Vol 4 Ch 3

The gentle breeze gently brushed against Inseop’s face, causing him to open his eyes. Lee Wooyeon, who had laid Inseop on his lap and was waving a fan, woke up with a worried expression.

 

“What time is it?”

 

“Four o’clock.”

 

As Inseop tried to sit up in surprise, Wooyeon pressed his shoulder to make him lie down again.

 

“Just stay lying down.”

 

“But I’m already awake.”

 

When they came out of the bathroom, Inseop was already exhausted. He remembered Wooyeon laughing while he changed his clothes, even bowing his head several times…

 

“I was watching you drool in your sleep, Inseop.”

 

Blushing, Inseop wiped his lips with the back of his hand, though nothing was there.

 

“Ahahaha. Just kidding.”

 

Wooyeon lowered his head, gently kissed Inseop’s upper lip, and smiled lightly. Inseop’s face turned even redder.

 

“…We should eat.”

 

“Everything’s ready, let’s just stay like this for five more minutes.”

 

Inseop nodded obediently, although he was a little hungry. Wooyeon’s voice saying that was so affectionate.

 

As Wooyeon held Inseop’s face still in his palm, Inseop closed his eyes.

 

“Inseop.”

 

Wooyeon suddenly called Inseop.

 

“Yes?”

 

“When I was in the US, did you hate me a lot?”

 

Inseop stopped breathing for a moment, surprised. It was the first time Wooyeon had brought up something related to Jenny like this.

 

“You might have hated me a lot because of your friend.”

 

“That was a misunderstanding, and… Wooyeon…”

 

“Just be honest.”

 

“…Yes. At that time…”

 

Inseop began to answer but quickly got up to speak.

 

“But now, it’s not at all like that. It was all a misunderstanding, and rather than hating, I was… trying to, but…”

 

“I understand.”

 

Wooyeon touched Inseop’s lips with his fingertips. Every time his soft and cute lips touched his fingertips, Wooyeon realized what he had.

 

Inseop never truly hated him. With such a kind and gentle personality, he couldn’t truly hate anyone. For such Inseop to come this far to seek revenge was nothing short of a miracle. It wouldn’t have happened if Jenny hadn’t committed suicide, a stroke of luck.

 

If he knew that his friend’s death was truly fortunate for Wooyeon, then f**k, he must feel pathetic.

 

Wooyeon gently touched Inseop’s eyebrows that were drooping and fluttering his eyelashes.

 

“It’s true. I really… don’t feel that way… I like you, Wooyeon.”

 

Unable to fathom the depths of his lover’s dirty and vile heart, Inseop, overwhelmed with guilt, confessed his warm and sincere affection.

 

Wooyeon kissed Inseop’s cheek.

 

“I know that too. Just…”

 

Wooyeon held Inseop’s face in his hand and gently stroked his cheek with his thumb. Even though he held him in his hand, he still felt greedy.

 

“I wonder how beautiful you were back then. If only we had met a little sooner…”

 

“Uh, that…”

 

Inseop’s face blushed deeply, and he quickly averted his gaze. Whenever Inseop heard expressions of beauty from Wooyeon’s lips, he felt uncomfortable. Like someone wearing clothes that didn’t suit them.

 

Once, he said this with a determined expression.

 

“You don’t have to deliberately say that.”

 

At that time, Wooyeon stared at Inseop for a long time before responding.

 

“Deliberately? What’s wrong with saying something’s beautiful if it’s beautiful? If you have other good expressions, please recommend them. This is a chance for me to study Korean again.”

 

Since then, Inseop didn’t ask him not to say beautiful anymore. He just avoided his gaze subtly.

 

So damn beautiful.

 

Wooyeon gently touched the most beautiful thing he had and smiled with his eyes.

 

“Will you go to the United States soon?”

 

“To the United States?”

Lee Wooyeon ran his fingers through Inseop’s hair, pushing it behind his ear, and spoke.

“I want to see the photos of you when you were young. You have many albums, right? Photos hanging on every wall of the stairs.”

“How did you know?”

Inseop asked, his eyes widening. Wooyeon replied, “I just had a feeling you might, that’s all.”

“We have many albums. Lots of photos too. My parents used to take a lot of pictures, not just on special occasions, even on regular days.”

When the topic of his house in America came up, Inseop became noticeably excited and started talking.

“We decided to take a family photo in the backyard once, but it rained heavily the day before. Still, my grandmother came, and everyone gathered to take the picture. But there were many people, and Will got excited and ran over. We ended up getting covered in mud trying to catch Will as he dashed around…”

Inseop stopped talking and closed his mouth. Wooyeon looked at Inseop with a relaxed smile.

“…Wasn’t it fun?”

“No. It was a lot of fun.”

Wooyeon replied mischievously. Inseop pressed his finger against the corner of Wooyeon’s lips as they laughed, and Wooyeon playfully bit Inseop’s finger. Then he spoke.

“If I hadn’t had that accident, I would have stayed in the United States. Then maybe we would have met a little earlier.”

“Then…. things might not have turned out this way.”

Inseop cautiously replied, lowering his gaze.

“Why?”

“…Why what?”

“I always feel confident that if I meet you again, I’ll fall for you all over again.”

Wooyeon said, brushing his nose against Inseop’s. Inseop gazed at his handsome lover as if in a trance and muttered, “I wonder.”

““It’s because I didn’t meet Inseop a few times back then. If we had met often and talked, surely….”

Seeing Inseop’s gaze blur slightly, Wooyeon furrowed his brows momentarily.

“How many times did we meet?”

“Well….”

“More than five times?”

“……”

“Surely we didn’t meet over ten times?”

When Inseop didn’t respond, Wooyeon muttered curses and ran his hand through his hair.

“But, we only  hardly met from a distance. You didn’t see me by chance. It was just meaningless encounters. I wasn’t someone who would catch your eye…”

Inseop quickly defended Wooyeon, speaking of the past. Wooyeon pressed his forehead.

“Why do you say that?”

Wooyeon’s voice was low.

“What?”

“Why do you keep saying that you and I, if it weren’t for different circumstances, would never have met?”

“I just… the situation back then… there was no chance to get close… I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for? I’m the idiot who doesn’t even remember seeing you more than ten times.”

Feeling the atmosphere tense, Inseop grabbed Wooyeon’s hand.

“If that happens, I’ll make sure to approach you first.”

“What?”

“If, by some chance, I mean, not that there’s a chance, but, not that there’s no chance for us to be like this, I mean, I’m talking about the possibility of going back to the past. Anyway, so if we meet again, I’ll definitely approach you first.”

Was there a need to say such a resolute and adorable thing?

With a serious expression and even clenching his fist, his lover in front of him, Wooyeon couldn’t help but smirk.

“How will you do that?”

Wooyeon asked flatly, suppressing his laughter.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Inseop pursed his lips and began to seriously contemplate.

“Damn, really, if I’m like this…”

Wooyeon leaned his head down, and as he did, Inseop’s lips met his, lightly sucking them in. Receiving the kiss, Wooyeon pushed his lips forward this time, initiating a short kiss.

Like a young boy who never gets skilled no matter how many times he does it. Just pressing lips together and timidly brushing tongues. Even the careful grip of clothes.

Such small, insignificant actions of the other person make the heart race as if it will burst. From the distance where their noses almost touched, Wooyeon gazed blankly at Inseop for a moment before whispering.

“So try to be persuasive. Since you’re confident about it.”

Inseop nodded quietly, pulling Wooyeon’s neck closer. The renewed kiss ended only after Inseop’s stomach made a growling sound. Wooyeon burst into laughter, taking Inseop’s hand and leading him to the dining table.