By Zephyria 
144
Ho-eun felt a presence watching him. It was such a distinct gaze that he could recognize it even in his sleep. He wondered if it was an intruder, but the presence only watched, doing nothing else.
A long time passed like that. All he could hear were the sounds of an unknown beast crying in the distance, the sound of snow falling, the sound of snow piled on the trees falling with a thud, and the sound of the wind flapping against the tent.
Ho-eun was about to fall back into a deep sleep when.
“Cough, cough……”
He coughed lightly. His throat was stinging, and his chest was throbbing, causing him to frown unconsciously.
Rustle.
Someone’s hand touched his forehead. It was an incredibly hot hand. So hot that he felt as if a brazier had been placed on his forehead.
But Ho-eun welcomed the heat. The tent was cold, and the brazier wasn’t providing enough warmth. So, without thinking, he tried to get closer to the hand, tilting his head.
“……”
His eyes snapped open.
And. His gaze met a pair of dark black eyes.
“……”
“……”
Ho-eun took a deep breath and looked up at those eyes. Then, moving his dry lips, he called out to him in a cracked voice.
“……General?”
Only a dim lantern flickered precariously inside the tent, but he could still recognize him at a glance. Because he was the only one in the world with such dark and sharply shining eyes.
However, he couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality. He wondered if he was hallucinating from the fever. But.
“What’s wrong with your body that your fever still hasn’t gone down?”
His pleasant baritone voice was definitely real. His brusque yet affectionate tone was also genuine.
“General!”
Ho-eun jumped up as if he had been sprung and threw himself into Tae-muk’s arms. He opened his arms and hugged his neck. Then, he buried his face in his neck.
“General……”
He smelled Tae-muk. He could also feel his heavy heartbeat against his chest. It seemed a little faster than usual, but it was definitely his heart.
“General……, General……”
Ho-eun kept hugging, pulling, and caressing Tae-muk. Only a day had passed, but it felt like they hadn’t seen each other in years. Ho-eun hugged Tae-muk with all his might, then suddenly pulled his upper body back. Then, he hurriedly began to examine his body.
“Are you hurt, are you okay?”
The first thing he looked at was, of course, his fingers. One, two, three, four, five on his left hand. And one, two, three, four, five on his right hand. Ten. All ten of his long, thick fingers with large joints were still there. Just in case, he also touched his fingernails and stroked his palms, and they were fine as well.
“Ha……”
Ho-eun closed his eyes and sighed in relief. Then, he immediately began to feel Tae-muk’s face. His eyes, which had been as red as a Devouring Ghoul’s, had returned to Tae-muk’s original eyes. The rough, torn cheeks were smooth, and he had both ears. His auricle and earlobe were exactly as handsome as he remembered.
“Haa……”
Ho-eun sighed in relief once more. He continued to feel Tae-muk’s body. His thick neck, firm shoulders, muscular chest, thick arms that he couldn’t fully grasp with both hands, and then down, further down, he lowered his hands when. Thump. His wrist was grabbed.
“How far are you planning to touch?”
A voice mixed with laughter stopped Ho-eun. If it were any other time, he would have run to the end of the tent like a startled squirrel. But today, he simply looked at him, allowing Tae-muk to hold his wrist.
“……”
Tae-muk’s voice…… was strange. A compressed breath sound was stuck between the syllables like rust. The last syllable was even cracked as if it had been torn.
But, he looked fine. He wasn’t bleeding, and he had no wounds. His expression wasn’t painful either; he was even wearing a faint smile. As if nothing had happened.
So Ho-eun wondered if it had all been a dream.
He wondered if it wasn’t the Tae-muk in front of him that was a dream, but the fact that the Devouring Ghouls had swarmed in and that Tae-muk had been hurt.
But that couldn’t be. Because his despair and fear he felt when he saw the injured Tae-muk were real.
“H-How are you here?”
Ho-eun asked, trembling his lower lip. Did Gil-sang bring him? But he said he was leaving in the morning. Is it morning already? Did I sleep that long? There were so many things he couldn’t understand that he frowned slightly.
A thumb, as hot as if it were boiling, gently rubbed his cheek.
“The wind was blowing too hard.”
“Yes?”
“I thought you’d be whining about being cold again, so I came to check on you.”
“……”
Ho-eun took a deep breath and stared at Tae-muk. A moment of silence fell. The only sound was the sound of snow falling softly on the tent. Then, when the accumulated snow slid down the tent. Tae-muk snatched Ho-eun and hugged him tightly. Then, he buried his nose in his hair.
“That’s a lie. I came because I missed you too much.”
“But…… you wouldn’t have known where I was……”
“I followed the sound of your cough.”
“My cough?”
“Yes. I followed the sound of your cough, of all things.”
Tae-muk closed his eyes, inhaling Ho-eun’s scent deeply. He thought he was lucky that Ho-eun was sick as he ran all the way here. He was lucky that he coughed, leaving such a trace, allowing him to find him. Every time he heard the sound of his cough, his eyes flashed like a beast that had smelled blood.
Disgustingly so.
But he didn’t regret it. Because he was finally touching Ho-eun, his body temperature, his scent, his skin, and a thrilling joy was blooming from his solar plexus.
“……”
Ho-eun was stunned for a moment, then raised his arms and hugged Tae-muk’s back tightly. As he did so, he could feel Tae-muk’s heat completely. Even though he was wearing a thick military uniform, the heat was intense. It was as if he was hugging a fire.
Ho-eun felt that the heat was very, very painful. This was all Tae-muk’s blood and pain.
“General……. You’re too…… hot.”
“That’s good. It’s nice and warm, isn’t it?”
Tae-muk said with a low laugh. At first glance, it was a very relaxed and peaceful voice. But Ho-eun knew that it was a false peace.
First of all, Tae-muk’s Adam’s apple was moving roughly. The fingertips that wrapped around the back of his head were spasming and intermittently tightening, and his breathing and heartbeat were also uneven. And above all…… he smelled a subtle smell of blood every time he spoke.
Ho-eun easily realized.
That Tae-muk hadn’t fully recovered yet.
That he looked fine on the outside, but he was bleeding on the inside.
As soon as he realized that, he couldn’t stay still.
“Just a moment, just a moment.”
Ho-eun pushed Tae-muk away with both hands. Tae-muk obediently let him push him away. He bit his molars tightly, making his jawbone stand out, but he did.
But suddenly, Ho-eun pulled and untied the Jeogori strings. As soon as the strings were untied, the loose-fitting clothes fell over his shoulders. Tae-muk’s expression was wiped off his face as he saw it.
“……What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take off my clothes.”
“Why.”
“Because I have to heal you, General.”
Ho-eun was going to have a Sexual affair. He knew from many experiences that he couldn’t heal his wounds now by holding hands, hugging, or kissing.
Although his body wasn’t healthy enough to receive him. He felt like he could handle it once, no more, no less. No, he had to handle it.
Ho-eun quickly took off the clothes he was wearing. But Tae-muk grabbed his wrist. His hand was so big that it grabbed not only Ho-eun’s hand but also his wrist.
“No.”
“……Yes?”
“No, not yet.”
Tae-muk, who had furrowed his eyebrows as much as possible, said in a suppressed voice. There was no laughter in his face or voice. He didn’t have the luxury to act anymore.
“……”
Ho-eun looked at both of Tae-muk’s eyes alternately. ‘Not yet.’ What kind of thing was that? How long was he supposed to wait? And how long was he going to endure?
“No. I’m going to do it.”
Ho-eun struggled to take off his clothes with his free hand. The clothes he was wearing fluttered and fell as if he was tearing off the strings. But Tae-muk let go of Ho-eun’s hand and instead grabbed his untied clothes and clenched them tightly. He put so much strength into his hand that his wrist was spasming and the veins on the back of his hand were bulging.
“Listen to me, Choi Ho-eun.”
Tae-muk said as if growling. His breath was blown out through his teeth. It was a thick and hazy breath, like cigarette smoke. It was a strange thing. It was winter, but he was inside the tent, and there was a brazier, but his breath was so strong.
Ho-eun could easily guess how badly his internal organs were damaged. At that, Ho-eun’s eyes turned cold.
“I’m going to do it.”
He twisted his body and tried to escape Tae-muk’s grasp. But Tae-muk’s grip only grew stronger.
“I told you not to.”
Ho-eun couldn’t stand it and shouted at the warning in his low voice.
“Isn’t that why you came here? You said you missed me. Then take me. Do whatever you want!”
“You…….”
“Do it. Take me. As much as you want. Please.”
Ho-eun twisted his shoulders and waist wildly. Then, the threads of the clothes that Tae-muk was holding on to snapped, and soon even the Sokjeogori strings were torn off. The soft silk fabric slipped down his shoulders, revealing Ho-eun’s white skin like jade.