Chapter 48

“Anyway, follow me.”

Yi-seon led Mugyeol toward his rented room.

Strangely, it did not feel like bringing home a fiancé so much as showing his best friend his first place. The thought made Yi-seon a little excited. This tiny rooftop room was the first space in his life that belonged entirely to him, and he wanted Mugyeol to see it.

Mugyeol stopped at the corner of the alley and looked around, his expression complicated. He was obviously displeased by the cramped, aging houses packed along the lane—and by the fact that Yi-seon now lived among them.

Yi-seon climbed the steep steps at a brisk pace. Semi-basement entrances sat half-sunken into the ground on either side, packed close together. The staircase was barely wide enough for two people, so Mugyeol followed in single file behind him.

The cement steps were chipped in places, and the old iron railing beside them had bloomed red with rust. Mugyeol grabbed it without thinking, then flinched and snatched his hand back when flakes of corroded metal crumbled beneath his palm.

“Whoa, fuck, that scared me.”

“Be quiet. Everyone’s probably sleeping.”

With houses packed tightly along every winding alley, making noise this late would disturb half the neighborhood. They climbed farther uphill and turned through several narrow lanes before Yi-seon’s building finally came into view: an aging multi-unit villa beneath a web of power lines so dense that only scraps of sky showed through.

Climbing to the top of the exterior staircase that wrapped around the building, they reached a rooftop coated in green waterproof paint. Yi-seon guided Mugyeol toward the small room wedged at its edge.

“Here we are.”

Click, clack.

Yi-seon unlocked the door with an actual key, and Mugyeol’s eyes widened behind him. Yi-seon noticed and grinned as he pushed the door open.

“Fascinating, isn’t it? A physical key. They told me I’d have to buy a digital lock myself, and I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

Mugyeol ducked automatically as he stepped through the low doorway. Click. Yi-seon switched on the light, revealing a narrow, modest living area. From the entryway, they could see the sink at the far end, with the bathroom on one side and a tiny bedroom on the other.

Slipping off his coat, Yi-seon looked back. “Would the guest like to wash up first?”

Mugyeol stood in the cramped room like a giant stranded in Lilliput, looking thoroughly bewildered. It was painfully obvious that he had never set foot in a place like this in his life.

To be fair, Yi-seon himself had been taken aback at first.

Rent near the university had been far higher than Yi-seon expected. Cramped as it was, this had been the cleanest room he saw that day and the best he could afford with the allowance he had saved throughout high school.

“It’s even smaller than it looks from outside.”

“Smaller than your walk-in closet, right?”

“Your parents didn’t support you?”

“They offered to help, but I turned it down. I wanted to try doing it on my own for once. Besides, I had enough funds to become independent.”

The matriculation gift money Chairman Yeon had given him at the family meeting had helped enormously. Mugyeol, however, was still standing motionless in the middle of the tiny room, so Yi-seon finally asked, “What are you doing?”

“Were you picked up from under a bridge or something?”

“…Huh?”

…How did he know? Truly sharp.

“Why is this place like this? I heard the hospital’s finances were rough, but this is a bit… Even if you insisted you didn’t need anything, they should’ve forced it into your hands anyway. Your parents are seriously too much.” Mugyeol caught himself, mumbled an apology for badmouthing Yi-seon’s family, then grumbled again, “Even if they wanted to teach you financial independence, they should’ve spent a little more. Taking a kid they raised so carefully and…”

After grumbling for quite a while, Mugyeol finally took off his coat.

“Hey. Yi-seon-ah.”

“Yeah.”

“If I give you money, you won’t take it, right?”

“Yeah. Give me lots after we get married. Not right now.”

“Yeah, yeah. Clean surrender.”

Knowing Yi-seon’s personality, Mugyeol gave in without argument and began inspecting the place. He checked the bathroom, unzipped the fabric wardrobe, poked around the kitchen sink, peered into the empty cupboards, and even lit the gas burner for no apparent reason.

“The flame works. Good for grilling dried filefish.”

“I asked if you’re going to wash up first, Yeon Mugyeol.”

“Guess I will.”

After sending Mugyeol into the bathroom first, Yi-seon swept the floor once more and laid out the sleeping mat. He had not bought a bed yet, so sleeping on the floor was his only option. With no vehicle access and no elevator, getting one delivered would be difficult, which meant he might be bedless for the foreseeable future.

To Mugyeol, this too was probably a shocking experience.

“Aaah, fuck, it’s freezing!”

The bathroom had been a clattering disaster for a while. With the low ceiling, Mugyeol kept banging into things, and the noise made it obvious he was having a rough time. Irritated swearing drifted out intermittently as the hot water cut in and out.

For Mugyeol’s sake, Yi-seon plugged in the electric heating pad and spread a duvet over it so he would not be cold when he came out. He put the more comfortable pillow on Mugyeol’s side too. He simply wanted the person he liked to sleep somewhere warm and comfortable.

A moment later, the bathroom door opened through a billow of white steam. Mugyeol stepped out trailing the faint scent of soap and roughly shook out his wet hair. “Hey. Why does the hot water only start working when I’m already done? Felt like I was being deep-fried.”

Yi-seon could not manage a proper response, because Mugyeol was completely naked.

His pitch-black hair hung damp and disheveled, darker than usual with moisture. His skin looked taut and smooth beneath the sheen of water, and droplets from his wet hair slid slowly down the pale nape of his neck.

The sculpted body of a fully grown man stood bare before him. Broad shoulders tapered to a comparatively narrow waist, and firm muscle defined every inch of his upper body. It looked less like a physique built through tedious effort than one Mugyeol had been born destined to have.

As Mugyeol raked back his damp hair, Yi-seon hastily scolded him. “Put some clothes on.”

Only then did Mugyeol carelessly pull on the pants.

“Isn’t this our high school gym uniform?”

“Yeah. That’s the pajamas, so just wear it.”

Yi-seon’s old high-school gym pants had always run large, so they fit Mugyeol well enough. The shirt was another story. Mugyeol got halfway into it, discovered it was too tight, and threw it onto the floor in irritation.

“Too small!”

Agh, that temper of his…

“Then sleep shirtless. The hair dryer is over there, so dry your hair.”

Yi-seon picked up the gym shirt Mugyeol had tossed aside, draped it over his forearm, grabbed another spare pair of bottoms, and headed into the bathroom. Thanks to Mugyeol’s shower, the pipes had finally warmed up and the hot water ran without trouble.

After scrubbing himself thoroughly, Yi-seon dressed completely before leaving the bathroom. Mugyeol was sprawled across the floor as comfortably as if the place belonged to him.

Mugyeol rolled around with his phone in hand, still shirtless in nothing but the track pants. Against his large frame, the sleeping mat that normally gave Yi-seon plenty of room suddenly looked tiny.

When he spotted Yi-seon, Mugyeol rolled onto his side and propped his chin on one arm. Patting the space beside him on the mat, he said, “Lie down. Let’s sleep.”

“…”

“What are you chickening out for? You’re the one who said we’d only hold hands and sleep.”

The sly remark eased some of Yi-seon’s tension, and he slipped under the covers. The heating pad had already warmed the bedding, wrapping him in a comforting heat that seemed to melt the chill from his body.

The room fell oppressively quiet. They lay at opposite ends of the bedding with a deliberate gap between them, facing each other without so much as a rustle. In the dark, Mugyeol’s gaze was the only thing that seemed to gleam.

Unable to escape the stare, Yi-seon rested his cheek against the pillow and looked back. Not a fingertip touched him, yet heat flared through his body every time Mugyeol’s quiet gaze moved over him. At least he could blame the warmth on the heating pad.

Clang. Patter-patter…

Something rattled across the tin roof outside, probably a cat jumping down. As if taking it as a cue, Mugyeol reached across the gap. Yi-seon flinched and drew back his shoulders, but warmth settled gently over the back of his cold hand. “You said we’d hold hands.”

Mugyeol’s long fingers slowly slid between Yi-seon’s. His palm settled against the back of Yi-seon’s hand, and their fingers interlaced until every gap between them was filled.

A faint electric thrill ran down Yi-seon’s spine. They were only holding hands, yet tension curled all the way to the tips of his toes. Mugyeol’s large palm was warm around his, the slightly rough texture of his skin startlingly vivid.

Thump, thump… Yi-seon’s heart began beating with uncomfortable force. As he tried to steady his breathing, his thumb caught on an unfamiliar texture in Mugyeol’s palm, and he gently pulled their hands apart.

Mugyeol immediately reached to reclaim his hand, but Yi-seon was faster. He caught Mugyeol’s palm instead, turned it upward, and stroked the roughened skin with his thumb.

“You got a scar…”

Looking down at their connected hands, Yi-seon carefully traced Mugyeol’s palm.

A long scar ran across the center of Mugyeol’s palm, left by the broken glass he had gripped to control himself during the pheromone explosion. Yi-seon had seen the bandages afterward, but he had not realized the cut had been this severe.

Even when Yi-seon had nicked his fingertip slicing fruit at the cafe, it had stung so sharply. How on earth had Mugyeol endured cutting himself open like this?

“It must have hurt…”

His chest aching with pity, Yi-seon traced the scar in slow strokes. A short, stifled breath slipped from Mugyeol’s lips as he watched Yi-seon’s careful touch.

Does it bother him when he moves his hand?

Yi-seon bit his lip, and Mugyeol gently brushed a thumb over the tightly pressed line of his mouth. “Don’t worry. If anything, my palm lines look better now. They say my fate got even stronger.”

“…Still, it’s such a big wound.”

“It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt anymore. Alphas heal fast anyway.”

“…”

“Besides, this is where our marriage started. Think of it as a commemorative scar.”

Yi-seon stroked Mugyeol’s fingers, gently curling and straightening them to test the movement. When he rubbed over the scar as though he could smooth it away, Mugyeol coughed softly and cleared his throat.

Mugyeol swallowed a breath and abruptly pulled his hand away. A second later, he seized Yi-seon’s hand again with enough force to make all that earlier gentleness seem pointless. It no longer felt like mutual hand-holding so much as Yi-seon being firmly captured.

Yi-seon lifted his gaze to Mugyeol’s face. Even through the darkness, Mugyeol’s ears and neck looked suspiciously red.

“…I can’t sleep,” Mugyeol whispered.

His voice was raspy and unusually deep, and his grip on Yi-seon’s hand tightened. Yi-seon gave a faint smile. “That’s because you drank four cups of coffee.”

“I’m so tired… but I can’t sleep.”

“That’s because you drank four cups of coffee.”

“And, I’m hard.”

“Four cups of—”

Yi-seon almost repeated the same reflexive answer before cutting himself off. Their gazes had tangled, and even in the pitch-black room, the heat smoldering in Mugyeol’s eyes was unmistakable.

A dizzying silence stretched between them.

Kiss…

Mugyeol drew Yi-seon’s hand close and pressed a soft kiss to his palm. Yi-seon’s eyes widened.

Mugyeol kept his lips against Yi-seon’s palm and looked up at him. The moment their eyes met, mwah… he pressed another slow kiss there.

Yi-seon held his breath as Mugyeol’s lips began traveling up his arm.

Mugyeol kissed Yi-seon’s wrist, then scattered kisses over the tender skin of his forearm. The bridge of his nose grazed Yi-seon as he moved higher. In the darkness, the faint rustle of bedding and the soft sounds of skin against skin seemed unnaturally loud. Every place Mugyeol’s lips touched burned, and their breathing quickly grew ragged.

Mugyeol pushed up the sleeve of Yi-seon’s gym shirt and kissed his shoulder, lightly grazing his teeth over the soft skin near his armpit. Then he shifted over Yi-seon’s shivering body and straddled him, his large frame suddenly filling the space above him.

Yi-seon could only stare up at the massive shadow covering him. Mugyeol’s heavy gaze seemed to pierce the dark, making Yi-seon’s heart race even faster. One of his hands remained pinned between the floor and Mugyeol’s palm.

Slowly lowering his head, Mugyeol whispered in his ear, “You just keep holding hands. Since we made a promise.”

The deep words were followed by a soft kiss at his ear. In the darkness, Yi-seon could barely see anything; all he could register was the vivid sensation of Mugyeol’s lips skimming his ear before trailing down the curve of his neck.

Each time those soft lips brushed his skin, the contact burned as though Mugyeol were leaving a brand behind.

“Haa-eunh…”

Mugyeol’s breathing had grown as ragged as Yi-seon’s. Hot breaths spilled across Yi-seon’s skin as he kissed his way over his neck and down to his collarbone, brushing it with his lips before tasting it with his tongue and lightly nipping with his teeth.

Ah…

The delicate touch sent goosebumps racing over Yi-seon’s body. His trapped fingers tightened in Mugyeol’s hold while his free hand twisted into the crumpled blanket. Mugyeol noticed and lifted that hand from the bedding, guiding it around the back of his own neck.