LM 88

He buried his head deep between his arms. Woo Hyunse was affectionate. Excessively so. He wanted to stop being swept away by that kindness. His heart stirred again. Although he hadn’t had anything to drink yet, would drinking allow him to blame the churning in his stomach on the alcohol?

Kwon Siyul sidled up next to Woo Hyunse and opened the cupboard, reaching in. Whether it was because of the high ceiling in the villa or because the upper cabinets were made to fit Woo Hyunse’s height, Kwon Siyul couldn’t reach the inside of the cabinet even on his tiptoes. As he strained and grunted on his toes, Woo Hyunse chuckled and easily took out the glasses.

“Don’t drink on an empty stomach. The food’s almost ready.”

“I saw some tequila. Can I have some of that?”

“Why do you need permission? Just take it out.”

“Well…you’re the owner of this place, after all.”

“You can take out whatever you want. Just don’t drink too much.”

The cooking was done. Watching the food move from the pan to the dishes, Kwon Siyul walked to the display cabinet and took out the strong liquor in the corner. This was what he had wanted to drink from the start.

“That’s strong. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’m only going to drink just a little.”

Salt and lemon slices were also placed next to the side dishes. Saying he was using lemon instead of lime because there was no lime, Woo Hyunse poured the liquor into a small shot glass and placed a lemon on top.

“Do you know how to drink it?”

Kwon Siyul nodded his head slightly. He had never drunk tequila before, but he had seen others drink it.

He dipped his index finger in salt and touched it to the tip of his tongue. As he was about to lift the glass and drink, Woo Hyunse, sitting across from him, burst into laughter.

“It looks like you don’t know after all.”

“Huh? Isn’t this right?”

He had definitely eaten the salt. Savoring the salty taste, he looked back and forth between the alcohol and the salt. Woo Hyunse pulled Kwon Siyul’s hand with his own.

“The salt goes like this.”

Woo Hyunse lowered his head. His tongue touched between Kwon Siyul’s thumb and index finger. The soft, moist tip of his tongue moistened Kwon Siyul’s skin as it passed. As Kwon Siyul’s shoulders flinched, Woo Hyunse, after licking thoroughly, withdrew his tongue and sprinkled salt grains on it.

“Ah.”

The snow-like salt stuck to the wet skin. Woo Hyunse placed a lemon in Kwon Siyul’s curled fingers.

“Exhale first.”

He slowly exhaled. As he made a motion to lick his hand, he finally licked the salt Woo Hyunse had sprinkled. Before the salty taste faded, he downed the alcohol.

A groan escaped involuntarily. His vision swam. His esophagus felt not just hot, but as if it was on fire. Clutching his burning chest, he bit into the lemon. The tearfully sour juice flowed down his hot mouth and burning esophagus, the strong sourness filling his mouth with saliva and contorting his face.

He took a deep breath. It felt like he had nearly died from just one shot. Woo Hyunse laughed heartily at Kwon Siyul’s scrunched-up face. He stabbed a piece of broccoli, nicely sautéed in olive oil, with a fork and put it in Kwon Siyul’s mouth.

“You drank it well.”

“Wow, I thought I was going to die. Is it always this strong?”

“If you drink it like this, it should be okay.”

“It feels like it’s burning down my throat.”

He rubbed his chest. It still felt as if  embers were burning inside. He shook his head lightly at the sudden onset of drunkenness washing over him right then.

“So three bottles of soju, but only three shots of this is your limit, huh?”

“No way it’s not that bad. I can drink more.”

Woo Hyunse picked up the bottle. Kwon Siyul thought he would pour into the shot glass, but Woo Hyunse poured his own drink into a larger cup. He took a sip without lemon or salt. Kwon Siyul expected him to grimace like he had, but only a small wrinkle appeared between Woo Hyunse’s eyebrows. In contrast, Kwon Siyul winced watching Woo Hyunse drink it as if the alcohol had gone down his own throat.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Saying that a single sip wouldn’t even reach his liver, Woo Hyunse took another sip without any side dishes. Kwon Siyul wondered if he was just showing off, but Woo Hyunse’s complexion remained normal. Instead, it was Kwon Siyul’s face that had turned flushed red after just one shot.

“What about the salt?”

Woo Hyunse silently extended his hand. Kwon Siyul tilted his head to one side, then a beat later said “Ah” and put his lips on Woo Hyunse’s hand. He stuck out his tongue to lick the skin between the index finger and thumb, then glanced up at Woo Hyunse, unsure if he was doing it right.

Seeing Woo Hyunse’s faint smile, he slowly withdrew his tongue. As Woo Hyunse sprinkled salt on the spot, he pulled his hand back and put his lips there. His tongue tip traced where Kwon Siyul’s tongue had just been.

“One more shot?”

Kwon Siyul was distracted by Woo Hyunse’s fan-like lower eyelashes, the lips he used to kiss whenever he was bored, and his smooth tongue. He snapped out of it only when he heard the amused voice. Trying to hide his daze, he quickly poured a drink and downed it. There was no salt or lemon this time. Naturally, his esophagus burned like firewood in the fireplace.

He exhaled sharply, trying to steady his swaying vision. He couldn’t stop at just two shots. Kwon Siyul aggressively held out his empty glass.

“One more, please.”

He felt dizzy. His vision was shaky. Kwon Siyul furrowed his brow and lifted his head. With his head drooping like a willow branch, he propped his chin with his hand and looked at the table. Several empty bottles stood there. One of them was the tequila that they had started their drinking session with.

Woo Hyunse was right. Three shots were his limit. After that, his memory of what he drank was patchy. As dizziness overwhelmed him, Kwon Siyul slid down under his arm, about to rest his head on the table again. A large palm cupped his cheek just before it touched the table. He nuzzled the warm hand.

“Already drunk?”

There was laughter in the questioning voice. Kwon Siyul slowly shook his head.

“No…”

His words trailed off. Anyone could tell he was drunk. Suddenly feeling wronged, Kwon Siyul pulled his face away from the palm and looked across. Woo Hyunse kept his hand on the table, worried Kwon Siyul might collapse to the floor again.

Whether it was the alcohol blurring his retinas, Woo Hyunse didn’t appear clearly. It was as if someone had sprinkled mist in front of him. Even rubbing his eyes and squinting didn’t clear the haziness around Woo Hyunse.

Instead of straining his eyes, Kwon Siyul took a deep breath, expanding his chest. Woo Hyunse’s scent was deeply dissolved in the air heated by the fireplace. It was like a white birch forest with dense white bark visible through the snowy field outside the window. When with Kwon Siyul, it mixed with a soft spring scent, as if green shoots were slowly sprouting in the snow.

He wanted to be closer to the smell. Kwon Siyul gave in to the impulse and stood up. He stopped Woo Hyunse from getting up and staggered around the table to stand beside him. Leaning on the table for support, he buried his face in Woo Hyunse’s nape. He inhaled deeply and exhaled languidly as if he had taken a handful of medicine rather than just inhaling a scent.

He wanted to drink more of it in. He wanted to be completely drenched in this scent. He didn’t know his desire was this great. Kwon Siyul plopped down on Woo Hyunse’s thigh. Grunting, he spread his legs to sit facing Woo Hyunse and tightly hugged his waist with both arms. As he rubbed his forehead on Woo Hyunse’s shoulder and pressed his cheek there, the scent grew stronger than before.

“You’re drunk.”

It had been a while since they were in this position. Woo Hyunse firmly supported Kwon Siyul’s back. Kwon Siyul burrowed into his embrace.

“You smell like a winter forest.”

His pronunciation was a mess, soaked in alcohol. Yet Woo Hyunse understood somehow.

“A winter forest?”

“Yeah. A forest where…you can only see white birch trees covered in snow.”

No matter how buds sprouted and spring eventually came along, the instinctive chill of snow never completely faded. Kwon Siyul felt a similar emotion when he looked at Woo Hyunse, when he was intoxicated by his scent. After being overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery, the deeper you go into the forest, the more its coldness makes you feel uneasy.

This time, Woo Hyunse buried his nose in Kwon Siyul’s ear and inhaled. His exhaled breath made the skin on Kwon Siyul’s nape rise in goosebumps. His toes curled inward as tension ran through them.

“You smell like wisteria flowers.”

He had never heard anyone speak about his own scent before. Kwon Siyul tried to lean back to look at Woo Hyunse, but couldn’t pull away due to the hand pressing down on his lower back.

“The scent gets stronger when it rains…It’s the same with you, Kwon Siyul.”

“On rainy days?”

“No. When you’re wet.”

His earlobe was sucked between Woo Hyunse’s lips. The alcohol-scented tongue tip traced the curves of his ear. Kwon Siyul’s shoulders hunched. His lowered eyelashes trembled, and his tightly closed lips parted slightly.

The flesh of his buttocks swelled, and the inside quickly became damp. No matter how much he tensed his thighs to prevent it from flowing out, he couldn’t stop the moisture from thoroughly soaking his inner flesh and pooling down below.

“Like now.”

His neck flushed red all at once. It wasn’t just his scent that intensified. The scent pouring from Woo Hyunse’s ears and fingertips also surged as if to fill the entire villa.

Kwon Siyul’s eyes became hazily unfocused. Moistening his dry lips, he cupped Woo Hyunse’s cheeks with both hands. He tilted his head and pressed their lips together. No matter how cold and dry the scent was, if it came from Woo Hyunse, Kwon Siyul wanted to possess every last drop of it.