Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 89

Eighteen and Twenty-four, Summer 33℃

It has already been three weeks since the group training at the athletes’ village ended. After coming back up to Seoul from Jincheon, Sejin really had no opportunity to run into Taehyun. With the departure for on-site adaptation training just around the corner, they were both too busy to spare any attention for each other. Once they boarded the plane to Istanbul a week later, they would be incredibly busy preparing for and competing in the preliminaries.

“……”

Still, I wanted to see his face at least once before going to Turkey. The opportunity just did not come, as it was a time when all the athletes were at their busiest and most sensitive. Did Taehyun say he lived around here? When you think about it, we’re practically neighbors, so couldn’t we run into each other by chance? Whenever Sejin returned to his house, which did not feel like a home, after training, he would look down through the palm-sized window. Unfortunately, he could not find anyone who even remotely resembled Taehyun’s tall and well-built frame, let alone Taehyun himself.

Actually, if he was just curious about how he was doing, he could just send a message through the messenger app that he had kindly installed for him, but his hand would not readily move. What would he even say if he sent a message? He did not have anything particular to say, so he just ended up doing nothing. It had been like that since he first met Taehyun. The one who led the conversation and the situation was always Taehyun. All Sejin had to do was get dragged along as he led, as if he could not help it. So, it was natural for him to hesitate about how to start a conversation himself. In the end, Sejin just ended up pointlessly pressing on Taehyun’s profile over and over, then—swipe—he entered the page where he could check past profile pictures.

‘Gasp.’

For a moment, he was surprised, thinking he had touched something wrong, but at the following pictures, Sejin found himself zooming in on the part where Taehyun’s face was. Taehyun was smiling with a bright face, surrounded by a variety of different people. His eyes were drawn to his uniquely handsome face, which stood out from the other people around him.

Even without an objective evaluation, he had a striking impression. Because he was tall, had refreshing features, and was smiling broadly. He was different from himself, who always stood gloomy in a corner even when he had to take a group photo. It was noticeable that the people around him were desperate to look close to him somehow.

Taehyun must have many more close people besides himself. There would probably be someone else he wants to take care of more. Thinking that, his mood turned strange for no reason. It was a strange feeling, different from jealousy. He hoped that just as Taehyun had become a person who had such a big influence on him despite not having known him for long, he too was not a trivial existence to Taehyun. But why? He could not rationally understand it himself. It’s just… it’s just a bit unfair. Only that childish sentence kept coming to mind.

In the midst of that, time flowed quickly. It was only the end of June, but the weather was insanely hot and humid. They said it was an unusually hot summer this year because the temperature had risen earlier than other times. The rainy season had also come and gone, so it hardly rained and it had become midsummer.

Sejin could not help but be surprised by the sweltering heat that was already approaching the mid-30s. In the suburbs of Paris where Sejin lived, it was rare for the temperature to rise this high no matter how hot it got. Seoyoung advised him to use the gift of civilization called an air conditioner, clicking her tongue—tsk tsk—as Sejin, drenched in sweat from just a short walk outside, headed to the training center. It was certainly more bearable when he slept with the air conditioner on at night.

The problem was that since he had lived in a house without an air conditioner his whole life, Sejin, who did not know what the appropriate temperature for a typical studio apartment was, had frequently set it to 18 degrees and spent the night shivering. As a result, with his departure just around the corner, he ended up catching a summer cold, which they say even dogs don’t get.

“Achoo.”

Sejin, who woke up in the morning, confirmed that his whole body was as hot as a ball of fire and quickly grabbed his phone. It was already too late to leave for the training center to start at 10 AM. Ah. I’m screwed. Sejin, in a daze, barely managed to leave a dying message in the group messenger room where the épée national team posted notices and communicated.

9:45 AM

I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well, so I think I’ll have to miss training today.

He knew this was not a sufficient excuse. But he did not have the slightest bit of energy left to care about anything more, so Sejin closed his eyes again right after that as if fainting. He did not even think about changing his clothes, turning off the air conditioner, or getting something to eat and going out to see a doctor and get medicine. His whole body just ached and shivered. All he could do was wrap himself tightly in the blanket because it was so cold and endure, conserving as much energy as possible.

How much time had passed like that. In his sleep, Sejin heard someone open the door to his studio apartment and come in.

“What, why is it so cold.”

The sound of someone being startled, grabbing the air conditioner remote, and turning off the air conditioner followed.

“Good grief. You’re completely knocked out. You catch a summer cold because you keep the air conditioner set to 18 degrees.”

Then there was a noise that sounded like someone was cleaning up the completely messy house. The house was just a studio apartment with no division of space, so even in his unconscious sleep, Sejin had to clearly hear the sound of that someone constantly grumbling. That someone suddenly lifted the blanket and touched Sejin’s forehead, but he had no strength in his whole body and could not even lift his eyelids.

“You have a high fever… I should wake you up quickly, make you eat something, and give you medicine.”

Then, he covered him with the blanket again and made a clattering sound of utensils. It was a strange feeling for Sejin, who could only perceive what the familiar intruder was doing through sound. Why did he come… He’s at an important time too, what if he catches it. A grumpy thought came to Sejin’s mind first, but he was still glad.

He could not understand why this uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared in a situation where he had given up on anyone thinking of him felt so delightful. And it was even better that the guest was Taehyun. He liked the fact that he was taking time out to take care of him. How did he know that he had not gone to training? Did he hear it through the other athletes on the national team? Or was it relayed through the agency? Either way, Taehyun was by his side now.

Just as Sejin let out a groan—ugh—unable to open his eyes and feeling his heart warm up inside, Taehyun swore, thinking he would definitely not be able to hear.

“Ah shit, I screwed up.”

Then, the sound of the sink faucet being turned on—clank clank—and something being poured out followed. What? What on earth is he doing in my kitchen? Sejin was thrown into confusion. Why is he swearing? For what reason? His mind instantly became chaotic, and it felt like an emergency siren was blaring. And a short while later. Ding-dong. The cheerful sound of the doorbell rang, and Taehyun opened the front door. Then, the rustling sound of a plastic bag was heard. Thud, click, rumble… It sounded like he was transferring some kind of thick content into a pot. A short while later, Taehyun shook the shoulder of the half-asleep Sejin to wake him up.

“Sejin-ah, Joo Sejin. Wake up. I dropped by because I heard you were sick. I thought you might feel better if I checked in on you since I live nearby.”

Then, he told a brazen lie without batting an eye.

“I made some porridge, so fill your stomach, take your medicine, and sleep. That’s how the fever will go down.”

No, you just ordered delivery. At the lie he uttered so nonchalantly when he had clearly heard the sound, Sejin’s shoulders shook. He was a really strange person. This was the first time in Sejin’s eighteen years of life that he had met such a uniquely strange person. Taehyun forced Sejin awake, fed him the porridge with finely minced beef and abalone, which he picked at, then put a fever reducer in his mouth and made him swallow it. Then, he made him drink a glass of an ion drink and took him back to bed and laid him down.

“I’ve cleaned up the house a bit too, so get a good night’s sleep. If you’re still not feeling well after sleeping, contact me, okay? It’ll get better if you go to the emergency room and get an IV drip.”

Then he watched until Sejin fell asleep again and got up from his seat.

The next morning. When Sejin woke up in perfect condition as if he had never been sick, Taehyun was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, he regained his normal condition and was able to rejoin training, and when he returned home,

“……?”

There was Taehyun, brazenly leaning his back against Sejin’s bed mattress and watching TV.

“You’re back? Can I eat the Mero-na in your freezer?”

He was already holding one in his mouth, so he was asking a bit late. In the first place, Sejin did not even know that such a thing was in the freezer, so it seemed Taehyun had bought and stocked it.

With his cock starting to move inside again, Taehyun trembled at the new stimulation he experienced over and over, and bit Sejin’s lip. Sejin looked down at his own semen, which was now mixed with slick and foamed, trickling down between their joined parts. Even though he was not in a rut, he was seized by a strong impulse to impregnate Taehyun.

At Taehyun’s answer, which was neither an affirmation nor a denial, the room stirred. The manager’s intention to boast about how strong their team was and how amazing their facilities were was suddenly overshadowed by the public’s interest in whether the star athlete, who was more popular than a celebrity, would retire, causing Chiwook to hurriedly pass the turn to the next athlete. Despite the turn being passed to him in a hurry, Sejin answered the question given to him calmly.