Jiheon suddenly realized that having sex and sharing feelings were two entirely different things. When he thought that Jaekyung might’ve been hurt by his small behaviors, he felt a pang of regret. He wished he had figured it out sooner.
He was sorry that he had come to this realization so late, and he was surprised that Jaekyung still liked him despite the disappointment and hurt he had caused.
Everyone else had given up so easily; no matter how well Jiheon treated them, they soon got tired of it and ended up leaving.
But Jaekyung remained, and Jiheon couldn’t understand why.
“What’s the matter?”
Jaekyung suddenly asked. Jiheon raised his eyebrows in response, as if saying, “What?” and Jaekyung seemed a bit embarrassed.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah.”
Jiheon only then realized he had been lost in his own thoughts and was about to feel a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, Jaekyung’s blushing ears caught his attention first.
At that moment, Jiheon couldn’t help but smile and admitted without thinking.
“Because I like you.”
“…….”
Now Jaekyung’s face heated up even more. He must’ve noticed that fact himself since he turned his head, muttering, “Oh, I’m going crazy.” However, by then, his ears had turned even redder.
Jiheon found it incredibly cute and felt like he was losing his mind.
“Jaekyung-ah.”
Jiheon said, extending his arm that had been under his head.
“Want an arm pillow?”
“……Huh? Why are you suddenly…?”
Jaekyung made an expression on his face, as if asking what he meant by that.
“Well, I just wanna do it.”
Jaekyung looked at him with confusion and cautiously asked:
“Hyung, is this how it’s supposed to be?”
“What?”
“Is this how you usually treat your… lovers?”
Jiheon was about to ask what he meant, but he stopped and stretched his arm even farther.
“No, I only do this for you.”
Jaekyung’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t say anything, but he had “You’re lying” written all over his face.
However, the temptation of an arm pillow was too strong for Jaekyung to resist, so he reluctantly said, “…Alright, then.”
Slowly, he lay down with Jiheon’s arm beneath him. Jiheon chuckled because Jaekyung couldn’t seem to get comfortable and lifted his head slightly, worried it might be too heavy for Jiheon.
“Hey, it’s not heavy. Just lie down.”
Jiheon reassured him, folding his arm and hugging Jaekyung’s head. With that, he pulled Jaekyung closer, almost burying his face in his chest.
“It’s not uncomfortable, right?”
“No, it’s not uncomfortable.”
Jaekyung answered that way, and after a while, he spoke again.
“But this is a good position to suck your nipples.”
“Don’t suck. If you touch them, I’ll scold you.”
Jiheon said, tugging at Jaekyung’s hair without hurting.
“No, seriously. My mouth is itching because I know it’s right in front of me.”
“Are you grinding your teeth? Why is your mouth itching? Are you really a 21-month-old?”
As he asked that, Jaekyung mumbled, as if he just realized it now.
“Oh, I guess you’re right. Maybe I’m really a 21-month-old.”
Jaekyung spoke casually and attempted to unbutton Jiheon’s shirt. Jiheon quickly caught his hand and said:
“Cut it out. Even if you were 21 months old, it’s long past the breastfeeding stage.”
When Jiheon told him to stop messing around and just go to sleep, Jaekyung made an openly dissatisfied expression but calmly withdrew his hand.
At any other time, he might have done as he pleased, saying something like, “I just don’t need to put it in, right? You have no right to refuse, hyung.” But now that they were in a relationship, it seemed like he felt more at ease and had become more obedient.
There was something special about this, and Jiheon felt proud of him, as if he were handling a well-behaved, big puppy.
Jiheon patted Jaekyung on the back while hugging him.
“I’ll let you do whatever you want tomorrow, so just get some sleep for now.”
Jiheon naturally assumed that Jaekyung would be thrilled about it. He would be happy, the corners of his lips subtly going up, but he would hide it by saying something blunt, just as he would always do.
But to Jiheon’s surprise, Jaekyung didn’t do that. Instead, he looked at Jiheon as if he had something important to say, and after gathering his thoughts, he finally spoke.
“Hyung, don’t say that anymore.”
“What?”
“Don’t say things like that, like you’ll let me do whatever I want and such.”
When Jiheon looked at him in confusion at the unexpected statement, Jaekyung explained the reason first.
“Every time you say that, I feel like I’m forcing you to do something you might not really want to do. It’s true that we used to be like that, but there’s no need for it now. We’re not like that anymore.”
Jaekyung emphasized his point.
“If you don’t want to, I won’t ask you to do it. So please, don’t say that.”
“…….”
Jiheon was momentarily lost for words. He had many thoughts and a whirlwind of emotions, but he couldn’t find the right words to express them.
In his heart, he wanted to explain that it was just a habit and part of his basic dating mindset, and that Jaekyung needn’t worry so much. However, that would reveal his own foundation. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
So Jiheon simply grinned and replied:
“Okay, I won’t do that anymore.”
“Yes, please don’t.”
Jaekyung affirmed, immediately hugging Jiheon around the waist and burying his face in his chest.
As Jiheon stroked Jaekyung’s back, who clung to him like a baby, he couldn’t help but inquire:
“Hey, by the way, I did tell you not to do it, but why did you try to undo my button?”
Jaekyung fell silent for a moment, then buried his face in Jiheon’s chest even deeper and mumbled in a low voice.
“……I didn’t do it anyway.”
Despite Jaekyung’s insistence that it was alright, Jiheon was left speechless and could only chuckle.
“Is that what you mean?”
Jiheon found it somewhat absurd and laughed. Jaekyung quickly raised his head and clarified.
“No, what I said is from now on. I’m not going to tell you to do things you don’t like from now on, hyung. I promise.”
Jaekyung repeated. His brown eyes, gazing up at Jiheon while being embraced, were so clear that Jiheon’s heart was pounding.
Jaekyung had the same eyes he had ten years ago, and when Jiheon realized that this guy was looking at him the same way he did ten years ago, he found it endearing.
Instead of saying he understood, Jiheon lowered his head and kissed Jaekyung’s eyelids. He kissed his nose, his cheek, and finally brushed his lips against Jaekyung’s lightly. Their lips remained connected as Jiheon whispered softly, their faces still close.
“Okay. I won’t talk like that anymore.”
‘So don’t get tired of me too quickly.’
Jiheon thought, swallowing the words that nearly escaped. He kissed Jaekyung once more in silence.
◆◇◆
“…Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Okay, that’s it!”
At Coach Yoo’s shout, Jaekyung released the TRX strap he had been holding.
“Great job. Let’s take a break.”
Coach Yoo said, patting his back. Jaekyung sat down on the floor and began catching his breath. Luke, who saw this, quickly jumped off the cycle, grabbed the sports drink he had left on the floor, and approached Jaekyung.
“Would you… like this drink…?”
Jaekyung glanced at the sports drink Luke was offering for a moment, then accepted it and said, “Thank you,” in English.
This marked the first time he had done so. Luke’s face lit up when he saw Jaekyung accepting something from him for the first time. But then—
“Coach-nim, here you go.”
Jaekyung promptly handed the drink to Coach Yoo, who was standing nearby. Luke’s face instantly became glum when he saw it.
“Hey, what’s going on? Is this from Luke?”
Coach Yoo, unaware of the situation, accepted the drink with excitement.
“Yes, yes, sir. Please enjoy!”
Luke spoke cheerfully once more. He clasped his hands together and politely said:
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Coach Yoo held on to Luke and started talking with a happy expression, as if he was watching a young nephew who was just starting to learn to speak, and while the two were talking, Jaekyung stood up.
Using his shirt’s hem to wipe away the sweat on his forehead, he made his way to the water purifier. After drinking from a paper cup, he spoke softly, ensuring only Jiheon at the table next to him could hear.
“I didn’t ignore him and accepted it, as you can see.”
So don’t protest anymore… was what he meant by that.
“Hey…….”
—What’s the point of receiving it if you only give it to someone else right in front of him? You’d better not accept it at all.
Jiheon was about to voice his thoughts, but he ended up sighing and said, “That’s enough.” Nevertheless, Jaekyung, having grasped Jiheon’s unspoken thoughts from that sigh, stopped drinking water and asked with a furrowed brow.
“Why? I accepted the drink Luke gave me and even gave it to Coach Yoo. I’m being nice to both of them, right?”
Looking at his earnest expression, it seemed that Jaekyung genuinely believed this to be the case.
“Yeah…, good job.”
Jiheon quietly nodded his head.
Casting a quick glance at Jiheon, Jaekyung finished the last of his water, crumpled the paper cup, and tossed it into the trash can.
“Then you better compliment me later, hyung.”
Jaekyung confidently made the request, swiftly turned away, and approached Coach Yoo before Jiheon could say anything. As Jiheon watched Jaekyung’s retreating figure, he pondered.
‘What compliment? You need to relearn the concept of being nice, man.’
Yet, leaving aside that fundamental issue, the fact that Kwon Jaekyung had the awareness to be kind to others and attempted to act accordingly was commendable. From that perspective, it wasn’t like Jaekyung didn’t have a lot of good deeds worth complimenting.
Furthermore, Jiheon didn’t anticipate Jaekyung to be nice to everyone right from the get-go. He had merely mentioned, in passing while they were talking about Oliver and Dr. Gleason, that he should not be cold toward Luke. However, Jaekyung had replied with a straightforward, “Why should I?”
‘It’s not like I’m doing this just to him. I do this to everyone else as well. I’m just being equally rude. But if I’m just nice to him, what if he misunderstands? I don’t like that.’
Upon hearing Jaekyung’s response, Jiheon realized there was some truth to it.
Jaekyung treated everyone with a similar coldness. If he suddenly acted warmly toward one person, not only that one person, but everyone around would ask what was wrong with him.
In such a scenario, Luke might become overly hopeful and more proactive. Since the expected outcome was also obvious, Jiheon did not want the situation to spread to that point either.
However, there was indeed a problem with Jaekyung’s frosty attitude toward Luke, to the point where it became uncomfortable to witness. Each time Jaekyung acted coldly like that, Jiheon couldn’t help but glance at Oliver and Dr. Gleason. Yet, it seemed that Jaekyung was entirely unfazed by this.
In a half-joking manner, Jiheon suggested:
‘If you don’t want people to misunderstand that you’re only being nice to Luke, then treat others the same way.’
But Jaekyung got even more upset at that.
‘Hyung, what the heck? Do I need to change my attitude toward all of humanity just because of Luke?’
Though he genuinely didn’t understand, Jiheon felt that if this persisted, it might negatively impact the innocent Luke. He promptly clarified:
‘It’s not because of Luke. I just hate seeing people criticize you for being rude.’
‘It’s true, though. What else can I do about it?’
‘Yeah, it’s true. Who doesn’t know you’re rude?’
Jaekyung suddenly closed his mouth and looked at Jiheon in silence.
The funny thing about Kwon Jaekyung was that he knew how rude he was and said so with his own mouth, but when Jiheon said it, he secretly looked disappointed.
This time, Jaekyung even looked slightly hurt, so Jiheon quickly spoke to soothe him.
‘But it pains me to hear people speak ill of my lover. I’m happy when I hear good things. Isn’t it the same with you?’
Jaekyung’s ears twitched briefly hearing the words “my lover”. He gazed at the floor with a troubled expression for a moment, then clicked his tongue and swept his bangs aside.
‘Fine. I’ll give it a try for now.’
Jiheon suddenly realized that having sex and sharing feelings were two entirely different things. When he thought that Jaekyung might’ve been hurt by his small behaviors, he felt a pang of regret. He wished he had figured it out sooner.
He was sorry that he had come to this realization so late, and he was surprised that Jaekyung still liked him despite the disappointment and hurt he had caused.
Everyone else had given up so easily; no matter how well Jiheon treated them, they soon got tired of it and ended up leaving.
But Jaekyung remained, and Jiheon couldn’t understand why.
“What’s the matter?”
Jaekyung suddenly asked. Jiheon raised his eyebrows in response, as if saying, “What?” and Jaekyung seemed a bit embarrassed.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah.”
Jiheon only then realized he had been lost in his own thoughts and was about to feel a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, Jaekyung’s blushing ears caught his attention first.
At that moment, Jiheon couldn’t help but smile and admitted without thinking.
“Because I like you.”
“…….”
Now Jaekyung’s face heated up even more. He must’ve noticed that fact himself since he turned his head, muttering, “Oh, I’m going crazy.” However, by then, his ears had turned even redder.
Jiheon found it incredibly cute and felt like he was losing his mind.
“Jaekyung-ah.”
Jiheon said, extending his arm that had been under his head.
“Want an arm pillow?”
“……Huh? Why are you suddenly…?”
Jaekyung made an expression on his face, as if asking what he meant by that.
“Well, I just wanna do it.”
Jaekyung looked at him with confusion and cautiously asked:
“Hyung, is this how it’s supposed to be?”
“What?”
“Is this how you usually treat your… lovers?”
Jiheon was about to ask what he meant, but he stopped and stretched his arm even farther.
“No, I only do this for you.”
Jaekyung’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t say anything, but he had “You’re lying” written all over his face.
However, the temptation of an arm pillow was too strong for Jaekyung to resist, so he reluctantly said, “…Alright, then.”
Slowly, he lay down with Jiheon’s arm beneath him. Jiheon chuckled because Jaekyung couldn’t seem to get comfortable and lifted his head slightly, worried it might be too heavy for Jiheon.
“Hey, it’s not heavy. Just lie down.”
Jiheon reassured him, folding his arm and hugging Jaekyung’s head. With that, he pulled Jaekyung closer, almost burying his face in his chest.
“It’s not uncomfortable, right?”
“No, it’s not uncomfortable.”
Jaekyung answered that way, and after a while, he spoke again.
“But this is a good position to suck your nipples.”
“Don’t suck. If you touch them, I’ll scold you.”
Jiheon said, tugging at Jaekyung’s hair without hurting.
“No, seriously. My mouth is itching because I know it’s right in front of me.”
“Are you grinding your teeth? Why is your mouth itching? Are you really a 21-month-old?”
As he asked that, Jaekyung mumbled, as if he just realized it now.
“Oh, I guess you’re right. Maybe I’m really a 21-month-old.”
Jaekyung spoke casually and attempted to unbutton Jiheon’s shirt. Jiheon quickly caught his hand and said:
“Cut it out. Even if you were 21 months old, it’s long past the breastfeeding stage.”
When Jiheon told him to stop messing around and just go to sleep, Jaekyung made an openly dissatisfied expression but calmly withdrew his hand.
At any other time, he might have done as he pleased, saying something like, “I just don’t need to put it in, right? You have no right to refuse, hyung.” But now that they were in a relationship, it seemed like he felt more at ease and had become more obedient.
There was something special about this, and Jiheon felt proud of him, as if he were handling a well-behaved, big puppy.
Jiheon patted Jaekyung on the back while hugging him.
“I’ll let you do whatever you want tomorrow, so just get some sleep for now.”
Jiheon naturally assumed that Jaekyung would be thrilled about it. He would be happy, the corners of his lips subtly going up, but he would hide it by saying something blunt, just as he would always do.
But to Jiheon’s surprise, Jaekyung didn’t do that. Instead, he looked at Jiheon as if he had something important to say, and after gathering his thoughts, he finally spoke.
“Hyung, don’t say that anymore.”
“What?”
“Don’t say things like that, like you’ll let me do whatever I want and such.”
When Jiheon looked at him in confusion at the unexpected statement, Jaekyung explained the reason first.
“Every time you say that, I feel like I’m forcing you to do something you might not really want to do. It’s true that we used to be like that, but there’s no need for it now. We’re not like that anymore.”
Jaekyung emphasized his point.
“If you don’t want to, I won’t ask you to do it. So please, don’t say that.”
“…….”
Jiheon was momentarily lost for words. He had many thoughts and a whirlwind of emotions, but he couldn’t find the right words to express them.
In his heart, he wanted to explain that it was just a habit and part of his basic dating mindset, and that Jaekyung needn’t worry so much. However, that would reveal his own foundation. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
So Jiheon simply grinned and replied:
“Okay, I won’t do that anymore.”
“Yes, please don’t.”
Jaekyung affirmed, immediately hugging Jiheon around the waist and burying his face in his chest.
As Jiheon stroked Jaekyung’s back, who clung to him like a baby, he couldn’t help but inquire:
“Hey, by the way, I did tell you not to do it, but why did you try to undo my button?”
Jaekyung fell silent for a moment, then buried his face in Jiheon’s chest even deeper and mumbled in a low voice.
“……I didn’t do it anyway.”
Despite Jaekyung’s insistence that it was alright, Jiheon was left speechless and could only chuckle.
“Is that what you mean?”
Jiheon found it somewhat absurd and laughed. Jaekyung quickly raised his head and clarified.
“No, what I said is from now on. I’m not going to tell you to do things you don’t like from now on, hyung. I promise.”
Jaekyung repeated. His brown eyes, gazing up at Jiheon while being embraced, were so clear that Jiheon’s heart was pounding.
Jaekyung had the same eyes he had ten years ago, and when Jiheon realized that this guy was looking at him the same way he did ten years ago, he found it endearing.
Instead of saying he understood, Jiheon lowered his head and kissed Jaekyung’s eyelids. He kissed his nose, his cheek, and finally brushed his lips against Jaekyung’s lightly. Their lips remained connected as Jiheon whispered softly, their faces still close.
“Okay. I won’t talk like that anymore.”
‘So don’t get tired of me too quickly.’
Jiheon thought, swallowing the words that nearly escaped. He kissed Jaekyung once more in silence.
◆◇◆
“…Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Okay, that’s it!”
At Coach Yoo’s shout, Jaekyung released the TRX strap he had been holding.
“Great job. Let’s take a break.”
Coach Yoo said, patting his back. Jaekyung sat down on the floor and began catching his breath. Luke, who saw this, quickly jumped off the cycle, grabbed the sports drink he had left on the floor, and approached Jaekyung.
“Would you… like this drink…?”
Jaekyung glanced at the sports drink Luke was offering for a moment, then accepted it and said, “Thank you,” in English.
This marked the first time he had done so. Luke’s face lit up when he saw Jaekyung accepting something from him for the first time. But then—
“Coach-nim, here you go.”
Jaekyung promptly handed the drink to Coach Yoo, who was standing nearby. Luke’s face instantly became glum when he saw it.
“Hey, what’s going on? Is this from Luke?”
Coach Yoo, unaware of the situation, accepted the drink with excitement.
“Yes, yes, sir. Please enjoy!”
Luke spoke cheerfully once more. He clasped his hands together and politely said:
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Coach Yoo held on to Luke and started talking with a happy expression, as if he was watching a young nephew who was just starting to learn to speak, and while the two were talking, Jaekyung stood up.
Using his shirt’s hem to wipe away the sweat on his forehead, he made his way to the water purifier. After drinking from a paper cup, he spoke softly, ensuring only Jiheon at the table next to him could hear.
“I didn’t ignore him and accepted it, as you can see.”
So don’t protest anymore… was what he meant by that.
“Hey…….”
—What’s the point of receiving it if you only give it to someone else right in front of him? You’d better not accept it at all.
Jiheon was about to voice his thoughts, but he ended up sighing and said, “That’s enough.” Nevertheless, Jaekyung, having grasped Jiheon’s unspoken thoughts from that sigh, stopped drinking water and asked with a furrowed brow.
“Why? I accepted the drink Luke gave me and even gave it to Coach Yoo. I’m being nice to both of them, right?”
Looking at his earnest expression, it seemed that Jaekyung genuinely believed this to be the case.
“Yeah…, good job.”
Jiheon quietly nodded his head.
Casting a quick glance at Jiheon, Jaekyung finished the last of his water, crumpled the paper cup, and tossed it into the trash can.
“Then you better compliment me later, hyung.”
Jaekyung confidently made the request, swiftly turned away, and approached Coach Yoo before Jiheon could say anything. As Jiheon watched Jaekyung’s retreating figure, he pondered.
‘What compliment? You need to relearn the concept of being nice, man.’
Yet, leaving aside that fundamental issue, the fact that Kwon Jaekyung had the awareness to be kind to others and attempted to act accordingly was commendable. From that perspective, it wasn’t like Jaekyung didn’t have a lot of good deeds worth complimenting.
Furthermore, Jiheon didn’t anticipate Jaekyung to be nice to everyone right from the get-go. He had merely mentioned, in passing while they were talking about Oliver and Dr. Gleason, that he should not be cold toward Luke. However, Jaekyung had replied with a straightforward, “Why should I?”
‘It’s not like I’m doing this just to him. I do this to everyone else as well. I’m just being equally rude. But if I’m just nice to him, what if he misunderstands? I don’t like that.’
Upon hearing Jaekyung’s response, Jiheon realized there was some truth to it.
Jaekyung treated everyone with a similar coldness. If he suddenly acted warmly toward one person, not only that one person, but everyone around would ask what was wrong with him.
In such a scenario, Luke might become overly hopeful and more proactive. Since the expected outcome was also obvious, Jiheon did not want the situation to spread to that point either.
However, there was indeed a problem with Jaekyung’s frosty attitude toward Luke, to the point where it became uncomfortable to witness. Each time Jaekyung acted coldly like that, Jiheon couldn’t help but glance at Oliver and Dr. Gleason. Yet, it seemed that Jaekyung was entirely unfazed by this.
In a half-joking manner, Jiheon suggested:
‘If you don’t want people to misunderstand that you’re only being nice to Luke, then treat others the same way.’
But Jaekyung got even more upset at that.
‘Hyung, what the heck? Do I need to change my attitude toward all of humanity just because of Luke?’
Though he genuinely didn’t understand, Jiheon felt that if this persisted, it might negatively impact the innocent Luke. He promptly clarified:
‘It’s not because of Luke. I just hate seeing people criticize you for being rude.’
‘It’s true, though. What else can I do about it?’
‘Yeah, it’s true. Who doesn’t know you’re rude?’
Jaekyung suddenly closed his mouth and looked at Jiheon in silence.
The funny thing about Kwon Jaekyung was that he knew how rude he was and said so with his own mouth, but when Jiheon said it, he secretly looked disappointed.
This time, Jaekyung even looked slightly hurt, so Jiheon quickly spoke to soothe him.
‘But it pains me to hear people speak ill of my lover. I’m happy when I hear good things. Isn’t it the same with you?’
Jaekyung’s ears twitched briefly hearing the words “my lover”. He gazed at the floor with a troubled expression for a moment, then clicked his tongue and swept his bangs aside.
‘Fine. I’ll give it a try for now.’
