By Zephyria 
67
What could I possibly do to escape Tae-muk’s embrace, his grasp? How could I ensure Tae-muk wouldn’t see my backside? How could I…?
While he was racking his brains so hard his temples felt hot, Tae-muk tapped Ho-eun’s clean forehead with the hand holding the ointment.
“Don’t strain your brain. Even if a Devouring Ghoul showed up right now, I’d still apply the ointment to your backside.”
At those words, Ho-eun completely lost his will to fight. Even if a Devouring Ghoul appeared, he’d still apply the ointment. With that kind of resolve, Ho-eun could never win.
His lips trembled, and soon he lowered his eyes with a world-ending expression.
“…I’ll take them off.”
In the end, he was defeated again tonight. Ho-eun could easily foresee his defeat tomorrow morning as well.
He tried to step back to take off his pants, but for some reason, Tae-muk didn’t release the waistband. Ho-eun looked up at him, puzzled. But Tae-muk was smiling. It was nice to see his handsome face smiling, but Ho-eun felt uneasy for some reason.
Sure enough.
“I could take them off for you, you know.”
Tae-muk spouted another jest. At those words, Ho-eun inhaled sharply. Tae-muk was so infuriating. So infuriating that he felt not just anger, but sorrow. Tears welled up in his eyes, which were tightly shut.
Faced with his unnecessarily pathetic and sentimental face, Tae-muk reluctantly withdrew his hand.
“Alright, alright. I won’t look, so take them off.”
Ho-eun quickly moved out of Tae-muk’s radius. Then he went to the corner of the tent, turned his back, and hesitantly, awkwardly took off his pants. Tae-muk had his back turned as he said he would. He even tossed the ointment up and down, playing with it.
Ho-eun untied the strings of his underpants with trembling hands. Then the soft fabric immediately slipped down. At the same time, a coldness savagely scratched his bare skin. Ho-eun felt goosebumps all over his body and quickly covered his buttocks with his Jeogori. He knew it would be lifted up anyway, but still, he wanted to show as little as possible.
He couldn’t understand himself. He’d already shown everything there was to see, so why was he still embarrassed and ashamed? When would he be able to show Tae-muk his bare body without feeling anything? Would that day ever come?
Ho-eun sighed silently.
“If you’re done taking them off, lie down.”
Tae-muk said, still turned away. Ho-eun went to the cot without resistance and lay down. He kept his legs on the floor, only placing his upper body on the cot. His body formed a right angle. His Jeogori naturally rode up, revealing his buttocks completely.
Ho-eun buried his face in the blanket and said in a muffled, hoarse voice.
“I’m, I’m lying down.”
He heard Tae-muk turn around. Soon, he heard footsteps. He also heard the rustling of a large Durumagi. The sound tickled his ear, and Ho-eun had to rub his ear with his shoulder.
Soon, Tae-muk’s presence stopped right behind his buttocks. Ho-eun, nervous, inhaled sharply, and at that moment, one of his buttocks was grabbed.
Ho-eun’s body twitched. He felt the large hand, the blunt fingertips, and the warm body temperature. Before Ho-eun could even adjust to the sensation, his buttock was pushed aside, revealing the intimate flesh between his cheeks.
“……”
Ho-eun urgently bit his lower lip. It was to prevent himself from moaning at the action that would follow.
Tae-muk pulled his buttock a little further to the side, spreading them apart. And then, his hand touched that spot. Accurately, without an inch of error, right on that spot.
“Heu……”
Ho-eun couldn’t help but moan, even though he had been prepared for the sensation. It wasn’t a moan of dislike, nor was it a moan of pleasure. It was simply a moan of unfamiliarity and strangeness.
The hand, coated with ointment, gently stroked the wrinkles of his backside. As carefully as if caressing flower petals.
“Eue……”
Ho-eun moaned again and squeezed his eyes shut. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt much. Just two days ago, he had felt a pain as if a very thin, sharp knife was stabbing his backside. Now, it just throbbed. It seemed that applying the ointment morning and evening was having an effect.
Still, he’d rather heal more slowly than suffer this humiliation twice a day. But even if he told Tae-muk, he wouldn’t listen. Ho-eun sighed deeply through his nose.
Tae-muk’s hand continued to move. He gently smoothed out the densely packed wrinkles, pulled at the nearby flesh to carefully check for any missed spots, and generously reapplied ointment to the crease and perineum.
“Eut……”
It didn’t hurt, but he felt a strange sensation. Ho-eun’s toes curled inward. He crossed his ankles. His pink heels rose and fell.
How long did he endure Tae-muk’s touch? Finally, Tae-muk’s hand withdrew. The ointment, melted by his body temperature, stretched out like a thread and then broke.
Ho-eun, his cheeks redder than before, quickly raised his head. His face was much brighter. Because it was finally over. But then he heard the sound of ointment being stirred, and this time, his entire thumb was pressed against the wrinkles.
“Ah……”
Ho-eun let out a thin moan and dropped his forehead onto the cot.
He couldn’t understand why applying the ointment always took so long. Were there that many wounds? Even if they were on his backside, there would be a limit to their size and number, so why did it always take so long…? Or was it not actually a long time, but he was stretching out this moment, making it feel like eternity?
With the continued caressing, the once-tight hole became much softer. Ho-eun gripped the blanket tightly as Tae-muk’s finger stroked the hole, as if pressing it down.
And how much more time passed? Ho-eun brought his thighs together and separated them, crossed and uncrossed his ankles dozens of times. At some point, Tae-muk’s hand stopped moving. Feeling puzzled, Ho-eun asked.
“Is it done?”
“……”
“General.”
“……”
“General?”
When he didn’t answer, Ho-eun turned around. Or, he tried to turn around. But a large hand suddenly grabbed his buttocks.
“……”
Ho-eun froze. He instinctively felt it. The touch of his hand grabbing his buttocks now was quite different from the hand that had been applying the medicine.
“Ah, no……”
Without thinking, Ho-eun scrambled onto the cot. And he crawled to the other side of the cot, curled up, and looked at Tae-muk with a pale face. His wide eyes were filled with terror and fear like a tidal wave.
He pretended to be okay, pretended to have forgotten everything, pretended that such a thing had never existed in the first place, but that wasn’t the case. With one touch from Tae-muk, Ho-eun was transported back to the day he first came to the garrison, to the time when he was crushed and mangled under Tae-muk.
“……”
At Ho-eun’s reaction, Tae-muk clenched his fist tightly. The sensation of touching Ho-eun’s skin remained intact on his fingertips. Recalling the softness and smoothness, the moderately warm body temperature, and the soft flesh that was easily crushed, his throat instantly became dry as a barren land. He felt thirsty. At the same time, he felt hungry.
But Tae-muk decided not to become a beast this time. He swallowed hard and picked up Ho-eun’s discarded pants, placing them on one side of the cot.
“It’s all applied. Put on your pants.”
Then he turned his back to Ho-eun and sat on the edge of the cot.
“……”
Ho-eun was breathing shallowly and briefly as he watched Tae-muk’s back. Then he reached out and snatched his pants as if grabbing them. Then he sat on the cot and put on his pants.
When the fabric wrapped around his bare skin, he finally felt relieved. It was just fabric, but it felt like he was wearing armor made of steel. Once he found that composure, he belatedly became aware of Tae-muk’s mood.
He had applied the medicine and even taken care of his pants, so he should express his gratitude, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Ho-eun glanced at Tae-muk, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Then he realized that he was still holding the ointment in his hand. The ointment lid was placed on one side of the cot. Ho-eun picked it up and crawled across the cot. Then he held it out to Tae-muk with both hands.
“Here, this……”
Tae-muk took it without saying anything. But for some reason, he didn’t close the lid and placed it next to his thigh on the other side. Then he suddenly held out his hand to Ho-eun.
“Hand.”
“Yes?”
“Give me your hand.”
“M-, my hand?”
At the sudden words, Ho-eun blinked slowly. Each time, his lush eyelashes fluttered along.
Seeing that, Tae-muk frowned slightly and pulled his chin in. It felt like his eyelashes were tickling his chin. He could endure his flesh being torn, but he couldn’t stand being tickled.
But at Tae-muk’s scowling face, Ho-eun stopped breathing. His eyes darted to the sword again. He thought that Tae-muk was finally going to punish him.
Yes, he said he would pretend to be fooled by the lie, but he didn’t say he would forgive him. It seemed that he was really going to cut off his finger since he was asking for his hand.
What should he do? He was already a useless body, and if he didn’t even have a finger… Ah, if possible, he hoped he would cut off his smallest pinky finger, he thought, and placed his trembling hand on Tae-muk’s palm.
He heard a snicker. Ho-eun quickly looked at Tae-muk.
“I’m not going to cut it off.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. What would I use this little thing for if I cut it off? Even if I chewed it, it wouldn’t even be enough to whet my appetite.”
Tae-muk fiddled with the first joint of Ho-eun’s ring finger with his thumb and middle finger, rolling it around.