Chapter 124

Why did I do that...?

He hadn’t meant to pretend he was asleep. His body had just reacted before he could think.

“......”

For a while, Kwon said nothing.

Yeonhoo wondered if he had left, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

When is he going to go already?

Even with his eyes shut, Yeonhoo could feel Kwon’s gaze resting on his face.

Then, as if his desperate wish had finally been answered, he sensed movement.

Finally leaving?

Thump.

Instead, the mattress sank heavily to his left.

Yeonhoo flinched and froze.

Kwon had placed a hand lightly on his hair.

...What?

As if that weren’t enough, his fingers gently brushed Yeonhoo’s bangs aside. Yeonhoo almost opened his eyes on reflex and barely managed to stop himself.

But Kwon didn’t stop there.

The hand that had been touching his hair slowly moved down, tracing the ridge of his brow, gliding over the bridge of his nose, and finally reaching his cheek.

Why is he touching me so much?

He stroked Yeonhoo’s cheek once—

then actually pinched the soft flesh between his fingers.

The ridiculous sensation of his cheek stretching slightly left Yeonhoo dumbfounded.

Before he could recover, Kwon released his cheek and moved toward his mouth.

A fingertip traced along the outline of his lips as though drawing them, then pressed gently into his soft lower lip.

Yeonhoo sucked in a breath.

“Yeonhoo.”

Kwon’s low voice slipped into his ear.

“Breathe.”

Only then did Yeonhoo realize he had been holding his breath the entire time.

“...Hah!”

He exhaled reflexively and snapped his eyes open—

only for his heart to nearly stop.

Kwon’s face was right in front of his.

“Ah, uh, I....”

Startled by how much closer he was than expected, Yeonhoo’s gaze darted helplessly around.

“Uh....”

He could have said literally anything, yet for some strange reason his voice wouldn’t work. He simply nodded in response to Kwon’s gentle question.

“Sleep well?”

Why does my voice sound like that?

The moment he heard himself, embarrassment hit him all over again.

Maybe he really had been exhausted, because his voice had dropped noticeably lower.

“You fell asleep in your chair while doing the quest, so I brought you in here and put you on the bed. You were sleeping so deeply I couldn’t bring myself to wake you.”

Apparently Yeonhoo’s confusion was obvious enough that Kwon felt the need to explain.

He must have fallen asleep right in the middle of that repetitive task.

So this is Kwon’s bedroom.

Aside from seeing it during his first tour of the apartment, Yeonhoo had never even thought about setting foot in here.

Realizing he had actually slept in Kwon’s bed made him awkwardly apologetic.

“You could’ve just woken me up.... That must’ve been a pain.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Still.”

“Want me to show you?”

Show him what?

Yeonhoo stared at him blankly.

Kwon leaned his upper body forward.

The problem was that he had just gotten out of the shower, and the only thing covering him was a single towel hanging precariously around his hips.

“......!”

The moment Kwon bent over, gravity began winning.

The towel slowly slipped lower.

Wait, is that...?

At the edge of Yeonhoo’s vision, something peeked out beside the sliding towel.

Obviously, it made no sense for that to be visible from there, so chances were it was something else.

And yet—

How did you know? I keep it over on that side....

When he remembered exactly where he had touched back then, it suddenly seemed possible after all...!

“Why are you turning red?”

Kwon looked down at him with genuine puzzlement, apparently having no idea what was going through Yeonhoo’s head.

“I said I’d show you if you’re curious.”

There was something inexplicably suggestive about the words.

Yeonhoo froze.

Then, without warning, his entire body lifted off the bed.

“Hey—what... what are you doing?!”

Kwon had picked him up blanket and all, like a bundled infant.

Then he smiled brightly at Yeonhoo’s scarlet face.

“This is how I carried you in.”

The look on his face practically asked, Didn’t I do a good job?

Yeonhoo could not respond.

You fucking lunatic... it’s touching me!!

The blanket wasn’t wrapped properly around his back.

And with Kwon kneeling with one knee on the bed while lifting him like this, Yeonhoo had ended up pressed against his chest—

with the thing he had glimpsed earlier touching his ass.

“P-put me down. Put me down right now!”

Yeonhoo struggled furiously, face blazing red.

Kwon tilted his head.

Even so, he kept a firm grip on him, apparently worried Yeonhoo might slip and hurt himself.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m some pervert?”

His voice sounded perfectly innocent.

That guileless expression actually made Yeonhoo stop struggling for a second.

Then his face twisted with indignation.

“Because obviously—”

“Obviously?”

“Obviously...!”

Because your dick is touching my ass right now. And not just barely—it is really fucking touching me!

He wanted to spit every word straight into Kwon’s face.

He couldn’t.

Fresh from sleep, his face still slightly puffy and now bright red, Yeonhoo could only open and close his mouth helplessly.

Kwon stared at his soft, dumpling-like face for a moment.

Then he tipped his head slightly and gave a quiet laugh.

“That’s weird.”

His eyes curved into long crescents, his voice playful.

“I haven’t even done anything perverted yet.”

Yeonhoo stared at him.

“I wanted to, but I held back. Good job, right?”

He couldn’t help staring.

How is that supposed to be a joke?

Kwon’s tone was teasing.

His eyes didn’t look like they were joking at all.

That alone was enough to silence Yeonhoo, who had been arguing so fiercely a moment ago.

His face went so red it seemed physically impossible for it to get any redder.

Even the tips of his ears—and somehow the top of his head—felt like they were burning.

Kwon finally turned his face aside.

“This won’t do.”

Thump. Rustle.

In one smooth motion, he climbed onto the bed and laid Yeonhoo back down.

“You need to get some sleep.”

Then he actually pulled Yeonhoo into his arms and began patting him as if genuinely trying to lull him back to sleep.

Buried in the bed once more, Yeonhoo stared blankly for only a second before trying to bolt upright.

“I’m going home. Move!”

As if that mattered.

“Hey! I said move!”

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t even get one arm free. Kwon had him locked in place and wrapped tightly inside the rolled-up blanket.

“Go to sleep, Yeonhoo. You need sleep.”

“Sleep my ass! I said I’m going home.”

“There, there. Sleepy time.”

“Goddammit! Kwon Mieon!”

There was no way he could sleep here.

Sure, he had just been asleep a little while ago, but for entirely different reasons, he doubted he would be able to fall asleep again now.

Determined to escape somehow, Yeonhoo thrashed harder and twisted sharply around—

“......!”

His breath stopped.

Had he ever been this close to Kwon before?

“What? You want to fall asleep looking at my face?”

They were so close Yeonhoo could see every individual eyelash, even the direction of the hairs in Kwon’s eyebrows.

His eyes trembled violently as he stared at Kwon’s face from point-blank range.

Kwon had been wearing a teasing expression.

But when he noticed Yeonhoo’s tightly pressed lips and strangely damp-looking eyes, his own expression stiffened slightly.

The change was obvious.

Yet Yeonhoo, closer to him than anyone could possibly be, failed to notice.

What the hell? Why does my heart feel like it’s pounding so hard...?

He was too preoccupied with what was happening to himself.

Just being aware of how closely they were pressed together made his heart thump wildly.

And that wasn’t all.

His entire body felt strangely itchy, almost as if an allergic reaction had broken out beneath his skin.

What is wrong with me?

Overwhelmed and not knowing what to do, Yeonhoo tried to pull himself backward.

Kwon, who had been watching his face as though studying every tiny reaction, stopped him.

The hand at Yeonhoo’s waist tightened.

“Yeonhoo.”

Then Kwon closed more distance than Yeonhoo had managed to create.

The low voice calling him made his heartbeat grow even louder.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Now it felt as though he could hear it pounding inside his ears.

The hand gripping his waist.

Their chests pressed close together.

Every point where Kwon touched him felt unbearably hot.

And then—

“Why did you pretend to be asleep earlier?”

Kwon moved closer.

Slowly.

As though intending to erase the last remaining space between them.

Yeonhoo lay frozen, unable to resist.

No—

he couldn’t do anything at all.

Every bit of strength had drained from his body.

What is this?

Finally unable even to keep looking at Kwon, Yeonhoo squeezed his eyes shut without thinking.

This feels like he’s about to kiss me...!

Tap.