After Jiho left, Isu sat absentmindedly for a long time.

‘I should eat dinner, take a shower, and go to bed.’

He knew what he had to do, but his body wouldn’t budge.

He wasn’t hungry, and what he desperately needed was sleep.

‘Jiho will be here at dawn, so I should at least wash up before I pass out.’

With half-open eyes, Isu staggered into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and crawled onto the bed.

During the 36-hour shift, he had taken 38,000 steps. If his energy level was at 100% when he left for work yesterday morning, now only 2-3% remained.

The fatigue he had momentarily forgotten while with Jiho washed over his entire body like a wave.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

**

Late at night.

Jiho stopped by his house, washed up, and changed into comfortable clothes. He came out and opened the door of the apartment across from his.

After living next door to each other for 5 years, at some point, the boundaries between their homes became blurred, and they came and went, treating each other’s front doors like their own.

Naturally, Isu’s belongings found their place in Jiho’s house, and Jiho’s belongings occupied space in Isu’s house.

When one of them was away from home, the other would stay at their own place, but on days like today when they were both home, they usually spent the night together.

Despite his body feeling heavy as lead from the continued hard work, the anticipation of spending the night together after a long time was more than enough to overcome the fatigue.

Isu’s house, with the lights off, was only quiet.

There were times when Isu slept through an entire day after a shift, so it was still time for him to be in a deep slumber.

The whole house was filled with Isu’s scent.

As he entered the bedroom, Jiho’s eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, caught sight of Isu.

Jiho gazed at the peacefully sleeping face for a while and then carefully lay down beside him.

He hoped that Isu being in the same space as him, like now, would become a natural part of their daily life.

As a presence that always stayed in that spot unchangingly.

Jiho brushed aside the hair that had fallen over Isu’s face, tucking it behind his ear, and gently touched his face with his fingertips.

The sound of his steady breathing, as if in a deep sleep, was pleasant to hear.

As if turning slightly in his sleep, Isu, who had rolled over to face Jiho, nuzzled into his chest.

Jiho slipped his arm under Isu’s head as a pillow and caressed his back, which he had loosely embraced.

Even though they lived so close to each other, it wasn’t easy to see each other’s faces.

When he matched all his time to Isu’s, it was better, but after Jiho became busy too, their schedules often didn’t align, and there were many times when they couldn’t meet for over a week.

Since starting his internship, Jiho saw Isu sleeping more often than awake when he came home, and there were several times when he couldn’t bear to wake him up because he looked so tired, so he just watched him sleep and then left.

“Mmm. Jiho, you’re here.”

Isu narrowly opened his sleepy eyes and then closed them again.

“It’s still night. Go back to sleep.”

“Okay.”

With his eyes closed, Isu gave a faint smile.

Jiho tightened his arms that had been loosely holding Isu and pulled him close.

Feeling the warm body temperature nestled against his own, Jiho also closed his tired eyes.

Even with his eyes closed, the scent that reached him and the sensation of soft skin gently wrapped around his entire body made the day’s exhaustion melt away like snow.

It seemed like it would be nice to stay like this for a long time without waking up.

The cozy and peaceful night deepened, as if in a dream.

**

It was a leisurely morning for the first time in a while.

There was no 5 a.m. alarm, and there was no need to check the time.

Thanks to the tightly drawn blackout curtains, the bedroom was still in darkness even in the morning after the sun had risen.

Isu woke up by chance but didn’t open his eyes and only shifted his body slightly.

“Isu, do you want to sleep more?”

“You’re awake too.”

At the sound of Jiho’s languidly hoarse voice, Isu opened his eyes.

The pillow made by Jiho’s arm under his head and the firm arm embracing his back felt cozy.

“If you want to sleep more, go ahead. You said you couldn’t get a wink of sleep during your shift.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I wish it could be like this every day. It’s so nice.”

Jiho hugged Isu tightly.

“Me too.”

“Should we just laze around in bed all day today?”

“Let’s do that.”

Two days off. Diligent colleagues even went on trips during this short time, but it was something Isu couldn’t even dream of.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been like this.”

“Did the filming go well yesterday? What time did you get back?”

Isu, who had said he would go back to sleep, tilted his head back to look at Jiho’s face.

Nestled cozily and lying down without being pressed for time, there was nothing more he could ask for in the world.

“The filming went well, and I got back around 2 a.m.”

“That’s pretty late. ……You must be tired.”

“A little.”

Isu’s hand, which had been gently caressing Jiho’s face, went down his neck.

As he touched Jiho’s firm chest, Isu raised his fingers.

Isu’s fingers playfully poked Jiho’s chest, back, and arms.

Each time, his fingers bent, pushed back by the solid muscles.

“Wow……. What’s so firm? You must have worked out even harder despite being busy.”

“Almost every day.”

“Every day?”

“Except on really busy days.”

“Wow.”

Although he was tall and had a large frame, he had a slender build, so it was hard to imagine such a body when he was clothed.

His triangular upper body was so firm, as if it was all muscle, front and back.

Recalling how Jiho had lifted him up like a child without even looking strained, Isu couldn’t help but nod.

“I want to keep this view all to myself.”

Isu’s hand playfully slipped inside Jiho’s loose t-shirt.

As if he had been waiting for it, Jiho’s expression instantly changed to a mischievous one, and he sat up, crossing his arms to take off his t-shirt.

The clothes dropped onto the bed with a soft thud. His chest muscles and abs, as if they had been sculpted, were revealed in the darkness.

Jiho leaned his upper body at an angle, as if trapping Isu, with his arms propped on either side of Isu’s shoulders.

His large body draped over Isu, who was lying straight, like a canopy.

“I’ll show it only to you.”

“What I meant was…….”

He meant he didn’t want Jiho to show it to others. As he turned his head away with an embarrassed expression, Jiho’s hand grabbed Isu’s chin and brought it back to its original position.

“I worked hard for this body, so take a good look. You can touch it too.”

Although his voice was mixed with laughter, it somehow sounded seductive. It would be stranger to remain nonchalant when a loving couple had woken up after sleeping tightly embracing each other under the same blanket.

In moments like this, Isu’s heart pounded and trembled as if it were the first time, despite the countless nights they had spent together.

“……Okay.”

Jiho took Isu’s hand, which was just looking at him, and brought it to his chest.

Isu ran his hand down Jiho’s chest as if he had no choice but to oblige. The contours of the firmly set muscles were keenly felt under his fingertips.

“Is that enough?”

Isu, who had been looking up from Jiho’s chest to meet his eyes, smiled faintly and hugged Jiho.

Jiho’s body, which had been pulled along by the tugging force, overlapped with Isu’s, and a heavy weight settled on him.

At a distance where their lips were about to touch, Jiho, who had lifted the corners of his mouth, asked,

“Isu, are you fully awake now?”

“Yeah, why?”

“We agreed to laze around in bed all day today.”

“……What?”

When Isu narrowed his eyes and gave him a side-eye, Jiho laughed with a brazen face.

His expression was so transparent that his intentions were clearly visible, making Isu burst into laughter.

“That…… That’s what you meant? The nuance of ‘lazing around’ and ‘rolling around’ is so different.”

“Lazing around or rolling around, same thing.”

At the end of his decisive answer, Jiho’s head tilted to the side and came down at an angle.

“Starting now…….”

Jiho’s low voice scattered sweetly between Isu’s lips.

Isu, trapped under Jiho from lips to toes, couldn’t move an inch.

His two arms embracing Jiho were all he could move.

As if anticipating the sensations he would soon face, Isu’s heart was already pounding as if it would burst.

Jiho delved deep into the gap between Isu’s teeth as if quenching his thirst. He sucked hard, drawing everything out and swallowing it into himself.

Isu’s mind lit up and then became hazy again at the dizzying cascade of kisses.

The kisses, which seemed desperate as if his patience had run out, would soften a bit and then become persistent, repeating the cycle.

As soon as their lips parted for a moment, they would overlap again, only changing angles, being swallowed and sucked in deeply.

It had been so long since they had been able to hug each other to their heart’s content without the constraints of time and space, so they both lost themselves in it.

In an instant, their entire bodies heated up.

From their toes to their fingertips. Every joint in their bodies tingled as if they had been electrocuted, and the muscles in their lower abdomen and thighs tightened.

Everything was sweet, like putting a large candy in their mouth and slowly letting it melt.

Their minds went blank, and their toes curled at the excitement spreading throughout their bodies through their blood vessels.

It was amazing and fascinating each time how they could feel such sensations just from kissing.

Was it possible because it was Jiho, or was this how all the kisses in the world felt? It was a question that would remain unanswered until they died, unless they parted ways with Jiho.

Suddenly, the thought crossed Isu’s mind that it would be nice to lie in bed all day, just kissing and getting lost in the blissful sensations.

That’s how much Jiho’s kisses overwhelmed all his senses.

“Haa……. It feels like my body is melting. Jiho.”

“To this extent……. As if we did anything.”

“Really…… We did.”

Jiho laughed at what Isu said in the brief moment their lips parted.

Isu’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

“We’re just getting started. Let’s see if you really melt.”

“…….”

As if even a moment apart was regrettable, Isu tightly hugged Jiho’s neck.

Jiho’s face, which had been looking down from above, came closer, filling Isu’s field of vision, and their lips overlapped again.

As if he really intended to melt him, unlike earlier, it was soft and gentle like waves.

Carefully and slowly, as if this were their first kiss. It sensitively awakened all the senses connected to their lips and skin.

The touch caressing his ears was so careful that it tickled.

When he slightly twisted his body, Jiho smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth with their lips still attached.

Isu clung to Jiho with his body burning up, not knowing what to do with himself, feeling embarrassed yet unable to easily push him away.

Feverish breaths continuously flowed out between their teeth.

“Haa……. Stop. I’m getting too dizzy. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind……. I can’t take it.”

“…….”

Isu slightly turned his head to break the kiss.

“We haven’t even properly started yet. If you’re already like this…….”

“You said you were tired.”

“You’re worried I might get tired?”

“Yeah.”

Jiho buried his face in the crook of Isu’s neck, letting out a laugh of disbelief. As if he had heard something hilarious.

Jiho’s laughter flowed out over Isu’s sensitive skin, tickling him.

As if trying to let Isu know how hot he had become inside, Jiho exhaled his hot breath against that spot for a while.

I don’t want to hold back because it’s been a long time……. Jiho, who had muttered in a low, husky voice, raised his head.

“That’s why I exercised. Because I have good stamina. So don’t worry about that.”

“…….”

Judging by his expression alone, the one having a hard time enduring it seemed to be Jiho, not Isu.

His yearning heart was clearly visible in his gaze and expression.

Isu’s hand, which had been stroking Jiho’s hair, cupped his beautiful face and pulled him in.

Because Isu was just as eager.

“Then show me. How good your stamina is…….”

At those words, Jiho, who had become faithful to his instincts, didn’t easily stop rolling around in bed.

He revealed all his boiling desires, as he had said he didn’t want to hold back, and rushed in like rough waves.

For a long time, as if it would never end, their yearning gestures and hot breaths went back and forth between them, leaving them in a state of bliss.

In the darkness where he couldn’t gauge the passage of time, Isu could feel with his entire body how good Jiho’s stamina was.