Woosung Alpha’s Sour Grapes

Chapter 12

In the distance, Tae-geon emerged from the treatment room with a bandage on his left hand. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted Hyeon-woo sitting on a corridor chair, looking around.

Watching Tae-geon walk straight towards him, looking directly at him, Hyeon-woo felt another small sandstorm rise in his chest.

*

“It’s fortunate that it’s not a serious injury, right?”

There was no response to the words spoken while clumsily chopping onions. Hyeon-woo glanced sideways at Tae-geon standing next to him.

“Tae-geon.”

“……”

“Choi Tae-geon!”

Finally, Tae-geon’s gaze met Hyeon-woo’s. Just like at the hospital earlier.

“What.”

Hyeon-woo retorted grumpily at the indifferent response.

“…Never mind, it’s nothing.”

“Focus here when you’re holding a knife. Don’t get hurt.”

Huh, really. Look who’s talking. Who’s the one who carelessly cut their palm?

Hyeon-woo was annoyed at Tae-geon, who, instead of being moved by Hyeon-woo rolling up his sleeves to cook for him because he disliked outside food, was nagging about how dangerous it was.

“Next, this.”

After moving all the chopped onions into a glass bowl, Tae-geon placed a handful of mushrooms on the clean cutting board. Although Hyeon-woo tried his best to cut them prettily, the thickness was all uneven. Seeing Tae-geon’s expression become slightly strange at this, Hyeon-woo, feeling guilty, quickly spoke up.

“It all ends up the same once it goes in your mouth.”

It was quite uncomfortable having Tae-geon stuck right next to him, giving instructions on every little thing as if he were some kind of judge, but Hyeon-woo wasn’t in a position to complain.

He had boasted that he would take care of everything and let Tae-geon focus on recovery, as he needed to be careful not to get water on the wound. However, belying his bold words, chaos ensued when he entered the kitchen to try making pasta.

As soon as he poured store-bought tomato sauce into the preheated frying pan on high heat, there was a threatening ‘Bang! Bang!’ sound, and red sauce splattered everywhere.

‘…What was that sound?’

‘It’s nothing!’

Startled by the strange noise, Tae-geon tried to enter the kitchen, but Hyeon-woo blocked the entrance with his arms spread wide. Following Tae-geon’s gaze fixed on his chest, Hyeon-woo looked down and was shocked. The t-shirt he was wearing was stained red from the sauce that had splattered earlier.

It was just an hour ago that he had spent a long time crouched down, wiping sauce that had splattered all over the walls and floor, as Tae-geon stood by with his arms crossed, gesturing with his chin.

“Now try sautéing.”

“Okay.”

Hyeon-woo took the cooking spatula Tae-geon handed him. The prepared vegetables began to cook in the frying pan, emitting a savory aroma as they followed Hyeon-woo’s hand movements.

Tae-geon, who had turned down the gas, gestured with his chin towards the bottle of tomato sauce. Hyeon-woo opened the lid and carefully poured the sauce into the frying pan following Tae-geon’s signal. Unlike before, the red sauce, now behaving docilely in the pan, emitted a hazy steam.

“This is how you cook it, starting from low heat.”

Hyeon-woo nodded repeatedly, busily moving his body as Tae-geon instructed.

It was a satisfying meal. Although he received some unexpected help, it was an excellent pasta as planned. Hyeon-woo glanced at Tae-geon, who was eating the meal he had prepared, with a sense of pride. It was fortunate that the injured hand was the left one.

Until high school, there had been a housekeeper at home, and even while living with Tae-geon, Hyeon-woo had never paid attention to household chores. In fact, this was the first time he had entered the kitchen and turned on the gas stove while living in this house.

When it was time, the clothes he had stuffed into the laundry basket would be neatly folded on one side of his bed, emitting a pleasant smell, and when he approached the dining table at Tae-geon’s call, neat dishes would be waiting for him, prepared just right.

After finishing the meal and moving the empty dishes to the sink, dessert of beautifully cut fruit would be ready right on time. While eating it with a fork and mindlessly watching TV, laughing, Tae-geon would have been cleaning up alone.

…He felt like he had become shameless.

Even to himself, it seemed too brazen. Hyeon-woo’s cheeks flushed red with the overwhelming sense of shame.

As he gulped down cold water, feeling his throat dry for some reason, Hyeon-woo’s gaze caught the kitchen ceiling a bit far away.

What’s that?

The reddish stains dotting the ceiling looked so strange that Hyeon-woo narrowed his eyes and stared intently at it.

The unidentifiable red spots. The color exactly matched the tomato pasta they had just been eating…

“Cough! Cough!”

Tae-geon handed the square tissue box from the end of the table to Hyeon-woo, who suddenly choked and started coughing loudly.

“Th-thanks… cough…”

…How did it splash all the way up there? I’ll have to secretly clean it when Tae-geon falls asleep later.

Hyeon-woo glared at the ceiling splattered with tomato sauce with stern eyes as he wiped his mouth with a tissue.

*

As Hyeon-woo attended to various needs by Tae-geon’s side due to his injured hand, their relationship naturally recovered to how it was before. They started commuting to school together again, and they were always together when shopping for groceries or other items and spending leisure time.

However, Hyeon-woo thought that Tae-geon’s attitude had been a bit strange recently. It was common for him to not focus on what Hyeon-woo was saying, and sometimes absurd things happened. For instance, just yesterday:

While sitting side by side on the sofa watching a movie, when drowsiness hit and Hyeon-woo tried to lie down with his head on Tae-geon’s lap out of habit, Tae-geon subtly got up, using the excuse of going to drink water.

This wasn’t the first time he had been left in such an awkward situation. At first, he brushed it off thinking the timing was just off, but as these situations piled up, it couldn’t be explained without assuming it was intentional.

Tae-geon was avoiding him. As a result, Hyeon-woo’s attitude towards Tae-geon naturally became more cautious.

After finishing dinner, Tae-geon held out his injured area to Hyeon-woo, who approached with a first aid kit.

“It’s healed a lot.”

The stitches were finally removed the day before yesterday. Although the doctor had warned that there might be a scar, looking at the red-traced, bumpy, and unsightly healed skin tissue made Hyeon-woo feel upset.

Another flaw had appeared on this perfect creation where not even the slightest imperfection should be allowed. The scars left by those cursed nights of childhood were already upsetting enough…

As Hyeon-woo disinfected around the wound, words of reproach naturally flowed from his mouth.

“You need to value your body more.”

Tae-geon gazed intently at Hyeon-woo, who was disinfecting the wound with his head bowed, lips pursed, blowing cool air – “Hoo- Hoo-” – as if out of habit, even though he knew it no longer hurt.

The fine hair that had fallen forward with his slightly bowed head. Beneath it, the forehead and bridge of the nose forming a gentle curve, and the cute nostrils were visible. The densely grown eyelashes along the ends of the lowered eyelids cast a deep, profound shadow on Hyeon-woo’s eyes. He knew that the eyes within sparkled more brightly than stars.

“It’s done. From tomorrow, you can do it yourself.”

After finding and attaching a large band-aid instead of the irritating gauze, Hyeon-woo turned around to put away the first aid kit. Tae-geon suddenly blurted out, as if trying to stop him:

“I want to wash.”

“…You can do that yourself from now on too.”

“……”

“Today is the last day I’m helping you.”

Tae-geon cast an indecipherable gaze at Hyeon-woo’s back as he said this and entered the bathroom.

Shaa-

As hot water filled the bathtub, the enclosed bathroom was completely filled with hot steam.

“It’s ready.”

Tae-geon, who had been standing in just his underwear, approached eagerly and immersed himself in the bathtub. The bathwater, which had been undulating with the heavy mass entering and parting the calm water surface, finally overflowed, drenching Hyeon-woo who was kneeling in front of it.

“…Ugh.”

He was completely soaked. Hyeon-woo peeled off his unpleasantly clinging t-shirt and gathered the shampoo and body wash.

“Head this way.”

Tae-geon, who had stretched his head out of the bathtub, closed his eyes quietly. After checking the water temperature from the shower head, Hyeon-woo began to wet Tae-geon’s hair.

He gently brushed aside the hair scattered over Tae-geon’s forehead, thoroughly wetting every part without missing a spot. The already black hair became even darker as it absorbed the water.

He squeezed some shampoo onto his hand and thrust it into the wet hair, creating friction. A rich lather formed, accompanied by a fragrant smell. While thoroughly rubbing Tae-geon’s hair and scalp with both hands, Hyeon-woo asked:

“Does it feel good?”

“…Yeah.”

Tae-geon, with his eyes lazily closed, enjoying Hyeon-woo’s touch, looked like a well-bred black panther accustomed to being cared for.

Hyeon-woo focused on not letting his gaze fall on Tae-geon’s lower body submerged in water, even by mistake. It was a thought he had every time he faced Tae-geon in his underwear, but it was truly an unreasonable size. Deliberately ignoring that which seemed to be asserting its presence particularly strongly today, Hyeon-woo picked up the shower head.

“I’ll rinse now.”

Shaa-

White foam washed away along the stream of water. Combing through Tae-geon’s hair with his fingers, Hyeon-woo thoroughly rinsed from the forehead to the temples, below the ears, and the nape of the neck, ensuring no foam remained.

After thoroughly squeezing out the water from the hair, Hyeon-woo handed Tae-geon a dry towel and immediately put body wash on the shower puff. As always, he planned to soap only the areas that the uninjured right hand couldn’t reach, and then leave. The rest was for Tae-geon to do himself.

Tae-geon stood up and stepped out of the bathtub, standing in front of Hyeon-woo.

Gulp. He involuntarily swallowed. Although he was relatively tall himself, when facing Tae-geon, who was only about 10 centimeters taller, Hyeon-woo felt intimidated, as if crushed by the pressure. If even he felt this way, how much more so for others? He could somewhat understand the feelings of people who shrank before Tae-geon even without having committed any crime.

Hyeon-woo reached out to Tae-geon’s sturdy, broad shoulders and began to move the shower puff busily. The shower puff slid smoothly from the shoulders to the elbows, delicately probing the armpits. After rubbing the elastically filled chest and the ribs below, it soon dropped to the sides.

As his hand swept over sensitive areas, the firm muscles under the smooth skin writhed, repeatedly tensing and relaxing.

Heat rushed to Hyeon-woo’s cheeks and under his eyes as he watched the muscle movements faithfully responding to his touch. He felt somewhat strange and his throat inexplicably became dry. Unconsciously, Hyeon-woo stuck out his tongue to lick his dry lips, but feeling Tae-geon’s gaze on his face, he quickly lowered his head.

His face was burning. It must be bright red. Fearing his hands might tremble, he gripped the shower puff even tighter.

Just as his hand was about to reach the delicately sculpted abs past Tae-geon’s straight, lean waist, he suddenly felt Tae-geon’s eyes leave his face and stare intently at something.

“…?”

Following that gaze, Hyeon-woo’s face instantly flushed hot. His erect nipples were visible through his t-shirt, which had become transparent from the water. Swallowing a scream at the sight of their protruding shape and color clearly visible, Hyeon-woo hurriedly moved to peel off his t-shirt when:

“Have you ever done this for that omega too?”