“…Where are we going?”
“The infirmary.”
“Oh…”
“You’re hurt.”
Hyun Gyujin was about to say that it wasn’t enough to call it being hurt, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. There was no reason to waste an opportunity to talk to Yuwon. Considering the countless overwhelming events that had happened yesterday, it was a huge deal to get some time alone with him now. Praying that the nurse would be away, they went to the infirmary, which was indeed empty just as Hyun Gyujin had hoped. Ignoring a sign that said the nurse was in a meeting and to contact her if needed, they entered hesitantly together.
“…Looks like the nurse isn’t here. Let’s come back later.”
“Since we’re here, we might as well apply some ointment and leave. Just put on some ointment, it’ll be fine.”
Hyun Gyujin took out a wound ointment from a neatly organized first aid kit on a drawer beside the desk and handed it to Yuwon.
“Isn’t this the right one?”
Yuwon opened the ointment, reading the label that indicated it prevented wounds from getting worse.
“…Sit down.”
“Are you going to apply it for me?”
“If you don’t want to, you can…”
“I don’t mind!”
“…”
“I’m afraid of seeing wounds. I have that kind of phobia.”
Knowing it was a ridiculous statement, Yuwon silently took out a cotton swab and squeezed some ointment onto it. Then, leaning over towards Hyun Gyujin, who was seated lower than his eye level, he began to apply it.
“…”
“…”
Hyun Gyujin could feel Yuwon’s gaze resting steadily on his face. He knew that if he moved his gaze just a little, their eyes would meet. Trying to avoid eye contact, Yuwon focused solely on the wound near Hyun Gyujin’s mouth. Although it wasn’t too badly torn, Hyun Gyujin winced every time the cotton swab touched the wound, making Yuwon’s shoulders twitch sympathetically.
“Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, a lot.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Oh no…”
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“Ah…”
When he came to his senses, his eyes were already locked with Hyun Gyujin’s. Yuwon couldn’t look away from the tangled gaze. He felt both confused about what he had just done and unable to avoid Hyun Gyujin’s approaching face. He knew they were about to kiss… but couldn’t stop it.
The touch of their lips was hot. As soon as he felt the heat, a warmer sensation seeped between his parted lips. Though he could have pulled away by straightening his bent body, he couldn’t move. Honestly, he didn’t really want to.
“Mmm…”
The fingertips holding the cotton swab and ointment tingled. His toes curled inside his socks, and his legs felt weak. Despite the foggy, pleasant feeling from the kiss, thoughts that this wasn’t the right situation with Hyun Gyujin sporadically crossed his mind. With difficulty, Yuwon pushed against Hyun Gyujin’s shoulder. Their lips parted with a faint, tickling sound.
“…Haa…”
As his heated breath brushed past his lips, a large hand reached out and pressed the back of his head again. The sensations intertwined more deeply between their parted lips. In the quiet infirmary, the sounds of mingled breaths and their mutual embrace echoed. Their lips met deeply, then tangled, and the soft, brushing contact sent tingles through Yuwon’s lower abdomen.
Feeling increasingly strange sensations spreading through his body, Yuwon weakly pushed against Hyun Gyujin’s shoulder again. Hyun Gyujin backed off readily, allowing Yuwon to put a little more distance between them. Turning away, Yuwon pressed his moist lips firmly with the back of his hand.
“……”
“……”
After steadying his disrupted breathing as quietly as possible, Yuwon took a tissue and gently wiped the ointment smudges around Hyun Gyujin’s mouth, then wiped the sticky feeling from his own mouth. He could taste the ointment on his tongue.
It was an accident. Yes, this was an accident. Blowing on Hyun Gyujin’s wound was an accident on Yuwon’s part. The kiss that followed was an accident on Hyun Gyujin’s part. It seemed best to just move on without making a fuss about it.
“…Let me apply the ointment again.”
His voice sounded strange. With his lips slightly closed, Yuwon carefully applied the ointment to the corner of Hyun Gyujin’s mouth again. He could feel Hyun Gyujin’s intense gaze, but he avoided eye contact.
“……”
“……”
Hyun Gyujin stared at the small, pale face right in front of him that refused to meet his eyes. His heart was pounding in his chest. He felt restless, unsatisfied with just a brief kiss, and had the urge to lay Yuwon down on the infirmary bed.
He realized for the first time how delicious ointment could taste. Even as it smeared and mingled with their tongues during the kiss, it tasted surprisingly good. Reflecting on the brief kiss they shared earlier, Hyun Gyujin took in Yuwon’s pretty face again.
His eyebrows were soft, matching the color of his hair. His eyelids were half-lowered, not looking at him, with long eyelashes at the ends. When he tilted his head for a kiss, his sharp but delicate nose would brush against Hyun Gyujin’s. His cheeks, soft to both touch and kiss, made Hyun Gyujin want to keep touching them.
“…It’s still bleeding.”
Whenever Hyun Gyujin parted his lips, Yuwon would follow. When he bit his lower lip, Yuwon did the same. Even the warm breaths they exchanged lingered inside Hyun Gyujin’s mouth. Just looking at Yuwon made him feel like he was still kissing him.
“Why won’t you look at me?”
“…What?”
“Me.”
“…I’m looking at you.”
“Are you avoiding eye contact because you think I’ll kiss you again?”
It was so hard just to lift his eyes. Yuwon bit the inside of his lip and barely raised his gaze. He realized how difficult it was to make eye contact with someone you like after falling for Hyun Gyujin.
“……”
“……”
Their gazes met and mingled once more. Hyun Gyujin felt an overwhelming urge to wrap his hand around Yuwon’s neck and pull him closer. Despite the strong scent of disinfectant in the infirmary, Yuwon’s sunny, cloud-like scent was more overpowering. He wanted to kiss him again until they were both breathless and Yuwon’s hands moved from his face to his neck.
“……”
“……”
Yuwon’s eyes wavered. Hyun Gyujin’s hand, resting on his thigh, gently encircled Yuwon’s wrist holding the cotton swab. Pressing softly on the protruding wrist bone and drawing gentle circles with his fingertips, he felt Yuwon’s shoulders twitch.
“Can I…?”
Just as he was about to ask if he could kiss him again, the infirmary door slid open. Yuwon immediately straightened up. Watching Yuwon’s slender wrist slip out of his grasp, Hyun Gyujin sighed. The nurse always seemed to be absent when needed and present when she shouldn’t be. Although he had been grateful earlier for her absence, his feelings changed swiftly.
“Uh, the nurse wasn’t here, so I applied the ointment for him.”
“Oh my, it’s torn. Gyujin, did you get into a fight? You never used to get hurt in fights; what happened today?”
I even took a hit on purpose to look pitiful, and now the teacher has ruined everything. Suppressing the words rising to his lips with a sigh, Hyun Gyujin stood up from his chair.
“Yes, what happened indeed.”
“Let me put a bandage on it.”
“It’s uncomfortable. I’ll come back if I need it.”
Hyun Gyujin nodded slightly and left the infirmary. Watching him go, Yuwon held out his hands to the nurse.
“Could you give me one?”
Smiling, the nurse placed two small bandages, just the right size for the corner of a mouth, into Yuwon’s hands.
“Thank you…”
Yuwon bowed and left the infirmary, heading toward the stairs where he saw Hyun Gyujin waiting instead of going ahead.
“Go on ahead.”
Knowing why Hyun Gyujin wanted him to go first, Yuwon silently started up the stairs. After he had climbed about three steps, he heard Hyun Gyujin’s footsteps following behind him.
“Jung Yuwon.”
“…Yes?”
Yuwon paused for a moment before continuing up the next step. Hyun Gyujin slowly followed, keeping a protective stance behind him.
“…Shouldn’t I be asking if you’re okay? You’re the one who got hurt.”
“It’s no big deal. This will heal with some ointment. But hearing those kinds of nasty comments can stick with you for years, even a lifetime.”
“…I don’t dwell on those things. I hardly remember what that guy even said. I was thinking about something else.”
“What were you thinking about?”
With just ten steps left to the floor where their classroom was, Yuwon couldn’t bring himself to answer. His thoughts were entirely consumed by Hyun Gyujin, and he didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.
“…Just that the cafeteria served a lot of food today, and the egg rolls looked pretty…”
“You’re lying. You were thinking about me.”
“No, I wasn’t!”
“Your neck’s all red. You suck at lying.”
Covering his neck with his hand, Yuwon dashed up the last three steps and slipped into the classroom through the back door. Hyun Gyujin followed, nodding to the teacher who was already teaching and then sitting down at his desk. Judging by the teacher’s lack of reprimand, it seemed the homeroom teacher had already explained the situation.
Though his mouth was sore and stung where it was cut, the fact that Yuwon had held his wrist, dragged him to the infirmary, and applied ointment while expressing concern made everything worthwhile. Plus, they had shared a kiss, so taking a hit from that pervert didn’t matter at all. It was even intentional on his part.
Now that they had spoken again, Hyun Gyujin thought it would be best to make use of their tutoring session. Although the school nurse had interrupted his apology earlier, he was determined not to miss the opportunity during their tutoring session. They’d have plenty of time alone before the session, and even if that didn’t work out, they could talk after class. He wanted to properly apologize, take back the words about them being nothing to each other, and slowly mend their relationship.
Nodding in satisfaction at his plan, Hyun Gyujin rested his chin on his hand, alternating between tidying his desk and glancing at the back of Yuwon’s head. Remembering how Yuwon’s neck had reddened on the stairs made his own ears feel hot. Covering his ears with his hands, Hyun Gyujin leaned forward, thinking about Yuwon’s face up close in the infirmary.
After all…he really liked Jung Yuwon.
