Romantic Gangster

#76

You’re jealous right now seeing the people asking for my number, right? You’re right. There’s no way you’d suddenly feel bad for no reason.

Hyun-joon hugged Ji-woo’s waist tighter with the arm wrapped around it and pulled him closer. Ji-woo flinched and slightly lifted his head to look up at Hyun-joon.

“People’s attention, things like that are nothing. They’re all just interested in my face or body without even knowing what kind of person I am.”

“……”

“In the past, even though it was a bit annoying, there were times when it was quite nice to see people trembling several times a day and telling me they like me. I think I just wanted to hear those words, that they like me.”

“……”

“But at some point, I started thinking what’s the point of all that. I couldn’t understand how they could confess to liking me when they don’t know anything about me. Right? How can they confess their love when we haven’t even properly exchanged a word? From that moment on, whenever someone said they liked me, it annoyed me.”

The side profile of him quietly listening to my words was pretty. Hyun-joon, who stopped talking midway, lowered his head and kissed Ji-woo’s cheek. Even him being a little surprised was so pretty that he smiled.

“But with you, I thought I was going crazy every single day wanting to hear you say you like me.”

“……”

“When you said you like me, do you know how happy I was? Don’t you know how I feel?”

“…I know.”

“Yeah, our Ji-woo is smart so he knows everything, my feelings. You know that to me, nothing has any meaning except the words ‘I like you’ from you, you know that I love you so much that I can’t even hear what others say, and you know that I can’t see anyone but you.”

Hyun-joon lowered the hand that was holding Ji-woo’s waist, grabbed his fingertips, and shook them gently as if asking for an answer.

“…I know everything.”

“Are you making up then?”

“…I wasn’t angry. Just…”

“Were you jealous?”

“……”

Ji-woo, who briefly moved his lips at the very blatant word jealousy, nodded his head as he couldn’t find any other expression at all. Although it was a bit embarrassing to say… he couldn’t think of a single word other than jealousy to describe his current feelings.

“You don’t like it when other people do that to me? Should I stop working? Do you want to tie me up at home and go to work?”

“…I didn’t think that far. Just… when I saw you close to someone else and that person touching you… I felt so strange. I thought, why are they touching you as they please…?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Why are they touching me? I belong to our Ji-woo. Right?”

“Yeah, you’re mine.”

Seeing him smiling while saying I’m his, it seemed his mood had finally completely recovered. Hyun-joon, who smiled following Ji-woo, lowered his head, put his head against Ji-woo’s, and nuzzled him.

“But I’m glad you finished early today so I could see you working too. I was curious. How you look while working. And I was curious if the people at the store treat you well… You said everything is good, but I still wanted to see it at least once, so I’m glad I did. The owner seems like a really good person, and the person in the kitchen also greeted loudly with a smile.”

“Yeah, they’re all good people.”

“I feel relieved. It feels like you’ve completely escaped from dangerous work now.”

At Ji-woo’s words, Hyun-joon recalled Baek Ju-seung’s gang who had come looking for him not long ago. Although he had completely cut ties, he couldn’t tell Ji-woo that they were still trying to persuade him and even threatening him. How could he say such things to the kid who finally felt at ease? He knew there shouldn’t be any secrets, but he didn’t want to make Ji-woo worry about such things anymore. So he couldn’t open his mouth.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah… I was surprised earlier when my mood suddenly turned really bad with all those people next to you. It never got so suddenly bad like that before.”

“What should I do? Our baby really fucking likes me a lot.”

Ji-woo, surprised by Hyun-joon’s natural use of the word “baby”, recalled him calling him baby earlier and made eye contact.

“…Ah, right. Earlier too… you called me baby…”

“You don’t like me calling you baby? I did it on purpose to let everyone know you’re my lover. Should I stop?”

Ji-woo, who thought about it quietly, shook his head. He didn’t dislike it. He liked being called by his name, but he thought it would be nice to use such a ticklish title once in a while too. Because they liked each other and loved each other.

“…No, I like it. It’s a word you only use for me.”

“Of course. Who else would I say this to? All the soft words that resemble you that I say in my life are all yours. Only you can hear them.”

Ji-woo, who felt his mood immediately getting much better at Hyun-joon’s words, bit the inside of his lip at the emotional ups and downs that felt particularly severe. It was the first time his mood went up and down rapidly like riding a roller coaster, so he felt a bit unfamiliar with himself.

“Words that resemble me…?”

“Yeah. Soft and fluffy words.”

Ji-woo, who laughed finding Hyun-joon cute as he said the words soft and fluffy, held Hyun-joon’s hand first. Instantly, his chest felt hot and he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body even though he had taken a suppressor.

“Ah, Ji-woo bakery. I like it so much.”

Hyun-joon grinned and rubbed his face against Ji-woo’s neck. Ji-woo, who laughed saying it tickled as Hyun-joon playfully licked his neck as if melting and eating soft bread, looked at the approaching face and pressed his lips against Hyun-joon’s with a smack smack.

The arbitrarily fluctuating feelings felt unfamiliar, but it was still a good night because Hyun-joon was there.

* * *

Ji-woo, who slept in late without even hearing the alarm, had a late lunch with Hyun-joon and took a suppressor. For some reason, even when he woke up today, his head felt a bit heavy and he wasn’t in a very good mood.

While living with Hyun-joon, he had never felt like this before, but his condition was clearly not very good. Hyun-joon noticed his mood and kept sticking to him, being affectionate and cute, and caressing his body here and there. When he looked at Hyun-joon’s face like that and received kisses, he felt the knotted up feeling in his mood loosely untangling.

Until 30 minutes before going to work, he spent time with Hyun-joon on the mattress, whispering and talking, intertwining their tongues, and kissing while having ticklish conversations. Ji-woo, whose mood had greatly improved, hurriedly washed his body and left the house with Hyun-joon.

The afternoon sunlight that had become warmer than yesterday poured over his face. Ji-woo looked up at the clear sky and then hugged Hyun-joon’s arm with both arms. Strangely, the thought of not wanting to be apart from Hyun-joon came to him more strongly than usual.

“Why are you being so aggressive since yesterday? Making me excited. Even when sleeping, you kept trying not to let go.”

“…Ah… sorry, is it uncomfortable?”

Hyun-joon grabbed Ji-woo, who tried to let go of the arm he was hugging, lifted his chin, and deeply pressed his lips against Ji-woo’s and released them. A passing ajumma was startled, but he brushed it off as trivial.

“You think I said it’s uncomfortable? It’s because I like it. I like that you keep seeking me. Don’t let go.”

“…Okay.”

Ji-woo, who hugged Hyun-joon’s arm tightly again, leaned his head against his arm. He thought that yesterday and today, especially today, his mood was stranger. From the moment he opened his eyes, he kept thinking he didn’t want to be apart from Hyun-joon, and he kept thinking he didn’t want to go to his part-time job.

He had thought it would be nice if it was always the weekend because he liked being with Hyun-joon, but it was the first time he sincerely thought he didn’t want to go to work to this extent, so he was startled.

However, he didn’t want to act irresponsibly. If he said he didn’t want to go to work, Hyun-joon would somehow make it so he wouldn’t have to go to work. And there was a high possibility that Hyun-joon would also skip work. It would be nice to spend time together, but… he didn’t want to cause inconvenience here and there just because of his mood.

“Hyun-joon…”

“Yeah?”

“If someone gives you their number today, don’t take it… okay?”

“Yeah, I won’t take it. I’ll just ignore everything they say.”

“…I don’t like other people liking you.”

Thoughts that wouldn’t normally come to him came to him without any problem, and those words popped out of his mouth without going through his mind. He should be embarrassed to keep saying things like complaints, but he didn’t feel very embarrassed. He just felt too sad that he would soon have to be apart from Hyun-joon.

“…What is it? Is it my birthday today? No. My birthday is in June. Are you giving me a birthday present starting now? Ji-woo, why do you keep saying such arousing things? I’m going to come in my pants on the way to work.”

Normally, he would have told him not to say such things outside or that he wasn’t hugging his arm for him to do that, but today, just the fact that Hyun-joon said he was getting excited because of him felt so good.

“I wish time would pass quickly…”

Ji-woo lowered one hand that was hugging Hyun-joon’s arm and slightly grasped Hyun-joon’s pinky finger. Hyun-joon instantly recalled telling Ji-woo to grab his pinky finger when he wanted to do naughty things with him.

“…Ah, fuck.”

Should I just say I’m quitting my part-time job and everything, pick up Ji-woo and go home? Ah, this is definitely not accidentally touching it without knowing. Touching the pinky finger, fuck, it’s so sexy. It means you want to do it with me right now.

Then Ji-woo’s steps stopped. Hyun-joon lifted his head and looked at the familiar convenience store door. What, fuck. Why is it so close?

If they hadn’t arrived at the convenience store, he would have been carrying Ji-woo and going home. Hyun-joon took a deep breath, feeling his lower abdomen tightening.

“See you later, Hyun-joon.”

“…Yeah. Go in.”

Hyun-joon hurriedly grabbed the hand of Ji-woo, who was opening the convenience store door with a reluctant face, unable to hide his bright red ears, and conveyed his feelings.

“…I understood everything. I fucking want to do it right now too.” 

“……”

“But since it’s a workday, I’ll try to endure it. Because I don’t like irresponsible people. Just endure for 7 hours… I’ll do everything you ask as soon as we get home. So endure a little. Okay?”

The moment he regretted thinking he spoke too blatantly, Ji-woo’s head nodded up and down. Seo Ji-woo, who understood the lewd meaning contained in the words that he would do anything and obediently nodded his head… Feeling his lower half getting half-hard, Hyun-joon let go of his hand and watched Ji-woo’s back entering the convenience store with half-dazed eyes. Saliva pooled in his mouth at the faint scent of castella lingering on the tip of his nose.

“……”

Hyun-joon, who barely lifted his feet that wouldn’t leave and turned towards the place he worked, let out a long sigh.

7 hours. Fuck, when will 7 hours pass?

As if teasing his impatient heart, time began to flow very slowly.