I ordered braised spicy chicken for dinner. The mildly spicy one was delicious, and there was plenty of meat. Lim Dae-han had given me all of the drumsticks and wings, so I gave him the remaining meat. I leaned back and sat on the sofa for a long time, reading and memorizing the concept book. It was more convenient to memorize the entire research topic I was currently reading.
Lim Dae-han frantically scribbled something in front of the sofa. It was incredible that he continued his studies while putting in so much effort. It was nice to hear the sound of a pencil constantly hitting the table. It was very calming as if the children fell asleep when they heard their mother’s heartbeat.
It was around this time that my body began to drowse and my consciousness began to fade.
Beep, beep, beep, beep-
I opened my eyes to the sound. My older brother said he wasn’t coming in today, and Mom and Dad also went on a trip. Who is it?
Clack, the door opened. Soon the middle door opened. I had to walk down a long hallway to get to the living room, so I didn’t know who was coming in.
“Ah.”
Lim Dae-han got up. I rested the back of my head on the armrest and looked at the person coming in.
“Hyung…”
My older brother, who had said he wouldn’t return, returned to the house later in the evening. He was holding a bag of chicken. I was extremely embarrassed. It was because I was doing things with Lim Dae-han while my older brother was away until a few hours ago. Nonetheless, I tried not to make it obvious. My older brother, who had no idea what was going on, looked at me and Lim Dae-han, then placed the bag of chicken in front of Lim Dae-han.
“Eat this.”
“Thank you.”
Lim Dae-han bowed his head slightly. My older brother entered the room with a rough wave of his hands and poked his head out.
“Are you going to sleep over?”
It was ambiguous as there was no subject to whom he asked. Lim Dae-han responded softly.
“I don’t have clothes.”
“Wear mine and sleep here.”
“My clothes, I will lend you my clothes.”
I thought my older brother’s clothes would fit Lim Dae-han, but I felt bad for some reason. I got off the couch and unwrapped the chicken bag. My older brother lowered his gaze and looked pityingly at me.
“Will your clothes fit him?”
Then he actually hit me with a fact.
After washing up, my older brother went out with two cans of beer from the refrigerator. He placed one in front of himself and another in front of Lim Dae-han. My older brother raised his chin to motion Lim Dae-han to drink when he looked at him silently. During that time, I saw my older brother drink at home a few times, but he never gave me permission, so I was a little embarrassed. Lim Dae-han nodded and pressed the can lid’s ring to open it.
“…”
As I was eating the drumstick, I noticed Lim Dae-han naturally handing over the beer, and I moved my hand to the can. My older brother took a deep breath. When I quickly let go, Lim Dae-han looked through the chicken box and placed another drumstick in my bowl.
“How long have you been dating?”
My older brother asked calmly. I, um… stretched out my voice and answered cautiously.
“It’s been over a year.”
At my words, my brother said, “I see.” I passed the beer back. Lim Dae-han drank along with my older brother. I just picked it up to eat the drumstick that Lim Dae-han had put up. This time I wanted to eat it with salt, but I couldn’t find it.
“What are you looking for?”
Lim Dae-han asked. “Salt,” I replied succinctly. Lim Dae-han found salt in the bag that my older brother had been packing chicken in. Then he ripped open the bag and sprinkled salt on my bowl. I put salt on the tip of the drumstick and put it into my mouth. Instead of beer, I drank Coke. I looked up to see my older brother looking at me with a lukewarm gaze.
“You.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you dating because you like each other?”
I frowned slightly at the remark, and my older brother waved his hand.
“Nevermind.”
There was something strange about what he said. I wiped my oily fingers with a tissue.
“Hyung, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, really…”
My older brother drank the beer at once. Lim Dae-han and I exchanged glances. I was alone in front of Lim Dae-han, doing something strange. I was irritated in some ways. I shrugged and licked my lips. Nevermind. Lim Dae-han smiled slightly as I mumbled alone.
My older brother put the finished beer can on the table. Bang. There was a loud sound. My older brother rolled his eyes and said.
“Lim Dae-han.”
“Yes.”
You can call me if you have anything to say, but my older brother called Lim Dae-han instead. I took another sip of Coke while looking between them.
“Get along well with Ki Young-hyun.”
“…”
“He’s stupid, but he’s not a bad kid. Even when he hit his older brother in the head because he was upset.”
“No, why…”
My older brother still brought up the story a few months ago. At the end of the day, he holds a grudge. I tried to interrupt my older brother, but he ignored me and continued.
“Be careful with your head, and you never know when he will hit you.”
Lim Dae-han smiled slightly. Did you just laugh? With tears in my eyes, Lim Dae-han took the wings from the chicken box on my side and placed them in my bowl. The sauce was also pushed in my direction. My heart was quickly relieved, and I smiled along with Lim Dae-han. My brother was swearing, but it didn’t matter.
***
Because I was strongly opposed to my older brother lending clothes to him, he was unable to borrow clothes from him in the end. I lent him some underwear I’d never worn before, as well as the biggest T-shirt and shorts I’d ever owned, but the fit was so tight that he ended up lying naked on the floor.
The underwear he was wearing was quickly washed and dried, but because of the strange feeling of freshly washed laundry, I decided to dry it outside a little longer.
This was why summer was so good. The clothes dried quickly.
Beep- After adjusting the temperature of the air conditioner in my room with the remote control, I looked down at Lim Dae-han who was lying on the floor.
“It won’t be cold, right?”
“There’s a blanket to cover up, too.”
I turned off the light in the room after nodding my head. Because it was an apartment, the light from the outside was quite strong. Even with the lights turned off, it was quite bright. I also had to lie down in bed, but somehow it was a pity. After a long pause at Lim Dae-han’s feet, I tapped and touched the blanket on which Lim Dae-han was lying.
“Go to the side.”
Then I heard the blanket rustling. Lim Dae-han lifted the quilt. I delved into that gap. Unlike Lim Dae-han, who was naked, I was dressed in short sleeves and shorts. He gave me an arm pillow. I placed my head on his strong arm and placed his hand on my side.
“Dae-han, was it hard today?”
“No.”
Lim Dae-han closed his eyes and answered the question. Looking up at the short eyelashes, I kissed the tip of Lim Dae-han’s chin. Slowly, the tightly closed eyes opened.
“It wasn’t hard.”
“I didn’t kiss you because I thought you’d have a hard time…”
I did it because I liked it.
Lim Dae-han grabbed my chin at those words. My lips twitched slightly. Chu, chu… Our lips lightly touched. I wrapped my legs around Lim Dae-han’s thighs and rubbed them under the cloth. Lim Dae-han climbed up and rubbed my neck and shoulders.
We kissed each other’s bodies passionately. We kissed again as soon as our lips parted. I kept stroking Lim Dae-han’s shoulder and back, pulling him closer to me.
“Ah…”
We parted our lips. But nothing else happened after that. It was Lim Dae-han, and I was down enough to kiss and caress him, but I couldn’t do it any anymore. I could hear the buzzing of the air conditioning vents from outside my room. There was no time to be hot because of the air conditioner’s cold air.
“…”
Lim Dae-han caressed my cheeks, chin, and lips with his fingers while on top of me. I pushed Lim Dae-han’s shoulder and climbed onto his body. Then I kissed him a few more times.
Chu, chu, chu… The noise was heard repeatedly. Phew. After taking a deep breath, I buried my cheek in Lim Dae-han’s chest.
“Dae-han.”
“Yeah.”
“Dae-han.”
“Yeah.”
“Dae-han.”
“Why are you calling me?”
Lim Dae-han’s heart was pounding violently. Lim Dae-han’s warm body temperature enveloped me. Actually, it was not Lim Dae-han but me, who had a hard time. I closed my eyes gradually. I heard Lim Dae-han’s voice in my sleep. He said that he liked me. Me too… I wanted to respond, but I was so tired that I only put strength on the arm that embraced him.
***
“… They’re crazy.”
The sharp voice sounded alarming. My eyes lit up, and I awoke with no sleight of hand.
I was still in the arms of Lim Dae-han. I was stroking his soft skin and firm muscles in the palm of my hand because the air conditioner had been running all night.
“I’m fucking pissed.”
A sharp voice was heard once more. It wasn’t a dream. I slowly turned my head to the place where the voice came from.
“…”
Two well-proportioned legs appeared at the entrance to my room. I slowly looked up, like Jack who looked up at the bean tree he had planted. And at the top of the last, I could see my older brother, who was about to turn his eyes.
“Hey, is this your home? Aren’t you getting up?”
My older brother yelled. At that sound Lim Dae-han slowly opened his eyes and looked at my older brother, surprised. He looked at my face and my older brother’s face once before gradually releasing the arm that was wrapped around my waist.
When the hand that was tightly wrapped around my waist disappeared, it was a little awkward. I stood up and placed my hand on Lim Dae-han’s chest. The blanket that had been pulled up around his neck slipped away. My older brother’s brow furrowed. I realized now that my older brother misunderstood us because we were sleeping and hugging naked, and his expression showed no signs of loosening.
“These bastards really crazy.”
“No, hyung…”
“You’re still a student.”
He then nags. Students must carry out their responsibilities. What exactly were you doing on the floor? Did you think I’d bring you a blanket to sleep like that? There was blabbering mixed with swearing. In fact, it was embarrassing to show Lim Dae-han this side of my older brother.
I eventually got up. I approached the door, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed my older brother’s shoulder with the other hand. I returned my gaze to Lim Dae-han. Lim Dae-han was unable to get up from the blanket. The reason was obvious. It was morning, and Dae-han was sleeping naked…
“Hyung, hyung… Lim Dae-han has to change into his clothes. Get out.”
“What. What else are you going to do?”
“No, seriously! It’s the morning thing!”
My older brother was also secretly looking at Lim Dae-han at the time. My older brother, who was on the verge of exploding, became quiet. Because we were of the same gender, it was simple to understand. My older brother said oh and quickly left the room. It was a little embarrassing, but he shouted for us to come out and eat again. Bang. Lim Dae-han lay down again after the door was shut.
“…”
Fortunately, the air conditioner was turned on, but his face must have been red and hot. I checked the temperature of the air conditioner, which had been turned on overnight. I then knelt and placed my hand on Lim Dae-han’s back. I tilted my head to the side.
“Dae-han. He’s gone.”
“… I know.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
“Yeah…”
Of course, it would be embarrassing. I’ve never met Lim Dae-han’s older brother or sister, but if I were in the same situation, I’d want to bang my head and die. I wrapped my arms around Lim Dae-han’s shoulders and raised them instead of reacting. Lim Dae-han’s ears were the color of ripe fruit. It felt like it would explode when touched.
Lim Dae-han lifted both hands that were covering his face. Lim Dae-han raised his head and made eye contact with me before lowering it again. He appeared anxious for some reason. From the morning, his bottom part, which was firmly erected over the blanket showed a strong presence.
“My older brother doesn’t really care about that. He’s a man, too. He won’t make fun of you.”
At those words, Lim Dae-han meekly met my eyes. Hurry up. I want you to kiss me. Mwah, I put my hand on Lim Dae-han’s thigh and kissed his cheek. It felt weird when I kissed him in the morning. It felt like we were living together. So I liked to sleep in Lim Dae-han’s house.
Bang! My older brother slammed the door again. It was a silent warning. I quickly rose from my seat. Then I turned the doorknob to get out. I turned my head as I was about to leave. I raised the corners of my mouth and said teasingly.
“Press it down and come out.”
Lim Dae-han collapsed again at those words. I had to come out with a fairly refreshing step and hear my brother’s criticism about why I was flirting since the morning. Lim Dae-han could only come out after a few minutes. With an awkward step that appears strange to anyone watching.