To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 148: What we did isn’t something ’friends’ would normally do
That was how Yun-tae got to learn more about Myung-woo, but as much as he was interested in the story, he was feeling quite exhausted, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
Myung-woo, who laid his head on Yun-tae’s chest, realized he had fallen asleep. A soft smile played on his cheeks and he stood up, carrying Yun-tae in his arms and towards the bedroom.
"He’s so light." He exclaimed. "And so cute too."
It would be his first time watching Yun-tae sleep, and of course, he couldn’t miss it. He watched Yun-Tae for a while, simply paying attention to his soft breathing and how his eyebrows furrowed slightly every now and then.
It was cute.
He stared for a while before finally inclining himself to sleep as well.
Since he didn’t want to be rude, he went to sleep in the other room. He hadn’t taken permission from Yun-tae to sleep on the same bed with him.
But even then, while lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, he could only see Yun-tae’s smile playing before his eyes.
(Gosh, he’s so far gone in love)
He would try to clear up his schedule for the week so he could spend more time with Yun-Tae. He needed to strengthen this bond they were creating even more.
This was the best time to do that.
Same time that night, in Kang-woo’s house, after an entire day of trying not to be awkward, Chin-hwa and Kang-woo finally fell asleep.
After what they did the previous night, it was literally impossible to pretend everything was normal.
They reacted to everything. When they brushed their skin together, they would immediately give each other some space while flushing. When Kang-woo got too close that his neck was so close to Chin-hwa’s face, Chin-hwa would flip and turn his face away.
It was a series of flushing and mind-disturbing events, and thus, they couldn’t get any real practice done. They distracted themselves throughout the entire day.
It was even a surprise that they were even able to stay in the same bed to sleep after all that fuss in the day. And they were even in each other’s arms like a married couple.
(These two need serious lashing, I tell ya)
’Haa, we need to talk about this tomorrow.’ Kang-woo thought and glanced at Chin-hwa who had successfully fallen asleep. He sighed once more and pressed his lips on Chin-hwa’s forehead before going to sleep.
The next morning, Kang-woo was worried that what happened the previous day would happen again so he decided to talk about it with Chin-hwa.
"I understand that what we did isn’t something ’friends’ would normally do," he began, "So it might’ve been awkward facing each other after that."
Chin-hwa brushed the back of his neck.
"And because of that, we..." Kang-woo blushed. "Could not get anything done yesterday."
"Yeah," Chin-hwa responded softly. They were so busy avoiding eye contact that the mistakes they made were far more than they made even at the beginning of their practice. ’I guess we shouldn’t have gone that far. It’s not normal. Even Kang-woo said it.’ he gritted his teeth and began to misinterpret. ’It’s also probably not normal that one’s best friend would have such feelings for them.’ he pressed his nails on his palm, trying to calm himself.
His heart was starting to feel like it had been tied by a rope until Kang-woo said,
"But even then, I don’t regret what we did."
This surprised Chin-hwa who looked at Kang-woo oddly.
"Y-you... What did you say?"
"Mixing pheromones and watching desire take over our rationality, it wasn’t so bad. In fact, I felt good about it. You might think I’m weird for feeling good about something like that since you’re my best friend but... Like you said, because it’s you, I can do anything and there would be no trace of dissatisfaction or hate in the aftermath."
Chin-hwa was a bit confused. In other words, he liked doing that with him? Was that the interpretation?
"But it’s crazy how we started acting so uncomfortable around each other after that. That’s why I said we needed to talk." He grabbed Chin-hwa’s hand softly and smiled. "We’re not strangers. Did you hate what I did to you?"
Chin-hwa shook his head.
"Did you like it?"
Chin-hwa nodded shyly, and this suddenly gave Kang-woo a bit of a confidence boost. He squeezed Chin-hwa’s hand lightly and exhaled. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
"Hwa, there’s something I need to tell you." He said. "But I was scared you would hate me if I said it. I was scared you would no longer see me the same way, and I was just so scared of losing you."
Chin-hwa listened keenly. Why did Kang-woo’s words sound like the things he feared the most? Whenever he decided he would just confess to Kang-woo and let the aftermath worry for itself, he was held back by these worries and fears.
The thing he feared most was losing Kang-woo. And after actually losing him for years, the fear grew. He had already experienced it once, so he was sure experiencing it the second time would definitely kill him.
And for that, he decided not to take any risks.
"Are you finally going to tell me your secret?" Chin-hwa asked and Kang-woo nodded.
"First, I mentioned lying about two things. The reason why I suddenly brought that up was because," he covered his gradually reddening face as he darted his eyes aside. "... What I used on you wasn’t lotion. It was... Lubricant." After saying that, his face literally burned. "I was embarrassed at you finding out that I had such a thing in my house. And I didn’t want you to have any funny ideas either so I lied. It would’ve been bad if we ruined the moment with you wondering where or why I got that."
Kang-woo’s heart was thumping but he couldn’t make eye contact. He could only wonder what Chin-hwa’s reaction looked like.
"Um, okay." Chin-hwa said and Kang-woo turned to him to find his expression more puzzling than shocked. "Lubricant, as in lube for body use, right?"
Kang-woo gulped and nodded.
"I don’t know why you had that but I’m honestly not curious." He leaned closer and said to Kang-woo’s silly face, "I saw in a commercial one time that said having lubricant at home for anyone who had hit puberty was more healthy than relying on other stuff."
Chin-hwa cleared his throat, not making it known if he was aware of its initial use.
"Though, I didn’t get one even after hitting puberty because when I asked my daddy, he made this face like he was going to kill someone." He laughed. "So, I’m guessing you had lubricant just in case you needed it, right?"
Kang-woo was confused. No, he was bewildered. Just how timid was Chin-hwa?
If he went by his words then he had no idea what a person used that ’kind’ of lubricant for. He only knew it was good to keep it at home.
"Hwa, do you know what it’s used for?" He asked and Chin-hwa’s face lightly turned red, causing Kang-woo to believe that he indeed knew about it. "How? Have you ever used it?"
"No, but I read about it in my mother’s novel. They... Used it a lot." He answered, placing his hand on his cheeks. ’I thought I could get past it by acting like I didn’t know what it was used for. Ah, my image of innocence.’
Hearing this, Kang-woo laughed. So, even when knowing what the Lubricant was used for, Chin-hwa still didn’t react negatively or in disgust.
"It was the first time I used it." Kang-woo said. "I had it just in case a situation where I needed it occurred, and it did."
Chin-hwa observed Kang-woo closely. So, if he got it right, Kang-woo had never used the lube he bought because he never needed it until the other day. Hmm, so was he the first person he was being so intimate with?
His face was starting to heat up because of his thoughts. But he couldn’t let it distract him. He cleared his throat and his mind before turning to Kang-woo who smiled at his simplicity.
"Ah, so you’ve told me about the second lie," he said. "Tell me about the first lie already. I’m dying to know."
Kang-woo paused. It had finally come to this. He was the one who brought it up so there was no way he could take it back now.
The lie he had been keeping in his heart for the longest time.
"When we were younger," he began and gulped, staring at Chin-hwa who was paying close attention to him. "I lied that..." The words were hard to let out.
He had kept this secret for the longest time because he was so scared but now... Despite being scared, he felt Chin-hwa had the right to know.
Whatever Chin-hwa did after hearing his confession was left for him.
Chin-hwa’s heart was equally thumping in anticipation. Just what could it be? What could Kang-woo have been keeping from him?
"I lied that I only saw you as a brother and nothing more." He sadly said and lowered his gaze. "Hwa, you mean more than that to me and I... I like you."
