VI | Chapter 10

“Why not? When else would you get a chance like this? Unless your memory comes back someday, your mental age is twenty now. We’re exactly the same age, isn’t it just fate?”

“What……! Stop saying such nonsense. I can’t say anything carelessly in front of you.”

“But I’m right, aren’t I? You can’t even argue against it, can you?”

“Are you going to keep acting like a child until the end? And speaking of which, if I’m twenty, that means you’re ten to me. You’ve just grown physically, but you’re still like a baby, so how can we be the same age?”

“Do you really think that?”

Kwon Rae slowly moved closer, bringing his face near Taehwon’s chin.

“Do you still think I’m like a kid?”

His warm breath touched him.

Kwon Rae approached as if he was about to kiss, and Taehwon leaned back against the sofa, trying to move away. But as he retreated, Kwon Rae followed him.

“Taehwon-ssi, who is injured, can’t use his arm, limps, and has lost his memory, knowing nothing about the outside world……. If I had decided to act like a child, would you be having this verbal sparring with me right now?”

“…….”

“It would have been easy to force myself on you. Or I could have lied from the start, saying you and I were passionately involved, that we loved each other excessively, and that having sex every day was a necessary routine. What would you have done then? You would have had no choice but to accept it.”

His words made Taehwon’s hair stand on end, and a chill ran down his spine.

Looking at him again, the icy blue-gray eyes were scrutinizing Taehwon’s reaction. There was a blatant and persistent desire, like a predator eyeing its prey, ready to devour it alive. Taehwon could even sense a suppressed anger from the repressed passion.

Taehwon, at a loss for words, quietly closed his mouth, and Kwon Rae chuckled softly, planting a kiss on Taehwon’s forehead.

“See? I’m mature.”

“Young master…….”

Taehwon hesitated, frowning, but Kwon Rae’s lips just touched and left, without any sexual implication, as if he was simply fond of Taehwon.

“You’re the one who’s like a child, Taehwon-ssi. What am I going to do with you being so cute……. I should stop teasing you.”

Kwon Rae gave Taehwon’s forehead a few more pecks before getting up from the sofa. Taehwon, who had been curled up and sunk into the sofa, was half-forced to stand up, led by Kwon Rae’s hand.

“Aren’t you hungry? Shall we have breakfast together?”

“What? Yes…….”

And so, Kwon Rae led Taehwon to the kitchen and sat him at the dining table. Taehwon could only watch in a daze as Kwon Rae busily moved around the kitchen, cooking rice porridge.

✧✧✧

“Is there anywhere that itches?”

A large hand was lathering shampoo into his scalp. The cool aquatic scent and the soft, foamy bubbles were soothing. Taehwon, buried in a freestanding bathtub wearing a comfortable white T-shirt and shorts, replied with a low voice.

“No.”

His voice echoed in the bathroom, like being inside a cave.

The bathroom was unusually clean and spacious. The shelves were neatly organized with necessary items, and there wasn’t a single water stain. Taehwon glanced around the bathroom before closing his eyes.

If water got into his wounds, they would fester, and with his right arm in a cast, he had no choice but to rely on Kwon Rae’s help to wash his hair. Of course, Taehwon could have managed on his own if he tried, but Kwon Rae insisted on doing it, leaving him no choice.

‘Young Master Rae-i has grown up to be quite stubborn.’

He kept insisting, insisting, that he would wash Taehwon’s hair, singing a persistent tune until Taehwon had no choice but to give in. Eventually, Taehwon lay in the bathtub with his head resting outside the tub, leaving his hair to Kwon Rae. And true to his confident words and stubbornness, Kwon Rae’s skills weren’t bad.

His careful and meticulous touch was quite decent. It was actually as comfortable as having a professional hairdresser do it. Maybe it was because Taehwon wasn’t particularly picky about his hair care.

‘If I did it myself, I’d just scrub and rinse roughly and be done with it. Tsk.’

Kwon Rae shampooed twice, rinsed twice, and then gently applied conditioner. Just as Taehwon was starting to feel a bit drowsy with his eyes closed, Kwon Rae’s whispering voice reached him.

“Taehwon-ssi, your hair is always so pretty. It’s black, completely different from mine.”

What’s so pretty about it……?

That’s the first time he’s ever heard such a compliment about his hair.

“Korean hair is mostly black, isn’t it? It seems common.”

“No, it’s the texture. It’s smooth, and the roots are strong.”

“Is that so…….”

He heard all sorts of things.

Even if he wanted to respond, he didn’t know what to say, so he just let it be. Kwon Rae seemed satisfied even without much reaction from Taehwon, as he kept combing through Taehwon’s hair with his fingers, smiling to himself.

“It’s really nice. Ah…… it’s good.”

“…….”

“It’s a big deal that you’re seriously injured, but being able to wash you like this is nice.”

He didn’t know how many times the word “nice” appeared in just a few sentences. Taehwon’s hair was already clean, and it had been rinsed thoroughly, yet Kwon Rae continued to play with Taehwon’s hair for a long time, openly indulging his personal interest.

‘Is it really that good?’

He couldn’t understand. It didn’t seem like something that would elicit such a reaction. What was so special about Woo Taehwon?

‘Why me, of all people…….’

With that face. That body. At that age. If he wanted, there would be plenty of people available for the young master, so why was he so fixated on Taehwon? It was still a mystery. It was strange.

Woo Taehwon was ten years older, a dark-skinned man, covered in scars, and compared to the elegantly crafted high-grade diamond that Kwon Rae had grown into, he was like a rough rock lying around.

‘Isn’t it just a fleeting infatuation during a youthful phase? Though it’s not really my place to judge.’

Taehwon was someone far removed from romantic tales. He had never even experienced unrequited love, let alone a relationship. The burning passion or sweet and bitter pure love that people talked about had no place in Taehwon’s harsh life.

Taehwon’s life, for about twenty years, was solely a struggle for survival.

From a young age, he was busy taking care of himself, and after crossing into the Gyeongjeong faction and becoming part of the organization, he was busy enduring all sorts of oppression and abuse, like a rough stone being hit.

Undoubtedly, the only emotion in Taehwon’s life that could be classified as affection was the feeling he had when taking care of the young master, Rae-i. A sense of kinship and responsibility towards a child who resembled him, a paternal love that made him want to care for and cherish him.

“It would be really nice to live like this with you, Taehwon-ssi.”

“What’s so nice about taking care of a patient? I’ll recover soon.”

“Anyway, it’s comfortable for you too, right? When I wash you like this.”

“Are you trying to spoil me?”

“Exactly. Don’t we seem like a married couple right now?”

“……Young master. It seems my hair is all rinsed, so I should get up.”

Taehwon tried to prop himself up against the edge of the bathtub. However, Kwon Rae pressed down on his shoulder with wet hands, making him lie back down. The white T-shirt got a little damp in the shape of his hand.

“Just stay there. You need to wash other parts too.”

Other parts?

He had a bad feeling about this.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable not having bathed? I’ll wipe you down with a wet towel.”

“It’s fine. I’ll do it myself.”

Taehwon immediately refused. It seemed like something he shouldn’t accept. Yet, Kwon Rae was unmoved.

“Then I’ll just wipe your back. You can’t reach your back by yourself.”

……Back?

Can he really trust that he’ll only wipe his back?

Taehwon glanced at Kwon Rae with skeptical eyes. Perhaps noticing his attempt to read his intentions, Kwon Rae chuckled softly, wearing a languid smile. With a face as pure and white as freshly fallen snow, smiling like that, it was hard to look directly at him.

“When I was little, you used to wash me, remember? When I had a fever and was bedridden, you’d wipe my back with a wet towel.”

“……That’s true. But that was ten years ago for you. Do you remember things like that?”

“Of course. I remember everything. Just think of it as repaying you for that time. Although, I won’t deny I have a little personal interest in undressing and touching you. But that’s that, and this is this, right?”

He suddenly reached out and grabbed the hem of Taehwon’s T-shirt, lifting it. His arms were long and quick, so he caught the fabric right away.