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Announcement: Semantic Error will be on hiatus in October. We will return in early November even stronger. We sincerely apologize for the lack of update and thank you so much for reading here. We promise to come back with better quality content and hopefully updates as well. Please have a wonderful day/evening.
For a moment, Jaeyoung had an impulse to hold onto Sangwoo and explain in detail why he was annoyed, but he gave up on that. If he wanted more from him, he would have to sign an exclusive contract of love. Jaeyoung wasn’t confident that he would be able to convince Sangwoo, who believes that dating was an earlier part of a marriage process, of the justification of dating between men. Moreover…
‘You’re going to leave, though.’
Yuna’s words came to his mind. The fatigue he felt from having the troubles that he would have to face someday made Jaeyoung uncomfortable. If they’d “formally date,” the problem would incomparably become more complicated than it was at the moment.
“What are you thinking about?,” asked Sangwoo.
A lot of time must have passed since Sangwoo had asked this question, it was the first time Sangwoo had ever asked him that question, so Jaeyoung became so emotional that he felt bitter. That’s why he just started talking nonsense.
“I was curious about which month you were born,” said Jaeyoung.
“October.”
“Which date?”
“First.”
Jaeyoung sneered. Of all days, it was 1001 1 . He would probably remember it forever.
“That’s exactly the kind of day you’d be born on,” said Jaeyoung.
“Why?”
“Cause both your looks and your meristics are binary.” 2
A big laugh. It was the best response Jaeyoung had gotten from one of his jokes so far.
“Your way of thinking is really odd, sunbae.”
Jaeyoung ignored the disparaging comment from Sangwoo and pulled him tighter against him.
“Is there a birthday gift you want?”
“No.”
When he thought that was how he expected Sangwoo to respond, the latter casually added, “Why are you asking? You won’t be here by then anyway.”
The arrow that Jaeyong had wanted to avoid at all costs was aiming at his head. Jaeyoung frowned. Why did they need to have this conversation after having had the best time? For a while, there was an uncomfortable silence. Naturally, Sangwoo wouldn’t overthink, so it would only be uncomfortable for Jaeyoung. Jaeyoung decided to face it head on.
“Are you upset?”
“There’s no reason to feel upset, cause by then, the sexual desire will have disappeared.”
That answer made him feel even worse.
“Oh, that’s what you think is gonna happen?”
“It should. Think about what we’re doing together in the first place, sunbae. Can’t you remember the story of the general of the Qing Dynasty?”
“…”
“But I don’t know if it’s successful yet. I’m anxious because there’s no sign of a decrease in sexual desire.”
Jaeyoung couldn’t find a word to say. No matter what kind of nonsense he’d heard before, he’d dealt with it well, but this time, he wasn’t able to react to it well.
As Jaeyoung was silent, Sangwoo added, “It’s impossible for it to be so, but if it’s not sorted by then… I can just find someone else.”
‘No matter what you do, you’re so mean, you bastard.’
Jaeyoung pushed his upper body up and glowered at Sangwoo. He knew that he was behind him, and he knew that their degree of passion for each other differed, but when he heard it with his own ears, he felt like his blood was cooling down.
‘Sex partners… you mean?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay. Let’s…try it.’
It wasn’t an issue in the beginning. He’d thought that it was rather neat and agreed on the subject, but he couldn’t stand the dirty idea of Sangwoo seeing another person even in the distant future.
Jaeyoung felt his emotions were seriously conflicted. His head began to hurt. As Sangwoo said, if they saw each other in order to relieve their sexual desire, that was normal. However, the passion that Jaeyoung felt these days was actually an error.
“You’re leaving?”
Sangwoo looked up at Jaeyoung with a puzzled expression. When he saw the look on his face telling him that he should leave if he wanted to, he automatically sighed. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a child that hadn’t been able to grow up in time. He had no clue about the complex emotion exchanges between people. Even if Jaeyoung would try to explain how he felt in this moment, Sangwoo wouldn’t be able to understand a thing.
“What’s wrong?”
However, when making eye contact with Sangwoo, who was staring at him, Jaeyoung felt his anger gradually disappear. Chu Sangwoo. No matter what kind of bullshit he said, it was difficult to be mad at him, seeing as it was a product of ignorance. Moreover, he never said things that didn’t make sense.
‘Of course. How could one monopolize a person?’
The shelf life of love was said to usually be six months. In Jaeyoung’s case, it was much shorter than that, so it would even end within a month. Although it was a state he had never experienced before, he knew the current hot emotions would soon wither. If so, it would be better for Sangwoo not to get caught up in an illusion where he believed that he felt emotions he’s never felt before, as if it were a predestined love.
Cool. Cleanly. Without crossing the line. However, it wasn’t the time to worry about someone else. Wasn’t it he who was fantasizing, believing he was feeling things he’s never felt before, without apparent reason that it was a predestined love? It tasted bitter in his mouth. It wasn’t a go or a stop , but it was something in between. It was neither green nor red, but it was a yellow light. Jaeyoung didn’t like such ambiguity.
‘Just focus on your current feelings.’
Jaeyoung slowly laid down again. When he pushed up Sangwoo’s bangs with his hand and kissed his forehead, he made a strange expression.
“Don’t think about the later. Just focus on the now.”
“I’m not the type to just follow along with someone.”
“That’s funny. What were you doing with me when you stripped down?”
“That’s because I’m swayed by you, sunbae.”
“And so, do you regret it?”
Sangwoo stared into Jaeyoung’s eyes and slowly shook his head. Then he went back into his arms. Jaeyoung quietly sighed and caressed his back and shoulders with his palm. Rather than worry about the unforeseeable future, live faithfully in the present instead. That was Jaeyoung’s way of living. In the present, he wanted to give Sangwoo everything.
“Sangwoo.”
“Yes.”
“Is there really nothing you want? Sneakers? A watch? A cap?”
“No. Just bring me the cap I left in your car last Friday.”
“Something else then? A graphics card? A monitor? An external hard drive?”
“It’s fine. What should a computer illiterate person give? Not even knowing how expensive things are.”
“…”
The conversation ended. Thinking that Sangwoo must have fallen asleep, Jaeyoung also closed his eyes. His body was tired, a result of the languor of their wild sex.
Then Sangwoo suddenly said, “I hope Veggie Venturer is successful.” In context, it seemed to be the answer to the question of what he wanted.
Fiddling with his neck, Jaeyoung answered, “Looking at what’s been done so far, I think it will turn out fine.”
“It’s not that good. We have to become famous and really get recognition from others.”
That was a strange thing to say. The reality was that indie games barely had any effect on the market, and therefore were difficult to sell. It would be enough to create a high-quality portfolio, so why would a person who lacks material desire be obsessed with succeeding in the market?
“Why?”
Sangwoo hesitated to respond. He would probably just say that he didn’t want to tell him. Even so, he knew that if he persistently asked him, he would end up telling him. When Jaeyoung was just about  to ask, Sangwoo added,
“It is something that you are doing with me, sunbae. When I think of it in the future, I’ll be happy that we succeeded greatly, and that our hard work was equally recognized. It would be great to feel that way.”
“What, do you think I’ll be touched by that?”
Seeing that he got a lump in his throat, he must have gotten touched by it. He understood that somehow, Chu Sangwoo, who didn’t understand love and relationships, fancied him. He saved pictures of him, memorized his playlists, remembered the details of his vision, and foot size. It wasn’t just because of his perfectionist tendency to focus more on work than was necessary.
Jaeyoung found Sangwoo’s jaw, removed it from his chest, and put his lips against his. The skin that had bothered him the entire night was still soft and moist.
Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. Sangwoo smiled and closed his eyes when their faces slightly touched each other and sucked it in.
In order to match the slightly changed shape of their lips, they changed the angle. And so, more kiss. Kiss. At some point Sangwoo’s palm wrapped around Jaeyoung’s cheek. Light pecks quickly turned into sticky French kissing. Was that sensation, which felt hotter than body temperature,  because of his emotions or sexual desire? Feeling confused, Jaeyoung devoted himself entirely to Sangwoo again. He thought that he had expressed it to his heart’s content today, but a giddy feeling filled his stomach.
Sangwoo, who had made a comment about humanity, forgot what he had said and carefully sucked on Jaeyoung’s tongue. The romantic kiss where they alternated between an interaction of tongue-to-tongue and lips-to-lips lasted quite a while. Jaeyoung pushed Sangwoo away before he got even more excited. The latter licked his lips with regretful eyes. He wiped the saliva off his mouth with his thumb and with a serious face he said,
“I guess I’m not human. I’m disqualified as a human being.”
Jaeyoung smiled and messed up Sangwoo’s hair and tickled the tip of his nose with his finger.
“Regretfully, I’m out of condoms.”
“Should I go and buy some?,” asked Sangwoo.
“If you do that, you won’t be able to walk around tomorrow. If you want to crawl on all fours, go ahead.”
“Please go as my substitute again. I’ll pay for the part-time job.”