CH 2.1

John looked at himself in the mirror while using the sink.

He was soaked because he had just taken a shower. The saturated lighting of the bathroom clung to the slim and elastic body.

A slightly pale but attractive young man was standing in front of the mirror. His face, beneath his dark brown hair, was delicate. His vivid green eyes, his sharply drawn nose, and his thin lips, gave him a sensitive and aristocratic appearance. His slim body was also well trained, tough as a Doberman.

However, John’s gaze on himself was somewhat insensitive. Shortly after losing interest, he looked at himself in the mirror and grabbed the shirt he had previously pulled out.

Time flew by so fast, like an arrow leaving the hand.

John, who was 11 when he arrived in Richmond, was suddenly 18 years old. Throughout the years he had undergone many changes, both internal and external.

The gangly body grew rapidly and transformed into a lean but balanced body, and it seemed that his weak and depressed side had also long since disappeared; except for one small flaw, which he couldn’t mention to the others. John had grown to a great extent, and became a brilliant young man.

When John opened the bathroom door, steam began to spread. It was already after ten o’clock, but the bedroom was still empty. When John saw his roommate’s vacant bed, he walked over to the desk. Outside the window, a large, pale full moon floated. Instead of lowering the blinds, he opened the window wide. The gentle spring breeze touched John’s forehead as it flowed.

“I can’t sleep like this, anyway…”

Instead of lying down, John, after calming down his anxiety a bit, sat down on the desk and opened the laptop. John listened to it while he had been trying to write an essay. Sweet. A low voice covered his ears, with the sound of a visitor.

“John.”

John turned his head and as expected, Valentine was standing by the door. Whether he was training or not, he always wore a comfortable hoodie, training pants, and a gym bag.

“Why so late?”

Turning the chair around, John opened his mouth, facing Valentine. He didn’t want to play, but there was an inevitable joy in his voice.

“Did I make you wait for a long time?”

Although he could hear the impatience in John’s voice, Valentine asked jokingly with a dripping smile on his lips. John could hear Valentine’s excitement, which lit up the room when he smiled and put on that beautiful face that John couldn’t get used to each day.

“You sure did.”

John shrugged when he answered. Puzzled, just a few steps across the room, Valentine looked at the monitor.

“I have been working on this task. I am quite anxious.”

“Ugh…”

As Valentine leaned over John’s body, his back leaned forward under his great weight. When John groaned as if in pain, Valentine reached out and leaned against the desk. John, trapped in his arms, blinked. Valentine, who was reading the monitor with a serious face, muttered as if he had an internal dialogue.

“It’s Graham’s class. Topic… How does patriotism affect Iran’s national development?”

“Well, I know it’s absurd. The other things I could use had already been taken by others.”

When the embarrassed John responded apologetically, Valentine laughed.

“Did I say something?”

“Your expression says it all. I even have to make an introduction with this. It’s a terrible reality.”

“Graham gives a good rating to people who can express themselves, and he’s also someone with a very conservative way of thinking.”

“So?”

“So? Huh?”

“Thanks for your advice…  If that’s the case, the task is even more difficult. Now I must change everything.”

“Haha.”

Flirtatious, Valentine smiled slightly, put the sports bag on the floor and walked to the closet.

John, unfamiliar with writing an essay, asked behind Valentine’s back who was changing his clothes.

“Why were you so late today?”

“I was exercising. Then I took a shower, so I could come to sleep right away. Are you very sleepy?”

“Sorry if you had to come for that.”

“I’m sorry too.”

When Valentine removed the hood from his head, blond hair spread into the air. After sweeping his hair, he took off the shirt he was wearing. His abdomen, briefly revealed, was tightly formed with tense muscles. As John looked at him with envious eyes, Valentine took water out from the refrigerator and added casually.

“You know. It’s better to be with you.”

“…you’re really funny.”

“I’m being honest.”

Valentine rolled his eyes. He had a face which couldn’t make him feel ashamed.

Just as John had changed, Valentine had changed too.

His appearance, which was unrealistically beautiful, didn’t change, but his small body went through a period of explosive growth. His skeleton became huge and he was almost 1.98 meters tall. Although he had an amazing heavenly voice as a child, his voice changed to a low and deep pitch after puberty.

Valentine was also a talented man, a genius without a rival. He promised that he would only graduate with John and turned down the offer to go to college at Heritage University, which boasts the highest admissions rate of any prestigious university in the world.

There was no reason not to love him, so everyone loved Valentine and wanted to receive his love. For a Beta like John, it was an unfamiliar area, but according to the Omegas, Valentine’s pheromones drove people crazy.

But I’ve never seen him dating anyone…

Valentine was kind to everyone, but at the same time indifferent. Perhaps, his natural indifference was due to the fact that he had never been in love with anyone, since he was born… It was the thought that John was thinking about.

“John, how long are you going to be stuck there?”

Haa, Valentine’s lips caressed John’s earlobe as he moved closer. John, surprised, turned his head and unexpectedly bumped his nose into him. Compared to the embarrassed expression John had, Valentine’s expression was calm. The blue pupil blinked slowly at a close distance, close enough to overlap their gazes.

“What? Do you need help?”

“…uh, no.”

“Then, let’s go to sleep. I’m sleepy too.”

After tightly holding John’s shoulders, Valentine headed for the bed. The beds in their dorm room were much larger than the standard size. Enough for two grown men to sleep there. John, who hesitated for a moment, soon rose from his seat in front of  the laptop. Valentine, leaning forward at the head of the bed, extended his hands to John. He opened his eyes and said mischievously.

“Come on, John. Would you like to sing me a lullaby?”

“No, thanks.”

“Then, I’ll forget anything but this, and spread my arms like this.”

John laughed at Valentine’s verse, which had transformed the lines of Shakespeare’s play. Valentine, who wasted no time, pulled him up and hugged him tightly. John’s entire body was wrapped in a strong pressure.

“You’re warm.”

Valentine, who was supporting John’s back with one thick arm, buried his nose into his neck. The falling hair tickled his chin, but John closed his eyes silently instead of pushing Valentine away.

This was the small, mysterious flaw that John had. Due to his sleep disorder, which occurred when he first arrived in Richmond, John couldn’t sleep well without Valentine. The result was that the pattern that continued from his childhood, was resolved without any treatment.

“How was your day today?” Valentine, who took a deep breath as if drinking his scent, asked John softly from behind.

John’s expression softened. His nervous mind was serene now, and his blinking eyes had stopped. Valentine’s arms, which have been close to him for about seven years, now gave John a deeper sense of stability than anything else in the world.

“Well, it was the same today…” John replied in a sleepy voice, unconsciously creeping into Valentine’s arms and putting his legs over his. Then, Valentine laughed. His laugh gently caressed his cheeks.

“I saw you in front of the chemistry room.”

“And?”

“You were smiling, but what was so interesting?”

John thought blankly as he listened to the whispering voice. In the past, he was the one who hugged Valentine, but now, he looked a bit silly. When did his little angel, Valentine, grow up like this? Before this new impression, instead of responding to his words, John said something unexpected.

“You know, Valentine.”

“Yes, John.”

“Now we are too big… I think this is a little strange.”

Valentine was surprised by his words. He tried to ignore it, but when he thought better of it, he asked in a deep voice.

“Strange?”

“Well, two big boys, in one bed… Just sleeping?”

“Why? Am I too big and gross now?”

At that unexpected answer, John opened his eyes wide. Then, Valentine immediately looked him in the eyes. The faint reflection of the pale moonlight left a sculptural tone. John, who licked his lips, shook his head silently.

“It’s not that… It’s just that I think, I should learn to sleep alone now.”

“Alone?”

“Graduation is near, but I can’t sleep without you. Honestly, it’s true that I leaned too much on you.”

Valentine listened to John with an indecipherable expression. The iris brightened momentarily and floated from within the blue eyes which always glowed warmly. But still, before John felt any dissatisfaction, Valentine gave a cry of joy, and superimposed his body on John’s.

“Why do you think that John? Will you leave me when you graduate?”

Normally, Valentine acted like an adult, but not with John. It was time for John to laugh at him like a child. Valentine whispered in John’s ear, holding his waist very close.

“Who?”

“What?”

“The person who made you say those weird things.”

“There is no such person. I just thought, it would be strange for others to see… Forget it, let’s go to sleep.”

John wasn’t originally very eloquent, and buried his cheeks in Valentine’s arms instead of speaking. The refreshing yet sweet scent welcomed John, gently. Instead of asking further, Valentine silently turned and hugged John more comfortably. John’s slim body was completely trapped in Valentine’s arms.

“Good night, John.”

“Yes, for you too.”

Soon after, a steady breath began to flow between John’s lips. Valentine, who didn’t move until John fell asleep, slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were different from before. They were darkly sunken, and the moonlight was reflected deeply within them. Valentine, who raised his upper body, looked at John.

“Beautiful.”

Valentine slowly traced John’s round forehead, bulging brow bones, and pointed nose. On John’s thin lips, he drew a line with his finger.

“Sweet dreams.”

Along with a sigh to himself, Valentine’s thick lips pressed against John’s forehead. Valentine, lying back on the bed, hugged John’s body, tightly. Then, unconsciously, John sought to deepen the contact with his warm skin. Valentine, who took a deep breath, buried his nose in John’s long neck, finally closed his eyes with a satisfied expression. A sigh, which was more like a whisper, flowed lazily between his red lips.

“My John.”