Free Web NovelThe sex ended much later than I expected. Joo Seowon had way more stamina than I’d guessed. He panted like he was dying, but he got it up and got off just fine on his own.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was already late, and after going at it a few more times, it was practically dawn by the time we finished.
Once the heat cooled, the adrenaline ebbed, and even my previously fine body started to feel the fatigue creep in. With all that that had been stuffed inside finally draining out, maybe it felt strange—Seowon kept whining for quite a while even after we were done.
“I should wash up.”
I slowly leaned back and ran a hand through my hair. My throat had tightened up at some point.
Leaving Seowon still wriggling on the bed, I grabbed a water bottle from the minibar and chugged the whole thing. I crushed the PET bottle and tossed it in the trash, grabbed the other bottle, and handed it to him.
He guzzled it down with big swallows, and only after emptying it did he look a little more present.
“You’ll wash, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“Want me to carry you?”
“......?”
He cracked his hazy eyes halfway and opened his arms. I meant I’d lift him and take him there, but after a few orgasms his IQ must’ve dipped; he seemed to think I meant I’d hug him.
It was so ridiculous I laughed, and only then did he seem to come to, pulling his hands back and glaring at me. Not that it mattered—his eyes were so unfocused I couldn’t tell if he was glaring or just looking.
I lowered my hand and brushed back the hair stuck to his forehead.
“Let’s go wash.”
“Mm....”
To save time, I took him into the bathroom with me and turned on the water all at once.
Watching him stand there zoned out wasn’t a pretty sight, so I pushed him into the tub, finished my shower fast, and sprayed the showerhead over him from his head down.
“Ah! Sh— mmph....”
“Hold still.”
“Stop— u— mmph.”
I sprayed him down roughly and tapped his cheek with the back of my hand to check his state.
“Seowon.”
“Y—.”
He looked at me like he was swallowing curses. I tugged his hand over and squeezed shampoo onto it as I asked,
“Want me to take it out from inside?”
“...What?”
We’d rushed into it with no condom or anything, and though I’d paced myself partway through, it would still feel pretty foreign in there.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t muster at least this much basic courtesy, so I asked—but he reacted like I’d said something unsayable.
“Wh-what... take what out?”
“What I left inside.”
“No... I—I can do it myself!”
“Yeah? Suit yourself, then.”
Well, if he can do it himself.
I didn’t ask twice. I turned on the tub faucet where he was sitting. Leaving him to it, I went to the sink to find a toothbrush.
While I brushed my teeth, I glanced back at him—he’d gone stiff and wasn’t doing anything.
'What are you doing?'
I spat foam and looked at him expectantly for an explanation. He ground his teeth and said,
“...Just go and leave me alone!”
Ah... picky as hell.
***
It was pretty hectic after that. The plan to switch to a morning flight and head home fell apart, so after mumbling that we’d look for tickets once we woke up, I crashed like I’d been cut down.
One bed was a write-off, so we had to cram into the other. That wasn’t exactly comfortable either. I’m not used to sleeping pressed up against someone, [N O V E L I G H T] but it’s not like I can’t do it—except Seowon kept flinching and inching away, which made me uncomfortable. frёewebηovel.cѳm
I let him do that for about three minutes, then hauled him in bodily. His heat filled my arms, snug.
“If you toss and turn one more time...”
Well... if he turns, he turns. Having said it, I had nothing to add, so I shut up. But for whatever reason, he flinched at my words and gave a tiny shiver.
“Yeah, just lie still. Don’t act like there’s something wrong with you.”
Once he finally quieted down, I let my thoughts settle.
'First thing when we wake up, we go straight back to Korea.'
The objective was done, so there was zero reason to linger here.
My stamina was running low, so the fatigue hit fast. I blinked, then finally closed my eyes—and heard a rustle beside me.
It wasn’t annoying enough to bother me, so I went to sleep without saying anything.
The first thing I did when I woke up was check the time.
'Ah... I’m screwed.'
Check-out is at twelve, and I woke up past eleven-fifty. The phone must have rung at some point, but I didn’t hear it. I reached out and called the front desk. I smoothed it over by paying for one more night and got up to get dressed.
“Seowon.”
I pulled back the blanket and tapped his cheek with the back of my hand, and he scrunched his eyes. I patted his shoulder to wake him.
“Up.”
“...What time is it.”
“Past twelve.”
“What?”
He snapped his eyes open and scrambled upright. I stared at his wrecked hair for a second and said shortly,
“Let’s wash and eat first.”
“Eat... what about check-out?”
“I pushed it.”
“...You can? You paid for another day?”
“Yeah.”
I roughed him awake and shoved him into the bathroom, then finished getting ready myself.
It was pretty predictable after that.
We ate a simple meal at a nearby place, then in the afternoon we packed up and headed to the airport. We cleared departure for an evening flight, waited inside, and checked our messages.
I pinged Kang Sojeong on messenger just in case, but like any modern who knows how to protect their advantage, she didn’t reply, and Wang Tiansin left Seowon on read, too.
'Annoying, but.'
There wasn’t anything I could do right now anyway, so I factory-reset the burner and ditched it quick. I hadn’t planned on tossing it, but while I went to grab coffee, someone helpfully stole it, which made things easier.
And the whole time, Seowon was beside me, working very hard at acting distant.
Whatever he thought he was doing—averting his eyes and acting like he’d lost his mind—he finally sidled up and spoke right before we boarded.
“...Seo Jehyun.”
“What.”
“Is your body... okay?”
Why the hell ask me that?
The fact he was asking this at all didn’t make him look especially sound of mind.
“I’m fine. You, on the other hand, look like your head isn’t.”
“What? What’s that supposed to—”
Watching him tiptoe around like this, I wondered if he was regretting it, so I asked,
“Why’ve you been acting like that since earlier. Because you hated it?”
He rolled his eyes around, then slowly started,
“Hated... it wasn’t like that.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s just... hard to look you in the face....”
Just? I tried to guess the next word that didn’t give me any sense at all, and got an unexpected answer.
“...Because I’m embarrassed.”
“.......”
I’d wondered why—turns out it was even dumber than I thought, and for a second I was speechless. Having said it, he seemed even more embarrassed, and stammered bright red,
“D-do I look like someone who wouldn’t be embarrassed?”
“You pick strange times to get shy.”
“Hey, I—!”
I retraced the things he’d said last night, wondering which line he found shameful, when he suddenly shot to his feet and turned my face aside so I couldn’t look at him.
“Stop looking.”
“What’s with you?”
At least from the way he moved, his body seemed fine. I pushed him aside with one arm and leaned back in my chair.
All the way back to Korea, every time our eyes met, he groaned in awkwardness. Once we landed, he naturally deflated.
'What, did he come back to his senses?'
He’d made more than enough fuss. I accepted it and headed to my house—for the first time in a long while.
The whole drive, he kept his gaze glued to the window and didn’t say a word. It was a change from the previously noisy version of him, at least.
When we got home, the familiar air rolling in felt good.
“Yehyun.”
I opened the door and called Do Yehyun, and he stood up from where he’d been sitting quietly in the living room.
“You’re early...!”
“Later than I expected, actually.”
“Still.”
Seowon gave him a little nod in greeting, watched me for a beat, then said,
“Uh... I’ll head up first.”
“Got something to do?”
“...Yeah, I’m kind of tired.”
He hadn’t slept right last night, so sure. I nodded to show I got it, and he flicked his eyes at me and then went upstairs.
I watched his back for a moment, then turned my gaze back to Do Yehyun.
“Nothing special happened, right?”
“Right. Nothing in particular....”
“Good. Great.”
“What about you, hyung?”
Anything special? Special... I couldn’t say special, but there were a few odd things. The craziest was screwing Seowon until morning.
But I had enough brain function not to tell that to Yehyun, so I just ruffled his hair in answer.
'Maybe I poked a hornet’s nest for nothing.'
Given I can’t micromanage every emotional wrinkle, it hit me late that I might’ve kicked an unnecessary beehive.
'Eh... does it matter?' ƒreewebɳovel.com
And that worry wasn’t about him betraying me. I was just concerned he might spin out on his own.
I looked quietly into Yehyun’s eyes and snorted.
He’s not some dog stuck home alone....
“Were you bored by yourself?”
“Not bored, exactly.”
“Good. That’s a relief.”
I answered absently and squinted a little.
“...What is it?”
“Nothing. I’ve got something I’m mulling over.”
“A worry?”
“Yeah.”
Even in the puzzled look he gave me, there was a decent dose of blind devotion.
Ah... I can’t tell if that makes this easy, or hard.
I tapped his cheek and smiled.
***
A few days later, I got back to the SH site quickly.
Song Hwayoung didn’t have much to say about me and Seowon taking matching vacations. Not that she’d have had the bandwidth to care, even if she did.
And my work wasn’t much different from before.
I plowed through the mildly boring tasks and finally set a new appointment.
'Can I come by to process an artifact?'
The message I sent to Sung Eunha came back affirmative after a few hours’ gap.
'Yes, come.'
Good. Time to slap restraints on this little beast sitting in my hand.
