NTH 117

“Jeha, do English people like castles?”

“I’m not sure. Why do you think that?”

“Your university buildings all looked like castles, Jeha, so I find it fascinating that even the hotel is shaped like one.”

Standing in front of the London hotel that Jeha had reserved, Jin stared blankly at the building with his mouth half open. It was a historic hotel located in Trafalgar Square, the heart of London, and just as Jin said, it had an exterior that looked like a castle out of a fairy tale.

“You can think of it as them applying a traditional architectural style, like the Hanok accommodations we have in our country. Countries with a long history are usually proud of the cultural heritage they’ve built up.”

Jin nodded at Jeha’s explanation.

“It’s really cool. Everything I’m seeing here is a hundred times cooler than I vaguely imagined.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Jin, wearing the matching knit hat he had personally knitted, smiled bashfully. The trouble Jeha had gone through, opening more than ten accommodation websites and agonizing over which place would be good, was instantly rewarded by Jin’s bright smile.

After checking in and entering the room, Jin’s mouth fell open even wider than when he had seen the building’s exterior.

“Uh…, was this room, by any chance, lived in by the Queen of England?”

Jeha laughed out loud at his serious question.

It was no wonder Jin would say such a thing, as the interior, decorated in red and gold, was reminiscent of a European aristocrat’s room. The living room attached to the suite was even furnished with a lavish sofa and table. Being near the Thames River, they could enjoy a view of the London Eye, London’s landmark Ferris wheel, through the living room window.

“It feels like a dream to be in a place like this.”

Jin said, standing by the window and looking at the scenery outside. Standing behind him, Jeha pulled Jin into an embrace against his broad chest.

“Compared to Oxford, London definitely feels more bustling, right?”

“Yeah. But I really liked Oxford. I don’t think I’ll ever forget such a beautiful place for the rest of my life.”

Having arrived in England in the afternoon three days prior, they had stayed in Oxford until the morning before crossing over to London. Because they had done some adaptation training little by little before leaving Korea, they easily overcame the eight-hour time difference.

On the first day of their official travel itinerary, Jeha showed Jin around the various parts of Oxford city, where he had spent nine years for his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees combined. They looked around the school buildings Jin had seen on <Let’s Go, Global Village Exploration> and had lunch at a cafe that Jeha had liked. Even though it had been a long time since he had seen him, the elderly cafe owner recognized Jeha right away. He said it was only natural to remember and defined Jeha as ‘a man so cool you could never forget him until you die.’

Yesterday, they went together to an international English studies conference held at Jeha’s alma mater. While observing, Jin fell for Jeha all over again as he presented on the large stage. Of course, he couldn’t understand a single word of the content being explained, but seeing such a tall and handsome man fluently explaining something with a perfect British English accent looked so captivating and sexy it made his eyes pop out.

To Jin’s comment that he would have begged him to date him even if that presentation had been a confession about his erectile dysfunction, Jeha countered that it was ‘hyper-function,’ not ‘dysfunction,’ and proved his words in bed. Jin keenly realized that Jeha’s carnal desire for him was by no means dictated by things like national borders.

Having thus wrapped up their Oxford schedule, the two, who had crossed over to London, unpacked their things at the hotel and went out again to look around the famous tourist attractions nearby. Even though they were places Jeha was extremely familiar with, having attended elementary, middle, and high school in London, walking with Jin made them feel exciting and new.

Since it was Christmas Eve, people poured out onto the streets as evening fell. The two had dinner at a wonderful restaurant that Jeha had reserved in early November. After their meal, they held hands and walked slowly through the bustling streets of London, which were filled with sparkling lights, trees, and charming Christmas decorations.

When they returned to the hotel and inserted the key card next to the door, the lights in the room came on. Jin discovered something set up in the suite’s living room and quickly ran over. On the table were a large bottle of champagne, two tall, slender glasses, a Bûche de Noël cake beautifully decorated in a Christmas style, and a small, flat, rectangular red box tied with a gold ribbon.

“Wow…”

After staring at the cake as if possessed, unable to speak for a while, Jin finally turned his head to Jeha.

“Did you arrange for this, Jeha?”

Jeha, who had approached with a smile, silently undid the buttons on Jin’s coat. After hanging both their coats on a hanger and taking Jin to wash his hands, Jeha sat him on the sofa and popped the cork on the champagne. Jeha placed the glass of clear, sparkling champagne in Jin’s hand and clinked his own glass against it.

“Merry Christmas.”

Jin, who had only been blinking, followed Jeha’s lead and drank the champagne.

Just then, Jeha picked up the small box from the table and placed it on Jin’s palm. Jin looked at Jeha with questioning eyes.

“Is this for me? Is it a Christmas present?”

“Yeah.”

Jeha gestured with his hand, signaling for him to hurry and open it. With a face mixed with nervousness and anticipation, Jin pulled the gold ribbon. Opening the box lid, he gasped. Gasp.

“What, in the world, is this…”

“I couldn’t bring its partner, so I left it in Korea.”

Reaching out his fingers, Jin carefully took out the contents.

It was a uniquely round car key, engraved with a wing-shaped emblem. Jeha held out his cell phone.

“This is it.”

A deep blue BNW car showed off its brilliant form on the screen. It was a compact car named Minimi, which Jin had once said was really cute. My goodness. Jin covered his mouth with his hand without realizing it.

“Let’s get your license when we go back. Mister Jeong and I will teach you how to drive.”

“Will I be able to drive something so expensive and pretty properly? I’m scared I’ll crash it somewhere as soon as I take it out.”

“You can learn slowly and practice a lot.”

Jin, holding the car key and fiddling with it, looked like he was about to cry, contrary to his joyful heart.

“I didn’t even prepare anything special…”

“You bought me a tie at the duty-free shop on the day we left. And you knitted this sweater and the matching hat for me in advance too.”

“Things like that are too humble compared to this.”

“Just accepting it happily will make me happy.”

That was all he wished for. In a situation where he didn’t know how his connection with Jin would unfold in the next life, what was the point of accumulating wealth? He planned to arrange for his inheritance to be returned to society after his death, like Suh Suh-hyun from his past life, but Jeha wanted to let Jin enjoy as many things as possible while living this life.

“I never imagined receiving a gift of such a grand scale. Thank you. I’m truly touched.”

Jin sniffled, wiping away the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes.

Jin, who had lived close to a beggar for a thousand years, had little desire for material possessions. Jeha knew well that what had shaken Jin’s heart was not the car itself, but his own heart and love that had melted into the process of preparing it and delivering the car key today.

How about buying him a house or a building for Christmas next time? Jeha suddenly thought, looking fondly at Jin, who was smiling while holding the car key.

Jeha and Jin stayed in London for ten days.

They visited the places Jin said he wanted to see, looked around art galleries and museums, and saw two musicals. London’s winter weather was mostly overcast and cloudy, but on the occasional days when the sun shone and the blue sky was visible, they would sit at an outdoor table at a park or cafe and spend their time leisurely and idly. This was possible because their schedule had plenty of room.

On December 31st, they watched London’s annual New Year’s Eve fireworks festival. It was an event for which tickets were extremely difficult to get, but they didn’t need tickets because their hotel was located in what was as good as a VIP section. The two moved the sofa to the window, clinked their wine glasses, and greeted the new year with the booming fireworks. After making love passionately and sleeping in until they were sluggish, they went outside and mixed with the bustling crowd to watch the famous New Year’s Day Parade.

Their fifteen-day trip concluded with an outing to Edinburgh, Scotland. As he hugged Jin, who was feeling sad while packing up small souvenirs and gifts, Jeha promised him that they would travel a lot whenever they had the chance from now on.

Jin, who had never once been outside of Seoul before meeting Jeha and thus had never even been to a highway rest stop, was excited throughout the trip, marveling and cheering at even the smallest, most trivial things.

When Jeha asked Jin for his overall assessment on the plane back, he said this:

“Everywhere we went was so pretty and cool that every step was amazing and fun. I think it was even better because I was stuck to you the whole time, Jeha. Oh, right, and I found out that <Let’s Go, Global Village Exploration> was an honest program that didn’t use CG.”

After returning home, it took a few days to readjust to the time difference.

Around the time it felt like they had completely returned to their daily routine, Jin suggested to Gu Minho that they go hang out together.

“To give him the gift?”

Jin nodded his head at Jeha’s question.

“Yeah. And there’s something I want to ask, too.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Jin now knew everything, including the fact that Gu Minho was a thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox and that Hwon was a raccoon spirit several hundred years old. For him to say there was ‘something he wanted to ask’ in that context made him curious what it could be. But since Jin insisted he would say it when they got there, Jeha decided to take him to see Gu Minho after a long time.

After asking Mister Jeong to buy three sets of macarons, two large strawberry fresh cream cakes, and two boxes of peanut brittle from the Domyeong Hotel bakery, Jeha loaded them into the car along with the gifts he had bought in England. When he got into the driver’s seat, Jin, sitting in the passenger seat, was moving a shopping bag containing two cardigans he had knitted to the back seat.

“Do you think Mr. Minho and Mr. Hwon will like those?”

Without answering Jin’s question, Jeha pulled the back of his head and softly took his lips. It was a calculated move to charge up in advance, since he wouldn’t be able to touch Jin while they were with Gu Minho.

He had intended to keep it light, but the moment their lips touched, he felt the familiar thirst and ended up putting his tongue inside his mouth. He touched, swept, and tasted every nook and cranny of Jin’s mouth, but as always, it wasn’t enough. He wanted to take the heavy cock that had stretched between his own thighs and put it back inside Jin’s body, which had craved it until dawn this morning, and stir and churn him all over.

“Phew…, why are you so persistent?”

When he came to his senses, Jin was breathing hard and looking at him with curious eyes. The expression of him tilting his head set Jeha’s heart on fire.

The deliberation was short. Jeha pushed the driver’s seat all the way back, lifted Jin in a flash, and sat him on his lap.

“Weren’t we about to leave?”

“I can’t leave like this.”

“Gasp, hngh…”

Devouring Jin’s lips once more, Jeha slipped his hand under his t-shirt and caressed his chest. When he found both nubs and gently rubbed them with his thumb, Jin’s body flinched.

The centers of their bodies, pressed together, grew hot. Every time Jin squirmed from the pleasure, the sensation of their members swelling was vivid.

“Ungh…, you’re not, even going to, do it for real…, doing this is, hard, you know, haah…”

“I’m going to do it.”

“Hngh, here?”

“Yeah. I can’t hold back.”

Jin’s eyes went wide. He didn’t know what on earth had set him off. Jeha sometimes had these sudden urges, and the only commonality about those times was the fact that there was ‘no commonality.’ Jin had yet to find an answer as to why this always gentlemanly and rational man would often transform into a beast who couldn’t distinguish between time and place and was obsessed with sex.

“I’m taking it off.”

Jeha lifted Jin’s shirt over his head and took it off. It seemed he was determined to properly devour him in earnest.

Even though it was a corner of an underground parking garage with low lighting, no other cars around, and the special tinting prevented people from seeing inside from the outside, Jin was a little dissatisfied that he was always the only one stripped bare like this. Still, since having only one of them naked was less embarrassing than both of them being naked, he didn’t insist that Jeha should take his clothes off too.

As a hot, rough tongue grazed his nipples, which had been thoroughly played with and were now exquisitely sensitive, a lewd moan escaped from between Jin’s teeth. As if there was nothing small on his body, even Jeha’s tongue was long and thick, and Jin’s chest quickly became damp. Jeha, who had been nipping at his nipples with his teeth, tickling them, gathered the non-existent breast tissue and sucked hard.

“Haah, ngh…”

His stomach churned with pleasure. Jin, who had been licking the area below Jeha’s collarbone where the refreshing scent of body wash lingered, bit down hard on the spot. Jeha, who undid the buckle on Jin’s pants and pulled down the zipper with an impatient hand, let out a somewhat ragged breath.

“I’m taking off the bottoms too.”