As those words escaped Hiro's lips as if they meant nothing, Jin's head snaps towards him at the unexpected turn of events, "Really? From which university are you?" he asks in disbelief as he was still currently processing his revelation, his pale swan neck straining at attempting to level his head to Hiro's shoulder despite the man's towering height.
He did not expect a bit that Hiro would respond to him.
Sensing his nosiness beginning to intrude his guarded bounds, Hiro abruptly turned his head and glanced down at the curious little fellow beside him whose pretty doll eyes were distracting him, and he watches the tough boundaries crumble effortlessly around him. He, too, was surprised at the discovery that he was able to be at peace despite being defenseless around someone.
Jin was a wide-eyed predator who's expecting to hear a word from him, his stares were making him uneasy on his feet, yet every time their eyes meets, he'll find himself in awe, lost in thoughts while looking into Jin's round eyes that made him look younger than he already is, his perk lashes waving at him as they flutter, completely bewildering him.
Hiro gulps before looking away, but then again, dragged his gaze back at Jin's face, turning his back on his own words.
He sighs, it's a matter of fact another public record. Where does this person come from for him to be outdated of the news?
"Dongnam Southern University."
Jin nods his head in acknowledgment. His lips parted as his throat went dry. Wow, as expected from a chaebol. He had only watched the DSU's grand banquet of welcoming their freshmen every year on TV, and honestly? Even if his mother works from a high-end company, they could never afford to enroll in such classy and luxurious education. The tuition per semester would cost one's soul to bring out five hundred million won at hand.
It's not like money could grow on trees.
He heard there were about five hundred new transferees this year.
God, he'd die happy if he were to have that kind of money.
"Is something the matter?" Hiro's eyes never left Jin's 'o' shaped lips, amused to himself when he finds it too irresistible.
Jin absentmindedly shrugs his shoulders. Man, how does he expect him to react after knowing his family is insanely loaded? It is really different knowing it yourself than searching it up online.
"I just didn't expect you to come out as a student," Jin emphasized half of his statement. He does not get why this man would still bother to take classes when he has a fortune enough to feed and provide for the next generations of his family. Yet, later on, he regretted what he said and tried brushing it off his head. He even forgot to use honorifics and now he spent his remaining time overthinking whether what he said was offensive.
Ha, offensive? Is it still a question needed to be answered? Of course, it is! Judging the person based on his looks, how much more shameless can he be?
Oh? "Enlighten me then," Hiro too, was curious what this charming lad was thinking. With his head leaning in, he looked at Jin with utmost curiosity. It was now his turn to pressure him to respond.
He wants to know everything that's running inside that head of his. What does he think of him? "Perhaps I don't or do look that old to you, no?"
Jin bites his lips. He felt that he was cornered and had nowhere to go. He couldn't respond nor look away from him.
That was not what he meant at all. Well, half-heartedly, it does have something to do with his intimidating presence. The way he's honed differently from anyone he had interacted with, way more than he imagined. He has two words in mind to label him.
Exquisitely intimidating and crazily good-looking, yet sometimes he acts like a child entertaining his playmate.
Hiro's well-preserved thoughts and speech gave him the idea that he was much more mature than he looked. He remembered looking at the blank expression on his face not too long ago, telling him that there's a whole different story behind it, a memoir no book could thoroughly write and express the soul trapped inside the man's cold eyes. It was as if he had gone through a lot.
What he saw in him was a man who's holding in life but barely living it. Sincerely, he looked lifeless and gray when he first laid his eyes on him.
Cold and distant.
"Yes, you do," the words absentmindedly left Jin's lips, and before he could correct himself. One wide and genuine smile greeted his sight that stunned him a thousand times and more.
Hiro was grinning...his dimples beaming back at Jin.
There was a carefree look on his face as if it wanted to escape earlier on, but he has been restraining it long enough. The way his lips thinned and curved revealed his pearl white teeth.
"Should I be offended?" whispered Hiro, his voice the softest paired with his eyes smiling, similarly...no, they were brighter than the crystals attached to his vest.
The magnificent sight of it alone was new to Jin and his memory automatically burned the image inside his head. He was yet again caught off guard, speechless, and needless to say, he was mesmerized, enticed rather.
He did not know this man was capable of smiling.
Whether it was too late to acknowledge honorifics, Jin bowed his head. His hands tightly gripping his knees to support himself, it was an excuse to let his heart breathe from palpitating.
What was that? The least he could do is to warn him, "I--" even though he could no longer see the blinding effect of that smile, the image of it was vividly stuck in his head.
Not used to seeing him suddenly being polite and obedient, Hiro whistles, his callous thumb brushing against Jin's red cheek lightly, all the way down to his small chin before lifting his head.
Don't hide that face. He wants to see more of it. He looked at Jin like he was the most difficult puzzle to solve, a beautifully messed up innocent man that has been the cause of all his frustration and firsts throughout the marvelous night.
Marvelous would not even define it without him in the picture. Hiro pressed his thumb against Jin's delicate skin, just as he thought, they were too soft to hold. He can feel his pinky finger slightly shaking, yet barely noticeable for the naked eye to see. He grew worried that one touch from him could hurt such frail person.
He likes how Jin talks to him casually. At the very least, he wants him to know that. He had never been as pleased as he is now hearing someone dared to drop honorifics when facing him, nor has he allowed someone to stand approximately too close to his liking.
Jin licked his lips when they ran dry, taken aback at the man's advancements, whilst unaware of how it affected the man before him.
Hiro's eyes went down to Jin's trembling lips as he felt another thunderous shrill from his back, all the way down to the tent between his thighs.
"Hiro--"
"Don't," Hiro massively gulps, his breathing vague mirroring his rigorous thoughts. Before he gets too carried away, he withdrew his hand away from Jin and shoved it back to the pocket of his now tight trousers at the very last second before the elevator doors open before them.
All heads turned towards them while one rushed towards their direction.
Guarded by all the eyes around them, Hiro felt like he was pulled away from a blissful fantasy. A phenomenon that he only once thought of when he was a child.
Human emotions.
"Jin!" Mrs. Saesang's voice can be heard from the distance, her heels loudly clacking against the marbled floor inside the quiet room.
Baffled with a hint of longing he felt, Hiro glanced back and watched Jin by the shoulder.
Jin looked up and their eyes once again came in contact. Hiro's face that was once traced by his sweet smile had now turned back to where he first met him, dark like the abyss. It was like he was with a completely different person before the elevator doors opened.
After a few seconds of just standing and staring at each other, Jin watches how Hiro heavily turned his head away from him as his mother brushed past him to embrace him.