1440 - Chapter 49

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 49
It felt foolish to project onto someone who knew nothing the very thing I had never dared to dream of before.
The man rose from the bed and moved to sit by the door. As he often did, he rested his head against the doorframe. The well-built frame he had always admired was standing in the Kitchen, busily preparing a meal.
Even back then, he had enjoyed feeding him delicious things.
Perhaps sensing the man’s gaze, Yeon Su, who had been opening a steamer in front of the gas burner, turned his head. Then he smiled warmly at the man, whose eyes were open.
It had only been a few hours of sleep—just a brief absence—yet how could he miss him so? The man found Yeon Su remarkable all over again.
“You’re awake? The meal is almost ready. Would you mind pushing the blankets to one side?”
Yeon Su often made very small requests of the man. Though admittedly, they were always about the man’s rest and meals.
For nearly fifteen hundred years—no, far longer than that—the man had been accustomed to being served. That was why he cherished Yeon Su’s requests like these. Because they made him feel that he was not being treated as something overly special, not a rare treasure requiring care or a simpering fool, but as an equal.
The breakfast Yeon Su had prepared was Lotus Leaf Rice. It exhaled a calm, profound fragrance, like a pond where rain had just ceased.
Yeon Su watched the man, whose eyes could not leave the lotus leaf parcel, and carefully peeled back the leaf for him.
The moment the lotus leaf opened, the scent rose first—moisture clinging to the green leaf mingling with earth. The steam, carrying the smell of nature itself, warmed the man’s cheeks.
“Please, try it.”
Once the leaf was fully opened, Yeon Su extended the bowl toward the man again, his eyes full of anticipation. Feeling that gaze, the man picked up a few grains with his Chopsticks and brought them to his mouth.
The rice, a blend of glutinous and regular grains, did not overstate the lotus leaf’s fragrance; yet with each bite, a subtle grassy sweetness bloomed on his tongue. Scattered delicately across the rice were chestnuts, jujubes, ginkgo nuts, and beans. Each portion tasted subtly different.
Moreover, steamed within the lotus leaf wrapping, a faint bitterness had seeped into the grains, finishing with a clean taste free of oiliness.
47
The man was very pleased with today’s meal. Rarely, he puffed out his cheeks as he tucked food into his mouth.
His lips pressed firmly closed, moving as he chewed—munch, munch, munch. Yeon Su watched those lips for a moment, then spoke quite suddenly.
“I want to kiss you now.”
Clatter. The man startled and dropped his Chopsticks. Without a care, Yeon Su placed his own unused Chopsticks in front of the man and continued.
“I want to finish what we didn’t do yesterday. Have you changed your mind?”
The man found himself unable to answer at all. Even knowing that Yeon Su could understand his words, speech would not come.
With rice still in his mouth, one cheek puffed out, he looked up at Yeon Su—and soon Yeon Su laughed. Then he leaned forward across the table.
“If you don’t say no, I will.”
Contrary to his words, Yeon Su’s lips crossed the table and touched the man’s.
Against the man’s lips, held firmly shut with rice still inside, Yeon Su’s soft, full lips touched and withdrew. Then they touched again, brushing against the seam of the man’s lips, and Yeon Su tasted the man’s saliva ever so slightly before withdrawing with a look of longing.
……!
The man belatedly covered his lips with the back of his hand. Yeon Su kept his gaze lowered, unable to meet his eyes. It was only after a long while that he spoke.
“There was a fad at school about what your First Kiss tastes like. Someone said lemon, someone else said cigarettes, and so on and so forth.”
Then he smiled with a brightness that suited his years—fresh and crisp. The man watched as Yeon Su’s eyes slowly rose to meet his, unable to look away.
“My First Kiss tastes like lotus leaf.”
……!
The man’s face flushed instantly. With both hands covering his mouth, only his eyes peeked out—and because his skin was so pale, the flush was all the more vivid.
Watching the man blush all the way to his forehead, Yeon Su laughed. Then he reached out and pulled the man’s hands away. He laced their fingers together, interlocking their hands.
The difference in hand size was so great that when their fingers intertwined, the man’s pale, slender fingers spread wide. The gaps between their fingers ached dully, but the man did not pull away. The two of them gazed at their clasped hands for a long time.
“I will never allow Baek Yeon Hyung to humiliate you again.”
“That… let me go.”
The man tried to withdraw his hand in shame at Yeon Su’s words. But Yeon Su only gripped it tighter and did not let go.
“But if the Baek family ever comes while I’m away and tries to take you, don’t resist. Just give in. Your safety is what matters most.”
Of course, he would be hurt—flesh and bodily fluids would be exchanged, wounds would be made. But that was better than resisting and being beaten brutally. If he suddenly started to resist after all this time of yielding without objection, it could make Baek Yeon Hyung even more violent. And if the man were to be badly injured in the process……
Yeon Su added in a gentle, reassuring tone. And this was not a comforting lie, but his true heart.
“I don’t want you feeling shame because of that act. No one can taint you. What does it matter if you preserve your Chastity or purity? Who will even know?”
…….
“So just don’t get hurt. Then I will definitely come running. I’ll come running and wash your wounds just like yesterday, and hold you.”
“……Is that truly what you believe? That this is not something I should feel shame about? Do you really think that?”
The man asked. Yeon Su met his gaze directly and answered.
“Yes. I mean it with complete sincerity.”
At his firm, gentle assurance, the man finally nodded in agreement.
A moment of awkward silence fell between them. Both were lost in thought, remembering yesterday. But this was a conversation that had to happen at some point. He did not want to let the man continue to misunderstand, to think himself unclean the way he had yesterday.
Yeon Su could have said it any number of times. You are not unclean. What is unclean are those Baek family bastards—not you, who are trapped here and subjected to the ordeal of enduring their vile desires.
“……Does it suit your taste?”
Yeon Su belatedly asked for the man’s thoughts on the Lotus Leaf Rice. Of course, he had already gathered from the man’s reaction and expression that it pleased him, but he wanted to break through this awkward atmosphere.
As if understanding his intention, the man’s small head nodded up and down.
No further words were exchanged. The two continued their meal with their hands clasped, fumbling clumsily with their Chopsticks. The awkward, childlike fumbling would have been laughable, but neither wanted to let go of the other’s hand.
***
It was not long after Yeon Su’s body had fully recovered. A call came from O Sang Hyung.
O Sang Hyung rarely called first—unless Yeon Su had a task for him or business to discuss. Yeon Su picked up the phone, curious.
“Yes, this is Baek Yeon Su.”
[Oh, young master. Um, are you feeling better?]
He knew full well that Yeon Su had made a complete recovery, yet he posed the question anyway. Yeon Su found it odd and decided to ask.
“Yes, I’m all better now. You can see I’m back on my feet, sir.”
[Right, of course. Mm…… well, I hate to ask when you’ve only just recovered, but…….]
O Sang Hyung’s unusual hesitation made Yeon Su set down the pencil he’d been holding. The man then looked up at him with confusion. The two of them had been studying Korean together in the inner room.
Yeon Su waved his hand at the man, signaling it was nothing to worry about. Then he gestured with his phone, saying he’d step out to take a call. The man watched it for a moment, then returned to the Korean textbook before him, tracing the letters with his finger.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————