Harmonious Love

Yang Qi Thief (15)

“If I had to say, I’m not really that type either.”

This was also due to a chronic problem. Mo Yeon often experienced surprising events, so he tended to find people with loud words and actions even more burdensome.

“I like that you’re not like that, sunbae.”

“…”

Mo Yeon muttered and belatedly noticed the cup placed in front of him.

“Oh?”

This time too, it wasn’t bitter coffee but pink strawberry juice. It seemed Tae Young-won was now certain that Mo Yeon preferred juice over coffee. Mo Yeon hesitated for a moment before drinking the juice.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

Tae Young-won, with his chin resting on his hand, had been quietly staring at Mo Yeon for a while. It might have been his imagination, but Mo Yeon found it a bit strange that Tae Young-won didn’t seem to be smiling much today.

He seemed to be deeply thinking about something. He wasn’t joking around or smiling and doing ticklish actions like before.

The Tae Young-won that Mo Yeon had seen so far was generally smiley. His wide smile was as refreshing as a summer sky, and when he joked, he sometimes seemed like a mischievous kid. But when he wasn’t smiling like now, he felt like a completely different person.

After a moment, Tae Young-won smiled and pointed at the glass.

“Drink up. The strawberry juice.”

“Yes.”

Drinking something sweet made him feel a bit calmer. It seemed like he had experienced too many unnecessary things during what should have been a routine and boring commute time.

Seeing his expression smiling again as usual, it seemed he didn’t take the potentially uncomfortable situation from earlier too much to heart.

Nevertheless, Mo Yeon couldn’t stay still and kept looking around.

He was worried that that ghost might be targeting him again. Although it wasn’t showing itself now because he was with Tae Young-won, he felt anxious that it might be hiding and ready to pounce on him anytime when he was alone.

Then Tae Young-won’s hand touched Mo Yeon’s cheek. As his hand turned Mo Yeon’s face, Tae Young-won’s face came into view.

At the same time, warmth spread to his cheek that had grown cold.

As Tae Young-won’s touch landed, even his heart, which had been pounding uncontrollably after escaping the earlier situation, began to calm down gradually.

Mo Yeon suddenly thought how fortunate it was that Tae Young-won was the type of person who engaged in skinship so casually.

“You know today is the dinner gathering Kyung-min talked about last time, right?”

Ah.

Mo Yeon’s mouth opened blankly. Today was the day of the event that his classmate Lee Kyung-min had begged him to attend not long ago.

“Shall we go together after class?”

Although he had said he would go then, now that it was actually today, he wasn’t sure if he really should go.

“Everyone seems more interested than I thought. Some people seem to have misunderstandings about you, so I think it would be good if you could clear up those misunderstandings and become friendlier with people at school.”

“I don’t care if they misunderstand. I don’t really want to become close to them.”

“…”

“But since I’m going with you, sunbae, I’ll go.”

Mo Yeon’s gaze slowly turned towards the terrace. In fact, he had been looking around this upper area for a while, constantly feeling the temptation to check outside as well.

Finally, Mo Yeon slightly craned his neck to check below the terrace. The ghost that had been following him was nowhere to be seen, not on campus or in the surroundings when he looked around again.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Tae Young-won pinched and pulled Mo Yeon’s cheek hard.

“Oh, sorry. I couldn’t see your face and did it without thinking.”

“…”

At those words, Mo Yeon became conscious of the glasses he had forgotten about and hunched his shoulders. Tae Young-won’s hand was too close to his glasses now. But unaware of Mo Yeon’s anxiety, Tae Young-won lightly kneaded his cheek and asked with a raised corner of his mouth.

“Then… if I don’t go, you won’t go either, right?”

He was waiting for Mo Yeon’s answer. Mo Yeon flinched, feeling somewhat forced, but it was probably just his imagination.

“I guess so…”

It seemed better to do so if he could stay with Tae Young-won as long as possible until late at night. Honestly, if possible, he didn’t want to be apart from Tae Young-won at all today.

Even though his cheek was sore from Tae Young-won’s hand that hadn’t relaxed its grip, he was hoping that Tae Young-won wouldn’t let go.

“Let’s go anyway. I’ve been wondering when I’d get to drink heavily with you. I was really disappointed last time.”

How fortunate it was that he had accidentally discovered Tae Young-won’s yang energy last semester.

When Mo Yeon nodded, Tae Young-won kneaded his cheek again. Earlier, it felt like he had just lightly touched to make Mo Yeon turn his head, but now he was outright pinching and kneading his cheek.

“…”

Although it was a bit strange, Mo Yeon, who wouldn’t refuse precious contact with Tae Young-won, was willingly letting him touch his cheek.

What’s so special about my face? If you like touching it, go ahead.

However, whenever the hand moved even slightly towards the upper part where his glasses were, his body tensed and his shoulders flinched. When the glasses were bumped, he held his breath as if his heart had stopped.

Tae Young-won, with a kind smile, as if he knew everything (though that couldn’t be possible), would gently knead Mo Yeon’s cheek and occasionally bump the glasses.

By now, Mo Yeon’s heart, which had been greatly startled by the ghost earlier, was moving according to Tae Young-won’s will under his hand.

For a moment, Mo Yeon wondered if Tae Young-won knew something, but he wasn’t too worried because he had something to rely on.

‘I’m really grateful for sunbae’s rock-bottom facial recognition ability.’

I’ll deceive you just a little longer. Just until I find another way to get yang energy.

These days, Mo Yeon was gradually looking for other ways to obtain yang energy.

With his cheek being pinched, Mo Yeon took a sip of strawberry juice. Satisfied with the current situation that guaranteed yang energy, he smiled slightly at Tae Young-won.

At this rare smile, Tae Young-won’s brow furrowed a little.

***

Mo Yeon could tell how sincere Tae Young-won had been when he said he wanted to drink.

Today, Mo Yeon, sitting next to Tae Young-won, received quite a bit of attention at the drinking party. He felt like he had been asked at least ten times if they were originally close friends.

“Didn’t you know? Mo Yeon and I have become really close.”

Tae Young-won seemed to have said this about ten times as well.

“Mo Yeon is nicer than you think. You’ve all just misunderstood him.”

Before, Mo Yeon would have blocked all incoming questions with rude responses and just drank, but not today. He wasn’t shameless enough to make Tae Young-won uncomfortable.

As a result, several classmates asked for Mo Yeon’s SNS account, or if he didn’t have one, they took his number. Mo Yeon felt Tae Young-won’s influence anew.

Although he had been quite startled earlier, Mo Yeon’s mind had calmed down a bit after meeting Tae Young-won and attending class. Thanks to that, he didn’t dislike the drinks Tae Young-won offered.

“Wow, Mo Yeon drinks really well.”

“…”

“I’ll give you one more. Drink up.”

As he kept drinking whatever Tae Young-won poured, he even received such compliments later. Mo Yeon, with his cheeks flushed red, was in a state of increased laughter.

“You’re drooling a bit because you’re tipsy.”

“What?”

He wondered what Tae Young-won meant, but his chin was wet. As Mo Yeon spilled his drink, Tae Young-won sighed and personally wiped Mo Yeon’s chin and clothes with a tissue. It was quite a careless, rough touch.

In the process, the tissue wiping his chest area brushed against a somewhat sensitive spot. Being an especially sensitive area, Mo Yeon unconsciously hunched his shoulders.

“Ha.”

He heard a laugh that sounded like disbelief.

Nngh.

Mo Yeon, without the capacity to care about such things, let out a long sigh and held his dizzy head. He had drunk so much, following whatever was poured for him, that he wondered if he had ever drunk this much before.

Perhaps because of that, when he looked around at some point, he found himself alone with Tae Young-won at an empty table.

Looking outside, it seemed to be the time when everyone went out for a smoke before breaking up the gathering.

“…Yeon-ah.”

His vision was blurry, so he blinked several times. Tae Young-won’s hand waved left and right in front of Mo Yeon. Mo Yeon’s head slowly moved following that hand.

“Mo Yeon, are you okay?”

Tae Young-won pinched Mo Yeon’s cheek. Mo Yeon blinked.

It was around the time when he started to think his pinched cheek was getting a bit painful. Tae Young-won, with an expressionless face, grabbed Mo Yeon’s cheek more firmly and stretched it sideways.

“Ah… it hurts…”

Even as he asked if it hurt, Tae Young-won’s hand didn’t retreat.

“Does it hurt?”

Instead, he relaxed his grip and gently massaged as if to soothe. His cheek was still stinging. With the hand constantly touching, it felt like it might pinch painfully again at any moment. But Mo Yeon liked all contact with Tae Young-won, so he just stayed still.

“So?”

“…”

“You like it when I touch you even if it hurts, don’t you?”

Well.

Mo Yeon nodded blankly at the words that made sense. Then Tae Young-won said indifferently.

“Would you be the same if Kyung-min touched you?”

What about Kyung-min?

Who was that again, Mo Yeon thought for a while before finally recalling the face and shaking his head. In fact, he didn’t really want contact with anyone, not just Kyung-min. The only person Mo Yeon wanted contact with was still only Tae Young-won.

As Mo Yeon shook his head, Tae Young-won burst into laughter.