Sweet Shot

#15

Ha-min flinched at the playful yet subtly barbed words.

Tae-rim discarded his cigarette on the ground and approached until he was right in front of Ha-min. As his scent grew stronger, Ha-min’s heart tightened. It was unfair, almost too much…

In the cold dawn breeze, Tae-rim’s bangs covering his forehead swayed slightly. Between the strands, his deep gaze and dark eyes were visible. Eyes so dark they couldn’t be compared to the night sky. And his porcelain-like skin shone clearly even in the darkness.

“You’re drunk, my brother’s friend…”

“I am drunk.”

He stated flatly. For someone claiming to be drunk, he looked remarkably sober, but the strong smell of alcohol was undeniably spreading.

“You must be tired, why don’t you go home… How did you know when I’d come…”

“I had a rough idea.”

He replied, then put another cigarette in his mouth. With a metallic click, the Zippo lighter opened, and the flint wheel turned.

“Want one, Ha-min?”

Even though he just finished one… What’s so good about those strong cigarettes? Ha-min frowned worriedly and shook his head.

“You don’t smoke, huh.”

Tae-rim muttered quietly in response to the refusal.

“No.”

At the short answer, Tae-rim chuckled. Confused by the deflated laugh, Ha-min tilted his head.

“What… Why are you laughing?”

Ha-min replied casually, but his heart felt like it would burst. The dawn air, the early morning breeze, Tae-rim’s presence so out of place in this shabby alley – it was all too much to process.

“It suits you well.”

“…?”

“Not smoking suits you well.”

“…Oh.”

“Don’t start in the future either.”

It was a statement with unclear intentions. Not only was the meaning unclear, but there was also a subtly forceful edge to it. Ha-min just blinked stupidly and nodded his head.

Tae-rim’s gaze narrowed slightly as he looked down at the small head bobbing up and down. He then dropped the barely-smoked cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his shoe.

“Go inside now.”

Tae-rim spoke to Ha-min, who was standing there blankly as if his business was finished.

Ha-min fumbled for a moment before looking up at Tae-rim. Confused by the sudden dismissal, he asked with bewildered eyes.

“What about you…?”

Seeing Tae-rim’s car parked nearby, Ha-min asked, and Tae-rim replied nonchalantly.

“I just came to see your face.”

“But you’re drunk…”

“I’ll call a driver to take me home.”

“It’s hard to get one at this hour…”

Ha-min muttered worriedly. He wasn’t ruthless enough to just go inside and leave the person who had been waiting for him. Tae-rim’s eyes narrowed at Ha-min’s restless appearance.

“Then I guess I’ll have to sleep at Ha-min’s place.”

“Huh…?”

“You don’t like that? Should I just drive home?”

When Tae-rim asked teasingly, Ha-min’s face hardened. At the suggestion of driving while drunk, Ha-min looked as if the world was ending. Amused by this reaction, Tae-rim kept smiling and played with Ha-min’s reddened ears.

This made Ha-min’s neck flush even more. Ah, it’s really red. Tae-rim observed closely, sweeping his gaze over Ha-min. Unaware of the scrutiny, Ha-min mumbled awkwardly.

“The room… is really small…”

“That’s good. Let’s sleep close together.”

“You’ll be uncomfortable…”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll just go.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

Ha-min shook his head vigorously in denial, as if being misunderstood was a terrible thing.

Tae-rim asked with a thin smile.

“So you do like it?”

“Huh? …Yeah.”

Ha-min was completely disarmed by the gentle smile. He didn’t even have the will to refuse. From the beginning, there was no way he could have turned down the older man who had waited for him here for hours.

“I like it too.”

Tae-rim hugged Ha-min from behind, nuzzling his face into the crook of Ha-min’s neck as if drunkenly rambling. His voice was drawn out, as if tired, and he let out a deep breath. The breath spread across Ha-min’s collarbone and Adam’s apple. It was maddening. Ha-min felt like crying from the tingling sensation that made his fingertips and toes curl. He could guarantee that he absolutely wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

**

“It’s quite cramped, isn’t it?”

Ha-min smiled sheepishly at Tae-rim’s gaze sweeping across the room. Even in a decent gosiwon, it was bound to be packed with two adult men.

Fortunately, it wasn’t dirty since all Ha-min ever did in the room was sleep or study.

“It smells like you.”

That was Tae-rim’s sudden comment as he looked around the room with an expressionless face. Does it smell? Does it smell bad? Ha-min hurriedly sniffed around various parts of the room.

“I’ll spray some air freshener, just a moment.”

“I meant it smells good.”

Tae-rim chuckled at Ha-min’s flustered behavior. With Tae-rim in the small gosiwon room, it felt like a giant had entered a land of dwarfs.

“Do you, want to shower? There’s a new toothbrush in the bathroom, and I’ll find you the biggest clothes I have… Just a second.”

“…”

After letting Tae-rim in, Ha-min couldn’t collect himself. Tae-rim smiled languidly at Ha-min’s back-and-forth movement.

“This… might be too small?”

Ha-min rummaged through the hangers and held up a white t-shirt, as if trying to measure it against Tae-rim.

“I sleep naked anyway.”

As Ha-min was about to hold the white t-shirt up to Tae-rim’s broad shoulders, just eyeballing the size, Tae-rim said playfully.

“I… sleep with clothes on…”

Ha-min’s cheeks flushed at Tae-rim’s intense stare and words.

“Right, I should listen to the host.”

Tae-rim nodded as if easily agreeing and entered the bathroom. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Ha-min collapsed onto the bed as if fainting. Just being alone with Tae-rim in this small space made his heart feel like it would explode.

“Ha…”

Ha-min hit his own chest irritably. Stop pounding so hard, he told his heart. It was scary how loudly it was thumping, as if Tae-rim might hear it.

Was God testing him? As if asking how much longer he could endure.

It felt like he was being mocked, asked if he could give up on Tae-rim even after all this.

**

Ha-min showered for as long as possible. If only to get rid of his flushed face. He stood under the cold water from the shower for over ten minutes. When his body was shivering and his lips had turned slightly blue, he turned off the shower. His face in the mirror, reflected through the misty steam, looked as nervous as a newlywed couple on their first night. His image looked pathetically shabby. He couldn’t look more pathetic, all tensed up just for spending one night together.

Ha-min shook his wet hair and finally came out of the bathroom. One reason he showered for so long was hoping Tae-rim might have fallen asleep first, but it was a vain hope.

“If you’d come out any later, I was going to barge in.”

Tae-rim was lying on the bed with his arm propped against the headboard, his long legs stretched out.

Despite giving him the largest t-shirt, it was practically skin-tight on Tae-rim. His toned physique and bone structure were clearly visible. The same went for his well-defined muscles and the shorts he was wearing. The shorts that were loose and knee-length on Ha-min were embarrassingly short on Tae-rim. The front of the shorts clearly outlined the shape of his manhood. Lying there like that, he looked like he belonged in an erotic magazine.

“Dry my hair for me.”

Tae-rim sat up and offered his barely-dried hair to Ha-min.

“We can’t use the hair dryer at this hour…”

“Why not?”

“The soundproofing here is bad… We’ll get complaints.”

“Ah, so you can’t have sex either then.”

Tae-rim commented with a straight face. He looked merely curious. Only Ha-min’s face froze in shock.

“Um… yeah. I guess so…”

Ha-min tried to reply as nonchalantly as possible.

“You didn’t dry your hair well…”

Ha-min quickly changed the subject and carefully toweled Tae-rim’s still-wet hair. Tae-rim docilely let Ha-min tend to his hair. He looked pleased.

“You should sleep first.”

As Ha-min quietly spoke while fixing Tae-rim’s tousled hair, Tae-rim looked up at him from the bed. His breathtakingly handsome face shone clearly under the light. God must have shown clear favoritism. There was no doubt this face was carefully crafted with extreme bias.

“Let’s sleep together.”

Tae-rim suddenly grabbed Ha-min’s wrist. With one swift pull, Ha-min was forced to sit between Tae-rim’s legs. Between the spread legs, the outline of Tae-rim’s relaxed manhood was prominently visible in shadow along one thigh. Ha-min’s eyes widened in surprise, darting around nervously.

“I’ll sleep on the floor…”

“Doesn’t look like there’s room to lie down.”

“It’s fine, I can manage. The bed’s too narrow… for two.”

There was barely enough floor space for a small child to lie down. Of course, the bed was also far too small for two people. Having no spare blankets, Ha-min took out a throw blanket he had stored in the corner and spread it on the floor. Tae-rim, who had been quietly watching this while lying diagonally on the bed, spoke up in a displeased tone.

“Should I just go home then?”

“Huh? Why, why?”

Ha-min’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, more surprised than anyone at Tae-rim’s words.

“I didn’t ask you to let me stay so you could sleep like that.”

“…”

“Come here while I’m asking nicely.”

Tae-rim patted the space next to him on the bed with a stern look. Like a rabbit perking up its ears, Ha-min looked back and forth between his shabby blanket and the narrow bed space with wide eyes. Soon his surprised face turned worried.

“But you’ll be uncomfortable.”

“It’s more uncomfortable watching you sleep like that. Hurry up.”

“…”

“Or I’m leaving.”

As Tae-rim moved as if about to get up, Ha-min startled and quickly crawled the short distance on his knees.