The Kiss From Hell

Time passed by peacefully while John was caught between a rock and a hard place. Though it was the first free Saturday after a long time, Valentine had stayed in the library all day to prepare for his graduation exam. John also caught up on his studies during the day, watched movies or read books alone in the evening, and went jogging or swimming at night.

As graduation was approaching, seeing each other only became possible late at night or early in the morning. By the time John fell asleep, Valentine would return home with a tired face and fall asleep immediately after taking a shower. It was a pity that their time together was greatly reduced, but at the same time, John was relieved.

In the early morning of Sunday, John had to open his eyes because of the hands shaking him.

“John.”

“…Uhm”

“Get up.”

“Mnn… Valentine, what’s going on…”

The cracked voice from John’s lips flowed like a groan. It was still dark. When John opened his eyes, he saw a silhouette looking down at him. John couldn’t tell the person’s features, but even so, he knew Valentine was smiling.

“Why… it’s night, yet.”

Still in his sleep, John mumbled a little. Valentine hugged his back from behind, unconsciously burying his cheek into the pillow. He answered in a relaxed voice, after jokingly biting the exposed neck.

“Because it’s Sunday.”

“Yeah, so why the hell…”

“I’ve been studying a lot these days, it’s so difficult that I can’t do it anymore.”

“…What?”

“Let’s go for a walk.”

John turned his head at the unexpected suggestion. Taking advantage of his carelessness, Valentine’s wide lips lightly pressed against John’s lips. John frowned and turned his head, but Valentine didn’t let him go.

“A walk, all of a sudden…”

“I need to cool off. Why don’t we go out and do something?”

“…First of all, what time is it?”

“4 o’clock.”

“Haa, you’re kidding, right?”

“Then should we do something else? I don’t care what it is, as long as it means moving my body.”

“…Uck!”

John’s body, still in sleep, was shaking. It was because Valentine’s hand had touched his crotch. John struggled roughly as he woke up.

“Let go, you…!”

John somehow twisted his body, getting out of Valentine’s grasp, but Valentine continued to tease John without stopping. Valentine, who was stimulating John’s dick over his thin clothes, didn’t take his hands off until it showed signs of standing up.

“Fuck, damn it… Stop messing with me!”

John angrily pushed Valentine’s shoulder. Recently, his head was filled with too many thoughts, so he was more sensitive than normal. Valentine snatched John’s wrist, pulling John towards him without showing any sign of anger. Warm and soft lips touched John’s cheek. Valentine whispered to John’s crumpled brows, eyelids and chin.

“Don’t be angry, John. I mean, I want to touch you, but we’ve been staying in the dorm almost all the time lately. Wouldn’t Seth also be restless?”

“Seth…”

“Yes.”

“You mean, you want to go horseback riding at this hour?”

Valentine nodded, when John asked back with wide eyes. Seth was the name of the horse owned by John. Although he had just woken up a moment ago, John still didn’t want to do an intense exercise, such as horseback riding, this early in the morning. Valentine leaned against John’s forehead, but didn’t respond to his unwillingness. A sigh of laughter touched his lips.

“If you don’t like it, I won’t force you. I just wanted to do something with you.”

“…”

“I’m sorry to wake you up, let’s sleep more.”

However, it was true that Valentine never hesitated in knowing when to give up. Whether he knew how John felt or not, Valentine laid back in his arms and patted John on the back. Closing his eyes first, Valentine seemed to have no intention of getting up at first glance, but John knew well that nothing was as it seemed.

“…You’re doing this on purpose, right?”

Eventually, John sighed and raised his upper body. Valentine, who would not have usually let John leave out of his arms easily, asked back while letting John go.

“What did I do?”

When John stared at him, Valentine looked even more clueless. However, there was a hidden joy hidden in the slender curved eyes. Valentine knew too well what aspects of John was vulnerable to. It was true that Valentine was annoying, but it was also true that he had been stuck in the library recently. Instead of showing his thoughts, John furrowed his brow and sarcastically said.

“Stop acting and get up.”

“Me, acting? No way.”

“You’re good at persuasion.”

“It hurts, John.”

John, who stood up first, pressed on Valentine’s stomach with his foot. After giving an exaggerated grone, Valentine finally burst into a satisfying smile.

Before sunrise, it was still quite cold outside. After a long walk, filled with lots of conversation, John noticed a horseback riding course standing tall at the edge of the forest. The athletic course at Heritage College included a variety of sports, including horseback riding. Among them, rowing, golf, and horseback riding were particularly popular, so it was equipped with the latest facilities.

Valentine and John were part of the equestrian team, and they were both quite talented. By the time he started horseback riding, Ryan presented him a horse worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and they became good partners from then on.

“Oh my, did you guys come to practice this early in the morning?”

“Yes, this will come to an end when we graduate.”

The staff member didn’t hide her surprise when she saw the boys who appeared at the horseback riding course at dawn, when everything was still shrouded in darkness. Valentine gave her a warm greeting and handed out his ID card. The fingers painted with purple nail polish tapped on the keyboard. Leaning on the counter, Valentine spoke to her with a smile on his face.

“If possible, I’d like to go inside the forest. Can I?”

“It doesn’t matter, but don’t go too far.”

“Of course. Thank you, Christine.”

For safety reasons, the lower grades were only allowed to practice inside the practice range or in fenced fields. However, Valentine and John were both high-level students who were about to graduate, so the staff let them in without any restrictions.

John changed into a practice suit and looked in the mirror with a horseback riding cap on his head. The body in a navy quilting jacket, tight riding pants, with long boots looked sleeker and much longer than usual, revealing his silhouette.

“Are you done changing?”

“Mn.”

Valentine, who stood behind John, leaned his chin over John’s shoulder. John made eye contact with Valentine in the mirror. He’s handsome, with blond hair, blue eyes, and red lips like petals, which stood out against his riding outfit. This man, who fitted the standard for beautiful, whispered in John’s ear.

“Shall we go?”

John nodded calmly and was led by Valentine’s hand. Valentine’s back was broad, and every time he moved, his muscles covered in a riding suit would ripple.

“Aren’t they both sleeping?”

“Maybe. We’ll see when we get there.”

As the two entered the stable, the horses standing breathed. Inside, Seth, John’s horse, and Kane, Valentine’s horse, were resting in a face-to-face position. Seth was a bright brown horse and Kane was a black horse. Both were German warmbrets, heavy and resilient horses as if to prove their expensive price.

“How have you been, Kane?”

The breath of the two horses became wild, as if they recognized the owners who had visited them after a long time. Valentine touched his nose. Then, the horse, which used to be fierce, bowed gently.

“Seth, I missed you.”

John also patted Seth on the neck and greeted him. Then, Seth opened his big eyes. Keeping up with their master’s spirit, Kane was belligerent and Seth was gentle among others.

John, who was stroking Seth a few more times as if he was a child, took off the cover he had put on the horse’s back. 

Seth, who realized that he was going out, rolled his feet excitedly. The horses’ hooves made a cheerful sound and were heard in the quiet place. The two saddleed their respective horses, tied their gag and leather hoops once more tightly then circled the practice range several times.

“Seth, you managed to remember the movement.”

The horses, which had not been able to run as much as they wanted for a while, seemed to have been sore, and they quickly changed direction as soon as the owners led the reins. As if to claim to be ready to run.

“It looks like the warm-up is over. Do you want to get out?”

“Okay.”

He was dragged out reluctantly, but when he sat down in the saddle, John felt a little excited. Outside, the two stared at the vast forest in the distance. It was still dark, but the dim dawn was clearing the edge. John tightened his upper body by focusing his strength towards his inner thigh. Standing side by side with John, Valentine curled his lips and spoke provocatively.

“Where should we go? How far?”

“Anywhere.”

“Do you want to go to the lake inside the forest?”

Even though it was in Heritage’s private property, it was quite a distance to the lake in the woods. It was more than half an hour without a break. John swept Seth’s stomach with his legs and asked, ‘Seth, will you be okay?’ Then Seth turned his head as if he had understood the owner’s concerns. Valentine, watching them, giggled.

“I think Seth is dying to run.”

“I think so, right? You go ahead. I’ll follow you.”

“Alright, Kane, let’s go!”

Valentine whistled loudly, moving first to Kane’s side. Kane, who understood the start signal, jumped forward without hesitation. Their communication was quite high and delicate, so Kane tended to move as Valentine wanted, without using an auxiliary tool like a spur or whip.

“Giddy up!”

John also did the same to Seth and swung his hand holding the reins. Then, Seth’s body, sitting under his thigh, shook greatly as if he had been waiting. John bit his teeth at the wild movement he hadn’t felt in a long time.

So the two ran forward and backward through the endless forest. Keeping the balance so as not to fall on top of a speeding horse was a highly trained task. In the beginning, John was paying careful attention to not hit Seth’s back with his hip, but after a while running like that, he soon began to communicate with Seth like they had one body.

The wind rushing past his ears was aggressive and the wriggling muscles of the thighs were full of vitality. Every time Seth ran, John’s body fluttered as if to keep up with the beat. The higher the speed, the faster the blood was pumping. Things passed by at an unimaginable speed.

When running in the field, the horses moved sleekly when running at full speed, and quickly adjusted their speed after entering the dense forest. Valentine’s and John’s horse handling skills were similar, so the two ran back and forth.

Time passed like that. The lake appeared when they were all sweaty. John, who pulled the reins steeply and stopped Seth, breathing roughly.

“We’re here.”

There was a damp fog around the vast lake. The weeds were dense around the lake because not many people would come here. Above their heads, numerous, tall trees surrounded them and covered up the light.

“Well done, Kane.”

First, Valentine stroked Kane as he got off the horse and tied the reins to a tree. Taking off his hat and shaking his head, he looked up at John, who was still sitting on the saddle.

“But I guess you haven’t got the hang of it, John.”

“Who’s the one to say that?”

Laughing, John also pulled his foot out and slipped out of the horse. He really hadn’t been riding for long, but the land under his feet felt unfamiliar.

“Would you like to sit down?”

Valentine pointed to a big tree and asked John. Near the lake stood a huge tree that seemed to be a hundred years old. The two sat on their backs against the tree.

“John.”

“Mn?”

“It feels good.”

While staring at the lake, Valentine leaned his head against John’s shoulder. John’s upper body was shaken by the heavy leaning force. Valentine, who was looking up at John from his chin, loosened his body and raised his neck. Their lips overlapped. His lips, which had remained as if they were savoring John’s, slowly opened, and his smooth tongue made its way onto John’s lips.

“Uhm…”

John’s eyelashes, which were closed, trembled. There was a faint sound of a bird from a distance. Damp and soft soil was scrubbed under the palm of its own.

Valentine, who scoured John’s mouth, soon pulled back. The affection that he didn’t try to hide was fluttering in his blue eyes. That kindness, suddenly, painfully stabbed John. John, who lowered his gaze, muttered quietly, fiddling with his bangs.

“You have to study later… Isn’t this too much?”

“A day is fine. I want to stay like this a little longer.”

Valentine replied casually and intertwined their fingers together. The two stared at the desolate landscape for a while, holding hands. Except for the occasional birdsong, everything was silent. The long-forgotten relaxation filled John’s mind.

However, the short peace didn’t last long, as one or two drops of rain dropped without notice and quickly turned into a shower that poured down from the sky.

The tree barely served as shelter, but they couldn’t completely avoid the rain. The two, who didn’t have an umbrella or a raincoat, were soaked. Kane and Seth, who were far away, were no different. The two horses, caught in the pouring rain, looked around with their big eyes widening.

“Uh… Damn it, why is it raining now?”

Standing up, John clung closely to the tree and grumbled. The muddy, wet horseback-riding suit stuck to his body. Valentine also stood by John. Brushing back his wet hair, he let out a low sigh.

“I didn’t know this was going to happen. I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”

“That’s fine. By the way, you’re going to have a test soon, what if you catch a cold?”

“I’m fine. I’m worried about you.”

“Me?”

“You’ve been sick these days.”

“…It’s fine. Aren’t you looking down on me too much?”

As soon as John’s playful reply was over, Valentine pulled John into his arms and hugged him. The wet bodies were closely attached to each other. Valentine lowered his head and placed his lips on John’s wet forehead. At the same time, his coat was placed around John’s shoulder. Trapped in Valentine’s arms, John blinked. Water drops that couldn’t seep into the fabric constantly rolled down to the floor.

“I’m sure it’s just a passing rain, so it’ll be fine if we stay together in the meantime. We’re stuck together, in the rain, like in the movies.”

“…Even if we don’t do that, we won’t freeze to death in this weather.”

Although he said it jokingly and sarcastically, John gently leaned on Valentine’s shoulder. Then, Valentine put his chin on the top of his head and tightened the grip he had on John’s waist. Lukewarm body temperature was felt against his body, where the warmth had disappeared. John blinked blankly, hanging himself in Valentine’s arms.

“When will it stop?”

“I don’t know.”

There was a high risk of falling in rainy weather, so there was nothing the two could do, other than hoping that the rain would stop quickly. The two stared at the pouring rain, relying on each other’s body temperature. As time went by, John’s mind became strangely stable. As everything was in silence, the boring situation made him calm. John breathed out evenly in the comfort of the rain.

“John.”

John slowly raised his head to the voice calling for him. Watery eyes stared at him straight away. Wet and paler than usual, Valentine looked dazed and lost in thought. As John, who had rainwater in his eyes, shook his eyelids, Valentine swept John’s eyes with his fingers.

“Don’t you think the world is doing us a favor now?”

“…I was thinking the same.”

Valentine, whose lips were raised at John’s answer, covered his cheek with both hands. The dark blue eyes drooped. Valentine, who remained silent, leaned his head and stuck to the other’s cheeks. Whispers with slow breathing flowed into John’s ears.

“Would you like to disappear to a place, where there can only be the two of us?”

“…”

“I’m not joking. We could do it anytime you want.”

John’s expression shook at what would be nothing, but a momentary impulse. As usual, the voice sounded so sincere… No. John shook his head. Even though he didn’t think much about it, he needed to suppress the useless buzz.

John, who had been struggling for a while, had finally made up his mind. Last week, he visited Sam again and expressed his desire for an interview. Sam said it wouldn’t be difficult to join the internship, unless something special happened. On the spot, John even made a specific appointment to visit the GOFIE headquarters in London in the last week of May, when his graduation exam was almost over.

However, John had not yet told Valentine about the fact. He knew it wasn’t a good idea to hide it from Valentine, but he couldn’t start talking about it so easily. This was partly because Valentine was about to take an important test, but also because of John’s own lingering hesitation.

If I tell the truth… How would Valentine react?

Looking at his prior experiences so far, John thought that even if Valentine was disappointed at first, he would eventually support John. It was clear that at least he knew Valentine. Thinking up to that point, John plucked up his courage and tried his luck. While he doubted whether it was right to confess that at this time.

“Valentine, you know…”

“Yes, John?”

“What would it be like if I did something else after I graduated — instead of going to college?”

“What?”

“You know, living by helping other people… something like that.”

Sorry for the cliffhanger lmao, but I couldn’t translate more because of exams;; now that I’m free, next update will be longe