36. CHAPTER 36
CILLIAN
Morning light stabbed through the curtains of Aster Court, way too fucking bright. Moon was still plastered to my chest, hair a complete disaster, slow breaths tickling my neck. One arm locked around his waist. He fit against me perfectly. Dangerous how much I liked it.
He stirred with a low groan, face scrunching. My eyes found his, thumb brushing his jaw. I leaned in—
“No, no, no—” Moon shoved at my chest, eyes wide. “I need to brush my teeth. Fuck.”
He scrambled out of bed faster than a man with that bad a headache should’ve been able to and bolted for the bathroom. I dropped back against the pillows, rolling my eyes with a grin. “Sure. Run away, prince.”
Water ran. Aggressive brushing sounds. A minute later he climbed back in, crawling over me like he was still half-asleep.
“Do you have a pounding headache too?” he muttered, collapsing half on top of me. “Is the ceiling moving?”
“No.” I couldn’t help smiling, pulling him closer. “Some of us know our limits.”
“Show-off.” He nuzzled his face into my neck, then winced. “We survived the first year. Somehow.”
His body tensed against mine. He sat up too fast.
“Fuck, I regret that.” He swayed, hair wild, then turned to me, eyes serious. “Wait. I just remembered. Last night. About… you know who. Are you okay, Cillian?”
I touched his chest, right over his heart. “I’d probably feel better if you lay on top of me.”
Moon made a frustrated sound but slammed his arms around me anyway, squeezing until it hurt. “I don’t know why you had to do that,” he whispered against my shoulder. His fingers dug in. “Promise me you’re okay.”
I squeezed the back of his neck. “I’m okay whenever I’m with you, Moon.”
He kissed me first, almost carefully. Then the careful broke. I opened my mouth, took what he gave, tasting mint and leftover champagne, while his nails scraped my scalp. My hands found his ass, squeezed hard, and dragged him down against my cock.
He moaned into my mouth, the sound vibrating through me as his hips rolled, grinding slow and needy.
I shifted up against the headboard. He followed without breaking the kiss, thighs bracketing my hips, rocking harder.
I licked deeper into his mouth, one hand fisting his hair to tilt his head exactly how I wanted.
His moan turned desperate, cock hard against my stomach through our boxers.
He tore his mouth away, breathing ragged, forehead pressed to mine. “Cillian…” Then his eyes widened. “Ah, fuck. It’s almost noon. The brunch. We need to get ready. And our flight to Korea leaves this afternoon, and I still haven’t packed.”
I groaned, trying to drag his mouth back to mine. “Don’t leave me hard and horny, prince.”
Moon stopped, eyes dark, but he shook his head. “We’ll miss the brunch. We need to say goodbye to our friends. We can fuck later.”
“Or maybe right now.” I grabbed him, flipped him onto his stomach, and settled on top of him before he could protest. He wiggled, trying to buck me off, but I caught both his wrists and pinned them hard against his lower back.
With my free hand I yanked his boxers down to his thighs.
My cock pressed against his hole. “Mmm. I like this.”
“Cillian—” His voice cracked. “I can’t miss Vivi. She leaves for France earlier than us.”
I slapped his ass hard. The sharp sound cracked through the room. Moon yelped into the pillow.
I let his wrists go with a heavy sigh. “Ugh. Fine.” I rolled off him, still painfully hard.
Moon pushed up and headed for the bathroom.
I caught his wrist at the last second and pulled him back.
He turned into me. We stood there, chests pressed tight, his arms locked around my waist, mine around his back.
No words. Just his heartbeat thudding against mine and the faint copper smell still clinging to my memory from yesterday.
I lifted my thumb to his cheek, stroking once. Moon smiled back.
“Get in the shower,” I said quietly. “I’ll shower after you.”
***
The cafeteria buzzed with end-of-year noise. Voices overlapping, trays clattering. I sat with the others, watching the door. Moon walked in a minute later, squinting.
Vivi spotted him. She tossed a bottle of headache pills across the table. “Catch. Figured you’d need these too.”
Moon caught it, dropped into the seat next to me, and shook two out. He stole a swig straight from Vivi’s water bottle. She didn’t even pretend to care.
Aleksei sat quiet on her other side. Sawyer was already attacking his plate. Misha next to him.
Vivi leaned in. “Are Kaelan and Noah actually a thing now? Or…? Wasn’t Kaelan bullying him quite aggressively two months ago?”
Sawyer snorted. “He lost his mind when Declan’s crew jumped Noah. Complete script flip.”
Misha raised an eyebrow. “How exactly do you know everyone’s dirt, Sawyer?”
Sawyer leaned back, smirk sharp. “People talk to me. I’m pleasant to look at. And staying in good standing with the Whitlocks opens doors.”
Moon shook his head.
I laughed into my coffee. Moon’s hand slid onto my thigh under the table and stayed there, warm.
Vivi, still clearly hungover, perked up anyway. “You excited about going home, Hyun?”
Moon nodded, leaning into my side a little. “It’ll be good to be home for a bit.”
Vivi’s eyes met mine. “You’ve never been, right, Cillian?”
“Not yet.”
I’d practiced my Korean. Enough to get by. Moon caught my eye.
“Just be yourself. They’ll deal with it.”
I grinned. “Already found a few things for us. Han River night walk. Hot springs up north. Couple stuff.”
Moon groaned. “Oh god.”
Vivi grinned. “You should do the Namsan Tower lock thing. Very romantic.”
Misha barked a laugh. “Yeah, just use protection. Don’t come back for year two pregnant, Moon.”
Sawyer raised an eyebrow. “Who’s saying Moon isn’t the one fucking Cil?”
I just grinned and shook my head. Moon shot me a look. We were definitely giving too much away.
“No fucking way,” Sawyer said, waving at Misha. “Told you Moon topped him. Pay up.”
Misha sighed, pulling out his phone. “Fine. Thanks, Cillian. You had to get fucked. I’m losing money and he’s richer than all of us.”
Sawyer laughed, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have bet against it, you stupid Russian.”
The table went quiet, then broke into laughter.
Aleksei flipped a page in an actual newspaper, sighing, black coffee in hand like it was 1995.
Sawyer couldn’t resist. “How old are you, Aleksei? Because you act seventy-two with that newspaper and plain black coffee.”
Aleksei didn’t even look up. “It’s called having standards.”
We finished the meal in comfortable pieces of conversation. When it was time to go, Vivi hugged Sawyer hard, then pulled Moon in tight.
She turned to me last, rising up to kiss my cheek. “Take good care of Hyun this summer.”
Moon rolled his eyes beside me.
Sawyer stood. “I’m out. Places to be.”
Misha gave me a firm pat on the back.
I smirked. “Thank God. Thought you were going to hug me.”
Misha snorted.
“You heading back to Russia?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Exchange program.”
I kept my voice low. “Ah. Exchange program.”
Misha’s mouth twitched.
We left the cafeteria together. I grabbed my bag from Briar House and met Moon outside Aster Court. The black G-Wagon I’d arranged waited at the curb, driver standing by.
Moon was already there, on the phone, pacing tight circles by the car. “Alright, Mom. I'll see you soon. Cil is here, so I gotta go. Okay.” He turned away from me. “I know. I know. Bye.”
He hung up. I walked up behind him. “You call me Cil now?”
Moon turned, cheeks faintly pink. “No.”
I moved in close and pulled him against me. “You said you loved me last night.”
“No. Get away.”
“Oh but you did, prince.” I grinned. “You loooove me.”
“Stop that,” he hissed, but there was no real fight in it. The driver cleared his throat politely. Older guy, sharp suit.
“You boys ready?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Moon muttered.
I let him go and we climbed into the backseat. The driver pulled away smoothly, heading toward the private airstrip near Evermourne.
After a few minutes of quiet road, the driver spoke, eyes on the rearview mirror. “Not many boys your age held hands like that when I was young.”
Moon went stiff beside me, suddenly very interested in the passing trees.
I squeezed his thigh. “He’s worth the trouble.”
The driver nodded slowly. “I loved a man once. Back in the sixties.” His hands tightened on the wheel. “People found out.”
Moon looked at me.
“He didn’t survive it.”
I took his hand, laced our fingers, and held on. “We’re careful,” I said. “Just not ashamed.”
The driver met my eyes in the mirror for a moment, then gave a small nod. The rest of the ride passed in thoughtful silence, the jet waiting on the tarmac ahead.
The jet climbed smoothly into the sky. Thirteen hours to Seoul. Moon eventually fell asleep against my shoulder. I kept my hand on his thigh the whole flight, thumb brushing slow circles. Mine. Even thirty thousand feet up.
We landed at a private terminal outside Seoul as the sun was coming up. The air hit differently the second we stepped off the jet—warmer, thick with humidity, faint pine and city exhaust. Moon’s home turf.
A black car waited on the tarmac. The driver loaded our bags. Moon stayed quiet the whole ride into the city, fingers tapping restlessly on his knee. I didn’t push. He was already bracing himself for his family.
The car finally slowed at a set of tall black gates. They opened onto a sprawling mansion set back on manicured grounds—sleek modern lines mixed with traditional Korean architecture.
Moon stared out the window, jaw tight.
“You good?” I asked.
He let out a shaky breath that almost passed for a laugh. “Not even close.” His gaze stayed fixed on the mansion. “But I have to do this. For me. For you. For us.”
I reached over and squeezed the back of his neck once. “Then lean on me until you don’t have to.”