SMS | Chapter 6.2

After dinner at a restaurant near the hospital, the two headed to Mino’s place. As they walked up the snow-covered stairs to his home, they talked about various things, mostly about cats. Chaesu’s habits, Chaesu’s diet, and how it showed signs of being a dog-cat even though it was still young.

“Did you clean up nicely?”

“Ah, haha, wow, it’s usually clean,”

“I don’t like it when you lie.”

“I don’t. It’s always messy and like a junkyard. Sometimes I even dislike myself for it.”

As soon as they entered the house, it felt humiliating. This kind of humiliation didn’t seem right. Dohoon scolding him was fine, but admitting the dirtiness was too embarrassing.

Having become familiar after just one visit, Dohoon promptly sat on the sofa. Even a shabby attic room’s second-hand sofa looked like a concept photoshoot with a handsome man sitting on it.

Mino belatedly noticed the black shopping bag Dohoon had brought. What’s that? A gift from someone? Mino didn’t know much about luxury brands, but even he recognized the logo.

“Today, Mr. Mino, you make the coffee.”

“Do you want it weak? It’s pretty late. You must be tired….”

Who gave it to you? He was curious but worried mentioning the ‘shopping bag’ would bring up the problematic bag he received yesterday, so he moved toward the cupboard.

“Do you drink it weak, Mr. Mino?”

Dohoon suddenly stood up and walked towards Mino, asking as if puzzled.

“I guess because I have work tomorrow, if it’s too late and I can’t sleep….”

It wasn’t strange to drink weak coffee late at night, but Dohoon’s reaction was not typical. Mino instinctively stepped back. Why is he coming closer?

“You really have no sense of dates.”

“Excuse me?”

“It was weird you didn’t take a day off today.”

“A day off?”

Suddenly, they were in a position similar to yesterday’s. Dohoon’s advancing felt as oppressive as a bulldozer. It would be nice to get a kiss like yesterday, but chasing him out again to masturbate would be unnatural.

But why take a day off? Then he remembered the office had been empty today.

“It’s Christmas Eve today? Tomorrow is Christmas.”

Dohoon showed the date on his phone screen. The fingers pointing it out were as handsome as the rest of him, but it was indeed Christmas Eve.

“Oh? Oh? Really? Wow, I had no idea.”

Ah, that explains it. No wonder everyone was gone. He finally realized why there hadn’t been a single call to the office today. Everyone had taken the day off in advance. Mino nodded seriously as he grasped this important fact, and Dohoon leaned his head to one side and grabbed Mino’s shoulder.

“I’ll ask again. Will you have your coffee weak?”

The intensity in Dohoon’s eyes forced Mino to gulp down dryly. Still unable to connect the dots about the weak coffee, Mino widened his eyes and clamped his mouth shut, to which Dohoon added,

“I don’t plan on letting you sleep.”

It was a declaration of intent clear enough for even a love fool to understand.

***

Sungjoon paced nervously around the room, repeatedly dialing his phone. Naturally, he was trying to reach Mino, but all he got was the automated voice saying, “The phone is turned off and will be forwarded to voicemail.”

“Did he just kill his phone because he’s off work? That guy’s out of his mind being in love.”

He even left a message, just in case, but there was no callback from Mino. Still, he kept calling. Something felt urgent, like he absolutely had to get in touch with Mino, especially after the unsettling conversation with Junhyuk.

This won’t do. I’ll have to go to his place. As he frantically searched through his wardrobe while still on the phone, suddenly, the sound of the keypad being pressed came from the entrance.

“I’m home.”

It was Sungjoon’s girlfriend, Yoonseo. His first love, partner of eight years, and the one he believed would be his last. Sungjoon broke into a grin so wide it could split his face upon seeing his beloved girlfriend appear unexpectedly.

“Wow, babe! You’re home from work?”

“Where were you going…?”

Mino would’ve mock gagged at the sickly sweet tone Sungjoon put on. But Yoonseo’s expression as she witnessed this was ambiguous. Her jet-black, bobbed hair seemed unusually glossy today.

It was different from just being unwashed…

She never wore her expensive clothes just to go to the office, yet today, she was dressed in an upscale coat and shoes. Sungjoon instinctively checked her expression.

“Where are you heading? Done with work?”

As expected, her question hit him like a dart. Furthermore, her scrutinizing gaze felt colder than the winter wind outside. What was the chill factor today?

Yoonseo, a regular 9-to-6 employee, despised Sungjoon’s chaotic lifestyle. He grabbed a crumpled puffer jacket and tried one more time with his feigned cute act.

“No, Seongjooni was just about to start working…”

“What did you say you were going out for?”

Trouble. He had to come clean now. Based on the data accumulated over their years of dating, Yoonseo was in a very foul mood.

“Ah, it’s just… Mino isn’t picking up his phone. I have something to tell him, but his phone seems to be completely off.”

When he explained why he was about to leave, Yoonseo flung her bag onto the floor. Sungjoon quickly picked it up and neatly placed it on the sofa. Yoonseo took off her shoes, entered the house, and flopped down on the sofa with a cigarette in her mouth.

“He’s probably ignoring it on purpose.”

“Why? Do you know something?”

Sungjoon sprang up reflexively to light Yoonseo’s cigarette, flashing a grin. Why is she in such a bad mood? Was there some trouble at work? As she exhaled smoke, Yoonseo stroked Sungjoon’s head and asked lazily.

“Isn’t Mino dating someone?”

“How, how, how do you know that?!”

He hadn’t mentioned it! How could she know? No, but she wouldn’t be mad about not being told… A chill ran down his spine. The affection in her touch was almost frightening.

“That’s why he’s not picking up, babe. It’s Christmas Eve today.”

“What…?”

Sungjoon’s eyes rolled around as he tried to grasp the situation, finally coming to a halt. Yoonseo smiled tenderly and even showed him the date prominently displayed on her phone’s background.

“I thought there might be a surprise event or something, but nothing? You haven’t even finished your work? And you were going to see Mino?”

Damn… It felt like all the blood in his body had turned to ice. The only anniversaries they cared to remember were their own birthdays, the day they started dating, and Christmas, and he’d spectacularly forgotten the last event of the year.

He wished he could turn back time to an hour ago. This was not the time to meddle in someone else’s relationship. Sungjoon promptly clasped his hands together.

“I’m so sorry…”

It was indeed a moment to beg for forgiveness.

***

“Huff, ugh…”

In the swelteringly hot bedroom, panting breaths filled the air, accompanied by the swishing sound of slicing through the wind. Mino clenched his eyes shut, wondering how things ended up like this, just waiting for Dohoon’s command.

“Faster. You need to move properly.”

“It hurts too much…”

He wished Dohoon would tell him to stop. He was okay with pain, but this was definitely not his cup of tea. He felt like his body would fall apart from how much it had been shaken.

“Can you be satisfied with that?”

Dohoon’s seemingly mocking question was clearly not what Mino wanted to hear while following his directions, just waiting for this time to end.

“No, no, it feels like it’s going to break…”

Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, Dohoon grabbed Mino’s forearm. Was this a sign that he could stop? Hopeful, he turned to face Dohoon, and a refreshing smile graced his beautiful face.

“It won’t break that easily. A human body isn’t made of glass.”

The comment was fantastic but not at all enjoyable. The current situation was light-years away from the romance Mino had dreamed of, and he finally gave up. He dropped the long stick he had been shaking as Dohoon instructed. It was light, so it didn’t even mark the floor, but he had no idea it would be so hard to shake this thin, long stick.

Dohoon picked up the feathered stick, which was actually a cat toy, and chided Mino.

“Mino, your stamina is a mess. You couldn’t even satisfy a kitten with that.”

So the two were actually training in the essential skill of ‘playing intensely’ before getting a cat.

“You’ve never had a cat, have you?”

“Yes…”

“I thought we’d do a test and some intense training.”

Won’t let me sleep. Was that what he meant?

Mino felt a mix of disappointment and embarrassment realizing the sinister warning Dohoon had given with a suggestive look was about this. The thought of having his first experience today after preparing himself mentally felt humiliating.

But if it was for keeping a cat, then mastering how to play with one was indeed an essential skill. Mino occasionally watched cat videos on YouTube, so he roughly knew what to do. Dohoon had given him a toy he had seen somewhere before, and he thought he just had to shake it appropriately. However, Dohoon’s training lasted a whole hour.

“Do we really have to do this? I can’t even move my arms anymore.”

An hour? How could this be happening? He felt like he might develop carpal tunnel syndrome, which is one of the chronic diseases of office workers.

Although Mino’s carpal tunnel syndrome was due to frequent masturbation, it was painful nonetheless. Dohoon looked at the defeated Mino and smiled crisply.

“Chaesu is really active. That’s what the pet sitter said.”

“Ha… I’m usually fit, but I’ve never had to shake my arms this much before.”

It seemed necessary to first counter the claim about being unfit. Being physically unfit was a negative in a relationship. Not that he really was unfit—he managed his daily work life along with his vigorous and lengthy masturbation routine.

“I’m disappointed we’re doing this on Christmas Eve.”

“What? Oh, no, I didn’t know…”

Caught in a slightly risque thought, Mino replied in a flustered tone. Dohoon smiled slightly at him.

“I was actually a bit shocked that you didn’t know what day it was, Mino. I understand if you’ve never dated before, but it seems like you’re not very interested in me.”

“That’s not it… I know what day of the week it is, I just don’t keep track of the date…”

Maybe I should have just said I hadn’t dated before. Mino regretted his poor attempt at lying.

“Open your present.”