#49

The man was tipsy and kept giggling. While it’s nice to laugh a lot, it was quite a sight to see him acting like that in front of others.

“Hey, Ki-beom, did you move to Daejeon when you were in sixth grade? That kid moved to Daejeon with his uncle. Oh, if it weren’t for that incident… When Ki-beom left, the village became as quiet as a mouse. It was so lonely I can’t even describe it.”

“Come on, hyung. Why are you bringing up something from 20 years ago? You sound like an old man. I used to hate it when the elders in the neighborhood would tell old stories.”

Kwon Yong-jun stopped the youth leader. He shot him a look that was both scolding and warning. The youth leader cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink.

“What incident from 20 years ago?”

Tae-heun asked, but the two of them, as if they had rehearsed it, changed the subject.

They shouldn’t have brought it up at all. He grumbled inwardly. Tae-heun guessed it was related to the shaman story the youth leader had mentioned before. People were surprisingly reluctant to talk about stories tied to shamanistic beliefs.

“Ugh, I need to go to the bathroom. Why do I have to pee so badly?”

The youth leader stood up awkwardly.

“Should I grill some squid?”

“Sure. Squid sounds good.”

Kwon Yong-jun asked Tae-heun, but the youth leader answered instead. Kwon Yong-jun also got up and went to the kitchen. Now it was just the man and Tae-heun left alone.

Tae-heun stared intently at the man’s face. It was a face that didn’t even show a hint of mischief. The man’s face, flushed from alcohol, didn’t turn redder from Tae-heun’s gaze. He simply blinked, curious about why he was being looked at.

“Little sparrow.”

Tae-heun said. The man smiled shyly.

“You look like a little sparrow. Really.”

The man’s mouth opened slightly.

“I’m a peacock.”

Tae-heun cupped his hands and slowly spread his fingers, mimicking a peacock fanning its tail. The man laughed, showing his teeth.

“Beautiful.”

The man’s eyes sparkled. It was as if he were genuinely admiring a peacock. Seeing the man’s innocent expression, Tae-heun felt a sense of admiration himself. Perhaps he was even moved. His heart felt tight.

“I’m not curious at all about Ki-beom’s mischievous days. Now is much better.”

He winked and threw a flirtatious glance. The man squinted his eyes.

The youth leader returned, and Kwon Yong-jun brought out the grilled squid. On the TV, lovers were shouting at each other. The man, drunk and well past his bedtime, kept dozing off. Kwon Yong-jun kept catching the man’s eye as he stole glances at him. Every time their eyes met, Kwon Yong-jun smiled. The fleshy fat under his eyes, which he called “baby fat,” moved every time he smiled.

The youth leader, nearly drunk, sparkled his eyes at the man leaning against the sliding door, fighting off sleep. It was obvious what he was about to say. It was the kind of talk that couldn’t be avoided when men gathered.

“Ki-beom doesn’t like that kind of thing. Even if I bring it up, he doesn’t react, so it’s just embarrassing for me. I don’t know why he turned out like that.”

The youth leader welcomed the sight of the man sleeping, and Kwon Yong-jun looked at him with a somewhat pitying expression, as if he had expected this.

“Yong-jun doesn’t like it either. That guy pretends to be so well-behaved now that he’s married. But what does it matter? He takes off his wedding ring when his wife isn’t around.”

“Hyung, I’ve told you several times that I don’t like wearing rings.”

“That’s just your excuse, you brat. Is that even an excuse?”

Kwon Yong-jun sighed deeply.

“Tae-heun, don’t believe everything this hyung says. He looks like he could catch a cow, but he’s really just a coward. He can’t even go to Seoul because he’s afraid of being looked down on while singing about Seoul girls. Ugh, what a coward.”

Despite Kwon Yong-jun’s teasing, the youth leader was undeterred and simply waited for Tae-heun to continue his story. The drunkenness on his face, with bloodshot whites of his eyes, was quite a sight. Still, Tae-heun didn’t lose his smile. He started the story he wanted to tell again, and the youth leader kept gasping in admiration, swallowing his saliva.

Before long, Kwon Yong-jun, who had moved closer to the man, supported the man’s head as it drooped forward, eventually resting it on his shoulder. The way he caressed the man’s cheek was reminiscent of how one would treat a lover. It made Tae-heun feel quite uncomfortable.

Tae-heun glared and poured soju into his glass.

He dozed off in the living room, tangled up. Tae-heun woke up to a smacking sound. It wasn’t the sound of kisses or caresses, but rather a sticky sucking noise. A sound that shouldn’t be heard in this place. Frowning deeply, he opened his eyes.

Slowly, he turned his head.

The youth leader was sleeping soundly, snoring so loudly it was almost painful to hear. Kwon Yong-jun and the man were nowhere to be seen. He turned his head in another direction. There, he saw the man’s feet. Following his feet upward, he spotted a small figure curled up in the darkness. It was Kwon Yong-jun.

Kwon Yong-jun was kneeling between the man’s spread thighs, his face hidden. Instead, his head moved. Every time it rhythmically bobbed up and down, the sticky sucking sound continued. He wondered if he was seeing things because he was drunk. Tae-heun rubbed his eyes.

Right in front of him, Kwon Yong-jun was sucking the man’s genitals.

He shot up. Kwon Yong-jun, engrossed in his task, didn’t even notice Tae-heun had gotten up. Clutching the man’s limp member as if it were a treasure, he busily moved his mouth.

You bastard!

Tae-heun quickly looked around. He focused hard to avoid throwing a punch. He saw an empty plate and a liquor glass left on the table. Without thinking, he lifted the table and swung it at Kwon Yong-jun. It later occurred to him that the man’s genitals could have been severed.

Crash! The glasses and plates on the table fell to the floor with a loud noise. At the same time, Kwon Yong-jun toppled over. The man flinched. He swung the table again. After that, he had no memory.

When he regained consciousness, the man was holding Tae-heun tightly from behind, pleading, “Please stop, please stop.” Kwon Yong-jun was injured but not fatally. His face was a mess, swollen and bruised.

Tae-heun was panting.

“Hey, you perverted bastard. Is there nothing else to do but suck the dick of someone who’s sleeping? You son of a bitch, do you have no shame?”

“Please, just stop and go.”

Kwon Yong-jun had his head bowed low. He seemed scared of being caught, glancing at the youth leader. The youth leader was peacefully snoring amidst the chaos, completely wasted.

“Please, just stop and go.”

The man pulled Tae-heun with all his might. He was trying desperately to get him out of the house. Tae-heun was strong enough to easily flip the man over and finish off Kwon Yong-jun. But he couldn’t do that with the man’s pleas ringing in his ears.

As soon as they stepped outside, Tae-heun shoved the man away. He looked him straight in the eye.

“Ki-beom, do you even know what that bastard did?”

“……”

“Wow, I never thought I’d run into a pervert in a place like this.”

“Tae-heun, please stop.”

“Stop what! That son of a bitch was sucking your dick while you were sleeping.”

The man interrupted Tae-heun.

“I know. I know, so please stop.”

He said it as if he had given up.

“You know? What do you know… son of a bitch.”

For a moment, he was at a loss for words. His mind was in turmoil.

So the man and Kwon Yong-jun were that kind of relationship. He had suspected it but believed it was a misunderstanding. He never expected to get a confirmation like this.

He felt a surge of betrayal. The man looked different now. No matter how much he was single, to be involved with a guy who had a pregnant wife was something else. To be in such a relationship with someone who might wake up at any moment was incredibly disappointing.

“Oh, I see. You two were having a good time, and I barged in without realizing it.”

He sneered. He looked down at the man’s lower half. What had been standing tall was now completely deflated, tucked away in the man’s shorts.

“No, if that was the case, you should have said something earlier. What is this? Now I’m the only crazy one. I wonder if Ki-beom’s boyfriend will be okay. I feel like I hit him pretty hard.”

He raised one corner of his mouth in a smile and deliberately raised his voice.

The man’s face twisted in pain.

“Ugh, son of a bitch. What a sight to see.”

He roughly swept his hair back.

“Ki-beom, but let’s not do this anymore. If you’re going to do it, go into a room. What is this? You’re not even an animal. I didn’t know you were the type to enjoy thrills.”

Cruel words kept spilling out.

“Does Ji-hye know? You did that in front of a pregnant woman.”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.