Vol 6 Ch 25

“Wooyeon, are you okay?”  

Inseop asked as they stood in front of the entrance. It was the same question he’d asked earlier in the car.  

“Yes, I’m fine,” Wooyeon replied. His steps were steady, his posture firm, and his eyes calm.  

Wooyeon rarely got drunk, and even when he did, he never showed it. He pressed the password on the door. The 12-digit number, a combination of their birthdays and anniversaries, was entered flawlessly, without hesitation.  

“Aren’t you coming in?” Wooyeon asked, holding the door open.  

“Oh, yes.”  

Inseop stepped inside the entrance. They hadn’t talked much on the way home. Wooyeon sat in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, though he wasn’t sleeping. Inseop occasionally asked if he was really okay.  

…He doesn’t seem okay at all.  

The sound of the door closing echoed behind them.  

“Wooyeon, um…”  

Wooyeon didn’t answer and walked further into the house, still wearing his shoes.  

So, he is drunk after all.  

Inseop hurried after him.  

“Wooyeon.”  

Wooyeon collapsed onto the sofa. Inseop quickly took off his shoes and set them aside by the door.  

“Should I bring you some water?”  

Leaning back on the sofa, Wooyeon responded with a soft “Yes.”  

Inseop filled a cup with cold water and brought it to him. Wooyeon sat with his eyes closed.  

“Are you sleeping?”  

“No.”  

Wooyeon opened his eyes, and there was no trace of intoxication in his gaze. He had drunk enough to make four adults tipsy, and even CEO Kim, who had initially been casually drinking wine with them, became pale and tried to stop him after seeing how much he was ordering.  

Inseop was worried. It was rare for Wooyeon to drink enough to get drunk.  

Did something happen while I was on the phone? …Or did I mess up again?  

“Have some water.”  

Wooyeon took the cup but didn’t drink, instead, staring quietly at Inseop.  

“Is there anything else you need?”  

“If I said I needed something, would you give it to me?”  

“Huh?”  

Wooyeon let out a short chuckle and finished the water in one gulp. He thanked Inseop and placed the cup in the sink. Inseop quickly followed him and asked, “Where are you going?”  

“To shower.”  

Wooyeon unbuttoned his shirt, casually asking, “Are you going to join me?” Inseop quickly shook his head.  

“Alright.”  

Wooyeon walked into the bathroom on the right side of the living room. Inseop took off his outdoor clothes, tidied up, and showered in the bathroom attached to his room. He quickly dried his hair and stepped back into the living room, where he could still hear the sound of running water from Wooyeon’s shower.

Inseop sat on the sofa, waiting for Wooyeon. After about ten minutes, a sense that something was wrong crept in, and Inseop rushed to the bathroom door.

“Wooyeon.”  

Inseop knocked on the door and called his name. He wondered if the sound of the water was preventing Wooyeon from hearing him, so he called again, more loudly this time. There was no answer.

“Wooyeon, I’m sorry. I’m coming in.”  

Inseop opened the door.

Wooyeon was lying in the bathtub, fully dressed. The water from the showerhead drenched his clothes and even his hair. It could have been a scene from a photoshoot, his beauty so striking, but Inseop was alarmed and ran to him.

“Wooyeon! Wooyeon!”  

Inseop grabbed Wooyeon’s arm and shook him.

“Wooyeon…”  

Wooyeon suddenly opened his eyes, and Inseop held his breath. His eyes were cold and composed, completely devoid of any trace of drunkenness, observing Inseop calmly.

“Are you okay?”  

“Yes.”  

The answer came as straight and steady as before. Inseop turned off the shower and took hold of Wooyeon’s arm.

“What happened? Did you collapse? Should I call an ambulance?”  

Inseop frantically checked Wooyeon’s head to see if he was hurt.

“I took some pills and lay down to sleep.”  

Wooyeon, who had been staring at Inseop, suddenly spoke.

“What?”  

“…I couldn’t sleep.”  

Inseop then noticed that the bathroom cabinet was open. Inside, Wooyeon’s pill bottles were neatly lined up.

“Did you take your meds?”  

“Yes.”  

“You shouldn’t take pills after drinking.”  

Inseop looked at Wooyeon with concern. Aside from being soaking wet, Wooyeon looked perfectly composed.

“Can you stand?”  

Wooyeon slowly got up. Inseop led him out of the bathroom. He sat Wooyeon on the bed and brought a large towel. After roughly drying him off, Inseop started to undress Wooyeon.

“What are you doing?”  

Wooyeon asked, as if he was genuinely curious.

“You can’t sleep in wet clothes.”  

Inseop unbuttoned Wooyeon’s shirt. It wasn’t easy to undress someone, especially someone a head taller than himself, when their clothes were soaked and clinging to them.

“Wooyeon, could you raise your arms a bit…”  

Before he could finish his sentence, his vision flipped. He found himself thrown onto the bed, with Wooyeon on top of him.

It could have been a strange scene, but the sight of a man drenched in water, fully clothed in the middle of the night, was so breathtaking that it made him want to sigh.

“Are you going to do it?”  

“W-what?”  

Inseop’s voice trembled a little, his heart racing at the sight of Wooyeon’s beautiful face so close.

“Marriage. Are you going to do it?”  

Inseop hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The sudden proposal had caught him off guard, but he had no regrets about his choice. He was happy that Wooyeon had accepted with a smile, and he was glad they would be spending their future together. After returning to Korea from Hawaii, Wooyeon would often glance at the ring on his pinky finger, joking that since he was now tied to Inseop, Inseop had to take responsibility for him. Each time, Inseop nodded eagerly, promising he would.

Though they hadn’t set a specific date or made concrete plans, Inseop didn’t feel anxious or doubtful. The only thing he regretted was not buying a better ring. The cheap, tacky ring from a souvenir shop felt inadequate for Wooyeon — just like himself.

“You said that you needed a relationship that left something behind, in one way or another.”  

“Ah, …yes.”

They were two very different people. It was natural that, living together, they would sometimes argue and have emotional misunderstandings. But Inseop didn’t want to live in fear of them drifting apart every time that happened. Even if they fought and hurt each other, he wanted to stay by Wooyeon’s side. That’s why he proposed.

“What if I ask you to leave everyone else and only keep me?”  

“What?”  

“To cut off all your other relationships and just keep me. Would you do that?”  

Only then did Inseop realize what Wooyeon meant by “other relationships.”  

“…Are you talking about my family?”  

“Yes.”  

Inseop hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said no. Wooyeon was precious to him. He valued him so much that he had been willing to leave his family, whom he loved more than his own life. But that didn’t mean he could abandon his family forever.  

“…I don’t think I can do that.”  

Even though Wooyeon was drunk, Inseop didn’t want to lie and brush it off. He didn’t want to deceive him.  

“Why?”  

Wooyeon asked, as if he couldn’t understand.  

“Because they’re my family, of course…”  

“Is that supposed to be natural?”  

Inseop could sense the unspoken words behind Wooyeon’s pressing gaze.  

Your biological parents abandoned you too, didn’t they?  

Inseop’s eyes began to fill with tears, turning red as if about to spill over. He didn’t want to cry, but the tears welled up anyway. He quickly turned his head to the side to hide his sobs.  

“Inseop.”  

Wooyeon called his name, but Inseop, with his face buried in the pillow, didn’t answer. Wooyeon’s wet lips touched his cheek.  

“Inseop, look at me.”  

“…”  

Sometimes, Wooyeon couldn’t hide his cruel nature. Sometimes it slipped out by mistake, and sometimes, like now, he didn’t even bother to try hiding it. It hurt every time, but bearing that pain was his own responsibility. He had decided to accept it.  

“Look at me, okay?”  

…That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.  

“Inseop.”  

Wooyeon’s large hand rested on Inseop’s shoulder. Slowly, Inseop turned his head. Their eyes met. Droplets of water, still clinging to Wooyeon’s hair, fell with a soft drip. Inseop reached out to wipe the remaining water from Wooyeon’s face. Wooyeon furrowed his brows, seemingly uncomfortable with the warmth of the touch on his cheek.  

“…You’ll catch a cold.”  

Inseop voiced his concern softly. For a moment, the veins on Wooyeon’s hand, gripping Inseop’s shoulder, stood out.  

“If you go to sleep with your hair still wet…”  

Inseop’s worried words were cut off. Wooyeon’s wet lips swallowed Inseop’s. Inseop flinched in surprise, but Wooyeon cursed under his breath, “F*ck it.”  

“Stay still.”  

Wooyeon whispered as he pressed Inseop’s limbs down with his whole body. It felt strange. Though his actions were forceful, it felt as though Wooyeon was desperately clinging to him. Maybe it was because his entire body was soaked, like someone who had fallen into water.  

Through the wet clothes, Inseop could feel Wooyeon’s firm body pressing against him. Wooyeon threw off his wet shirt. The heavy garment dropped to the floor with a thud.  

“Ah…”  

Wooyeon’s damp, bare skin pressed against Inseop with a heavy weight. Even though he had shed the weight of his clothes, it felt even heavier than before. The pressure made it hard for Inseop to breathe. He gasped and called out, “Wooyeon…”  

Instead of answering, Wooyeon quickly pulled down Inseop’s pants and underwear. The wet fabric stuck to his bare skin, the sensation strange and unfamiliar, causing Inseop to frown.  

“What?”  

“…What? Ugh.”  

Wooyeon pulled Inseop tightly into an embrace, pressing their bodies together so firmly that it hurt.  

“Do you hate it?”  

Wooyeon asked.  

Wooyeon didn’t drink often. Occasionally, they would share a couple of beers or some wine with a meal. He never drank too much, and on the rare occasion that he did get tipsy, he would kiss Inseop goodnight and head off to his own room to sleep.  

Once, Inseop had asked why they didn’t sleep together when Wooyeon drank. Wooyeon had chuckled as if the question was absurd and flicked the tip of Inseop’s nose with his finger.  

‘Of course, we sleep separately.’  

‘Why?’  

Inseop rubbed his stinging nose as he asked.

‘I’m already out of my mind; if I get drunk too, who knows what I might do to you,’ Wooyeon had said, laughing lightly, but Inseop couldn’t laugh along.

There had been only one time, back in the U.S., when they had s*x while Wooyeon was intoxicated with both alcohol and drugs. Wooyeon, mistaking Inseop for a mere illusion, had acted without restraint. He had tied Inseop’s arms behind his back with a curtain tie and had s*x with him without any emotional exchange or consent. Though Wooyeon later realized what he had done and apologized, it seemed that incident still lingered in his mind.

“Do you not want to do it?”  

It wasn’t hard to understand what he intended. The hard erection, his eyes gleaming with desire—it was clear what would come next.  

That night, Inseop had told Wooyeon that the s*x hadn’t been forced and that he had wanted it, too. Wooyeon had clung to Inseop, apologizing profusely and begging for forgiveness. He pleaded not to be abandoned, kissing Inseop as he did. And they had s*x again. That time, Wooyeon, intoxicated with both alcohol and drugs, had been more honest and brutal than ever before. It had been overwhelming, as if the air was being sucked out of Inseop’s lungs, but strangely, even that was good.

Wooyeon had lamented that everything had been ruined because of Inseop, that he couldn’t sleep and didn’t know what to do. Inseop felt a deep sympathy for him, a tender fondness. Most of all…

‘I love you, Inseop. I love you…’  

Wooyeon, who would never say those words in his right mind, had whispered them repeatedly while holding Inseop. Even though they were the words of someone not fully conscious, Inseop had loved hearing them so much. He had secretly hoped that one day, Wooyeon might say those words again when drunk. But since then, Wooyeon had never uttered them again, nor had he ever initiated s*x while intoxicated.