Chapter 31 – Christmas Eve (Part 3)
Christmas Eve, Part 3
Novel Title: ツァイガルニクの恋の沼 (Zeigarnik’s Love Swamp)
Author：月村奎著 (Tsukimura Kei)
Illustrator：志水ゆき (Shimizu Yuki)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 市川春音 (Ichikawa Harune -MC) & 二ノ宮航輝 (Ninomiya Kouki -ML)
*Please read at novels.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
֍֍֍
With a firm pull, Harune was suddenly pushed onto the king-sized bed. Kouki leaned over him and captured his lips in a kiss.
“Mmph…”
A whirlwind of surprise, sweetness, and confusion surged through Harune’s heart, making it beat so fast he thought it might burst.
“Ah… ah…”
Are lips really this sensitive? The soft tracing of Kouki’s tongue sent electric jolts through Harune. How have I ever eaten or drunk anything with this part of my body?
With every touch, it felt like his body was melting, and the pleasure was so overwhelming it scared him.
While Harune was lost in the sensation of the kiss, Kouki’s hand slid to caress the nape of his neck and his shoulders.
Just like before, Harune instinctively tried to push him away, and Kouki looked down at him with steady eyes.
“Didn’t you come prepared to stay over tonight?”
Prepared? Like emotionally prepared?
“…I, well, I brought a toothbrush.”
Kouki let out a small laugh.
“So, is that a yes? Or a no?”
Kouki’s fingers gently brushed from behind Harune’s ear down to the nape of his neck in a way no mere childhood friend would ever touch, making Harune squirm slightly.
“Well, I mean… isn’t there an order to these things? Like, don’t people usually go on a few dates first…”
“Haven’t we already done that, plenty of times?”
“Well, yeah, but… then, after talking and getting to know each other better…”
“We’ve done that too, over a lifetime. Sure, there was some time apart, but still.”
“Ugh…”
Kouki’s response was too on point for Harune to argue. When he fell silent, Kouki pulled his hand back from where it had been touching Harune.
“But, hey, if it’s too much, I’ll hold back. I don’t want to do anything you don’t like.”
Kouki said this with a laugh, but there was a hint of dejection in his tone that tugged at Harune’s conscience. After Harune had told Kouki he ‘hated’ him twice before, Kouki was probably feeling a bit cautious too.
They had just managed to clear up their feelings for each other. If they got tangled up in another misunderstanding or ended up hurting each other again, it would be a waste of everything they had built.
Harune gently reached out to touch Kouki’s cheek and let his honest feelings slip out.
“It’s not that I don’t like it… it’s just that, well, if a kiss feels this good, I’m scared of how I’ll feel if we go any further…”
Kouki’s face broke into a wide grin. “Was it really that good? So you like kissing, huh?”
His eyes gleamed as he asked the blunt question, making Harune feel like his ears were about to catch fire from the heat rushing to them.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Oh? So you don’t like it?”
Kouki’s expression shifted dramatically as if he had been hurt, and Harune panicked.
“If you’re asking if I like it or not, then… yeah, I guess I do.”
“Okay! Then let’s do it more.”
“Wha—… mmph…”
As soon as Harune opened his mouth to speak, Kouki’s lips sealed his, and his tongue slipped between his teeth. The tip of Kouki’s tongue traced along the sensitive area between Harune’s gums and the inside of his teeth, sending electric jolts through his body. A soft, needy moan escaped his throat.
“…”
Harune was overwhelmed by the confident, deep kiss, and a fleeting thought crossed his mind—maybe Kouki’s earlier dejected expression had been an act to lead him exactly where he wanted. While his mind was absorbed by the intense kiss, Kouki began to pull up his sweater, running his hands over Harune’s now exposed skin.
“Aa… nn…”
He never knew he could feel this much just from someone touching his skin. Every place Kouki’s fingers grazed felt like it was catching fire, leaving Harune’s entire body tingling with a strange sensation.
In between kisses, Kouki murmured softly. “Just like you brought a toothbrush, I also came prepared.”
He briefly sat up, reaching for something on the bedside table.
Prepared? What does he mean by ‘prepared’?
Conflicted between curiosity and fear, Harune instinctively covered his eyes with the back of his hand. It almost felt like he was at a dentist’s office or a hair salon, hoping for someone to drape a cloth over his eyes.
Perhaps misinterpreting Harune’s gesture as him being blinded by the brightness, Kouki switched off the lights. Harune felt somewhat relieved and lowered his hand, but the moonlight filtering through the half-open curtains was unexpectedly bright.
Kouki, now straddling Harune’s body, began stripping off his own clothes. Watching from below, Harune’s heart pounded so loudly that he thought he might faint from the sudden rush of blood and his skyrocketing blood pressure.
Harune couldn’t tell if the pounding in his chest was due to fear or excitement. His breathing became shallow as he struggled with the mixture of emotions.
Their eyes met—Kouki, now bare-chested, looked at him with an intense gaze, and Harune quickly averted his eyes.
“Too sexy to look at, huh? Don’t know where to put your eyes?” Irritated by Kouki’s teasing confidence, Harune snapped his head back, meeting his gaze again.
“That’s not it. I’ve seen you naked since we were kids.”
They had swum together at the school pool, played in the neighbourhood, seen each other shirtless countless times.
But the body in front of him now was nothing like before—Kouki was now a grown man, with broad shoulders and a muscular frame, a body that spoke of maturity.
Kouki leaned down and started to pull at Harune’s already dishevelled clothes, intending to undo them further.
Just the thought of them stripping in a sexual context made Harune’s head spin. Feeling embarrassed at being undressed, he quickly sat up.
Kouki blinked in surprise.
“What’s wrong? Is this too much?”
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
At this point, Harune figured it would be less embarrassing to take his clothes off himself. It’s like getting a vaccination or a blood test—waiting for the needle is scarier than the actual prick.
“Now that’s manly!”
Kouki cheered him on as Harune stripped himself naked, but the embarrassment soon hit him, and he hurriedly dove under the blanket.
֍֍֍
*Translator’s Note: Yup. We have a mature chapter coming up next. I actually don’t know how to cut them into pieces. So the whole mature chapter will be on my blog. Please click the link below to read the next chapter, and I will continue posting on Novels Space chapter 33 (skipping chapter 32) next. -K
Next update: [Random Days]
֍֍֍
Would appreciate some donation. Thanks!
