SOG Ch 199

Every time Kim Geun-won left home after that, Jae-chan would follow along with Woo-jin and came to realize the rule that ‘Kim Geun-won always returns home.’

‘I am envious of them just living together.’

Perhaps it was around that time that Jae-chan started seriously considering living with Woo-jin.

Jae-chan swallowed his envy while cutting up the large hamburger steak with his spoon. He found himself reflecting on how invested he had become in someone else’s love life. As he smiled with a sigh, his gaze suddenly shifted. He looked with an amused expression at Woo-jin, who lately seemed even more alert to the couple’s relationship than himself.

“Sometimes I think you care more than I do.”

Woo-jin raised his calm gaze at Jae-chan’s words.

Indeed, since sharing the so-called [SUCCESS PROJECT] with Jae-chan, Woo-jin had been intensely monitoring matters related to Black Swan, or rather Gyeong Hye-in. Even more than Jae-chan himself.

Woo-jin continued his thoughts while quietly sipping water. Though Jae-chan insisted that the regression due to the Windless Zone was ordinary, he suspected it might not be. He had considered scenarios up to the worst-case situation for Jae-chan.

…He was determined to do his best to prevent such tragedy from repeating, even if the chance was minimal. Woo-jin playfully lifted the corner of his mouth and asked.

“So do you dislike it?”

“No way. I like everything you do.”

As expected, Jae-chan’s answer was straightforward. His healthy, smiling face without any injuries seemed to burrow into Woo-jin’s heart anew.

Watching Jae-chan absorbed in the delicious food again, Woo-jin let out a soft sigh. Finally picking up his chopsticks, he smiled genuinely at ease.

*

After finishing their meal and cleaning up together amicably, they sat in the living room to watch a short film. The movie, selected by Jae-chan’s strong insistence, was a B-grade monster one-act play.

After 60 minutes of relatively thrilling runtime, Jae-chan, sitting next to Woo-jin, found himself a bit flustered during the climax.

Not just because the monster they thought needed defeating was unexpectedly portrayed as cool, but because the romance between the male and female leads was more intense than expected. It made his deliberate choice of a monster movie seem pointless.

-Mmm, mmhmm…

The male and female leads were passionately intertwining t0ngues with the saved city as their backdrop. Their hands, smudged with soot from their ordeals, slid over each other’s bodies. The heroine’s hand caught slightly on the male lead’s daringly portrayed T-back waistband. The kissing couple smiled at each other.

Oh Ted, shall we do it at your place next? You promised to invite me. Yes. Let’s come over right now. The protagonists whispered while fervently touching each other’s cheeks and shoulders. At that moment, the monster’s thunderous victory roar echoed, and with the belated arrival of their companions, a somewhat moving scene unfolded, but Jae-chan couldn’t focus at all.

He could only steal glances at Woo-jin.

“……”

Woo-jin was watching the screen with his chin propped on one hand. As Jae-chan stole glances at those long eyelashes and smooth bridge of nose as if enchanted, he thought it was natural that Woo-jin’s photos released on the Center’s SNS had become a hot topic.

His face, having moved beyond its somewhat youthful impression to acquire a completely adult air, was growing more captivating with each passing day. Sometimes enough to make one lose their senses despite trying not to.

This was understandable as Woo-jin’s current appearance differed slightly even from the same time before the regression. The refreshing youthfulness typical of his age had been added to his already flawless appearance. It was dazzling whenever Woo-jin would smile with that clear face after waking up, that said it all.

Being handsome really is the best.

Jae-chan wanted to get intensely entangled with his handsome lover right now. Like Ted about to barging into Laura’s house.

“…Why are you staring at me like that?”

Meanwhile, Woo-jin, who had been pretending not to notice Jae-chan’s gaze, sighed in trouble.

He tended to be considerate of Jae-chan on weekdays. Given their difference in build and stamina due to ability effects. Woo-jin always tried not to push too hard. That’s why he had agreed when Jae-chan chose a B-grade movie with an absurd story devoid of romance.

“If you keep looking at me like that—”

Just as he was about to say he wanted to touch him, Jae-chan closed the distance first and kissed Woo-jin. Woo-jin’s eyes blinked slowly at the warm, soft overlapping sensation.

It took only an instant for the light, small kiss to transform into something different.

Woo-jin pulled Jae-chan onto his thick thighs. He skillfully removed all of Jae-chan’s lower clothes. By the time Jae-chan came to his senses with wet lips, both the movie and situation were already over. Wearing nothing but his work shirt, Jae-chan awkwardly met Woo-jin’s eyes.

“You have work tomorrow.”

Woo-jin gently stroked Jae-chan’s bare legs while pointing out what he had forgotten.

“I’ll drive you.”

“……”

“Have breakfast before you go.”

Woo-jin whispered as he pressed his lips against Jae-chan’s damp ones again. Recognizing himself nodding mindlessly at the voice that felt sweeter than any snack, Jae-chan could only inwardly lament, this is really a problem, a real problem.

*

“Back already, you scoundrel?”

The next morning, returning to his quarters, Jae-chan reunited with his roommate Jung Noah after four days.

“Just how many days are you going to stay out?”

Facing the back of Noah’s head, who was busy styling his bright curly hair in the mirror, Jae-chan answered in a monotone.

“You enjoyed having me gone anyway.”

“……”

While double occupancy was the rule, both Seon Jae-chan and Jung Noah preferred being alone in the room.

Leaving his roommate’s silent agreement behind, Jae-chan quickly organized his things and headed to the Guide Bureau.

It was his first time back to office work in a while. Thanks to Woo-jin driving him early as promised, he could arrive comfortably. Jae-chan exchanged greetings with a senior who arrived first and ventilated the office. The fresh air swirled through as more seniors and apprentices from Team 1 started to arrive.

“Oh, hello.”

The apprentice, who was called ‘Triangle Feet’ due to Chang-hyun’s criticism of his poor running skills greeted him. Did they go running again this morning? Why does he look so sheepish? Jae-chan brushed it off and turned his attention back to organizing the day’s tasks.

Thoughts of Woo-jin habitually overlapped the official document in his hands.

Last night, though they didn’t go all the way since it was a weekday, the s3x was still intensely satisfying. Unlike before when they would clumsily bump into each other and hurriedly reach pleasure, Woo-jin, as he did lately, perfectly melted Jae-chan from head to toe. Enough to make Jae-chan unconsciously beg and plead.

Besides his skillful technique, there was another charming element that enhanced their intimacy.

‘To think Go Woo-jin would give kisses when asked.’

It was probably after reaching cl1max about three times. While sharing afterglow with their chests pressed tightly together feeling each other’s heartbeats, Jae-chan impulsively asked for a kiss on his cheek. Woo-jin kissed him immediately without hesitation.

That wasn’t all. Woo-jin tapped his own cheek and asked why he wasn’t getting any kisses. The slight eye smile with his long eye corners creasing made Jae-chan utterly smitten. Jae-chan couldn’t help but rush to him excitedly.

You’re so pretty, so pretty, Woo-jin! Do you know how pretty you are? Jae-chan showered him with kisses while enthusiastically pouring out words about his prettiness. Though this boldly climbing onto Woo-jin ended up igniting those black eyes again, he had no regrets.

Ah, really happy…

Thinking of Woo-jin’s face smiling with tightly closed eyes while receiving his shower of kisses made his head spin with happiness. Seon Jae-chan briefly covered his nose and mouth before letting out a small ‘ahem.”

‘Got to work hard.’

The thought of meeting his pretty lover after work boosted his work motivation. Just as Jae-chan jumped up from his seat to charge his brain with caffeine.

He noticed suspicious behavior from the apprentice again. The Team 1 apprentices’ shoulders flinched as they were whispering and glancing at Jae-chan from their seats.

Then the Triangle Feet apprentices came forward as their representative.

“Sunbae, could you take me along next time you guide Esper Ahn Harin? I chose Esper Psychology Introduction for the selection exam and got grade A.”

Jae-chan glumly looked at the apprentices who smiled brightly while whispering.

He wasn’t used to apprentices being friendly with him. Originally, around this time before the regression, he was a senior that juniors feared or were wary of. His reputation as a shrewd silver spoon and self-serving opportunist peaked exactly now, at age twenty-three.

Now the juniors’ gazes seemed clearly different.

The catalyst was probably the higher-ups making a fuss about his bonding with Woo-jin, even releasing articles about it. This batch of Team 1 apprentices must watch a lot of dramas, as they seemed to idolize Seon Jae-chan just for bonding with an S-class Esper. Their excessively admiring gazes were embarrassing, and just when he thought he’d managed to turn them into dead fish eyes by being appropriately stern as a senior…

‘Why are they becoming light bulb eyes again.’

Somehow their eyes returned to twinkling like Christmas decorations. Jae-chan avoided their overly sparkling gazes and sent the Triangle Feet apprentices away with a noncommittal response.

The clue about Team 1 apprentices’ ominous behavior came soon after.

“Sunbae!”

At the hallway vending machine where he went for caffeine, Jae-chan ran into last year’s Team 2 apprentices.

It was Song Se-in and Nam Hae-sol, who had long since shed their apprentices status. Se-in, busy retrieving coffee, widened her eyes at the sight of Jae-chan and grinned weirdly, while Hae-sol, sipping barley tea beside her, looked…

‘Why is her expression like that?’

She had the exact same face as when she witnessed male apprentices getting leg waxing. In short, it was a face plastered with disapproval.