NHL 57

Once he became conscious of his touch, his blood would circulate faster than usual and gather in his lower abdomen. Although he was quite good at pretending to be calm in front of Dylan, Joeon actually often felt an unpleasant, restless excitement when he was with him, even when the atmosphere wasn’t even like that—his member would be half-erect. These were experiences he hadn’t even had in his late teens, when he was in the prime of his youthful vigor going through puberty.

It would be troublesome enough if only his front were going crazy, but the sensations he felt through the places where Dylan’s member had been entering also occasionally interfered with his daily life. The dull pleasure mixed with the sensation of a foreign object reminded him of the fact that there existed sensations he couldn’t control on his own.

Whenever Dylan thrust in forcefully, his entire body’s nerves would become paralyzed, and he would lose all his strength. Even though he would try to put strength into his legs, his body would end up slammed into the bed in a ridiculous manner.

Dylan, who never missed the moment when his partner’s defenses crumbled, would relentlessly rush in, pressing his massive frame against Joeon so he couldn’t budge an inch. There were countless moments when he almost lost his reason. At such times, he would find himself pleading with Dylan in Korean, “Please.” Then, it seemed there were times when Dylan, too, would lose his mind in the excitement and dare to bring the word “love” to his lips.

Naturally, he couldn’t have been serious. It must have been words that spilled out because two horny males were tangled together.

Even so, the reason he couldn’t stop having sex with Dylan was that, during the time they engaged in this addictive physical relationship, he could let go of all the distracting thoughts that tormented him and be fully immersed. There was a satisfaction that filled his hollow interior every time Dylan would mutter his usual habits about his body being hot, soft, or feeling good. He couldn’t be sure if that was simply because his erogenous zones located deep inside his body were reacting, or because the partner was Dylan.

The answer to that wouldn’t be found until he tried having sex with someone else. Of course, as of now, that was something he couldn’t even imagine. It was because as long as he maintained a fixed relationship, he wanted to be faithful to his partner. Besides, it would be extremely troublesome if he caught a sexually transmitted disease from a promiscuous sex life.

But how long would he maintain this kind of relationship?

Dylan was someone who had a positive influence on Joeon. Because of that, he didn’t want to leave him as a mere tool to satisfy his sexual desires. That was too cold and cruel. For that, the memories they had built up so far were all full of warmth.

Would it be greedy to want to end the relationship while only good feelings for a good person remained? He didn’t want to sully the good times they had built up so far with unnecessary emotional drain or fighting.

That way, whenever he thought of him someday, he would be able to recall only friendly memories and feelings.

Isn’t it a natural desire for anyone to want to have at least one period in their life that was the most supportive and enjoyable? For Joeon, such a time had stopped at the first page of a dusty old book. It was a time when his parents still held affection for each other.

That was a fleeting and intense time, like spring. Human history is supposed to be written continuously, but Joeon’s history had been a repetition of the same content ever since then. The exhausting sweltering heat and rainy seasons, and the harsh winter.

Dylan is the spring that finally came to Joeon’s life after a long time. A short noon when the snowstorms have died down and the sun, showing its face through the clouds he brought, stays on the ground for a while.

However, he knows well that spring days cannot last all year round. Summer will come even before the flowers are in full bloom. When he gets exhausted from the continuing heat and his physical strength drops, a depressing rainy season will come, and the petals will fall off easily. The air will quickly turn cold. It will freeze over just like that.

Let’s drift apart naturally with the best possible feelings before one of us gets exhausted and falls away. He had to do that. It felt like if he lost even that, his heart would ache for a very long time.

“It’s okay. You can do it slowly.”

Joeon resolved himself like that and tossed and turned all night. For some reason, it was a night he couldn’t easily fall asleep.

🏒🥅

[Alarm] Department Event — BeaverTails Monday 1:00 PM — 2:00 PM (5 mins before)

Joeon, who had skipped lunch and was engrossed in his work, took his hands off the keyboard and sat back deeply in his chair when the alarm went off. Even without that, he had been hearing the bustling sounds of people who had been wanting to go outside for a while.

Today was the day of a department event where they could legitimately slack off for the first time in a while.

BeaverTails was a small hut next to the Harbourfront Centre on the lakeshore that sold flat pastries resembling beaver tails. It was a place where one could choose to their taste, with menus ranging from simple cinnamon powder and sugar to those topped with various toppings such as hazelnut chocolate or cheesecake spread, and bananas, apples, or Oreo cookies on top. Perhaps because the weather was sunny, the walk to the shop wasn’t difficult.

Joeon checked the arena located on the way out of the office with a sidelong glance. The sign glowing in rainbow colors stole his gaze. Perhaps because there were no games scheduled for today, the neighborhood, where cars didn’t even travel much, felt even quieter.

After crossing the crosswalk a few times, a red hut of an old style standing with its back to the lake came into view not far away. Standing at a distance from the modern buildings, it exuded an atmosphere more like a countryside fishing village than the lakeshore of Canada’s largest city. Consequently, there were no customers inside the shop because it was mid-winter.

“Welcome. If you write your order on this paper here, we will make it for you.”

Perhaps the shop employee had received a call from the department head in advance, but they held out a paper as if they had been waiting upon spotting the group.

“Let’s have those who arrived first collect the menus they want to order and write them down, and for those who haven’t arrived yet, let’s have them write one more sheet as they arrive to order.”

As a large group of dozens of people was moving, there existed people who had not yet arrived. When the director organized the confused scene and suggested a plan, everyone nodded, saying let’s do that.

Joeon ordered a moderate Banana-Rama and stood huddled by the bustling shop door. Through the small window on the door, the CN Tower could be seen stretching straight up. The inside of the shop felt stuffy because dozens of people were all trying to get in. It seemed better to eat outside, even considering the winter weather.

The shop employee was in the pitiful position of having to make dozens of them from now on, but as if it didn’t matter, they skillfully rolled out the white dough with a rolling pin to make it flat, then threw it into the oil. People filmed the process on video or chatted to pass the time while waiting for the food.

“Those who ordered Classic, please come pick yours up.”

“Oh, that’s me.”

The director raised their hand like a child and received their share. They shook their head with a regretful face, saying they wanted to order other menus too, but chose only one after much deliberation. It would have been a disaster if another employee hadn’t suggested swapping half with them.

“Next, those who ordered Banana-Rama, please come pick yours up.”

As soon as he heard the menu, Joeon raised his hand just as the director had done. It was an instinctive movement to appeal his existence so that someone wouldn’t take his menu by mistake.

Just in time, the department people who arrived in the second group entered the shop one after another. Joeon buttoned up his padded jacket, took his Banana-Rama, and went outside. After breathing only the murky air mixed with the heater and people’s breath, his airways opened up wide as he stepped outside and inhaled the cool air blowing from the lake.

Joeon loitered around the bench set up right next to the shop, nibbling at his BeaverTail. It was a place where a college student with nothing to do would come out with a guitar to practice in the summer, or where lovers would whisper words of love.

A trail course was also set up on the street stretching along the lakeshore, so it wasn’t rare to see people walking their pets or jogging. Even though it was a rare sight in winter like now….