Chapter 154

Yo Han jerked in surprise and pulled his chin back, breathing harshly through his nose.

A moment later, their lips met again. Pressing their interlocked hands firmly into the sheets, Yo Han shifted his weight onto Gyeol. The pressure made it difficult to breathe. Strangely, the sensation felt good.

“Mmph....... Hh.......”

His tongue swept along Gyeol’s teeth and pushed deep into his mouth. It rubbed the inside of his cheek, lifted beneath his tongue, and licked the damp membrane where saliva had pooled.

Wherever it touched, every contact made the ache below throb. When Yo Han drew his tongue out in a long suck, Gyeol’s reason grew hazy, and he found himself wishing Yo Han would touch him below again, just as he had the night before. He could barely control the stream of thoughts scattering wildly under the stimulation.

Then a familiar alert chimed, followed by a loud announcement from the living room.

“Approximately two hours from now, the matched couples from the Pheromone Matching will proceed with the Time Booth.”

“All couples at Ivory Mansion must finish preparing and eating breakfast before then.”

It was both the wake-up alarm and a program announcement.

Right. They said we would do the Time Booth at Ivory Mansion because we couldn’t do it yesterday.

Once the announcement ended, only the sound of two people breathing heavily remained in the silence.

Throughout the announcement, they had merely looked at each other from inches away, their eyes shifting restlessly. Their hearts pounded as though a third party had caught them doing something.

Gyeol was the first to break the silence.

“Congratulations. Looks like no one’s coming to pick me up.”

Yo Han gave a quiet laugh at that. Even this close, the way his eyes curved cleanly and the corners of his mouth lifted symmetrically was attractive. Something fluttered near Gyeol’s chest.

“That’s a relief. You wouldn’t want anyone seeing you like this either, would you, Gyeol?”

As he spoke, Yo Han wiped Gyeol’s saliva-wet lips with his hand, then pressed his lips firmly over them again.

Gyeol had already lost count of how many times their lips had touched over the past two days.

It seemed like he ought to be getting used to it by now, yet every time that dense, soft flesh pressed against his own, a shiver ran down his spine.

Because it felt good.

“I’ll use the bathroom by the living room. Wash up and get ready in here.”

“...Okay.”

“I’ll order something suitable for breakfast.”

“Okay. Ah, order me coffee too. An iced....”

“Mocha?”

“...How did you know?”

“You like chocolate drinks. And since it’s morning, I figured you’d want something with caffeine.”

“.......”

The memory of Yo Han bringing him a drink on a filming set in the past flashed through his mind.

Gyeol gave a small nod.

Yo Han smiled again, ruffled Gyeol’s hair, and sat up.

Gyeol’s gaze dropped downward before he could stop himself. Truly, sincerely, he had not wanted to look, but he could not help it.

Even if the other person had not been Yo Han, making sure someone did not appear on camera with an obvious erection was a basic courtesy from one human being to another.

But contrary to Gyeol’s concern, Yo Han’s lower body looked completely unremarkable.

No. There was a slight bulge that hinted at his impressive size, but at least it was not announcing itself as ready for immediate action.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Cursing inwardly, Gyeol curled onto his side. His own situation below was entirely different from Yo Han’s.

It felt somehow unfair.

“What’s wrong?”

“...Nothing.”

Looking unusually innocent, Yo Han smiled at him and left the bedroom.

Left alone, Gyeol felt a quiet wave of post-arousal clarity and began singing the national anthem in his head.

But details about Yo Han kept intruding.

The past. The early days on Pheromone Island. What had happened only yesterday. Even the pheromones he had smelled from him so many times.

They kept barging into his thoughts and refused to cooperate with his efforts to calm down.

Seriously, stop.

The heat pooled in his body remained steady. His cheeks burned. Yo Han’s touch, his voice, and the breath falling close against him were all painfully vivid.

This was genuinely troublesome. Squeezing his eyes shut, Gyeol desperately thought of Yuli.

***

A little later, Gyeol appeared in a way that immediately seized Yo Han’s attention. The thin pale-yellow knit top and sky-blue cotton shorts suited him perfectly, while the styling that exposed half of his smooth, pale forehead made him look even fresher.

The first thought that occurred to Yo Han was that he looked absurdly cute.

He looks like some kind of chick....

Resting his chin on the balcony table, Yo Han waved at Gyeol as he approached hesitantly.

The floor-to-ceiling windows had been thrown wide open, and beneath the awning leading toward the pool stood a white table and chairs. The instant Gyeol spotted Yo Han sitting there and smiling amid the scenery, his brow furrowed. Savoring the sidelong glare Gyeol shot him, Yo Han added inwardly,

A venom-spitting chick.

On the table were dried pollack soup and bulgogi to soothe the hangover, lemon meringue tart and strawberry sorbet gelato for dessert, and Gyeol’s favorite iced mocha.

At the strange combination, Gyeol tilted his head without thinking.

“...Something about this.”

“They don’t go together?”

“No.”

“That’s because I only ordered things I wanted to feed you.”

“.......”

Gyeol pushed out his lips and dropped heavily into the seat beside him. Unlike his neat appearance, the more Yo Han learned about him, the more easygoing and tough sides he discovered.

Chuckling softly, Yo Han tapped Gyeol’s lips with the back of his hand.

“You look like a chick.”

Gyeol immediately pulled a disgusted face.

“Never say that again.”

It was an excellent expression. Thanks to it, Yo Han decided to say it at least two hundred more times.

“Did you sleep well?”

Yo Han asked as he poured water with a slice of lemon into an empty glass.

“I, well.......”

I slept like I was unconscious. You’re the one who made me like that.

Unaware of Gyeol’s inward retort, Yo Han stared quietly at him, waiting for him to finish.

Aware of the gaze, Gyeol picked up his spoon and arched one eyebrow.

“You seemed like you slept worse than I did... Didn’t you?”

“Me?”

“Yes. You could barely wake up this morning.”

He had not slept.

Ever since entering the island, Yo Han had already spent nearly every night awake, overstimulated by the dopamine called Gyeol Go. But the previous night had taken it to its peak.

After Gyeol fell asleep as though he had passed out, the first thing Yo Han did was turn off the cameras. Then he carried Gyeol into the bathroom, cleaned him thoroughly, dressed him in his own shorts, carefully checked the sheets, and only then returned him safely to bed.

It would have been better if he could have fallen asleep after that, but the problem was the process.

He had done his best to exclude personal feelings and cling to reason, but it was the first time he had seen Gyeol’s lower body.

Under the dim bathroom light, Gyeol’s lower half was absurdly beautiful. Pale, smooth skin, long straight legs, narrow hips... the faint lines of lean muscle visible beneath the thin skin of his stomach, his pale pink cock tangled messily with sticky fluid, and not a single strand of pubic hair at his groin. When Yo Han saw that pale, smooth place, his mind went blank for a moment. Feeling inexplicably as though he were committing a sin, he sprayed water over Gyeol with the showerhead while keeping his head held rigidly upright, unable even to look at him from behind.

Yo Han had lived an abstinent life, but because of the culture he had once been immersed in, he still had a fair amount of sexual experience. During his school years, he had also been involuntarily exposed to plenty of pornography because of the people he spent time with. Every time, he had found it somewhat repulsive. Rather than stimulating his instincts, it had filled him with discomfort and revulsion at witnessing people in such a raw state.

Then why was Gyeol different?

Why did merely looking at him make Yo Han’s back burn, while unreleased desire filled him to the limit and drove him nearly insane?

The flood of questions and guilt had made every part of the cleanup agonizing. He had finally managed to lay Gyeol in bed and settle him beneath the covers, but—

Fuck.......

The blood-swollen cock showed no sign of going down.

The base of it hurt so badly it felt as though it might snap at any moment.

Yo Han roughly pushed his hair back. A little later, when he stepped alone into the bathroom shower stall, his face was filled with irritation and self-loathing.

He turned on the cold water, lowered his hand, and gripped his shaft. When he stroked upward once, he felt how slick it had become from pre-ejaculate streaming down it, even if it was not as wet as Gyeol had been when he came.

I’m not some fucking animal.......

Even while thinking that, Yo Han could not stop his hand. His mind automatically pictured Gyeol sleeping peacefully beyond the bathroom door.

His eyes closed before he realized it. Cold water poured over him, yet his body and cock burned as though they might burst.

When his memories reached Gyeol’s breathing, his movements, his moans, and finally the sticky fluid splattering over his hand, every sound around him turned muffled and his mind flashed white.

Semen struck the water pooled on the floor in wet splashes.

“...I guess I was tired because I had too much fun with you yesterday.”

He could hardly say aloud what he had spent the night doing while consumed by thoughts of Gyeol. It was something he could never confess, not only in front of the cameras, but even if the two of them were alone.

Every time he faced Gyeol’s neat, proper face, his conscience stung. Unlike him, Gyeol was far too harmless and righteous.

How could Yo Han show him even more of the filth at the bottom of himself when he had already accumulated so many sins?

Yo Han’s answer did not appear to satisfy Gyeol, but fortunately, Gyeol did not question him further and focused on eating.

“I feel a little more alive after eating something good for a hangover.......”

After drinking down the dried pollack soup broth, Gyeol spoke with a languid expression.

Instead of eating the meal in front of him, Yo Han merely watched him and said,

“I make good hangover soup.”

“.......”

Gyeol coughed softly and raised one eyebrow.

“...That was a remarkably random sales pitch.”

“You can drink with me, then eat the hangover soup I make the next day.”

“You’re driving me insane....... You’re getting way too far ahead of yourself right now. I have no idea how many bowls of fantasy soup you’ve already swallowed.”

Despite saying that, Gyeol’s cheeks were pink.

“How far ahead are you thinking, exactly......?”

Gyeol pressed the backs of his fingers against his flushed cheeks as he spoke.

With a smooth expression, Yo Han answered gently,

“I’ve thought as far as getting engaged to you.”

It was the exact title of the song Hee Jun Kang had been chattering about to tease the two of them.

Gyeol had just set down his utensils and taken a sip of his iced mocha when he choked. While he coughed, Yo Han filled the glass that had already gone empty with water.

After draining it in one breath, Gyeol opened his mouth to say something to him.

Then the announcement sounded.

“The Time Booth will begin in thirty minutes.”

“Before the program officially begins, we will now draw the Time categories.”

“The drawing location is the main hall of the main building.”

“All Omegas from each couple must proceed to the main hall immediately.”