Having finished all his preparations to leave for the airport, Liu stood before the kitchen counter. He planned to have one last cup of coffee with Yeehyeon.
As his fingertips guided the hot water into the filter-lined dripper, the aroma of coffee spread throughout the studio.
His home in Seoul was equipped with a rather professional espresso machine. When he was in the mood, he would start by grinding the beans with a manual grinder and brew coffee in a fairly serious manner. But in Paris, he still hadn’t brought in even a common capsule coffee machine, always making hand-drip coffee instead.
He would line the dripper with a paper filter, pour water to wet it beforehand, then add the finely ground beans. He would pour hot water, boiled in a dedicated pitcher rather than an electric kettle, to slowly brew the coffee. The drip coffee made this way had a different charm from espresso.
He also liked the fact that he could do something for Yeehyeon with his own two hands from start to finish, without using any machines.
“Kun, the Gogh teddy bear.”
“Hm?”
“The teddy bear we bought at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.”
“Ah, yes.”
“You packed it, right? Juhan-hyung was adamant that I ask you to.”
Having poured one round of water into the dripper, Liu glanced over his shoulder. Yeehyeon, wearing Liu’s crewneck sweatshirt over a pair of jeans, was standing awkwardly in the middle of the studio with his hands on his hips. Yeehyeon had been pacing around anxiously like that for an hour. It was unlike his usual self.
Liu answered in a deliberately more leisurely tone.
“It’s already in the suitcase.”
“Are you sure? Should I open it and check again?”
“Yeehyeon-ah.”
Yeehyeon, who had been about to approach Liu’s suitcase that was placed by the door ready to go, stopped in his tracks and looked over. Liu held up two mugs to eye level.
“The coffee’s ready. Come and sit down.”
“But… Kun, you’ve left your tablet behind before.”
“That was just one time. And you sent it to me via FedEx, so there was no problem.”
“Speaking of which, did you pack the tablet? You were looking at it this morning.”
This time, Yeehyeon tried to rummage through Liu’s Boston bag, which was sitting on top of the suitcase.
“Mr. Seo Yeehyeon.”
“……”
Liu, who had already sat down at the table, turned his left wrist to check the time. The car he had booked to take him to the airport would arrive in fifteen minutes.
“Come here and spend a little more time with me.”
Though his face still showed reluctance, Yeehyeon withdrew the hand that was about to open the bag’s zipper and approached the table. Liu placed Yeehyeon’s mug not on the opposite side, but right next to his own. It was a signal for him to sit here. Yeehyeon let out a small laugh and walked around the table to sit beside Liu.
Firmly gripping the seat of the chair he sat on, Liu pulled it sharply toward himself with a scrape. Then he turned his body completely toward Yeehyeon. He carefully brushed away his messy bangs and placed a palm on his forehead.
“Your fever hasn’t gone down any further.”
Yeehyeon, who was cupping his mug with both hands and savoring its warmth and aroma, gave a small laugh.
“How much do you expect a fever to drop in ten minutes?”
Ten minutes ago, Liu had stopped Yeehyeon, placed a palm on his head, and said the exact same thing. And ten minutes before that, and ten minutes before that…
Yeehyeon had been showing symptoms of a mild cold ever since they changed trains in Dijon yesterday. A car was waiting at Gare de Lyon to take the two of them to Unit 601. But Liu had taken Yeehyeon straight to a clinic.
‘I think it’s just a light cold.’
Yeehyeon had been reluctant to go to the hospital.
‘It could be a symptom related to your presentation.’
‘It would be better to go home and rest quickly…’
‘We promised you’d see a doctor right away if anything felt even slightly off.’
‘The director probably isn’t in today.’
‘We pay for that expensive package so we can see him at times like this. Don’t worry about it.’
In the car, Liu was plagued with anxiety the entire time. He couldn’t even rest his head comfortably against the headrest. Yeehyeon, who had slept on the train, had leaned his head against the window and fallen asleep again, likely due to the fever. Liu moved to the middle seat, carefully supported Yeehyeon’s head, and let him lean on his shoulder. He prayed that this fever wasn’t because of his presentation, that it wasn’t a sign of something wrong.
Fortunately, the doctor’s diagnosis was a simple cold.
Only then could Liu relax his shoulders, let out a sigh of relief, and smile sheepishly.
‘Seo Yeehyeon was right. I’m sorry for dragging you all the way here when you have a fever.’
Liu had apologized like that in the back of the car on the way to Unit 601. Yeehyeon found Liu’s hand and held it, leaning his head on his shoulder as he said.
‘It’s fine, as long as you’re relieved, Kun.’
At the end of his weak, languid voice, he had fallen asleep again.
His fever had risen a little during the night, but by morning, his condition was much improved from the day before. It was a low-grade fever, fluctuating between 37.5 and 38 degrees Celsius. Even so, Yeehyeon skipped his morning work session to stay with Liu. It was extremely rare for him to take a break from work for a fever like this. Even right after returning from a forty-day trip.
“I’m glad you’re better than yesterday.”
“This is just a low-grade fever. People are going to tease you for being overprotective.”
“Let them tease. It’s true that I’m overprotective.”
At Liu’s clean admission, Yeehyeon looked down into his mug and chuckled. Since sitting next to him, Yeehyeon had been focused only on his mug. In contrast to Liu, who was turned completely toward him, Yeehyeon hadn’t once looked his way.
“Seo Yeehyeon, you’re not going to look at me?”
“……”
“I want to see your face at least one more time before I go.”
Only then did Yeehyeon hesitantly turn his head. Even though he was much better now, his face, having suffered from a fever overnight, was still flushed. Liu gently stroked his fever-flushed cheek with his thumb. Separate from his worry, just looking at his face made him keep breaking into a smile.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
It seemed his lover was not pleased with that smile.
“How am I smiling?”
“It’s the smile you have when you’re thinking lewd thoughts.”
“You’re right. I was thinking some lewd thoughts.”
“You can have thoughts like that seeing the state I’m in?”
Yeehyeon’s tone was one of disbelief. Liu leaned his upper body closer to Yeehyeon, pressing his entire palm against his cheek.
“The corners of your eyes and the tip of your nose are all red… it looks just like right after you’ve been thoroughly worn out by me.”
“……”
At the close distance, Yeehyeon’s gaze wavered. His tightly pressed lips were clearly embarrassed. Liu deliberately brought his face right up to Yeehyeon’s nose.
“And what’s wrong with how you look right now?”
“I’m a mess.”
“You’re just more languid and dazed than usual, which is nothing but sexy.”
“Kun, you’re really something else.”
Yeehyeon burst out laughing and pushed against Liu’s chest. Liu chuckled lowly and pulled Yeehyeon’s hand.
“Even the slightly nasal sound of your voice is driving me crazy with how cute it is.”
And he gently bit the tips of his fingernails.
“Whose boyfriend is so cute and lovely and all that even while he’s sick? Huh?”
“That’s because you love me, Kun.”
Yeehyeon said quietly, almost mumbling, as he stealthily pulled his hand away to cup his mug. As if he was embarrassed to admit Liu’s love with his own mouth.
Having lost Yeehyeon’s hand, Liu propped his chin on his hand, his elbow on the table. He tilted his head and watched Yeehyeon drink his coffee.
“I’m glad you know.”
“……”
“That I love you that much.”
After smiling for a moment as if to say he was hopeless, Yeehyeon soon gazed at Liu with a warm, serious expression.
“How could I not know?”
And he added.
“You convey it every day, every moment, with your entire being.”
“……”
“No matter how dense I am, there’s no way I couldn’t know.”
Liu buried his forehead in the edge of Yeehyeon’s shoulder. Then, he nuzzled his lips along the line of Yeehyeon’s neck, moving up to his ear. He could feel Yeehyeon’s shoulder tense up. It was sexual tension. Nuzzling the tip of his nose against the shell of his ear, where a familiar and affectionate scent lingered, he lightly caught the soft earlobe between his lips.
“Hah…”
A sweet sigh escaped Yeehyeon. He caught a glimpse of his trembling eyelashes.
“Is it because you’re sick? Your scent is stronger than usual.”
“Do I… smell?”
A worried face turned to Liu. When he turned his head, the tip of Yeehyeon’s nose was close enough to touch Liu’s cheek. Looking down at Yeehyeon’s lips, Liu cupped the back of his neck with his palm.
“Silly. It’s not a smell, it’s a fragrance.”
And then he immediately tilted his head and pressed their lips together. He gently pressed their coffee-scented lips together, rubbing them slightly, savoring their volume. Chup… chup… With sweet, ticklish sounds, he captured and released his lips over and over. Then Liu’s tongue slipped between Yeehyeon’s lips. As it delved past Yeehyeon’s lips, which were dry from the fever, the inside of his mouth was hot enough to melt.
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