his thoughts about what was happening, quickly raised his hands to half-cover his face.

“Doesn’t my face look strange? I just woke up…”

Moreover, he had vomited heavily, collapsed, fallen asleep, and just woken up. In contrast, Won Hee-yeon was in pajamas but looked fresh as if he had already gotten up and washed his face. Even his loosely flowing hair that had nothing applied to it shone under the morning sunlight.

“My husband keeps talking nonsense since yesterday. Is it because your blood sugar is low?”

At Won Hee-yeon’s response, clicking his tongue, Son Yeo-il felt that his stomach, which had been completely upset last night, had somehow returned to normal. The moment he thought he could manage now, hunger suddenly rushed in.

Grumble. An embarrassing sound loudly echoed from Son Yeo-il’s stomach. Thinking that he had been showing all sorts of embarrassing sides of himself since yesterday, Son Yeo-il’s cheeks turned bright red. Son Yeo-il, who had been covering only the area below his nose, pulled his hands up to cover his entire face.

“The floor is about to collapse. Making my husband’s stomach growl, I’m failing as a wife. Right?”

While Son Yeo-il was hiding behind his hands, Won Hee-yeon rushed to the kitchen. After what sounded like some quick preparations, he brought a tray with a bowl of milky egg porridge into the room.

“I prepared porridge thinking it would be better after being sick. Can you eat it? If you prefer rice or bread, I can make that instead.”

Won Hee-yeon helped Son Yeo-il, who had collapsed from embarrassment, to sit up. Son Yeo-il, pretending to give in, grasped the spoon and said that he didn’t need anything else and would eat the porridge. The savory smell of the porridge had already begun to make his mouth water.

Won Hee-yeon watched with satisfaction as Son Yeo-il emptied the bowl of porridge in bed. As if he were really nursing him, he even wiped his mouth with a napkin as soon as he put down the spoon.

“Good, you’ve finished your meal. What does my husband want to do now? Do you want to sleep some more?”

Son Yeo-il immediately shook his head. Although he wasn’t at 100% condition yet, he didn’t want to spend the rest of the weekend being treated like a patient. He felt that washing up would solve both the griminess and the stiffness his body was feeling right then.

“No, I’ve slept plenty. I think I can do anything once I clean up. We can even go out and have fun.”

“Ah! A bath! Just wait.”

At Son Yeo-il’s answer, Won Hee-yeon quickly ran out of the bedroom and made clattering sounds again. He was rushing around like crazy today, flitting from east to west.

“Now, don’t be surprised. Ta-dah~”

A moment later, he reappeared, took Son Yeo-il’s hand, and led him to the bathroom. Yesterday, even while busy holding the toilet bowl to vomit, he had thought the bathroom was quite large, but now he saw that there was also a large bathtub at the far end.

The bathtub was covered with white, fluffy foam, and red rose petals were scattered on top. Won Hee-yeon, who had prepared the luxurious bath, proudly said, “How is it? Isn’t it amazing? It smells good, and the water is nice and hot. If you soak in here, you’ll feel completely refreshed.”

Son Yeo-il recalled the day Won Hee-yeon moved into the studio apartment next door, when he had made a heart shape with rose petals on his bed. He thought he might let it go quietly today, but clearly, it looked like things like these was an incurable disease.

And seeing Won Hee-yeon efficiently providing a bathrobe, he could guess what might have been planned after “romantic dinner” and “watching a movie romantically” on the date he had prepared yesterday. Something like “romantic bubble bath.”

“Hurry and get in. Should I undress you?”

Though pretending it was a joke, Won Hee-yeon’s pants were already visibly bulging in the front. Just seeing Son Yeo-il in the bathroom seemed to be arousing him.

Perhaps because feelings of guilt had been piling up since yesterday, Son Yeo-il came up with an idea he wouldn’t normally dare to dream of. After fiddling with his pajama collar for a moment, he summoned his courage and called out to him.

“Um, Won Hee-yeon.”

Although he couldn’t look at him directly and kept his eyes lowered, his question was still articulate.

“…Want to join me? In the bath.”

Thump-thump. Son Yeo-il’s heart raced loudly, surprised by his own words. For a long time, only the sounds of their breaths flowed through the silence in that bathroom. The misty steam became even hotter and stickier.

“Sure. That sounds good.”

Won Hee-yeon responded pretending to be calm, but fierce veins were bulging on his forearms where he had rolled up her sleeves to prepare the bath. The back of his hand unbuttoning his pajamas was also tense.

But Son Yeo-il was much more nervous. Though his hands were trembling violently, Son Yeo-il quickly threw off his pajamas and got into the bathtub, determined to hide his body under the soap bubbles before Won Hee-yeon could see him.

As Won Hee-yeon followed into the bathtub, the bathwater and the foam on top sloshed high as if about to overflow the tub’s walls. Making them wonder why they had suggested bathing together in the first place, the two sat with their backs against opposite ends of the spacious bathtub, just clearing their throats awkwardly.

“Hmm…”

“Ahem…”Son Yeo-il glanced furtively at Won Hee-yeon. Won Hee-yeon’s unclothed body was right in front of him. It wasn’t the first time he had seen him naked, but the bathroom lighting was so bright that he felt embarrassed all over again.

His shoulders were so straight and broad that the bathtub, which was quite spacious for Son Yeo-il, seemed to barely fit him. In contrast to his fiercely bulging, sleek muscles, Won Hee-yeon’s skin looked so moist it appeared almost transparent.

“What’s that flower?”

When it reached the point where he needed some excuse for staring too much, Son Yeo-il pointed at the tattoo extending from his arm to his chest and asked.

“This? It’s a rose.”

In response to Son Yeo-il’s question, Won Hee-yeon tapped just below his collarbone with his fingertip. Son Yeo-il’s eyes grew even rounder at the sight of his taut chest muscles being slightly pressed down and then bouncing back elastically.

“Ah, so it was a rose.”

“Pretty, isn’t it? I chose one of the prettiest ones. Well, to a proper person like my husband, all the tattoos of guys who used their fists probably look all the same.”

If he had a more coquettish personality, he might have responded, “I’m not fond of tattoos in general, but I like yours, Won Hee-yeon,” but Son Yeo-il only continued to stare blankly at his chest.

“Other guys chose goblins or demons, but I thought what’s the use of drawing such ominous things on my body. I even wanted to use a pink color, but everyone talked me out of it, so I gave up. I’ve always had a weakness for pretty things. That’s why I’m crazy about our Son Yeo-il.”

As he grinned, it was a smile that matched well with both the rose tattoo and the rose petals scattered on the white foam. Even after exchanging a few words, Son Yeo-il was still embarrassed. He was even more conscious of the fact that whenever he fidgeted, Won Hee-yeon’s knees seemed about to brush against his toes.