By Zephyria 
66
At those words, Ho-eun was startled.
“Salty? From me? I just washed…”
He had thought he smelled of food, so he washed as soon as he returned to his tent. Moreover, he washed his hands repeatedly. He even teared up a little when trying to get the salt out from under his fingernails. And yet, he still smelled salty…
Ho-eun quickly hid his hands behind his back. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt inexplicably ashamed. It was probably because he had never lived a life where his body might smell. Ho-eun had never even sweated in the sweltering summer heat.
“U-Um, I’ll go wash again quickly.”
Still hiding his hands behind his back, Ho-eun hesitantly headed for the tent entrance. But as he passed Tae-muk, he heard a soft chuckle above his head. Ho-eun snapped his head up. He saw Tae-muk smiling.
“It’s a joke.”
“…Yes?”
“You don’t smell salty.”
Tae-muk said it casually and headed for a cabinet in the corner.
“…”
Ho-eun blinked, his eyelids fluttering. Then, like an angry cat, he raised the corners of his eyes.
“That’s not a funny joke at all.”
“Really? I thought it was funny.”
Tae-muk opened the cabinet and took something out.
“…”
Ho-eun glared at Tae-muk’s back with a sulky look. Then, he let out a short exclamation, “Oh.” Why did Tae-muk have to say ‘salty’? There were so many smells a body could have. Could it be…?
“Did you know that I was rolling around in the salt field all day, I mean, cleaning the cucumbers?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“I even know how many birds flew over the encampment today.”
“…”
Ho-eun fidgeted with the fingers he had been hiding behind his back. But birds were birds, and he was him. Was he being watched, or monitored? He didn’t know the reason, but the fact that his actions had reached Tae-muk’s ears weighed heavily on his mind.
Goodness, he had to be careful about rumors, and careful about Tae-muk’s ears. It felt like walking on thin ice. He had to be careful, very careful, about his behavior.
But he’s not saying anything about cleaning the cucumbers. Can I do it tomorrow too? Do I finally have something to do? Ho-eun was thinking that when…
“Take it off.”
Tae-muk, holding something in his hand, commanded.
“…Yes?”
Ho-eun asked back as if he had misheard. In an instant, the color drained from his cheeks. His pupils dilated, and his eyes turned pale. It was an order that couldn’t help but frighten him.
Tae-muk clicked his tongue at Ho-eun, who stood frozen as if he had died. Then, he showed him what he was holding. A small, round container. It was ointment.
“Oh…, ah…”
Ho-eun let out something that was between a groan and a sigh. But the paleness didn’t fade. That was because the place where the ointment would be applied was none other than between his buttocks.
Applying ointment there was something that had been repeated every day, morning and evening, ever since Ho-eun had first regained consciousness. According to Tae-muk, the ‘old geezer’ had told him to apply ointment morning and evening until his behind was completely healed.
Well, if the doctor said to apply it, he had to apply it. Ho-eun was more than willing to apply the medicine.
However, he wanted to apply it alone, in a secluded and dark place.
But Tae-muk insisted on applying the ointment himself. Morning and evening, twice a day, without fail, unnecessarily diligently.
Every time this moment arrived, Ho-eun continued to refuse his touch, resist, and fight fiercely. But he had never once defeated him. His pants were always pulled down, and his buttocks had to be spread open by his hand.
You’d think he’d give up and lower his pants without complaint by now, but Ho-eun couldn’t bring himself to accept it. He couldn’t let go of the hope that he might win once. If he won just once, wouldn’t Tae-muk give up after that?
Ho-eun took a step back and said cautiously.
“I-It’s all healed now. I don’t think I need the ointment.”
“It didn’t look like it this morning.”
“That was half a day ago. It’s all healed in the meantime.”
Ho-eun answered clearly. But he didn’t meet Tae-muk’s eyes. He was afraid his lie would be discovered.
Still, he was confident. ‘It doesn’t hurt at all,’ ‘It’s all healed,’ ‘I’m fine,’ etc., those were the lies Ho-eun had been telling his whole life.
But one corner of Tae-muk’s mouth curled up wickedly. He took a step towards Ho-eun and asked, still holding the ointment in his hand.
“Oh, so the torn wound has healed smoothly in half a day?”
“Th-That’s… yes… that’s right.”
Ho-eun nodded, taking a half-step back. It was nonsense, but it wasn’t impossible. Tae-muk could have bones reattached and flesh grow back in the blink of an eye, so there was no reason why his butthole couldn’t heal in a day.
Ho-eun, looking down, swallowed hard. Without realizing it, he tightened his buttocks, squeezing his cheeks together firmly. He didn’t want to show his behind tonight, no matter what. He wanted to keep his secret flesh a secret.
But Tae-muk took another step closer.
“Then show me.”
“Yes? Sh-Show you where…”
“Your butthole, I mean.”
At those words, Ho-eun cried out, “Eugh!” and immediately covered his ears. His contorted face looked as if he was being tortured. ‘Dick’ wasn’t enough, now it was ‘butthole’? His eardrums were in agony.
“Please, refrain from, from such language.”
“If you don’t call a butthole a butthole, then what do you call it? Do noblemen call buttholes something else?”
“I don’t know!”
“If you don’t know, you should call it a butthole.”
“No, n-no, just, don’t, don’t call it anything.”
“I don’t want to. What’s wrong with butthole?”
Ho-eun resented Tae-muk for deliberately using such dirty and obscene words. He resented him so much that he wanted to pinch those handsome lips. But as a scholar, he endured it. Maintaining a composed expression, he shook his head.
“I don’t want to show you. It’s all healed, why, why do I have to show you?”
Tae-muk, spinning the ointment in his hand, approached him, undeterred by Ho-eun’s continued lies. Ho-eun kept backing away, but he couldn’t outpace Tae-muk, whose legs were several spans longer. Soon, Tae-muk’s huge shadow, backlit by the lamp, swallowed Ho-eun whole.
“You might be lying. I have to check.”
“…”
“If you’re lying, I’ll punish you.”
“P-Punish me?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Punishment, punishment, the punishment Tae-muk would give. In that instant, Ho-eun’s gaze was drawn as if possessed to the sword leaning against the cabinet.
Could it be… would he dare to do something with that sword for daring to lie in front of him? It looked like the blade was fiercely sharp. Just brushing it would cause fingers to fall off and scatter on the floor like ginkgo leaves in autumn. Maybe he’d even cut off his tongue.
Fear and despair filled Ho-eun’s eyes every moment. Tae-muk saw where his gaze was directed, but deliberately didn’t correct the misunderstanding. Tormenting Ho-eun was a very enjoyable thing. It was also fascinating to see his terrified eyes become clearer and brighter.
After staring at the sword for a while, Ho-eun squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. Then, he looked up at Tae-muk with a pitiful face.
“It’s a lie… it’s true.”
“Really? You dared to lie to me.”
Tae-muk deliberately frowned slightly. Suddenly, the sleeve of his Durumagi became heavy. Ho-eun was pulling tightly on the hem of his Durumagi. In contrast to the dark clothes, his white hand looked even whiter.
“Could you just… pretend you believe me? I’m just too embarrassed.”
At Ho-eun’s listless words, Tae-muk made a guttural sound in his throat, “Hmm…” as if he was considering it, as if he was going to grant Ho-eun’s request. Then, surprisingly, he nodded.
“Okay. I’ll pretend to believe you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
Relieved, Ho-eun took a deep breath. He even stroked his chest with his hand. But at that moment, Tae-muk suddenly grabbed the waistband of Ho-eun’s pants.
“But I have to apply the ointment.”
He immediately tried to pull down his pants. Horrified, Ho-eun grabbed the waistband of his pants as if pinching it and screamed.
“You said you’d pretend to believe me!”
“Yeah. You said it’s all healed. I’ll pretend to believe you. But I’m still going to apply the ointment.”
“Wh-Why…”
Ho-eun twisted his body, trying to escape from Tae-muk’s grasp. Tae-muk pulled him sharply towards himself. Ho-eun’s thin body helplessly flowed into his arms. They were so close that their noses almost touched.
Ho-eun stopped breathing without realizing it. Tae-muk stared directly at Ho-eun with his unique black eyes.
“You’re my Bondmate.”
“…”
“It is the duty of the God of War to be responsible for the well-being of his Bondmate, so I must fulfill that duty.”
“…”
Those were truly good words to hear. If Tae-muk had said those words before arriving at the encampment, Ho-eun would have been truly happy. But not now.
A lie!
That was the first thought that came to mind. There was no way someone who thought of that as a duty would have done those things to him. Forcibly making him suck his manhood, making him eat rice balls until he vomited, trampling on him for two days straight…
He was so frustrated that he wanted to shout, ‘It’s because of you that I have to apply ointment! It’s all because of you, General!’
“…”
Ho-eun, with his mouth tightly shut, looked back and forth between Tae-muk’s eyes and pondered.