LCL 19

After a long, suffocating kiss, Lim Dae-han pulled out. My body sagged, my limbs sprawled out haphazardly.

I could barely open my eyes to look at him. He stroked my back. His fingers lapped at the leaking cum.

“…Stop touching.”

“Why. It’s my cum.”

“…”

I winced, then relaxed, and felt a small trickle of cum. Lim Dae-han gently rubbed it with his finger and then pushed it back inside.

His finger squelched along with the fluid. I could feel my wet behind even without looking. I covered my eyes with my forearm in shame.

He was being mean to me. As soon as I covered my eyes, he pulled my arm away. Eventually, I wrinkled the bridge of my nose. I looked at him with a sullen face.

“Ki Young-hyun, you.”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t cum.”

“Earlier, I did…. So this time….”

“Now. You didn’t now.”

“Ah….”

He grabbed my penis and rubbed it as if it were a toy. My limp penis without pubic hair looked pathetic. I covered my face with both hands.

“Don’t. It’s embarrassing.”

I muttered to myself, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Poor Ki Young-hyun’s penis.”

“What?”

Penis? I was so surprised I couldn’t properly retort. This guy had gotten really slick. I was surprised to hear Lim Dae-han use that expression.

It was clear that he was mimicking me and teasing me. Honestly, there’s a reason why I’m still calling it penis. It’s embarrassing to call it a dick or a cock.

But when those words came out of his mouth, my face instantly heated up and I felt more embarrassed than I could have ever imagined. I’ll never do it again. Never.

…But he’ll probably do it again. I’ll use different words for my penis later. It doesn’t seem like something a twenty-year-old should say yet.

“You didn’t cum this time. I’ll help you. You have to do your part.”

“Don’t, don’t. Aah!”

Without pausing, he buried his face between my legs. I could feel his hot breath. I gripped his hair, which seemed to move back and forth at any moment.

He caressed my penis with his hot hands, as if molding clay. His eyes bent as he rubbed his lips over the hard shaft, gripping it tightly.

“You said you like drinking and having sex.”

“Ah…”

“Me too.”

If he dare bring it up again, for real. This time, I’m being serious.

We left the motel early in the morning and went to a nearby Korean restaurant. Lim Dae-han ordered the mallow soybean paste soup set, and I got the steamed egg set. Actually, I didn’t have much of an appetite for breakfast, but I was glad it came with just some simple side dishes and steamed eggs.

Dae-han mixed his rice into the stone pot. I just picked at the steamed eggs a bit before putting down my spoon.

He sure has a good appetite from the morning. I quietly watched Dae-han eating his meal enthusiastically. As he was about to take a big spoonful, he belatedly looked up at me.

“Eat my steamed egg.”

When I pushed the stone pot holder towards him, he straightened up. He rinsed his mouth with water and looked at me quietly.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

“Not hungry?”

“A little…”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have decided to eat breakfast.”

“You’re eating though. I’ll just have some rice and side dishes.”

Though I probably won’t be able to finish even that. Dae-han stared at me for a while, then pushed his stone pot towards me.

“Try it.”

I looked at him silently.

“Hurry.”

He urged me, so I finally pushed my spoon in and tasted it.

…It’s more delicious than the steamed eggs. How does Dae-han never fail no matter which restaurant we go to? Does he have some food god helping him?

Lim Dae-han completely switched our dishes. He pulled the steamed eggs towards himself and pushed the soybean paste soup to me. I just stared blankly, not knowing what was going on.

“You eat that. I’ll eat this.”

“What?”

Dae-han didn’t answer my question and just kept eating. While I don’t have much of an appetite, I do prefer strongly flavored foods over mild ones like steamed eggs, and he switched with me.

I looked at the steaming stone pot and felt strange for no reason. He really didn’t have to switch with me.

It’s not that it tastes bad, I just don’t have an appetite. Still, since he switched, I carefully sipped some of the soup. Maybe because he even mixed the rice for me, it made me feel even more emotional. Is he that worried about me not eating breakfast?

No way. Is it because of how he overworked me yesterday? I glanced towards the kitchen. The kitchen staff were chatting while watching TV.

I lowered my voice. Intending to say something we should only say when alone, I lowered my voice so only he could hear.

“Are you doing this because you feel bad about being mean last night?”

“What?”

“You didn’t let me sleep.”

Lim Dae-han held back his words. He just frowned. There was no need for him to feel guilty. Because…

“I’m fine. I enjoyed it too.”

“Ha.”

Lim Dae-han finally snorted. He looked at me with an unimpressed face, then just pointed at the stone pot with his chin.

“Stop being silly and eat your food.”

His gruff kindness isn’t so bad.

***

Beep— The whistle’s cry pierced the air. The spring sunlight filtering through the clear leaves seemed especially bright.

At the ear-splitting noise, everyone’s attention turned to one place. A senior from the student council spoke through a rolled-up plan that served as a makeshift megaphone.

“Boys come this way to help move stuff, girls go over to the female council members.”

The classmates who had been clustered together split in half. I also headed towards where the luggage was piled up with the other boys. I was shocked to see crates full of alcohol. Of course, there were also plenty of drinks and ice boxes stacked up too.

Surely we’re not going to drink all this? Even with so many people, how could we finish so many boxes of alcohol?

As I stood there with my mouth agape in shock, I saw a senior holding a box of hangover cures and gave up. They’re all planning to drink themselves to death.

“Young-hyun, can you take these drinks to the bus?”

Our school uniquely held MT (membership training) for 2 nights and 3 days. They say 1 night and 2 days is too short, so they do it this way… but honestly, for freshmen who have to spend 2 nights and 3 days with seniors, it’s all the same.

At the senior’s request, I hugged eight 1.5-liter bottles of drinks bundled together. It was heavy but manageable. Surely I wouldn’t complain about carrying just this one thing. I’m twenty years old now. Not as weak as when I was eighteen.

As I was heading to the bus silently holding the bundle of drinks, I ran into Lim Dae-han. He had already been caught by the seniors and was returning from loading crates of soju into the bus trunk.

I felt nervous for no reason. He wouldn’t try to take my load and carry it for me, would he? There’s no reason for peers of the same age to carry things for each other. Especially between people of the same gender.

The tension from this unnecessary worry filled my mouth. I moistened my lips with my tongue. Wasn’t it me who said we should hide the fact that we’re lovers while at school? But honestly, I had mixed feelings.

I didn’t want Dae-han to help me. But I wanted him to treat me specially. How selfish of me. I hugged the drinks even tighter. Dae-han walked over, talking with a senior.

“I heard the guys are going to kill you today.”

“Senior Seong-hong always says that.”

“That bastard can’t hold his liquor at all.”

Dae-han naturally brushed past me. We calmly, silently passed by each other, pretending not to know each other. I was nervous for nothing. I felt deflated.

It would be a lie to say it doesn’t bother me at all, but I decided to steel myself. Like these strong arms currently hugging the drinks. Firmly, so as not to drop them.

Just then, a voice called from behind.

“Hey, Ki Young-hyun.”

I awkwardly stopped in my tracks, as if slamming on the brakes. Just like when I failed the road test.

I readjusted my grip on the drinks I almost dropped. I thought I was holding them firmly, but apparently not.

I slowly turned around. Lim Dae-han, who had been walking with the senior, was now alone and standing right behind me. He took the package of drinks I was holding.

“If you carry them like that, you’ll get muscle pain in your arms.”

Then he casually picked up the drinks and headed towards the bus. The way he was carrying them didn’t seem that different. I stood still and tapped my forearm.

Um… So…

I scratched my head. Words got stuck in my mouth. A male classmate who gets along well with Lim Dae-han, also said his was heavy and playfully asked him to carry it.

Dae-han frowned and kicked the classmate’s butt lightly. After moving the luggage, he walked on as if nothing happened. I said to Dae-han as he passed by.

“…Thanks.”

Dae-han went on his way silently without answering. And he started moving luggage faster and in larger quantities than before. He took the initiative to carry heavy drinks and alcohol that I could have managed.

Thanks to that, I ended up only moving small items. Is this thought childish? Dae-han didn’t just move drinks and alcohol. He also took my heart with him. Of course, he probably didn’t put that in the bus but kept it in his own pocket.

Sometimes your heart grows in insignificant moments. This was one of those times. After moving all the luggage, I hid in a corner. I sent Dae-han a message.

Me: [Thanks for helping with the luggage]

Dae-han sent a short reply.

Dae-han: [lol]

Even those three halfhearted letters moved my heart.

When I got on the bus after moving the luggage, some seniors were already seated. Where should I sit? I looked around. Maybe the front would be good. As I was just holding onto the sticky seat back, Senior Hyuna waved her hand.

“Dae-han, come over here.”

I turned my head slightly and saw Dae-han standing behind me. I twisted my body to let Dae-han pass first. I sat in an unremarkable middle seat.

What difference does it make where I sit? Dae-han’s favorite sports bag hit my shoulder. Hyuna and Dae-han sat two rows behind.

“Do you get carsick?”

Hyuna asked Dae-han. No. I answered internally. Dae-han also replied, “No.”

“Then is this okay? I don’t like the front, and if we go to the back, the older guys might cause a fuss.”

“I guess so.”

“Our classmates, except for the student council and committee members, hardly ever go on MT. Especially the girls.”

“Why?”

“They ask what’s the point of going. But I want to play a bit more. And since I take classes with first-year students, I want to get closer to them.”

I could hear their conversation clearly. Though it wasn’t particularly interesting, the senior mixed laughter into her words. I tried to act nonchalant and just listen, but it was a bit painful.

I wanted to ignore it, but I kept unconsciously focusing on what was happening behind me. I let out a long sigh. Ji-yoon, who had finished running errands, got on the bus and scanned the interior before stopping in front of me.

“Is the seat next to you free?”

“Yeah. Want to sit?”

“Yeah. Move to the window seat.”

“It’s okay. You take the window seat. I don’t get carsick.”

I pushed Ji-yoon to the inside and stared straight ahead. I fidgeted uncomfortably before fastening my seatbelt. The last senior to board counted the number of people.

There were forty people per bus, and we had two buses. Even though not all first-year students were going, there were a lot of people.

I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but the MT seemed to be a bigger event than I expected. The bus started not long after the headcount was completed. Though the bus should have been noisy with excitement and anticipation from the start, it was quiet due to the early morning hour.

The seniors in the back were chatting, but even that quieted down as they seemed to fall asleep. Ji-yoon plugged in her earphones and dozed off as soon as we departed. I just spent the time quietly, doing nothing in particular.

“Hey, do you play that game?”

Senior Hyuna struck up a conversation with Dae-han. The two started chatting again. Usually, Senior Hyuna initiated the conversation.

Lim Dae-han switched games. He no longer played the game where cookie-shaped characters kept running.

This time he played a game that was somewhat past its prime, where the running cookie characters fought each other. He had collected most of the characters except for the new ones released quarterly. It was thanks to spending all day drawing characters with gems. In the end… it means he spent real money.

“I like this one. Come to think of it, you look a bit like this character.”

I wondered which character Senior Hyuna thought looked like Dae-han. I felt like my mood would worsen if I kept listening to their conversation.

I rummaged through my bag for my wireless earphones but couldn’t find them. Seems I didn’t bring them. Damn. I looked at Ji-yoon next to me, but she was already fast asleep.

Looking around, I poked Park In-gong sitting in the next row.

“In-gong, do you have any spare earphones?”

“Nope. Hey, I didn’t bring earphones either. I’m dying of boredom. Aren’t we supposed to sing songs and play guitar on the way? Why is our bus so quiet?”

In-gong started chattering as if he’d been waiting for this. I made a mistake. The 2-night 3-day MT wasn’t a short schedule, so our bodies would be tired, but I ended up poking In-gong who had been quiet from the start. In-gong started talking like a dragon with a motor in its mouth.