By Zephyria 
123
However, the smile didn’t last long. Tae-muk’s weight was becoming increasingly heavy. It felt like his ribs were about to break, and he was twisting his breath with hiccups.
Tae-muk raised himself up on his arms, then rolled over to lie beside him. Then, panting, he pulled Ho-eun onto his body.
“Uh…”
Ho-eun tried to get off him, feeling awkward in the unfamiliar position, but Tae-muk wrapped his arms around his waist and wouldn’t let go. Ho-eun pushed his arms, twisting and struggling, but it was no use.
After a few futile attempts, Ho-eun quickly grew tired and, giving up, collapsed onto Tae-muk’s sturdy chest. Tae-muk chuckled as if he had expected it, but Ho-eun was too exhausted to glare and just lay there limply.
“…”
“…”
The inn room fell silent. The sounds of wet kisses and struggling had disappeared, making it feel even quieter. The only sounds were their breaths.
Ho-eun blinked slowly, then suddenly became aware of Tae-muk’s heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
It was a loud sound. He felt like the hair on his cheek, buried against him, was shaking along with it. As he quietly felt it, he became drowsy.
He had slept in Tae-muk’s arms all the way from Ramjae Town and on the way here, and now just hearing his heartbeat made his eyelids heavy. It was a different kind of languor than his mother’s patting.
He idly wondered if he would become unable to sleep without Tae-muk later on, and a faint smile escaped him. Then, just as he was about to drift off to sleep.
“…”
He opened his eyes wide. He remembered that tonight was the last night, the last night he could see the children. Ho-eun abruptly sat up.
“I, I have to go say goodbye to the children.”
Then he tried to get off Tae-muk, but Tae-muk grabbed his waist and wouldn’t let go.
“Do it in the morning.”
“In the morning? But… didn’t you say we were leaving tonight?”
“I’m going in the morning.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m hurt.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Ho-eun nodded quickly, then tilted his head to the side, puzzled.
“But you’re all healed, aren’t you?”
The wound had disappeared? He didn’t have a fever either? As he looked at Tae-muk with a bewildered expression, Tae-muk said shamelessly.
“My insides still hurt.”
“…”
“You think a gunshot wound heals that easily?”
“…”
“You wouldn’t know since you’ve never been shot.”
Ho-eun quietly watched Tae-muk, who was uncharacteristically talkative. It seemed like a lie… He looked at Tae-muk for a moment, pondering something. He tucked his disheveled hair behind his ear. Then he nodded, agreeing to his lie.
“Yes, you must be in pain. You were shot, after all. It seems best to rest for a day, as you say.”
It was a harmless lie. It meant the farewell with the children was postponed. He wanted to see them eat breakfast in the morning, and to know where they would be staying and what school they would be attending. Then he could leave with a lighter heart.
Satisfied with the conclusion, Ho-eun, with a subtle smile, leaned back onto Tae-muk’s chest. And just as he was rubbing his cheek against his muscular chest, finding a comfortable position, and closing his eyes.
“Those guys from earlier.”
Tae-muk’s low voice fell from above.
“…Yes?”
Ho-eun slowly raised his head to look at him. Tae-muk, with his arms crossed behind his head, was looking down at him.
“Who are you talking about? Those thugs?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Did they break into the inn? Are they holding a grudge?”
Ho-eun quickly turned to look at the door. He couldn’t hear any signs or sounds, but Tae-muk might be able to. But Tae-muk grabbed his chin and made him look at him again.
“What can those bastards with severed fingers do if they break in?”
“Then… why…”
“Their fingers are cut off.”
“Yes?”
“Those guys will have to live as cripples for the rest of their lives. They won’t be able to work, they won’t be able to eat, they’ll have to beg.”
“That’s… probably true.”
Ho-eun quietly lowered his eyes. Then Tae-muk flicked his chin, preventing him from looking away.
“They were just trying to steal a few bucks, doesn’t that seem like too harsh a punishment?”
“…”
“I thought you’d be jumping up and down saying they’re people too, so it matters if they die or become cripples. I’m asking because you’re so quiet.”
“Ah…”
Ho-eun sighed softly. He moved his lips, but no words came out. Tae-muk’s eyes turned cold.
“Don’t tell me, is it because those bastards aren’t nobles, so you don’t care if they die or become cripples?”
Tae-muk thought he had caught Ho-eun off guard. He thought he would be flustered, that he wouldn’t be able to hide his true feelings, that the emotion would be clearly visible in his eyes. But Ho-eun shook his head with a calm expression.
“It’s not that.”
“Then?”
“I was wondering if… cutting off their hands was really too harsh a punishment. I was wondering if I was wrong.”
“What?”
Tae-muk’s face contorted at the completely unexpected answer. Ho-eun looked at Tae-muk and continued calmly.
“I… I think it’s a punishment that fits the crime.”
“…”
“It was they who were excessive.”
Ho-eun frowned slightly, thinking of the thug who had brandished the Gun. He felt bad as he recalled their rude and irreverent behavior. He had always lived an upright and righteous life, so he was not immune to such unpleasantness.
“If they had only tried to steal money, yes. It would be too harsh a punishment.”
Ho-eun nodded as if agreeing with that. But soon his expression hardened again.
“But they had a Gun, didn’t they? They threatened us and even fired it. How could that have been the only time they’d done something like that?”
“…”
“Besides, I am a man. No matter how weak, I am still a man, and even a nobleman. And I had such a reliable general by my side.”
Ho-eun carefully stroked Tae-muk’s shoulder. The thick, hard shoulder felt like steel. At that point, Tae-muk cleared his throat with a “ahem…” but Ho-eun didn’t pay much attention.
“And yet they threatened us with a Gun.”
In a world where status and power are as important as money. I was at the top of the social hierarchy, and Tae-muk was at the pinnacle of both status and power. In other words, he and I were people who were difficult for someone with bad intentions to approach. And yet those thugs had attacked us. That meant…
“What about the women?”
“…”
“And what about the children?”
“…”
“They would have been much more savage and ferocious to them because they are weak.”
They were people who spoke glibly, shamelessly demanded money, and skillfully harassed others. The fact that they thought they could take money from us, that they could win, even after seeing Tae-muk’s intimidation, meant that they had always won. Perhaps countless women and children had been defeated by them.
“It’s a very bad thing. To bully someone weaker than yourself.”
“…”
“If I thought my mother, or Jeong-woo and Jeong-i, had been subjected to such a thing…”
Ho-eun clenched his fist tightly. He was filled with anger even though it hadn’t happened. If such a thing had actually happened, he might have used the Gun-shooting skills he had learned from Tae-muk on them instead of the Devouring Ghoul.
“If it hadn’t been for that punishment, they would have continued their behavior. They would have relentlessly targeted only the weaker and smaller ones. So that there would be no more defeats.”
“…”
“So I don’t think the punishment is too harsh.”
“…”
“Isn’t that why Dong-ja Noonim and Man-soo Hyung, and Officer Oh, did what they did?”
Ho-eun asked Tae-muk as if to confirm.
“Well…”
Tae-muk trailed off. He didn’t think those guys had such profound intentions, but he decided to remain silent for the sake of the three people’s dignity.
Then, Ho-eun took Tae-muk’s hand that was holding his chin, and buried his cheek in his palm. It was an unconscious action. He was the youngest in his family, so he had always rubbed and nuzzled his cheeks like this. At that moment, Tae-muk’s Adam’s apple moved greatly, but Ho-eun didn’t notice. He was thinking about something else.
“And above all…”
“Above all?”
Ho-eun opened his mouth to answer Tae-muk’s question, but quickly closed it again. Then he lowered his eyes and denied it.
“…It’s nothing.”
Tae-muk’s eyes narrowed at the sight of him trying to hide something. He grabbed Ho-eun’s face, which was in his grasp, with his whole hand. Despite being skinny, his cheeks were plump, and the white flesh bulged between his fingers.
“What is it?”
“It’s really nothing.”
Ho-eun maintained his upright tone even with his cheeks pressed in. It was a tone that irritated Tae-muk. He gritted his teeth and then released them, urging, no, threatening Ho-eun.
“…If you don’t tell me, I’ll suck your dick.”
“Eek…”
Instantly, Ho-eun’s clear face crumpled. He glared at Tae-muk with all his might. His clear, pure eyes poured out all kinds of accusations.
Tae-muk indifferently accepted the gaze. Perhaps it would have been the same reaction even if Ho-eun had said out loud, “You crazy bastard,” “You son of a bitch,” “How vulgar.”
At that, Ho-eun sighed deeply. He sensed defeat. After hesitating for a moment, he buried his face in Tae-muk’s palm and said, as if mumbling.
“Didn’t they dare… insult the General?”