M 159

A water droplet fell from the ends of his dry hair. After wiping what had flowed down his cheek with his sleeve, Sehwa took a deep breath. The second floor hadn’t changed much. Though the color scheme somewhat matched the first floor, the dim feeling remained. Still, perhaps because the stairs served as a medium, it didn’t clash too much with the lower floor.

Sehwa, who had stopped at the last step, gripped the railing and looked alternately at the path he had walked and the path ahead. While striving with the single minded determination to be quiet, his energy had completely drained and any grand resolve had long since disappeared, and he just… hoped tonight would become a new book for him and Ki Tae-jeong to unfold together. Like these stairs, he hoped it would become an opportunity to naturally blend their colors.

He decided to forget all about what had happened here, how much it had hurt then, and how it didn’t seem normal to go looking for him to have sex with his own feet now… He hadn’t come all this way to boast to Ki Tae-jeong about how pitiful a person he was.

Walking slowly like that, he was soon in front of the man’s bedroom. There was a squelching sound as the flesh of his sweat-soaked soles stuck to the floor. He flinched and hunched his shoulders, but no signs could be felt from downstairs. Beyond the door was also quiet.

So now he should knock…

Sehwa, who had clenched both fists like a child, dropped his hands several times. His wrists were heavy as if weights were attached, and the inside of his chest kept tickling. He felt increasingly intoxicated by the strange elation bubbling up from deep places he couldn’t touch.

The sound of swallowing saliva rang piercingly in his ears. Though the other person didn’t even know he had come, he felt like he might burst from the tension he had created alone. He barely raised his hand then dropped it again, hesitated and dropped it again… After repeating this several times, Sehwa took a deep breath.

He was really going to knock this time, and he was about to lift his heels to take a heavy step when…

“…”

Creak. Very slowly, the bedroom door opened. At the sound of the doorknob turning and the mechanism clicking into place inside, his heartbeat stopped. Sehwa couldn’t even blink and watched the beige lighting from inside the bedroom paint his feet in a fan shape. Only when the light that had clearly drawn a semicircle burst and became hard to trace did he realize that the man’s long legs were caught at the edge of his vision.

The sharp cologne scent that rushed in was mixed with the fragrance of the body wash he had just used more than half a bottle of. Ki Tae-jeong’s body scent tightly constricted his body, so Sehwa couldn’t lift his head. Even rolling his eyes was difficult, so he could only steal glances at below Ki Tae-jeong’s waist like a thief. He could barely guess that he had come out after washing and was only wearing a towel on his lower half, and from the shape the shadows drew, that he was standing askew with his hand on the doorframe.

Unable to determine where Ki Tae-jeong’s gaze was flowing, everywhere exposed below his sight tingled. Did he… know? Had he pretended not to know even after hearing his footsteps walking here?

He had prepared words to say, but couldn’t remember any of them. Whether he might want to sleep together, whether it would be okay to just lie on the same bed and sleep, not sex. He had planned to offer Ki Tae-jeong several choices. He had practiced in the most plain tone possible so he wouldn’t be embarrassed if rejected, but his mouth absolutely wouldn’t open.

His lips, dried from anxiety, stuck together and made a grating sound as they separated. Even during this several times, Ki Tae-jeong still said nothing. At this point, it seemed he had thought too much only from his own perspective. He might have just opened the door to drink some water…

An eternity seemed to pass, and when he began to think his bent neck was getting a bit stiff…

“…I heard footsteps.”

Finally Ki Tae-jeong spoke. At the low voice, tightly locked and cracked at the end, the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“I was thinking that it must still be difficult for you, that I should take you back again… but even thinking that, I liked that you were here so much that I wanted to pretend not to know until the very end.”

“…”

“But, if you’re like that, in front of such a rotten bastard.”

His gaze, burning to the point of being parched, slowly swept over Sehwa’s entire body. His bare legs with moisture, the back of his hands covered by robe sleeves, his lower lip whitened by being pressed by his upper teeth and conversely, his reddened earlobes… Lee Sehwa, who was definitely sending some kind of signal with his whole body.

His heart felt like it was beating in his cheeks, in his head. He felt like he and Ki Tae-jeong were trapped in an oxygen-less space. It was so much harder to breathe than before.

While he was barely breathing through his nose, panting, there was a crack sound of something breaking and Ki Tae-jeong stepped closer. Not far but not close either. If he lifted his head from here, his expressions would be revealed without hiding, that kind of distance.

Now even the taste of blood seeped from his bitten lips. It wasn’t that he disliked it. It wasn’t forced either. Though he felt grateful and sorry to him for running all the way to the emergency room, this sex… so if they were to have sex now, it wouldn’t feel like the previous debt or equivalent exchange. He just wanted to return heart with heart.

Ki Tae-jeong still leaned only his upper body forward while supporting the doorframe. He slowly bent his body and lightly kissed the top of his head. It was a kiss he might not have noticed if not for the slight feeling of his hair being pressed, if not for the movement of shadows.

“…”

When he didn’t refuse, Ki Tae-jeong slid his lips downward. He pressed his lips to his forehead then pulled away, staring at his intently. Sehwa hid his sweat-soaked palms inside his sleeves and slightly lifted his chin. It meant permission. Then Ki Tae-jeong kissed Sehwa’s forehead and between his brows more definitively than before. Even like this? Are you still going to stay still? The pouring kisses were like feathers, but the air surrounding Sehwa was asking fiercely and persistently.

He was carefully exploring whether the meaning he was thinking was correct, just how far Sehwa could endure. It felt like being driven to the edge of a cliff. Sehwa only now realized he was trembling.

His nose tip brushed his nose tip, and his wet lips touched his cheek. Ki Tae-jeong kissed the jawbone connected to his earlobe with a soft sound, then stayed for a moment with his lips lightly held. The breath that had been touching until now couldn’t be felt. Both Sehwa and Ki Tae-jeong simultaneously stopped breathing and quietly observed each other’s reactions.

Thud. At the sound of something being roughly pushed and scraped, Sehwa’s shoulders flinched and trembled. Taking that as a signal, Ki Tae-jeong bent his body deeply and kissed Sehwa’s lips. It was at the level of skin gently bumping and falling away, like when he had kissed the top of his head.

“Huh…”

Without knowing it, a short breath flowed from his nose tip. Though nothing had been done, he was short of breath and his head spun. Sehwa lifted his head that had been bowed like a wilted flower, panting as if he had been running.

With his back to the indoor lighting, the first thing that came into view was a huge, pitch-black body that had become one with the shadows. Sehwa, who couldn’t bring himself to look at Ki Tae-jeong’s face and was anxiously rolling his eyes, stopped his gaze abruptly when he saw Ki Tae-jeong’s hand placed on the doorframe.

He didn’t know what material it was, but on the doorframe that was at least not something like paper, there were deep grooves carved as if a large beast had clawed through. Looking at the other side, it was the same. At the end of the terrifying marks that were deeply scorched, Ki Tae-jeong’s fingers were placed. Seeing the blue veins bulging from the man’s hand to his forearm as if they might burst, Sehwa blinked blankly.

Was this what made that breaking sound earlier? No, could an ordinary person leave such marks with bare hands? Of course, Ki Tae-jeong wasn’t an ordinary person…

Sehwa, who had been staring blankly at both doorframes with handprints, blushed and lowered his head again. The fact that someone with such strong grip strength had been gently kissing him until just now, and that he had endured to the point of sticking his fingers into the pillar rather than surprising him with a sudden kiss, and… he liked that this person wanted him that much, and the inside of his stomach grew hot with a surge of arousal.

Just as he thought the distinctive wood scent of furniture hit under his nose, long fingers carefully grasped the tip of Sehwa’s chin. He pretended not to know and was drawn by the pulling feeling. Squelch. When Sehwa took a step toward him, an even wetter sound came from his soles than before.

He slowly lifted his eyes that had been fixed around Ki Tae-jeong’s chest. They were close enough that only his eyes could be seen rather than his whole face. Like being caught in a trap, they stood motionless just looking into each other’s eyes for a while. Then Ki Tae-jeong’s sweat soaked fingers slipped very slightly on the doorframe, and at that small friction sound, Sehwa’s shoulders jerked. Even while his head was bubbling with heat, he felt it. Right now was the moment.

“Mmh…!”

As if a signal flare had been shot, their lips meshed deeply and urgently. Sehwa grabbed Ki Tae-jeong’s waist with trembling hands. Large fingers grasped Sehwa’s hair without hurting and bent his head back sharply. His chin was lifted up, and a hot tongue penetrated deeply.