PA 12

“Hah….”

Reading Yejun’s very subtle reaction, Junhyuk felt his entire body begin to boil even hotter from that moment on.

Junhyuk continued to chase Yejun’s retreating tongue, wrapping around it as if to ensnare it. At the same time, he pressed his thigh firmly between Yejun’s legs. A faint smile on his lips at the sight of Yejun’s arousal, Junhyuk sucked on his ensnared tongue with extreme persistence.

In that instant, Yejun felt like his vision was about to go black. He had even forgotten how to breathe. Yejun’s heart pounded irregularly. What was even stranger was that the more their hot tongues intertwined, the more Yejun was overcome by an indescribably electrifying thrill.

To shake off this increasingly intense and unfamiliar sensation, Yejun gripped Junhyuk’s firm forearm tightly. Junhyuk paid no mind and continued his persistent, lingering kiss on Yejun, who was clinging to him in his embrace.

Yejun’s reason screamed at him to push Junhyuk away, but his instincts couldn’t bring themselves to reject Junhyuk’s relentless kisses and the touch of his hands roaming every inch of his body. Following the instinct hidden deep in his heart, Yejun ended up wrapping his arms around Junhyuk’s neck and clinging to him.

Junhyuk laid Yejun down flat and climbed on top of him. The loose t-shirt Yejun was wearing had ridden halfway up to his chest, and Junhyuk’s mischievous hand slipped quite brazenly into the sweatpants Yejun was wearing. At the same time, Junhyuk’s lips slowly descended and stopped at Yejun’s nape.

“Ah!”

Junhyuk bit the long, white nape with his teeth, and Yejun let out a shrill moan from the strangely thrilling pain.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Ah… Ju, Junhyuk!”

Junhyuk’s hand gripped Yejun’s lower body. His senses snapping back, Yejun tried to push Junhyuk away, but he realized he could never beat him in strength. Having no choice, Yejun kept calling Junhyuk’s name. Only then did Junhyuk, in a dazed state, meet Yejun’s eyes.

“Ah… Yejun.”

Tears were welling up in Yejun’s clear eyes. Only then did Junhyuk realize he had been too hasty. He gave Yejun’s lips a light kiss, then helped him up and sat him on the sofa again.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I was too rushed, wasn’t I?”

“……”

Yejun’s shoulders trembled faintly as he lowered his head. Junhyuk hugged him soothingly. Enclosed in the broad embrace, Yejun could feel Junhyuk’s scent and warm body temperature, as well as his fiercely pounding heartbeat. Yejun didn’t dislike the feeling. That fact was what made Yejun even more flustered and scared.

“Yejun.”

“……”

Junhyuk cupped Yejun’s white cheeks with both hands, making him meet his eyes when he didn’t answer. The teardrops that had welled in Yejun’s eyes fell.

“Do you hate me?”

“……”

I don’t hate you.

But Yejun couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. Staring at Junhyuk with faintly trembling eyes, Yejun began to hit his chest.

“Is it really impossible?”

“I, I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

Seeing the confused Yejun, Junhyuk smiled faintly without realizing it. He hugged Yejun again.

“I won’t rush you. I won’t press you either.”

“……”

“I’ll keep waiting. So try to peel off the shell that surrounds your heart, one layer at a time. If it still doesn’t work out after that, I’ll back off. Let’s take it slow.”

“I, I don’t know. I really.”

Junhyuk wanted to take Yejun to bed right now and ravish his body like a madman. His lower body, which had become huge and taut inside his pants, also ached throbbingly.

There will be many more days to be with Yejun in the future.

He decided to be satisfied with just holding Yejun in his arms for today. Letting out a long sigh, Hoo, Junhyuk patted Yejun’s back soothingly.

☂︎

Junhyuk said he would use the study and told Yejun to use the bedroom. He didn’t forget to tell him to lock the door when he went to sleep. Something about how he didn’t know when or how he might turn into a beast. Yejun lay curled up in a corner of the bed, which was large enough for three or four adults to sleep on, and couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.

“Hah….”

Yejun, who had been tossing and turning until dawn, got up without a sound as soon as the first buses started running. Then he quickly changed his clothes, grabbed his bag that he had thrown in the living room, and tiptoed out of the house.

“I only have afternoon classes today.”

Yejun muttered as he trudged down the still-empty streets. He shook his head vigorously, trying to erase what had happened last night. But it felt as if the heat of that moment still lingered, as every place Junhyuk’s hands had touched seemed to burn.

Junhyuk is a man.

Yejun had never loved anyone before. Come to think of it, there had never been a girl who made his heart flutter or tremble. Yejun thought it was because he had just become an adult.

In high school, he had felt nothing even when a shy girl confessed to him. He had just assumed it was because she was someone he wasn’t interested in and didn’t give it much thought. And so, Yejun had never been in a relationship.

Ah… my first kiss.

Only then did Yejun realize that he had had his first kiss with Junhyuk. He touched his own lips. The memory of Junhyuk’s lips wreaking havoc inside his mouth came back vividly. Yejun, who had been walking quickly, stopped in his tracks. His heart began to pound again, and his face flushed red and hot. On top of that, his lower abdomen seemed to tickle strangely again.

Ah….

Junhyuk, who had rushed toward him and showered him with kisses, had shown no hesitation.

Is he a player?

Junhyuk had seemed skillful in some way. Yejun couldn’t keep his head straight amidst his pouring kisses and his hot, lingering touch.

Kissing someone else… or mixing bodies….

Yejun’s expression became noticeably sullen as his thoughts reached that point, and he seemed somewhat angry as well. Yejun wondered whether or not this was Junhyuk’s first time mixing bodies with someone, like it was for him.

What am I thinking?

Yejun slapped his own cheeks hard enough to make a smack smack sound and quickened his pace again. The phone in his pocket vibrated. But Yejun only looked at Junhyuk’s name on the screen and didn’t answer the call. From then on, Yejun began to desperately avoid Junhyuk.

☂︎

“So this is how you’re going to be.”

Yejun ultimately didn’t even come to the liberal arts class. Junhyuk was growing frantic with Yejun, who had been avoiding him for a week. Although Junhyuk had said he would back off if Yejun said he didn’t like him, he had no intention of giving up on Yejun. In fact, Junhyuk was seriously contemplating whether he should lock Yejun up until he accepted him.

“Junhyuk sunbae, did something happen with Yejun?”

“Hey, Lee Yejun is a first-year. He can miss class once in a while, what are you so worried about?”

Cheolwon said, as if chiding Nayoung.

“Sunbae, aren’t you worried about your fellow group member?”

Nayoung spoke irritably to Cheolwon, who had shown up for the first time in nearly two weeks, and stormed out of the classroom.

“Na, Nayoung… that’s not what I meant….”

“Cheolwon sunbae.”

Just as Cheolwon was about to follow Nayoung out in a fluster, Junhyuk called out to him from behind, stopping him.

“What?”

“Would you like to have a drink with me and Nayoung?”

“Nayoung just stormed out angry….”

“I’ll call Nayoung.”

“Can you do that?”

It seemed that Cheolwon had a one-sided crush on Nayoung. Persuaded by Junhyuk, Cheolwon thought this drinking session was a chance to appease Nayoung and nodded his head vigorously.

“In return, please give Yejun a call later.”

“Me?”

Junhyuk nodded and posted a message in the group chat.

[We’re having a group meeting. Time is six o’clock, place is the beer pub in front of the school. Everyone please attend.]

After class, Junhyuk, Cheolwon, and Nayoung gathered at the beer pub. As if he had expected Yejun not to show up even by eleven o’clock at night, Junhyuk just kept drinking. Nayoung, who had been waiting for Yejun to come, also got up from her seat, mentioning the last bus.

“Cheolwon sunbae, did things go well with Nayoung?”

“I don’t know.” “I’ll arrange gatherings like this from time to time, so please give Yejun a call right now.”

“What should I say?”

“Please tell him I drank too much and passed out.”

“Really? Okay.”

Cheolwon called Yejun.

“Hello? Is this Yejun?”

— Yes, sunbae.

Junhyuk was dumbfounded. Yejun, who never answered his calls, had answered Cheolwon sunbae’s call right away.

“Yejun! Junhyuk is completely passed out from drinking right now. So, do you know where Junhyuk lives?”

— Ah… yes.

“I don’t. I think we should at least get him home. Could you come here right now?”

— Did Junhyuk drink a lot?

“He was chugging it. Phew… I don’t have time. Please come quickly.”

— Ah… okay.

Yejun thought that since Junhyuk was drunk, all he had to do was take him home. After hesitating for a moment, Yejun couldn’t refuse Cheolwon’s urging, left his dorm, and hailed a taxi.

A short while later, Yejun arrived at the beer pub mentioned in the group chat. Just as Yejun, wearing his cap pulled down low, was about to enter the place—

“Lee Yejun.”

Yejun heard a familiar low-pitched voice. There stood Junhyuk, perfectly fine.

☂︎

After much deliberation, Yejun even skipped his liberal arts class, barely managing to shake off Junhyuk and return to his dorm. Then he opened his phone and was checking his messages one by one.

[We’re having a group meeting. Time is six o’clock, place is the beer pub in front of the school. Everyone please attend.]

Yejun stared at Junhyuk’s message in the group chat for a long time before throwing his phone onto the bed. Yejun climbed onto the top bunk, lay face down in a star shape, and let out a deep sigh. It still felt like his lips were burning hot.

To Yejun’s dismay, rather than finding Junhyuk’s kiss disgusting, his heart kept pounding, driving him crazy. He saw himself as abnormal and shook his head vigorously as if in strong denial.

“No, no!”

Images of Junhyuk’s bright smile, of him holding and comforting a crying Yejun because of his father, flashed through Yejun’s mind like a panorama in a faded black-and-white film. When held in Junhyuk’s firm embrace, Yejun had felt a sense of stability for the first time. Whenever he recalled the situation where Junhyuk had showered him with kisses, Yejun’s lower abdomen would once again tingle unbearably.

“Have I finally gone crazy?”

Yejun got down from the bed and went out into the unlit living room. He tried to watch a variety show on TV, but his dazed mind wouldn’t return to normal. Then, on an impulse, he typed ‘queer movie’ into his phone’s search bar. An incredible number of movies were listed, and among them, the one that caught Yejun’s eye was a movie called ‘Call Me by Your Name.’