At least Su-min's sudden question had managed to make Ho-jin forget about naked Ji-hun.

By the time they headed home, Su-min was completely full and Ho-jin had barely eaten. When they stopped at a red light, Ho-jin said, "Mom. I'm not thinking about marriage yet. I need to focus on work for a while longer."

Su-min smiled. "Whatever you want, Ho-jin-ah. Don't ever feel pressured because of me."

"Thanks, Mom." Then he checked his phone.

Ji-hun had not sent anything since the photo. This time Ho-jin had not messaged him either, but that was not normal for Ji-hun. Whenever they were apart, Ji-hun usually texted Ho-jin to an obsessive degree. He did not even wait for replies. If he caught his foot on something and nearly tripped while walking down the street, Ho-jin would hear about it.

That was one of the biggest reasons the unspoken, unplanned balance between them worked. Ho-jin never tried to keep tabs on Ji-hun the way Tae-sung had. Ji-hun told him things because he wanted to, sometimes with ridiculous enthusiasm, just to make sure Ho-jin knew where he was and what he was doing.

Maybe that was part of why it worked so well between them. Near the end of Ji-hun's time with Tae-sung, there had been days when he and Ho-jin could barely communicate at all. Now Ji-hun seemed almost determined to make up for every one of them.

Tonight, that balance had suddenly broken, and Ho-jin could only guess why.

The second they got home, Ho-jin rushed inside without even taking off his shoes. Ji-hun was already asleep on the living room couch in front of the TV. The sight softened Ho-jin's face, and he smiled.

Su-min headed toward the guest room, quietly waved to him, and whispered, "See you in the morning."

"Good night, Mom. See you in the morning..."

The moment Su-min closed the door, Ho-jin bent over Ji-hun. The first thing he noticed was the scent of the shower gel they had picked out together. 

Ocean. Ho-jin breathed it in and kissed him slowly on the lips.

It was one of the stranger things Ji-hun had ever asked of him.

"If you need to wake me up, don't care that I'm sleeping. Just kiss me," he had said. "That way, whether I'm having a good dream or a bad one, I'll wake up in the best way possible."

Ji-hun opened his eyes. "Welcome, sunbae-nim. How was dinner?"

Sunbae-nim?

It felt like Ho-jin had stepped straight into a cold shower.

"Come to the room, Ji-hun-ah."

"No. Not while your mom's here."

"Apparently, we need to talk."

"I need to go in there for sheets, if you'll let me."

"What?"

"I'm sleeping here. You can bring me the sheet and blanket yourself if you want."

Ho-jin understood then just how hurt Ji-hun was. "Come on. We'll talk for a little bit, then I'll sleep out here. You sleep in our room."

"Sunbae-nim..."

"I want my mom to wake up and see me in the living room. Okay?"

"Fine, sunbae-nim."

"Ji-hun, please stop with the sunbae-nim." Ho-jin held out his hand and pulled Ji-hun to his feet. "Let's talk."

On the way to the bedroom, he tried to take Ji-hun's hand, but Ji-hun pulled it away immediately. 

Once they were finally inside, Ho-jin closed the door, caught Ji-hun by both arms, and started kissing him. "I'm sorry, Ji-hun-ah. I didn't mean to hurt you. I—"

Ji-hun pushed him away. "What if your mom comes into the room?"

"Ji-hun-ah, I didn't leave you out of dinner because I didn't want you there," Ho-jin said quietly. "My mom knows almost nothing about the last two years of my life. She doesn't know what happened with Tae-sung, she doesn't know I got shot, and she has no idea I'm living with my boyfriend. I can't dump all of that on her the second she gets here."

Ji-hun understood. Of course he understood. Maybe that was what made it worse. There was nothing unreasonable enough for him to get angry about.

"I know, sunbae," he said eventually. "You don't have to explain it like you did something wrong. I know you missed her. I know you needed some time alone with her too." Right then, Ji-hun wanted to kiss him, but he could not. "I just forgot for a second that I wasn't part of that dinner."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant," Ji-hun said. "That's the problem. I understand you, and it still hurt."

Ho-jin reached for him, but Ji-hun took a step back. "Not while your mom's here," he said. "Sunbae, I'm really not mad at you. Just let me be sad for a while without trying to make me feel better." Then he opened the closet and took out a sheet and blanket. "I'll sleep in the living room..."

"No. You're sleeping here. I'll sleep out there."

Ho-jin took a T-shirt and shorts, then pulled the sheet and blanket out of Ji-hun's hands. Before leaving the room, he said, "Good night, Ji-hun-ah. See you in the morning. Won-hee's picking us up."

"Good night, sunbae."

The door had barely closed before Ji-hun threw himself face-first onto the bed. First he buried his face in Ho-jin's pillow, then crawled under the blanket.

Since Ho-jin came home from the hospital, Ji-hun had not slept a single night without him. Now he was afraid he would not sleep at all.

What he did not know was that Ho-jin was no better off in the living room. He already knew he would spend the entire night turning around on the couch.

At the same time, both of them were thinking the exact same thing.

This is only temporary. We can get through this without any problems.

—

When Ji-hun opened his eyes the next morning, he realized he had only slept for two hours.

"Fuck. My eyes."

He was about to leave the room in nothing but his shorts when he remembered Ho-jin's mother was in the apartment. After opening the closet again, he took a pair of Ho-jin's sweatpants and put them on.

Before opening the door, he took a deep breath. You are not gonna kiss Ho-jin sunbae. Another deep breath, then he opened the door and immediately smelled food. Oh. Someone else is making breakfast.

Su-min was indeed already awake, and the table was completely covered with food. Ho-jin sat on the couch, looking at Ji-hun through half-closed eyes.

For the first time in a very long while, both of them had woken up in the same house and could not kiss each other, and the frustration was written all over their faces.

That was the mood they brought to the breakfast table. Fortunately, it was only temporary.

Or at least it was until Su-min said this at the end of breakfast. "Ho-jin-ah, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay in Seoul for at least a month."