Read Taken From Fate - Bl :: Chapter 8

The morning light filtered into the room delicately, as if afraid to disturb. Jeon Jiwoon opened his eyes, still heavy with sleep. His lashes stuck together, swollen from crying. But, for the first time in days, he breathed without feeling his chest collapse.

Hanjae was there. Asleep. His face relaxed, his breathing calm. Jiwoon sighed as he looked at him; normally, he didn’t lose control like that… but he was glad Hanjae had been the one to hold him together.

The alpha got up, grabbed the first clothes he found, the keys, and left the house. When he returned, he had a bag in his hand. In the bedroom, Hanjae was awake, lying on his side, watching in his direction, a tired smile on his face.

“This reminds me of that time when we were in elementary school. I had a fever and you brought me porridge from a gas station… After I ate it, I threw my soul up.”

“What are you trying to say?!”

“That you want to kill me?”

Hanjae chuckled while the other arranged everything on the nightstand beside him.

“Did you go to the pharmacy?” Hanjae asked, noticing the little bag with the logo. Jiwoon nodded.

“I asked for a cream for… well…”

Hanjae blinked.

“O-oh… Imagine that…”

“Y-yesterday… let’s just say I didn’t really hold back.”

“Ah, you don’t say? I hadn’t noticed.”

“I’m sorry…”

Jiwoon looked mortified. But to Hanjae he looked only like a puppy whose toy had been taken away.

“Thanks for the cream, hand it over.”

He stretched out an arm, but Jiwoon pulled the bag away, as if the other wanted to steal it.

“I-I’ll put it on… i-if that’s okay with you.”

Hanjae stared at him, his cheeks slightly flushed. A rare thing for someone like him.

Jiwoon sat next to him and gently made him turn over.

“Lie down on your stomach for a bit?”

Hanjae obeyed, mumbling something into the pillow. The sheet slipped down his hips, exposing his bare buttocks.

His skin was only slightly marked, a faint redness spreading to his inner thighs.

Jiwoon warmed the ointment between his fingers. Then he spread Hanjae’s cheeks with one hand and slid the cream in with the other.

“It’s cold…” Hanjae complained, squeezing his buttocks together and trying to escape his grip. Jiwoon caught him again, holding him more firmly.

“If you don’t stop moving, I’ll end up going too deep.”

“Oh…” Hanjae gave him a mischievous look. “Is that a threat, or are you hitting on me?”

“Tch.” Jiwoon snorted in amusement. His fingers moved carefully between the folds, massaging slowly. The delicate, warm skin of the muscle tightened around his fingers.

And Jiwoon lingered longer than he should have. He felt Hanjae tremble slightly. But not from pain. From something else. He looked over his tense shoulder, his breath caught. And Jiwoon’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of his flushed cheeks.

He swallowed, then withdrew his fingers.

“Thanks…” Hanjae whispered.

“Always,” Jiwoon murmured.

“You know, if you want to do it again, you’ll have to prepare me properly. We should buy lubricant.”

Jiwoon frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Jiwoon, I’m not an omega! I don’t lubricate on my own. If you want to fuck me, you’ll have to lube me up. And stretch me with your fingers. You’re pretty big, so I need time!”

“Ah.” Jiwoon wasn’t sure if that was a compliment.

“Don’t worry, I liked it yesterday.”

“R-really?”

“And you ask? Jiwoon, I had no idea you could be that…”

He bit his lip as the other lay down beside him.

“Animalistic?”

“S-so… I didn’t hurt you?”

“Nah, it’s all normal. Though if I’m stretched before penetration, of course I start enjoying it sooner.”

“Okay… next time I’ll do it properly, promise.”

He smiled, looking more confident about his performance. Hanjae leaned toward him, leaving a light kiss on his lips.

An unexpected gesture. That left them both a little stunned.

They stared at each other. There was a new intimacy, more genuine.

Then Jiwoon looked away, staring at the ceiling.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ngh… sure.” Hanjae mumbled, turning his gaze to the ceiling as well.

“You’re an alpha… since when… since when have you been into anal sex?”

Hanjae stayed silent for a moment. Then he said:

“I’ve always had a complicated relationship with my gender. Normally, everyone wants to wake up and see the test confirming they’re alpha. But, honestly, I liked omegas. N-not physically though…”

He gestured, struggling to explain.

“I liked the idea of being beautiful like them.”

He sighed.

“But when the test result was clear, there wasn’t much left to do… and even so, I just couldn’t see myself as… the active one. I disappointed quite a few omegas.”

They chuckled.

“Then, well… I started looking around, having my little experiences. But… it was after Seojoon that I truly understood what I wanted. Since then, I’ve been completely passive.”

Jiwoon blinked. Then lifted his head and stared at him wide-eyed.

“Sorry. Seojoon? Y-your friend? The tall, muscular one with the big hands and the baritone voice?”

“Yeah. We were together for a while in our first year of university.”

An unreal silence filled the room. Jiwoon looked at him, eyes wide. Then he turned away.

And smiled. But it was one of those stretched, slow, mechanical smiles.

During their first year of university, Jiwoon had spent months grumbling because Hanjae had gotten involved with “that guy from the English course.” They hardly saw each other anymore, even though they already lived together. Hanjae skipped breakfasts, lunches with him… karaoke nights at Pier’s pub. Now he understood why.

“So that’s why you were always disappearing…”

“Did you miss me?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Shut up.”

They pinched each other a little, laughed softly. But the tension was still there, hidden in the sheets.

Then Hanjae broke the silence:

“Listen… if we really want to continue with this friends-with-benefits thing, we need rules.”

“Like what?”

“Like: if you call out Minji’s name while you’re coming again, I’ll throw you out naked into the hallway.”

Jiwoon stiffened. He looked at him again.

“I… I did that?”