Chapter 132

Yeonhoo sat frozen as though his brain had shut down. When it finally caught up with what had happened, he panicked and tried to spring to his feet.

Clatter—thud!

...Ow!

But Kwon had such a tight grip around his waist that all Yeonhoo managed to do was smack his innocent knee against the desk.

“L-let go.”

He slapped at the arm around his waist, trying to make Kwon release him. But if anything, Kwon only tightened his hold.

It tickles.

Sitting on someone else’s lap felt even stranger than Yeonhoo had imagined.

What was beneath him wasn’t solid, stable ground, but another person’s body.

And then there was Kwon’s breath, brushing against the back of his neck again and again....

“Kwon Mieon. I said let go already.”

There wasn’t a single part of this that wasn’t uncomfortable, and Yeonhoo’s face went violently red.

“But, Yeonhoo. There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you since this morning.”

Because Kwon was holding him from behind, the words sounded almost like a whisper directly into his ear. Yeonhoo flinched and lowered his head.

“Why have you been avoiding me all morning?”

Kwon spoke on a sigh and squeezed his waist tighter.

“Did I actually do something wrong?”

The genuinely puzzled tone made Yeonhoo twitch.

Suddenly he remembered the conversation that had fizzled out earlier because of the Siege War notification from the alliance.

Was this what he was trying to ask me then...?

Back then, too, Yeonhoo had desperately tried to escape while Kwon kept attempting to question him, only to fail.

“If I did something wrong, can’t you just tell me what it was?”

Kwon finally revealed what was bothering him in a dejected voice Yeonhoo had never heard before.

“I thought we’d finally gotten closer, but now I don’t know what I did to make you pull away from me....”

His voice was unusually subdued, even mixed with a sigh.

Anyone would have thought he sounded hurt.

For some reason, it reminded Yeonhoo of the puppy stickers Kwon used all the time in DMs.

I mean... even I know I’ve been acting weird.

Yeonhoo’s expression wavered at how thoroughly deflated Kwon sounded.

Come to think of it, Kwon was younger than him, and maybe he was a little...

s-sensitive?

...A little sensitive.

No, that doesn’t really sound right....

Still, if Yeonhoo stretched the definition enough, maybe Kwon could count as someone with a delicate side.

The thought made him feel a little guilty.

He hesitated, unsure what to say.

And because of that, he never noticed the look on Kwon’s face.

There was nothing remotely dejected about it.

Still holding Yeonhoo in his arms, Kwon watched the faint reflection of Yeonhoo’s face {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in the monitor with an intensely persistent gaze.

Fortunately for him, Kwon knew very well how to hide what was on his face.

He waited patiently.

At last, Yeonhoo managed to speak.

“Hey, Kwon Mieon....”

His voice came out almost as a mumble.

“...It’s because something’s wrong with me.”

“Are you sick?”

“That’s not—”

“Tell me. What hurts?”

Kwon’s urgent questions only made things worse.

His breath kept brushing Yeonhoo’s ear.

The palm locked around his waist felt especially hot.

Yeonhoo thought he was going to lose his mind.

It tickles. It seriously tickles.

Unable to bear it any longer, Yeonhoo went completely limp like some boneless sea creature and tried to slither his way out.

Kwon let out an incredulous laugh.

“What are you, an octopus?”

“Just let go....”

“I’ll let go when you actually tell me.”

When Yeonhoo began sliding down, Kwon grabbed him even more firmly.

Yeonhoo’s mind went blank.

“So tell me why you suddenly started avoiding me.”

What was he supposed to say?

Just having Kwon in front of him kept making his whole body twist up!

“Come on.”

I don’t even know why I’m like this! How am I supposed to explain it?!

No matter how hard he tried to escape, Kwon clearly had no intention of backing down.

The hand around his waist only tightened instead of loosening.

Finally, Yeonhoo squeezed his eyes shut and blurted,

“When I look at you...! I feel...!”

He absolutely—

“...disgusted!”

—had not meant to say that.

Silence.

Both Yeonhoo and Kwon went completely still.

Yeonhoo slapped a hand over his own mouth with a tiny gasp and froze like that.

I was only trying not to admit I’m scared of him!

If he said he was afraid, that would basically amount to confessing that Kwon had scared the hell out of him.

He’d tried to find some other way to describe it—

and ended up telling Kwon that looking at him made Yeonhoo feel disgusted.

“...What did you say?”

After a moment of silence, Kwon’s voice turned icy.

Yeonhoo didn’t dare look back.

“Wow.... That’s an interesting choice of words.”

He could tell from the voice alone.

“Yeonhoo, want to explain that in a little more detail? Exactly how and where do you feel disgusted when you look at me?”

A chill crawled over Yeonhoo’s skin and ran straight down his spine.

Kwon had to be wearing the expression of some grim reaper freshly risen from hell.

“N-no, that just came out wrong....”

“Doesn’t sound like it. Tell me the truth, Yeonhoo.”

Squeeze.

Kwon tightened his grip around Yeonhoo’s waist, then effortlessly turned him around with both hands.

Now sitting sideways across Kwon’s lap, Yeonhoo wore a miserable expression and desperately tried not to look at the man staring at the left side of his face.

“I won’t get mad. Okay?”

Kwon tilted his head after Yeonhoo’s evasive face, leaving him nowhere to hide.

He stared directly at Yeonhoo and softened his eyes and mouth into an almost coaxing smile.

Not that it helped.

His eyes aren’t smiling at all....

Anyone could see that Kwon wasn’t smiling.

He was furious.

“Well....”

“Yes?”

After agonizing over it, Yeonhoo finally decided to tell the truth.

“When I look at you, it kind of feels like... like when I look at something gross. Like a b-bug or something....”

“A bug? Me?”

Kwon let out a sharp, disbelieving breath of laughter.

Yeonhoo hurried to add,

“No, you’re clean! I’m not saying you’re disgusting. I’m saying the feeling I get is like that!”

“Then why do you keep sneaking looks at me? If I disgust you that much, shouldn’t you hate even looking at me?”

But what good were Yeonhoo’s explanations when Kwon could see exactly what he was doing?

Even with his eyes squeezed shut, Yeonhoo kept cracking them open just enough to steal glances at him.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but while I’m still asking nicely, just tell me the—”

“Because it tickles!!!”

Under the pressure, Yeonhoo finally confessed.

Kwon’s eyes slowly widened at the outburst that followed.

“Whenever I’m around you, it’s like I’ve got some kind of allergy! It tickles so bad, and then my face gets hot, and my chest gets hot too, so that’s why I keep avoiding you! But then you keep—”

“.......”

“......Wait, Kwon Mieon. Do you have allergies too?”

Yeonhoo’s rapid-fire confession abruptly stopped.

He stared at Kwon’s face.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Kwon’s face was bright red too.

He looked as if he might burst into flames at any moment.

Yeonhoo blinked at him in confusion.

Then Kwon suddenly began laughing.

“Ha... haha... hahaha!”

It started as a faint breathy sound and quickly grew louder.

Yeonhoo froze, wondering what had gotten into him.

“Do you even realize what you’re saying right now?”

...What was he talking about?

Yeonhoo stared at him blankly, eyes round like a cat’s.

Kwon tightened the hand that had gone momentarily loose and yanked him closer.

“...Huh?”

Caught off guard by the sudden disappearance of distance between them, Yeonhoo flinched.

Kwon simply looked at him for a moment, then said something Yeonhoo couldn’t understand.

“Do you know what kind of face you’re making right now while saying all that to me?”

His tone sounded almost accusatory.

And yet his eyes looked far too delighted for that.

There was more life in Kwon’s expression than Yeonhoo had seen since coming to this apartment—no, more than he could remember seeing at any point before that.

Yeonhoo was so thrown off that he couldn’t answer.

“Wow... haha. Hahaha!”

Kwon laughed.

And laughed again.

His eyes curved until the outer corners nearly folded shut, and he laughed with a bright, clear sound.

Then, without warning, he pulled Yeonhoo tightly into his arms.

Their bodies fit together without the slightest gap.

Firm warmth spread through Yeonhoo, and for some reason his heart seemed to drop straight to the floor.

At the same time, the fluttering vibration that had been troubling his chest grew so violent it felt ready to shake through his entire body.

“Hey, let... go.”

Unnerved by the unfamiliar sensation, Yeonhoo tried to push him away.

Kwon didn’t budge.

Instead, he tightened the embrace, holding him even closer.

“Yeonhoo, you know I’m a man, right? I’m a man. You know that, don’t you?”

Had Kwon finally lost his mind?

Yeonhoo couldn’t understand why he was asking something so obvious.

“What are you talking about? Of course you’re a man. What else would you be, a woman?”

“No. I’m a man. Definitely not a woman. Right?”

It was bizarre.

Apparently the fact that he was a man was somehow hilarious, because Kwon burst into breathless laughter yet again.

What is wrong with him?

Yeonhoo almost opened his mouth to say something—

then found himself pressing his lips shut instead.

And what is wrong with me...?

With Kwon’s pounding heartbeat echoing right beside his ear and that strange ticklish sensation twisting through his body, speaking suddenly felt difficult.

This is weird.

Kwon Mieon had always been an uncomfortable presence in Yeonhoo’s life.

Hard to deal with.

Awkward.

The way Kwon clung to a past Yeonhoo couldn’t even remember and treated him with such familiarity.

The way he acted so affectionate that it seemed excessive even between men.

It’s seriously weird.

But the strangest thing of all was Yeonhoo himself.

Because despite how uncomfortable Kwon was supposed to make him feel, the sound of Kwon’s laughter tickling his ear—

the warmth pressed seamlessly against his body—

and the gaze meeting his now, slowly drawing closer....

Why don’t I hate it? Rather than hating it, I almost....

Yeonhoo stared as though spellbound at Kwon’s face coming closer to his own.

And then—

Beep..., beep beep beep, beep beep.

The sudden sound of someone entering a code broke through the room.

A moment later came the clunk of the lock, followed by a familiar voice.

“Kwon Mieon! What are you doing that you won’t answer your phone? Come out here!”

...Ms. Miyoung?

Notes

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