SMS | Chapter 9.1

“The restaurants might be almost closed by now, so we’ll stop by a drive-thru on the way to the hotel.”

After loading all the luggage into the trunk, Lee Dohoon sat in the driver’s seat and spoke. Mino, gazing at Dohoon’s profile, unwittingly blurted out his feelings.

“I missed you.”

He had missed him. It was an irresistible confession. He liked Dohoon, who had rushed here, setting everything aside out of concern, and it was a bit hard to bear. Dohoon turned his head slightly to look at Mino and opened his mouth with a gentle smile.

“…Come here.”

Late at night, inside the car parked in an alley, it was dark with only the yellow streetlights shining. Drawn by Dohoon’s commanding words, Mino embraced him. Maybe it was because he had been shivering from the cold, but being in his arms felt suffocating. It wasn’t a comfortable hug due to the awkward position, but once they touched, Mino didn’t want to let go.

Mino, making eye contact, slowly pulled away from Dohoon, closed his eyes, and parted his lips. Dohoon, with a calm gaze, scanned Mino’s face and slid his hot tongue between Mino’s parted lips. His large hand wrapped around Mino’s neck. Even the warm kiss felt pleasant. It wasn’t sexually arousing, but the feeling of a part of Dohoon’s body inside him was pleasant.

“Ah, uh….”

As Dohoon’s tongue slowly withdrew, touching every inner part of his mouth, Mino gasped for air, and Dohoon stroked his hair. Mino wanted to go to his house instead of the hotel. Dohoon, filled with risky thoughts, rubbed the corners of Mino’s eyes and pushed him away with a laugh.

“Seatbelt. We need to get going.”

The car smoothly exited the alley. The bustling area they arrived at had mostly darkened, with only bars still lit, and the remaining restaurants had already closed. Dohoon wouldn’t allow getting side dishes from the bars, so they ended up at a fast-food place through the drive-thru.

It was refreshing for Mino, having ridden in his parents’ car as a child but never having observed the whole process from the passenger seat before. Everything that had seemed boring and tedious felt strangely exciting and fun with Dohoon.

“Pick any number between one and six.”

“Um, one.”

What? Confused, Mino cocked his head as Dohoon quickly placed the order and slowly drove down the narrow lane to collect their food. The scent of greasy fries filled the car. Only then did Mino feel hungry. Why had Dohoon asked him to pick a number? Curious, Mino carefully rummaged through the shopping bag.

“There’s a toy in the set.”

“A toy?”

“You like toys, don’t you, Mino?”

The toys here were far from the ones Mino liked, but even that lame joke made him laugh. Realizing Dohoon had ordered a kids’ meal set, Mino chuckled.

“I eat a lot, you know?”

“That’s why I ordered four sets. No one’s going to steal it, so don’t worry about the quantity and just eat it all yourself.”

Mino wanted to share… As he aimlessly fiddled with his fingers, the car smoothly arrived at the hotel parking lot. Dohoon, without any hesitation, carried all of Mino’s luggage. Eventually, all Mino carried was the paper shopping bag containing the burgers.

After checking in at the front desk, they entered the elevator, where Dohoon pressed the button for the 25th floor.

“It’s really high up.”

“It’s not the top floor, though.”

After a trivial exchange, silence followed. Mino rolled his eyes around Dohoon’s shoulder level. He wanted to say, “Stay and go in the morning.” He could only enter his house on Friday evening, but staying at the hotel after Dohoon had paid might be okay, as he’d be sleeping off at his own expense.

However, as soon as they entered the room and Dohoon put down the luggage, he looked ready to leave without hesitation. Mino grabbed him in desperation.

“Seonsaeng-nim…”

“Why?”

“Can’t you not go?”

He didn’t want Dohoon to leave. Even if they weren’t going to play, just having him stay would be nice. Dohoon responded with a bitter smile.

“I’d like to watch you eat that burger and maybe even see you filling out your preference list, but I’ll have to refrain because then I’d be influencing you.”

“…You don’t have to hold back. Ouch.”

Dohoon pinched Mino’s cheek lightly. Enjoying the stretchy feel of Mino’s pale cheek, Dohoon seemed struck by a brilliant idea from Mino’s bright face.

“Have you had dinner, seonsaeng-nim?”

“That was quick.”

“Sorry.”

“Not yet. Should we eat together? Won’t we run out of burgers?”

“Yes! It won’t run out. It’s really okay.”

Dohoon’s lips curled up at the sight of Mino’s cheerfully bright face. Dohoon, too, didn’t want to part ways just yet.

The hotel room door, halfway open, closed again.

As planned, Mino brought Dohoon back into the room and finally relaxed, surveying the hotel room. The room, booked just for him, had a bed like a sports field. Having roamed around during his hobby-searching days, he had never spent much on accommodations, so this kind of lodging felt strange.

The room was needlessly spacious, and the large window offered a view of Seoul’s nightscape, far more beautiful than any scene he’d seen while smoking on a rooftop.

As Dohoon casually took off his coat and hung it in the closet, he approached Mino, who flinched, caught up in the scenery.

“You should take off your coat indoors.”

It was a typical remark, but it made Mino tense. His comment sounded dangerously casual as Mino tried his best to act nonchalantly while taking off his coat. In about 48 hours, he would have to be naked in front of him.

The room filled with sexual tension saw Dohoon looking relaxed as he opened the shopping bag and gestured for Mino to come closer. Like he had done, Mino hung up his coat and sat down in front of Dohoon.

“Hungry?”

“A bit. Are you okay, seonsaeng-nim?”

“I’ve been so busy today I didn’t think about it, but now that I see Mino, I’m starving.”

Mino was genuinely impressed by how neatly Dohoon folded the hamburger wrappers. Weren’t burgers usually just unwrapped and eaten carelessly? Seonsaeng-nim really does take everything seriously. Watching him roll up his sleeves and spill fries had even his heart fluttering. Could his forearms even be considered cool?

“Eat up.”

Dohoon gestured with his chin after watching silently. Mino, rolling up his sleeves like Dohoon, grabbed the burger in front of him and took a big bite. The small size of his mouth pressed the burger, smearing white sauce on his cheeks. Dohoon chuckled seeing Mino messily dealing with the burger on his cheeks.

“Do you like hamburgers?”

Asking while chewing, Mino quickly chewed to respond faster, obviously showing in his hurried eating, while Dohoon’s lips curled up with a smile throughout.

“…I think I’ll start liking them.”

“Why? Because you’re eating with me?”

Mino hesitated for a moment before sucking on the straw, because it was held by Dohoon, even the cola looked enticing. The stinging carbonation rushed into his mouth, clearing his blocked throat with a refreshing sensation. Mino took a small breath after finally drinking the cola and answered,

“Yes.”

“You eat well.”

Then it was a burger bite, a fry, a sip of cola, and so on. The questions continued similarly.

“Have you thought about a safe word?”

“Hmm…”

“It has to be something that can completely ruin the mood. We’ll both be caught up in the moment.”

Talking about safe words while eating a burger.

“It has to be simple enough to remember in an emergency.”

In fact, Mino hadn’t thought about it yet. Then he noticed an item that had been pulled out of the shopping bag.

“‘Lucky Meal’?”

“Why that?”

Lucky Meal was the name of the set that contained the toy Dohoon had bought him earlier. The number 1 toy Mino had picked was a peach-shaped butt character, aptly pink, and he blurted out whatever came to mind, but Dohoon asked nonchalantly for a reason.

“…I was originally just going to fill up on food, but being with Seonsaeng-nim has made eating together enjoyable. Sexual appetite and food appetite are similar, aren’t they? And meeting Seonsaeng-nim has been lucky for me…”

The words tumbled out, a rambling mess that even he couldn’t fully grasp. It was a hastily concocted reason, but he tried to make it sound plausible, reminiscent of presenting a failed assignment in front of a professor during his college days. Today, Dohoon, playing the role of Mino’s professor, simply twitched his eyebrows like a very strict professor.

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? The safe word coming out means the play has gone wrong, right?”

“Then should I call it ‘Unlucky Meal’? An unfortunate meal…?”

Mino tried to respond to the sharp critique, but it felt like an even bigger mess. Mino bit into the burger instead. Maybe it was better to just keep his mouth shut.

“Well, if Mino likes it, anything is fine.”

Dohoon gave a positive response to a dejected Mino.

Then why argue… A bit wronged, Mino chewed on the burger and added as if to bolster his argument.
“It’s quirky… Wouldn’t it break the mood?”

“That’s fine. Let’s also decide on hand and foot gestures.”

Hand gestures were decided to mean luck, with the index and middle fingers crossed. In this way, the two continued their somewhat lewd conversation alongside their meal.

By the time Mino had finished three sets of burgers, Dohoon had neatly eaten just one.
“Aren’t you going to eat the fries?”

“I don’t like fries.”

“Ah, really…”

Maybe they should have ordered something else. Perhaps Dohoon wasn’t fond of fast food. Mino regretted not eating slower as he realized Dohoon’s departure was imminent.

Hesitating over the last bite of his burger, Dohoon stole a kiss from the corner of Mino’s mouth and whispered,
“It looks like semen.”

The moment he saw the white sauce on his thumb looked lewd, Mino’s face turned red, and he pursed his lips.
“After you finish eating, wash up, and make sure to do your assignment. There isn’t much time left.”

“Can’t you stay with me?”

His heart raced, feeling like Dohoon was preparing to leave.
“Did you slow down your eating because you thought I might leave?”

“Yes…”

“Don’t make that face. It makes me not want to go.”

“Can’t you not go?”

Mino pleaded once more, filled with a desperate wish. He didn’t want Dohoon to leave him. Especially since Dohoon had come to him, he didn’t want to let him go.
“Are you sure you won’t get aroused if I stay while you write that?”

Mino fidgeted with his toes inside his socks and bowed his head deeply. He didn’t want to let him go, but he couldn’t easily answer that question.

“If you’ve finished, get up. You need to brush your teeth and wash.”

“I haven’t finished yet…”

If he finished the burger, Dohoon might leave, so maybe he should drag it out till the morning. Mino pondered this, ignoring his dental health.

Then Dohoon took the crumpled burger wrapper from Mino’s hand, saying,
“If you wash well, I’ll stay a bit longer.”

At that, Mino stuffed the remaining burger into his mouth and stood up quickly.

Dohoon followed him into the bathroom.
“I’ll get your toothpaste ready.”

Dohoon pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste from the hotel amenities and handed Mino a toothbrush smeared with toothpaste before taking one for himself.

Mino ended up brushing his teeth next to Dohoon, stealing glances at him. How exactly should he wash well?

Dohoon remained silent until the brushing was done. Mino hastily wiped the foam around his mouth after finishing.

Was Dohoon’s mouth specially treated? He could eat burgers without getting sauce on him and brush his teeth without leaving toothpaste foam. Mino wondered about this when Dohoon suddenly pulled up the bathroom blind.