Romantic Gangster

#58

Ji-woo opened his eyes feeling incredibly comfortable and turned his head to look at the somewhat unfamiliar ceiling. He could see Lee Hyun-joon sleeping on the floor below the mattress.

Ah… right, this is Hyun-joon’s house.

Ji-woo rolled over to look at the sleeping Hyun-joon, wondering why he was sleeping so uncomfortably on the floor. Ji-woo slowly recalled the previous night.

After finishing his part-time job last night, they bought two chickens on the way back and ate them together as a late-night snack on the bench. Then, feeling a bit tired, he planned to shower and sleep, but after showering, he couldn’t fall asleep, so they lay on the bench together talking about weekend plans until they dozed off.

He remembered waking up feeling cold on the bench, and startled, waking Hyun-joon up and being told to go inside and lie down on the mattress.

He had assumed Hyun-joon would come up and sleep there too, but it seemed he had let Ji-woo take the mattress while sleeping on the floor himself. With no spare blanket, Hyun-joon was just lying on the bare floor using what looked like a rolled-up padding as a pillow. It was cute but… also made Ji-woo sigh.

Ji-woo slowly moved to the edge of the mattress and reached out to Hyun-joon on the floor.

“Hyun-joon. Lee Hyun-joon, Lee Hyun-joooon.”

When tapping his arm didn’t wake him, Ji-woo gently poked his cheek, but quickly withdrew his hand when Hyun-joon frowned.

“Come up here and sleep. The floor is cold and hard.”

Not wanting to let him keep sleeping on the floor, Ji-woo shook his arm again, and finally, Hyun-joon’s eyes slowly opened.

“…What time is it?”

His voice was completely deep, both from it being morning and having just woken up. Ji-woo found it fascinating that Hyun-joon could make such a low voice, and felt his heart flutter at how well it suited him.

“Just past nine. Why are you sleeping on the floor? Come up here quickly.”

“Why are you up so early? Ah, I’m sleepy.”

“I just woke up. Come here quickly.”

“If I come up, it’ll be too cramped and uncomfortable for you.”

“It’s fine. I won’t be uncomfortable. I don’t like you sleeping on the floor. I thought you’d obviously come up to sleep too.”

“I wanted you to sleep comfortably. Go back to sleep, more sleep.”

Hyun-joon reached out to pull the blanket up over Ji-woo’s body and closed his eyes as if going back to sleep. Ji-woo bit his lip and got down from the mattress with his pillow.

“Then I’ll sleep down here too.”

“Hey, the floor is cold. You’ll catch a cold. Go back up quickly.”

“…No. If you won’t come up, I won’t either.”

“Look at how stubborn you are.”

“You said you wouldn’t make me worry. I’m worried about you sleeping on the floor.”

Hyun-joon, who had been quietly watching Ji-woo lying down next to him on the floor being stubborn, let out a small laugh as if admitting defeat. He got up from the floor with his stiff body, picked up Ji-woo and placed him on the mattress, then climbed up beside him, restraining Ji-woo’s body with his arms and legs.

“You’re saying that here?”

“Worry is worry, no matter what kind it is.”

Hyun-joon laughed at Ji-woo’s slightly sulky response and tightened his hold on the small body that fit perfectly in his arms.

“You still want to sleep with me like this?”

“Yes.”

“Seo Ji-woo, I didn’t expect this from you, but you’re surprisingly bold. Telling me you love me so much, saying you want to kiss first, and even using kisses to comfort me. I had my suspicions from then, but seeing you today, you’re way beyond my imagination. If you’re like this, why did you say you didn’t want to see my body yesterday? Tell me if you’ve changed your mind. I’ll show you right away. Or do you want to touch while we’re lying here together?”

While it was true that Ji-woo had said those things, initiated talk about kiss timing, and suggested kissing to improve the mood… hearing it explained in Hyun-joon’s way made him feel like he came across as too forward.

“Just go back down and sleep. That would be better. I think I was wrong.”

“Ah, how quickly that worry disappears. Okay, okay. You don’t have to touch. Let’s sleep.”

Hyun-joon wrapped his legs around Ji-woo to keep him in place and pulled the thin blanket over both of their bodies. Despite telling him to go down, Ji-woo stayed quietly trapped in his arms, which Hyun-joon found adorable. Just looking at him wasn’t enough to satisfy his feelings.

Wanting to somehow convey his overflowing emotions, Hyun-joon lowered his head and pressed his lips against Ji-woo’s hair and cheek. But it still felt insufficient. Even though he was holding him tightly and could kiss him everywhere, it wasn’t enough to express the bubbling feelings of happiness inside him.

“……”

The inside of his lips tingled. Words he wanted to say, words that had to be said now, kept knocking at his lips. Hyun-joon opened his mouth without hesitation.

“Seo Ji-woo.”

“…Mmhmm.”

The drowsy response with its drawn-out end was cute. Hyun-joon smiled and buried his lips in Ji-woo’s hair again as he continued speaking.

“I really like you.”

“…Me too… I like you too…”

He felt a hand slowly stroking the back of his head. Even half-asleep, Ji-woo returned his confession of love, and his gentle affection made Hyun-joon’s heart swell even more. Though it still felt unfamiliar, he thought he’d need to get used to this. Because whenever he looked at Ji-woo, his heart would endlessly overflow with happiness and joy like this.

Hyun-joon hugged Ji-woo’s now sleeping body just tight enough not to hurt, closed his eyes, and buried his lips in Ji-woo’s warm neck that faintly smelled of castella.

It was the beginning of a weekend that felt surreally happy.

* * *

They spent a lazy Saturday that made their previous discussion about weekend plans seem pointless. They woke up late, cooked four packs of ramen for lunch, and read manga while eating ice cream loaded with their chosen toppings.

They would lie down or sprawl on the mattress side by side reading manga, and when one fell asleep, the other would follow. When one woke up, the other would groggily wake up too, and they’d continue reading until it was almost dinner time, when they finally left to buy food. Of course, they didn’t forget to share long kisses whenever their eyes met throughout the day.

At the large supermarket that had everything, Hyun-joon pulled out a cart and watched adoringly as Ji-woo looked for items listed in his phone’s memo. Though he’d been to this supermarket countless times to buy necessities, somehow today felt special.

“Let’s buy vegetables first. We’ll get the meat last. Ah, there it is.”

They had decided to grill samgyeopsal (pork belly) on the outdoor bench for dinner. While reading manga, they’d watched a YouTube video of someone eating samgyeopsal so deliciously that they both suddenly craved it – leading to this excellent menu choice.

Ji-woo picked fresh vegetables and put them in the cart, moving along the aisles and adding items from his memo one by one. Every time Ji-woo put something in the cart, Hyun-joon would look down at the cart and then back up at Ji-woo’s retreating figure with a smile.

Putting needed items in a supermarket cart was such an ordinary thing, but watching Ji-woo do it looked incredibly cute and beautiful. There probably wasn’t anyone else in the world who could choose sesame oil so adorably.

After putting everything they needed to accompany and dip the meat in the cart, Ji-woo headed to the beverage aisle. There, he put two bottles each of cola and sports drinks in the cart, then Hyun-joon watched him. After carefully examining the drinks section, Ji-woo chose Milkis and added it to the cart. Just as he liked cream-based ramyeon, it seemed he liked these kinds of drinks too. Today even the white drink looked extra pure and clear, just like Ji-woo’s face.

“Is one enough?”

“Yeah. If I drink too much, I get full quickly and can’t eat much else.”

“How did you know that? Not everyone knows that.”

Ji-woo looked up at Hyun-joon’s deliberately surprised expression and smiled proudly.

“I know lots of things.”

Even as he said it, he found it funny and let out a small laugh, briefly leaning his head against Hyun-joon’s arm before pulling away. Frozen by the cute skinship, Hyun-joon ran his hand over his face.

…Would it be okay to kiss in the supermarket? Alphas and omegas dating is normal, and kissing isn’t wrong, so maybe it’s okay? No, maybe that’s too much. Then would a small peck be alright?

While he was contemplating this, Ji-woo spotted the meat section and walked ahead. Hyun-joon watched Ji-woo’s back and disappointedly ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.

“How much meat should we buy?”

“Would 1kg be enough?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. I can eat a lot of meat.”

Hyun-joon burst out laughing and lowered his head while gripping the cart with both hands as he watched Ji-woo confidently tell the butcher counter staff they wanted 1kg.

Shopping was becoming very difficult because Ji-woo was too cute. Every time he moved, Hyun-joon wanted to run and hug him from behind, and whenever Ji-woo turned around to ask his opinion, he wanted to pepper his face with kisses.

Also, when he saw Ji-woo’s serious face comparing items and checking things like calories and ingredients, he wanted to ask Ji-woo to check what he was made of too. He wanted to show Ji-woo that he was made of 100% Seo Ji-woo.

“Thank you.”

Ji-woo smiled as he received the meat from the staff member. Was it necessary to smile and thank them so prettily like that…? Couldn’t he just smile like that for him only? Watching Ji-woo’s retreating figure that he wanted to run and hug, Hyun-joon slowly pushed the cart again.