JD 103

When Hakyung opened his eyes and checked the time, it was already well past nine. He jolted up in shock—it was later than he’d expected.

On Sundays, Hajo had early morning lectures, so Hakyung usually made sure to prepare breakfast for him. But today, he’d overslept.

Still feeling like he’d been beaten all over during the night, Hakyung dragged his aching body toward the kitchen, hoping to at least check if Hajo had eaten properly.

But when he arrived, instead of traces of Hajo’s breakfast, he was greeted by Muheon’s smiling face.

“You’re awake?”

“Yeah…”

“How’s your body?”

“I’m okay, just a little sore. Yeah. Even my butt’s fine.”

Muheon’s grin widened, clearly pleased with the answer. Hakyung, smiling sheepishly in return, glanced around.

He seemed to be looking for Hajo, so Muheon reassured him that his brother had already eaten and left. At that, Hakyung let out a sigh of relief—then finally really saw Muheon.

The relaxed-looking man was standing in front of the stove, grilling something in a frying pan. Hakyung was momentarily dazed at the sight of the tall, handsome imugi cooking.

Snapping out of it, Hakyung waddled over and peeked into the pan.

Whatever was on there was burned pitch-black. Not even out of politeness could he say it looked appetizing.

“What… what is this?”

“Bacon and egg toast.”

The name sounded fancy. Hakyung nodded, then looked again. Yep. Still looked inedible.

Muheon scratched his cheek like he already knew what Hakyung was thinking. He’d only recently started cooking, so his skills were… inconsistent, to put it kindly.

Hakyung would’ve corrected him—it wasn’t inconsistent, he just sucked—but thankfully, Muheon didn’t have the ability to read river dolphin thoughts.

After a long silence of staring into the pan, Hakyung finally spoke.

“So, how many tries is this?”

“Four.”

“Ah, unbelievable. Move. I’ll do it.”

Four tries…! Hakyung offered a silent prayer for the eggs, toast, and bacon that had sacrificed themselves.

He bumped Muheon’s thigh with his butt, trying to push him aside. Since they were different heights, Hakyung’s butt couldn’t reach the same level, so he had to make do with shoving his hip into Muheon’s leg.

Muheon had already realized this breakfast attempt was doomed, so he stepped aside with only the barest resistance.

With practiced hands, Hakyung salvaged what he could and swiftly whipped up proper bacon and egg toast. This batch actually looked like food.

He blended fresh tomatoes for juice and brought everything to the table. It looked like a real breakfast now.

Muheon sat down with a sheepish expression and picked up his knife and fork.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Let’s eat.”

Facing each other, they began eating in silence. After expending a lot of energy just a few hours earlier, both of them devoured the food quickly.

“Mmm, this is so good. Like, crazy good!”

Eyes wide and cheeks full, Hakyung munched enthusiastically. Watching him eat—his lips moving around the food—Muheon couldn’t help but recall the sight of those same lips wrapped around something else just hours ago.

Then again, it wasn’t surprising. His lust for Kang Hakyung wasn’t exactly new. Just last night, Hakyung had sobbed and cursed him out mid-round, yelling that if he kept going, he was a bastard—and Muheon had kept going anyway.

He wouldn’t have minded being that bastard. It was only because Hakyung passed out that he’d stopped at all.

By the time his morning turned into a haze of lewd thoughts and throbbing tension, Hakyung cautiously looked up and asked,

“How did Hajo seem today? Was his mood okay?”

And just like that, Muheon’s arousal evaporated.

Even in a private space, the mention of another person—even if it was family—was unwelcome. To Muheon, his world consisted of just him and Hakyung.

But Hakyung was different. Muheon might be number one in his heart, but he wasn’t the only one.

Muheon understood that… but it still didn’t sit well.

So he crafted a careful reply to steer Hakyung away from worrying.

“He seemed sorry.”

“Huh…? Really?”

“Yeah. He told me to let you know.”

Without twitching a single eyebrow, Muheon lied smoothly as he chewed on a piece of bacon. Technically, he had told Hajo to fix his expression before seeing Hakyung, so it wasn’t a total lie.

Hakyung’s face immediately brightened. Even the lingering sense of discomfort seemed to melt away, and his whole expression glowed.

“I feel so much better now that we’ve made up. Should we… go one more round?”

With a casual tone but heat behind the words, Hakyung made the suggestion. Muheon blinked, startled, then gave a small shrug as if to say, I wouldn’t mind.

After all, the best cure for muscle soreness was getting your body moving again.

***

After finishing his special lecture, Hajo found himself being dragged off to the clinic by Hakyung—with his backpack still on.

“W-Why are we going to a clinic?!”

“Well, it just seems like something’s off. You’ve been irritable, and you said you saw something that wasn’t there… You’re probably running on fumes because of the college entrance exam. Let’s get you some herbal medicine, maybe some acupuncture too.”

“Wha—?! Herbal medicine? Acupuncture?! No way! I’m not even sick!”

It was completely out of the blue. Hajo turned to Muheon with pleading eyes, silently begging him to intervene—but Muheon ignored him without a flicker of sympathy.

Unbelievable. After telling Muheon everything about why he’d fought with his brother, the man was still acting like he knew nothing.

It was unfair—outright betrayal from someone who should’ve been on the same side. But this was Muheon. Hajo could only lower his head quietly in defeat.

The clinic was supposed to be just “a good place,” but the building was straight-up grand and magnificent. The kind that made you wonder if it was a national treasure. The river dolphin brothers stood in front of it, jaws slack in matching expressions of awe.

So much for not looking like siblings.

Muheon, far more taken with Hakyung than Hajo, placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder and led the way.

“Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you, Sir Muheon!”

As soon as they stepped inside, an elderly man rushed forward like he’d been on standby. Gripping Muheon’s hand, he gushed out a stream of heartfelt thanks.

It was puzzling. They were here for treatment, so why did it feel like the doctor owed them something? Not to mention—it was a Sunday. Most people would be annoyed to work the weekend, but not this man.

The overwhelming welcome lasted until Muheon told him to ease up. Only then did Hakyung finally feel like they might actually get to the point—treatment.

As they followed the man into the consultation room, Hakyung whispered,

“Do you know him?”

“West Sea beastman.”

“Ah, I thought so…!”

Hakyung nodded. The love West Sea folk had for Muheon was intense, and apparently, even those living inland were no exception.

To Muheon, such devotion was as normal as breathing. But to Hakyung, it was fascinating. The idea of someone following and respecting another so fiercely—especially one-sidedly—was unfamiliar to him.

If he’d continued liking Muheon alone, with no response… he probably would’ve lost control. He could already picture himself crawling into Muheon’s bed and seducing him in his sleep, whispering that he’d take responsibility afterward.

He never would’ve survived as a hopeless admirer forever.

In that sense, it was a miracle that Muheon had accepted his confession. And now they were married…

Muheon was the greatest fortune and happiness of Hakyung’s life.

Getting a little emotional, Hakyung squeezed Muheon’s arm. Muheon responded with a soft smile, clearly loving every second of the unexpected affection.

Watching them from the side, Hajo’s face visibly darkened.

“Let’s see here… the first patient is Kang Hajo?”

“Yes. He’s in his last year of high school, prepping for college exams. I think he’s running out of energy.”

Hakyung explained his brother’s condition in great detail, asking multiple times that only the best ingredients be used for the tonic. It wasn’t helicopter parenting—it was helicopter brothering.

Hajo felt embarrassed—he wasn’t exactly achieving anything monumental to deserve this much fuss—and Muheon, meanwhile, quietly simmered with jealousy.

After listening patiently, the doctor took Hajo’s wrist. There were no major issues; his energy wasn’t significantly depleted. A restorative tonic should do the trick.

“Check my husband, too.”

As Hajo’s exam wrapped up, Muheon guided Hakyung into the seat and made his request—no, demand.

Everyone else stared in surprise. Even upside-down, Kang Hakyung looked like the picture of good health. Why examine someone so obviously fine?

But as Hakyung tried to decline and back away, Muheon held his shoulder and whispered,

“You tire out too fast. Let’s build up your stamina.”

His low voice made Hakyung’s earlobes flush red.