F71

Back in the bedroom, Yeonho hesitated over whether or not to wake Siwoo. He needed to tell him that he was heading out, and part of him wanted to ask if it was really something Siwoo had done. But at the same time, he didn’t want to disturb him while he slept.

Just then, with his eyes still closed, Siwoo stretched out his arms and pulled Yeonho into an embrace. Drawn under the covers with him, Yeonho forgot everything he had just been thinking about as Siwoo climbed on top of him.

Siwoo pressed Yeonho’s chest flat beneath his own and reached over to the nightstand, feeling around for lube and a condom. Yeonho grabbed his wrist and pulled it back.

“I’m already ready. Just put it in. Don’t use a condom either.”

“No. What if you tear?”

“It’s fine. I loosened up enough. Just do it.”

Siwoo gently pressed a kiss to Yeonho’s cheek. The bit of wetness at the tip of his shaft wasn’t nearly enough. It unsettled him, seeing how quickly Yeonho’s attitude had shifted, considering he’d banned penetration just a few days earlier. He kissed Yeonho’s lips several times in a row and whispered,

“Does it make you feel better when I hurt you?”

“That’s not it. I just… I like it when you are rough with me.”

“I feel like it’s my fault. Because I keep being rough with you.”

Yeonho shook his head, smiling at the guilt on Siwoo’s face.

“I told you, I like the feeling of being pinned down, when I can’t even move.”

With a sleepy smile, he wrapped his arms around Siwoo’s neck and nuzzled his cheek.

“I want you to feel it too. What it’s like inside me when you go in right away. I’m curious what it feels like for you too.”

Instead of replying, Siwoo pushed his tongue past Yeonho’s lips and explored his mouth. At the same time, he slipped a finger into him from behind. It slid in easily, but the tightness made thrusting back and forth difficult. He pulled it out and pressed the wet tip of his shaft against Yeonho’s entrance, speaking in a low voice.

“How did you get yourself ready?”

“You’ll get mad if I tell you…”

“Did you put something in?”

With a teasing smile and just a hint of irritation, Siwoo asked again. Yeonho didn’t answer, just grinned. Siwoo didn’t stop smiling either as he kept questioning him, pressing in more insistently.

“What did you use?”

“Not telling.”

“I told you I don’t like anything going in there besides me. What did you even use to get like this, Yeonho?”

“Ah! Hngh…!”

Yeonho cried out suddenly.

Siwoo filled the empty space inside him and stayed perfectly still, breathing heavily. If he moved now, he might hurt Yeonho’s tender insides. Even without thrusting, the sensation was overwhelming. The tight muscles inside Yeonho kept squeezing him, painfully tight.

Yeonho’s eyes were glazed as he gently stroked Siwoo’s face and asked breathlessly,

“…How does it feel?”

“It’s so tight. It feels insane.”

Siwoo groaned, dazed, still not moving. Beneath him, Yeonho began rocking his hips and asked in a teasing tone,

“Feels good doing it only once every two weeks?”

“No. I’m not waiting that long ever again.”

Siwoo’s whisper made Yeonho’s face flush. No matter how many times they had sex, Siwoo’s unfiltered desire always caught him off guard, always felt new.

Yeonho suddenly felt petty. He wanted to ask how often Siwoo had done it with the person he dated for four years. But before he could, Siwoo showered his face with kisses and murmured,

“You’re beautiful.”

That did it. Yeonho’s body twitched and he came. Even though part of him doubted it, the look in Siwoo’s eyes and the sound of his voice were too sincere to resist. He couldn’t help but get excited.

Siwoo slowly pulled out of him, then gently stroked Yeonho’s length, squeezing out every last drop of his release and rubbing it over his own shaft. Only then did he thrust back in and start moving, his rhythm hard and deep. Just as Yeonho had asked, Siwoo pinned him down and fucked him into the mattress without letting him move.

“Hngh… ah… haah…”

Yeonho was hard again in no time, thanks to the way Siwoo was splitting him open, drilling deep into his belly. It felt like he was Siwoo’s lover again. After all, not once during the entire act did Siwoo look at him with hatred in his eyes.

Afterward, Yeonho got ready to go out. Only then did Siwoo hear what had happened during the night.

Yeonho studied Siwoo’s face carefully. He looked genuinely surprised, like this was the first he was hearing of it.

Wasn’t Siwoo the only person who would’ve had a reason to attack Seong Junyoung? But then how did he know the passcode to the house? Maybe it was because this apartment, provided as lodging for the staff, had been built by Namyeon Construction. Maybe the construction company had used a standard digital lock system for all their properties, and Siwoo had gotten his hands on a keycard.

In the end, it didn’t matter whether Siwoo had done it or not.

“I’m going to the hospital. I really don’t want to, but I heard Dad is there, so I should probably go see him.”

“Will you be okay seeing Seong Junyoung’s face?”

“It doesn’t matter. If I can’t handle it on my own, I’ll tell Mom and Dad everything. Don’t worry. I’m an adult.”

“I’m sorry. You still look like a baby to me.”

At Siwoo’s words, Yeonho blushed and gave him a shy smile. Wrapped in a deep brown coat, he held Siwoo’s hand.

“Still, don’t you think Mom would be on my side? Maybe not. Out of my whole family, she feels like the only one who might take my side. If not, well, there’s nothing I can do.”

Yeonho answered with a bitter smile. He wasn’t confident that his mother would defend him. At some point, he’d started to believe she actually hated him.

Siwoo pulled the lonely-looking Yeonho into his arms. He had wished for Yeonho to lose someone dear and end up isolated, but now that it had actually happened, the feeling was far from satisfying. He had desperately wanted Yeonho’s family to disappear from his side, but not like this.

“If it gets too hard, call me. I’ll come right away.”

“It feels like a dream, having you here next to me. I still can’t believe it.”

Yeonho’s voice was choked with emotion as he looked back on the past four years, when he’d thought Kim Siwoo was no longer part of his life.

Would Siwoo really stay in his life going forward? Even after everything settled down? When it was all over, would he be too drained to keep holding on, and just leave?

Siwoo walked Yeonho to the apartment parking lot, then asked him one last question as he got into the driver’s seat.

“Yeonho, by the way.”

“Yeah?”

“The phone you were using when we were together. Where is it now? If you’d had that, there’s no way you wouldn’t remember what happened back then.”

“Oh, that. I lost it. It was already gone by the time I woke up in the hospital. So while I was admitted, my family got me a new one.”

“I see. Drive safe.”

Siwoo nodded and waved as Yeonho pulled away.

***

Seong Junyoung, hospitalized with a concussion and abdominal contusions, was taking pictures of the deluxe private room and his IV drip to post on social media. Yeonho caught him in the act and smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth in mockery. Junyoung cleared his throat and set the phone aside.

While their father stood by the window talking on the phone with their mother, Junyoung glared at Yeonho and whispered under his breath.

“You gave Kim Siwoo the code to my house, didn’t you.”

“No, I didn’t. He was too busy having sex with me all night. Don’t accuse him without proof.”

“Of course you’re defending that bastard. Yeonho, I get it if it’s just me, but how could you do this to your big brother? I’m honestly shocked.”

Junyoung was convinced that the person who attacked him with a blunt weapon at dawn was Kim Siwoo. Though he hadn’t been able to clearly make out the man’s build or movements while shielding his head with his arms, there was no one else who fit the circumstances.

He had ruled out Joo Yeonho from the start. In his eyes, Yeonho had no violent tendencies and was too mild-mannered to be capable of something like that. The most he could imagine was Yeonho half-heartedly slapping his face or throwing a weak punch at his stomach, completely harmless and weak.

Even though he was sure who the assailant was, he hadn’t reported it to the police. He had just called an ambulance and gotten admitted to the hospital. Last night, he had charged at Kim Siwoo in a rage, swinging a chair, but legally speaking, getting tangled up with Siwoo would do him no good.

Back when that man killed Seong Junhee, how many lawyers from that huge firm showed up to defend him? If they fought now, Junyoung’s own dirty laundry would be aired in full view.

So instead, he had tried to form a bond with Siwoo and make Yeonho their shared enemy. But that had failed. At this rate, he really felt like Kim Siwoo might kill him without leaving a trace.

After finishing his call, their father turned to Yeonho and said,

“Your brother said someone beat him with a baseball bat and took off. Probably one of the employees who lives in the same apartment building. What kind of trouble has your brother been causing to make enemies after just a few days on the job? Honestly, it’s no wonder he got beat up. He must’ve deserved it.”

According to their father, the attacker had shown up in ski gear, with goggles and a sports mask covering his face, and ski gloves on his hands. The blunt object left next to Junyoung’s body after the assault was a bat from the resort’s 24-hour unmanned arcade.

When they checked the arcade’s CCTV footage, just as Junyoung had said, a man dressed in ski gear and hiding his face with goggles and a mask had entered and taken a bat out with him.

Yeonho blinked slowly and tilted his head at his father’s explanation.

“I’m going to step outside for a cigarette.”

Out in the hospital’s smoking area, Yeonho was hit with a strange feeling. He stared into the blurry smoke with hazy eyes, lost in thought.

“A baseball bat. A baseball bat…”

A faint smile appeared on Yeonho’s lips.

“Someone read my mind…”

***

After Yeonho left, Siwoo tidied up the wrecked apartment. He threw out the chair Junyoung had broken and cleaned every corner of the bedroom and living room.

When he opened the drawer to grab a pack of wipes, he discovered something neatly tucked into the bottom corner of the lowest shelf. It was an old phone, his own, which he had used years ago and given back to Yeonho just two weeks earlier. That phone still held the memories of five years past.

Siwoo found himself recalling what Yeonho had said to him before heading out. The more he thought about it, the more old memories began resurfacing, things he had once passed over now replaying vividly in his mind. He worked hard to piece together what had faded over time.

“I think I know where it might be.”

Maybe he really could find the phone Yeonho had lost.