MORE 38

The act itself was exhausting, but I didn’t dislike being held in Woo Hyunse’s arms and receiving kisses here and there. It felt like a reward one earns after enduring penance. Acting spoiled, Siyul hugged the other man as tightly as he could with both arms.

“Shall we go to the bedroom now?”

“…Excuse me?”

The strength drained from Siyul’s arms in an instant. His flushed cheeks turned pale as a sheet of paper, and his pupils wavered minutely. I couldn’t believe what he had just said. I asked him with my eyes if he was serious, but unlike me, who was on the verge of fainting, he looked as refreshed as if he had just lightly stretched his body.

“We have to do it one more time.”

It wasn’t a joke. There was sincerity in the hand stroking up my thigh. Only then did Siyul realize that the place he was sitting was the mouth of a tiger. I tried to stand up with lightning speed, but I couldn’t escape his lap. The snare that had caught me was a step ahead of me.

“Is this why you brought me here?”

My voice was completely hoarse. It was a painful sound even to my own ears. I cleared my throat with a “hem, hem,” but the scratchiness in my throat didn’t go away completely.

Siyul sprawled out on the bed like a corpse. My hair was a messy tangle over my eyes, but I didn’t have the strength left to sweep it away. Lying prone, I barely managed to turn my head to the side. Pressing my cheek into the sheet until it was squashed, I glared at the person lying next to me with eyes full of resentment.

I met the gaze of Woo Hyunse, who was lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He smiled faintly and reached out, pushing my sweat-drenched hair back from my forehead.

“Half.”

“Then what about the other half?”

“To cook you something delicious.”

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t even had lunch. But I wasn’t hungry. Perhaps because Woo Hyunse had been in and out of me so much, I felt full without needing to eat anything.

“I’m not hungry, though…”

Even saying that one sentence made my dry throat ache. When I coughed, Woo Hyunse got up and brought a bottle of water. Seeing that there was no strength left in my outstretched hand, he opened the cap himself and took a sip. He passed the water to me by overlapping our lips. Siyul swallowed it down, gulp, gulp.

As my thirst vanished, I regained a bit of strength. Siyul crawled up, held the water bottle with both hands, and drank. Having had all the moisture in my body—sweat, semen—drained out, the water tasted like honey.

“What were you planning to cook for me?”

“I don’t know how to make many things. Pasta?”

I wasn’t hungry, but since Woo Hyunse was making it for me, I couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. Siyul wrapped the sheet around his shoulders and nodded his head vigorously.

“Please do. I want to eat it.”

Woo Hyunse laughed as if he were looking at something cute. He ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead, telling me to rest. Siyul sat blankly on the bed, staring fixedly at the back of him as he turned around and walked out. On his sturdy shoulders and broad back were the marks I had scratched in, unable to hold back.

Only after he had completely left the room did Siyul collapse onto the bed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The scent left behind by our actions was faintly lingering in the bedroom. It was both tart and sweet.

I placed my hand over my chest. My heart was thumping, thump, thump. It felt heavier than any heartbeat I had felt until now. It was unfamiliar, but I didn’t want to reject it.

Siyul hugged the pillow and turned onto his side. As I buried my nose into the soft, fluffy pillow, the scent rushed in even more strongly. It probably wasn’t pheromones, but even that was precious to Siyul. I inhaled deeply, exhaled shortly, and filled my lungs with the fragrance once more.

I was about to close my eyes due to the exhaustion washing over me, but I heard a clattering sound from outside. My curiosity turned in that direction. I wanted to see Woo Hyunse cooking. Siyul opened his drowsy eyes, shining. In any case, we couldn’t stay together all night tonight. It felt like a waste of time to fall asleep.

I climbed out of bed and looked around for my clothes. But my clothes weren’t under the table, on the sofa, or anywhere. Even if we had already seen everything there was to see, it was still outside, and it was embarrassing to walk out naked. Siyul considered wrapping himself in a sheet, but then he discovered one of Woo Hyunse’s tops on the sofa and snatched it up to wear.

Because of the difference in our builds, even just wearing a single T-shirt, it came down to my thighs like the hem of a skirt. The neckline was large, clearly showing my collarbones, which were spotted with red marks.

“Are there no other clothes?”

But there were no other clothes in sight. With no other choice, Siyul adjusted the garment that was slipping off his shoulders and trotted out of the room.

In the kitchen, he was in the middle of cooking. Water was bubbling, and Woo Hyunse had ingredients on the cutting board and was chopping them clack, clack with a knife. He turned around when Siyul made his presence known. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but after seeing the state I was in, he covered his eyes and let out suppressed laughter.

Is my appearance that funny?

I had come out without looking in a mirror, so I didn’t know what I looked like right now. The clothes were baggy, like I was wearing a grain sack; my hair was messy in every direction; my eyelids and the area under my eyes were thick and swollen.

There was a round bite mark on my cheek, my exposed skin was covered in traces of someone who had chewed, bitten, tasted, and enjoyed it, and on the inner thighs, which were precariously visible beneath the hem of the shirt, red handprints were stamped for all to see. It was as if I was advertising to everyone, “I just came rolling out of bed.”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

After laughing for a while, he said something out of the blue. Siyul couldn’t immediately understand the meaning and asked back.

“Do what on purpose?”

“The clothes.”

Although the fabric of the clothes was soft and looked expensive, I wasn’t the kind of person who shamelessly coveted other people’s clothes. Worried that Woo Hyunse might misunderstand, Siyul waved his hands and quickly explained.

“Ah, I didn’t have anything to wear… where are my clothes?”

“I put them in the washing machine. Because they were wet.”

I didn’t know why they were wet for a moment, then I realized. My cheeks turned red instantly. I covered my face with one hand. It had started on the living room sofa. Since my clothes were scattered carelessly under the sofa, the culprit who made them wet was probably me.

“They won’t be dry by today…”

“Just put them in the dryer. If they aren’t dry, wear my clothes.”

I hadn’t even thought of a dryer. In that case, there wouldn’t be a problem when I left. As I felt a sense of relief, my mind turned to the fact that my lower half was completely exposed. When I hesitantly asked if I could borrow some underwear, he told me not to wear any and to just stay like that. He said it was too big anyway and would just slide off.

Should I bring a spare set of clothes next time? Thinking such trivial thoughts, I walked around the island table and approached Woo Hyunse.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just sit comfortably.”

The only cooking Siyul knew how to do was instant noodles. Cooking was Kwon Yuwon’s domain. Since he was also a fan of Korean food, I had never even seen pasta on our dinner table.

Wanting to help with something, Siyul couldn’t just sit still and wandered around Woo Hyunse. I stood on tiptoes to peek over his shoulder, and even when I sat my butt on the table, I would jump right back up to attach myself to his side and watch the cooking process.

“You really can’t sit still.”

Watching the restless Siyul, Woo Hyunse threw out a remark. Siyul, who had been stretching out and peering over Woo Hyunse, quickly checked his mood.

“I get bored if I just sit. Am I in the way?”

“No.”

I thought he was telling me to get lost because I was annoying, but the usual smile was playing at the corners of his lips. No, if anything, it seemed a little deeper. Siyul smiled sheepishly and clung to Woo Hyunse. Even though I must have been in the way, Woo Hyunse didn’t make a single complaint. He moved just fine even with a piece of luggage hanging off his side. From afar, I must have looked like a cicada stuck to an old tree.

The pasta was finished in no time. It was a dish I had only eaten when it appeared at school lunch; I had never bought it with my own money. I didn’t particularly like it, but strangely, looking at the pasta Woo Hyunse had plated for me made my mouth water. It looked delicious. It felt as if I could even hear my stomach growling.

“I’ll eat well.”

Watching Woo Hyunse start eating first, Siyul also copied what he had seen on TV, twirling the noodles onto his fork and putting them in his mouth in one bite. My eyes went wide. It wasn’t the ketchup-drenched taste I had eaten at school or the orphanage. Was this what pasta was supposed to taste like? It was a whole new world, just like a yogurt drink.

The hunger I had forgotten was revived. Siyul’s hand movements quickened. I didn’t even know sauce was smeared on my mouth. While I was eating frantically, I was startled by a steady gaze and looked up.

Did I eat too ravenously? Since we grew up without parents, Kwon Yuwon’s teaching that I should be mindful of how I eat wherever I go and that I shouldn’t eat like a glutton flashed through my mind. Feeling embarrassed, I put down my fork, albeit a bit late.

“It was so delicious… I ate too sloppily, didn’t I.”

“It looks good, so why not.”

He kindly wiped the sauce from around my lips. Siyul licked his lips, tasting where Woo Hyunse’s finger had brushed. It tasted like refreshing tomato.

“Where did you learn to do things like this?”

“I didn’t. It’s basic. Because pasta is easy.”

To have such skill without ever having learned it. I had heard a chef at a restaurant say that cooking is something you need to be born with a knack for. No matter how I thought about it, God had messed up the distribution of talent.

“I didn’t think a CEO would do things like cooking. I thought you would order in or hire someone.”

“Most of the time, that’s true. Just for today, especially for Kwon Siyul.”

It wasn’t an act of showing off. His voice was as calm as if it were a simple fact. Even so, my heart fluttered. Siyul didn’t show it and bowed his head, putting more pasta into his mouth.