By Zephyria Soft lips touched his, and a thick tongue, pushing through the parted gap, rummaged inside his mouth. Having done it a few times, there was no hesitation in the movements. As if trying to lick away his everything, large hands cupping his face rubbed his cheeks and tickled his ears.
Rustle, the hand gripping the beanbag tightened. His body twisted involuntarily.
Suffocating.
He felt like he was being devoured. A chilling sensation ran down his spine. Eui-jae reached out and groped for the body on top of him. As he gripped the straight, firm shoulders, lips parted with a wet sound. A thumb dug into the corner of his lips.
“Breathe.”
Ah. Only then did a small exclamation escape. He must have been holding his breath without realizing it. As his airway suddenly opened, a fit of light coughs erupted. His chest heaved up and down with each small cough. Lips touched his cheek.
“I thought you were getting used to it…”
A gentle voice asked.
“When will you get used to it?”
His body twitched. As the coughs subsided, the hand that had been caressing his face moved across his neck and settled on his chest.
Thump, thump, thump, a large hand touched his heart, beating faster than ever. Lukewarm warmth pressed down on his heart. Eui-jae covered his eyes with his arm and slowly regulated his breathing. A voice laced with laughter pierced his ear.
“You should breathe through your nose. Breathe.”
“Get your hand off…”
“It’s beating too fast… your heart.”
The moment he heard those words, his whole body tensed up.
Ah, damn it. Eui-jae cursed inwardly. How could a living person hide the sound of their heartbeat? It was impossible unless they were dead. A low chuckle was heard. The hand pressing down on his heart felt like a large stone. But instead of feeling suffocated, he strangely felt a sense of stability.
‘No… wait a minute.’
Eui-jae widened his eyes as he regulated his breathing. The faint footsteps he had heard in the distance were getting closer. Eui-jae was about to grab the hand on his chest and abruptly raise his upper body when knock, knock, a knock was heard.
“Hey, Hyung-nim? Can I come in?”
The panting breath in the darkness stopped abruptly. Eui-jae stealthily rolled his eyes to locate the mask. Sa-young glared, as if sensing the gaze leaving him.
But Eui-jae was in no state to read his expression. He couldn’t show this side of himself to the Mackerels who were J’s fans! He quickly reached out and snatched the mask lying on the floor.
Just as he was about to put on the mask, thud, his wrist was grabbed. Eui-jae whispered urgently.
“What are you doing!”
“I should be the one saying that. What are you doing right now?”
“I’m trying to cover my face!”
“Huh.”
Sa-young snorted.
“We haven’t even started yet?”
“What do you mean we haven’t started, hey, get off. Someone’s coming in.”
“We can just lock the door…”
“I saw that crazy brat coming out of the wall, okay? If you don’t open the door, he’ll break through the wall.”
“Ah… you saw that too?”
Eui-jae glared.
“You saw that too? Are you doing this knowing that? Are you crazy?”
“Ha…”
Sa-young released his wrist. At the same time, soft hair touched his neck. A sound of grinding teeth was heard.
“Why are there so many crazy brats getting in the way…”
Was this something to be upset about? Eui-jae was dumbfounded. Wasn’t this Mackerel’s Shield? It wasn’t a suitable place to begin with…
‘Ah, shiX, what the hell am I saying.’
Eui-jae screamed silently and tore at his hair. What suitable place! Where is there a suitable place to do this! He must have been completely bewitched by the darkness. Eui-jae hurriedly covered his face with the mask. His wildly beating heart calmed down.
He pressed the remote control to turn on the beam projector, and pat, light poured out. Eui-jae looked at Sa-young, who was on top of him.
Sa-young, who had been burying his head in his neck, slowly raised his head.
His face, which anyone could see was sulky, was clearly displeased, and not only his face but even his neck was flushed red. As he reached out and pretended to tidy up his disheveled hair, tucking it behind his ear, a red earlobe was briefly revealed between the black strands of hair. Pfft, a small laugh burst out.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No… I think you need to wear a Gas mask too.”
“……”
Knock, knock, the knock was heard again.
“Heyo~ Customers? If you don’t answer, I’m just going to open the door and come in? It’s urgent.”
Eui-jae replied loudly.
“Ah, wait a minute.”
“Oh, Hyung! I thought you fell asleep. I was wondering if I should call a locksmith. Can you open the door?”
The younger Mackerel said in a polite voice. Eui-jae threw the Gas mask to Lee Sa-young and stood up. Soon after, the red face disappeared behind the Gas mask. Eui-jae, who was running his palm over his neck for no reason, was about to grab the doorknob. Sa-young, who was fiddling with the Gas mask fastener, shouted.
“Wait, Hyung…!”
Bang.
“……”
“…Huh?”
Eui-jae looked back at the inside of the room, then turned his gaze to the Mackerels standing in front of the already opened door. Mackerel Hyung stammered, uh, uh. The younger Mackerel quickly covered Mackerel Hyung’s eyes with his hand.
“Ha…”
Lee Sa-young, sitting in the room, let out a sigh that seemed to boil up from his core. He stood up and stood behind Eui-jae as if supporting him. From behind, fingers pressed painfully on his back.
“No, why… Ah.”
Only then did Eui-jae realize his attire. His hair was disheveled from his own actions, and the shirt buttons were loosened to his collarbone by Lee Sa-young’s handiwork, and his shirt and jacket were wrinkled. He didn’t even know where he had thrown his tie. A flower garden unfolded in Eui-jae’s mind, and an unidentified voice echoed.
Ah~ I’m screwed~
The karma of only wearing a combat uniform when he was J and a hoodie and apron when he was a part-timer was coming back to him like this. Because there was no need to worry about clothes! But the survival instinct that shone even brighter when cornered moved his body. Eui-jae leaned his elbow against the door frame and stood in an arrogant posture.
“Sorry. We had a bit of a difference of opinion.”
“Yes?”
“A bit of a fight.”
“A, a fight?”
The Mackerel Hyung with his eyes covered stammered. Eui-jae replied nonchalantly.
“I played a video from when he was young, and he suddenly rushed at me, telling me not to watch it. So we had a bit of a physical fight.”
“……”
The gaze fixed on the back of his head was murderous. It was a hot gaze that seemed capable of creating a bald spot on the back of his head just by looking. Well, anyway, it wasn’t wrong. What they had just done was also a kind of physical fight, wasn’t it? Words flowed out as if he had oiled his tongue.
“It’s the first time I’ve fought in a suit, so I couldn’t clean up properly. But nothing inside is broken.”
“Yo, you shouldn’t, shouldn’t fight.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Yo, you don’t need to, to apologize… Ta, take, take your hand away.”
“Ah, yeah~ okay, okay. Sorry.”
The younger Mackerel smiled brightly and removed the hand that had been covering Hyung’s eyes. The gaze of the younger Mackerel, who he briefly met, was lewd, but he quietly suppressed it with a clenched fist. Eui-jae asked as he buttoned his shirt.
“So, what’s the urgent news?”
“Ah! Urgent news. That is… Ta-da.”
The younger Mackerel suddenly held out a tablet. A photo was displayed. Eui-jae narrowed his eyes. Sa-young, who was standing behind him, also tilted his head over Eui-jae’s shoulder. The figure in the photo was…
“…What is this?”
A pure white operating room, a man lying on the operating table connected to all sorts of machines. The man’s body was covered in knife marks. And a man with a scalpel in one hand and a white aura shining in the other was standing in front of the operating table, stabbing the man on the operating table with the scalpel.
A white gown and long white hair tied into a single braid. Eui-jae had seen someone dressed like this before.
“…Nam Woo-jin?”
“Correct!”
“Why is there a picture of Nam Woo-jin?”
“Would you like to take a closer look at the subject the Doctor is dissecting? Even if you haven’t met him in person, it’s a face you encountered in the video I just showed you.”
“…Ah.”
“Tsk.”
Sa-young clicked his tongue. An arm that popped out next to his chest enlarged the photo. The man with his eyes closed was also familiar.
“That’s Matthew. Where did you get this photo?”
“There’s a si, site on the dark web. Where… people who support Prometheus, us, gather. You ca, can’t join without an invitation and a sponsor.”
The younger Mackerel interjected.
“Lee Sa-young Guild Leader, who has been reclusive for three months, needs to listen from the basics. Well… the site opened after the Day of Change, but it wasn’t mentioned much at first. But…”
The younger Mackerel took back the tablet, manipulated something, and then held it out again. Flames were embedded in the black screen. Below that, several lines of different white letters followed.
The Doomsday must be stopped by human power.
The same sentence written in several national languages. Eui-jae frowned. The younger Mackerel shrugged.
“About two weeks ago, the number of subscribers exploded.”
Two weeks ago. It was somewhat in line with the time when Lee Sa-young’s absence was slowly surfacing and J’s performance was taken for granted.
“……”
“This photo was also uploaded on this site. It seems like there are supporters within the Seowon Guild too, right?”
“How did you guys join?”
“Can we even be called information brokers if we can’t join a place like this? Where…”
Fingers tapped somewhere on the screen repeatedly. Then, an animation of flames intensely rising appeared, and soon a page like a bulletin board appeared. On the screen with a mixture of languages from all countries, the younger Mackerel pressed the Korean flag, and soon a Korean bulletin board appeared.
After a while, a small pop-up window appeared in the center of the screen, and long red letters followed.
Those who see the scenery of the already arrived Doomsday, do not be afraid.
It is proof of the belief that you have been chosen by the Doomsday.
Do not trust the System that has scattered chaos and destruction throughout the world.
Do not trust the Hunters who fight with the power of the System.
Believe in yourself who has seen the Doomsday. Only with human power can we overcome the Doomsday.
“Is this a cult or something…”
There were many people in the world who spouted Doomsday theories. How many Doomsday theorists were swarming after the Day of the Rift. Of course, none of them were right. Eui-jae pressed ‘X’ to close the pop-up window. Then, other windows appeared in turn. The letters written there were even redder than the ones that had been displayed earlier.
Do not trust the hero J.
He is a traitor who abandoned the world and ran away.