Page 108 of Septembers

What did one say to one’s best friend whom one had been ravaged by the night before? There was no answer, so Theo tapped him on the nose. “Boop.”

Dae blinked. “Did you just boop my nose?”

“Yes.”

He squeezed his smile, shaking his head against the pillow. Then his gaze shifted to the door. “Do you want me to go?”

“To get breakfast?”

“No, I...” Why wouldn’t he look at him? Theo thought having Dae’s mouth on his cock meant their days of him being shy were over. “I mean, are you okay with what happened last night?”

Theo put on an innocent pout. “Whatever do you mean?” Dae somehow rolled his eyes without rolling his eyes. He rolled his face. “Ohhhh,” Theo said, “you mean the filthy things you did to me?”

“Theo.”

“You mean when you told me you constantly thought about how I’d taste?”

“Uuuugggghhhhhh.” Dae rolled onto his back and put his arms over his head. It likely wasn’t intentional that he was now giving Theo an incredible view of his biceps, bare chest, and abs, but it was a delightful byproduct of his embarrassment nonetheless. Shit, he was even more breathtaking in the morning light.

Theo pushed himself up and straddled his hips, forcing his arms away from his beautiful, beautiful face. “Yes, I’m okay with everything that happened last night. Are you okay with what I said?”

“What?” He mimicked Theo’s faux innocence. “That I’m the most important person in your life and you’d wither away without me?”

“Did I say that last part?”

“It was implied.”

“Ah.” There was so much joy inside him that Theo wondered how his heart wasn’t ripping at the seams. “Well then. Yes. That.”

“Yes, Theo. I’m okay with everything you said.” He playfully rocked side to side and Theo’s body swayed with him like he was on a coin-operated rocket outside the supermarket.

“So we get to be like this?” Theo wasn’t sure what he meant by that, and Dae didn’t seem to either, but he nodded anyway. Whatever this was. They could have it.

Maybe his heart was ripping at the seams, and he was just too delirious with happiness to notice. Oh well. As far as ways to die went, this one wasn’t bad.

Something possessed Theo to tickle him, and Dae reacted by grabbing his arms, which made Theo hiss in pain. He regretted it instantly because Dae became Serious Dae: Problem Solver.

“Does it hurt?” He gently examined Theo’s arms, turning them over to see the bruises that had formed in the night, and the cut on his forearm that neither of them had noticed. Theo hadn’t felt it at the time because he was too busy panicking about his imminent death, but he’d hit the railing pretty hard.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Liar.” He lifted Theo off him and placed him back down on the bed. “I’ll get the first-aid kit.”

“No, wait.” Theo pulled him back down, not wanting this phase of his Big Important Life Change to end yet. “Can we just…”

Dae hesitated, then snuggled back into the bed, wrapping his arm around Theo’s middle and pulling up the blanket. It was a little rough against his skin, but not in a bad way. Sort of like the calluses on Dae’s hands.

“Do you want to know what your nickname means? Cheot Sarang?”

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. “More than anything.”

Dae bit his lip and closed his eyes. “First love.”

Theo’s initial reaction was confusion, because there was no way he was actually Dae’s first love. The nickname had been made in the first week of university, when they didn’t even know each other that well. So it must’ve been a joke. Then he wondered why it was a joke.

When he came out of his head, he found Dae staring at him, a worry line splitting his forehead.

“What’s the punchline?”