LM 32

It was a sharp, biting remark. Sadly, it wasn’t even an insult. Woo Gibbeum, Woo Hyunse, and even Woo Jihye, the youngest who received all of the old man’s affection, were all in the same boat as stud horses in this family.

Woo Hyunse could only laugh softly. Now he understood why Woo Gibbeum had come all the way out here just to smoke.

“Don’t worry about unnecessary things yourself, noona. And ‘hookups’? What kind of cheap language is that for a gallery director?”

Despite Woo Hyunse’s sarcasm, Woo Gibbeum didn’t even raise an eyebrow. As if she had just finished her business here, she tapped the car twice. It was a signal that he should go now. Woo Hyunse, not wanting to get further entangled in things, waved his hand as if shooing away a bird that had gotten in his path and raised the window all the way up.

He drove down the steep hill and onto the main road. Stopping at a red light at an intersection, he finally picked up his phone. There was just one message from Kwon Siyul saying, “I’m awake.”

With his hand on the steering wheel, Woo Hyunse stared at the message. Despite being just a text message, the voice seemed to echo in his ears. Perhaps because he had heard so much of it last night.

“…”

He had doubted whether he could get aroused by a man, but that worry had been completely unfounded in the end. They had been compatible. The body beneath him had been erotic. The skin was fair and smooth, but the elbows, knees, lower parts, nipples, and heels were pink like strawberry milk. With only peach fuzz for pubic hair, he had momentarily felt a pang of conscience, wondering if Kwon Siyul was really an adult.

But that moment passed in the blink of an eye, and the moment he touched Kwon Siyul’s body, any conscience he thought he had evaporated like it had never existed before. Kwon Siyul was an adult anyway. He clearly remembered the birth date on his ID.

Though not skilled, Kwon Siyul had clearly been touched by others before. With every brush of fingertips, his neck, cheeks, and ears would turn bright red, and he would writhe and whimper. Throughout their time together he cried a lot and was very wet. He would get hard at the slightest touch and leak profusely with just the slightest stimulation.

Woo Hyunse had wondered if Kwon Siyul would even feel it when he put it in, but Kwon Siyul had taken in the whole length that others had complained was difficult to take in, and then came with it pressing against his stomach. The image of Kwon Siyul trembling from head to toe, eyes tightly shut and gripping the sheets, was still vivid in his mind.

The young one was quite brazen.

Though it was vexing, Woo Hyunse was in no position to complain about any of this. If Kwon Siyul was used goods, he himself was a worn-out rag. He had never cared about others’ pasts and wasn’t the type to get started anyway…

“…Still, he’s too young.”

Despite having fooled around at an even younger age himself, Woo Hyunse clicked his tongue as if to scold a dirty dog. Irritation rose in his throat. If he could, he wanted to open Kwon Siyul’s head and erase all the memories of those nights he had spent with others, and make it so those people could never stand on this earth again.

Wasn’t this kind of thinking too childish? Even in his days of partying without regard for day or night, he had never had such delusions before. What was this? Was he some old man driven mad with jealousy after taking a young concubine? Woo Hyunse bitterly mocked himself.

His fingers hovered over the keypad as if still thinking about how he should reply. But instead of sending a message, Woo Hyunse pulled up the number on the screen. He pressed the call button and the dial tone began signaling.

He tapped the steering wheel in rhythm with the intermittent dial tone. Five times, six times… Just as he thought Kwon Siyul wouldn’t answer, a composed voice filled the car, saying “Hello?” 

The voice overlapped with the sounds he had forced out of Kwon Siyul in the early morning, and Woo Hyunse grinned, resting his cheek on the back of his hand on the steering wheel. He noticed that the voice still seemed a bit hoarse.

“Kwon Siyul-ssi, isn’t it too cold to just send a message after spending the night together?”

By then, the red traffic light had turned green. Woo Hyunse stepped on the accelerator while playfully complaining to the other man. With that clear voice resonating in the car, the unpleasantness and stress that a single cigarette couldn’t dispel vanished in that instant.

Unless something special came up, Woo Hyunse would come to pick him up in front of the store. Even if Kwon Siyul tried to tell him not to bother, it was no use. Even when warned about the possibility of being caught by Manager Kang, Woo Hyunse brazenly said he didn’t care if everyone knew. He would often wait in front of the convenience store, dangling that yogurt drink as bait to lure Kwon Siyul.

Once, Kwon Siyul tried to sneak home early but was caught on the way. Despite the other cars honking from behind, Woo Hyunse pretended not to notice, hugging the shoulder of the road and slowly driving while calling out to Kwon Siyul.

“Why don’t you just get in?”

“I said I’m walking.”

Kwon Siyul had clearly texted earlier saying he had something to do and would walk home today. Still, Woo Hyunse appeared like a ghost haunting him at the usual time.

“It’s far.”

“It’s not far.”

“Then I’ll just follow you all the way home.”

It was dawn, so there wasn’t much traffic, but it wasn’t completely empty either. Passing delivery bikes and occasional taxis hurled curses like “Hey, you crazy bastard!” Woo Hyunse remained unfazed by the insults coming his way. He just waited impatiently for Kwon Siyul to get in.

Fearing the police might be called, Kwon Siyul had given in and gotten in the car not long ago. Since then, whenever Woo Hyunse showed up, Kwon Siyul got into the passenger seat without putting up too much of a fight, having learned firsthand that resistance was utterly futile.

“I need to go home early today.”

Kwon Siyul spoke up before Woo Hyunse could say anything. Lately, Kwon Yuwon had been giving him disapproving looks because he kept coming home late whenever they saw each other. Sometimes Kwon Yuwon would wait up for him, eyes blinking sleepily, and scold him for coming home so late.

Kwon Siyul could honestly say he was seeing someone, but the problem was that his partner was an alpha. The moment Kwon Yuwon learned the person’s status, he would surely grab a kitchen knife and make a huge fuss about slitting the other person’s throat.

‘I told you! No alphas! Allowed!’

He could vividly imagine Kwon Yuwon’s voice, yelling with bulging veins as he smacked his own back. Even though he hadn’t actually heard it, the imagined voice was so clear in his mind it made his ears hurt. Kwon Siyul shuddered and rubbed his arms.

It would have been fine if Woo Hyunse just dropped him off at home, but he never let Kwon Siyul go in right away. Despite the late hour, he would keep him in his company for at least an hour or two, sometimes until dawn broke.

They weren’t always doing naughty things. Sometimes they just sat in the car seats listening to the radio or sat on a park bench drinking—beer for Kwon Siyul, something else for Woo Hyunse.

“Then just one hour.”

“No.”

“That’s too harsh.”

Displeasure clouded Woo Hyunse’s furrowed brows. Feeling tickled with laughter, Kwon Siyul quickly bit down on his lower lip. The car clock showed 2:30 a.m. As long as he didn’t get home later than usual, everything should be fine. Seeing Woo Hyunse’s clearly disappointed expression, Kwon Siyul’s resolve wavered and he held up three fingers.

“Okay, 30 minutes then.”

“How about three hours?”

“Why is it increasing? I said no.”

“You’re so cold.”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll go in now.”

It was only about a 10-minute walk since they were near the inn anyway. Woo Hyunse silently turned the steering wheel. That ended up being his answer.

“Come here.”

After parking the car in a secluded spot, Woo Hyunse patted his thigh. Kwon Siyul shook his head.

Since spending the night together, Woo Hyunse seemed to have lost all inhibition and would naturally reach out whenever he thought no one was looking. He would touch Kwon Siyul’s cheek, play with his earlobe, trace his eyebrow with a fingertip, and kiss his forehead when Kwon Siyul turned to look at him. Whenever Kwon Siyul was startled and looked around nervously, Woo Hyunse would smile innocently like a boy pleased with his prank.

“I don’t want to.”

But not right now. Even though it was the middle of the night in a place where there was barely anyone, what if someone happened to see them? He knew the car had good tinting, but still.

“Come on. We don’t have much time.”

Two minutes had already passed. Time was indeed tight. In truth, Kwon Siyul didn’t really want to go in right away either. Just sitting here quietly with Woo Hyunse made him feel languid, sometimes with a jolt like static electricity, and when they kissed, it felt like his feet were floating on clouds.

Kwon Siyul hesitated, then let out a short sigh before unbuckling his seatbelt. Grunting slightly, he climbed onto Woo Hyunse’s lap and straddled him. Despite Kwon Siyul being a man with considerable weight in bones and muscle, Woo Hyunse didn’t even flinch once.

He fiddled with Kwon Siyul’s waist before slipping his hand under his clothes just like a snake. Kwon Siyul flinched at the warm touch, quickly grabbing the moving hand roaming over his clothes.

“No.”

“No?”

“We did this yesterday too.”

“But I didn’t put it in.”

“That may be true, but…!”

Kwon Siyul exclaimed, clearly flustered. They may not have gone all the way, but they did almost everything else. After making such a commotion in the car, Kwon Siyul had come home completely drained, and Kwon Yuwon had looked at him suspiciously. If he went in the same way today, Kwon Yuwon’s quick wit might put two and two together and then he would be in a load of trouble.

“Still, we can’t.”

“If everything’s off limits, what can we do?”

Clearly upset by the repeated rejections, the corners of Woo Hyunse’s lips drooped ever so slightly. He wrapped his arms around Kwon Siyul’s waist and nuzzled his forehead against his shoulder.