I had planned to rest a bit at home before heading out for my afternoon class, but I had a vague feeling my plan wouldn't be kept.
My body lying in bed felt heavy as a thousand pounds, and my quickly languid body began to burn with a fever. I was breathing shallowly when I heard the footsteps of someone entering, and I barely managed to lift my heavy eyelids.
The figure was blurry. It was someone tall, but everyone living in this house was tall. I squinted and focused my eyes to see better, and I could gradually make out who the approaching figure was.
The person who came right up to my bedside sat down on my bed without hesitation. The springs sank slightly with the movement, making the bed sway. I was about to call out his name when a hand rose toward my face, and I closed my eyes.
It was soft and cool. The sensation of the hand on my feverish face made a metallic-tinged moan escape my lips.
“Does it hurt?”
“…No.”
“You have a fever.”
I get fevers like this every day. I knew all too well that being this sick didn't even count as being sick anymore. The raging fever felt so natural that I laughed without realizing it.
“Why.”
“…Just because.”
“Just because?”
Nam Kangwoo asked again as he gently stroked my hair. "What’s so funny," he seemed to ask. The feeling of his fingers weaving through my hair and gently brushing it felt so good that the upturned corners of my lips showed no sign of coming down.
“Being this sick… doesn't even feel that painful… it's funny.”
“Because your body is so weak.”
His voice seemed to be tinged with a bit of resignation. About my body being sick. I had given up countless times on my health, which didn't seem like it would ever improve, and I had come to think that I would be fine just maintaining this level of sickness.
“It’s strange…”
“What is.”
“I guess I’m getting used to the pain.”
I placed my hand on his, which had traced a path from my hair to my forehead and then my eyelids, and gently pulled it down. With his hand now near my lips and our gazes locked in mid-air, I just blinked slowly.
Nam Kangwoo silently met my eyes for a moment before moving his hand again to cover them. And then, a sensation that had become as familiar as my sickness settled onto my lips. A piece of flesh, softer and plumper than a palm, naturally met mine.
But among the three, Nam Kangwoo was the most gentlemanly. Instead of holding me down while I was sick and messily tangling our tongues, he just gave light pecks, making soft 'chu, chu' sounds as his lips parted from mine.
The coolness covering my eyes and the feeling of flesh on my lips were pleasant.
“Sally is in the living room.”
“…Yeah.”
“I thought you were sleeping, and I was afraid she’d bother you.”
“…She could have come in.”
I had been wondering about that. My tiny, cute creature seemed to have come into the room with me and was definitely under the bed. But at some point, I hadn't heard the 'tap, tap, tap' of her footsteps. I thought she had been biting my hand, asking me to play.
“Her teeth must be itchy...”
“Why.”
Instead of answering his low question, I raised my hand. My pale hand was covered in the marks of tiny teeth.
“…There are bite marks.”
“…”
Nam Kangwoo snatched the hand I had raised, examined it closely, and let out a heavy sigh.
“Where is there even a spot to bite on this…”
The words that escaped his lips were ticklish. Crazy bastard… I felt my feverish face grow even hotter, and I prayed that Nam Kangwoo wouldn't notice. But…
“I think your fever is getting worse.”
This bastard, who had no sense of tact, held my hand in one of his and cupped my cheek with the other. With a smile on his face.
His chilly-looking face transformed, becoming as gentle as a spring breeze when he smiled. Nam Kangwoo probably knew very well that the flush on my face wasn't just from the fever.
“Were you with Seo Jaehoon yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you do?”
Nam Kangwoo asked, still smiling. His tone wasn't accusatory, but rather one of genuine curiosity about what I had done yesterday.
“Did homework… and went to a… wine bar.”
I answered Nam Kangwoo slowly. I had no energy, and sleep was beginning to creep in.
“And then.”
“…Just, I got drunk and…”
As if telling me to say more, Nam Kangwoo moved the hand cupping my cheek to rub my lips. As I blinked my drowsy eyes, I tried to recall what we did, and the scene from this morning’s bathroom came to mind, making me flinch. Nam Kangwoo’s gaze, which had been gentle, turned sharp at my movement.
“What did you do?”
“…We didn’t do anything.”
“Then why were you startled?”
I pulled my captured hand free and placed it over Nam Kangwoo’s hand on my cheek.
“We didn’t do anything. Really…”
I lifted my half-closed eyelids and met Nam Kangwoo’s eyes. My voice came out cracked at the end.
Ahem, I cleared my throat and looked up. Nam Kangwoo’s face had turned chilly again. The face that had been softened by the spring breeze seemed to have only hosted it for a fleeting moment, as spring breezes do.
“What am I to do with you.”
“…”
Nam Kangwoo’s voice was a little sorrowful. It seemed my heat had transferred to his hand, which I was holding. His once-cool hand was now warm. He caressed my face, and the sight of his own face, looking a bit bitter as he closed his eyes, made a corner of my heart ache.
“…Should we kiss?”
I don’t know. I don’t know why those words suddenly came out.
Nam Kangwoo’s closed eyelids slowly rose, revealing glistening pupils. His eyes, filled with heat, were fixed on me. Instead of asking again, I simply closed my eyes, revealing my flushed face.
A shadow fell over my face, and the air around me seemed to shift slowly. Warm breath spread across my face, and soon, soft lips descended. My lips parted on their own. A warm piece of flesh gently pushed its way into our deeply locked lips.
A low, wet sound of entangled flesh echoed softly. My hand, which was on top of Nam Kangwoo’s, hesitated for a moment before wrapping around his neck. As if pleased by my reaction, Nam Kangwoo pulled my lying body even closer.
“The inside of your mouth is hot.”
Nam Kangwoo’s languid voice flowed from between our slightly parted lips.
As the kiss deepened, a hoarse sound escaped from the back of my throat. Hearing it, Nam Kangwoo seemed to come to his senses and slowly pulled his lips away. A long, thin strand of saliva stretched between our mouths. I was less than half a hand’s breadth away, receiving his raw gaze completely.
“I want to.”
“…What… what are you saying…”
“I want to hold you.”
His low, husky voice sounded so excessively sexy that my body trembled. I wasn't ignorant of what Nam Kangwoo meant. Heat spread throughout my body.
Nam Kangwoo, who was cupping my cheek, pressed his lips to mine in a series of light pecks and then rested his forehead on my shoulder. A series of long breaths escaped him. The breath that touched my neck was damp, warm, and sensual.
“I want you, Ha Yeoul.”
There was nothing more I could say… I just blinked my eyes. For some reason, I felt wide awake.
“But I know you’re sick, so I can’t just pounce on you.”
“…”
Nam Kangwoo lifted his forehead from my shoulder, gently brushed my messy hair from my forehead, and then tapped his forehead against mine.
“I like you.”
“…”
“You know that, right.”
“…You… you know that I—”
“It doesn't matter.”
Nam Kangwoo’s words, spoken without hesitation, sounded meaningful.
“It doesn't matter, Ha Yeoul. I like you.”
Within a day, I received a relay of ticklish confessions and felt unusually excited. Without one being better or worse than the other, I liked all three of them equally.
What kind of absurd situation this was, I no longer knew.
* * *
Having slept too much, I woke up at an awkward hour of the morning, saw that my bedroom door was still open, and went out into the living room without hesitation.
I gave Sally some food, poured the green juice from its corner spot in the fridge’s drink tray into a glass, and sat on the sofa, letting time pass. There wasn't much of a view outside the window, but I watched it without realizing how much time was going by.
With a dazed expression, curled up in my designated spot on the sofa. I sat there, holding Sally, until the black night turned white.
The darkness that had lingered throughout the house gradually vanished with the brightening dawn light. I blinked slowly, sank deeper into the sofa’s backrest, and closed my eyes.
I only meant to close them for a moment, but as always, contrary to my intentions, I fell into a deep sleep.
I vaguely woke up again because my body was lifted into the air and swaying. Through my narrowly opened eyelids, I saw a familiar face.
My housemate #2 laid me down neatly on the bed and then gently stole a kiss from my lips.
“Sleep well.”
His low voice rumbled, and as if it were a magic spell, I fell into a deep sleep. It was a sweet, long sleep.
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