Chapter 147

Yo Han’s eyes widened. Gyeol could see his pupils dilating.

He could see his own face reflected in them. Then he watched Yo Han’s brows draw together, watched his expression tighten as though he were holding something back.

At last, Yo Han’s face came closer.

Gyeol kept his eyes open until the very end, his heart in his throat, and only let them drift shut just before their lips met.

Their lips pressed together soundlessly, then parted. Yo Han seemed conscious of the cameras.

Again, their lips pressed together. Once, twice more. Shivers prickled down Gyeol’s spine. Because his lips were swollen, the sensation felt different from before.

Every time their lips met, Gyeol’s head tilted a little farther back, until he was ultimately nestled completely within Yo Han’s arms.

Yo Han continued pressing kiss after kiss against his lips. It was ridiculous. What was so special about something as simple as one person touching their lips to another’s? Yet Gyeol’s body ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) grew heated almost instantly.

At some point, Gyeol released the towel he had been clutching. He cupped Yo Han’s cheeks with both hands and gently pulled their lips apart. Yo Han resisted, tilting his head as though unwilling to stop. In the end, Gyeol’s whisper slipped out while their lips were still touching.

“...Not like this.”

“......”

“More.”

As he parted his lips slightly, Yo Han furrowed his brow and sucked on his lower lip. The wet smacking sound was intensely provocative.

Their eyes seemed to meet for a brief second. Immediately afterward, their mouths opened and their tongues began to intertwine.

I’m going to make a sound.

Gyeol knew that he made soft, aching noises when he kissed. The situation here was different from the pool. Every sound he made would be captured clearly by the cameras.

Ironically, the thought only heightened his arousal. Wrapped in a strange sense of transgression, Gyeol opened his mouth wider, clung to Yo Han, and accepted his tongue. Each time their tongues tangled deeply, his body trembled as he barely managed to swallow his voice. There was nothing he could do, however, about the occasional wet sounds that escaped between them.

Then, all at once, Yo Han’s body slipped where he had been supporting himself against the bottom of the tub with his knees. He hurriedly wrapped his free arm around Gyeol’s back, likely afraid Gyeol might slip as well.

Thanks to his quick reaction, Gyeol did not lose his balance.

Instead, the fronts of their bodies collided.

“......!”

Gyeol flinched violently and threw his head back. Even through the brief contact, he could feel something hard and swollen press deeply against the taut front of his swimsuit, slide downward, and lodge between his thighs. The stimulation shot up his spine like lightning.

He nearly let out an indecent sound. Gyeol bit down on his lips and breathed harshly through his nose.

He looked up at Yo Han through eyes narrowed with heat. Yo Han’s face was deeply flushed.

“...Sorry. Are you okay?”

Yo Han asked in the most natural voice he could manage. With the surface of the water densely covered in rose petals, no one could possibly know what was happening below.

The problem was that when Yo Han set Gyeol back down on the bottom of the tub and retreated, Gyeol felt disappointed.

His mind was so hazy that he could barely think properly, yet he felt the urge to simply turn off every camera, let himself be swept away, and keep going.

“......I’m fine.”

At Gyeol’s carefully composed answer, Yo Han kissed the corners of his eyes and his forehead, then gently wrapped his arms around his back.

“Let’s finish washing, go out, and eat.”

That was what he said. But to Gyeol, held in his arms and listening to both their racing heartbeats, the words sounded different.

We should stop here. If we go any further, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back.

“Okay......”

Gyeol felt much the same way.

***

After soaking in hot water for so long that their faces had turned red, the two sat across from each other at the dining table.

“Gyeol, you look like a freshly steamed dumpling.”

“You’re hardly in a position to talk.”

A strange tension they had not fully shaken lingered beneath their playful exchange.

A feast had been laid out across the table. Yo Han had ordered the dishes in advance before they entered the hot tub.

“Eat the salad and soup first.”

After pushing the bowls toward Gyeol, Yo Han picked up a wine bottle. His movements were practiced as he worked the corkscrew into the cork and pulled it free. A small, cheerful pop rang through the room.

“You’re really good at that. I struggle every time.”

Not that Gyeol ever drank anything beyond cheap wine costing less than twenty thousand won on special occasions. He saw no reason to add that part aloud.

“From now on, don’t open them yourself. I’ll open every bottle for you.”

Yo Han spoke with mock confidence as he twisted the cork free from the corkscrew.

Golden champagne filled the curved glass. Gyeol smiled as he watched the delicate bubbles softly burst.

“How are you supposed to open every bottle for me? You don’t know when or where I’ll be drinking.”

“Then stay with me whenever you want wine.”

His tone was so serious that what had to be a joke sounded entirely sincere.

“If we’re doing a business gay performance, I should at least do that much.”

“The meaning of ‘business gay performance’ is getting seriously distorted. I don’t think it’s supposed to be an excuse you use however you please.”

Yo Han filled his own glass and raised it.

“Then should I put it differently?”

“What?”

“Only drink when you’re with me.”

The statement was so absurd that Gyeol could only laugh.

Then Yo Han added quietly,

“You can call me whenever you feel like drinking.”

Gyeol silently lifted his glass. Their glasses met with a clear chime.

He took a sip. Sweetness spread through his mouth, followed by a pleasant aroma that rose into his nose. The fine bubbles slid smoothly down his throat. It was gentle, high-quality wine.

Gyeol lowered his glass and spoke in an even tone.

“Is there anyone in South Korea who doesn’t know how busy Yo Han Sung is?”

“Have you heard this before? Being busy is relative.”

“......”

“I can always make time for you.”

The words sounded sweeter than the expensive wine.

Gyeol let out a quiet laugh, picked up his spoon, and ate some soup.

Perhaps the soup was salty, because his throat felt dry. In truth, it had felt that way ever since he heard such a busy man say he could always make time for him.

Gyeol drained his glass in one go.

“Drink slowly.”

Yo Han gently admonished him as he refilled the glass, then pulled the steak plate closer and began cutting the meat.

Gyeol nibbled at his salad and soup while waiting for Yo Han’s hands to stop moving.

At last, Yo Han set down the utensils and placed the plate of neatly sliced meat in front of him.

“...You’re being so good to me that I don’t know how to adjust.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep doing it until you do.”

“......”

There was no pursuit more direct than this. At this rate, Yo Han would probably start promising to pluck stars from the sky, even if he did not mean it.

Gyeol pressed his lips tightly together again. Even though they had left the hot tub, his face still burned.

Looking at the meat cut into convenient bite-sized pieces made him feel strange. This had always been something Gyeol did while taking care of Yuli. No one had ever done it for him before.

***

“I can drink one more glass......”

“Yes. You’ve already finished an entire bottle.”

Yo Han had tried to stop him several times when he saw how quickly he was drinking, but Gyeol had ended up completely drunk anyway. At one point, Yo Han had even taken away his glass and forced him to drink water, but it had not helped. The day’s physical activity and exhaustion had likely contributed as well.

“I’m not drunk... you know?”

“Yes. But you drank a whole bottle of wine by yourself.”

Answering each of the drunk man’s claims one by one, Yo Han supported him as they made their way to the bedroom. His staggering steps reminded Yo Han of the day he had escorted him home.

They reached the bedroom safely, and Yo Han lowered Gyeol onto the bed.

“Mmm, so soft......”

Gyeol smiled dreamily, though it was unclear what pleased him so much. The way his flushed face curved into a smile was unbearably lovely.

After stroking his hair, Yo Han pulled the blanket up to his neck.

“Sleep well. Sweet dreams.”

“...What about you, Yo Han? Aren’t you sleeping?”

His words slurred together. It was absurdly cute.

“I’m sleeping outside.”

“...Now?”

For someone completely drunk, his question was astonishingly bold. Yo Han gently pinched the drunk man’s nose and released it.

“Pfft......”

Gyeol breathed out a laugh.

“Sleep here...... With me.”

“I’ll sleep outside tonight.”

For several reasons, that seemed like the better choice. Sleeping comfortably on the living-room sofa would be a million times preferable to lying beside this beautiful, audacious drunk all night, unable to sleep and voluntarily subjecting himself to torture.

“Sleep well. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Yo Han bent down and kissed his forehead. After turning off the mood lamp beside the bed, he began to straighten, only to stop.

Gyeol had caught his sleeve.

“Senior......”

The final syllable stretched out coquettishly. A bright, playful smile hovered over the face looking up at him.

...Is he acting cute right now?

“Big brotherrr.”

It was unmistakably an attempt to act cute.

Yo Han gathered his self-control as he felt something inside him threaten to awaken. At the same time, he decided that tomorrow, without fail, he would tell Gyeol never to drink this much when Yo Han was not there.

“Calling me that won’t work......”

“Don’t go, okay......?”

Gyeol’s hand slowly slid from Yo Han’s sleeve to his wrist, then over the base of his palm and between his fingers. He laced their fingers together and squeezed tightly before whispering as though sharing an extraordinary secret.

“I’ll only hold your hand while I sleep.”