Chapter 55: The Scent of Steam and Fog

“It’s not serious, so if I just keep it like this for a day or so, it’ll be fine.”

Min Seonghye whispered softly, his other hand taking hold of Yunhwan’s. Two distinct gazes intertwined densely in the narrow space of the stairs. Seonghye watched Yunhwan’s hair, messy above his forehead, and smiled as he brushed it down with his fingertips.

“Let’s go, Hyung.”

The two began to descend the stairs slowly.

“Hyung.”

After the sun set and night fell, Yunhwan’s door opened. Through the gap, Seonghye looked at Yunhwan, the corners of his eyes drooping slightly.

“There’s a problem.”

“A problem?”

Seonghye nodded. His smooth brow furrowed minutely, creating a melancholic atmosphere.

“I need to wash up, but because of my hand, it’s difficult.”

The hand, meticulously wrapped in bandages, came into Yunhwan’s view. Only then did he understand Seonghye’s expression. Though the mornings and evenings had grown cool, the daytime sun was still hot; his body must feel quite sticky by now. But with bandages on his hand…

The moment he realized the discomfort, Yunhwan nodded instinctively.

As Yunhwan looked at him seriously, Min Seonghye, stroking the corner of his eye with his fingertips, spoke up readily.

“If it’s okay with you, Hyung—”

“Seonghye.”

Cutting Seonghye off, Yunhwan stood up. As he rose, the younger man’s head tilted to the side. A plausibly innocent face met Yunhwan’s.

After a moment, Yunhwan’s answer came:

“Wait a second. I’ll go to the storage room.”

“The storage room?”

A faint crease appeared on Seonghye’s smooth forehead as he watched Yunhwan with a peculiar look.

“Yeah. There’s plastic wrap in the storage that we use for the fields. It’s really sturdy. If we wrap your hand in that, it won’t get wet, so—”

Before Yunhwan could even finish his explanation, Seonghye muttered to himself.

“…This is driving me crazy.”

“…?”

“That was an answer I never could have imagined, Hyung.”

Then, he let out a short, dry laugh. Not only that, but while his mouth was smiling, his eyes were not. It was a chilling sound that made the hair on Yunhwan’s neck stand up for some unknown reason, yet Yunhwan’s focus remained entirely on the plastic in the storage room.

“I’m not one of your Aronia berries, Hyung. What are you going to do, wrapping me in plastic?”

As Yunhwan was about to leave, Seonghye swung the door wide and stepped into the room. His long legs narrowed the distance in a few strides, stopping right in front of Yunhwan.

“Granted, I am much better to look at and prettier than those berries.”

The last part was added without a hint of hesitation. Seonghye swept back the black hair covering his forehead.

“Help me, Hyung.”

“…With what?”

“I won’t ask you to wash me. You just need to rub the soap on my body.”

“What?”

Yunhwan’s eyes widened as if they might fall out. He instinctively stumbled back, and Seonghye moved forward to close the distance.

“It’s not like you need to have a fit over it.”

“No, no, it’s not that. I can’t. I can’t do that.”

“‘Do that’? People will misunderstand if they hear you.”

Min Seonghye arched an eyebrow and stared at Yunhwan. His crossed-arm posture was confident yet overbearing.

“Are you worried I’ll jump you just because I imprinted on you? I’m hurt that you see me as some low-life who can’t control his reason.”

“When did I say I saw you like that?”

“True. It seems like it’s your gaze that’s lewd, not mine, Hyung.”

As he narrowed one eye and looked down suspiciously at Yunhwan, it was Yunhwan who became flustered.

“What about your pheromones!”

“Since they’re stable, the surgery date was set. You keep saying that even though you already know.”

“…….”

Yunhwan bit his lip. Having heard about the surgery from Junseong, he had lost his grounds for rebuttal.

Because of that, an excuse that even he thought was pathetic came out.

“Actually… I don’t really… water….”

“Ah, surely you’re not going to spout some nonsense about a water phobia.”

Seonghye gave a short laugh and straightened his leaning posture. His eyes, holding a strange amusement, fixed onto the other man’s trembling gaze.

“Don’t be like that—”

As if he had been waiting for this, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke.

“Just think of it as watering a flower and help me.”

He then curved his eyes mischievously.

The night felt exceptionally long today.

Yunhwan stood in front of the bathroom door, where the sound of water was constant, looking slightly dazed.

Then he suddenly muttered.

“…Maybe I should bring the plastic now….”

Recalling the black plastic used for the fields, he remembered Seonghye’s voice saying it drove him crazy. For some reason, the man had clearly disliked the idea. No, then should I have wrapped his hand in kitchen wrap? He wasn’t usually the picky type, so Yunhwan couldn’t figure out why he had acted like that.

Just as Yunhwan was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, the water stopped, and the closed door slowly opened.

“Come in, Hyung.”

The small bathroom was packed with steam like a thick fog. Because of that, Seonghye wasn’t clearly visible; only his damp voice reached out distinctly.

“…Ah, yeah.”

Yunhwan cautiously stepped into the bathroom.

“Be careful, it’s slippery.”

In the square space without a bathtub, the wet floor was indeed slippery, just as Seonghye said. Yunhwan put strength into his toes as he stood on the bathroom floor and looked straight ahead, but all he could see was the steam rising up to Seonghye’s waist. The moisture clinging to his body looked almost gray rather than white.

“…Seonghye, aren’t you hot? It’ll be even hotter if you wash with water this hot.”

Yunhwan clicked his tongue lowly while fanning himself with his hand.

Then, Seonghye, standing near the wall with the showerhead, scrunched his eyes playfully.

“I don’t know. My body is naturally quite hot.”

“Still, this is a bit….”

In the blurred vision, Yunhwan gripped and released his hand slightly, looking around. It felt as if a thin veil had been drawn over his eyes. Just as his breathing became irregular due to the heat stubbornly clinging to his skin—

A sturdy, thick arm reached out through the steam.

“Take this. I already made the lather, so you just need to rub it on, Hyung.”

“Oh, okay.”

Taking the shower ball he held out, fragrant foam bloomed between Yunhwan’s fingers.

“Hyung.”

The low voice called for him. Yunhwan, who had been momentarily distracted by the foam, snapped his head up to look at Seonghye. He didn’t know why, but the corners of Seonghye’s eyes were red.

He muttered, instinctively avoiding the gaze.

“…I’ll start with your back.”

At Yunhwan’s words, Seonghye obediently turned around. A broad back, where water droplets slid down like rain, appeared through the white mist. At that moment, the hand holding the shower ball hesitated in mid-air.

“…….”

The body that had always been hidden under thin fabric was now revealed as a nude figure under the light, and its presence was overwhelming. Furthermore, rather than a body built for a hobby, it felt raw and vivid. As far as Yunhwan knew, people with bodies like this weren’t usually soldiers or mercenaries belonging to a group, but rather those who took on individual missions.

I know I’m one thing, but what kind of work has this kid been doing…

While lost in that thought, he swallowed hard.

In Yunhwan’s eyes, Min Seonghye had a beautiful face that captured everyone’s attention, but at the same time, he was an Alpha standing nearly 190cm tall.

As a Beta, Yunhwan could only read and guess at Seonghye’s physique, but considering his secondary gender, he could predict one thing: if a body like this were to pounce on someone, escaping would be far from easy.

At the slight twitch of the back muscles, Yunhwan instinctively placed his hand on them. Then, Seonghye’s head tilted to the side with a cracking sound. Since his back was turned, Yunhwan couldn’t see clearly, but the elegantly stretched neckline seemed to suddenly sharpen with tensed muscles.

“Are you okay?”

When Yunhwan asked softly, Seonghye replied while exhaling a low, heavy breath.

“…Yes. Keep going.”

He roughly cracked his neck from side to side again. His voice was too low to hear, but it seemed like he had muttered something.

In the subtle atmosphere, Yunhwan’s touch as he rubbed the skin became even more cautious. His gaze was quite serious as he took care not to let his rough movements damage the smooth skin.

Because the muscles surrounding the back were as sturdy and delicate as his well-defined abs, white foam easily covered the broad back just by moving his hand along the lines. Between the straight line of the spine, the shoulder blades draped in muscle repeated their ascent and descent.

Every time Seonghye breathed deeply, the movement before his eyes seeped into Yunhwan’s pupils.

“Turn around.”

Soon, as the sturdy upper body moved in the opposite direction, a muscular chest appeared. Because his skin was pale, the muscles—roughly wrapped and no different from his back—were even more prominent, reminding one of a suit of armor.

Just as Yunhwan was inwardy surprised by the cool spirit radiating from the body—

“Hyung.”

Seonghye lowered his pitch-black eyes.