Soft sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains that hadn’t been fully drawn.
Suhyeon slowly lifted his heavy eyelids.
After a few blinks, his blurry vision sharpened.
The first thing to enter his field of view was a solid chest.
Well-defined muscles twitched as Hajin moved.
Hajin was lying on his side, watching him.
Suhyeon realized he was using Hajin’s arm as a pillow; instead of soft down, a firm forearm rested beneath his ear.
“Are you awake?”
The blue eyes looking down at him were curved in a gentle, affectionate arc.
Who would believe these were the same eyes that had made him cry countless times and driven him so ruthlessly just last night?
Suhyeon rolled his eyes downward to look beneath the duvet.
He felt fresh and clean—Hajin must have washed him and tidied up while he was out of it.
Not that the “how” mattered much right now.
“……It hurts.”
A raspy, sleep-laden voice croaked out of Suhyeon’s mouth. Hajin blinked.
It really did hurt. Suhyeon winced, his eyes still clouded with sleep.
It felt as if someone had been rummaging through his insides—well, technically, he had been.
Regardless, the dull throb served as a vivid reminder of everything that had happened.
Hajin had been like a man possessed.
While it was true Hajin never let him sleep peacefully whenever they shared a bed, last night had been on another level entirely.
By the end, he felt like a tattered rag doll, swaying limply in Hajin’s grip.
His mind had gone as messy as his body, leaving his memories a fragmented blur.
‘Suhyeon, you’re beautiful,’ he’d said, over and over, while biting, sucking, licking, and thrusting.
“Nng,”
Suhyeon tried to turn toward Hajin, but he let out a groan of pain that felt like a punch to the gut.
Perhaps feeling a shred of conscience, Hajin pulled him closer.
When Suhyeon’s face contorted, Hajin flinched.
“But… you were just so beautiful, Suhyeon.”
Then, he actually pouted his lips and offered that as an excuse.
As Suhyeon narrowed his eyes, Hajin dropped his gaze piteously.
“……Hurting is hurting.”
Suhyeon tried his best not to fall for Hajin’s “kicked puppy” act, but despite his grumbling words, his expression had already softened.
Unlike his usual indifferent mask where one had to read his shifting eyes to gauge his mood, Hajin was actually quite cute when he wore his heart on his sleeve like this.
Sensing that Suhyeon was no longer truly upset, Hajin began peppering his forehead with light, smacking kisses.
“Stop it…….”
“Just a little more, hm? Suhyeon.”
As if last night hadn’t been enough to satisfy him, Hajin acted spoiled, burying his face against Suhyeon’s skin.
Knowing Hajin would do as he pleased regardless of any resistance, Suhyeon gave up and let him have his way.
—Suhyeon, look at me.
Suddenly, Suhyeon remembered the name Hajin had called him last night.
The memory flashed back as Hajin called him “Suhyeon” again.
Perhaps Hajin’s reason had also been devoured by instinct, because unlike his usual self, he had dropped the formal honorifics entirely, whispering Suhyeon, Suhyeon over and over.
Though his general speech had remained polite, that specific intimacy had stayed.
Suhyeon, who had been pushing away Hajin’s face as it moved toward his neck and below, paused.
When Suhyeon stopped moving, Hajin looked up at him.
His blue eyes, brimming with warmth, held Suhyeon’s reflection.
“Suhyeon?”
“Hajin.”
Suhyeon called his name but hesitated, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket.
“……Call me that again.”
His hesitation was brief.
He wanted to hear it one more time.
It was a name he heard a dozen times a day from others, with or without the “,” but coming from Hajin last night, it had felt… different.
“Suhyeon?”
When Hajin called him as he usually did, looking puzzled, Suhyeon averted his gaze.
After a long moment, his red lips parted.
“……Not that one.”
Hajin’s confused expression lingered before a flash of realization crossed his face.
A low chuckle escaped him.
“Suhyeon?”
Suhyeon listened to the name and then, ignoring his creaking, protesting body, buried his face in Hajin’s chest.
He couldn’t believe his face was heating up over something so simple.
“Is this it, Suhyeon?”
Wicked.
Hajin was definitely being wicked. It was just a drop in honorifics, but to think it would make him… this embarrassed.
Was it just because he wasn’t used to it?
His heated cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“Do you like it?”
If he called him “Suhyeon” one more time, Suhyeon felt like he might lose it and start drumming on the man’s chest.
He just groaned, face still hidden against Hajin.
So, this was what they called “Ban-jondae” (half-polite speech), right?
He used to think people who squealed over things like this were strange or cringey, but when Hajin did it, it was different.
“Call me that… sometimes.”
“I will.”
As Suhyeon mumbled against him, Hajin burst into a low laugh and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’ll call you that, so don’t you dare give so much as a glance to bastards like Asher Delveron, okay?”
Was he still worried about that?
Suhyeon looked up at Hajin blankly, having already forgotten the name.
Hajin’s eyes were narrowed.
‘Asher. Is he okay?’
The last time he saw him, he had been guiding him while he was unconscious, so a natural human concern sprouted.
He should be fine, right?
Suhyeon didn’t remember exactly how high he’d raised the levels, but he had stopped and passed out only when he felt the danger had passed.
“You’re not thinking about that prick, are you?”
Hajin, sensing Suhyeon’s drifting thoughts, pulled him back with a dissatisfied tone.
Suhyeon blinked, meeting Hajin’s eyes, and let out a dry laugh.
He looked like a child—not even a teenager—with an expression that said his favorite toy had been stolen.
“Got it? Obviously, don’t meet that Asher Delveron bastard, don’t talk to him, don’t touch him, and if you see him from a distance, run straight to me…….”
Faced with a lover who was essentially delivering a “restraining order” speech, Suhyeon finally nodded.
He felt a tiny bit bad that Asher had helped with his training and he’d done nothing in return, but his conscience felt clear enough since he’d practically poured guiding into him until he himself collapsed.
Asher was always begging for guiding anyway, so he should be satisfied by now.
“It’s not like we’ll see each other anymore.”
Since training was over, there would be no reason to meet Asher unless something happened.
Only after hearing that did Hajin look satisfied, nuzzling his face into Suhyeon’s shoulder.
Hajin seemed to have no work today; he didn’t mention having to leave and stayed by Suhyeon’s side.
They spent the morning lounging together.
After his aching stomach and condition improved slightly—and after receiving coffee service from Hajin—Suhyeon finally dragged his body out of bed just before the lazy morning turned into afternoon.
He pushed away Hajin, who tried to follow him into the bathroom to wash together, and after spending some time alone there, he came out to find Hajin waiting with a shirt for him.
It was one of Hajin’s shirts.
Suhyeon considered refusing, but then he realized he’d have to go all the way to his own room—which had somehow become his dressing room—to get his own clothes, so he just accepted it.
They were home, so it didn’t really matter.
Though, he looked a bit ridiculous in the mirror.
He knew there was a significant size difference between them, but Hajin’s shirt was so large he didn’t even need pants.
He had no idea how a shirt could reach all the way down to his mid-thighs.
When they went down to the first floor, a light salad Hajin had prepared was waiting.
Suhyeon picked at it half-heartedly before moving to the sofa.
Hajin followed him with a towel and began gently drying his damp hair.
Hajin’s touch was incredibly careful, as if terrified of accidentally pulling a strand and causing pain.
Between the gentle handling and the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Suhyeon’s body felt heavy and drowsy again, despite having only just woken up.
Ding-dong.
Suhyeon, who had been dozing off on Hajin’s shoulder after his hair was dried, snapped his eyes open at the sudden sound of the bell.
Ding-dong.
It had been months since he started living in Hajin’s house, but this was practically the first time he had ever heard the doorbell.
“Tsk.”
Hajin clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed that Suhyeon had been startled awake, and stood up.
Suhyeon watched Hajin walk toward the wall just before the kitchen.
It was only then that he realized there was an intercom there, looking almost like a piece of decor.
Suhyeon stood up and followed behind Hajin.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The bell rang again and the intercom screen flickered on, but nothing was visible.
It seemed to be broken.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Hajin frowned irritably and began buttoning up his unbuttoned shirt as he headed out.
Since Hajin’s house had a garden, the bell was likely coming from the main gate beyond the yard.
Suhyeon waited for Hajin, idling by himself.
He couldn’t even remember where his phone was.
He was too lazy to go look for it.
How much time had passed?
When Hajin didn’t return after a long wait, Suhyeon blinked slowly.
The side of the house with the large windows was on the opposite side of the entrance, so he couldn’t see anything.
‘I should stop acting like such a slacker.’
After debating whether to get up, Suhyeon sighed and stood up.
He was too lazy to go to the bedroom to find pants, but luckily, there was a pair of folded trousers on the living room chair.
He pulled them on and stepped outside.
The weather outside was cool and clear, with a refreshing breeze.
Walking along the stone path through the garden toward the gate, Suhyeon tilted his head.
‘Wait… why does it sound so intense out there?’
“……is…… but……”
“……why…… hyeon……”
He’d assumed it was a delivery, but as he reached the gate, he retracted that thought.
There was definitely a reason why Hajin hadn’t come back.
“I asked you why.”
“Hajin?”
Just as he got close enough to see the back of Hajin standing halfway out the gate, Suhyeon called out instinctively after hearing Hajin’s razor-sharp tone.
At his voice, the gate Hajin had been blocking was suddenly pushed wide open.
Behind a scowling Hajin, a solid arm came into view.
“Suhyeon!”
Asher was standing there.
His cheek was swollen, and through his partially unbuttoned shirt, Suhyeon could see vivid purple bruises on his chest.
