The Border Between Affection and Obsession

Blink.

Yoon Dae-eon, who had been sleeping like the dead, snapped his eyes open. He felt like his mother had appeared in his dream, but he couldn’t remember the details.

More importantly, he tried to sit up. Of course, he couldn’t. He felt a sharp sense of déjà vu from the arm and leg draped over his body.

“……Senior, your sleeping habits are seriously intense…….”

Today was even worse. Yoon Dae-eon’s bed was a Queen size—smaller than Seon Ji-ha’s Eastern King—but it wasn’t so small that two men had to sleep this glued together. Yet, he was being held even more tightly than the night before.

First off, Seon Ji-ha’s hand was cupped around Yoon Dae-eon’s head as if cradling it. His thick arm passed right over Dae-eon’s mouth and neck.

And the legs? He wondered why his calves felt strangely numb; it turned out one of Seon Ji-ha’s legs was hooked deep into the back of his knees. Naturally, the other leg was hooked firmly over his thighs.

Even a favorite stuffed doll probably rarely experienced being hugged this tightly.

Feeling a faint breath against the crown of his head, Yoon Dae-eon squirmed. He called out to Seon Ji-ha.

“Senior. Seon Ji-ha Senior.”

“…….”

“Senior, wake up. I’m going to be crushed to death at this rate.”

Being ‘crushed to death’ wasn’t an exaggeration. Seon Ji-ha wasn’t just hugging him; he was practically trying to climb on top of him. If Yoon Dae-eon had woken up any later, he might have had the rare experience of opening his eyes pinned underneath him.

Hearing Yoon Dae-eon’s voice in his sleep, Seon Ji-ha tightened his grip as if afraid he might run away. When the strength only increased instead of loosening, Yoon Dae-eon’s brows furrowed.

“Senior, are you awake? I can’t even see your face, so I don’t know if you’re up or not.”

Is he awake? Is he still sleeping? Just as Yoon Dae-eon tried to lift his head to see his eyes, Seon Ji-ha hunched closer, pressing his nose against the crown of Dae-eon’s head.

After the nose came his lips and cheek, touching him in sequence. Feeling the friction against his hair, Yoon Dae-eon let out a low sigh.

“You’re awake. Let go of me.”

Shake, shake. Though he couldn’t see it, he felt Seon Ji-ha bury his face further into his hair and shake his head. Like a child throwing a tantrum.

“We have to eat breakfast.”

“……No…….”

“Senior, are you usually this much of a morning sleeper? Like last time, too.”

Seon Ji-ha, who had only fallen asleep near dawn last night, had actually slept for less than two hours, but he couldn’t tell Yoon Dae-eon that. Instead of answering, he buried his nose in Dae-eon’s hair and inhaled his scent a little more.

Yoon Dae-eon recoiled in horror.

“Why are you smelling the top of my head?!”

“……It smells the strongest here…….”

“No, ugh, stop smelling it! Let me go!”

Yoon Dae-eon struggled with all his might to escape, but Seon Ji-ha didn’t budge. He just kept his nose buried there, his nostrils twitching rhythmically.

Realizing the sheer difference in strength, Yoon Dae-eon stopped resisting and started trying to persuade him.

“Seriously, get up now. I know it’s a day off, but how long are you going to stay in bed?”

“Just a little longer.”

Seon Ji-ha, who had been burying his face, lowered his head even further. His lower lip brushed against Yoon Dae-eon’s ear. In that position, he whispered:

“Just a little longer, Dae-eon. Please?”

A chill ran down Yoon Dae-eon’s spine at the whisper. He couldn’t tell if it was because it was whispered directly into his sensitive ear or something else. At the whisper—which sounded almost like a command—Yoon Dae-eon gave up his weak resistance and relaxed.

As both fell silent, a startling quiet filled the room. Only then did Yoon Dae-eon realize one thing.

He could hear Seon Ji-ha’s heartbeat right next to his ear, and it was beating incredibly loud.

Realizing this, Yoon Dae-eon scrambled up immediately. It was the moment Seon Ji-ha had let his guard down because Dae-eon had relaxed. Yoon Dae-eon practically rolled out of the bed.

“F-fix the blankets and come out!”

Seon Ji-ha sat up in bed with a rustle, following him with his eyes, but Yoon Dae-eon fled the room without even showing his face. Left alone, Seon Ji-ha stared at the doorway where he had vanished, his face full of lingering regret.

Having escaped to the living room, Yoon Dae-eon ran his hands through his messy bedhead.

“Crazy…… I’ve gone crazy.”

The moment he realized he could hear Seon Ji-ha’s heartbeat, he noticed it was abnormally fast.

Immediately after, his own heart had started racing in sync. His pulse was beating so loudly he thought Seon Ji-ha might hear it too. From that moment on, he couldn’t bear to stay in Seon Ji-ha’s arms for another second.

This is weird.

Yoon Dae-eon instinctively sensed danger. If things kept going like this, something…… something big might happen.

Even though he didn’t know what that “big thing” was, he became restless. That restlessness was shattered by a voice from behind.

“……Dae-eon.”

“Gah! Ah!”

Yoon Dae-eon nearly fell backward at the voice that appeared without a sound. Seon Ji-ha caught him easily. Touching Seon Ji-ha’s morning-warm body again, Yoon Dae-eon skittered away as if he’d encountered a contagious disease.

Seon Ji-ha looked blankly at his empty hand that had been holding him.

“I’m done……. Fixing the blankets.”

“A-already? Phew. I’ll make you some kimchi fried rice. Watch some TV!”

Yoon Dae-eon dashed to the kitchen connected to the living room to hide his burning face. He stood in front of the open fridge for a long time, letting the cold air hit him as he took out kimchi and ham.

The kimchi fried rice that morning tasted sweet. It was because Yoon Dae-eon had accidentally dumped a whole handful of sugar when he only meant to add a pinch.

“Why have you been out of it all week?”

“Huh? Oh……?”

“Look at you now. Can you even hear me?”

“I can hear you, why wouldn’t I?”

As Oh Dong-cheol grumbled beside him, Yoon Dae-eon insisted he could hear while repeatedly rubbing his face with both hands.

Just as Dong-cheol said, he hadn’t been able to focus all week. How could he? If he closed his eyes, he heard Seon Ji-ha’s voice; if he opened them, he remembered the sensation of Seon Ji-ha rubbing his nose against his head.

Even a moment of distraction led his thoughts straight back to Seon Ji-ha. Yoon Dae-eon felt like he was losing his mind.

Watching him, Kim Ye-jun clicked his tongue.

“Is he dating someone?”

“Wha—what are you talking about! Dating? No way……!”

“Look at that reaction. He’s burning up.”

“Yoon Dae-eon is dating?! Who with!”

At Kim Ye-jun’s bombshell, Oh Dong-cheol approached with narrowed eyes. For Yoon Dae-eon, who was almost never apart from Dong-cheol at school, to be dating—who could it possibly be?

Oh Dong-cheol began to suspect him.

“No wonder you didn’t pick up when I called you to go out drinking this weekend.”

“No, it’s really not like that. This weekend, I just……”

I spent the whole day rolling around at home with Seon Ji-ha.

……He couldn’t say that honestly. Seon Ji-ha didn’t like going out, and Yoon Dae-eon didn’t want to go out on the weekends when he already had to leave for the weekdays. So they had played like slackers at Seon Ji-ha’s place.

Of course, they couldn’t sleep together every night, so Yoon Dae-eon had returned to his own place right after the kimchi fried rice breakfast.

Each time, Seon Ji-ha had whined while trying to hold him back. Even after he went home, they talked on the phone all night until Seon Ji-ha came to pick him up at sunrise.

Thinking this far, Yoon Dae-eon suddenly realized.

……Am I actually dating him?

“Look at those dark circles. He came to school after staying up all night on the phone with his lover.”

At Kim Ye-jun’s sharp observation, Yoon Dae-eon unconsciously rubbed under his eyes. In fact, on the days they didn’t have overlapping lectures, he had spent the entire night on the phone with Seon Ji-ha.

Then, around 9:00 AM when it was time for school, Seon Ji-ha would show up at his front door. He would drop him off at the back gate and leave without a word.

“So who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Who? The person you’re seeing. Or is it just a ‘some’ (fling)?”

“Probably a ‘some.’ You think the clueless Yoon Dae-eon would have asked someone out? I bet he just realized he was in a relationship because we said it.”

Kim Ye-jun was far too perceptive. Just as he said, Yoon Dae-eon only just realized that he was right in the middle of a “some” and a relationship. Looking back, he wondered how he could have been so blind.

“If you don’t want to tell Kim Ye-jun, just tell me. Please? Why didn’t you tell meee!”

Oh Dong-cheol pestered him, leaning his ear right up to Dae-eon’s mouth. This forced Yoon Dae-eon to see the top of Dong-cheol’s head.

Instead of answering, Yoon Dae-eon walked past him into the lecture hall. This afternoon was an elective class, held in a large auditorium as usual.

Arriving before Ye-jun and Dong-cheol, Yoon Dae-eon looked for a place to sit. That’s when it happened.

The usual flannel shirt. The massive frame that couldn’t be hidden. The shaggy bangs. In the crowded auditorium, Yoon Dae-eon found him instantly.

“Dae-eon.”

Seon Ji-ha’s voice was so small it shouldn’t have been audible. But strangely, as soon as his lips moved, his name felt like it landed clearly in his ear. Like a man possessed, Yoon Dae-eon approached him.

“Senior, you were here already?”

“……Yes…….”

The moment Seon Ji-ha saw him, he broke into a curved smile. Then he pointed to the empty seat beside him. It was a back row seat that Yoon Dae-eon would like even more than Seon Ji-ha—the kind that stayed out of the professor’s sight.

However, there was only one seat saved for Yoon Dae-eon. There was no room for Oh Dong-cheol and Kim Ye-jun.

Looking at the seat with a conflicted expression, Yoon Dae-eon turned around. Ye-jun and Dong-cheol were standing about ten paces away.

It wasn’t that there were no other seats in the auditorium. Yoon Dae-eon deliberated for a long time whether to sit with his friends or take the seat next to Seon Ji-ha.

Seon Ji-ha watched him quietly. The smile that had blossomed had vanished without a trace long ago.

Then, Yoon Dae-eon turned and walked toward Dong-cheol and Ye-jun. Leaving Seon Ji-ha behind.

“…….”

Seon Ji-ha’s face went cold. The moment Yoon Dae-eon left him, he stood up abruptly. His chair fell backward with a thump.

Seon Ji-ha followed him. Soon, he drew close enough to hear their conversation.

“With Senior Seon Ji-ha? Really? Okay. Hey, Kim Ye-jun. There are seats over there.”

“Yeah. Give me the bag. You said you’re going to the bathroom.”

Having told his friends he was going to sit with Seon Ji-ha, Yoon Dae-eon turned back with a lighter heart. And there he faced him: a massive Alpha waiting right behind him.

“Senior? Why are you here? Let’s go to the seats.”

Yoon Dae-eon grabbed his wrist and led him back to their spot. Being led along, Seon Ji-ha kept his eyes down and repeated to himself:

He didn’t steal him. He wasn’t taken away. Not yet…….

“Senior. Ji-ha Senior.”

At the sound of Yoon Dae-eon calling him, Seon Ji-ha finally lifted his head. Dae-eon was looking at him with worried eyes.

“Senior, are you sick somewhere?”

Yoon Dae-eon’s hand touched his cheek. Seon Ji-ha unconsciously raised his hand to cover the touch and closed his eyes. He had to cool down. He had to cool this fever thumping against his brain.

Calming down slightly, Seon Ji-ha slowly opened his eyes. He looked down at the man who filled his vision.

He had to suppress the urge to snatch Yoon Dae-eon away right here in this auditorium and strip him bare. He crushed the desire to brand him so that everyone would know he belonged to him and no one else.

Because Yoon Dae-eon was right here, by his side.

For now.