Hakyung paused in the very act of unzipping, his movements arrested as if he were a playful puppy being reined in by a short, sharp command from his master.
Muheon, with an almost imperceptible swiftness, rose from the edge of the bed.
With tender, almost paternal, gestures, he smoothed Hakyung’s tousled pink hair and gently caressed his flushed, rosy cheeks.
Following this intimate moment, Muheon meticulously adjusted his own clothes, ensuring they were neat.
A distinct pout, a visible manifestation of his displeasure, formed on Hakyung’s smooth cheeks, swelling outwards.
“Why! Why are you stopping now? We were just getting started!” Hakyung demanded, his voice a mixture of frustration and playful indignation.
***
“Exactly! Fair’s fair, I want to taste your… mmph!”
Before Hakyung could complete his cute yet undeniably defiant protest, the man swiftly silenced him, pressing his own lips firmly against Hakyung’s, cutting off the sentence mid-utterance.
“Mmm! Mmm-mm!” Hakyung mumbled his displeasure, the sounds muffled by Muheon’s mouth.
Even these muffled protests were swallowed by the insistent dance of Muheon’s tongue within their kiss.
A faint, distinctly briny taste, a lingering essence of their recent intimacy, brushed against Hakyung’s tongue, causing the tips of his ears to turn a bright, embarrassed red.
Yet, in the intoxicating throes of the deep, passionate kiss, any trace of embarrassment quickly evaporated, dissolving like mist in the morning sun.
As the long, profound kiss continued, Hakyung found himself growing increasingly breathless and utterly exhausted, his body weakening under the weight of sensation.
Only then did the intensity in Muheon’s grip subtly lessen.
He gently pulled his lips away, creating a tantalizing space, and then pressed them once more, softly, to Hakyung’s eyelids.
Hakyung’s trembling eyelashes brushed delicately against Muheon’s lower lip, a soft, feather-light tickle that caused Muheon’s lips to curve upwards in a subtle, involuntary smile of contentment.
“You can’t even breathe properly while kissing, and you say you want to ‘eat’ something?” Muheon teased, his voice a low rumble.
“Kissing and that are entirely different! Oh, seriously, are you just going to keep avoiding it like this?” Hakyung retorted, exasperated.
“Later, we’ll do it slowly,” Muheon promised, his voice soft and soothing.
Muheon’s words, uttered as if he were placating a small child with the promise of future candy, made Hakyung suddenly shriek in frustration.
My lover with a heart as wide as the Pacific?
Hakyung thought sarcastically.
At that precise moment, Hakyung’s heart felt as small and petty as a salted anchovy’s gut, brimming with indignation.
“Are you really impotent, Boss?!” Hakyung’s shout was so thunderous and resounding that it seemed to make the very air in the room vibrate.
He even worried for a fleeting moment that his outburst might have been clearly heard in the adjacent room.
The direct, forceful assault on his eardrums caused Muheon’s brow to subtly furrow, a slight V appearing between his eyes.
“I told you no,” Muheon stated calmly, his voice unwavering.
“Then why! Huh?” Hakyung demanded, his voice rising in pitch.
“It’s… complicated,” Muheon replied, his tone guarded.
Muheon continued to hold back, a characteristic he rarely displayed, making him uncharacteristically cautious compared to his usual bold demeanor.
Frustrated by the lack of clear explanation, Hakyung reached out instinctively and firmly gripped Muheon in a certain “heavy” spot, a direct and unexpected attack that caused Muheon’s firm shoulder to twitch in surprise.
Seeing such a clear and immediate reaction only served to make Hakyung even more exasperated and acutely irritable.
Hakyung tightened his grip, his fingers digging in with insistent pressure, effectively “roasting” his boss with his agitation.
“That’s so unfair, Boss. When I suggested coming here, you totally knew what I was hinting at! So why are you holding back? I showered so many times this morning, and I even meticulously cleaned my head-vent multiple times, okay? I did all that!”
“You did?” Muheon asked, a hint of genuine amusement dancing in his voice.
“Yes! I did!” Hakyung asserted forcefully, his voice ringing with conviction.
Hakyung then abruptly thrust the top of his head towards his boss, showcasing his effort.
He felt even more profoundly upset because he had revealed not just his penis, but also his head-vent—something even more precious and vulnerable than his penis to a Gang-dolphin.
Yet, it seemed his boss didn’t feel the same level of affection or commitment to reciprocate to the same extent, a thought that deeply wounded Hakyung.
So what if a few scales show?
And so what if there’s a large, intricate tattoo on his back?
Hakyung was, by nature, a Gang-dolphin who could lovingly embrace and accept even his lover’s perceived flaws and imperfections.
Muheon gazed down at the pink head-vent thrust so intimately close to his face for a long, contemplative moment.
Then, a soft smile graced his lips, and he wrapped his arms tightly around Hakyung’s small, trembling body.
His young lover was so incredibly adorable and utterly charming that Muheon found himself momentarily at a loss for what to do with the overwhelming surge of affection.
And because of that deep affection, he felt even more afraid, even more cautious than usual.
He worried that if he revealed absolutely everything right at this moment, Hakyung might, perhaps, run away from him.
It was, he acknowledged internally, the subtle pettiness of an old man burdened by ancient fears.
Muheon buried his nose gently in Hakyung’s head-vent and inhaled deeply, taking in his scent.
As Hakyung’s unique, sweet scent completely filled his entire being, the world around Muheon seemed to gently spin, a dizzying euphoria.
“Alright, Kang Hakyung,” Muheon murmured, his voice a soft affirmation.
At the word “alright,” which had escaped Muheon’s lips without any conscious thought, Hakyung, who had been squirming with restless energy, let out a huge sigh of profound relief, the tension easing from his small frame.
“I really like you a lot too, Boss,” Hakyung confessed, his voice tender.
“So, please be understanding,” Muheon pleaded gently.
“I won’t be understanding next time, though. I’ll rip all your clothes off first, just you wait,” Hakyung declared, a hint of playful menace in his tone.
“Alright,” Muheon conceded softly, a smile in his voice.
Hakyung, clutching Muheon’s shirt as if preparing to grab him by the collar, gnawed lightly on his firm shoulder and let out a soft growl.
No matter how he pondered it, the “Gang” in “Gang-dolphin” surely must have come from “Puppy,” not “River.”
Muheon, who patiently offered his shoulder until Hakyung’s playful anger fully subsided, then gently lifted Hakyung into his arms with effortless ease.
“Let’s go wash up now,” Muheon suggested.
“Hehe, together?” Hakyung asked playfully, a hopeful glint in his eyes.
“No,” Muheon replied, his voice firm but not unkind.
“Wow, that’s really unfair,” Hakyung pouted, feigning indignation.
Despite his words, Hakyung instinctively tightened his legs around Muheon’s waist, clinging to him closely.
***
Hakyung’s mind, following his bizarre work outing with his boss, was now completely consumed by thoughts of “that special something,” the enigmatic part of Muheon he hadn’t yet seen.
That very evening, after returning from Seongsu-dong, a sudden, vivid thought struck him—something Mr. Geoun, a mutual acquaintance, had started to talk about but then abruptly stopped.
When Hakyung had touched it with his hand earlier, there hadn’t been anything particularly strange or unusual about its shape; it had simply felt substantial.
As if trying to recall the exact sensation, Hakyung wiggled his fingers in the air, his hand mimicking the motion of trying to conjure the tactile memory.
“It felt really substantial…” Hakyung muttered to himself, his voice trailing off.
He then lowered his hand to gently grasp his own penis.
His hands, admittedly small for an adult man, could easily encompass it.
He wondered, with a pang of self-consciousness, how insignificant it must have seemed to his formidable boss.
He suddenly understood, with a clarity that both enlightened and slightly wounded his pride, why his boss had such an easy and apparently delightful time sucking him.
Hakyung’s pride, suddenly and severely bruised, led him to pout his lips as he began to move his hand in a familiar motion.
Naturally, he didn’t feel the same intense excitement or overwhelming pleasure as when his boss had performed the act.
The difference was stark.
Tsk.
Hakyung smacked his lips in profound disappointment, a small, frustrated sound, and then rolled around on the duvet, a whirlwind of restless energy.
What on earth is the boss’s secret?
What truly is it?
And how on earth can I orchestrate the next opportunity to discover it?
These unresolved, nagging questions rolled around within his mind, compounding his agitation and refusing to be settled.
As if playfully mocking Hakyung’s turmoil, the pink dolphin figurine adorning the landscape art piece softly swayed, emitting a clear, tinkling sound that echoed the lightness of its unburdened existence.
Meanwhile, Muheon, who had, perhaps inadvertently, burdened his young lover with what felt like the greatest dilemma on earth, was not entirely at ease either.
Compared to other Imugis of his kind, he was generally less ambitious and less driven by external desires.
However, he was certainly not indifferent to the things, or in this case, the individual, he held dear.
His affection for Hakyung was a new and profound force, compelling him to seek a path forward.