By Zephyria 
This year, there wasn’t much snow, but when it did fall, it came down with an incredible intensity. For an ordinary office worker, the snow began falling around the time they would have finished their commute and eaten dinner. The snowflakes flew so densely that visibility was almost completely obscured.
“Mm, hm. Hm.”
Cutting through that flurry, Minho’s car was driving at a slow pace. However, the difference from usual was that Gyu-oh was the one behind the wheel, and he was the only one in the car. He tapped the steering wheel, humming along, and immediately skipped the track whenever a slow-tempo song came on.
“Ah, you’ve gotta listen to this masterpiece in winter.”
With a few concise taps, he put on a cheerful carol and hummed along, nodding his head. Pretending to adjust the rearview mirror, he shifted his gaze slightly to check the lights clinging closely behind him. That black car had been doggedly following him since he left the company parking lot.
“If Hyung had been driving, they wouldn’t have been able to keep up.”
Because Hyung’s driving is rough, contrary to his appearance. He wouldn’t have been so cautious on a snowy road. He would have driven in a way that the car tailing them couldn’t possibly keep pace.
After listening to the high notes of the carol for a while, Gyu-oh slowly turned into a side road. Because the weather was foul and there were no pedestrians, tire tracks were carved into the pristine white snow. The wheels of the tailing vehicle followed, tracing over those marks.
“Safe arrival!”
A large abandoned factory stood nearby. Since it was dark, it wouldn’t be recognizable unless one came close enough to see it.
Gyu-oh quickly killed the engine and stepped out of the car. Fumbling through the darkness, he opened the door to the abandoned factory. The interior was just as dark, but a faint light leaked from a small container room tucked away to one side.
“…….”
He didn’t head toward the light, instead moving toward the darkest corner. After a few steps, his shadow was completely swallowed by the gloom. As he held his breath for a few minutes, a presence leaked through the gap of the half-closed door. It was so faint that, at first glance, it sounded like the whistling of the wind and snow. He held his breath for a moment so his respiration wouldn’t give him away.
Soon, a silhouette stepped stealthily through the gap in the door. The figure glanced around the surroundings before approaching the lit container room. Gyu-oh also carefully stepped out of the darkness.
“Hey.”
Startled, the man whipped around and immediately lowered his center of gravity. He was holding something in his hand, but it was impossible to identify in the dark.
“Why do you keep following our Director?”
“…….”
The man remained silent. Whether he had come alone or not, he didn’t even shout for help.
Slide. As Gyu-oh lightly pushed the half-open door shut, the lights flickered on simultaneously. Immediately, a group of heavies who had been inside the container room swarmed out. Thinking about how those hulking bodies had been crammed into such a small space was both pitiful and funny.
The corner of Gyu-oh’s mouth, which had begun to curl up, stiffened the moment he got a clear look at the man’s silhouette.
“……You’ve got a nice build, huh?”
“What?”
The man seemed quite bewildered that someone would be evaluating his physique in a situation like this. His eyes narrowed sharply. But for Gyu-oh, this was a fairly important detail.
The guy who had been gloomily trailing Cha Minho, who didn’t mind following him to such a secluded place, and is someone he’ll only see once? On top of that, he’s fit? That is a seriously dangerous problem. Of course? Hyung would never wander.
The playfulness that had been on his face vanished instantly. He tilted his head, sweeping the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Perhaps sensing the sudden chill in the atmosphere, the man grew tense.
“This won’t do. Adding a ‘contempt’ penalty.”
“What the fuck are you talking about!”
The moment the man spat out the curse, the heavies rushed him. It was unfair—one against many—but there was no need to feel sympathy for a rat who had been stealthily tailing Minho to cause him harm. No matter how skilled he claimed to be, he couldn’t overcome a dozen men. Of course? I could.
Staring blankly at the messy interior, Gyu-oh took a piece of gum from his pocket. Perhaps because of the cold, it was stiff and snapped, but after chewing it a few times, it became soft. This is just like Cha Minho. The more you chew, the sweeter it gets, exactly…….
“I really am a perverted animal, aren’t I.”
Even in this freezing weather, he felt a twitch below. Since he was thinking of Cha Minho, it was perhaps a natural reaction. Chewing the gum loudly, he poked his head through the closed door to survey the area and fussed around, fiddling with an old lightbulb.
The man was subdued quickly, but he was quite tight-lipped. Even after an hour and a half of being asked who sent him, he kept his mouth shut tight.
“It’s fucking cold. Isn’t it?”
“…….”
Gyu-oh bent his knees to bring himself to the man’s eye level. Resting his arms on his knees in a slouching posture, he chewed his gum noisily. Perhaps because he hadn’t used any violence, the man’s face was clean. Is that why he’s not in the mood to speak?
Cold, black eyes scanned the man up and down. Gyu-oh pushed the gum to the tip of his tongue and blew air into it. Pop! The bubble burst shortly after.
“Hey, bring that over here.”
“…….”
“It’s so cold that this gentleman’s mouth seems to have frozen shut.”
Gyu-oh gestured with his chin toward a square wooden stake stuck in a drum. One of the heavies grabbed a stake of varying length that had been kept as kindling. The end of the stake, which scattered black ash with every step, was glowing red with accumulated heat.
“If it’s hard to open your mouth, shall I gouge it open for you?”
“…….”
The man’s pupils trembled slightly, but he didn’t open his mouth. Instead, he only bit down on his lower lip.
Hmm. I guess his discipline has slackened because he’s been sitting comfortably and warm? Gyu-oh scanned the man sitting on the freezing floor with distaste and picked the chewed gum out with his finger. He then attached it to the pointed tip of the wooden stake. He said “attached,” but it was precarious, looking as if it would fall off with the slightest movement.
“Now, if this stays attached, I won’t ask anything more and I’ll let you go quietly. But if it falls? Then you’re stripping everything off and heading out to that—frozen open lot over there.”
“…….”
The pale lips trembled slightly. It seemed he feared freezing to death more than having his mouth poked with a stake. Gyu-oh lifted the stake slightly and slammed it onto the floor. Thud! With a short bursting sound, the black ash on the tip of the stake scattered. The grape-flavored lump of gum also rolled across the floor.
“Oh? It fell.”
“…….”
“Escort him out—”
As Gyu-oh dusted off his hands and prepared to stand up, a force gripped the hem of his trousers. The man desperately held on, his lips quivering.
“I… I just took money and agreed to do this one job… just this. I don’t know, uh, any details.”
Every time he spoke with labored breath, thick clouds of white vapor escaped. Gyu-oh’s lips curled up silently.
“Looks like your mouth has finally thawed. Let’s escort him somewhere warm, shall we?”
“Yes, sir.”
Gyu-oh followed leisurely as the heavies bound the man and led him into the container room.
Who sent him, how much he was paid—all the necessary information could be extracted from the man’s mouth. After finishing the recording, Gyu-oh instructed the man to continue pretending to tail Minho.
That didn’t mean he planned to let him go unconditionally. While checking if the man’s words were true, he would match him with one of their own heavies as a couple—no, as a monitor. Someone as stiff and joyless as possible, so they wouldn’t hit it off.
“The rest of you, dismiss.”
“Yes, sir. Are you heading home now?”
The man putting thick leather gloves on his rough hands asked about his destination. Such a question was merely a formality, but Gyu-oh reacted with feigned sensitivity. I’m a taken man, so why has he been showing interest since last time?
“Don’t be too interested in my private life. You’re not my style.”
“……Yes.”
Gyu-oh patted the shoulder of the man, who answered without hiding an expression that seemed to ask what kind of bullshit he was spouting.
“It’s easier once you give up. Though I’m not the type who’s easy to forget, so it’ll be hard.”
“Get home safely…….”
The man trailed off and turned his head away, as if he didn’t even want to converse. Whether he was rude or ignoring me, I’ll have to set a date and properly discipline him later. Regardless, getting home was the priority. As he left the cluttered container room, he made a phone call.
—Did he talk?
A calm question was asked, as if the person already had a rough idea of the situation. The atmosphere of cold pressure he had maintained until a moment ago melted away like snow, replaced by a whining tone.
“Mm-hm. I’ll send the recording soon. I was really cold and scared, Hyung-ie.”
—Coming home?
Why is everyone, here and there, ignoring my words like this? But he didn’t snap back like he did earlier. Because Cha Minho is someone who melts if you soothe him gently.
“Can I go to Hyung’s house? My hands are frozen solid, so I want someone to hold them.”
Drawing out the end of his sentence, he opened the closed iron door. Screeech. He tried to open it quietly, but a rather sharp noise followed. He stopped all movement, gauging the reaction of the person on the phone whom he couldn’t see.
It was a fact he learned late that just hearing the sounds associated with the abandoned factory could trigger nightmares for the other person. Not knowing that, he felt like punching his past self for excitedly calling every time he finished a job.
Now, nightmares rarely happen, but still, he worried he might have touched upon a bad memory.
—Sure. I just finished showering and lay down.
Even as the desolate and cold aura of the abandoned factory lingered, Cha Minho no longer grew tense. He no longer feared the onset of nightmares. Perhaps it was because he now had a place to lean on. And that place would be him.
A sense of responsibility, one that no one had forced upon him, surged within. When he thought about making Cha Minho—who didn’t know how to care for himself or how to properly receive a caring touch—completely dependent on him, his heart beat with a pleasant throb.
“Why tell me you showered? Should I take that as… you’re getting ready?”
—You crazy bastard. Aren’t you tired?
“You didn’t say no.”
He wiped the windshield of the car, which had been heavily covered in snow over the last few hours, with his bare hand. It was very cold, but perhaps because his heart was boiling over, it was bearable.
—……Sigh, just drive.
“Uwoong, honey. Don’t sleep, wait for me?”
—Come quickly. Before I fall asleep.
The voice was intentionally blunt, but Gyu-oh knew. If it were truly annoying or bothersome, he would have just hung up. That meant Cha Minho didn’t dislike talking to him. Furthermore, it meant that Won Gyu-oh was a special existence.
—Actually. A lot of snow has piled up. Come slowly, slowly.
“…….”
—I’ll stay awake and wait for you.
As he got into the car, the faint scent of the hand cream Cha Minho liked to use wafted through. A gentle fragrance always lingered wherever Hyung stayed.
Though he didn’t realize it himself, Hyung always left detailed traces of kindness everywhere, just like this scent. Following those traces, Gyu-oh had eventually been able to stand side-by-side with him. Now, he even felt that he couldn’t survive without this scent. Taking a deep breath, expanding his chest, Gyu-oh answered with a smile.
“Yes. See you soon, honey.”
—……Yeah.
With that blunt response, the call ended. The word ‘honey,’ which he had been saving for a while, had finally found its owner. Of course, he gets embarrassed every time he hears it… but Gyu-oh didn’t doubt for a second that the day would come when he would hear the same title in return.
“Ha, so fucking cute.”
Once a man that blunt and indifferent starts looking cute, it’s all over. Won Gyu-oh’s life had been completely mortgaged. But he didn’t hate it. In fact, he wanted to bind and sway him even more.
“It’ll take about an hour.”
It was a distance that would normally take 20 minutes, but given the road conditions and the intensity of the snowfall, it would likely take over an hour. He should give a gift to Minho, who would be waiting patiently. Should he try saying ‘I love you’ today? I wonder how Hyung would react.
The car Gyu-oh drove passed through the heavily snowed roads. In the wake of the tires, only excitement remained, pooling deeply.
To Gyu-oh, humans were still excessively simple beings. If you put on a reasonably kind smile and flatter them well, they give their hearts and trust. He had once wondered what weight was contained in a heart given so easily.
But now he knows. Just as life does not always flow in the desired direction, the moment sincerity settles into a heart is something no one can predict, and it happens in an instant.
<Bite Back> End.