Chapter 17: Holding Back

As Lee Do-kyung entered the party room, his friends each threw a comment his way.

“Hey, Lee Do-kyung!

Where the hell have you been, coming back now….”

“Is that a guy on your back?

You crazy bastard, why are you carrying a guy in here?”

“He’s gone full humanitarian.

Looks like his love for humanity kicked in.”

“Hey, what’s that on your face?

Is that, is that blood?”

Even the women they’d paired up with at the club were looking their way, surprised or curious.

“Hey, I’m really sorry, but can you guys go play somewhere else?”

Lee Do-kyung adjusted Seon Woo-min, who kept trying to slide down to the floor, and put on a pitiful expression.

A silence fell over the room.

They could have grumbled, saying it was nonsense, that they were just getting into the mood, asking if Do-kyung had rented the place.

But his friends just let out short sighs and started quietly packing up.

When no one objected, the women in their group exchanged bewildered glances and gathered their purses.

Pushing the table away with his foot, Do-kyung laid Woo-min on the sofa and firmly locked the party room door.

The optimal environment to protect Woo-min: a safe, sealed room.

Only then did he plop down on the sofa, sighing, and fan himself by shaking the front of his shirt.

It was stuffy inside the club, he’d just wrestled with the bearded guy, and then carried Woo-min here—it was no wonder he was overheating.

Unbuttoning and removing his oversized shirt revealed a black turtleneck clinging to his body.

Finding even that stuffy, he quickly pulled it off and ran his hand through his disheveled hair.

Now in a black short-sleeve shirt, he leaned over Woo-min, who was lying stretched out on the sofa, placing his hand next to Woo-min’s face.

Since Woo-min hadn’t moved much compared to him, he might be cold.

“……”

Seon Woo-min, trying to hold onto his fading consciousness, watched his actions through hazy eyes.

The way he leaned in seemed clearly like he was trying something, but strangely, instead of feeling repulsed, Woo-min felt oddly at ease.

There was a conviction, absurdly enough, that this man, who seemed vaguely familiar, wouldn’t do anything harmful to him.

“What.

You were awake?”

Lee Do-kyung, who had been staring at the mole on Woo-min’s nose, his gaze now fixed on the smooth eyes revealed beneath half-lowered lids, slowly looked down.

The pale skin visible through the parted shirt, the thin chest rising and falling.

Such a defenseless state reminded him of Seon Woo-min in bed.

It brought back memories of moments they’d been intimate.

Between Woo-min’s slightly parted lips, from which short breaths escaped, a wet tongue moved slowly.

Do-kyung’s eyebrow twitched.

“…No wonder guys go crazy for you.”

Feeling the front of his pants stir again, he jumped up to drink some ice water, but then put the cup down, bothered by the thought that someone else might have already drunk from it.

“Hey.

I said no.

Watch yourself.”

As if talking to a person, he barely managed to ignore the throbbing between his legs, awkwardly picking up the shirt he’d taken off.

Even as he covered Woo-min with it, his lower body pulsed insistently, feeling like it might burst.

“And you.”

“……”

“You just down drinks from anyone without a second thought.

No sense of caution.”

Do-kyung’s index finger tapped Woo-min’s plump lower lip like a warning.

“…’m… ‘ot…”

“What?”

“Not… a… bot…om.”

Through narrowly slit eyes, Seon Woo-min repeated what he’d just said.

Wondering what he was saying, Do-kyung leaned down, bringing his ear close.

A hot breath tickled his ear.

“…I’m not a bottom….”

“Ah.”

“……”

“…Yeah, okay then.”

Lee Do-kyung blinked stupidly.

Even in a state bordering on completely wasted, Woo-min’s effort to make his position clear was admirable.

Yeah, I know our Woo-min is a tough guy.

I know all about that top pride too.

Remembering past moments vividly made Do-kyung chuckle.

“Move….”

Trapped in Do-kyung’s arms, Seon Woo-min pushed his shoulder with a weak hand.

The powerless gesture, one that could be subdued without effort as if it would crumble at the slightest breeze, made Do-kyung step back without hesitation.

He wanted Woo-min to rest easy, without putting up a fight.

Plus, since he said he wasn’t a bottom, that part had to be respected.

“More importantly, where is this guy.”

First, he needed to find Bae Jun-ho, Woo-min’s companion.

He couldn’t leave Woo-min here alone.

But he had no desire to call his friends, already kicked out of the room they’d been enjoying, and ask them to watch over Woo-min.

Sitting hunched with elbows on his knees, Lee Do-kyung fiddled with his lip piercing, lost in thought.

He soon concluded he’d find a contact in Woo-min’s phone and patted his pants pocket.

Whether Bae Jun-ho would answer in this chaos was another matter.

Just then, someone knocked roughly on the door.

Startled, Do-kyung rose and walked over.

Opening it revealed Bae Jun-ho, the café staff member who worked with Seon Woo-min.

“Oho.

You came to me yourself.”

Lee Do-kyung’s lips curved into an arc.

“Huh?

What do you mean…?”

Bae Jun-ho flinched at the sly-sounding remark.

“Min-mae… Woo-min!

He’s here, right?”

“Of course.”

Seeing Lee Do-kyung’s face brighten with pleasure, Jun-ho flinched again.

Backlit by the dazzling mirror ball in the center of the party room ceiling, Do-kyung’s expression kept shifting.

With blood smeared around his mouth, he even smiled, making the onlooker’s hair stand on end.

“I, I came to get Woo-min, so I….”

Pressed by his build and the piercing gaze, Jun-ho couldn’t even finish his prepared words.

“Come in.”

Completely unaware of the effect he was having, Lee Do-kyung’s delighted, widened blue-grey eyes and the vice-like grip on his arm made Jun-ho squeeze his eyes shut, trying to banish the terrifying thoughts.

Moments earlier, Bae Jun-ho had been enjoying himself on the dance floor when he happened to see Seon Woo-min being carried on someone’s back.

He’d thought it was just a guy, what could happen, but then he remembered Woo-min’s do-hwa-sal.

And the recent incident at the café when the pompadour had openly hit on Woo-min—that man was also male.

Plus, clubs themselves were places where danger lurked regardless of gender, so he couldn’t let his guard down.

Jun-ho had hurried after the man.

Woo-min on that broad back looked like a cicada stuck to a giant old tree—he hadn’t realized he was that small.

His limp limbs flopped lifelessly with each step up the stairs.

Rooms were clustered on the second floor.

Shortly after they entered one, a group of men and women streamed out.

That only amplified Jun-ho’s anxiety.

No, you bastard.

What are you trying to do to Woo-min?

Pacing around near the party room, Jun-ho agonized: should he call staff, call the police, or go in himself first to check?

Hesitating, he’d finally knocked.

But who greeted him was the pierced man, dressed in a crisp short-sleeve shirt unsuited to the season.

Whether he’d been savoring his prey or was already finished, his contentedly curved lips and faintly flushed cheeks—his light short-sleeve shirt seemed freshly put on—made Jun-ho’s head spin.

No, no.

Not that.

It can’t be.

Things like that don’t happen that easily.

Less than five minutes had passed since the people left the party room.

There’s no way he did anything in that time.

Plus, the pierced man was a nice regular customer.

He wouldn’t do something that horrible to someone he knew.

Desperately trying to rationalize the situation, Jun-ho nervously checked the sofa.

Seon Woo-min was fast asleep, covered with the pierced man’s shirt.

Hey!

Why are you covering him with that?!

What happened between you two?!

Jun-ho screamed internally.

“I’ll take Woo-min with me.”

“To your place?”

Jun-ho swallowed dryly at the piercing gaze that felt like an interrogation.

“That’s… right.

Why do you ask…?”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Could It Be That I’m Actually the Strongest Final Boss?

ComedyFantasyFemale Protagonist

Read Now →
Not interested