It had clearly been just a joke—when Muheon touched Hakyung’s butt or when Hakyung giggled on his shoulder—but somehow, the mood had turned awkward.
Muheon quietly exhaled, careful not to let Hakyung notice, and resumed his steps toward the bedroom.
With every movement he made, Hakyung felt like he was truly holding his breath from the tension.
“You’re still drunk. Go to sleep.”
Muheon carefully helped Hakyung sit on the bed, making sure not to touch his butt as he did.
“Boss, am I drunk?”
“Yeah.”
“Then whatever I do now is because I’m drunk, so you can’t scold me tomorrow. Okay?”
“What…?”
Before Muheon could ask what he meant, Hakyung reached out, wrapped his arms around Muheon’s neck, and pressed his lips to his.
Compared to the cute, ticklish peck from earlier—before the whiskey—this kiss was a hundred times more aggressive.
Riding that momentum, Hakyung licked Muheon’s lips with his tongue.
He had only ever seen kisses in dramas, but he still had a pretty good idea of how it worked.
After all, he was a grown-up male anthropomorphic dolphin.
“Mmm… mmph.”
The only problem was that the kiss, rather than sexy, was rather adorably clumsy.
Still, Hakyung was completely serious about it.
And it seemed his kissing skills weren’t bad at all.
He had no idea that Muheon’s lips were twitching at the corners, trying to suppress a smile.
Muheon was doing his best to hold in his laughter while receiving Hakyung’s bold but amateurish kiss.
After a long moment of passionately sucking on the boss’s lips, Hakyung boldly cupped Muheon’s chin.
Then, instead of asking with words, he gently stroked his handsome lips with his thumb, silently requesting Muheon to open up.
Muheon gladly obliged, and a deeper kiss followed.
“Hngh… I like it…”
The moment Muheon opened his mouth and began to move his tongue, the tables turned in an instant.
Hakyung gasped, overwhelmed by the man’s dominant tongue.
He’s seriously way too cute—what am I supposed to do?
Now Muheon truly understood what it meant when people said someone was so cute you wanted to explode.
He had to consciously suppress the dangerous urges rising inside him.
Gently, he ran his fingers along Hakyung’s slender forearms, relaxing his touch.
“Ahng…”
Every time Muheon’s large, rough hands touched his skin, Hakyung couldn’t hold back the moans slipping from his mouth.
The boss is really kissing me while touching me…
The affection he had built up all this time didn’t shrink—if anything, it kept growing, endlessly.
It felt like a dream, and Hakyung’s eyes began to glisten with emotion.
Even though their time together hadn’t been long, and his emotional struggle hadn’t been too drawn out, he never imagined this would actually come true.
That made it all feel even more surreal.
Full of romance and emotion, Hakyung sniffled and clambered into Muheon’s arms, hugging him tightly.
The heavy presence he felt pressed between their hips confirmed this was definitely not a dream.
Flushed with embarrassment at the clear, honest reaction from Muheon’s body, Hakyung squirmed.
His own body, though more modest in its response, was slowly starting to react too.
Would he accept it if I asked to go further?
Hakyung’s brain went into overdrive.
If not for the hat covering his hair, steam would probably be visibly rising from his head.
“Hnn…”
Hakyung subtly shifted, trying to read the boss’s signals.
But unfortunately, the man didn’t seem to want to take things any further.
Dang it…
Clicking his tongue internally in disappointment, Hakyung decided to at least make the most of the kissing.
He devoured Muheon’s lips, tongue, and everything in between with all the enthusiasm he could muster.
Faced with the eager advances of the jumping dolphin, Muheon felt like everything he had just barely managed to hold back was starting to slip away.
He reluctantly pulled Hakyung off of him.
Hakyung, now separated from that warm and firm chest, looked up at Muheon with eyes full of dissatisfaction.
His butt was still firmly planted on the man’s solid thigh.
“Why? Why are you stopping?! Come on, the night’s still young!”
“That long night is for sleeping.”
“Sleep— Boss, do you want to sleep with me?”
Hakyung whispered, as if afraid someone might hear, but he couldn’t hide the anticipation in his voice.
Muheon, pinching the cheek of the brazen dolphin boy without actually hurting him, lifted Hakyung’s butt off his thigh.
What did this soft, light body think it was about to do?
Muheon smirked from one corner of his mouth.
“I meant sleep, not sex.”
“Ah—ah! Se—sex is fine though. I mean, I’m really okay with it…!”
“I’m not.”
Muheon was being considerate—he didn’t want to take Hakyung without any preparation, knowing it’d leave him sore for days.
But of course, Hakyung didn’t get that, and just blew a loud huff through his nose.
Still, Muheon didn’t find it annoying—only endearing.
He leaned in and gave Hakyung a light kiss on the lips.
“Now go to sleep.”
“Okay. I’ll listen to everything you say. You know this is all because I like you so much, right?”
“I know.”
Smiling at Muheon’s answer, Hakyung held his large hand tightly and closed his eyes.
Within three seconds, he was gently snoring.
“Seriously…”
Muheon chuckled as he looked at the peacefully sleeping Hakyung and removed his hat.
The soft, wavy pink hair that had been hidden underneath spilled across the pillow.
It looked just like cotton candy, so sweet that Muheon unconsciously swallowed it.
***
The next day
Because he had mixed whiskey with makgeolli, Hakyung woke up with a hangover that felt like his skull was splitting open.
He groaned.
Next to him, Muheon, who had been sleeping peacefully, bolted upright in alarm. The man immediately placed a hand on Hakyung’s forehead. No fever, but cold sweat was beading there.
“Kang Hakyung, does it hurt a lot? Can you get up?”
“Shhh…”
“Shh? Do you need the bathroom?”
“No, just… please be quiet… my head’s pounding.”
Ah, right…
Muheon blinked.
He couldn’t remember anyone in hundreds of years telling him not to speak because their head hurt from a hangover.
Rather than being annoyed, he found Hakyung’s blunt command kind of refreshing.
He stifled his laughter and got out of bed.
Despite groaning from the hangover, Hakyung asked Muheon where he was going.
“Going to make you some honey water.”
“You, boss…?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Muheon spoke as quietly as possible to avoid hurting Hakyung’s head and gently stroked his pink hair.
Hakyung’s furrowed brows relaxed ever so slightly under the soothing touch.
Laying his hungover young lover back down with care, Muheon naturally reached out to contact Go-eung.
Muheon had no idea where the honey was in his own house, let alone in this hotel he’d just arrived at.
That was Go-eung’s job.
As if waiting for the call, Park Go-eung arrived in under three minutes.
The moment he saw Muheon, his eyes darted around like a kid who’d just figured out their parents’ secret.
“Honey water?”
“Honey water,” Muheon confirmed.
“For Kang Hakyung’s hangover.”
“For… young master Hakyung…?”
Go-eung looked uncertain but nodded.
No wonder—the earthy musk wafting from Muheon since early morning had been unmistakable.
In the meantime, the guests at the next table had left their desserts behind and headed to the building with the concert hall.
The empty table was now only filled with beautiful, sweet desserts.
This wasn’t the time for this.
Hakyung needed to head to the concert hall right away and check Taeyoung’s face.
If it really was Taeyoung—the one he knew—then he had to ask why, what he was thinking, and confront him.
But his whole body was trembling so badly, he didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.
“Hakyung, Kang Hakyung! What’s wrong?”
Hakyung had been sitting in a daze for quite some time, and it was only when a low voice called his name that he finally snapped back to his senses.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t alone.
Muheon was beside him, and he couldn’t just leave the boss behind and move on his own.
But what if the concert ended and Taeyoung left?
The thought made his heart pound violently.
Growing more anxious by the second, Hakyung bit down hard on his lip.
“You’ll hurt yourself like that.”
Muheon, who had been carefully observing Hakyung’s changes from across the table, reached out.
Hakyung looked like he might disappear at any moment, so Muheon gently brushed near his lips with his fingertips.
His touch wasn’t warm—it was surprisingly cold—but to Hakyung, it was more comforting and encouraging than anything else.
Hakyung grabbed the boss’s hand tightly and declared:
“Boss. I want to go to that party and concert!”
“Hm?”
“Boss, will you come with me?”
Muheon’s eyes widened at how quickly Hakyung’s mood flipped.
It was more erratic than summer monsoon weather.
Even so, he didn’t have the heart to refuse.
If Kang Hakyung wanted something this much, there was no reason to say no.
Muheon stood up without hesitation, and Hakyung followed right after him.
***
Because it was a private party combined with a concert, there weren’t that many audience members.
Somehow, Muheon and Hakyung managed to get in without being stopped, though Hakyung wasn’t sure how contact had been made so quickly.
Due to the flashy lights and elaborate stage equipment, the concert hall was so hot it made you sweat, despite the lingering chill of early spring.
Hakyung slipped off the cardigan he’d been wearing and draped it over his arm.
Then he grabbed onto the hem of Muheon’s coat tightly.
If he lost his way here, he felt like he might be separated from the boss forever.
“B-Boss, you have to stay next to me. Don’t get lost!”
“Okay.”
“You won’t let go of my hand, right?”
“No.”
Hakyung’s voice was shaking.
Muheon answered bluntly, but then gripped the hand clutching his coat.
Hakyung’s small hand was completely enveloped in his much larger one.
Muheon’s hand was colder than Hakyung’s trembling one, but the warmth of his gesture made Hakyung’s heart pound for a completely different reason.
The small, casual kindness Muheon offered without even thinking was enough to send Hakyung’s heart racing.
Songs about unrequited love—songs he usually ignored—kept replaying in his mind and pierced right through his chest.
Letting out a quiet sigh behind the boss’s back, Hakyung gripped his fingers even tighter.
Now that things had come to this, he wasn’t about to do something as foolish as letting go first.
He thought he heard a faint chuckle from beside him, but he was too tense from head to toe to really register it.
With stiff, robotic movements, Hakyung followed Muheon forward until they came to a stop right in front of the stage.
Sitting in a plush chair was Hwang Rin, the boss’s friend, surrounded by several people.
All of them were staring at Hwang Rin with dazed, dreamy eyes, as if intoxicated.
Despite the openness of the space, the scene was strangely suggestive.
Embarrassed for no clear reason, Hakyung’s face flushed red and he gave a small swallow.
At that sound, Hwang Rin’s red eyes turned toward them.
“Well, if it isn’t Muheon? I thought you had no interest in parties—what brings you here?”
Hwang Rin feigned surprise, then his gaze slowly shifted from Hakyung’s frozen face down to the hands tightly clasped with Muheon’s.
Then he lazily lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“Oh, it’s you, sweetheart. You’re the one who wanted to come, right?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Well done. A good boy deserves a reward… but if I do that, Muheon might burn a hole through my forehead with that glare of his.”
Laughing as if he found his own joke amusing, Hwang Rin waved his hand.
At his signal, some men—who Hakyung hadn’t even noticed were there—suddenly appeared and quickly prepared seats for them.
It was like magic at the flick of a finger.
That alone was enough to show just how powerful Hwang Rin must be…
And yet, under his persistent gaze, Hakyung felt a chill run down his spine.
He gave a visible shiver and moved closer to Muheon.
Only when his shoulder touched the boss’s solid arm did he feel the slightest bit of relief.
Not long after the two of them sat down on the sofa, the intro to the first performance began to play.