As he had done a few times before, Seo Seung-hyun held him without undressing. It wasn’t exactly cozy, but he had no other choice. He meekly lowered his gaze and relaxed his body.
Releasing Lee Young-jin’s wrists, Seo Seung-hyun instead wrapped his arms around his waist and lay down on his side. He looked at him with a smile while lying face to face. His perfectly contoured lips lifted at the corners, creating a distinct smile. Lee Young-jin gazed blankly at his face. He thought Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes were gray, or maybe even green. In the darkness, the dilated pupils absorbed the light, making them shimmer like deep wells.
Staring at those eyes in silence, Lee Young-jin asked softly, “Can I take off your tie?”
As Lee Young-jin asked the question, Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes slightly narrowed before returning to their normal size. Although there was no immediate response, Lee Young-jin gathered his courage and extended his hand. He didn’t want to cause any more harm to the alpha with the tie pin. Carefully, he removed the sparkling jewel pin from Seo Seung-hyun’s chest. It was a clip-style pin made of platinum, with three sapphires arranged in a row within rectangular cutouts, devoid of any other elaborate decoration. Unsure of where to place the tie pin between the layers of the tie and dress shirt, Lee Young-jin hesitated for a moment before tucking it into the corner of the pillowcase.
Seo Seung-hyun continued to gaze at him without blinking, not uttering a word. Summoning more courage, Lee Young-jin then grasped the alpha’s tie. The moment Lee Young-jin’s fingers roamed around the alpha’s neck, Seo Seung-hyun’s Adam’s apple twitched, and the muscles and arteries pulsed together. Lee Young-jin flinched briefly but didn’t stop his movements.
As he fumbled with the knot of the tie, Seo Seung-hyun couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. Holding Lee Young-jin tightly with both arms, he pushed him down on the bed.
Caught between Seo Seung-hyun and the mattress, Lee Young-jin gasped for breath, emitting a sharp, stuttering sound.
Using his elbows to prop up the mattress slightly, Seo Seung-hyun created a gap. Through that gap, Lee Young-jin lifted his slightly hazy eyes to look at him.
Seo Seung-hyun embraced Lee Young-jin tightly again.
“Stay still.”
He whispered in a low voice.
In response to that whisper, Lee Young-jin tried to raise his eyelids, but his entire body was pressed flat against Seo Seung-hyun’s broad chest, only able to see his smooth and agile jawline and the distinct contours of his neck.
Lee Young-jin realized that Seo Seung-hyun seemed to prefer when the other person remained passive and lay still. It was a rational judgment. Alphas of that kind enjoyed sex where they could dominate their partner as much as they wanted, whether it be sweetly or passionately, as their previous encounters had shown.
Lee Young-jin obediently relaxed his body and lay there as if lifeless.
At that moment, Seo Seung-hyun began to gently pat his back.
Startled, Lee Young-jin’s shoulders twitched.
“What are you doing…?”
“Stay still.”
Seo Seung-hyun’s drowsy voice soothed him, softly murmuring.
Once again, Lee Young-jin tensed up.
The gentle touch on his back continued with a steady rhythm. Lee Young-jin couldn’t even catch his breath properly and remained on edge, waiting for this incomprehensible battle to unfold.
“Why aren’t you sleeping? Should I sing a lullaby for you?”
Lee Young-jin blinked stupidly and lowered his head. As if sensing his movement, Seo Seung-hyun’s weight on him became slightly lighter. Using his elbow to prop up the mattress, Seo Seung-hyun lifted himself up and looked down at him. With one hand, he turned Lee Young-jin’s face left and right. Lee Young-jin meekly surrendered his face to that touch. Seo Seung-hyun’s thumb brushed against his lips—a brief caress. Lee Young-jin thought the gesture would lead to a kiss, but it didn’t.
Seo Seung-hyun gazed at him with narrowed eyes. In his relaxed pupils and slightly lifted eye corners, there was a sweet charm. His lips curved gently, forming a faint smile.
The smile made Lee Young-jin’s face feel warm. He turned his head to the side, trying to avoid that gaze and smile, and barely managed to squeeze out his voice.
“…Not doing it?”
“Not doing it,” Seo Seung-hyun replied casually.
But Lee Young-jin was surprised and turned his head again.
“Why not?”
In response to his question, Seo Seung-hyun let out a low, throaty laugh.
“Until now, we could have had sex whenever you wanted, but not anymore.”
“That, that’s not…,” Lee Young-jin stumbled over his words in disbelief. That wasn’t how he thought, that’s not why he asked… His excuses lingered helplessly outside his lips. In the end, he whispered pathetically, “If we’re sharing the same bed, then we’re supposed to… you know…”
Seo Seung-hyun didn’t answer. He simply made a noncommittal sound and shifted his body slightly to make Lee Young-jin more comfortable.
After a moment, Seo Seung-hyun lightly tapped his shoulder blades.
An eerie silence settled between them.
It was broken by Seo Seung-hyun’s subdued voice.
“At that time.”
“At that time?”
The man, as sharp as a well-honed blade, seemed almost hesitant at this moment.
“…Why did you ask me to sleep in the same bed with you in Shanghai?”
In response to the question, Lee Young-jin blinked his eyes and looked up at Seo Seung-hyun. In a split second, in less than half a second, Seo Seung-hyun tugged at the corner of his lips and gave a wry smile. The vague allure that had brushed against his robust and flawless features vanished as if washed away.
“Did you happen to see a ghost or something?”
“What?”
He nonchalantly spoke again.
“That mansion in Shanghai. It was one of the Red Army’s operational bases during the Chinese Civil War. Even if you had seen one of the ghosts of the Kuomintang soldiers who died there, it wouldn’t be that surprising.”
“What are you talking about?”
He casually continued, “And that multipurpose room you stayed in for the first time wasn’t originally a multipurpose room. It might have been a prisoner interrogation room before. Well, the interrogation methods used by the Red Army at that time were probably as you know.”
“That room was an interrogation room?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Seo Seung-hyun responded with a hint of annoyance.
Lee Young-jin doesn’t believe in ghosts.
What he believes in is a world of certainty made up of 0s and 1s.
Even when he lived on the island before, the captain of the boat that occasionally brought groceries and supplies to the island would sometimes talk to him about water spirits or ghost ships, but Lee Young-jin thought it was just exaggerated nonsense typical of sailors or delusions of old sailors suffering from nutrient deficiencies from long voyages, taking such things seriously.
He glanced up at Seo Seung-hyun’s neat face.
The symmetrical face was composed of perfect lines and angles, seemingly impervious to any emotional elements beyond rationality and logic.
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