Business Partners | A Novel ❖

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Seonghwa sat on the end of Wooyoung's hotel room bed, feeling extremely small and naive as he came clean and poured out his heart to him.

And with Wooyoung sitting before him with his legs crossed, the expression on his face was one that Seonghwa hadn't seen before. It was one of a distinct seriousness, listening to him, and understanding him...

'Hwa... None of this was a good idea...'

Seonghwa nodded, leaning forward and hanging his head in his hands.

'You shouldn't sleep with the people in charge of your wage, Seonghwa.'

'I know that,' Seonghwa groaned. 'I didn't mean for any of it to happen.'

Wooyoung's face relaxed into that of an incredibly empathetic compassion. 'I know. These things just happen. I'm not saying you're in the wrong. I'm just saying that now you've ended up with more than you had originally wanted to chew off.'

Seonghwa sat back up, staring at his blonde roommate and wondering why they'd never really spoken seriously before, despite living together for years. Perhaps because they couldn't relate? Or maybe just because the time hadn't surfaced...

'It is ridiculously easy to be with him' Seonghwa said under his breath.

'Isn't that what it's supposed to feel like though?' Wooyoung asked softly, and his words seemed to smack Seonghwa with their weight.

It was, wasn't it? Every person Seonghwa had ever been with before he'd arrived in China had been a girl, but did that really matter? None of them, had felt as easy, and as right, as it felt when he was with Yeosang...

'Hwa... Do you think you're falling for him?'

Seonghwa swallowed back the nerves building within his body and tried to think and feel, past them. 'I... I don't know... I could... But I've also slept with him enough in the past week for it to average out to probably twice or three times a day. So I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just going out of my mind with lust... Is that even a thing? It is, right?'

Wooyoung giggled a little, rolling his eyes. 'Yes, Hwa. It is. But, we also know what happens when people try to do friends with benefits. And whatever the hell kind of dynamic thing you two had going on even before the resort, I'd say it definitely comes under that category.'

Seonghwa shook his head. 'We're not friends.'

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, you're colleagues. But something tells me when your work contract mentioned work benefits, they didn't mean this.'

Suddenly, he lunged out and grabbed a hold of his shirt, lifting it up and exposing his bruises before Seonghwa could even swat him away. 'Hwa, I've had "sex for the sake of sex" before,' he said, using his fingers to quotate his words.

'But never once did I come out looking like that. Not even San marks me like that, and he made us official this morning. So you have no excuses. Those can't even be called hickies. Those are love bites, and you know it.'

Seonghwa's mouth dropped open at the mention of Choi San, a welcome distraction from his incredibly bad nerves fluttering around inside his stomach, and escaping into the rest of his body. 'You two are official?'

A small, sweet smile crept onto his as his cheeks blushed pink.

And Seonghwa felt his heart melt for him. After years and years of shedding hidden tears when he thought no one was looking, over someone who even Seonghwa thought would never pull through, Wooyoung looked incredibly happy.