MOTD Side Story 2.9

Side Story: Return Episode 9

After spending a night in a quarantine shelter that lacked even a proper bed, Ha-jin was finally able to move his residence to the resort the following morning. Exhausted from the various check-ups, disinfection, and lingering travel fatigue, he found it difficult to leave the bed.

He continued to sleep throughout the day and only woke up late in the afternoon. Eden had already returned after finishing his scheduled work.

“By the way, did something happen with Matthew?”

Eden asked as he hung his jacket in the closet. Ha-jin blinked his eyes, which were swollen from a long slumber, and tilted his head.

“Matthew?”

“The bodyguard. The bald one.”

Ah…. It seemed Eden had managed to catch something Ha-jin had mumbled before falling asleep. Ha-jin replied in a raspy voice.

“No, it’s nothing much. I just thought that bodyguard might be former military.”

Pulling a table chair closer to sit, Eden lightly poked Ha-jin’s cheek as he sat blankly on the bed. He checked for a fever with the back of his hand to see if he was hurt anywhere, then brushed back Ha-jin’s disheveled bangs.

“All of a sudden?”

“I happened to see his tattoo yesterday, and unauthorized copyit looked so similar to the one Jeong Tae-geon has. It visit our siteeven had the initials D.F. I [Read on Read BL Novels]assume it stands for Delta Force.”

Eden, who had been diligently stroking Ha-jin’s hair, let out a short sigh.

“You have a keen eye. But is it okay for you to be so interested in another man?”

“No, it’s not that, I just wondered if he was Jeong Tae-geon’s junior.”

Feeling awkward at Eden’s indifferent reaction, Ha-jin scratched his cheek.

“Oh, right, I saw that person too. You know, back then, when that environmental group was distributing private newspapers.”

Ha-jin rambled, his face still half-asleep.

“There was a column in there, and, um… he’s the person who appears in it. A PhD in microbiology…”

After gulping down some bottled water, Ha-jin slowly recalled the scene. As he described the man’s appearance in detail, the fog in his mind gradually began to clear.

However, Eden remained lukewarm, as if he had no interest in any of it.

“Are you going to spend your entire time talking about other men the moment you wake up?”

“Hey, why do you say it like that… Huh? Why are you suddenly lifting my shirt?”

Eden’s large hand suddenly intruded beneath the loose white short-sleeved T-shirt.

“Well, I’m so angry that my hand just moved on its own.”

“Stop pretending to be angry, you weren’t even listening properly… Ugh! Get your hand off.”

After playing with Ha-jin’s nipple for a while as if caressing a round blueberry, Eden gave it a short, quick kiss. Gradually lowering his lips to the nape of Ha-jin’s neck, he began to nibble on the skin.

As he applied a slight pressure with his teeth—just enough not to leave a scar—Ha-jin’s breathing began to quicken.

“Ah…”

It felt good. It seemed that the more languid and tired his body was, the more his sexual sensitivity was maximized. Ha-jin, writhing in his contradictory state, sank his teeth into Eden’s firm shoulder. Eden laughed silently as a round bite mark appeared on the white shirt.

Under the slight arousal, Ha-jin’s member began to half-rise. However, Eden’s body, which had approached as if he were about to do something immediately, suddenly pulled away.

Ha-jin, catching his breath, looked at him puzzledly.

“Go down to the restaurant and have dinner first. A separate evening meeting has been scheduled, so it’ll take another two hours before I can return to the room. I came to tell you that.”

Ha-jin couldn’t hide his hollow expression, like a child who had their favorite snack snatched away without warning.

“You’re just leaving after making me like this?”

“Spend your time thinking only of me instead of other men.”

“Wow…”

How dare he play with a magician. Clenching his fist, Ha-jin pretended to throw jabs, lightly tapping Eden’s firm chest.

Eden lightly poked Ha-jin’s cheek as he acted childishly.

“I’ll be back, so be eating dinner. Jeffrey and Yun Mi-so seem to be hanging out in the lobby, so try contacting them.”

“Is Jeong Tae-geon having the meeting while eating dinner?”

“He had a late lunch, so he’s not interested. I’ll be going now.”

He kissed Ha-jin’s lips longly once more. Before long, the door closed. Ha-jin stared blankly at the hallway where he had disappeared before lying back down on the bed.

Then, as he stealthily caressed his still half-erect member, he let out a scoffing laugh. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being played by Jeong Tae-geon more and more every day. How did he end up getting hooked by a gay man…

Shaking his head, Ha-jin stopped his trivial hand-play and stood up to find Mi-so and Jeffrey.

Two long legs strode boldly across the bright hallway. Passing the elevator right in front of him with a steady pace and refined gait, Eden unhesitatingly opened the stairwell entrance marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only.’

Instead of going down, he turned upward. Because the sensor lights weren’t working, the inside of the stairs was pitch black. The atmosphere was somewhat eerie, but there was not a hint of hesitation in Eden’s steps.

Cutting through the darkness, he arrived at the [unauthorized copy]top floor of Read on Read BL Novelsthe resort, where the suites were located. Originally, this was [stolen content]the room Eden was supposed to stay in, but for certain reasons, he had yielded it to others.

Standing before the door, he knocked three times. Knock, knock, knock. Shortly after, a raspy voice was heard from inside.

[Is this room service?]

Checking the watch on his wrist, Eden replied nonchalantly.

[No, it’s a ‘coffee’ delivery.]

The moment he stepped back, the door opened immediately. A man in a shirt with a couple of buttons undone greeted Eden warmly.

[Welcome, Director.]

[Where are the others?]

Following bald Matthew’s guidance, Eden stepped inside without hesitation.

[Everyone is gathered. The Doctor arrived an hour early as well.]

While heading toward the living room past the guest room, Eden glanced at Matthew.

[What on earth did you do to get caught as a soldier by my partner?]

[Pardon?]

Matthew, momentarily wearing a foolish expression, scratched his forehead awkwardly.

[It seems my tattoo was spotted. I rolled up my sleeves without thinking…]

Eden clicked his tongue silently. Fortunately, Ha-jin seemed to assume Matthew was a veteran, but Matthew was an active-duty special forces operator belonging to the CAG, a highly trained special operations unit within Delta Force.

[Be careful for the time being.]

Of course, not just Matthew, but all the bodyguards gathered in this room were CAG special forces. The reason they were circling Eden while disguised as Blue Works bodyguards was none other than a ‘secret operation’ by the US government.

[Hello, Director.]

[You’ve arrived.]

The men sitting in a circle on the cream-colored sofa in the center of the living room greeted him in turn. Eden tossed the jacket he was wearing onto the armrest of the sofa and took an empty seat. It seemed they had been having a light drink while waiting for him, as beer bottles were lined up on the glass table.

Eden let out a small chuckle at the old memories that surfaced. Although the missions were important, if the risk or difficulty was low, beer often appeared during operational briefings like this. This was not an expression of arrogance, but of confidence, or a means to raise the mood.

Meanwhile, the Doctor sat on the opposite sofa, pale as if he were about to burst into tears at any moment. It was unclear whether he was overwhelmed by the typical macho atmosphere of a male-dominated group, or whether he was angry, thinking the special forces were taking this operation lightly.

Eden stared impassively at the Doctor, who looked somewhat nervous, and spoke.

[Nice to meet you, Doctor. I am Eden Jeong.]

Without even glancing at Eden’s face, the Doctor quickly extended his hand.

[Pleasure to meet you, I’m John Cobelt. You can just call me John.]

Hearing the voice trembling like a goat, Eden shook his hand. As he lightly gripped and released it, the Doctor spoke timidly.

[How should I address you? I’m confused whether ‘Director’ or ‘Commander’ is correct…]

Eden leaned back deeply into the sofa and let out a faint sigh. Well, how should I define myself…

Publicly, he was the CTO of Blue Works on a business trip to Korea to maintain the MDCC armory; secretly, he was the interim commander of a military secret operation.

While it was a very rare case for a civilian, the US government had requested Eden’s command for this secret operation considering his expertise and the uniqueness of his career. He was called the commander, but in reality, he was being used as bait to bring the special forces operators safely into Korea.

The rewards for this were enormous tax benefits for the company, an additional 0.4% stake for himself, and Ha-jin’s safe journey. Considering he wouldn’t be deployed to the actual mission site, it was a deal that was more than fair.

[Just call me Director.]

[Yes, I understand.]

[Then, shall we begin?]

However, simply waving [Read on Read BL Novels]a baton from [visit our site]the operations unauthorized copyheadquarters did not make his responsibility any lighter.

Eden checked the watch on his wrist and stood before the whiteboard. He opened the cap of a black water-based pen with one hand and began to speak.