Hit by a Pitched Ball Chapter 15

At that moment, a recent memory flickered through his mind. The massive frame that had casually nuzzled and tried to cling to him last night, acting cute. Yunjae could not help but genuinely admire it.

One might think, so what if two guys rub up against each other a bit? But in reality, among men who had come to realize they were gay, there was not a single one who acted like that. So Ha Taebeom’s behavior was something Yunjae found hard to accept easily.

Could it be that he actually thought he had zero sexual appeal to men?

“…That’s definitely not it.”

Yunjae’s fingers wandered aimlessly across the screen. After hesitating for a long while, Yunjae clicked his tongue and slid the screen. He calculated Ha Taebeom’s age anew. Mid-twenties—the age when everything in the world seems fun.

The audacity that youth brings possesses a surprisingly solid strength. The courage to charge straight ahead without hesitation when he likes something—that must be the confidence that such an approach would surely work on people who hold the upper hand in any relationship.

Look at himself, being so easily swayed. Yunjae recalled the only part of his face that looked his age—his eyes. Those eyes full of conviction and confidence.

Staring at the empty input field, a scene interrupted his daze, and Yunjae wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

Then, the face of someone he’d met long ago flickered hazily before his eyes. That person too had only ever dated women. How had they even gotten entangled?

After a short sigh, silence filled the house for a while. After a brief pause, Yunjae moistened his dry lips with his tongue and moved his fingers.

Why would I block you; I fell asleep

You must have checked at the hospital, what did they say….;

Hang in there Sent

Yunjae’s fingers hesitated over the character ‘ㅠ’. After agonizing for a long while, he painstakingly typed it out but ultimately deleted it just before sending, adding only the short phrase “Hang in there.”

Trying to do something that didn’t suit him made him break out in goosebumps. Yunjae rubbed his arms, feeling sheepish for no reason. Stop these useless thoughts and get some work done. Yunjae promptly got up.

“…Ugh.”

The moment he moved, a pain that felt like his back would break made him groan involuntarily. Yunjae hurriedly grabbed his throbbing lower back. It was a stiffness he hadn’t felt in a while. Feeling the pain shooting down his spine, Yunjae looked back at the bed. When he bought it, he never thought he’d be lying with someone else. So he hadn’t considered the size.

‘For two people to lie down… it’s cramped after all.’

A bitter smile touched the corner of Yunjae’s mouth as Ha Taebeom’s troubled face from last night came to mind. Taebeom had thrown himself onto the mattress, which was wedged perfectly between the walls without a frame. But before he could even fully stretch out, his feet hit the wall, and he let out a baffled chuckle.

Yunjae had been just as flustered. It was a situation he had never once imagined. He hurriedly started to get up, intending to switch places.

He thought the outer side wouldn’t be as uncomfortable since there was no wall, but when Ha Taebeom turned his body sideways, curled up, and giggled while pushing Yunjae back down, all those trivial thoughts evaporated in an instant.

Recalling last night, Yunjae scratched the bridge of his nose as he frowned. Because this situation, which he’d thought would never happen again, felt somewhat awkward.

“…Ha.”

Even as he told himself to wash up and think again later, he couldn’t easily shake off the Taebeom who had settled in his head. While he thought over 80% of yesterday’s events were the result of impulse, his chattering heart wouldn’t calm down.

As he moved to wash up, Yunjae tore at his hair several times and plopped back down in his spot. He shuddered at the sudden surges of shame and embarrassment. As a result, it took him a full ten minutes just to enter the bathroom, which was only a short distance away.

After showering for much longer than that, Yunjae immediately stood in front of the coffee machine. Even after soaking his body thoroughly in hot water, an inexplicable itch remained, making him wonder if he hadn’t rinsed off properly. …That couldn’t be it. He’d always taken a fair amount of time to wash anyway.

But even accounting for that, he couldn’t deny that today he’d stood under the pouring water much longer than usual. Time doesn’t lie.

The more his thoughts continued, the more the color drained from Yunjae’s face. He told himself to stop thinking, but it wasn’t easy. He reassured himself it was because the outsider who had suddenly barged into his life after so long was just too conspicuous, and he operated the machine.

As the dark, almost black espresso trickled into the专用 cup, Yunjae brought out some ice. Already finished them. The bag of ice cubes he always bought because he was too lazy to freeze them himself was showing its bottom. He turned the remaining bag upside down into his tumbler and filled it with water.

Should I just replace the water purifier entirely at this opportunity? While he was preoccupied with pushing away yesterday’s events with trivial thoughts that weren’t even worth considering, a long vibration from a distance snapped him back to his senses.

Ha Taebeom

At the name of the very person who, despite his regained composure, had immediately put him in a difficult spot, Yunjae involuntarily pressed his forehead. Entertaining the absurd thought that if this guy was going to plant himself so firmly in his head, he might as well charge him rent, he glared at his innocent phone.

“He’s never going to be a gentleman.”

Yunjae couldn’t keep his head straight against the emotional assault that kept pushing in without giving him a break. Taebeom, as if knowing Yunjae’s weakness, drove him relentlessly with purpose.

He cut off any other thoughts at the root, preventing them from even sprouting. In the end, insisting that he alone was the right choice, he poked his head in every time a gap appeared and chirped about sex, sex, until it gave Yunjae a headache.

Honestly, who would believe that a guy like Ha Taebeom would get an STI test just to try having sex with a man? Perhaps the rumor that Ha Taebeom’s dick finally had problems and he’d started frequenting hospitals might sound more plausible. If it weren’t for this situation, Yunjae would have sided with that rumor too.

—What are you doing?

Yunjae, who had opened his mouth in a round ‘O’ shape, closed it awkwardly. Letting out a hollow laugh, Yunjae rubbed his lower lip for no reason. It was because the other party had cut him off without giving him a chance. Why is this guy so funny.

“I just got out of the shower and made some coffee. I should work.”

—I did check at the hospital though. What’s there to worry about? All the rapid tests came back negative, but they said a few take a week.

“Work hard…”

Yunjae burst out laughing again. Then a chuckle came through the speaker as well.

—All the rapid tests came back negative, but they said a few take a whole week. Wow, it’s more complicated than I thought.

What’s with him. The voice, oddly grumbling like a child while a hint of anticipation peeked through, flowed pleasantly through the speaker. He’s got a nice voice too. Apart from the content of the conversation, the voice that stuck in his ear was incredible. A belated and useless observation.

“Uh… actually, that was just a throwaway comment. I didn’t know you’d take it so seriously.”

Gathering his mind that kept wandering off, Yunjae replied awkwardly. Turning over the purpose of the conversation in his head, he thought, What on earth am I doing with Taebeom? Yunjae found his own attitude unfamiliar. He kept touching his face.

Honestly, he didn’t want to cut off this situation. That was how he felt right now. Had he always been this true to his desires?

Maybe it was because he’d ignored his desires for so long that he’d forgotten. Yunjae traced his memory back from the present to the past.

But he didn’t remember ever disregarding his pride like this before.

—Because it wasn’t just a throwaway line for me. Ah, they’re calling me. …Hyung. Can I call you later? I think I have to hang up.

A voice urging Taebeom from nearby cut in. A briefly irritated voice slipped between the warm tones, then returned to its original gentleness as if it had never been there.

“Yes. Sure.”

The call ended shortly. Sitting there, staring blankly at the disconnected screen with a subtle feeling, Yunjae was lost in a fleeting thought: Is this how everyone lives? To be precise, he found himself wondering if this was what a sexual relationship was supposed to be like. A curiosity far removed from his own values had raised its head.

Just sleeping together. Keeping a moderate level of friendliness while excluding emotions, and having sex. What Ha Taebeom had proposed was clearly that kind of arrangement. But Taebeom’s behavior toward him since the night they had sex made him question whether that was really the action of someone who wanted only that.