FETCH 4

“…Ah, let’s get up.”

Contrary to his flushed face, Han Kang suddenly sat up and exhaled a long breath, hooo.

Doing this again.

Jaechan frowned and looked up at him. After pouncing with such heat as if he were ready to sleep with him right then and there, Han Kang always pulled away abruptly at the very moment their bodies were burning up, looking down at him coldly.

It was the same now. The feeling of those black pupils wandering over his skin was almost eerie. It was so cold that he felt as if frost were blooming on his skin.

He couldn’t help the way his heart sank at that. His body, which had been heating up intensely until a moment ago, cooled down in an instant.

“…”

Jaechan looked at him with his mouth shut tight. In the eyes directed at him, disappointment and fear were captured simultaneously before he even realized it.

He couldn’t understand why Han Kang looked at him with those eyes every time. It felt so different from the Han Kang he knew that he would get startled, yet every time Han Kang pulled away as if becoming aware of the reality that they couldn’t go any further, disappointment inevitably welled up.

They say Espers can’t feel any arousal when in contact with ordinary people who aren’t Guides. He tried not to believe such nonsense rumors, but now even Jaechan’s heart was wavering.

Perhaps he noticed Jaechan’s hurt feelings.

Han Kang soon smiled softly and hugged Jaechan tightly. Burying his lips in the nape of Jaechan’s neck and fiddling around for a moment, he eventually gave a smack kiss and mumbled while pressing against him.

“I’m hungry.”

It was a casual remark, as if the actions they had just engaged in were nothing.

Fuck.

Jaechan’s expression hardened coldly as he slowly sat up. He was so used to his body heating up like this only to be cooled down in a flash that he wasn’t even embarrassed anymore.

There was no need to look at Han Kang and ask what he thought he was doing. Showing the irritation boiling inside would only make him look like the strange one.

Jaechan let out a sigh, haaa, and stood up. Then, as if putting a period on the actions they had just done, Han Kang’s lips touched his cheek with another smack and pulled away.

While he felt resentful of these childish, house-playing kisses—where Han Kang gave him countless kisses but refused to touch his lips even if it killed him—he couldn’t show his emotions to the back of Han Kang, who was already walking inside.

Jaechan treated him with the same attitude as usual, just as Han Kang did.

“You always have to come to my house, even when you bother to come out. Your house isn’t even far.”

“There are too many people at my house. It’s noisy.”

“It’s just your parents, isn’t it?”

“Anyway.”

Han Kang finished the conversation as if there were no need for a logical explanation and pulled his T-shirt off. His actions were as comfortable as if it were his own home.

Jaechan’s house wasn’t that far from the Center. Thanks to his parents who had suddenly left for overseas during his high school years, he had been living alone for a long time, and he had recently moved into a new studio apartment near the Center.

There was no other reason for moving near the Center. It was just his own dark ulterior motive: if he were closer to Han Kang, wouldn’t he be able to see him whenever there was a gap? That was all.

Whether he knew that or not, Han Kang was frequenting Jaechan’s house incessantly. Even when he got a vacation and should have gone to his family home, he often stayed at Jaechan’s house for several days before returning to the Center.

Perhaps because of that, the house was full of belongings Han Kang had brought over. Starting from small things like toothbrushes and razors, to T-shirts, pants, and even underwear. There was so much that there was even a separate wardrobe that Han Kang used.

Because of this, Han Kang’s manner as he walked through the house was very natural. Watching the back of Han Kang rummaging through the wardrobe as if planning to shower, Jaechan spoke grumpily without realizing it.

“Why don’t you just get your own place?”

“What for?”

“Huh?”

“When I leave the Center, I can just move into the house my honey got, so why would I bother?”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

He must have earned quite a bit of money through prize money and incentives from sweeping various international competitions, so Jaechan didn’t know why he was doing this in his house. When Jaechan showed a look of disapproval, Han Kang shrugged his shoulders and added.

“Married couples are supposed to live in the same house anyway, right?”

Moving past that “honey” nonsense to now calling them a “married couple,” Han Kang’s brazen attitude never got old. Jaechan pushed away Han Kang’s forehead as he suddenly stepped close and thrust his face in.

With a light exclamation of ah, Han Kang’s head fell back and then returned.

“But I really want to stay here. The Center dormitory is full of only older guys, it smells, and it’s no fun.”

“Why does it smell? What is there to smell? Are there rice paddies or fields around there? No, there aren’t.”

It seemed like he was going to shower, but maybe not. Han Kang was already stuck to his back again. Jaechan opened the refrigerator door wide while carrying Han Kang, who was clinging to him like a cicada.

While there wasn’t much to eat since he rarely had meals at home, there were three cartons of the grape juice Han Kang liked. When he poured it into a glass and handed it over, Han Kang took it and drank it with a “Thanks.”

“Hey? I’m asking. I’m asking why it smells?”

“Can we talk after we eat first? Honey, I feel like my stomach is going to stick to my back.”

Jaechan lost again this time. They say even Mount Keumkang is better after a meal, so food came first.

The two sat across from each other with the table between them and ordered various things from a delivery app to celebrate their reunion. Most Olympic sports usually have weight classes, but fortunately, Esper matches have no weight limits. Therefore, Han Kang ground his teeth, saying he was going to eat everything he couldn’t normally eat at the Center today.

After ordering a full load of what he wanted to eat, Jaechan stared at Han Kang. He wondered if the person complaining about the dormitory hyungs was someone else, as Han Kang was now grinning.

“Now tell me. Why does it smell?”

Asking again, Jaechan sat on the recliner and tapped his foot.

Well, since it was a dormitory where guys were huddled together, he didn’t exactly not know the reason. However, how closely they were huddled together was an important matter for Jaechan.

Of course, there was also a part of him that wanted to listen to Han Kang’s grumbling since it had been a while. It also made him feel proud that Han Kang, who rarely opened up to others, showed his raw self only to him.

“Ah, the fuckers don’t wash.”

He called them hyungs earlier, but now he calls them fuckers.

The disillusionment he felt was clearly revealed in his disgusted tone. Han Kang, who bounced his body, shook his limbs as if the mere thought was tedious. Whether he truly hated it, his handsome face was heavily wrinkled.

“Is there nothing else besides that?”

He was curious about various things besides the fact that the other Espers didn’t wash, but they were all things he couldn’t ask directly. For example, whether he really hated Guiding. Then, whether he was only doing light Guiding.

What his life at the Center was like, which he never told him about, and what it was like living in a dormitory after leaving home at a young age.

It was a question he had subtly thrown out, lumping all those diverse questions together—had it not been conveyed?

“Ah, it’s so damn dirty. It smells.”

Han Kang continued his complaints. It was a bit awkward to pick more holes. Jaechan tilted his head and asked “Is that so?”

“But you use the room alone, don’t you?”

“I feel like even the room is already all rotten.”

Han Kang plopped down on the opposite recliner. It was clearly a house for one person, but there were two recliners, two single-seater sofas, and two four-seater sofas where one could lie down and sleep comfortably at any time.

The only thing there was one of was the bed, but even that was not only wide enough for two to roll around on, there was also a beanbag next to it.

As if it were okay to be two people at any time. It was a completely different setup from when he had been petty with Han Kang, asking why he wouldn’t just get his own house.

When he first moved and bought various things, Jaechan had provided them in his own way, hoping Han Kang could come and rest comfortably at any time. Of course, he never imagined that only the skinship would get intense like this without any actual progress in the relationship.

But Han Kang didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts about it. He was just sitting on the recliner saying leisurely things like “Ah, this is great,” which made Jaechan’s insides burst.

“Ah, I really want to commute. The Center is close, and Jaechan is here. I think it would be perfect if I stayed here.”

“Do you think they’d make you live in a dormitory for no reason? It’s because they’re afraid you’ll cause trouble. And didn’t you say it’s better to have a Guide nearby? They said that’s safer.”

Hadn’t he been like that just a few hours ago?

Recalling Han Kang receiving Guiding in front of the Center made the back of his neck feel tight again.

He engages in skinship so naturally with that guy, but he always stops with me. Jaechan closed his eyes and leaned his head against the recliner headrest. The Adam’s apple on his straight neck moved up and down smoothly.