DHG Ch 82

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Separate from his trust in Jang Seungyung, Heewoo felt a deep sense of guilt for having reported Daol. He asked about Daol’s well-being every single day. In a way, their roles had been reversed. Even though Daol no longer contacted him, Heewoo was now the one who diligently checked on Daol’s welfare.

At first, Daol would reply in his own way, but after a few days, he began to show signs of annoyance.

—Ah, I’m fine! Just… Heewoo, let’s cut back on the messages a little.

When there was no reply for a whole day, he called, and Daol got angry. Hearing the rare sound of him gritting his teeth, Heewoo, for a moment, had the strange delusion that he had become one of Daol’s clingy ex-boyfriends.

But it was a matter that required that much persistent confirmation. For cross-verification, Heewoo also contacted Mingeon.

[Daol hyung?]

[He’s fineㅇㅅㅇ Same as always today]

His safety was confirmed, and since Daol was clearly fed up, it seemed he would have to reduce the frequency of his messages from now on. As he made this resolution, Heewoo found himself looking back over his text message history with Daol.

Daol’s messages had abruptly stopped after his visit to Bennie. As if he had achieved his goal and no longer needed to stay in touch.

Was Daol really a spy for Executive Director Jang Jooshin? If so, why did the Executive Director try to show me that video?

It was useless to agonize over it. Even if he asked Daol directly, there was no guarantee he would get the truth. He could only earnestly hope that nothing bad would happen to Daol, or to Jang Seungyung, whom he loved.

About four days had passed since the trip to Bennie, and it was the day of the second round of the World Cup qualifiers. Heewoo had mentioned it before, so Jang Seungyung was also aware of the broadcast schedule. Before leaving for work, he said.

“You’re going to watch the soccer match today, right? I’ll be a bit late, so go ahead and watch first. I’ll buy some chicken on my way back.”

“Ah, okay.”

Watching a soccer game together. It felt like an unexpected gift. So he had only said it sounded good, but he was suddenly showered with kisses. Lips, both cheeks, the tip of his nose, eyebrows, eyelids, by the time the barrage of kisses pouring over his entire face had ended, Heewoo’s face was completely flushed red.

“Have a good day at work. I’ll be waiting.”

After returning a kiss to Jang Seungyung’s lips, which had been kissing him relentlessly, and seeing him off, Heewoo headed not to his own room as usual, but to the study.

It was because he couldn’t concentrate on his studies at all these days. This distraction had persisted since his visit to Bennie. When he was alone, distracting thoughts that only disturbed his mind constantly grew louder. Things like the image of Jang Seungyung in the video Daol had shown him, or the reason why Jang Seungyung had been coming home late so often recently, or the unfamiliar scent that would cling to him at those times.

Would it be better if I read a book? Heewoo shook off the thoughts that were once again fluttering about chaotically and surveyed the bookshelf. It was then that some thin books on one side caught his eye.

They were poetry books.

The book of poems that Jang Seungyung had bought at the bookstore they visited on the day they went to Bennie was also there. Heewoo picked them up and opened them one by one. Slowly turning the pages, he mulled over the sentences that Jang Seungyung must have read.

The highly condensed words were effective in helping him regain his focus. He savored one poem he particularly liked for a long time and smiled.

However, the effectiveness of the concentration found in the poetry book only lasted for half a day. Heewoo wrestled with a workbook for a long time before admitting that he was in quite a big predicament. If he let his guard down even a little, the image of Jang Seungyung from the video would surface. The image of him putting a necklace on a partner who exuded a noble beauty, looking like such a well-matched pair.

I don’t want to think about it anymore.

With his mind in such a disarray, the sun finally set. As evening twilight fell, Heewoo finished his studies with an unsettled feeling.

Around 7 PM, the long-awaited broadcast of the second round of the World Cup qualifiers began. Even then, Heewoo couldn’t quite immerse himself in the game, caught up in the various thoughts tangled like a skein of yarn in his head.

It was about halfway through the first half.

“What’s this, why the long face? Is South Korea losing?”

Jang Seungyung, who had lightly pulled Heewoo into a one-armed hug as he came to greet him, asked. He said it after seeing Heewoo’s subtly dazed expression.

Heewoo, who had been staring blankly at the man who had come home with a box of chicken as promised that morning, snapped back to his senses. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, when he recalled the state of the game, they had indeed conceded the first goal.

“It’s because Boss wasn’t here. Let’s hurry and watch together.”

Heewoo urged him on in a bright voice. The man laughed as if to say he was silly, then quickly changed his clothes, washed up, and came out. Quickly, and simply.

Because he didn’t need to shower.

Today too, Jang Seungyung had returned home with wet hair. And smelling of that same shower cologne.

Heewoo kept his eyes on the broadcast screen until the man, now in comfortable clothes, slumped down to lean against the sofa. The chicken box was placed between them. Relying on the warm and savory smell of the chicken, Heewoo consciously erased the cologne scent that lingered at the tip of his nose.

Soon, the second half began. Perhaps thanks to treating Jang Seungyung as a victory fairy, South Korea scored an equalizer. Heewoo’s mood improved. A go-ahead goal followed one after another. When they even scored a final goal to seal the victory just before the final whistle, Heewoo’s spirits couldn’t help but soar high into the sky. After the game ended, he even ate all the remaining chicken. “Should I buy a few more?” Jang Seungyung asked with a smile, but Heewoo replied that he was fine.

A gentle silence settled. When the endlessly running commercials ended and a drama series was about to start, the two were entangled on the sofa as if they were one body. The pheromones they let out freely and comfortably at home also enveloped each other.

“……”

Heewoo felt the large contour pressing against his groin through their tightly joined lower bodies. The back of his ears grew hot and he tried to pull away slightly, but a firm arm was wrapped around his waist, and he couldn’t move an inch. In the end, he stayed still. His eyes darted around restlessly until his thoughts suddenly landed on the poetry book he had read in the morning.

“Do you like poetry?”

“I do.”

Jang Seungyung, who was stroking Heewoo’s back with his palm, answered readily. He continued his explanation while gently rubbing the tip of his nose and his lips against Heewoo’s downy cheek and then his soft earlobe.

“To me, it’s like a workout. A brain stretch, you could say.”

By Jang Seungyung’s standards, poetry books possessed a strangeness in two ways. First, when the words themselves were so strange that you wondered where on earth they came from. Second, when completely unexpected words were mixed together, making them strange.

And when he encountered that strangeness, he would feel a peculiar sense of refreshment, as if he were stretching his brain. It was like his mind was being completely ventilated when faced with a field he would never encounter in his life, with its array of strange words. He didn’t know if it was the same for others, but for Jang Seungyung, it was like that. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he preferred poetry.

“Above all, they’re short.”

Beneath his prominent brow bone, Jang Seungyung’s long eyes curved. He expressed his satisfaction without reserve and explained to a puzzled Heewoo.

“So you don’t get addicted. And they don’t take up your time.”

Jang Seungyung, holding the remote, turned off the screen where a drama series was in full swing. In fact, his attention had been elsewhere for a while. With his warm omega, who had been fed until he was full and was now exuding sweet pheromones like well-stewed vanilla milk in his arms, there was no way he could think straight.

And he had been quite aroused for a while now. Ever since Kwon Heewoo had rejoiced as if he owned the world every time a goal was scored. From the moment the boy had brightly smiled and thrown his arms around him.

“I like things that are short, whatever they are.”

Jang Seungyung explained in a half-indifferent tone as he peeled off Heewoo’s clothes as if peeling a tangerine. His dazzling, gleaming eyes were already completely fixed on the white skin being revealed.

“Dramas like the one just now, not so much. Movies are a bit much too, but they’re much better than dramas. It’s good to enjoy it quickly and shake it off. You can return to your daily life cleanly, can’t you?”

Jang Seungyung, who had casually expressed his usual thoughts, sought out the soft lips and kissed them. While obediently parting his lips to receive the thick tongue, Heewoo couldn’t control his slightly dazed gaze. To be honest, he was a little shocked.

It’s good to enjoy it quickly and shake it off. Of course, he knew Jang Seungyung’s preference for occasionally watching movies but never dramas, but he didn’t know there was a clear reason for it. Moreover, that reason bothered him.

“…I like things that last a long time, too.”

When the man who had greedily coveted his lips pulled away, Heewoo brought up the thought that had been lingering in his mind. In a light tone, consciously putting on a brighter expression than usual so as not to be a burden.

“I see.”

Jang Seungyung, whose eyes sparkled, replied agreeably while pressing his lips as if mesmerized against the area under Heewoo’s eyes and his cheeks, which had risen from smiling.

Their pheromones began to thicken. The wholesome atmosphere of watching soccer together was now long gone. The living room quickly filled with a hot and humid scent.

While having sex with Jang Seungyung, Heewoo tried to respond more proactively than usual. Perhaps because of that, the man came at him more fervently than ever, and by the time they had moved between the bedroom and the bathroom and were lying side by side, it was very late in the dawn.

Even after the man fell asleep first, Heewoo couldn’t easily fall asleep, blinking his eyes in a drowsy state. As he finally took a step into a deep sleep, he vaguely had the meaningless thought that he wished the man before him were someone who liked dramas.