Chapter 56: The Bloom of Obsession

Then, a word like a sigh escaped his red lips.

“Aren’t you looking… a bit too obsessively?”

“…!”

Yunhwan’s pupils shook violently. Even at a glance, his face was the picture of fluster.

“You’ve barely done anything, yet it feels like I’m going to be worn away.”

Min Seonghye let out a short, airy chuckle. As he laughed, the water pooled in his deep collarbones trickled down across his firm chest.

“Your face has turned red.”

His eyes, swirling with a mischievous playfulness, relentlessly cornered Yunhwan. Speechless, Yunhwan let his fingers slide downward. Watching that trajectory with intrigued eyes, Seonghye arched his brow.

“I’ll pretend not to notice, so finish what you were doing.”

He reached out, took Yunhwan’s fallen hand, and placed it back on his chest. Before their hands could separate, a firm grip squeezed Yunhwan’s hand once before letting go.

Fingertips, even more cautious than before, traced the flat expanse of his chest. Every time those calloused fingers passed between his pectorals, Min Seonghye felt a chill race down the back of his neck.

Exposed to the cool air, his points hardened further. A deep breath escaped Seonghye’s lips. His nerves were on edge, heightened by the way Yunhwan’s movements seemed to pointedly avoid the very center of his chest.

“…….”

Asking for the bandages had been a somewhat impulsive decision to gauge Yunhwan’s reaction.

The line Kwon Yunhwan had drawn; the gentle yet wary gaze he sent his way; the tips of his ears that turned red regardless. Like a stone thrown into a pond causing ripples to reach the far shore, Yunhwan’s flushed skin stimulated Seonghye.

Are you truly unaffected in front of me?

To me, it certainly doesn’t seem that way.

His dark eyes stubbornly consumed the man before him.

“Hyung.”

“…Huh?”

Yunhwan, who had been carefully rubbing Seonghye’s shoulder, stopped and looked up. In the gaze they shared, Yunhwan’s moist lashes trembled minutely. Seonghye’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Honestly, I’ve been so enchanted by you lately that I haven’t been in my right mind.”

“What….”

“Of course, that hasn’t changed, but… recently, something even more stimulating has come along.”

He spoke tenderly, pressing a finger against the area over Yunhwan’s heart.

“Even until this morning, I was anxious that what I’d worked so hard to gain might run away.”

Worrying that if he recklessly crossed the line the other had drawn, he might be banned for life.

And yet, the reason he continued to question that line was because he couldn’t forget the way Yunhwan’s eyes crumbled in his presence and the subtle changes he displayed.

“Think about it. I barely managed to pry open a crack to push myself inside; it would be heartbreaking to be bounced back out.”

“…….”

“I thought it would be fine to remain a lone flower by your side if you pushed me away. People are usually weak to visual stimulation, and I’m confident in that area.”

With reddened eyes, Min Seonghye met Yunhwan’s gaze at eye level. While water from his forehead slid down his jawline once more, his pitch-black pupils stared at Yunhwan overtly.

“Listen carefully, Hyung. You didn’t take charge of a person sick in body and mind, and you didn’t adopt a stray dog wandering without a leash. What is standing beside you right now is a single flower that needs to bloom through your affection and interest.”

“…….”

“You show so clearly how much you adore me, so how long do you plan to keep neglecting me?”

A peculiar gaze tangled messily with Yunhwan’s wavering pupils. As their eyes met, Yunhwan was momentarily shaken.

“Would you prefer if I were withered and unsightly, Hyung?”

“…No, that’s not—”

Yunhwan started to deny it but closed his lips. He thought the tactic of enchanting with a voice and capturing with a gaze was outdated, but unfortunately, the person using it was Min Seonghye. Yunhwan swallowed hard at the complex words and fervent gaze Seonghye threw his way.

“Why do you look so flustered? I’m not doing anything right now; I’m just talking.”

The bright overhead light seeped into his water-soaked nude form. Amidst the gradually settling steam, his naked body moved forward slightly. Min Seonghye laughed lowly.

“So, should I bloom or not?”

“…Wh-what bloom?”

While Yunhwan stammered like a fool, his blurred vision cleared further. As the fog-like steam lifted, the naked body became even more prominent in the bathroom, which was now brighter than broad daylight.

Even just by standing still, the air around him scattered densely.

A strange atmosphere settled between them like a sea mist.

Seonghye locked eyes with Yunhwan.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if the phrase ‘a flower without scent’ was meant for me.”

As he lowered his head to whisper, Yunhwan stumbled back. His body had reacted instinctively to the taut tension.

When the clear eyes moved away, Min Seonghye reflexively wrapped his arm around Yunhwan’s waist.

Fierce muscles bulged in the arm that imprisoned him.

“They say butterflies don’t land on scentless flowers. Everything around me is just silent, and I’m right on the verge of withering away like this.”

“……. ”

Contrary to his actions, his moist eyes looked remarkably innocent. Like a beast craving its master’s affection, he rubbed his forehead against the nape of Yunhwan’s neck.

“What’s the point of just putting me in a vase and adoring me? You have to wipe the leaves and breathe life into me for me to bloom more desirably. Don’t just look at me as an ornamental plant; you can touch me and break me however you want.”

“…….”

“Do you know? I read it in a book—some flowers are actually edible.”

“…!”

While a stunned Yunhwan blinked, a strong pressure was felt from the lower body pressed against him through the thin fabric. He instinctively gasped at that vivid sensation.

And Min Seonghye followed these changes in the other with obsessive and keen eyes, even as the whites of his eyes broke into various red threads.

“Hyung.”

Seonghye whispered against his reddened ear. Yunhwan’s shoulders gave a sharp flinch.

“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

He laughed lowly, his fingertips tracing down Yunhwan’s lower back. While his eyes were as hot as a branding iron, the smile on his lips was innocent.

His member, standing so erect it felt like it would pierce through, pressed down obsessively against one specific spot between their thighs. The heated air clung mercilessly to Yunhwan’s brown eyes.

Ah. Yunhwan’s lips parted with a sound. The voice he let out was heavily strained.

“That place is—”

At the outline being traced over his front, he instinctively straightened his back. Immediately, a hot hand gripped Yunhwan’s waist. Before the startled Yunhwan could even twist his body away, Seonghye pressed their lower bodies together once more.

“Ah—”

Holding Yunhwan firmly, Seonghye this time rubbed his member gently. As his drenched body soaked the thin fabric, they pressed together without a single gap. The secretly blooming heat poured down toward Yunhwan like rain.

His teeth parted at the increasingly vivid sensations.

“Th-that, hey…!”

“Hmm?”

Seonghye looked at Yunhwan. Contrary to his nonchalant voice, the heat surrounding his eyes was scorching.

“Why? Tell me again.”

I didn’t hear you, sorry. Unlike his pleading tone, the fingers fumbling at his waist continued to draw hot trajectories. When he used his fingertips to press firmly into the center of Yunhwan’s lower back, the firm body gave a startled jolt. Yunhwan’s eyes widened at the sudden, surging stimulation.

“No, there, wait…!”

“There?”

Yunhwan bit his lip hard. Between his thighs and groin, the man’s menacingly enlarged member was rubbing against him. A strange sensation he had never felt before, one that couldn’t be described, overwhelmed Yunhwan’s entire body.

Seonghye whispered, exhaling a languid breath.

“‘There’… I wonder where ‘there’ is. Up? Or, down?”

His wet voice held a heat that didn’t match the moisture.

Not satisfied with just rubbing his cheek against Yunhwan’s neck, Seonghye pulled the body in his arms even deeper.

“You have to be precise. If you say it like that, I won’t understand.”

“You—”

Breaking off mid-sentence, Yunhwan bit his lip and swallowed his voice. He had forgotten for a moment—the more he opened his mouth, the more he would be unintentionally swept up in the other’s pace.

Perhaps because of the heat concentrated in his lower body, Yunhwan’s face was unusually red today. The tension was clearly visible in his Adam’s apple, which bobbed repeatedly.

The raw sensations pouring from Seonghye—the stimulation spreading through his entire body because of them was too dangerous. Yunhwan hadn’t been intimate with anyone for several years, and since he didn’t even indulge in light self-pleasure often, this situation was perfect for awakening dormant desires. As if proving this, goosebumps broke out on his back, shoulders, and across his entire body.

…I can’t.

Feeling an instinctive sense of crisis, Yunhwan wiped his lips with his hand. He intentionally avoided those pitch-black pupils to hold onto his scattering sanity.

And Min Seonghye, who knew Yunhwan all too well, lowered his lewdly colored face a bit further. Seonghye muttered, licking his lips with his tongue.

“A moment ago you were looking at my body like that, so why aren’t you looking at me anymore?”

He took hold of Yunhwan’s turned chin and gently moved it back to face him, whispering.

“Have you lost interest already? Surely, that can’t be it.”

His mischievous face laughed as he looked at Yunhwan.

“Hyung.”

The corners of his mouth, curved up strangely, parted once more.

“Should I help you?”