Chapter 3 Part 13

Shinru smiled and spoke calmly. He reached out a hand and gently brushed back Jeong Tae-ui’s hair that had fallen onto his forehead. A small, fair hand swept across Jeong Tae-ui’s cheek, reaching his ear.

“Your features are distinct… I think it would be better if you didn’t cover your face, Hyung. Oh, and your nape too. Your neck line is quite nice, so it might be good to cut your hair short.”

“Hmm… really?”

Even as he answered, Jeong Tae-ui didn’t know what state of mind he was in.

He couldn’t move an inch. A warm hand grazed his forehead and cheek. The fingers that briefly touched his nape were incredibly ticklish. His breath caught.

“Oh… Hyung, you seem to be hurt. You have a bruise here. Just a moment, I have some ointment; I’ll put it on for you.”

Shinru’s hand stopped somewhere between his shoulder and neck. He hadn’t noticed it until now, but sure enough, when Shinru pressed lightly, it throbbed, confirming it was a bruise as he said. He had probably been hit during sparring.

Shinru opened a desk drawer within reach, took out an ointment, squeezed some onto his palm, and then swept his hand up Jeong Tae-ui’s nape again.

“Uh, no, it’s fine, it doesn’t hurt much, and––”

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been flustered and tried to interrupt Shinru, closed his mouth. His voice was faintly hoarse. Hearing his own voice, he became even more flustered.

Shinru, fortunately, didn’t seem to notice and began to rub the ointment onto Jeong Tae-ui’s nape.

Soft fingers caressed his neck. It was a pleasant and comfortable touch, as if giving a massage.

But Jeong Tae-ui was flustered. Shinru’s breath touched his ear. The rhythmic breathing mingled with the warm breath, heating his face.

“Shinru, that’s enough, stop─…”

A flush spread through his body. Jeong Tae-ui eventually grabbed Shinru’s wrist and pulled it away. He knew his face was burning red. But what was even more embarrassing was the reaction in his groin.

The thin, loose fabric of his indoor clothes couldn’t hide the faint bulge of aroused flesh.

Shinru, who had been staring at Jeong Tae-ui, bewildered by his sudden, forceful pulling away, seemed to then realize where Jeong Tae-ui’s deeply bowed gaze was directed. Following his gaze, Shinru flinched, a reaction Jeong Tae-ui felt in the hand he was still holding.

A bewildered gaze lingered on Jeong Tae-ui’s face, not knowing what to do. Shinru’s murmuring voice, “Uh,” nervously hovered in his mouth.

Even as his head felt like it was burning up, Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue. He was furious at his own foolishness.

What kind of behavior is this? You’re not some passionate, short-haired boy.

He wished someone would burst in and fiercely punch him in the face.

“Hyung… look…”

“I’m, …sorry.”

Only then did Jeong Tae-ui realize the wrist squirming in his hand and quickly let go. Their eyes met. Young eyes blinked at Jeong Tae-ui’s face. Seeing those eyes made his face flush again.

Clunk, he suddenly stood up, and the chair clattered. Jeong Tae-ui nervously clenched and unclenched his empty hands, not knowing what to do, then mumbled “I’m sorry” once more and turned to leave. He felt like he should offer Shinru more excuses or apologies, but he absolutely couldn’t look him in the face right now.

Jeong Tae-ui, having rushed out of the office, stepped into the dim hallway.

He doubted he would ever feel such mortification again in his life.

His long, hurried, rough strides were almost a run.

He brushed past one or two people while passing the elevator and descending the stairs, but none of them tried to stop Jeong Tae-ui as he rushed past with a beet-red, stiff face.

Jeong Tae-ui, his thoughts a chaotic mess he couldn’t even comprehend, walked aimlessly wherever his feet took him. As he walked, his uncle’s room appeared before his eyes. In his confused state, his steps must have instinctively found the familiar path.

He yanked on the doorknob, but the door was locked. His uncle didn’t seem to be there. It was better that way, actually.

Jeong Tae-ui took out the key he almost always carried and entered his uncle’s room. It was, as always, a neatly arranged room, not a speck of dust to be seen.

He carelessly threw off his outer clothes, opened the refrigerator, and took out a beer to drink. He finished it in a few gulps, but it wasn’t enough. He took out another and drank it. This one too he emptied in one go. So he took out one more and drank about half of it; only then did his stomach finally feel a bit cooler.

Suddenly, a large mirror next to the desk caught his eye. He met the gaze of his reflection staring back. His face was beet-red. From his earlobes to his nape, it was red. Seeing that, Jeong Tae-ui grew even more awkward; he gripped the cold can and rubbed his cheek with his now chilled hand. He had hoped his cheek would cool down, but his hand warmed up first.

Jeong Tae-ui stood blankly, holding the can, then slumped down in front of the refrigerator.

His groin had long since cooled down. It had deflated as if it had never been aroused. Yet, his face and chest remained hot, refusing to cool.

“Damn it… If you were just going to wilt like this, you shouldn’t have gotten hard in the first place. Why make things difficult for me?”

Jeong Tae-ui mumbled complaints to his own groin. But it wasn’t there that needed to understand, it was his head.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been sitting blankly on the floor in front of the refrigerator, staring at his feet, suddenly raised a hand to his nape. He fumbled at the spot where soft fingertips had touched just moments ago.

The slippery ointment still hadn’t absorbed and remained there. He slickly rubbed over it.

It was just the ordinary touch of applying ointment. Even if he rubbed that spot a hundred times with his own hand, there was no way he would get aroused. Yet, simply because the owner of that hand was that young man.

“I must really be hung up on him… What am I going to do?”

He purposefully mumbled aloud, but there was no way he’d get an answer. He thought that speaking it out loud might help organize his thoughts, but there was no sign of that happening.

Jeong Tae-ui uselessly wiped his still beet-red face with the back of his hand.