Kang parked the car and stayed there for a few seconds, staring at the steering wheel.
The project had been approved. The system was entering the testing phase, deadlines were ahead of schedule, everything under control. But he knew that wasn't what was twisting his stomach.
It was Johan.
The first time seeing him after the kiss.
The kiss that hadn't left his head since.
The kiss that was way too real to just turn into a memory.
He took a deep breath. Ran a hand through his hair. Tried to convince himself he was ready. That he'd keep his composure.
Lies.
He climbed to Johan's floor with steps too controlled to be casual. Stopped in front of the door, swallowed hard. Knocked three times and walked in.
Johan was sitting on the couch, like he'd been waiting for him.
The look they exchanged wasn't routine. Wasn't coworkers. It was that kind of look that freezes everything around. That tension of two people who know the next word could change something.
Kang opened his mouth, ready to say "good morning" with his rehearsed CEO calm, maybe even joke about the project's progress, pretend everything was the same.
But Johan stood up.
Walked straight to him. Firm steps, heavy breathing.
Stopped just one step away and said, voice low and steady:
— Kiss me again.
Kang blinked.
Thought he'd misheard. That it was wishful thinking. But no, he'd heard it right.
"Kiss me again."
The sentence he didn't know he needed until he heard it.
For a moment, the world went silent. The walls, the clock, time itself. Everything.
He took two steps. Then one more. Johan didn't back away.
— Are you sure? — Kang asked, even though he already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear it.
Johan nodded once. Serious. No hesitation.
Kang raised a hand and touched the side of his face, like checking if this was real. Rested his forehead against Johan's and closed his eyes for a second.
— If I kiss you now... I won't be able to pretend this is just another thing.
Johan didn't move back.
— I don't want to pretend either.
That was enough.
Kang grabbed his shirt and pulled him in.
The kiss exploded between them like something that had waited too long to happen.
It wasn't polite. It wasn't soft.
It was urgency.
Tongues, teeth, messy breathing. A beautiful chaos, hot and overwhelming. Kang felt like he was drowning and suddenly found air.
Johan kissed him like each move uncovered something new.
Kang's hand slid up to Johan's jaw, feeling the heat of his skin, the shiver down his spine.
— Is this real? — he whispered against his lips.
Johan stared back, eyes dark, pupils blown wide, with a half-impatient smile.
— I'm kissing you and you wanna talk?
He pulled Kang by the neck and kissed him again. Deeper. Rougher.
Kang let out a low groan, completely giving in. Johan pulled, guided, led the kiss, and Kang let him, gladly. Because he also wanted to be taken to that place where words didn't matter anymore.
Kang's hands grabbed Johan's waist, then slid upward, across his back, locking around his neck. He held there, firm, like holding a promise.
Johan moaned into his mouth, raw, broken, real. One of those sounds that say more than any sentence.
And that's when Kang realized: this time, there was no fear in it.
The kiss was real. Willing. Wanted. Whole.
Johan's body pressed into his, and his hands started moving. Up Kang's arms, across his shoulders, to his neck. His fingers tangled in Kang's hair. And stayed there.
Like it was home.
And Kang let him, heart racing.
Johan gasped. Between kisses, he mumbled, voice hoarse:
— This... this shouldn't feel this good.
Kang smiled, lips still on his.
— But it does.
He kissed the corner of Johan's mouth. Then his cheek. Then back to his lips.
And then, they instinctively pulled back, breathless, eyes locked on each other. Johan's hands still at Kang's neck, Kang's fingers digging into his waist.
Just the sound of ragged breathing in the air. Neither of them spoke.
Until Kang whispered, low and almost guilty:
— Let me touch you again.
It wasn't a question. It was a want that slipped out.
Johan didn't answer with words. He just pulled Kang in again, slower, deeper, like he wanted to carve the moment into their bodies.
It was an unspoken yes.
Kang's hands tightened. One stayed at Johan's waist. The other gripped the back of his neck. And he wasn't letting go anytime soon.
Johan trembled. But it wasn't fear, it was intensity. His whole body letting itself feel.
When his back hit the cold wall, the impact pulled a gasp out of him. Kang pressed against him, chest to chest, hips to hips.
He wanted to be there. All of him.
And Johan let him.
They kissed like two people who had waited seven years.
And when the kiss finally broke, the silence that followed felt intimate.
Johan rested his forehead on Kang's shoulder, breathing hard, eyes shut.
— That was… — he started, but the sentence died halfway.
Kang finished it for him, without arrogance, without expectation:
— Real.
Johan nodded, eyes still closed.
— I'm sorry.
— For what?
— For being difficult. For not being easy. For... being a lot.
Kang didn't hesitate. Ran his fingers gently through Johan's hair.
— You're worth every second.
Johan looked up. He looked lighter. More human.
— So are you.