A Kiss I Didn’t Expect

As soft lips covered his and a supple tongue entered through the parted seam, Haejin’s eyelids trembled violently.

He had asked if kissing was okay just moments before, but since he hadn’t given permission, he never expected Beomwoo to press his lips against his.

No matter how much he thought Beomwoo had feelings for him, he believed he wasn’t the type to do anything unless their relationship progressed, nor someone who would feel such impulses toward him.

Startled, Haejin reflexively tried to push against Beomwoo’s chest with his hands and pull his body back, but he was blocked by the chair’s backrest.

Unable to properly retreat, Beomwoo seemed to notice his attempt to pull away and pressed in more forcefully, using his body to block even the slightest gap.

“Hah… Wait, just a moment…”

He was shocked by the sudden kiss and tried to push him away, but the overwhelming kiss left him breathless and disoriented.

It wasn’t even a long kiss, but he gasped like someone inexperienced, as if it were his first.

Keeping up with the hot, wet tongue stirring inside his mouth was already overwhelming, and the lack of breath made his head spin.

The hot breath mingling between their lips even carried a hint of alcohol, making him feel intoxicated.

They weren’t lovers, hadn’t confirmed each other’s feelings, and he hadn’t even given proper consent before their lips met—it wasn’t normal.

So, this really shouldn’t be happening.

If he truly wanted to refuse, he should have bitten his tongue and pushed him away… but he couldn’t.

It wasn’t because he worried whether he dared bite his tongue or feared hurting him.

Earlier, when Beomwoo came out of the shower wearing only a robe, Haejin had unconsciously pictured things he shouldn’t have imagined, then scolded himself, ‘What am I doing? Am I sexually frustrated?’ and barely shook off the lewd thoughts.

During the meal, his gaze kept drifting to the exposed chest through the parted robe, but he pretended not to notice…

Now, with their lips locked, the perverse energy he had desperately ignored exploded all at once.

Every time their supple tongues tangled and licked tender mucous membranes, an electric current surged through his body, tingling up to the crown of his head.

It was just a kiss, but perhaps because he hadn’t felt such sensations in so long, it was dizzying.

His body, succumbing to arousal, gradually weakened, trembling like a frightened person.

The hands he had placed on Beomwoo’s chest to push him away had, at some point, clutched at his back as if clinging to him.

As Haejin writhed as if to say he couldn’t take it anymore and to stop, yet let out heated moans through his parted lips, Beomwoo closed his eyes, using the hand under his chin to cradle the back of his head and waist, embracing him.

Whether unconsciously or deliberately, Beomwoo accepted the body clinging to him and slowly stroked the back of his head with his hand.

Now that he knew Haejin wouldn’t push him away or escape, the once forceful kiss softened.

Still, Haejin kept missing chances to breathe like a fool, his face turning as red as a beet.

Beomwoo would slightly part their lips, giving him a breath, and when his ragged breathing seemed to settle, he would press their lips together again.

By the time their lips were slick with unidentifiable saliva and the air around them grew humid, Beomwoo slowly pulled his lips away.

“Hah, ha…”

“……”

As he opened his eyes, exhaling roughly, Beomwoo was looking down at him, his eyelids half-lowered.

Beomwoo stared at him with dark eyes that seemed to swallow the light, then softly pressed his thumb against his full lower lip.

As the sensation of their lips touching resurfaced, Haejin looked up at him with trembling eyes.

Beomwoo spoke in a subdued, low voice.

“For what happened… you don’t have to forgive me.”

“……”

“I said it wasn’t with that intention… But the truth is, whenever I see you, Haejin, this is all I can think about.”

He spoke as if apologizing for having deceived him until now.

But perhaps thinking he couldn’t ask for forgiveness for acting without proper consent, he didn’t even apologize.

Haejin was already flustered by the kiss, and Beomwoo’s words shocked him further.

He had always wanted to kiss him whenever he saw him?

He had always thought of him as stoic, unfeeling.

Whenever Beomwoo came out of the shower looking provocatively dressed, his heart had wavered in that direction, but he thought it was just him.

In this life, Beomwoo had told him he liked him, and his feelings seemed genuine, not false, but the memories from his past life and his fears made him hesitant to believe…

Even if his feelings were sincere, he never believed Beomwoo was someone who would feel sexual impulses.

But… had he misunderstood Beomwoo all along?

Since when, and how… had he been looking at him that way?

As Haejin looked at Beomwoo with confused eyes, Beomwoo removed his hands from his body, stepped back, and turned away.

“I should clean up now. I’ll handle the cleanup. You, Haejin… go ahead and shower and get ready for bed. I’ll finish up here and then do mine.”

“Uh… Mmm… Okay…”

As Beomwoo turned away as if nothing had happened, Haejin could neither protest nor say anything, only nodding awkwardly.

Standing up like a robot, Haejin didn’t look back at Beomwoo or do anything else, sidestepping like a crab and slipping into the bathroom as if fleeing.

Thud!

Slamming the bathroom door shut with a loud sound, Haejin leaned against the door and slid down to the floor, crouching on his knees.

“Ha…”

What in the world… just happened?

Even though it had happened just minutes ago and was so vivid, it felt unreal, like an incredibly lifelike dream.

Beomwoo asking if he could kiss him, kissing him, then saying he could only think of such things…

No matter how much he had yearned for love from him in his past life and imagined various scenarios, he had never pictured this.

It was more intense than any imagination he had ever had.

His body was still trembling.

Thinking he needed to pull himself together, Haejin struggled to stand up on weak legs and walked to the sink.

The moment he stood in front of the sink, seeing his reflection in the mirror, Haejin unconsciously cursed.

“Crazy…”

The reflection showed him with disheveled breath as if after a struggle, hair tousled, and a face flushed red like a burning sweet potato.

That alone was a pitiful sight, but worse was his lower body.

It was swollen and visibly erect through his clothes.

Perhaps because it had been so long, or because it was too stimulating, he thought dazedly, ‘Can just a kiss make me feel like this?’ but he had been too disoriented to even notice his erection.

He probably… didn’t see, right?

Beomwoo had been looking only at his face before turning away, so he likely didn’t see his lower half…

But the thought that he might have seen him in this state made his already embarrassingly flushed face grow even hotter with blood rushing to it.

Moreover, as rationality returned, he felt ashamed of his own behavior—clinging to him almost as if asking for more, despite having drawn a line earlier.

He hadn’t grabbed him to demand more kisses, but because he felt he might collapse otherwise, like grabbing any lifeline, yet it was highly likely to be misunderstood.

He wanted to say that wasn’t the meaning, but going back to confront Beomwoo and explain would only make him seem stranger.

Haejin focused more on his own actions and appearance at that moment than on why Beomwoo had forced the kiss, sighing deeply as he turned on the cold water and repeatedly washed his face.

The icy water stung his face, and soon it felt raw enough to tear, but the heat coursing through his body didn’t seem like it would subside easily.

****

The day passed as if nothing had happened.

That night, he lay in bed, pulling the covers up, while Beomwoo finished his remaining work and only later went into the bathroom.

Haejin was tense, worried Beomwoo might come out after showering and continue what the kiss started, but whether he showered again or not, Beomwoo emerged much later, turned off the light, and lay down without even crossing the centerline of the bed.

‘Is this really the end…? Really?’

It was hard to believe, so even after the lights went out, Haejin remained tense.

But after staying awake for an hour or two and realizing Beomwoo had truly fallen asleep, he understood he wouldn’t do anything more.

If he had kissed him without consent, he could have gone further…

And if he always thought such things when he saw him, surely he wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss…

It was a relief nothing happened, yet somehow Haejin felt a bit hollow.

It seemed like he was the only one conscious of it, overthinking things.

Feeling somewhat resentful, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Of course, with so many thoughts, he couldn’t fall asleep quickly…

Somehow, he got through the day.

The next day, Haejin was on high alert like a bristling cat, thinking, ‘Last night passed, but something might happen today. Maybe not full intimacy, but at least a kiss like yesterday.’

But what he worried about didn’t happen.

As if to prove Beomwoo’s words that he had work on the second day, he was busy.

So busy that they only saw each other during meals.

Seeing him revert to a workaholic overnight as if nothing had happened between them made Haejin feel like he had dreamed an incredibly vivid dream.

He knew it wasn’t a dream, yet it felt like he was the only one remembering yesterday’s major event.

The day passed uneventfully in a tense, high-wire atmosphere, and soon the third day in Busan dawned.

“Today, we’re doing what you wanted, Haejin.”

As they sat facing each other at the table, eating room-service breakfast, Beomwoo spoke during the meal.

Today was their last day in Busan, and Beomwoo had cleared his schedule only for today.

He had said they should do what he wanted, as a change of pace.

On their first day in Busan, despite fatigue and carsickness from the long drive, he had lost track of time searching for things to do in Busan…

But after the intense kiss that evening, he had been too tense and wary to think about what to do today.

“I’ve been looking forward to it.”

“……”

As Haejin recalled mentioning the sea earlier and thought, ‘That’s what we decided,’ Beomwoo looked at him and spoke.

As if he had been waiting for this day.