Semantic Error

Chapter 3 – Yellow

It had been a long time since he last felt someone sticking close to his side as he opened his eyes. Moreover, it was weird that it was a man and that it was Chu Sangwoo.

Jaeyoung leaned back on his arm and laid flat on his back and carefully observed the sleeping man next to him. Whether it was the nose or the eyebrows, his features were definitely strong. When his eyes were open, they felt sharp and intelligent. At the same time, the sleek neckline and white skin that continued down from his chin made him seem boyish. Jaeyoung really liked the contrasting features on this face.

The sun was shining through the window. The light particles seemed to dance on the black hair and eyebrows. It was such a romantic place that morning.

The moment he rolled over to lean over and hug him, Sangwoo opened his eyes. His eyelids, which were dazed and blinking with sleepiness, opened, and his head quickly turned around. Jaeyoung made eye contact with him with the most confident smile.

“Did you sleep well?”

Sangwoo widely opened his eyes and rolled them. He seemed to be realizing what had happened the previous day. The movement of supporting his forehead with one hand was sensual. Rather than the movement itself, it had to be because it revealed his naked body.

“Yes.”

Sangwoo handled the incoming question, then turned around and got up..

“Ugh…”

He limped while groaning in discomfort.

‘Did I overdo it?’

As always, Jaeyoung’s everyday life hadn’t gone as planned the previous day. Originally, he had tried to play the main game in a relaxed way, by pouring wine and heating up the mood, while waiting for Sangwoo to make the first move and melt him from top to toe. He had tried to give Sangwoo the impression that having sex with him would be very satisfying by being soft and having a perfect technique.

During the 10 minutes he had waited in front of the door, he was imagining all kinds of things, so it had been hard to even endure the promised time as his body was getting out of control. He had been trying to melt his ice-cold opponent in such a hot state, but had gotten in trouble for caressing him. As soon as he put it in, he removed it since he said he hadn’t felt anything.

He had pushed it in, but he didn’t know why it was so difficult to come to his senses. Was it because his partner received it from the back for the first time? Or was it because his  ‘diameter was exceptionally small?’ Jaeyoung had really struggled in the difficult situation where he was so overstimulated that it was hard to even move. As a result, in the end, there was both arousal and mistakes, so he acted unintentionally rough.

Sangwoo went into the bathroom without a word, so Jaeyoung was left alone. Lying back on the pillow, he re-lived each sensation he’d felt the previous day and got aroused again. He had heard that  humankind’s mating season lasts 24 hours a day.

Jaeyoung lay down for a while without doing anything, then got out of bed and opened the window. He then wandered around the chaotic room and cleared the traces of the previous day. He picked up his clothes and gathered the trash and threw it away. He put the sheets clumped into a corner in the washing machine and swept the room with a broom. He neither enjoyed cleaning nor was he good at it, but if he didn’t, Sangwoo wouldn’t have to do it, so he didn’t have a choice.

Sangwoo came out when Jaeyoung was drinking cold water after cleaning up. Different from when he had gone into the bathroom in his underwear, he now wore both a shirt and pants and his hair was wet. It had taken him a while to come out of the shower, so Jaeyoung made a joke.

“You jerked off, didn’t you?”

“…”

He had just said something randomly, but it seemed to be accurate. Sangwoo was standing with an uneasy expression on his face. He put water into a cup and gulped it down in one go. A wary gaze fell on Jaeyoung’s face.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“I have to, of course.”

Checking the time, he noticed it was almost noon.

“What about lunch?”

“I’ll get myself something.”

There was only a three-minute curry in the cupboard, though. Even if he wanted to treat him to a meal, he thought that he’d be rejected for reasons such as ‘I want to be alone.’

Sangwoo frowned as he tried to sit on a chair and sat on his own legs instead. When Jaeyoung asked if he was okay, he motioned for him to quickly leave. Strategically, he knew it was time to retreat, but Jaeyoung found it hard to leave.

“Don’t you have to go to your part-time job today?”

“It’s fine if I go after resting.”

“Where are you going in that state? Where’s your phone?”

He looked like he was asking why. Jaeyoung looked around the room and searched Sangwoo’s backpack and took out his cell phone. Sangwoo took another sip of water and laid his head down on his desk without being curious about Jaeyoung’s behavior. Jaeyoung saw his state and called the manager of the PC room saved in the contact list.

–    Student Sangwoo, is something going on?

“Hi, boss. I’m Sangwoo’s close hyung. The kid is not feeling well today, so I was thinking of coming in instead.”

–    Huh, is it very bad?

“Yes. I don’t think he’s in a condition to go outside at all.”

–    Have you worked in a PC room before?

Jaeyoung responded that if he meant part-time, he had the experience, but only at a restaurant. The manager told him to come in 30 minutes early and asked him to send Sangwoo his regards. After hanging up, Sangwoo was staring at him.

“… You don’t have to do that, though.”

“Rest at home.”

“You have to clean a lot, though. You need to know how to clean up the store, cook the food, and even how to take payments with cards.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Sangwoo sighed with an expression which he couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t believe him or if he was regretful.

“Thank you. I’ll send you the daily wage when I get paid.”

Jaeyoung, who didn’t expect to hear such a normal greeting, blinked. However, it didn’t mean that he would miss the opportunity either.

“Don’t worry about the money. Do something else instead.”

“What?”

“Please change my name by tomorrow,” Jaeyoung said while placing the cell phone he was carrying into Sangwoo’s hand. To be honest, when he looked through the contact list, he saw that his number was still saved as ‘Freeloader3.’ Sangwoo replied with an expression of it being a trivial matter.

“Got it.”

“Condition. Include special characters.”

“What?”

“There are banned words as well. Visual, design, CD, department, Jang, sunbae. You can’t include those.”

Sangwoo kept his expression of ‘I don’t know what you mean’ for a while, and then returned to his indifferent expression.

“Understood.”

“Rest, then.”

Jaeyoung patted his head and headed for the door.

‘Why am I this caring?’ He thought while going down the stairs.

Fundamentally, even though he was able to pretend to be friendly, Jaeyoung was a selfish human being. Wherever he went, he tended to show basic good manners, but he hated being bothered and he wasn’t weak-willed. So why did he feel so sorry when he saw him from behind, sitting askew and resting on his desk.

The car started moving, but it didn’t drive in the direction of his house. He bought kimchi stew, soft tofu stew with two bowls of rice at the most delicious restaurant in the neighborhood, and he bought an ointment for sensitive and swollen skin at the pharmacy. When he was paying for the drinks, sitting cushion, snacks, eggs, meat, veggies and fruits he had bought to his heart’s content at the mart, he found that he was carrying two large plastic bags in his hands. Finally, he had bought this and that at the bakery and headed back to Sangwoo’s place.

The door he had knocked on for a long time opened. Jaeyoung passed Sangwoo, who unlike usual was slightly bent over, and put down five bags on the floor.

“Eat this now and heat that up for dinner.”

He took out the stew and moved it to the desk. He placed the cushion on a chair and put two bottles of juice and yogurt, the meals, and the fruits in the refrigerator.

“Eat the rest when you’re hungry.”

The snack box, snacks, and bags of bread were left on the floor, and he took the ointment out of a small bag and put it in Sangwoo’s hand.

“Apply this if it hurts.”

Sangwoo frowned as if he didn’t understand. This time, Jaeyoung really went all the way to the door with the intention to exit, but then helplessly turned around. He kicked off the shoe that was dangling on his toes and went back into the apartment to hug the guy’s shoulders. Sangwoo didn’t resist and meekly hugged him.

“Yesterday was nice,” Jaeyoung whispered.

Even if he was pretending like it was nothing, his head was filled with images of Sangwoo’s face, which were colored with pleasure. After a while, Sangwoo replied.

“You’re lying. You didn’t ejaculate.”

“I did once, didn’t I?”

“It’s because I’m not good, isn’t it?”

“No, that’s not true.”

Although it had been done by coaxing and calming his opponent and all sorts of things, it had truly been great in the later half. He was just sad that the timing had been slightly off.

“Don’t think of practicing weird things and just get some rest.”

“Yes.”

Thinking that it’d be dangerous to stick together for longer, Jaeyoung quickly backed off. Sangwoo didn’t stop him.

As he trudged down the stairs and exited the building, a dazzling blue sky greeted him. Jaeyoung didn’t immediately get in the car, but stood next to the bicycle rack while smoking under the sunlight.

‘Did I achieve my goal?’