Romantic Gangster

#70 

However, that didn’t mean they spent all their time lazing around until it was time to go to work. Seo Ji-woo woke up by 9 am at the latest, ate breakfast, and studied for his certification exam. And these days, Lee Hyun-joon was also looking for something he could study, following Seo Ji-woo’s lead.

Originally, he didn’t have much interest in studying, but thanks to Seo Ji-woo, he now had a high school diploma, so he suddenly thought it would be nice to do something and get a decent job later… It was a vague thought.

Just thinking about a life where he went to work every morning and came home in the evening every day made him feel stuffy, but still… If he could live even a little bit like the countless ordinary people in the world, it seemed like Seo Ji-woo would be very happy, so he wanted to try it at least once. It would be nice if it was a job where he could wear a suit and a tie, but actually, that might be too difficult.

Still, if he kept doing what he could, and did more, and did something, wouldn’t he be able to live while only seeing Seo Ji-woo smile?

These days, no matter what he thought about, he always came to a positive conclusion. Before, he always thought negatively, and even when he tried to think about something, he used to just blur it, saying that his life was messed up anyway, but not anymore.

Many things changed when he found someone precious in his life. Lee Hyun-joon laughed lightly as he watched Seo Ji-woo’s back climbing the stairs to the rooftop room.

“What should I make for you while you wash up? Do you think you can sleep without eating anything else?”

“I’m not hungry after eating all the cheese balls.”

“Then that’s good. You wash up first.”

As soon as they entered the house, Lee Hyun-joon turned on the light, lightly patted Seo Ji-woo’s lower back, and grinned. Seo Ji-woo, who smiled as he looked at Lee Hyun-joon like that, forgot to take off his outer garment and went into the bathroom with a change of clothes.

He felt the spot where Lee Hyun-joon had just patted him burning. He didn’t even put his hand under his clothes and touch him, but he couldn’t understand why he was reacting so sensitively. Was his heat cycle really about to come now…?

Seo Ji-woo, who took a deep breath to calm down a bit, took off Lee Hyun-joon’s track top that was still hanging on his shoulders. As he lifted the clothes to hang them on the towel rack for now, Lee Hyun-joon’s pleasant scent wafted out.

“……”

Hyun-joon’s scent… Seo Ji-woo pressed his lips tightly as he gripped Lee Hyun-joon’s outer garment with both hands. As he buried his lips and nose and inhaled, Lee Hyun-joon’s pheromone scent penetrated his body. He wished the scent was a little thicker, just a little more. Seo Ji-woo gripped the track top, buried his lips again, and slowly inhaled.

“……”

No matter how deeply he inhaled, the scent wasn’t strong, so it was frustrating. He wanted to smell Lee Hyun-joon’s strong scent, like when he released his pheromones for him every day, no… like when their bodies rubbed against each other.

“Ah…”

Just imagining it, a strange sensation arose between his legs. It also felt like his body was heating up. Seo Ji-woo, who shook his head to shake off the faint excitement that slowly flowed from his head to his toes, barely removed Lee Hyun-joon’s clothes from his face and hung them on the towel rack.

“……”

He deliberately turned his back to the towel rack and took off his clothes. But he kept being bothered by Lee Hyun-joon’s clothes behind his back. Seo Ji-woo, who took off his clothes while stealing glances at the black track top through the mirror, quickly entered the shower curtain as if running away and turned on the warm water.

“… Ah…”

The moment the stream of water flowed down his body, Seo Ji-woo was startled and quickly turned off the water. It was a ridiculous feeling. No matter how sensitive he had become, this didn’t make sense. To react to the stream of water flowing from the showerhead… His body was so strange, but he didn’t know what to do.

Should he try telling Lee Hyun-joon honestly…? What should he say? That the feeling of water flowing down his body is strange today of all days?

“……”

Even though they decided to share everything without secrets, this didn’t seem right. Seo Ji-woo took a deep breath and carefully turned the water on again and lifted the showerhead over his shoulders.

The feeling was definitely different from usual. It was as if Lee Hyun-joon was stroking his arms and back. He knew it was a ridiculous thought, but while enduring the feeling of the stream of water flowing and washing his body, Seo Ji-woo kept thinking of Lee Hyun-joon. Lee Hyun-joon kissing him, touching him… and pressing their bodies together.

At the end of that long thought, he finally got aroused between his legs. Seo Ji-woo, with a crying face, squatted down like that, closed his eyes, and tried to think of something that could calm him down.

For example…

“Ji-woo.”

Lee Hyun-joon calling his name and hugging him with his firm arms… Lee Hyun-joon releasing his pheromones to stabilize him…

In the end, Lee Hyun-joon filled his mind again. Seo Ji-woo, who let out a long sigh as he embraced the feeling and sensation that wouldn’t settle down, was startled by the sound of knocking on the door and raised his head to look at the door. Even though the door was locked and there was no way Lee Hyun-joon could see his situation, it was embarrassing… as if he had been caught red-handed.

“Ji-woo. Are you okay? There was no sound for a long time. I was wondering if something happened.”

“… Ah, I’m fine. I washed up for a long time. Now… Now I’m going to put on clothes and come out.”

“Okay. As long as you’re not sick, it’s fine. Come out slowly.”

“… Yeah.”

In the end, Seo Ji-woo wiped off the water and put on clothes without being able to fully settle down below. Fortunately, his pants were a bit loose, and the t-shirt he wore to sleep was big and long enough to cover the bottom, so it wasn’t visible on the outside. Seo Ji-woo, who thought it was a relief in a misfortune, took a deep breath while pressing his hand on his heart that was beating fast, and then left the bathroom.

“You must be nice and warm, let’s see.”

Ever since they started living together, Lee Hyun-joon always approached him like this with his arms wide open when Seo Ji-woo came out after washing up. It was because he liked to hug and kiss Seo Ji-woo all over, who had become a little warmer than usual after just washing up. Seo Ji-woo also liked Lee Hyun-joon hugging and touching him, so he used to snuggle into his arms without a word.

However, today, he couldn’t do that. Not only was his body’s sensation unusually sensitive, but he also hadn’t been able to fully settle down below and was hiding it with his clothes, so it was difficult to be close to Lee Hyun-joon.

“What are you doing, you should snuggle in.”

“Wa-wait a minute…”

Seo Ji-woo, who was startled the moment their bodies were about to touch, took a step back. It wasn’t that he was trying to avoid it, and he took that action because he thought he might need time to explain the situation for a moment, but now that he did it, it seemed like Lee Hyun-joon might misunderstand.

Seo Ji-woo quickly raised his head to convey the words that had gathered in his mouth. He was worried that Lee Hyun-joon might be angry or upset because he kept acting strange, but fortunately, he didn’t have that kind of face.

“That’s…”

“Sorry. I was going to have you take the medicine first as soon as you came out, but I guess it became a habit.”

While hesitating, not knowing where to start, a warm hand touched his forehead. It wasn’t something Lee Hyun-joon had to apologize for, and it wasn’t something he wanted an apology for, so he felt uncomfortable and stuffy. But he still couldn’t speak well because he was too lost on where to start and how to explain.

“Take the medicine and let’s sleep quickly. I also turned on the electric mat to be warm. Ah, is it not good to sleep warmly when you have a fever?”

“It’s okay. I’m not sick to that extent… I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“Don’t think strange things and take the medicine, quickly. Ah.”

Seo Ji-woo, who opened his mouth following Lee Hyun-joon, swallowed the medicine and water that entered his mouth. It certainly couldn’t be called a cold or body ache… But it could at least bring down the unknown slight fever and help him sleep a little more comfortably.

“Do you want to drink more water?”

“No… It’s okay.”

“Let’s sleep quickly, now.”

Lee Hyun-joon, who put the cup in the sink, quickly laid Seo Ji-woo on the mattress. The electric mat, which they thought they wouldn’t use anymore because the weather had warmed up a lot and were going to put away over the weekend, was doing its job and warming up the inside of the blanket. Lee Hyun-joon, who was worried that the warmth would cool down, hurriedly covered Seo Ji-woo’s body with the blanket, turned off the light, and turned on the faint light of the night light.

The night light was something they bought the day right after Seo Ji-woo, who was not familiar with the structure of his house, got up to drink water at night and bumped into the hanger and fell. Seo Ji-woo said that he was now definitely familiar with the structure of the house and didn’t need to buy it, but Lee Hyun-joon still bought a cute puppy-shaped night light that resembled Seo Ji-woo and placed it next to the bed.

“I think I did well listening to you. It’s so nice to see your face until right before I fall asleep when the light is on.”

He remembered Seo Ji-woo smiling while looking at his face illuminated by the very, very faint light on the first night they slept with the night light on. The memory of kissing him deeply until late into the night because it was so pretty also spread in his mind.

“I’ll go wash up and come back. You can sleep first if you’re sleepy.”

“Yeah… I’ll try waiting for now.”

“Okay. I’ll be back quickly.”

Lee Hyun-joon, who laughed as he looked at Seo Ji-woo, who had already become soft and stretched out like a freshly steamed rice cake in the warm blanket, bent down and deeply kissed his cheek.

“……”

He was sad that Lee Hyun-joon’s lips that touched his cheek were leaving. Seo Ji-woo pulled the blanket up more as he watched Lee Hyun-joon’s long and firm-looking back taking off his t-shirt and going to the bathroom.

He hid under the blanket and thought it was okay, but the moment Lee Hyun-joon’s lips touched his cheek, everything turned into bubbles. Seo Ji-woo curled up his body under the blanket and closed his eyes. He rather wanted to fall asleep quickly. Because if he fell asleep, at least no embarrassing things would happen.

… But he couldn’t fall asleep easily. Perhaps because he felt pressured to fall asleep quickly, his mind became more and more awake even though he had taken cold medicine. Seo Ji-woo let out a big sigh. The sound of water coming from inside the bathroom had stopped, so Lee Hyun-joon would come out soon. He would come out and come up next to him, and he would probably hug him while pleasantly stroking his body like usual.

“……”

What should I do…? Just thinking about it, heat gathered between his legs again. It was really serious. He couldn’t understand why he was getting so excited all of a sudden. Was it because he had been quite busy these days and couldn’t do sexy things with Lee Hyun-joon…? If that was the reason… If he really became like this because of that… Seo Ji-woo, who became embarrassed, buried his face on the blanket.

Then, the sound of the bathroom door opening was heard. It seemed better to just pretend to be asleep because it was too embarrassing, but on the other hand, he really missed Lee Hyun-joon. He didn’t want to fall asleep like this without even having a proper conversation with Lee Hyun-joon, whom he had missed so much all day.

As he slightly turned his head back, his eyes met Lee Hyun-joon’s, who was wearing a loose t-shirt. Lee Hyun-joon’s lips moved lightly to create a smile.

“Huh? You’re not sleeping yet? Did you really wait for me?”

“Yeah, I thought I would fall asleep soon, but I can’t sleep well, unexpectedly.”

“It’s because I’m not there. What should Seo Ji-woo do? You can’t even sleep now when I’m not there.”

Lee Hyun-joon, who entered the blanket with a grin, naturally pressed his body against Seo Ji-woo’s side. At the same time, Lee Hyun-joon’s pheromone scent penetrated the blanket, breaking through the faint body wash scent.

It wasn’t surprising that he knew very well that they now did skinship inside the blanket before falling asleep to stabilize the pheromones, which they used to do in the alley in front of the house. But facing Lee Hyun-joon’s pheromone scent in this situation made his toes curl up and his inner thighs tighten.

The moment he thought that he wished Lee Hyun-joon would do something for him, his body moved back, contrary to his heart’s desire. He had moved away from Lee Hyun-joon, who was approaching again, like earlier.

“……”

“……”

When he opened his eyes, which he had tightly closed in surprise, he saw Lee Hyun-joon quietly looking at him. He must have been offended. If it were him… If Lee Hyun-joon suddenly avoided him as if avoiding him and was startled by skinship… It seemed like it would be very, very upsetting.

Actually, it didn’t seem like a cold, that he kept thinking of him like on the day of the graduation ceremony, that it got worse when he touched him, that he actually… wanted him to touch him more… and wanted to do more than that… But it was so embarrassing to say that, to hide that his body had become strange if he could hide it, that’s why he did it…

Now he had no choice but to be honest. Before Lee Hyun-joon got hurt because of him.

“… About that, Hyun-joon… Actually…”

“It’s strange.”

“……”

“Why can’t you look me in the eye?”

Lee Hyun-joon’s low voice dropped abruptly. He just had to move his eyes a little, then he could meet his gaze, but he couldn’t meet his eyes at all.

“Ji-woo. Why do you keep avoiding me?”

“… That’s…”

Lee Hyun-joon’s body, which had stopped while approaching, moved again to close the gap. Seo Ji-woo, who felt the excitement even with just a light touch of his hand, pulled his body back again, but his back quickly hit the wall due to the narrow mattress. There was nowhere else to go back.

“Do you dislike me touching you that much…?”

It seemed that Lee Hyun-joon had misunderstood after all. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it… It absolutely wasn’t that he wanted to avoid it… As he raised his head to meet Lee Hyun-joon’s eyes, trying to answer that it wasn’t like that despite his embarrassment, Lee Hyun-joon’s lips opened first and unexpected words flowed out.

“Are you horny?”