“Lie down here.”
Awkwardly lying down, Yigyeom pulled the blanket over his face, feeling a bit scared as it was lifted and his legs spread. His tension increased.
“Ah…”
Reacting to Kwon Taejung’s fingers entering where he had been touched for days, Yigyeom inadvertently moaned and pressed his lips tightly against the blanket, startled. His body was still sensitive to any touch due to the night before when he had been touched by Kwon Taejung.
“Wow, there’s a lot.”
Each time Kwon Taejung spoke while looking below, Yigyeom tensed his thighs. The thought of Kwon Taejung looking between his legs made him feel uncomfortable. Every time the fingers went in and out, it felt like something was slipping away, intensifying his feelings.
“Umm, it’s strange…”
“Babe, you’re feeling it, right? Even though the heat is over.”
“I-I’m not feeling that way.”
“Okay, I understand. Not feeling it then.”
Kwon Taejung carefully extracted what was inside without playing around. However, the amount and depth of it made it difficult to reach deeper areas.
“It seems like it’s all out now.”
“Ah…”
As the fingers were finally removed, Yigyeom breathed a sigh of relief. He felt a warm sensation as he tried to sit up, despite being a bit excited.
“Ah… Uh!”
There was a damp sound from between the unseen legs. Sensing something stirring and sucking inside, Yigyeom twisted his waist. His body, excited and on edge from the fluid withdrawal, quickly subsided. After witnessing the waist jerking, Kwon Taejung finally looked up.
“It’s all sorted out, babe. Let’s go take a shower.”
Kwon Taejung, showing his wet lips as if to prove something, smiled and helped Yigyeom sit up.
“Didn’t like it?”
Yigyeom, silently looking at him, shook his head and leaned his face against Kwon Taejung’s chest. He hadn’t disliked anything throughout those three days.
“I… I liked it.”
With an honest and gentle voice, Yigyeom confessed. Kwon Taejung affectionately patted his waist.
“I did too.”
“…I…”
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.
The voice touching his cheek, the fresh scent, and warmth were so comforting that Yigyeom found himself wanting to rely more on Kwon Taejung. He had never done this even with his grandfather, feeling awkward and upset for wanting to do it with Kwon Taejung, knowing it was inappropriate.
“P’ii ub rtbkfg atfc.”
“Lbiv bcab wf.”
Bkbc Kjfpecu qea tlr tjcvr ecvfg Tlusfbw’r jgwr jcv olgwis qeiifv tlw eq, tbivlcu tlw alutais jr Tlusfbw ugjvejiis ujlcfv ragfcuat jcv rabbv bc ybat ifur. Bkbc Kjfpecu wjvf regf tf vlvc’a kjnfg, fcreglcu tf vlvc’a ojii ja jii.
“Df mjgfoei ktfc sbe rtbkfg. Pa’r rilqqfgs.”
“…Okay.”
“If it’s too much, just let me know.”
Nodding, Yigyeom grabbed clothes to change and headed to the bathroom. He had heard all the other words but decided to ignore Kwon Taejung’s suggestion to simply undress and put on clothes.
Closing the bathroom door behind him, Yigyeom neatly placed his clothes to the side and looked at the old sink mirror.
“…”
Contrary to his expectations of looking disheveled and strange, his face appeared better than usual. It didn’t seem tired and appeared more vibrant. Was the happiness from the past three days reflecting on his face? As he lightly touched his smooth cheeks, Yigyeom let out a soft sigh. He felt relieved not to show an unattractive side to Kwon Taejung.
“…”
Looking beneath his face reflected in the mirror, Yigyeom noticed many reddish marks around his chest area. Remembering Kwon Taejung burying his face there made him feel uncomfortable again. He quickly averted his gaze, turned on the lukewarm water, and held the showerhead.
He hoped for even a slight trembling to wash away along with the water, but contrary to his wishes, the weak stream couldn’t wash away any memories from the past three days.
***
Plugging the dead phone into the car, it finally powered up. Kwon Taejung checked several missed calls and messages received during the day. There wasn’t anything particularly urgent or important that needed an immediate response.
He intended to take Yigyeom to the hospital and then visit his hometown today. Since his sister and brother had been trying to reach him multiple times, he felt it was necessary to appear and alleviate their worries.
“I’m taking Yigyeom to the hospital, meeting the secretary, and then heading home in the evening. My sister and brother kept calling, worried. I won’t be late. I’ll pick you up after the café closes.”
“Okay… If it’s because of me that you can’t sleep at home… You don’t have to.”
“Can you sleep alone?”
“…Maybe I can?”
“Ah, I won’t sleep well without you now.”
Confidently, Kwon Taejung laughed. His laughter made Yigyeom smile faintly and he gently fiddled with his fingertips. He couldn’t deny Kwon Taejung’s words. After just a few days together, now it felt empty without him. How could this change happen in just a few days? Now, just seeing Kwon Taejung made his heart race, and he couldn’t express himself properly.
“Are you… feeling okay, Chief?”
“Me?”
“Yes… You’ve been through a lot because of me.”
“What trouble? Did I force myself to volunteer just because you were going through heat?”
He didn’t mean it as volunteering, but considering his words, it could be interpreted that way in an extreme sense.
“I said I liked it. It wasn’t just to make you feel good. I don’t say things I don’t mean. I’m not here to boost someone else’s mood with insincere words. Why should I say something that doesn’t sit right with me?”
“…”
“I did it because I liked it, because I wanted to. I felt like I’d die if I didn’t do it with you. I thought my head would explode from wanting it so badly. Damn, it’d be a relief if only my head actually exploded.”
“…”
“So, you don’t need to feel sorry at all. If you’re sorry to me, that’s a situation where I’d genuinely feel upset. If you think I hired you just for ‘heat processing’ or something, please don’t say that.”
It wasn’t an angry tone, but Yigyeom knew the situation wouldn’t make anyone feel good, so he struggled with how to express himself. He felt anxious that if he didn’t speak quickly, Kwon Taejung might genuinely get upset. However, the earlier mention of ‘heat’ by Kwon Taejung was too shocking, making it hard for Yigyeom to think clearly. He had never once thought of Kwon Taejung in that way, which made it even more difficult.
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“You said ‘Thank you’? Who says ‘thank you’ after sex?”
“No, really… I didn’t mean to think of you that way, as a… tool for my heat… I didn’t mean that. The heat cycle came on suddenly for me… It was tough for me, but I thought it might have been too sudden for you, too… For sticking around with me for three days… I felt grateful and sorry, that’s what I meant…”
He wanted to quickly clarify that it wasn’t like that, but the words kept extending, and he found himself stumbling. He wanted to convey his feelings accurately, but he felt foolish for speaking in such a way.
“I didn’t know where to start… um… When my body felt strange at first… I immediately thought of you.”
“…”
“I remembered the things you said about the heat cycle starting again… I wanted to smell your pheromones and hear that it’d be okay…”
“…”
“I only thought about you… Really, only you… From then till now, I didn’t have any other thoughts… I didn’t even have a fraction of feeling thankful or sorry in those thoughts… I couldn’t even think that far…”
“…”
“…It was just… just too… too good.”
Yigyeom wondered what he was saying right now. He hadn’t intended to bring up such an embarrassing topic, but to clear Kwon Taejung’s misunderstanding, he felt he had to start from the beginning and recount the moment he first thought of him.
“Sleeping with an Omega isn’t difficult. It’s one of the easiest things I can do without any effort. Among those easy things, it’s the easiest. But I don’t like these easy things. It’s too inefficient. It could’ve ended with a few milliliters, yet we tangled for days. It’s strange to do that unnecessarily.”
It felt like a huge mistake, and his lips felt parched. He didn’t mean it that way, but hearing Kwon Taejung’s words made him realize there was a high potential for misunderstanding, and he didn’t know how to rectify it.
“I’ve been like that till now, but from the moment I found out about your heat at home, damn, I didn’t think about how I’d been living so far. I only thought about wanting to be with you.”
“…”
“Because it’s you.”
A hand reached out from the passenger seat, softly brushing Yigyeom’s hair before falling away. Yigyeom, who had been stooped down, raised his head to look at Kwon Taejung.
“I did it because I wanted to so badly, so don’t apologize.”
“…”
“You said you liked it. I liked it too. We did it because we both liked it, so what’s the trouble?”
“…I’m sorry. I said something weird… It upset you, right?”
“I was a bit upset but relieved since the heat passed and you only thought about me.”
Though Yigyeom said those words himself, hearing them relayed by Kwon Taejung made him feel incredibly embarrassed. Yigyeom moved closer to the passenger seat again, taking Kwon Taejung’s hand that was brushing his cheek and lightly pressed his lips against those fingers.
“…Can’t you let it all go?”
“I let go–about half now.”
As they arrived at the hospital and stood in front of the main gate, Yigyeom let go of Kwon Taejung’s hand, looking somewhat disappointed.
“If anything happens, call me. I’ll give you the phone. For now, let’s use that one, and tomorrow, we’ll get a new phone.”
“The current one works fine…”
“I’ll get you a better one. I was thinking of changing it anyway.”
Yigyeom and Kwon Taejung exchanged glances. Kwon Taejung softly squeezed his tender cheek again to alleviate any pain.
“Do you dislike it? Like if this phone holds some significant meaning right now or there’s an illness that prevents you from using anything but a flip phone?”
Yigyeom gently chuckled at Kwon Taejung’s ridiculousness. Seeing Yigyeom smile, Kwon Taejung relaxed into a comfortable smile too.
“Since it might be tiring to go to the cafe, take a taxi.”
“Yes… Drive safely.”
“Yeah.”
After waving his hand and bidding farewell with a smile, Kwon Taejung watched Yigyeom enter the hospital before leaving himself. Yigyeom’s words, recalling only him since the onset of the heat, kept replaying in his mind, delighting Kwon Taejung. It filled his heart as much as the time they spent together during those three days, where not a single moment was unpleasant.
In that moment, there was no longer any public or obligatory sense lingering in his heart.
