Bring It On! - Chapter 46

Chapter 46.

“I should’ve just stayed in bed.”

Going out to the sea after having been pushed to my limits all night had probably been the mistake. Even sleeping like the dead all morning hadn’t been enough. 

By now, with the sun already setting, I still couldn’t bring myself to get up from where I lay. Tasks I needed to do still lingered in my head like unfinished homework. It was frustrating, lying there useless and doing nothing.

“Sun Woori.”

A deep voice pierced through my tangle of thoughts. Jay, who had been outside the shelter spending time with Suho, was suddenly right next to me. His footsteps had been quiet, but his presence was unmistakable, sharper than anything else.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“……”

He sat down beside my head, tilting his head slightly as he asked. Through the window with its curtains pulled aside, the late afternoon sunlight poured in. It deepened the shadows on his face more than usual. 

Beneath his lowered gaze and long lashes, his dark-blue eyes seemed to glow.

I moved only my eyes, staring straight at Jay. The thick column of his neck and his ear flushed in the color of the setting sun, and then he quickly apologized.

“Sorry.”

It wasn’t something he needed to apologize for. I was the one who had volunteered to help him, and I’d been just as swept up in last night’s acts as he had. At some point, I’d stopped caring about Jay’s rut and had focused only on my own feelings. My own pleasure.

When I didn’t say a word, Jay started growing restless on his own. He roughly ruffled the back of his hair, let out a long sigh, and dragged a hand over his face.

“Sun Woori, if you don’t want to answer, just listen.”

After what seemed like a decision, he finally spoke.

“I didn’t think it was a mistake.”

“……”

His low, resonant voice carried a certain conviction, a determined tone.

“At first, yeah, I was out of my mind from the pain, but at some point… I was just gone for you. So don’t tell me it was just a one-night mistake we should forget.”

Jay clearly didn’t want to brush off what happened last night. He wanted to define that ambiguous act with his own mouth. It was not an unavoidable accident, but because he had wanted me. This was a confession. Which meant…

He likes me?

When I thought about it, it was strange. The way he’d constantly try to steal kisses whenever he could, or how he’d get jealous over someone he’d never even met, Jaden, acting as though he were his rival. It was all too embarrassingly obvious to pass off as mere camaraderie.

Even now, he was watching for my reaction, floundering as if trying to interpret my silence through some delusional lens.

Ah, he really does like me.

The realization landed in my chest with a heavy thud. It wasn’t that his feelings burdened or repulsed me. I just found it remarkable that even after seeing each other in all sorts of unflattering situations in this extreme environment, such emotions could still exist.

“Sun Woori, so what I’m saying is… give me one more chance. I can really do better next time.”

A cough slipped out. Why did his words, which had been flowing so emotionally, suddenly veer off into something weird?

“Are you saying that you expect to do it with me again?”

“You’re not going to?”

“……”

“…Why not?”

Jay, as if shocked, managed to move his frozen lips to ask. Why not, he asked. This wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking him. We were in a remote place where we could die at any time without warning. 

Even if we kept our wits about us, we could be exposed to danger and lose our lives, so rolling around naked wasn’t exactly an option. And it wasn’t just about our bodies. We had a kid to care for, too. What did he think he could do in a single-room shelter?

But I was far too exhausted to explain all that. Without hiding my weariness, I closed my eyes, and Jay desperately grabbed my hand.

“Hey, Sun Woori. Why not? At least tell me why. Don’t tell me… you didn’t like it?”

“……”

“Please. Do you want to watch me die of curiosity? Sun Woori, Sun Woori!”

But contrary to his desperate feelings, Jay couldn’t even properly bark at me. He only pressed his lips to my face and murmured in a low voice. His deep, resonant tone was perfect as a substitute for a lullaby.

***

As expected, putting things off and pretending not to notice is never the best policy.

“Alright then, just answer me this one thing. It’s not even hard.”

“Go away.”

“Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. Which of those senses was the worst for you when you were with me?”

“Go wash the dishes.”

“Fine.”

Jay was relentless. He wouldn’t stop asking why we could do it once but not a second time. Of course, when Suho was around, he’d keep it in by punching his own thigh, but the moment Suho moved a little further away, he’d cling to my side like a ghost, asking the same question over and over. 

All he did was just changing the wording. I thought if I ignored him long enough, he’d give up on his own, but he turned out to be a man of sheer persistence and stubbornness. He didn’t care whether it was morning or night.  Without a hint of fatigue or embarrassment, he kept trying to get his answer.

While clearing away the breakfast dishes, Jay suddenly let out an “Ah!” as if he’d realized something and stared straight at me. The corner of his perfectly handsome lips twitched suspiciously.

“It’s because I couldn’t find your hole right away, right? That’s what ruined it, isn’t it?!”

“For crying out loud.”

I had even forgotten about that, but somehow that guy, in a completely irrational state, remembered it in such vivid detail. It’s not like he’s replaying that night over and over every evening. 

…Wait. Is he actually replaying it? With his level of obsession, it wouldn’t surprise me.

“Sun Woori, can’t you just chalk it up to a beginner’s clumsiness and let it slide?”

“You don’t even remember. How am I supposed to know if you’re a beginner or a player?”

“The me before I was pushed here isn’t me. Don’t bother with that bastard.”

“Don’t you get tired of saying nonsense every single day?”

I took the dish from his hands and headed toward the stream. Jay quickly caught up and took it back from me. Then, glancing at my now-empty hands, he shoved a spoon into them. 

Instead of just asking me to come with him, he always came up with these childish excuses. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself at how cute he was.

“No matter how I think about it, I swear you liked it too.”

Jay said this seriously as he placed the dish in the stream.

“Please stop talking.”

“It really was because I couldn’t find the hole, right?”

In the end, I lost. If I didn’t answer, I felt like even in death, he’d be rattling his jawbone chanting “hole, hole” forever. Sitting on a rock, I looked up at Jay.

“It’s not because I don’t like it, so please stop asking.”

At the words ‘not because I don’t like it’, Jay’s face briefly lit up. But only for a moment, his sharp brows drew together, and suspicion clouded his gaze.

“Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell… you’re really saying all of them were fine?”

“Yes. It’s just that we’re not in the right environment to be doing that right now. Who knows when a snake or hornet might pop out, or when all the pumpkins might rot away? There are just too many things we need to focus on.”

“Sun Woori, everything you’re saying is true, but I think you’ve got to look at life in the long run. No one can just keep running every day. Sometimes you’ve got to stop and catch your breath.”

“Don’t tell me catching your breath means doing it with you?”

Jay raised his eyebrows as if to say, Why wouldn’t it? That brazen attitude made me let out a disbelieving laugh. Far from catching my breath, I was convinced that if I kept being intimate with him, I’d suffocate. Whether physically or mentally.

At that moment, Jay subtly slid into the spot right next to me. In the sweltering heat, the area where our thighs touched grew warm, but neither of us moved away first.

The forest was filled with dappled sunlight. Lush green leaves stretched along every branch, brimming with vitality, while thin, transparent clouds were neatly scattered across the blue sky. 

The gentle murmur of the stream’s current and the thick scent of greenery filled the air, blending with the cool breeze. It was the unique fragrance of nature that could only be felt in this place.

“Sun Woori.”

My name rang out clearly, without a hint of hesitation. His slightly mussed black hair fell loosely, a straight forehead below it, a sharply defined nose bridge, sun-darkened skin, and irises that held the glittering sunlight as if trapped in glass. 

His face was always perfect no matter how often I saw it.

Sight, touch, smell, hearing…

“Life’s too pitiful if you live it only in a constant struggle. Sometimes, you should use me too.”

“……”

“It’ll be fun. Play with me.”

He tilted his head toward me. I didn’t pull away and slowly closed my eyes. His large hand gently cupped the back of my head, and his tongue slipped into my mouth as he parted my lips.

Even taste. His kiss matched my preferences perfectly.