HPK 88

Taejung glared at Wooseung with blazing eyes. After a while of doing so, he roughly downed the freshly poured drink. Then, he jutted his chin towards Wooseung, as if telling him to drink too.

“……”

His demeanor was so fierce that it felt like a demand that was not quite a demand. As he emptied the glass, he thought, at this rate, how is this any different from a drinking game? Heat slowly spread from his temples.

“How many times have you been in a relationship?”

“……Only twice.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, he confessed the truth. Taejung’s hand, which was refilling the glass, stopped once again.

“You mean as many as twice, fuck.”

His voice was filled with sarcasm.

“No matter how I think about it, fuck, this is a rip-off.”

He acted as if Wooseung’s dating history was a personal injustice, like someone who had been thoroughly ripped off by exorbitant prices at a tourist spot. The day he had flown into a rage upon learning he was not his first naturally overlapped with this moment.

He was a person who got irritated for all sorts of reasons, but he had not known that he would get that furious just because he was not the first. After seeing the text from Seohyun, he had even thrown his phone.

A slight worry crept in about what would happen if something similar to that time occurred again. This was why he had not wanted to answer.

“……”

Wooseung tilted his glass, avoiding his glaring gaze. When Taejung poured him a drink, he immediately drank it as if to make a point. He downed about three glasses in a row and wiped his lips with a swipe of his hand. The breath that touched his palm was already hot.

“President…… um, what is your family situation like?”

He cautiously changed the subject while watching his reaction. Taejung stared intently at Wooseung, tracing the rim of the glass with his index finger.

“Parents, older brother, sister-in-law. That’s it.”

Not long after, a low voice flowed out.

“Ah……”

So he has parents…….

Wooseung thought to himself as he drank, following him as he tilted his glass. He considered asking if both his parents were still alive, but he held back, thinking it might be a rather rude question. For some reason, he found it hard to believe that Taejung had a normal family.

Still, when he thought about it, even though Taejung’s behavior was rough, there was an aspect of him that suggested he was raised well. The kind of attitude of a child who had never been scolded and was always coddled. Always selfish, and excessively angry about things that did not go his way. He also got his pride hurt over many things.

“……”

Feeling uncomfortable with the silence, he twisted his clasped hands and happened to notice the empty glass. This time, he filled the glass himself. He also filled Taejung’s to the brim. Then he brought the glass to his lips and sipped. The alcohol was not as hot as it was at first. It went down his throat with a moderate smoothness. He welcomed the sensation of warmth spreading around his eyes. So he drank it all without leaving any behind.

Wooseung rubbed his eyes and brought up another question.

“Were your parents rich from the start?”

Taejung laughed as if he found the question absurd. Had he ever heard such a naive question in his life? It was a question that perfectly matched that dazed face.

“No.”

“Then……”

“They were just rich. From my grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa.”

At the blunt and vulgar answer, Wooseung blinked stupidly. A moment later, he said, “I see……” and nodded his head slowly.

“……”

His speech was strangely slow. More monotone than usual.

Taejung observed Wooseung and wondered, how many glasses has he had now?

“It was my first time seeing the last name Eom, so I found it interesting.”

“……”

“What is the Chinese character for it?”

“The ‘Eom’ for integrity.”

Wooseung blinked and then suddenly laughed. A sound like a soap bubble popping tapped against the air.

At that moment, Taejung’s hand, holding the glass, slipped. Flinch.

“Ah, fuck!”

Taejung quickly put the glass down and shook his wet hand. The sticky alcohol dripped onto the rug. Drip, drop. Strangely, every time Wooseung laughed, all the strength drained from his body. It was the first time he had felt such a sensation, and it flustered him every time it happened.

Just then, a hand reached out from his left. It gripped his wrist with a negligible amount of force. Taejung’s body stiffened as he stared down at his own hand with a dumbfounded expression.

“It really…… doesn’t suit you.”

Wooseung meticulously wiped Taejung’s hand with a tissue. And then placed it back where it was. The entire process was slow and gentle.

“……What doesn’t.”

Taejung finally asked, as if letting out a breath he had been holding.

“You’re not a person of integrity, President.”

Saying so, Wooseung leaned his back comfortably against the sofa. His eyes, which languidly closed and opened, looked at ease.

“……”

Perhaps because of the alcohol, the initial awkwardness had certainly faded a little. He rested his clasped hands on his stomach and swung his legs lightly. The feeling of the rug brushing against the soles of his feet was pleasant.

Just then, the frayed hem of his shorts came into view. He rubbed it with his fingers and wondered when he had bought these clothes. He was not particularly interested in clothes, and since he tended to wear things until they were frayed like this once he bought them, he rarely had any pristine clothes in his closet.

At that moment, Taejung suddenly asked.

“You fucking hate your family, don’t you.”

Wooseung furrowed his brow and turned to look at Taejung.

“……Didn’t we decide not to play the drinking game?”

Taejung, who had been wearing a serious expression the whole time, chuckled.

“Hey, I’m just asking.”

“……”

“Wow, your expression is fucking scary.”

“The question is a bit……. you know.”

“What’s wrong with it.”

Wooseung took his hand off his shorts and cupped his knees. The protruding bones fit snugly in his palms.

“President……. you seem to have a talent for making people feel bad, for hurting their feelings.”

He says, mumbling as he stares blankly down at the floor. He looked like someone who was obviously drunk.

Taejung scoffed and asked if he was drunk after just a few glasses of whiskey. Wooseung shook his head from side to side.

“No way. You’re fucking drunk.”

“That’s…… your misjudgment, President.”

As if to prove his point, Wooseung brought the glass to his lips. After drinking it all and setting down the empty glass, he poured himself another. His eyes, watching the sloshing liquid fill the glass, sparkled like a child’s.

Hoonyeong had been right. It was a good liquor. It was different from the whiskey he used to drink at the room salon, which only made his throat burn. It had a subtle scent of wood and earth, and the warm energy pleasantly heated his body.

“……”

Taejung did not stop him and just watched, wanting to see how far he would go. In fact, he even encouraged him slightly by bringing his own glass to touch Wooseung’s. Clink. A cheerful sound rang out as the glasses collided, and as if they had been waiting, the glasses were quickly emptied.

When Taejung did not drink and only watched, he said in a soft voice, “President, let’s drink.” And so they drank several more glasses in a row.

“This is really…… delicious, President.”

“……”

“It must be good liquor.”

Wooseung mumbled, wiping his lips roughly as if smudging them with the palm of his hand.

‘I received them as gifts. All of them.’

The green bottle with its cap already opened as if it were leftover from drinking, the half-remaining liquid, the soju and beer bottles left behind it in a disorganized state, and even the faint smell of alcohol that always lingered on Wooseung.

Taejung’s Adam’s apple slowly moved down and then up.

“Hey, come here.”

Wooseung, who would usually narrow his eyes and stare at him whenever he called, wondering for what reason he was doing so, approached him without a word of complaint. Swoosh. The sound of the sofa shifting tickled his ear. Taejung unconsciously rubbed his ear vigorously with his palm.

Wooseung naturally wrapped his arm around Taejung’s shoulder. Taejung, with a serious face, lifted him into his arms. Even though he was limp from being drunk, the weight that settled on his thighs and chest was merely light.

“Fucking easy, anyway.”

He was the one who had called him over, yet he scolded Wooseung for coming into his arms so readily. Wooseung took the reprimand in stride and fidgeted, looking for a comfortable position. Soon, as if the discomfort had subsided, he became still.

“……”

His even breathing tickled his chin. His heart lurched as if he were suffering from severe motion sickness. Taejung looked down at Wooseung in his arms with an unreadable expression.

‘No song comes out. They just look the prettiest, you know.’

He recalls something Hoonyeong had said once.

“……Is he pretty?”

He traced the line from his forehead to the bridge of his nose and his chin with his knuckles, muttering to himself. Objectively, it was a pretty face, but he did not know if it was the prettiest in the world. But…….

He did want to keep looking at it.

“Hey.”

Taejung shook his shoulder to wake Wooseung up. Wooseung, who had been blinking slowly, slightly lifted his head.

“Try speaking informally to me.”

Wooseung frowned faintly, with a look that said, what kind of trick is this now? Taejung paid it no mind and urged him again to hurry up and speak informally.

Wooseung did not answer and slowly sat up. The fingers gripping Taejung’s shoulder curled inward, pulling the fabric of his clothes along with them.

“Hurry up.”

His eyes carefully observed the other person. Taejung felt strangely anxious. Just as he was about to urge him one more time.

“……Taejung-ah.”

A low voice, tinged with sleepiness, called his name. Taejung flinched without realizing it. He stared blankly, his lips parting and closing. Suddenly, tension filled his entire body, and his throat tightened.

“Taejung-ah.”

“……”

“Like, this?”

It was the moment Wooseung was about to call him again.

“Taejung, mph!”

Taejung could not hold back and grabbed the nape of Wooseung’s neck, pulling him down forcefully. And he pushed his tongue first through their joined lips.

Below, he was already hard and erect.