NAME 61

“…What?”

His eyes widened as if he were greatly shocked.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s only natural.”

“… .”

“It’s late, so I’ll be heading to my room now. If you’re worried you won’t be able to wake up in the morning, I can come wake you.”

He said nothing. He stared at Seowon with a face that made it impossible to tell if he was in shock or if he was angry.

“Then, please rest well.”

Seowon gave a light bow and turned around. The man standing behind him was still brooding in silence. Seowon didn’t feel entirely at ease because of Baek Kanghyun’s reaction, but he didn’t regret it. It had served as an opportunity to steady his heart, which had been wavering little by little without him even noticing.

“… .”

Before stepping out the door, he took a brief deep breath. He had prepared himself in case the man caught him and turned him around again. However, seeing as there wasn’t a single sign of movement, it seemed he was going to let him go quietly, so Seowon felt relieved as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

Screeeak.

He succeeded in opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Seowon stood right in front of the adjacent Room 1922 and took out his room key. Beep-beep, hearing the electronic sound, he pushed the door open.

A room appeared that was slightly smaller than the one he had just been in with Baek Kanghyun, though the layout was almost identical. Seowon switched on the lights.

“It’s chilly.”

Seowon set his bag down on the floor and flopped onto the bed.

“… .”

He felt very strange. An uncomfortable, faint sense of guilt even rose within him.

<…What?>

The expression the man wore while saying that was deeply etched into his mind and refused to leave.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

While data was transferring to his new mobile phone, Seowon took out the documents for tomorrow’s meeting and read through them slowly.

However, a problem arose when he tried to change clothes because they were uncomfortable. Since he had only packed underwear and shirts to reduce his luggage, he realized he had nothing to wear for sleep. Consequently, he draped a single bathgown over his underwear and lay facedown on the bed.

“Taegang, it should be fine here.”

He intentionally scrutinized the documents to erase his thoughts about Baek Kanghyun. He tried to concentrate, carefully checking for any missing details.

Drrrr.

About an hour later, the mobile phone vibrated. It was a notification that the data backup was complete. Seowon held the new phone in his hand and fiddled with it.

Come to think of it, he owed Baek Kanghyun for two things today. The mobile phone and a delicious dinner… But had he said thank you? He hadn’t even mentioned that he enjoyed the meal after eating dinner, and he had just blithely accepted the phone without saying he would use it well.

Isn’t this a bit too impolite?

“… .”

His conscience rose up in rebellion. It poured fierce criticism onto his shameless heart, which argued that this sort of thing was nothing to Baek Kanghyun. Although Seowon had decided to consider the phone a loan, that was Seowon’s thought alone; if he tried to return it later, the man would undoubtedly say so. That he didn’t need it, to throw it away. Since he had tried to toss a new one that hadn’t even been unpacked, there was no need to mention a used one.

Team Leader Baek Kanghyun

He hesitated while staring at the name in his KakaoTalk list. Should he send at least one message? To say thank you.

His heart, scolded by his conscience, mumbled excuses, saying it might be better to talk to him in person tomorrow since it was so late he might already be sleeping. A desire to delay it as much as possible—no, actually, to just let it slide—arose. However, his fingers, following the command of his conscience, were already racing across the keyboard.

[I’ve successfully swapped over to the mobile phone. I also enjoyed the dinner very much. Thank you.]

Before pressing the send button, he debated whether to add an emoticon. Wouldn’t sending it just like that be a bit dry? But since the recipient was Baek Kanghyun, maybe it wouldn’t matter…

While rummaging through his KakaoTalk emoticons, he found one he had bought a very long time ago. A rabbit character emoticon, one he had used often during his university days.

One he had also sent frequently to Baek Kanghyun…

“… .”

He became soaked in sentimentality over a mere emoticon. If he sent this, would the man remember him… No, there was no way a man who didn’t even know his name would remember something like an emoticon.

He sent the message along with an emoticon of a rabbit bowing politely. He did not check when the number 1 next to the message disappeared. Being curious about such things was something from seven years ago, not now.

Having finally finished what he had to do, Seowon set his phone alarm for 7:00 AM and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. Even though it was past 11:00, he wasn’t sleepy. However, intending to turn off the lights and try to get some sleep for now, he organized the documents he was looking at and put them in his bag.

Knock, knock.

While unfolding the duvet, he heard a knocking sound. He stayed still, confused as to whether it was coming from another room or if he had misheard.

Knock, knock, knock-knock-knock.

But the knocking sound became louder and clearer. Seowon walked cautiously to the door and asked.

“Who is it?”

But no answer was heard. Seowon pressed his ear close to the door and tried to listen to the sounds outside.

Knock, knock, the sound of knocking came once more. Even without seeing, he felt he knew who was knocking on the door.

It was obvious. There was only one person who would come looking for him in this manner at this hour. Catching his breath as he exhaled deeply, he quietly grasped the doorknob.

Screeeak.

The moment he pulled the door, it was pushed open roughly. Then, Baek Kanghyun, dressed in almost the same attire as Seowon, stormed into Seowon’s room.

“…!”

A pair of firm arms wrapped violently around his upper body, and their chests met with only the bathgown between them. A hand dug into the back of his head and pulled his hair, tilting his chin up. Crashing onto Seowon’s lips in that state, Baek Kanghyun acted as if he would swallow both Seowon’s tongue and his very breath.

“Hmpf, ngh.”

His body, pushed against the wall, moved bit by bit until it finally reached the bed. Thump, Seowon collapsed onto the bed with his body overlapping with Baek Kanghyun’s.

The man showered him with rough kisses, pinning him down so he couldn’t move an inch. His pheromones, pouring out in heaps, coiled around Seowon’s neck. Running out of breath, Seowon pounded and clawed at his shoulders. However, his hands were soon caught by the man, leaving him unable to move.

Tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. At this rate, he felt he might truly suffocate to death, yet the tongue occupying his mouth did not stop its predatory movements.

“St-stop.”

As he struggled, the knot of his gown loosened. The man’s hand dug into the loose clothing. He groped his chest and rubbed his waist. The hand that drew a large circle over his stomach pushed aside the waistband of his underwear and felt the protruding pelvic bone. At the touch heavily layered with desire, both his brow and the space between his legs narrowed instinctively.

“Ha, ha.”

Baek Kanghyun, who had been continuing the rough kiss, pulled his lips away for a moment. Seowon heaved ragged breaths, his whole body heaving. He was at death’s door from breathlessness, as if he had run a full sprint. On the other hand, the party responsible for driving Seowon this far stared intensely at him without making even a small sound.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

Not only did he storm into the room at this hour, but he suddenly lunged at him. Furthermore, his hand remained on the pelvic bone inside the underwear. His firm fingertips rubbed lewdly against the skin. With a smirk, Baek Kanghyun brought his lips right up to Seowon’s ear. Then, he whispered lowly.

“About the rabbit.”

He realized instantly that he was talking about the emoticon. Could it be that he had actually remembered him?

Seowon turned pale, his mouth just fluttering open and closed. He was terrified of what words might jump out of the man’s mouth. If he asked if that pushover back then was you, what should I say? Should I flatly deny it, or should I say that was me and slap him across the face…

“Wh-what about the rabbit.”

“That’s you.”

At the answer that came back, Seowon completely lost his wits.

“M-m-me, I, I am…”

With a mind that had gone white like a sheet of paper, he couldn’t think of anything. He just stuttered like a fool.

“Even though you try hard to pretend to be a cat.”

However, at his following words, his escaped spirit barely found its place again. He realized that the man’s words about it being him merely meant that he resembled a rabbit. It was similar to a thief feeling a cramp in his own leg out of guilt. Despite having wanted the man to recognize him, hadn’t his hair stood on end the moment the situation actually arrived?

Meanwhile, unaware that Seowon had traveled between heaven and hell, Baek Kanghyun pressed their crotches together and bit his earlobe.

“I’ve never… done that.”

He barely managed an answer and swallowed his breath. His heart thundered as if it would explode. And Seowon, feeling his own trembling reaction with his entire body, realized one fact. That what he truly wanted was for the man to never remember him until the very end.

“There are times you lunge with your claws out, but the inside is completely soft.”

Laughing lowly while saying he was exactly like a rabbit, he took Seowon’s lips into his own again.