Chapter 21

Chapter 20.

Prompted by the calling of his name, Chaeheon pressed hard against Lee Jun’s lips. He traced the line of his lips, then pushed his tongue into Lee Jun’s mouth, sweeping over his cheek and rubbing his tongue. He also brushed against his neat teeth, wrapped around Lee Jun’s tongue, pulled it towards himself, and drew in his saliva.

“Mmm… breathing…”

As Chaeheon tilted his head for a deep kiss, Lee Jun let out a choked sound, as if overwhelmed.

When Chaeheon pulled his lips away, Lee Jun gasped for air. Yet, his eyes remained closed, showing no intention of refusing Chaeheon’s kiss.

This time, Chaeheon didn’t hold him in a suffocating embrace like before, allowing Lee Jun to regain his breath fully.

With each intermittent touch as Chaeheon’s lips pulled away and returned, Lee Jun let out the muffled sounds he had suppressed until now. Chaeheon, who found his voice pleasing, swept over his lips and retreated. Chaeheon savored the rising heat from his own body as he looked at Lee Jun.

He wondered if Lee Jun was feeling the same way he was.

“Senior.”

At Chaeheon’s voice, Lee Jun’s eyelids slowly lifted. His hazy eyes had a blurred focus.

Chaeheon pulled Lee Jun’s hand. Lee Jun, who had been sitting with his back against the sofa, twisted his body and was pulled towards Chaeheon, immediately losing his balance and stumbling. Chaeheon’s hand wrapped around Lee Jun’s body and pulled him closer.

Embracing him, Chaeheon entered the room. He laid Lee Jun on the bed and wiped the saliva from his lips.

“We shouldn’t do more. Let’s sleep.”

He pulled the blanket over Lee Jun’s body and patted his chest. Perhaps finding it comforting, Lee Jun’s eyelids slowly closed.

“Next time, I’ll definitely ask. But this time, don’t disappear.”

Chaeheon gazed down at Lee Jun’s sleeping face for a long time. His former lover, whom he had regrettably lost before…

When Lee Jun opened his eyes, the first thought that came to him was, ‘I’m screwed.’

He knew his body was lying in bed, but he couldn’t easily get up. More than that, his mind was so muddled by yesterday’s events that he had no energy to move.

‘I must be hopeless.’

The sudden onset of drunkenness was a problem, but his memories after that weren’t intact. He knew regret, no matter how quick, always comes too late, but if he didn’t even do this much, there was no way to erase the self-reproach of waking up in Chaeheon’s house.

Lee Jun’s eyes pierced through the gloomy dark and scanned his surroundings. He checked the LED clock visible beyond a round, mound-like object and let out a silent sigh.

It was still before dawn. Although it was early morning, he didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. As Lee Jun slightly pulled his upper body back from the bed, the identity of the mound was revealed.

Confirming it was Chaeheon, sleeping with deep breaths, Lee Jun covered his mouth. He felt like he would scream otherwise.

‘I need to get up.’

Lee Jun stealthily pushed the blanket aside and turned his body. Thanks to his careful movements to avoid waking Chaeheon, the bed also concealed Lee Jun’s presence without any significant movement.

Now, with some distance between him and Chaeheon, Lee Jun turned his body with a sigh of relief.

‘I’m never drinking again.’

As Lee Jun was raising his upper body to get out of bed, an arm slid around his stomach. Before he could identify what was crossing his abdomen, Lee Jun’s body was pulled backward. His back hit something, and Lee Jun made a suppressed sound somewhere between surprise and embarrassment.

“Ugh,”

“Mmm. Senior.”

Compared to how roughly he was pulled, Chaeheon’s voice was hoarse with sleep.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Jun tried to push Chaeheon’s arm away, but it didn’t seem like it would loosen with a normal amount of force.

“Let go.”

“Ah, I knew it…”

Chaeheon buried his face in Lee Jun’s back and chuckled.

Lee Jun, not knowing why he was laughing, tried to turn around, but Chaeheon’s words came out faster.

“I knew this would happen.”

Chaeheon’s low voice sounded as if he had anticipated Lee Jun’s reaction. Lee Jun wondered if he should ask why, but his stronger desire was to get away from Chaeheon immediately.

“Release your arm.”

“Senior.”

“I want to get up…”

“Senior…”

“Take your arm away.”

“Darling.”

“…”

Lee Jun’s voice trailed off. He strained his senses towards Chaeheon, wondering if he had heard correctly.

“What did you just say?”

Lee Jun calmly suppressed his feelings to appear as composed as possible. On the other hand, the thought that Chaeheon was acting this way because something had happened yesterday that he couldn’t quite remember prevented him from pushing too hard.

Chaeheon pulled Lee Jun closer and lay down. Lee Jun was pulled on top of his body, but he pushed against Chaeheon’s chest and leaned his upper body back. This made their lower bodies press together, but Lee Jun did not lower his upper body.

Chaeheon slyly opened one eye slightly and looked down at Lee Jun. Chaeheon, reluctantly awake, couldn’t even open his eyes properly and exuded a very languid atmosphere.

“I’m still sleepy. Can’t we sleep a bit more before doing anything?”

“I’m going home. Thanks for letting me stay.”

“Ah.”

Chaeheon sighed, holding Lee Jun as if to tell him not to go. Despite Chaeheon’s grumbling that he was still sleepy, Lee Jun kept wriggling to get away. The more he did, the more his body tangled into Chaeheon’s embrace.

“Can’t be helped then.”

Suddenly, both of Chaeheon’s eyes were looking at Lee Jun. His gaze was no longer hazy with sleep.

“You said you’d do it.”

“What do you keep talking about doing?”

He couldn’t ignore the words repeated twice, which made him feel strange.

“I’ve kept evidence. Shall I show you?”

Just as Chaeheon’s eyes seemed to gleam dangerously, their positions swapped.

Lee Jun belatedly processed the situation of being pinned between the bed and Chaeheon, and he tensed his body, intending to get up. However, Chaeheon, realizing this, pressed his body down and reached an arm toward the nightstand. Lee Jun let out a muffled sound as his upper body was crushed, but Chaeheon didn’t move away.

He paid no mind even as his weight, usually clumsier, pressed onto Lee Jun.

“You’re heavy.”

“Just a moment.”

Chaeheon retrieved the phone from the nightstand and lit up the screen with one hand. Then, annoyed by the bright light illuminating his face, Chaeheon closed his eyes.

“Damn, it’s bright.”

It was ironic that he complained about the brightness after turning on the phone himself. Lee Jun, watching him as if asking what he was doing, didn’t even realize he’d missed his chance to get off the bed. In the meantime, Chaeheon twitched his eyebrows and then slowly opened one eye. Perhaps because he wasn’t fully awake, it seemed difficult for him to open both eyes as if looking at the sun.

Chaeheon must have felt the screen’s brightness automatically adjust and dim slightly, as he squinted his eyes and then opened the other one.

“What are you doing?”

Lee Jun looked at him with a dumbfounded expression at his uncharacteristically quirky behavior, opening and closing his eyes repeatedly. Chaeheon seemed oblivious to his messy hair sticking up in odd places, focusing solely on the screen.

Lee Jun no longer thought about escaping and just watched what Chaeheon was doing.

“Because I thought Senior wouldn’t remember yesterday…”

He mumbled casually while looking at the screen, yet he blinked his still-sleepy eyes, as if truly wanting to show it to Lee Jun.

“What exactly are you trying to show me?”

Now, Chaeheon’s weight felt burdensome, so Lee Jun pushed his side. However, Chaeheon deliberately resisted and then turned the phone towards Lee Jun.

“Ugh. You…”

Confronted by the sudden bright light, Lee Jun closed his eyes. He now understood why Chaeheon had irritably closed his eyes earlier, complaining it was bright.

“It’s a video, so I brightened the screen more.”

“Why are you shoving that in front of my face?”

“I know, just watch this.”

Lee Jun, with an exasperated expression, turned his eyes to the screen and froze. His eyes, watching his drunk self in the video, trembled slightly with shock.

His face on the screen was different from usual. With a loose grin, he smiled and waved at his reflection in the phone.

His flushed face looked foolish, and his half-closed eyes appeared vacant.

“…”

He was just… a drunk mess.

When he was scared, he would keep a straight face, showing no sign of fear, but his drunk face clearly revealed it.

“You filmed this?”

“Since Senior can’t see it, I have to show you this way. Just watch.”

Chaeheon’s smile deepened as he followed the progress of the video by the sound. Seeing Lee Jun’s horrified face turn pale, Chaeheon buried his face in a pillow.

He tried to hide his laughter, but his shoulders trembled subtly, making it useless.

[Do you want to kiss me?]

Lee Jun looked at Chaeheon with a bewildered gaze. What did this jerk do to a drunk person?

“This… I… I did this? I, who falls asleep when drunk, did this?”

Lee Jun shook his head as if it were absurd, but Chaeheon persistently pressed on.

“I didn’t film this. Look closely here. Who’s holding the phone?”

“I did it? You didn’t tell me to? No, what was the reason for filming this in the first place? If you want to kiss, I’d just accept it…”

[Okay.]

“…”

Lee Jun opened his mouth, but could only gape like a goldfish, unable to say anything.