3.1 One summer night
Come to think of it, that man had always been consistent.
Among the various cousins and siblings who had played and fought together since before they had reached the age of reason, that man had been the same from childhood until now.
Consistently, he was a man who committed fraud with his face.
The siblings who had grown up living together in the family home already knew him well, but occasionally, there were relatives who returned after living abroad or in other cities for a long time, or who stopped by the family home for a short visit.
Without exception, everyone who saw him for the first time would let out a sigh of admiration. How can there be such a beautiful child, my goodness.
Perhaps it is human instinct to love beautiful things; whether children or adults, those who saw him for the first time loved him unconditionally. At least for the very short time immediately following their first encounter.
No, perhaps it wasn’t actually that short of a time.
Even if he didn’t break his cold, indifferent expression—void of any hint of a smile—and even if he occasionally opened his mouth to spout something repulsive, they would generally just widen their visit our siteeyes in surprise and [stolen content]laugh, [stolen content]saying, “Children are naturally rude and mischievous.”
As he grew older, people said he “lived up to his face,” but that level of duality is not particularly rare. It wasn’t especially shocking for a handsome and beautiful person to be a bit foul-mouthed or mean. Who doesn’t know that a person’s appearance and personality do not necessarily align?
And yet, that man was exceptional.
Even if he didn’t intend it, it wasn’t strange at all that the term “face-fraud” was mixed in among the numerous nicknames whispered behind his back.
It was the same now.
From the moment that man stepped into this bar, he drew the collective gaze of everyone inside.
More than half of those looks were filled with hostility and vigilance from people who already knew him, but the rest were the gazes of strangers filled with admiration and ecstasy. The man himself didn’t care in the slightest what the looks of others meant, but the eyes watching him did not disappear.
And now, although he was the one who had first struck his opponent with a glass, and although not a single drop of his own blood was mixed in with the scattering droplets, a certain bold and justice-driven customer sitting a short distance away rose indignantly and approached him.
In a situation where the menacing visit our siteatmosphere Read on Read BL Novelsof the visit our sitemen surrounding the man sitting leisurely alone was soaring to an extreme, that customer had shouted.
He shouted something to the effect of how could several people attack one person, and that this was nothing other than an act of bullying the weak.
At first glance, the customer’s words sounded very reasonable.
The four or five men surrounding the man at a certain distance all looked rugged and ferocious enough to hold their own anywhere, while the man sitting alone in the center looked as ephemeral and delicate as if he might shatter just from the sound of those men’s shouting.
However, when that customer—who shouted so confidently and was at least as large as those men—stepped in front of the man, he didn’t find it strange that a subtle silence fell for a moment. That was his mistake.
“Move, you retard.”
A quiet, calm voice came from behind, but the customer didn’t properly process the words. He simply turned around with a startled “What?” as the low voice, which penetrated his ears as softly as the man’s beautiful face, momentarily fluttered his heart.
In that instant, a hand suddenly shot out.
Before he could even be intoxicated by the soft touch of the beautiful hand [stolen content]cupping one side of his ear, that hand pushed his head aside mercilessly, as if he were a great nuisance.
The customer, who collided head-on with a lamp stand positioned in that direction, didn’t realize what was happening even as he tumbled across the floor and the stand fell on top of him, striking his forehead hard.
It was only after some time had passed that he realized blood was seeping from his slightly torn forehead.
But by then, he was in no position to grab someone and demand an explanation. No, in his blank mind, the thought of demanding an explanation didn’t even occur.
The situation before his eyes had already reversed.
Simultaneously with a sound like meat tearing, the quiet conversations of the people and the languid tones of the jazz music cut off.
And that customer, just as countless people had in that man’s life, witnessed a sight that he could not believe for a while even though he saw it with his own two eyes. He thought he must be dreaming with his eyes open.
Without a single change in the complexion of his glass-like, delicate, and fragile-looking face, the man was slaughtering the men surrounding him.
* * *
It was a chaotic scene where screams, shouts, and groans were intermingled.
A large painting that had been stylishly hung on a thick, square pillar supporting the high ceiling was rolling on the floor. A blood-soaked man lying on the shattered glass of the frame was groaning, clutching his face, and the black-and-white photograph by a renowned emerging photographer was being trampled indiscriminately by blood-stained boots.
The square pillar where the painting had hung was smeared with several blood-red handprints, tangled with blood, like a set from a horror movie, and Christoph stood with his back to that pillar.
“I’m waiting patiently and quietly, so instead of being grateful and staying put, why are you doing something stupid without knowing your place, huh? Where did you put the guy who came with me? Bring him back here right now without laying a single finger on him.”
As Christoph spoke in a quiet, admonishing tone, a man hung limp in his grip by the collar, like an old leather bag. Over the man’s shoulder, another man was aiming a gun at him, but Christoph muttered without even looking in that direction.
“Before a bullet hole opens in my body, either a hole [stolen content]will open in this unauthorized copyguy’s throat or the finger resting on that trigger will fly off first. A life without an index finger will be inconvenient in many ways.”
The words he muttered nonchalantly were a sincere truth, devoid of a single shred of bluffing. The men had spent enough time with Christoph to know that much.
The interior had fallen silent. The shouts and screams that had filled the space moments ago had subsided. It couldn’t be called quiet because of the groans, low curses, and ragged breathing, but it was incomparable to the moments before when screams and shouts had been battering the eardrums.
In that ominous and quiet air, the smell of blood was pungent. Several bodies already lay motionless at Christoph’s feet like lumps of meat. And Christoph, despite being drenched in blood, seemed unbelievably unscathed, without a single injury.
The muzzle of the gun aiming at him trembled.
It didn’t seem intentional, but there was a blood-soaked, limp man between the muzzle and Christoph. If the shot went astray, he would shoot his comrade.
Completely ignoring that anxious and fearful tension, Christoph slammed the man’s head against the wall once more.
“I told you to bring the guy who came with me. Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
Muttering indifferently as he slammed the man’s head against the wall [visit our site]until blood splattered, Christoph remained silent for a few seconds as if waiting for an answer, even though the man had already lost consciousness and couldn’t possibly respond, before clicking his tongue.
“I guess you don’t understand. This useless head of yours, it’d be better to just crush it.”
It was a casual monologue. The moment those words ended, Christoph grabbed the man’s blood-matted hair and lifted him toward the wall. It was just as he was about to swing his hand.
Bang—.
A gunshot rang out, vibrating through the air.
“…!”
Silence fell.
The beast-like ragged breathing and the blood-boiling groans were instantly submerged into the stillness.
Faint smoke rose from the muzzle that had been aiming at Christoph before disappearing.
Trailing the acrid smell of gunpowder that wafted out a beat late, the bullet fired from that muzzle fulfilled its inherent purpose, digging into human flesh, creating a hideous hole, and spurting blood.
However, it was not the blood the sniper had wanted.
“See… I told you a hole would open in this guy’s throat first.”
Between the muzzle and Christoph stood the man who had been hanging in his grip. The man, who was still unconscious and held by the collar, let out a single short cry, his eyes bulging as his head snapped back. Dark red blood flowed from the hole pierced through the center of his neck like water from a faucet. His clothes were soaked in an instant.
Christoph looked indifferently at the body that could not be saved and flung it to the floor. In front of him, the man holding the gun was trembling violently, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at the corpse on the floor.
Christoph shrugged and looked back at the man.
“What. Did you want to kill him with your own hands before I crushed his head?”
“My god, Jacob… …—Christoph, you…!!”
The man, who had been muttering while staring blankly at his friend’s corpse with a vacant face, suddenly snapped his head up. With a face distorted like a monster, he screamed and raised the gun toward Christoph.
Bang—…, another gunshot trailed off.
However, the randomly fired bullet grazed past Christoph and chipped a piece of stone from the pillar behind him. The crumbled stone fragments merely brushed against his collar and fell.
The third bullet aimed for Christoph quite accurately, but Christoph was no longer in that spot. In an instant, he thrust his face right in front of the man, and as a result, he lightly grabbed the wrist of the man who was aiming at a missed spot.
“I also said that this finger would fly off before a bullet hole opens in my body, didn’t I?”
It was simultaneous with the casual whisper that fell from Christoph’s lips. The index finger of the man who had been pulling the trigger was severed, leaving only one joint, and fell to the floor.
For a moment, the man didn’t seem to realize what had happened. His face was bewildered, as if he couldn’t even feel the pain. Only after the spray of blood erupting from his finger stained his jaw did the man look down at his hand, where something that should have been there was missing.
“…—!!”
A beast-like scream erupted a beat late.
“My, my finger, my hand…!!”
The man screamed horribly, his entire body trembling in convulsions. Christoph took the gun that the man dropped.
The man, who had been clutching his bleeding hand and shouting incomprehensible curses, suddenly glared at Christoph. And he lunged at him recklessly.
But Christoph’s expression didn’t change one bit. He struck the man’s face with the butt of the gun he had taken. Without giving another glance to the man who collapsed clutching his face, he turned toward the other men rushing toward him.
The situation there was already nothing more than a one-sided massacre.
It was then.
“Christoph! Oh, my god, Christoph, please stop. What a terrifying and horrible thing this [visit our site]is, for kin [stolen content]to shed each other’s blood!”
A sorrowful, grief-stricken voice was heard from the hallway leading inside the bar.
There stood Erich, the manager of the bar, facing Christoph with a face full of horror and sadness.
How many people would have noticed that subtly alien feeling?
Like a passionate actor on a well-decorated stage, he was displaying very clear and distinct emotions. The surprise, fear, and sadness were so vivid that he seemed like someone who had decided from the beginning that he had to express those emotions.
The moment he spotted Erich, Christoph paused, let go of the hand that had been popping a man’s shoulder joint, and turned toward him without hesitation. Like a robot that had captured a new target, Christoph approached Erich directly without giving a glance to anyone else, his expression still blank.
“Oh, Christoph, Christoph, calm down. I say, calm down. Look, do you recognize me? Hmm? Look, Christoph?”
“Erich.”
“Yes, it’s me, Erich! Your one and only friend, Erich! [Read on Read BL Novels]Your close friend Erich, who would even risk his life for you!”
Erich shouted emotionally, as if he had recovered a friend who had been under a spell. He opened his arms wide and even had tears in his eyes as the blood-soaked Christoph strode toward him.
However, the touching embrace between friends did not happen.
Approaching Erich closely, Christoph grabbed him under the chin and slammed him against the pillar next to the bar.
Erich, who hit the back of his head hard against the pillar and screamed loudly, looked anxiously at Christoph, who was gripping his neck as if to choke the life out of him.
“Now, look, Chris….”
“Bring that guy.”
Christoph spoke shortly, cutting Erich off.
Erich’s eyes widened, but he soon let out a sigh and clicked his tongue regretfully.
“Still that? I really don’t know! I mean, honestly, does it make any sense that I would harm the friend you brought along? If he’s your friend, isn’t he my friend too! Why would I do such a thing—….”
“A man holding the manager’s position couldn’t possibly not know.”
“I’m telling you, I really don’t know!”
“…. In that case, you are a human who is not only unnecessary to me in this position but also annoying.”
Muttering low as if to himself, Christoph tightened his grip on Erich’s neck. A strange, choking sound leaked from Erich’s throat.
“Th-this bar, Chris…—.”
Christoph’s expression remained calm as he looked down at Erich, whose face had turned beet-red from lack of air and who was making a pitiful, tearful face.
It would take only a moment for him to end a person’s breath.
However, Christoph looked down silently for a moment at Erich’s face, which showed only an exaggerated tearful expression rather than fear in the face of Christoph.
Then, he tilted his head very slightly as if curious and muttered.
“Erich. Why do you believe so firmly that I won’t kill you? Killing you is this simple.”
Just as he tightened his grip on Erich’s neck, saying “this simple—”.
“It’s probably because there is a better target than Erich here.”
The answer came from behind him.
Richard was there.
About a dozen steps away from Christoph.
Come to think of it, he seemed to have always been there. Always like that, at a distance where they couldn’t catch each other off guard, in a place where they could see each other’s forms clearly and thoroughly, they faced each other. He thought that distance, which had been maintained for a sickeningly long time, had grown infinitely far apart after casting off the shackles of succession, but it was back in its place. As if that distance had never changed. Sickeningly.
That was why he had left this place. That was the reason he never looked back at Dresden. And yet, he was standing here again, with that distance left intact.
He couldn’t even remember who had first harbored hostility, or for what reason. At some point, he realized that Richard had drawn a clear line against Christoph and was showing hostility that flickered within indifference, and Christoph, who was as indifferent as ice to everyone, hated Richard. Yes, it was closer to the feeling of dislike than hatred.
Why?
There was no way to know such a thing.
“A better target than Erich… I see.”
Still gripping Erich by the collar, Christoph turned halfway and gazed blankly at Richard before slowly letting him go. He then turned fully to face Richard head-on.
Richard flicked his eyes downward, glancing at Christoph’s blood-stained clothes—some of the blood already dried, [visit our site][Read on Read BL Novels]some freshly soaked—before looking [Read on Read BL Novels]back up at him. He then surveyed the scene of carnage unfolding around them.
A desolate hostility surfaced on his usually calm and gentle face.
“What is the meaning of this sudden visit and this behavior?”
Christoph did not answer Richard’s cold question. Instead, he spoke briefly.
“Hand him over.”
At that short, blunt command, Richard arched an eyebrow.
“Who?”
“I doubt you’ve suddenly developed a desire to play word games with me.”
Christoph’s voice dropped. The gun he had seized from the man [visit our site]earlier [Read on Read BL Novels]and was still holding spun once in his hand.
He had no intention of threatening him, but Richard, who didn’t feel threatened anyway, looked coldly at the movement of his hand and spoke.
“If you’re talking about the friend you came with, you’ve come to the wrong place. Besides, looking at the current situation, I believe I’m the one in the position to demand an explanation.”
Richard gestured with his chin toward the interior of the shop. Christoph didn’t even look in the direction he pointed. His eyes narrowed as he stared straight at Richard, and a voice—whether filled with rage or cynicism, it was hard to tell—flowed from his coldly twisted lips.
“In the position to demand an explanation. Come to think of it, I forgot. I came here to hold you accountable for your failure to manage your subordinates.”
Richard tilted his head slightly in confusion, waiting silently for the rest.
“I took care of your underlings who tried to sabotage my horse to cause an accident on my own, but I believe I should hold you responsible for that.”
“Your horse?”
Richard frowned and asked back. He seemed to be trying to gauge where this sudden story was coming from. Just then, one of the men standing a [stolen content]short distance away approached Richard and whispered something in [visit our site]his ear. Enough time had passed for the [stolen content]news of what Christoph had done at the manor’s stables to reach them.
After hearing the man’s whisper, Richard nodded as if he finally understood. He looked at Christoph again with an indifferent gaze.
“It seems Moritz and his lot played the fool. Three of them can just walk around in casts for a while, but two look like they’ll be bedridden in a hospital for some time, and one is lucky if he even survives. That horse was quite expensive, wasn’t it?”
Richard murmured calmly. Letting the lingering echo of his words fade, a very faint sneer touched his lips as he looked at Christoph.
“But let me tell you, Christoph, while your rigid way of thinking might assume everyone exists in a vertical hierarchy, I do not. They are not my subordinates; they are my friends and brothers. …Ah, yes, they would be your brothers too. I don’t know if someone with blood as cold as yours—someone who breaks people as if their lives don’t matter—even understands such a concept.”
“Friends and brothers…?”
Christoph repeated Richard’s words like a parrot. A light scoff escaped him, but not a trace of a smile touched his face. Only the sound of an incredulous exhale could be heard.
“You have such things? What utter bullshit. Isn’t your true nature to look down on everyone as if they are beneath you? —Whatever. I didn’t come here because I wanted to exchange words with you. I never thought you were someone I could reason with.”
His finger, resting on [Read on Read BL Novels]the trigger, spun [visit our site]the short gun habitually. Suddenly, Richard narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“I suppose you intend to shoot me with that gun.”
“Whether it’s this shop or you, I don’t care which one I crush first. In fact, I thought it would be good to settle things with you once and for all so that you stop being a nuisance in the future.”
“Did you think threatening me with a gun would work?”
“You thought it was a threat?”
To an opponent who, as he himself said, would not be swayed by a threat, Christoph—who had murmured nonchalantly—aimed the gun just as casually. Then, without hesitation, he cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger.
It happened in an instant.
While exchanging words calmly—or coldly—Christoph fired the gun as naturally as he had been speaking. It wasn’t a frantic or hurried movement, nor was it slow like a joke.
The gunshot rang out exceptionally loud. [stolen content]It was because everyone present had fallen [Read on Read BL Novels]silent at that moment.
The bullet, carrying a sentiment that it wouldn’t matter if it hit, but it was also fine if it didn’t, grazed Richard’s ear by a hair’s breadth. To be precise, Richard had dodged by a fraction of a second the moment Christoph pulled the trigger.
The bullet slammed into the trunk of a small tree growing in a large pot right behind him with a thud. Fresh splinters of wood flew out, scratching Richard’s nape before falling away.
“….”
Richard silently wiped his neck with the back of his hand. Seeing nothing on his skin, he turned his gaze back to Christoph. A menacing aura surged instantly around him as he looked at Christoph expressionlessly. From a short distance, Erich’s voice could be heard calling Christoph’s name, but no one looked back.
“Hand him over,” Christoph said shortly. He spun the gun lightly once more, realized by its weight that no bullets remained, and tossed it aside carelessly.
Richard paused in thought for a moment before speaking subtly.
“You said you wanted to settle things with me. If I hand over that friend, will you withdraw quietly?”
It was a question that sounded as if he would return the friend [stolen content]if [Read on Read BL Novels]Christoph agreed to leave obediently. Christoph paused, frowning. He glared at Richard without answering. He almost looked as if he were contemplating it.
Slowly, Richard smiled. A low, slow snicker.
“Can’t you even manage a single lie that would benefit you in the moment? Out of pity for that stupidity, let me tell you: I couldn’t care less about that friend. I’ve heard nothing of him. However, separately from that, seeing this mess makes me think that I, too, should settle things properly with you.”
Taking off his suit jacket and placing it on a nearby seat, Richard gave a light shake of his head to the man signaling him from the side. Then, he took a step toward Christoph. Crunch. A piece of glass shattered under his shoe.
The distance between them was barely a dozen steps.
There were no longer any customers in the room who were unrelated to them. All that remained were Christoph and his enemy.
In this overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation, Christoph let out a quiet sigh without even glancing at his surroundings. He remained silent for a moment, looking up at the ceiling as if lost in thought. Eventually, when the sound of glass scraping the floor was heard slowly, Christoph returned his gaze to Richard.
“Let me be clear: if that guy returns with so much as a single scratch, every single person in this room will pay the price. You, Hugo, Fabian, Sven….”
Looking at the men standing like statues surrounding them at a distance, Christoph spoke slowly and lowly. With that indifferent voice and his eerie gaze shifting from one man to another, the men Read on Read BL Novelstrembled slightly under that glass-like stare, which held no murderous intent, resembling the eyes of a reptile. Finally, that gaze stopped on Richard.
“…And you as well, Richard.”
Richard, the only one who met that gaze unfazed, narrowed his eyes as if searching for something. Christoph continued.
“If a single joint in his finger is out of place, I will snap every joint in your ten fingers. If a single drop of blood flows from his skin, I will drain enough blood from your body to form a puddle. Without fail.”
There was no one present who didn’t know that those words, though sounding like a metaphor, were not metaphors at all.
In the silence, Richard, who had been observing Christoph without a hint of change in his expression as if he hadn’t even heard the words, finally spoke after a few seconds of silence. His low tone held a faint, barely perceptible hint of curiosity.
“Come to think of it, this is quite fascinating. It’s surprising that you even have a friend, and that you brought someone along to a place like this… and that you’re concerned for someone’s well-being. As far as I remember, this is a first. No, I’ve never even imagined it.”
His steps toward Christoph stopped.
“Are you trying to pretend to be human? This isn’t like you, Christoph.”
“I decide what’s like me. Not you.”
It was when Christoph’s short retort came back. The expression vanished from Richard’s face, which had been wearing a faint, almost imperceptible smile akin to sarcasm.
“Who did he bring?”
While asking the question in a slightly lowered voice, Richard’s gaze remained fixed on Christoph, so the colleague standing a few steps behind him didn’t immediately realize the question was directed at them. After a brief pause, the man behind him answered hurriedly, sounding slightly flustered.
“He’s a young man who has been staying in the west wing and running errands for him recently…”
The man trailed off, knowing nothing more about the youth, but that alone seemed to be enough for Richard to realize. An “Ah,” he murmured, signaling his understanding.
Richard looked at Christoph with a peculiar expression. His gaze, which seemed disbelieving or still suspicious, slowly filled with emotion. It was clear malice.
“I see, that man… He seemed to be quite fond of that errand boy, so he brought him along? He must really like him. Ha, a man who always lived visit our sitein isolation as a mad loner—is he actually planning to mimic a human? …Or perhaps, he’s not a ‘friend’.”
Christoph said nothing. He simply stared back with eyes like ice.
The men standing a few steps away from Richard glanced at him. Their leader, who was always consistently reliable and kind, was showing a cold side unimaginable from his usual self. Yet, while this side was unfamiliar, it wasn’t surprising, because he was always like this when dealing with Christoph.
He was always like this with Christoph. He was never the same as when he dealt with everyone else.
“So, where did that friend disappear to? If he left this place a step ahead, someone must have seen him leave.”
Richard asked again. At that question, Christoph’s pupils moved subtly. This time, the man realized the question was aimed at him and answered immediately.
“It seems there was a slight altercation in the restroom. In the midst of that, he reportedly stole Wilhelm’s clothes and fled, but since he wasn’t spotted at the exits, we believe he might still be somewhere inside…”
“Clothes?”
“Yes, perhaps to avoid being seen, he stole and wore a black hooded jacket. We’re still searching for him, so probably soon…”
Before the man could finish, Richard’s face turned strange.
Rather than strange, it was as if he had been lightly struck by something unexpected; for a moment, all emotion vanished from his face.
“A black hooded jacket…” Richard murmured, and then, very slowly, he let out a single sound—a “Ha”—that could have been either a laugh or a gasp of surprise. But soon, that sound grew into “Ha, haha,” and he began to laugh, pressing his hand to his forehead as if it were absurd. As if it were the most delightful thing in the world.
“Ahaha, hahahaha, I see, right, then that man… Ah, yes, that was it, hahahaha.”
Richard laughed for a long time. Hearing that immensely triumphant and loud laughter, Christoph’s gaze grew increasingly menacing. Richard clearly knew where the man was. That laughter, which suggested he found it unbearabley funny, gave it away.
“It seems you’ve finally remembered where he is. Then bring him here. I’ve been patient long enough, Richard.”
Christoph spoke quietly as Richard’s laughter subsided. At the same time, he radiated a bloodlust so potent it wouldn’t have been strange if he had driven a knife into Richard’s throat.
Richard stopped laughing. However, he continued to look at him with a pleasant smile stolen contentstill lingering on his lips. There was even a sense of leisure in the way he lifted his shoe from the glass shards.
“Kim Young-soo, was it? You must be very fond of him, Christoph. This is the first time I’ve seen you treat a human so specially. My dear cousin Christoph, but unfortunately—”
Before the artificial modifier that sparked immediate irritation could sink in, the words that followed the contradiction reached Christoph’s ears. His fingertips twitched slightly. In an instant, his eyes froze.
“Your precious ‘friend’ Kim Young-soo is currently—”
Richard’s lips enunciated each word slowly, as if building anticipation for what was to come.
The room was so silent that not even the sound of breathing could be heard. It was as if everyone sensed that the words falling from those lips would be like a sentence. And then, the rest of the sentence followed.
“Having a wonderful time with Riegrow. In that room over there.”
After he finished speaking, the silence lingered a bit longer.
There was no one who didn’t understand what Richard’s words meant.
Regardless of how it happened, those words were likely not a lie, and the ‘friend’ Christoph had been searching for with such ferocity was likely suffering an absurd fate at the hands of the madman Rick.
It was not strange that the people, looking almost horrified, reflexively checked Christoph’s expression.
And Christoph.
He, who should have been horrified, then drenched in grief and consumed by rage, stared at Richard with eyes wide open in clear, unexpected surprise. Richard stared back, leisurely waiting for the reaction that would follow.
Eventually, Christoph spoke.
“Rick… he was here?”
“Yes. He was just talking with me until your friend barged in.”
“He’s with Rick?”
“Yes. They were just starting when I came out, so they must be in the middle of enjoying themselves by now. If I had known he was your friend, I would have helped him somehow before Rick touched him. What a shame.”
“….”
Richard spoke as if he were genuinely sorry. If not for the smile on his lips and the coldness in his eyes, his voice was soft enough to be taken as sincere.
The fact his words conveyed was simple.
Christoph Tarten had been beaten to the punch by someone else—and a madman like Rick, whom even Christoph could not deal with easily—regarding the youth he rarely took a liking to.
It was an unprecedented event. No, until a few minutes ago when Christoph had been turning the shop upside down demanding his companion, no one had predicted such a development.
“How unfortunate, Christoph. That your precious ‘friend’ has to go through such a rough experience. Truly a pity.”
When Richard spoke again, Christoph, who had been silently lost [visit our site]in thought while looking down at his feet, raised his head. visit our siteHis face was as indifferent and ordinary as always.
“So what.”
The short answer popped out abruptly. This, too, was an answer that likely fell outside the range of what others expected.
Richard arched an eyebrow slightly. But soon, he let out a short breath and laughed.
“You don’t mind, then?”
“Unlike a pervert like you, I don’t care about that much.”
“Aha… what a noble heart I hadn’t expected. The heart is what matters, not the body? Indeed, that is admirable. I can’t even compare to you.”
“I suppose not. Since you’re the kind of bastard who’s satisfied as long as you can play with a body however you want, even if you throw the heart into the depths of the ocean.”
At first glance, it was a remark that seemed utterly out of place. Anyone who knew Christoph would [visit our site]have thought so. In truth, even Christoph himself might have found it ridiculous that words like “heart” were coming out of his own mouth.
Richard also looked at him with a momentarily bewildered expression before letting out a sigh-laced snort, muttering as if to himself.
“Good grief, it’s not as if a serial pleasure-killer is suddenly preaching the sublime dignity of human life.”
Christoph said nothing. He simply glared at Richard in silence, his face as impassive as ever.
However, after studying that face intently for a moment, Richard suddenly let out a silent laugh.
“Christoph. My, Christoph. Why is your face like that? You claim you don’t care, yet you wear such a gloomy and discouraged expression. Hmm?”
Richard’s voice grew considerably softer. It was as smooth as a snake.
A natural-born sadist, Christoph thought, a short curse escaping his lips as he clicked his tongue lowly. Displaying his displeasure even more blatantly, Christoph glared at him fiercely.
Occasionally—very occasionally—Richard could read stolen contentChristoph’s expressions. Sometimes, he even picked up on emotions that Christoph himself hadn’t recognized. Just like now.
“I don’t care,” Christoph stated firmly once more.
With a look that said, Sure, sure, I’m sure you do, as if dealing with a child’s stubbornness, Richard simply nodded once. Christoph frowned.
“So what if some tongues tangled and some bodies were touched? Kids do that for fun. Isn’t the one overreacting to something like that the weirder one?”
As he spoke, Christoph’s expression softened slightly, as if he had convinced himself of his own words.
Richard laughed again. It seemed to him that Christoph was trying his hardest to put up a front. As if stripping away that facade, Richard replied.
“Yes, that level of it would be child’s play. But Christoph, face reality. There’s no way Rick would stop at being ‘cute.’ You’ve worked with him before; there’s no way you know him less than I do.”
This time, however, it was Christoph who snorted.
“I know him well. No matter how much Rick is a man [stolen content]for whom nothing in the world is feared or [stolen content]impossible, I know very well that he cannot turn a man into a woman.”
Richard’s smiling face froze for a moment. He seemed to be trying to grasp the implication of those words, but a clear answer didn’t seem to come to mind immediately.
Turn a man into a woman… Did he mean that since he couldn’t make him pregnant, he couldn’t tie him down that way? Or was it an indirect way of saying that the heart doesn’t necessarily follow where the body goes? Or perhaps he meant that since he isn’t a woman, his body wouldn’t break easily even if treated roughly, so there was nothing to worry about?
While the people listening to the conversation were turning similar questions over in their heads, Christoph, emboldened by his own words, regained a sliver of composure and continued.
“They’re both men anyway, so there’s nothing particular he can do. Even if he goes far, it’ll just be some licking and sucking; it doesn’t matter. It’s not as if I have some obsession with cleanliness that makes me monitor my… friend, day and night, so that no one can lay a finger on him.”
Don’t lie, you bastard, your obsession with cleanliness is severe, someone muttered abruptly from some corner, but no one paid attention to that powerless voice.
Silence fell.
Amidst that subtle silence, Richard stood for a long time, simply staring at Christoph, who remained standing proudly alone. A strange, indescribable blank expression gazed steadily and intently at him.
As Richard opened his mouth as if to say something, [Read on Read BL Novels]then closed it again, Christoph spoke with a cold sneer.
“I suppose you thought I’d be quite shaken if you spoke like that.”
“…”
Richard said nothing. He merely continued to look at Christoph with a suspicious and ambiguous expression.
A man standing blankly behind Richard hesitated slightly before stammering out a comment.
“Who says you can only lick and suck just because it’s between men? They mix skin, mix bodies… they do everything.”
At that weak and uncertain voice, Christoph merely shifted his gaze toward him with a sidelong glance. He let out a short snort.
“You take me for a fool. Or perhaps you’re the fool.”
A silence descended, the voice saturated with ridicule in every syllable.
* * *
Originally, he had no intention of stepping forward.
While Ilay had gone into the attached bathroom, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been sprawled out exhausted and dazed, thought vaguely, Maybe it’s because my head is foggy, but it’s much quieter… before suddenly snapping his head up.
Come to think of it, Erich had mentioned earlier that Christoph was causing a commotion outside. He had been too preoccupied to care and had forgotten for a moment, but that was also why Richard had left the room.
If so, by now, either a disaster had struck, or… Damn it, only the scenario of a disaster came to mind.
His lower body was throbbing painfully and his legs lacked strength, but Jeong Tae-ui [unauthorized copy]managed to pull himself together and stand up. He had a past where he was reasonably accustomed to this; after limping around the room for a few steps, he found he could walk passably.
Glancing at the bathroom where the sound of water could be heard, Jeong Tae-ui hesitated for a moment before tidying his clothes and leaving the room.
It was a relief that the man had finished quickly. “I can’t just leave things strewn about comfortably in someone else’s territory,” Ilay had said—only after he had already done everything he wanted—before lightly stroking Jeong Tae-ui’s limp body, chuckling, and entering the bathroom.
Sprawled alone in the room where the humid air had not yet dissipated, Jeong Tae-ui wished he could just lose consciousness and fall asleep, but it didn’t go as planned.
Ilay’s words circled in his head.
The Vice Minister. A state-owned company in Saudi Arabia. The conditions they had set.
Damn it, why is it like this…
Letting out a groan, Jeong Tae-ui sighed.
He hadn’t heard exactly what their demands were.
However, a thought occurred to him that perhaps even Ilay hadn’t fully grasped it. That kind of information wasn’t something that would casually circulate among non-insiders, and if the man had a precise grasp of the situation, it was doubtful he would be acting so lukewarmly.
A man who had bombed another country’s capital wouldn’t suddenly decide to bow his head under authority and live a quiet, good life.
This is troublesome. I have a feeling things have become quite troublesome, he thought, and suddenly, fatigue washed over him all at once. His exhausted body instinctively avoided complex thoughts.
Then, his mind turned to the misfortune outside.
“In the event that a disaster has occurred, it’s only human decency to recover the bodies.”
Muttering to himself, Jeong Tae-ui left the room and stepped into the hallway, where he hesitated for a moment.
The hallways all looked identical and were incredibly confusing—to the point where he didn’t know how he had managed to get here earlier. He figured it would be difficult even if he tried to find his way back on purpose; he really had terrible luck.
However, as he traced his way back through his memories, amidst the general silence, he heard the faint sound of a commotion in the [unauthorized copy]distance. There was no one around him; the presence of people was only audible from Read on Read BL Novelsthat distant unauthorized copyspot. Since he could hear the sound, it wasn’t difficult to find the way.
As he dragged his feet with slow steps toward the sound, he found a man leaning against the wall at the end of a secluded hallway, his back turned. Perhaps something urgent was happening in the hall, as the man was so distracted that he didn’t notice Jeong Tae-ui limping up right behind him.
The only saving grace was that it didn’t seem to be the hellscape Jeong Tae-ui had imagined—one drenched in the smell of blood with ear-piercing screams—but the atmosphere was still ominous.
“Hey, what’s going on? What happened?”
When Jeong Tae-ui approached the man and asked in a whisper, the man muttered back in a lowered voice without even turning around.
“Shut up. Just keep your mouth shut. Can’t you hear that guy talking? He’s at a crucial part.”
“A crucial part? Why, what’s happening? Are they signing a ceasefire agreement?”
Jeong Tae-ui poked his head over the man’s shoulder to survey the situation in the hall.
It was strange.
The atmosphere wasn’t so volatile that they were on the verge of a brawl, but amidst a tension so tight it felt like it was stinging his skin, something was off.
The people collapsed in bloody heaps all around were undoubtedly the work of Christoph, who was standing there leaning against a pillar. Yet, for someone who had committed such an atrocity, he was standing with immense confidence and composure, talking away. He couldn’t see Richard’s expression as he faced him, but the men standing around them looked as if they were possessed.
Perhaps annoyed by Jeong Tae-ui’s constant whispering from behind, the man turned around and snapped in a low voice.
“You idiot, how could that be! Who in their right mind would sign a—”
He stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Jeong Tae-ui. For a moment, he stared blankly with a look of What is this? but as a fierce expression quickly returned to his face, Jeong Tae-ui muttered, “No? Then never mind,” and swiftly twisted the man’s neck.
With a crack of colliding joints, the man’s eyes widened as he slumped over and lost consciousness. Jeong Tae-ui dragged the man behind him and took his place.
In any case, since the atmosphere wasn’t razor-sharp, he didn’t want to step forward if possible. It would be a disaster if he stepped out prematurely and the mood turned cold simply because the enemy had gained an ally.
I’ll just observe the atmosphere and then grab that guy and run away when there’s a gap…
“You take me for a fool. Or perhaps you’re the fool.”
While Jeong Tae-ui was dragging the man back, someone must have said something. Christoph spoke with a cold snort.
“Do I look like an idiot who doesn’t even know how the human body is structured?”
Though he didn’t know the context, Jeong Tae-ui nodded at Christoph’s words.
A human capable of cutting off a person’s breath so accurately and decisively was bound to know the structure of the human body well. There was no way he would accidentally kill someone by hitting the wrong spot, or leave someone alive when he intended to kill them.
Indeed, he would know exactly where and how to make someone die, faint, or suffer.
However, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been nodding to himself, froze at Christoph’s next words.
“You’re not exactly ignorant of what a man’s lower half looks like, so stop the nonsense. Even if you dismiss it as mere frolicking, it’s far more wholesome [visit our site]than the [visit our site]things [visit our site]you lot do with women. Do you really think I’d be offended by that?”
Christoph’s voice, sounding utterly incredulous as if he were about to click his tongue, sounded exceptionally loud.
I guess since they’re the type to play so filthily with women, they’d find it strange to see someone play more cleanly with men, he followed up as if talking to himself. At that, Jeong Tae-ui instinctively realized the flow of the conversation. And he silently slammed his head against the wall.
Why hadn’t he come sooner? He should have just dragged the man and bolted before he opened his mouth so recklessly. Or rather, he shouldn’t have come out at all so he wouldn’t have to hear this conversation.
While Jeong Tae-ui was suffering with his head against the wall, it was Richard who broke the long silence.
“So, what you’re saying is, doing that with a man… isn’t actually that big of a deal…?”
The voice was only slightly low; it was as calm and composed as usual. However, Jeong Tae-ui couldn’t see—and didn’t want to see—what kind of expression Richard was wearing as he asked that.
“Why, does it look filthier to your rotten brain for men to just rub some skin together than it does to mess around sloppily with women?”
Behind Christoph’s confident cynicism, [stolen content]Jeong unauthorized copyTae-ui remained silent for a long time, clutching the wall. There were quite a few people joining him in that silence.
He couldn’t bear to listen any further.
It wasn’t the first time he’d experienced a situation where the listener felt more embarrassed and flushed than the speaker, but this conversation was special—one of the most explicit of his entire life.
Jeong Tae-ui, who fully understood why they were reacting that way, couldn’t just stand by and watch Christoph, who was calmly firing back without knowing why—or rather, understanding it in a completely different direction. He let go of the wall and barely managed to take a step forward. The thought of turning around and going back the way he came crossed his mind for a moment, but he gave up on that because he didn’t have the confidence to navigate that complex path again.
Even after he left the secluded hallway and entered the hall, no one looked at him. Every single one of them was staring only at Christoph. With vacant expressions.
“Anyway, it’s fundamentally impossible to make a mess of it the way you lot do, so why the fuss? It’s not as if you’re pretending to be innocent, what on earth—”
“Okay, Chris. Stop right there.”
The people who hadn’t spared Jeong Tae-ui a single glance even as he advanced nearly to the center of the hall finally turned their eyes toward him when he cut Christoph off.
Wiping his perspiring forehead with the Read on Read BL Novelsback of his hand, Jeong Tae-ui gave a forced, warm smile. However, the gazes piercing Read on Read BL Novelsinto him were incredibly stinging.
“—…”
Seeing Jeong Tae-ui, Christoph widened his eyes slightly and opened his mouth as if to call him. But before a word could escape, he closed his mouth again and stared at him in silence for a moment.
Soon, his usual indifferent eyes scanned Jeong Tae-ui from head to toe.
“You look fine.”
With a face so cold that one would wonder if this was the same man who had been so diligently defending Jeong Tae-ui—based on the context of the conversation—he spoke as if it were a pity that Jeong Tae-ui hadn’t come with something broken.
“Really? I’m not as fine as I look.”
Though his steps were somewhat slow and steady, Christoph would soon notice that he was subtly dragging his feet. When Jeong Tae-ui replied with a shrug, as expected, Christoph frowned slightly while looking at Jeong Tae-ui’s feet.
“Did that guy beat you up or something?”
“Hardly. If he had, would I even be able to walk like this?”
“Then why are you walking like that?”
“…Just… something happened.”
In a situation where it was practically the same as openly claiming, ‘It’s because I was just physically active with a man,’ in front of everyone, Jeong Tae-ui gave up on whatever dignity he had left.
Then again, thinking about it, the shocking part in this situation wasn’t Jeong Tae-ui’s dignity. It was far more shocking that Christoph’s brain would ask if he’d been ‘beaten up’ under such obvious circumstances.
A very subtle atmosphere was flowing.
Amidst the blood-stained men collapsed like corpses all around, the volatile and aggressive atmosphere that had been on the verge of exploding had cooled ambiguously, as if lukewarm water had been poured over it. Then, as Jeong Tae-ui appeared, the men seemed to recall their earlier aggression and suddenly lit a fire in their eyes again.
Richard, who had been looking at Christoph with an expressionless face—though he didn’t try to hide a gaze that seemed stolen contentappalled or bewildered—slowly shifted his [Read on Read BL Novels][unauthorized copy]gaze to Jeong Tae-ui. A cold gaze traveled slowly from head to toe.
“I didn’t realize you had arrived. Had I known sooner, I would have greeted you properly.”
“Ah… yes…”
He wasn’t sure if Richard understood the meaning—which was essentially ‘I’m sorry for unintentionally eavesdropping on the conversation’—but surprisingly, the gaze Richard cast upon him wasn’t that stinging. Even in this situation, remarkably, he did not lose that reliable, good-natured smile.
“But how… it seems Riegrow finished his business quickly.”
Ah. There were bones hidden in that laughter.
“Yes… well…”
He spoke briefly, conveying the meaning: I did what I had to do and then left quickly. Whether Richard understood those words or not, he raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t press for details.
Jeong Tae-ui let out a silent sigh. He quietly gauged his surroundings.
It wasn’t good.
The sight of men collapsed like rags, drenched in blood, and the situation where the place had turned into a shambles—with debris crunching underfoot with every step—was seriously not good. Furthermore, the menacing glares surrounding them were still numerous, easily a dozen pairs of eyes despite the many bodies strewn about.
But among all of that, the worst part was the man standing just a few steps away: Richard Tarten.
Among the men with bloodshot eyes glaring viciously, that man—standing there with a relaxed and benevolent face—was somehow the most unsettling.
Come to think of it, Jeong Tae-ui had never seen Richard fight anyone. He had heard several times that the man was an exceptionally outstanding and capable talent, but none of those stories mentioned that he was skilled in combat.
Still, he didn’t want to fight that man. Even if he were a weakling who couldn’t fight to save his life, Tae-ui didn’t want to beat him down here only to deal with the aftermath later.
“Then… shall we head back now?”
Jeong Tae-ui smiled quite nonchalantly toward [unauthorized copy]Christoph. However, before Christoph could say anything, several of the men surrounding them shouted menacingly.
“Who says you can leave!”
“You think you can just leave after turning someone’s shop into this?!”
Yet, while they shouted fiercely, none of them stepped forward, and the gaze naturally shifted toward Richard.
Maintaining his leisurely demeanor, he looked at Christoph and spoke.
“If I say I’ll pretend not to have seen this, will you withdraw quietly?”
It was a very generous question. Even his expression, which seemed to suggest he would let them go peacefully, looked benevolent, though devoid of a smile.
However.
“I haven’t even started cleaning up yet. I didn’t come [visit our site]all the way here [stolen content]just to see your face and exchange a few words.”
At Christoph’s answer, which rejected the proposal flatly, Jeong Tae-ui wanted to tear his hair out internally. But seeing the faint smile playing on Richard’s lips, he realized that Richard had asked the question expecting that very answer.
“You, don’t stand in the middle getting in the way and blocking my view. Move.”
The man frowning and gesturing with his head toward Jeong Tae-ui was Christoph—making Tae-ui wonder if he was truly an ally in this situation. Jeong Tae-ui wanted to grumble something, but as he smacked his lips and tried to step back, Christoph glared at him again.
“Not that way, move this way. Who told you to go there?”
“…”
To Christoph, who was gesturing with his chin toward the side over his shoulder, Jeong Tae-ui responded only with a silent yes, yes through lip movements and moved to where he pointed.
Once he stood in a dead end by a pillar, he saw two corpses (or men who looked like corpses) slumped against it. He looked down at them, drenched in blood, with a bitter feeling, but since his own body was exhausted, he simply sat down on a table where one of them was sprawled.
Only after confirming that Jeong Tae-ui had sat behind him did Christoph turn [Read on Read BL Novels]his head back. His eyes met Richard’s.
Richard, who had been watching the scene the entire time, suddenly laughed.
“My, my. You must really like him. Well, fine.”
Step. As he took another step forward, his foot stepped on something with a screech. It was a gun. The gun Christoph had thrown away earlier.
Richard lightly kicked the gun away with the tip of his shoe. Then, he posed a belated question.
“Why did you throw away the gun? Was the magazine empty? If you had said so, I would have given you as many bullets as you wanted. What do you plan to do now that you’ve discarded the gun, when you have nothing to offer other than your skill with one?”
“Nothing to offer other than my skill with a gun…?”
Christoph’s brow furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly. But that expression soon vanished, replaced by a cold sneer.
“In that case, why don’t you stolen contentcheck for yourself with your own body? Whether [stolen content]I have anything else to offer or not.”
“I was planning to do exactly that.”
It happened the moment Richard finished saying, I was planning to.
The faint sound of glass shattering under his shoe could be heard. But faster than that sound could reach the ear—at least to those watching—Richard was already within arm’s reach of Christoph.
“…!”
Without warning. Without a single menacing omen.
Richard closed the distance to Christoph’s face without giving him a moment to breathe. However, Christoph faced him without even pretending to be surprised. He seemed to widen his eyes slightly as if it were somewhat unexpected, but such an expression barely registered.
At the same time, Christoph also moved.
He struck the fist diving toward his throat with a glass bottle he [visit our site]had grabbed at [Read on Read BL Novels]some point. With a sharp crack, blood splattered in all directions. Not only Richard’s fist, but blood Read on Read BL Novelsdroplets formed on Christoph’s own cheek and temple where the glass shards had grazed and scratched him.
Even with a fist that was instantly torn to shreds and drenched in blood, Richard struck Christoph’s throat exactly as he had intended. Simultaneously, the hand attempting to plunge the half-broken bottle into Richard’s neck missed its mark and violently scratched across the area under his jaw and throat.
Like monsters, even with bodies that would be bloodied by torn flesh and broken bones, they sought to dig out each other’s lives without so much as batting an eye.
“My god…”
Someone’s trembling voice was faintly heard.
It was a fight of beasts.
It was merely a fight between two humans, yet it felt as if two giant monsters were entangled, biting and tearing at each other while destroying everything around them.
Jeong Tae-ui had seen plenty of bloodbaths between men. He had even frequently seen brawls where weapons flew. He had seen more than a few desperate struggles between men trying to cut off each other’s breath with bloodshot eyes.
And yet.
It was an overwhelming fight, to the point where there was no room to even think about stopping them. It was a fight that ‘must see things through to the end.’
Not much time passed. It was the very next moment after the two, who seemed to have separated for a second, lunged back toward each other.
In that fleeting instant, too short for people to even recognize.
Snap. In the dim indoor lighting, dust was seen billowing up. Small particles, perhaps tiny shards of glass, could be seen sparkling and leaping in between.
And beneath that dust, Christoph was lying down. Richard, sitting atop him, was gripping Christoph’s collar. Christoph, in turn, was gripping Richard’s elbow.
“…!”
The position where Christoph had fallen was not a place he could have ended up if he had simply fallen from where he had been standing. Jeong Tae-ui, whose view had been obstructed, couldn’t keep up with the rapid movements and the exchanges of blows that must have happened before.
But the certain fact now was that Christoph was unauthorized copypinned to the floor on his back by Richard’s hand. And another fact was that Richard’s arm, held by [Read on Read BL Novels]Christoph’s hand, was twisted slightly in an abnormal direction.
Strength entered Christoph’s arm as he gripped the elbow. A crack of bone reached Jeong Tae-ui’s ears. Blood flowing down from the neck soaked the sleeve and continuously streamed down, pooling in the joints of the fist.
Though it must have been agonizing enough to cause cold sweats, Richard didn’t budge, his face indifferent as if he had never possessed the sense of pain to begin with. No, rather, a faint smile seemed to have appeared on his face.
However, from an outside perspective, it was by no means a situation to smile about.
Although he was pinned underneath, Christoph seemed to have no major injuries despite several lacerations leaving him bloodied; on the other hand, Richard, who was sitting on top, was drenched in blood from the neck down. The arm held by Christoph was also grotesquely twisted. Droplets of blood trickled down that arm.
“Richard!”
Someone called Richard’s name and tried to rush toward him. But he lightly waved his hand to stop them. That short gesture said: Do not approach.
At that moment, Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head, thinking, Huh? Something felt strange. The thought occurred to him suddenly without any particular reason. Not good. This isn’t good. A warning light was flashing.
“Move. Don’t touch me.”
Christoph’s voice expressed clear displeasure, but it was still lethargic.
Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head again. Did I think wrong? He had felt something not quite right, but that voice didn’t sound like someone who was seriously injured or in pain.
Expressing a mood that wasn’t critical but was extremely annoyed, Christoph’s eyes flashed brilliantly beneath Richard, who was pressing down on his abdomen. Richard laughed at the voice that dripped with disgust, as if he had been pinned by some giant reptile.
“You have a fatal weakness. A fatal weakness for close-quarters combat. —…If you can’t end it in one blow, it naturally leads to a physical brawl, and you can’t stand that. Because of that damn temperament of yours that shudders at the touch of another person’s finger.”
“Take your hand off.”
Strength entered the hand gripping Christoph’s collar. Even though it was undoubtedly dislocated by Christoph, the arm showed no sign of letting go. Christoph’s eyes grew harsher.
Suddenly, Richard stopped laughing. Looking at Christoph with glass-like eyes that didn’t blink once, he slowly leaned his body down. His face came close, within a distance of less than a span.
“Do you think I was just playing and eating in [Read on Read BL Novels]a safe home while you were hanging out with lunatics and scouring the killing [unauthorized copy]fields? Let me tell you once [Read on Read BL Novels]more. Without a weapon that works from a distance, you have nothing to offer.”
“I told you to take your hand off.”
Christoph spoke again, ignoring his words. As if intending to break the twisted arm entirely, the knuckles gripping the elbow turned white with strength.
But it was then.
“Chris!”
Jeong Tae-ui suddenly shouted.
At first, it was too dark to see properly. But in the eyes of Jeong Tae-ui, who had been tilting his head while watching Christoph, he saw something seeping out along the floor like smoke from beneath the body lying on the ground.
What is that…?
Almost the same moment he thought that, he realized the smoke was pitch-black blood.
The glass shards scattered sharply around Christoph were gradually being stained, glistening eerily. Likely because a shard of glass had penetrated deep into some part of his body.
However, even as Jeong Tae-ui’s face hardened and he shouted his name, Christoph merely gave him a dissatisfied glance, as if asking why he was screaming.
Is that not blood? He wasn’t hurt? As Jeong Tae-ui frowned in confusion, words he had heard once flashed through his mind.
—This guy has no sense of pain in his mind. Even if he does, his cognitive structure is messed up.
“Chris, you—”
As Jeong Tae-ui began to speak, his voice trailing off, Christoph frowned and clicked his tongue, speaking in a highly annoyed tone.
“Shut up. My ears are ringing as it is, so don’t be noisy and just stay still.”
His white face looked exceptionally white. Whether it was the lighting or not, his face looked pale, and the expression on [unauthorized copy]it was so nonchalant that it was actually eerie.
But Jeong Tae-ui saw it. Under the dim light, the area beneath the fine hair growing on his forehead was faintly damp with cold sweat.
“…!”
There was no way he had no sense of pain. He was simply not showing it. Perhaps he didn’t even know how to show it.
Just as Jeong Tae-ui unconsciously tried to step forward, one of the men standing nearby distorted his face menacingly and blocked the way.
“Hey, don’t try to interfere for nothing. If you interfere, we interfere too. Think carefully about who would be at an advantage before you decide. Up until now, we let it slide because you were a ‘guest of Tarten.’ If you interfere, you’ll no longer be a ‘guest.’”
Jeong Tae-ui looked at the man blocking him like a wall. Then, without shifting his gaze, he gauged the surroundings.
As the man said, it was by no means beneficial for Jeong Tae-ui to try to stop their fight or help someone. First of all, he was at a clear numerical disadvantage. Even if he left Richard to Christoph, he didn’t have the confidence to handle the remaining dozen or so men surrounding them.
In that case, the only remaining method was—.
“Help me. …Rick.”
At the whisper that leaked out like a powerless monologue, the man blocking the way flinched and frowned. He followed Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze, but at the end of it, there was only the dim ceiling light.
“…? Who are you asking for help—”
“Why should I do that?”
But it was before the man could finish his sentence.
Words murmured in a mocking tone were heard from the inner part of the hall. Step, step. The sound of someone stepping on glass shards, stone fragments, and wood splinters that had splattered every corner of the shop approached for two or three steps and then slowed down.
For a moment, the shop fell silent. Even the two men gripping each other in the center briefly turned their gazes toward that direction. Without showing a single opening.
Right. I figured it was about time he finished Read on Read BL Novels[visit our site]showering and got dressed to come out. And what’s with that gaze piercing the back of my head?
Jeong Tae-ui sighed and turned around. Ilay was emerging from the very hallway Jeong Tae-ui had come through. In perfect attire, without a single hair out of place, as if he hadn’t done a thing.
Turning his gaze away from his own clothes, which were all wrinkled from being thrown on hastily, and glaring at that neat shirt collar, Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head. But before Tae-ui could open his mouth, Ilay spoke first without hesitation.
“Let me tell you first. I cannot touch, nor do I wish to touch, the fundamental problem of this situation. The only thing I can help is you as an individual. Now. Even so, if you wish to receive help, I ask: why should I help you?”
Ilay was smiling faintly. But facing that gaze, which didn’t have a speck of warmth, Jeong Tae-ui realized. The person before him now was no longer Ilay. It was Riegrow.
Jeong Tae-ui let out a quiet sigh and murmured.
“Look… thanks to you, I’m scheduled to spend at least a full day going back and forth to the bathroom with a stomachache. My stomach is already starting to hurt, so you could at least do that much for me, right?”
After saying it, he thought it was a trivial thing to say in a place like this, but he had already lost enough face.
Seeing Jeong Tae-ui, who looked momentarily embarrassed before brazenly pulling in [unauthorized copy]his chin, Ilay raised an eyebrow.
“If it’s that, you should accept it as the price for eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation. Isn’t that right, Mr. Kim Young-soo, friend of Christoph?”
Jeong Tae-ui shut his mouth.
In an instant, the surrounding temperature dropped several degrees.
Christoph’s friend had eavesdropped on the conversation between Richard and Riegrow.
That fact meant only one thing.
…Right, he had forgotten for a moment. This man was by no means an ally. Christoph had said he stood in neutrality, but that wasn’t it either. This is an enemy, an enemy.
“Well, I intended to listen to the story slowly, but setting aside the fact that you slipped away while I stepped out for a moment, returning to the previous conversation, you’re saying you’d like me to help just you…?”
Ilay asked, gesturing lightly with his chin. Only after hearing those slow words did Jeong Tae-ui pause with an uh. Then, no, that’s [unauthorized copy]not it, he thought, glancing at Christoph.
It was still flowing out. Damn it, the puddle pooling beneath his body on the floor was gradually growing.
Perhaps noticing the flicker of anxiety that crossed Jeong Tae-ui’s face, Richard looked puzzled. At that moment, the blood spreading beneath Christoph’s body soaked into Richard’s knee. Richard glanced down briefly and nonchalantly at his knee, which was absorbing the blood in an instant, but then his expression vanished.
This is bad.
Clearly, it was bad. In a fight, there was nothing more disadvantageous than revealing one’s weakness or injury to the opponent.
And regardless, Jeong Tae-ui wanted to get out of this place while sustaining the minimum amount of damage possible.
“You said you wouldn’t touch the fundamental problem of this situation, right, Rick?”
Jeong Tae-ui muttered. For a few seconds, Ilay stared at Jeong Tae-ui without answering. Those icy eyes seemed to probe through Jeong Tae-ui’s mind.
Jeong Tae-ui didn’t give him the luxury of thinking for long. In [visit our site]truth, he didn’t stolen contenthave that luxury himself.
“Then, naturally, you won’t help or hinder a problem that directly involves those two.”
Jeong Tae-ui nailed it down. The moment he finished the sentence, he lunged in the opposite direction of Ilay—toward where Christoph and Richard were entangled.
A man standing awkwardly in the middle instinctively blocked Jeong Tae-ui’s path, but it wasn’t difficult to knock him down in one blow, as the man hadn’t expected him to change direction and charge so suddenly.
“Sorry.”
Muttering an apology that wouldn’t even reach the man’s ears, Jeong Tae-ui lamented. I end up making enemies after all. He had intended to remain a neutral party until the day he left.
The few steps Jeong Tae-ui took as he suddenly rushed toward the two in the center were a short moment—barely one or two seconds—but it wasn’t a time so short that Richard, who was his target in front, couldn’t avoid it. It was enough of a gap to defend and prepare an attack. And in terms of fighting, Richard was clearly superior to Jeong Tae-ui.
However.
“Chris!”
The moment Jeong Tae-ui shouted, Christoph twisted the elbow of the man he was gripping. A small, sharp cracking sound echoed. As reflexively tightened the grip of the hand pressing Christoph down, the pool of blood, which had seemed to pause for a moment, began to grow even faster, but Christoph didn’t care.
Tsk. Before Richard, who clicked his tongue, could shake off Christoph’s arm—it wasn’t a grip that could be easily shaken off—Jeong Tae-ui lunged at him almost as if sliding, and the men rushing to block Jeong Tae-ui were late by a hair’s breadth.
“Everyone, stay where you are!!”
Jeong Tae-ui shouted. At that urgent and decisive voice, the people rushing toward them stopped in unison.
To be precise, it wasn’t just because of the voice. At some point, Jeong Tae-ui had picked up a blade, and it was now precariously aimed at Richard’s throat.
Almost embracing Richard from behind with the gleaming blade pressed close to his neck, Jeong Tae-ui pushed the hesitating men back a few steps.
From the moment Jeong Tae-ui put the knife to him, Richard had remained motionless, obediently surrendering his body. He glanced down at Christoph, who was still gripping his arm. Once Richard had partially moved off of him, Christoph stared blankly at the ceiling, blinked a few times, and slowly pushed himself up. Blood poured from his waist.
“Chris, don’t move. —You there, call an ambulance. [Read on Read BL Novels]You have to move your colleague too!”
Seeing the men hesitating and wavering, Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue and yelled. However, the men still didn’t move; instead, Richard, whose neck was held by Jeong Tae-ui’s arm as if he were being strangled, spoke quietly.
“Don’t call them.”
“What are you talking about? Look at the state of that man. You’re pretty badly hurt too.”
“This much is fine.”
In contrast to Jeong Tae-ui, whose manner of speaking became rough in the urgency, Richard remained polite and calm even in this situation. It was hard to tell who was holding the knife to whom.
“This much is fine.”
For some reason, they were in agreement only at a time like this, as Christoph repeated the same words. This made Jeong Tae-ui flare up.
“What do you mean it’s [stolen content]fine? If it hurts, say [visit our site]it hurts! What’s wrong with you that you can’t even say it hurts when it does! That’s why—”
That’s why you hear things about having mental problems and no sense of pain, he almost added, but he swallowed the words. He simply glared at Christoph and clicked his tongue. Christoph blinked a couple of times and looked at Jeong Tae-ui. With an expressionless face. Yet, like a child who didn’t understand why, he looked slightly bewildered.
Richard, who had been gazing at Christoph, eventually shifted his gaze to Christoph’s waist. While looking at Jeong Tae-ui with his eyes, Christoph, who was groping his waist without even looking at where the blood was still pouring, frowned very slightly with an expressionless face.
He lifted the hand that had been groping his waist and looked down. A small drop of blood had formed on his fingertip, as if cut by a piece of glass embedded in his waist.
Plucking out the piece of glass and tossing it aside, Christoph stole a glance at Jeong Tae-ui. Then he mumbled under his breath.
“……Ouch.”
“…—!”
This guy doesn’t even bat an eyelid while pouring blood from his waist like a bucket, but he says ‘ouch’ because he slightly cut his finger— Jeong Tae-ui, who had been thinking this, shut his mouth. His heart twinged with a sudden pang.
“Fine. Just… let’s go back. Right now.”
Jeong Tae-ui said. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded exhausted. Regardless, tonight was an exceptionally tiring night.
“Now?”
Christoph questioned Jeong Tae-ui, wrinkling the bridge of his nose as if slightly displeased. Then, with that same face, he looked at Richard. Richard, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Christoph even after being captured by Jeong Tae-ui.
Finding it suspicious that he had been captured so quietly without any reaction for a while, Jeong Tae-ui tightened his arm around his neck a bit more. Christoph seemed to think for a moment, then nodded as if he wasn’t entirely keen on the idea.
“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it. Just wait a second, let me kill this guy first.”
“Chris!!”
I went through the trouble of taking him as a hostage, what the hell do you want by killing him? As Jeong Tae-ui’s expression changed urgently, Christoph looked even more displeased.
In this grim atmosphere, even though he was holding a knife to Richard’s throat, Jeong Tae-ui didn’t feel like he had the upper hand at all; his skin was tingling as if he were being electrocuted. Yet the man in front of him, [unauthorized copy]despite bleeding profusely from his waist, was spouting nonchalant nonsense with that pale face.
Quickly turning Richard to the side to distance him as much as possible from Christoph—though he still had his arm gripped—Jeong Tae-ui began to move toward the entrance. He looked around at the men who were hovering, looking for an opportunity to pounce on him.
“Don’t follow me. We’ll be seeing each other’s faces again anyway, so let’s call it a night.”
At that moment, Richard, who had been quietly held by Jeong Tae-ui, suddenly laughed.
“After running wild in someone else’s territory, you say ‘let’s call it a night’ just because the tide has turned against you. How convenient.”
“Have you lived your entire life only by the book?”
Jeong Tae-ui retorted shortly. Richard didn’t show any particular sign of displeasure.
“Mr. Kim Young-soo, don’t you think you’re doing something foolish right now?”
“I do, immensely.”
Of course. Seeing that monster of a man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching this like it was children’s play and smirking, he felt that he had indeed done something incredibly foolish.
Moreover, Christoph was glaring at Jeong Tae-ui with a displeased expression. His face was growing paler, but the look in his eyes insisting “I’m not going” remained vivid.
Jeong Tae-ui suddenly kicked Christoph’s thigh. Thud. The moment his body shook, a very slight wrinkle appeared on his expression. He reflexively bent his waist slightly.
“I almost kicked your waist. Shut up and follow me. I don’t know the way home, so you’ll have to drive. I’m taking the Richard you’re so obsessed with back with us, so what’s the problem?”
“I’ve never been obsessed with him!”
“Then just follow me quietly! ……Not you lot! You stay exactly where you are!”
Jeong Tae-ui shouted at the men who were subtly closing in, signaling to each other. The men didn’t move any closer, maintaining a certain distance. However, the man standing in front of the entrance refused to move.
“Move.”
“Stab me if you can.”
The man at the entrance told Jeong Tae-ui with a hardened face. As if he knew perfectly well that Jeong Tae-ui wouldn’t stab him.
Jeong Tae-ui whispered to Richard as if sharing a secret.
“This man is telling me to stab you. Weren’t you on the same side?”
Richard laughed calmly. His voice was composed as he said, “Rather than the same side, we are friends.” That was what felt unsettling.
Richard was too well-behaved. It was clear, even without hearing that calm voice, that it wasn’t because he was scared of Jeong Tae-ui’s knife. That weighed on his mind.
Jeong Tae-ui quietly gauged the position and posture.
Certainly, even if he were in Richard’s position, it would be impossible to move recklessly. A surprise attack [visit our site]only works when the opponent [visit our site]is off guard and weaker than oneself.
So it was natural for Richard to follow obediently, but it still felt ominous.
While Jeong Tae-ui was thinking in bewilderment, the man at the entrance jerked his chin toward Jeong Tae-ui and shouted.
“No matter how well you know Christoph, do you think an outsider can lay a hand on him and come out unscathed?”
But before Jeong Tae-ui could answer, the one who responded coldly was Christoph.
“Even if this guy can’t stab him, I can.”
“Chri—…”
Before the call could even finish.
Christoph struck the tip of Richard’s [visit our site]chin. Specifically, between the neck and the [unauthorized copy]chin, in an upward motion.
And a scream erupted.
“Ack!”
From Jeong Tae-ui’s mouth.
“…….”
Because Richard’s head snapped back suddenly, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been hit on the bridge of his nose, clutched his nose, and Christoph looked at him for a moment with pathetic eyes.
“If that knife had been in my hand, I would have just stabbed him…….”
As Christoph muttered regretfully, Richard, who had been hit precisely on the inside of his chin, lost consciousness and collapsed. Jeong Tae-ui instinctively caught and supported him.
“You lot should consider yourselves lucky today, so move. I might stab you, and depending on the case, I might kill you. ……No, actually, it would be easier to just clear you out of the way first.”
Christoph stopped mid-sentence and widened his eyes slightly, as if a great idea had just occurred to him. Yes, that would be easier, he thought, and took a stride toward the entrance.
The man flinched back almost reflexively. But Christoph reached him faster than he could retreat, and he became the final victim created inside the shop that night.
Lacking the ability or energy to stop him, Jeong Tae-ui easily moved through the path Christoph had cleared, barely crossing the threshold of the entrance while dragging Richard, who had become even harder to move after losing consciousness.
Tonight was just absurd.
Not only was he unlucky, but things he had never even imagined were overlapping in a chaotic blur. Things he hadn’t imagined and hadn’t hoped for.
Damn it, even if I get out of here safely for now, I’m going to be on pins and needles inside the mansion from now on.
“Kim Young-soo.”
Following behind Christoph, who was still walking out with a displeased [stolen content]scowl, Jeong Tae-ui [Read on Read BL Novels]was chewing on a mouthful [stolen content]of curses when he froze at the low voice calling him.
Turning his reluctant head, Jeong Tae-ui, who was outside the threshold, looked back inside.
Amidst the desolate and menacing gazes that pierced his whole body like needles, foreshadowing the thorny path ahead, he saw a man standing far off, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed leisurely.
That man, Ilay Riegrow, who stood like a bystander, perfectly dressed in clothes without a single speck of dust or a single wrinkle, seemingly detached from the grim and bleak atmosphere, smiled at Jeong Tae-ui. As those black eyes narrowed, Jeong Tae-ui’s heart instinctively grew cold.
He slowly opened one hand. And showed his palm toward Jeong Tae-ui.
“Five minutes.”
“……?!”
“I’ll set off in pursuit in five minutes. Even if I am neutral, I must ensure that the worst doesn’t happen to the custody of a precious succession candidate.”
Jeong Tae-ui stared at him with wide eyes. He didn’t even blink for several seconds. It [Read on Read BL Novels]felt as if [stolen content]dark clouds were suddenly gathering in the distant sky.
“No, I have absolutely no intention of causing the worst to happen to the custody of a precious succession candidate…….”
As he struggled to move his stiff tongue, Ilay smiled brightly, like a virtuous young man.
“Haha, I’m sure you don’t. But I have my own position to consider. I’d appreciate it if you understood.”
He shrugged, speaking as if it were a predicament. And in the next moment, a low voice laced with amusement smoothly licked Jeong Tae-ui’s earlobe.
“From the moment you close that entrance door, it’s five minutes.”
“Damn it, why is that guy’s personality like that?!”
“It’s not good to dig too deep into fundamental problems that have no answer.”
The only response from the back seat was a listless and languid voice.
Maybe I should have questioned your personality before his, Jeong Tae-ui muttered and clicked his tongue. While groping the dashboard to turn on the fog lights, he accidentally turned on the taillights. He quickly turned them off and glared at the dashboard. As expected, driving someone else’s car was a bad idea.
Since he didn’t know the way back properly, he wanted to entrust the steering wheel to one of the two.
But to whom?
One was unconscious, collapsed right behind the driver’s seat—he had even handcuffed the man’s wrist to the handle and the driver’s seat headrest support in case he woke up—and the other was sitting next to him, bleeding all over the seat, glaring at the unconscious man to make sure he didn’t run wild upon waking.
Jeong Tae-ui glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror. Christoph, leaning his head against the window, looked even paler, perhaps because of the dimness inside the car. He had never been particularly talkative, but he was exceptionally so now. He answered Jeong Tae-ui’s questions, but never initiated conversation.
“How are you feeling? Is it bearable?”
When Jeong Tae-ui asked, Christoph remained silent for a moment before answering, “It’s just… okay.”
“Compared to the most painful memory from my past, this doesn’t even count as a scratch.”
“When was it the most painful?”
“I don’t know…… memories are things that can be reinforced or blurred. But, yeah, it hurt quite a bit when I was hit by Rick.”
That guy is an expert at hitting properly, Christoph added, then fell silent again.
Jeong Tae-ui hoped that this mouth, which usually spat venom the moment it opened, would stay open for once. It was unsettling to have him so silent with a ghost-pale face while bleeding profusely. To Jeong Tae-ui, it wouldn’t be strange if Christoph lost consciousness at any moment.
“Hit by Rick?”
“Uh…… we had a confrontation over work before. We were hired by opposing sides, and we fought for a while visit our siteback then. I even put [visit our site]a bullet hole in the middle of his stomach and ran away.”
Come to think of it, Jeong Tae-ui had heard from Ilay that he had tortured Christoph.
Putting bullet holes, torturing……. Indeed, it made sense why he wouldn’t want to be considered a friend.
Recalling the two of them, who seemed to treat each other with such nonchalant indifference despite that, Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips.
Looking at the digital clock on the dashboard, the numbers were flowing indifferently. Five minutes had passed since they left that place. Now was the point where his feet would truly start to burn.
Even though Jeong Tae-ui had only shifted his eyes to check the time, Christoph, sitting in the back, somehow knew and suddenly muttered.
“Hmph……. It feels shitty being chased by that guy.”
Jeong Tae-ui glared through the mirror at the man who was muttering leisurely, as if it were someone else’s business. To Tae-ui’s ears, it sounded like nothing more than “you’re dead if you’re caught,” but it seemed Christoph felt differently.
“I guess he’s been chased before.”
“Twice before, while I was working. Once I escaped safely, and once I was caught. …The thing is, being chased by that guy feels disgusting because even if you succeed in shaking him off, you don’t actually feel like you’ve escaped. It feels like the moment you breathe a sigh of relief, he’ll suddenly pop up from somewhere. Like a horror movie.”
Christoph muttered, his lips curling into a frown. Tae-ui turned his head slightly and let out a short laugh.
“Ah, right. I felt exactly like that back when I was being chased by him. Even when I returned to the hotel, showered, and opened the bathroom door, I felt like he’d be standing right there saying, ‘Long time no see, friend.'”
“….But how did it end up like that?”
The moment he heard those words, asked with genuine curiosity or perhaps pity, the smile vanished from Jeong Tae-ui’s face. He smacked his lips bitterly.
“I wonder… …But it’s not that bad.”
Tae-ui answered reflexively, then added after a brief silence.
Thinking about it, that was true. Tae-ui had never sincerely regretted it.
Perhaps in some other dimension of this vast universe, there existed a Jeong Tae-ui who graduated from the military academy in his home country, had a smooth military career, and was now acting as a high-ranking officer with a guaranteed path to success, never even knowing a dangerous person like Ilay Riegrow. But if given the choice now, he wouldn’t abandon his current life to choose that one.
Due to a biological survival instinct and the urge to avoid danger, there were times he wanted to step a few paces away from Ilay, but spending time with him wasn’t that bad. No, sometimes…
…Huh?
Tae-ui tilted his head. He quietly stroked his chin with his thumb.
Somehow, talking about it like this makes it sound like I actually like that guy quite a bit.
The moment that thought occurred to him, he snapped his head back upright. The lights of another car flickered in the rearview mirror. The hazy thought vanished instantly, and his instincts returned.
He knew well that unless the man who had just departed from that place could teleport, there was no way he could be behind him right now, but still, it felt as if his heart had been dipped in ice water and pulled out. As expected, the situation of being chased was very taxing on the heart.
After confirming that the car turned visit our sitedown another road, Tae-ui pressed [unauthorized copy]the accelerator steadily and spoke again.
“Hey, Christoph, you still alive?”
“Mm… I’m cold…”
“Don’t sleep! You’ll die if you sleep! Say something! Wake up!”
“It’s not like we’re on some snowy mountain…”
Hearing Christoph’s grumbling voice, Tae-ui turned up the heater. However, Tae-ui wasn’t cold at all. No matter if it was night, there was no way he’d feel cold in this hot season. Even though it was too dark to see clearly, Tae-ui glanced back at Christoph’s waist. The passing streetlights occasionally reflected a dark red, glistening light.
I should wake up the primary physician as soon as we get home. No, it would be better to call in advance and have him ready, Tae-ui clicked his tongue. He had tried to go to the hospital, but Christoph had glared fiercely and insisted they go home, his voice sharp. He had insisted that this was a wound that could be treated by the doctor at home.
Tae-ui muttered, thinking of the old primary physician of Tarten, who looked to be well over sixty.
“That doctor must be quite reliable. I guess he’s [Read on Read BL Novels]been [Read on Read BL Novels]at Tarten for a long time?”
“Mm…? Amber? Right, I heard he’s been at the mansion ever since he came from France, so maybe 35 or 36 years…?”
“35 or 36 years? Then he’s been there longer than you!”
No, more than that, even if he came right after getting his medical license, just how old is that old man now? Tae-ui found himself impressed in a different sense.
“That’s right. As far as I remember, he’s always been at the mansion. Whenever I fell and scraped my knee, he was always the one to apply the medicine.”
That sounds more like something a mother would do, Tae-ui thought, but then he shut his mouth. Perhaps Christoph’s mother wasn’t the kind of person to do such things.
“Well, when kids of similar ages hang out, they do get hurt quite often. …Is that when you started getting hurt while fighting Richard?”
When Tae-ui spoke teasingly, Christoph suddenly looked toward the seat next to him with an irritated face. He glared fiercely at Richard, who was still unconscious, and spoke sullenly.
“What’s with these handcuffs? Isn’t there something more proper?”
“Huh? I just used what was in the car. Please don’t tell me Richard possesses some superhuman strength that allows him to easily break handcuffs.”
Tae-ui said with a laugh. With that kind of strength, he could make a living as a strongman. Christoph glared at him with dissatisfaction for a long while before turning his head away.
“I’ve almost never had a fight with this guy that resulted in injuries.”
At Christoph’s sudden mutter, Tae-ui quietly looked at them in the mirror. He pondered the cause of the injuries of the man with the pale face, dripping blood and breaking into a cold sweat, and the man who was unconscious and covered in blood and wounds.
As if reading Tae-ui’s thoughts, Christoph spoke with even more dissatisfaction.
“Unless it was a formal spar during training, we didn’t grow up clashing like that all the time.”
“I thought you said you didn’t get along. Terribly.”
“That’s different from fighting every time we clash.”
Tae-ui soon understood. Looking back at his own past, it was simple. Tae-ui had also been on terrible terms with a damn classmate from the academy, Lieutenant Kim—who would probably be a field-grade officer by now—but he didn’t spend his days running over to punch him the moment he woke up. Unless there was a specific incident, there was no benefit in picking a fight for no reason.
“I guess… In a way, I feel like people who throw punches every time they meet are actually closer.”
Tae-ui nodded. Then he tilted his head again.
He knew that there are often cases where there is no clear reason why people get along or don’t, but still, with those personalities, it seemed difficult to hate each other that much.
“Why do you hate Richard so much?”
When Tae-ui asked, Christoph’s face looked even more disgusted. Because of that, his pale face looked a bit more human, which made him easier to look at. It seemed this topic was the right one.
“To be precise, this guy hated me first, in every single thing.”
“…Richard did?”
Regardless of his true nature, a man who lives showing such a virtuous face to the public? When Tae-ui looked skeptical, Christoph seemed to take offense. He glared at Tae-ui in the mirror with narrowed eyes and spoke coldly.
“It would be better if he hated me openly, but this guy hates people insidiously.”
“Uh…” Tae-ui muttered, slowly tapping the steering wheel. He seemed to have a side that was hard to read, but “insidious” seemed like a stretch.
“Insidiously… Like sneaking up and hitting you on the back of the head and running away?”
“No, more like… how should I put it. Hmm…”
Christoph frowned in contemplation, choosing his words. Like a child frustrated by a lack of vocabulary, he sighed deeply and muttered “hmm, I mean, um” for a long time before speaking.
“When we were young, we didn’t get along that badly. I mean, not that we were close, just that we were indifferent. We trained together and sparred countless times, and since our families weren’t on great terms despite being cousins, people around us thought we got along poorly, but I didn’t actually hate or despise him that much. …At least, I didn’t.”
Then how did it end up like this? As if hearing Tae-ui’s silent question, Christoph [visit our site]clicked his tongue [stolen content]in dissatisfaction and continued.
“One day I realized this guy hated me, and am I an idiot? To just let someone who hates me be.”
“…You usually ignore it regardless of who says they hate you.”
“How can I ignore it! You perverted freak…!!”
Suddenly remembering something, Christoph shouted. He bolted upright from the seat he had been leaning against, then grimaced with a “ugh” and collapsed back down.
Tae-ui flinched and frowned at the uncharacteristically violent reaction.
Wait. Come to think of it, he keeps calling me a perverted freak, but there’s no way Christoph would know such personal and intimate details about my private life. How does he… Thinking this, Tae-ui shrank back slightly.
“Don’t tell me, … …”
He started to speak but shut his mouth again.
No, no matter what, that couldn’t be it. First of all, he couldn’t imagine a scenario where Richard did some kind of perverted act to Christoph—if that were the case, who on earth were these two men, currently covered in blood by each other’s hands, in the back seat—and furthermore, even if such a thing had happened, the atmosphere wouldn’t be limited to this level of hostility, and above all, if that had happened, Christoph wouldn’t have displayed such natural—naive—innocence in front of everyone at the shop tonight.
You perverted freak… Tae-ui smacked his lips as he looked in the mirror at Christoph, who had collapsed while clutching his side and grimacing. He was curious about the rest of the sentence, but for some reason, he didn’t really want to hear it.
Just then, car lights appeared in the rearview mirror again.
Perhaps because of the time or because the road was somewhat on the outskirts, there were almost no passing cars. Thus, as a car approached from behind, his vigilance rose again.
Based on the time, it was still too early. From the moment they left the shop, put them in the car, and departed—even if the departure time differed by only a few minutes—it was still too early for even Ilay Riegrow to have caught up.
Nevertheless, staring intently at the car in the rearview mirror, Tae-ui gauged the distance they still had to travel in his head.
This must be the right road, surely. I’ve been asking Christoph whenever I’m unsure, but it’s so unfamiliar.
He heard the sound of a quiet sigh from behind. Turning his gaze to the mirror, he [Read on Read BL Novels]saw Christoph [stolen content]leaning his head against the seat and looking out the unauthorized copywindow. Perhaps because he was so pale, he truly looked like a statue.
No. It’s dangerous, but it’s okay for now. It’s not yet an emergency where every second counts.
However, the scent of blood brushing against the tip of his nose made him anxious.
“You’re old enough to know better, yet you’re still fighting… Since you gave up the succession anyway, isn’t it all over? You wouldn’t even have a reason to run into each other, so why go through such a rough ordeal?”
“This won’t happen again. Because I’ll never come to Dresden again. I had no intention of returning from the moment I gave up the succession. This time, I had no choice since the Elder was stepping down soon.”
Christoph’s voice slowed down as if he were sleepy.
Tae-ui spoke somewhat absentmindedly, his eyes never leaving the car following them at a distance where the driver couldn’t be identified.
“But was there a need to give it up? You said the amount of money you have to pay back to the family is enormous. Why didn’t you just try? Who knows, you might have become the successor.”
Though in terms of public personality, he would [stolen content]stolen contenthave been at a disadvantage, Tae-ui glanced at Christoph. Christoph muttered with little [Read on Read BL Novels]emotion, his gaze still fixed outside the window.
“I didn’t care whether I became the successor or not. I never wanted to inherit Tarten in the first place, and I had no interest in such things.”
“Aha. Aptitude is certainly an important issue.”
“Besides, I’d rather spend my whole life paying off debts than be tied to that household.”
“Hmm?”
Christoph had his eyes closed as if exhausted. His languidly muttering voice sounded like a whisper intoxicated by sleep.
“I wasn’t that stupid back then. I could already see who would be chosen as the successor ten years later. And I… unlike anyone else, I absolutely did not want to bow my head to him.”
As if drunk on alcohol, drunk on sleep, or perhaps not even knowing what he was saying, his low murmuring voice grew smaller and smaller.
“…Hey, Christoph. You okay?”
“I told you I’m fine. This is already the thirty-something time I’ve been hurt like this. There were a dozen or so times I was hurt even worse.”
Seeing his voice become slightly irritated, he seemed to be okay for now.
“Even so, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”
Tae-ui muttered and slowed the car down very slightly. As the gap with the car behind narrowed bit by bit, the figure of the driver began to become clear.
It’s too dark to see well, just a little more… just a little…
“It’s okay. Pain is easy to endure.”
Christoph muttered from behind. Right, I’m also the type to endure pain well—though I’m even better at exaggerating it when necessary, Tae-ui muttered, staring at the rearview mirror. Right, now it’s close enough to recognize the face…
“Riegrow.”
Thump. His heart sank.
His hand slipped, and he accidentally honked the horn. A short, loud sound echoed through the night road where no other cars were ahead.
“Right, that guy was the worst. He grabbed a person and…!”
As if recalling past anger, Christoph, who had been falling asleep in the back, muttered in a voice filled with deep resentment.
Tae-ui stroked his chest with one hand to calm his plummeting heart and glared at the rearview mirror again. It was someone else.
“Hey, don’t confuse me…!”
Tae-ui was about to shout but shut his mouth. Christoph was glaring at him.
“If he wanted to break my arm, visit our sitehe should have just [visit our site]swung [visit our site]a hammer, but he insisted on grabbing my wrist and twisting it.”
Looking at Christoph, who was collapsed and pale but whose eyes were piercing enough to kill a man, Tae-ui instinctively shrank back.
“Why are you glaring at me… No, but that guy broke your arm?”
“Yes, and he grabbed the bare skin. I told him so many times not to touch me.”
“If he did what you told him not to do, would that even be him?”
But twisting it by hand is better than swinging a hammer, this guy is really… As Tae-ui muttered, Christoph gnashed his teeth in rage behind him.
“Right, back then, I decided that as soon as I was released, I would somehow crush that guy into a lump of meat, but the client betrayed me and took him out first, so I forgot. Wait, turn the car around.”
“What?! Why turn the car around!”
“Now that I remember, I have to settle visit our sitethis. You said that guy is following us, right? Then we just need to go back a stolen contentlittle. Hurry, turn the car around.”
Tae-ui almost stepped on the brake instinctively. He half-turned his body from the steering wheel to face Christoph.
“Settle this? You and Ilay? Now?”
“Who else would it be?”
Tae-ui stared blankly at the coldly speaking Christoph for a few seconds before turning his head back. Then he stepped on the accelerator.
“Let’s talk about this again when you’re sane. For now, we’re continuing on our way.”
“What are you talking about, I told you to turn the car around.”
“What do you think is soaking the seat you’re sitting on, huh?”
“What?!”
For a moment, Christoph looked at Tae-ui with a face of incomprehension. Then he looked down. After feeling the seat a few times, he looked up again.
“It’s blood. …What, you’re doing this because of that? Even if I’m slightly injured, if there’s something that needs to be done, it must be done first.”
Christoph spoke with a sigh, sounding instead as if it were absurd.
He sure talks a lot for someone with a torn mouth. I guess the wound isn’t as torn as his mouth is.
Thinking it would be wonderful to stop the car and hit that mouth exactly five times, Tae-ui pressed the accelerator harder.
Just then, behind the car that had been following and was gradually drifting away, another light appeared. It seemed another car was coming.
“I told you to turn the car around.”
“First, later. For now, let’s go.”
“I should finish the job while I’m thinking of it.”
“In that condition?”
“I told you, if there’s something that needs to be done, it must be done even if I’m hurt.”
“Who says that?!”
Tae-ui finally ended up shouting.
He was frustrated by why the man didn’t take care of his own body, why he didn’t assess the situation, and why he clashed his anger so foolishly.
Sometimes he had this thought: that this man lived as if he were isolated from the rest of the world. Even though they were clearly in the same space, it felt as if a thin membrane wrapped tightly around him, setting him apart.
Christoph shut his mouth when Jeong Tae-ui shouted. He looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a slightly surprised expression and muttered in a somewhat uncertain tone.
“What do you mean, ‘who says’… it’s just how it is.”
The discouraged voice sounded as if it were floundering inside that thin membrane, and so, Jeong Tae-ui remained silent for a moment.
“This is why I hate guys whose mental structures deviate from the norm…”
He muttered to himself, barely audible.
Occasionally, this man made him feel depressed over the most unexpected things. He would have preferred being angry or having a headache.
“Look, anyway, turn the car arou—”
“We’re going to see him again soon anyway, so why bother. We only have a little further to go, so just wait.”
Jeong Tae-ui spoke bluntly. He then glanced at the dashboard.
They weren’t even on the Autobahn, yet the speed had already surged past a hundred and some kilometers. Despite that, the car behind them—no, the car that had overtaken the previous one and was now directly behind them—wasn’t falling back, meaning they were driving at a considerable speed as well.
…Suddenly, an ominous feeling washed over him.
While Jeong Tae-ui had been bickering for a moment over Christoph’s absurd stubbornness, that car had gradually closed the gap.
“Wait… No, this car is over 160, so how fast is that thing?!”
Jeong Tae-ui reflexively stepped on the accelerator. The needle on the dashboard tilted further. Yet, far from distancing themselves, he felt as if the car behind was actually getting closer.
Jeong Tae-ui widened his eyes and glared into the rearview mirror. It was too dark to see clearly. He waited for the moment they passed under a streetlight, but they were moving too fast, and damn it, the windows were heavily tinted.
“God damn it.”
Jeong Tae-ui cursed under his breath.
Only then did Christoph seem to notice the car following them and looked back.
“What, is he here? Perfect timing.”
“What do you mean, ‘here’! No, it’s not him! That’s not him!”
In contrast to Christoph’s nonchalant and calm voice, Jeong Tae-ui shook his head and floored the accelerator with all his might.
It was right then.
The phone lying next to the gear shift began to ring. It was Christoph’s. Tae-ui flinched, his grip tightening on the gear shift.
As Jeong Tae-ui cast a fierce glare at the phone, Christoph reached over and picked it up.
“Hello. …Yeah. …Oh, it’s been a while. What’s up?”
Listening to Christoph’s indifferent voice over his shoulder, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been listening intently, relaxed his ears.
Whatever kind of friend this was, to call at a timing like this was impressive. Then again, anyone calling at an hour when most people are asleep couldn’t be an ordinary friend.
Thinking this, Jeong Tae-ui poured all his attention back into the rearview mirror.
Even though he was stomping on the accelerator as hard as he could, the distance wasn’t widening. He had to exert every ounce of effort just to keep the gap from shrinking.
“Hey. Young-soo. Kim Young-soo. …Jeong Tae-ui.”
After calling him a few times, Christoph lightly tapped his shoulder. When Tae-ui turned his gaze from the rearview mirror, Christoph spoke to him, still holding the phone to one ear.
“The speed limit on this road you’re driving on is 100 kilometers. He says there’s a speed camera a bit further ahead, so you should slow down if you don’t want to get caught for speeding.”
“Now is not the time to worry about speedi— …What?”
Jeong Tae-ui snapped his gaze away from the mirror and whipped around to look at Christoph. Christoph tapped the phone with his usual indifferent face.
“A message from Rick. Hmph, he must be quite worried about you. A guy who never makes phone calls in his life is actually calling…”
“You just saw the guy a moment ago, so what do you mean ‘it’s been a while’!”
“I mean it’s been a long time since this guy called me.”
“Tell that guy to slow down his speed!!”
“Hmm? …Did you hear that, Rick? He says you should slow down. …He says his brakes are broken. That’s a problem.”
Finally, the distance to the car behind shrank enough that the driver’s seat became visible.
The top of the windshield was tinted, so the face wasn’t visible, but [Read on Read BL Novels]the fingers tapping the steering wheel rhythmically—those hands, [Read on Read BL Novels]or more accurately, the gloves enveloping them—were clearly visible. The characteristic dark gloves seemed to be smiling.
And the moment those gloves looked like they were smiling.
Suddenly, those gloves hammered the windshield.
And, unbelievably, a circular crack spread across the glass, centered where the fist had struck.
Thump, thump, thump. After three more hits, more than half of the trailing car’s windshield was shattered. And beneath the glass, which hung in shreds due to the tinting, the face of the driver appeared, smiling faintly.
Wearing a semi-circular headphone on one ear and muttering something, the driver waved lightly, as if he knew perfectly well that his eyes had met Jeong Tae-ui’s in the mirror.
Ilay Riegrow.
He had lived in peace for too long and had forgotten. That terrifying, monstrous strength.
“He says he’s glad to meet you sooner than expected.”
If it were possible, Jeong Tae-ui wanted to stop the car right now and punch the still-nonchalant Christoph.
…Damn it.
“Should I just pull over quietly?”
He muttered to himself unconsciously. His foot naturally lifted off the accelerator. As the engine sound seemed to subside, Christoph reacted with pleasure from behind.
“Yes, pull over! Now there’s no need to turn the car around, so this is great!”
Seeing Christoph lean back into the seat, turning pale the moment he shouted joyfully, Jeong Tae-ui pressed the accelerator firmly.
Damn it. Pull over my ass. The moment he stopped, at least one person, plus alpha, would die. Besides, thinking about it, it wasn’t that far.
Just ahead, after crossing the bridge over the river, [stolen content]the mansion was only a [visit our site]few minutes away. Even if he had to face him tomorrow—no, the moment he stepped through the mansion doors—once he was inside, it was game set.
He decided to just push through.
If he suppressed his frantic emotions and thought rationally, the probability of being caught within the remaining distance was fifty-fifty. No, actually, there was more than a fifty percent chance he wouldn’t be caught, but considering the guy behind him was that monster, it was fifty-fifty. If he just kept driving without slowing down, he might just make it.
The engine roared frantically against an accelerator that could be pressed no further. Just as he thought that if an accident happened now, it would truly be the end…
Suddenly, a violent impact slammed into the rear, shaking his entire body.
“What the—!”
Jeong Tae-ui, who had lightly bumped his nose against the steering wheel, rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked back. Then, he was lost for words.
From inside the shattered windshield of the car behind, a thick, heavy steel wire had flown forward. And a steel hook with a diameter of 50 centimeters attached to the end of that wire had embedded itself into the trunk of the car, crumpling the metal.
Connected by a single line, a heavy weight began to be felt from [Read on Read BL Novels][Read on Read BL Novels]the car behind. They had started to brake.
“You said the brakes were broken!”
He didn’t believe it anyway, but he screamed at Ilay—who had hooked them and was now slowing down—knowing the shout wouldn’t even reach him.
No, even if it didn’t reach him, he was undoubtedly laughing delightfully as if he could hear the scream.
“…Christoph. Hold onto the handle tightly.”
Jeong Tae-ui eased his foot off the accelerator slightly. Christoph arched an eyebrow. He looked toward the river that had approached right in front of them, toward the road that intersected almost in the opposite direction on the other side of the bridge.
Realizing what Jeong Tae-ui meant, Christoph frowned.
“Tae-yi. If you make a reverse curve at this speed, we’re likely to plunge into the river—”
“Then can you pull out that steel hook?”
“—. Don’t you ever call me reckless again.”
Christoph clicked his tongue and grabbed the handle. Just then, the phone that had gone silent rang again.
As Jeong Tae-ui gripped the steering wheel without looking back, Christoph muttered indifferently.
“Tae-yi. A message. ‘Stop doing dangerous things’.”
Jeong Tae-ui unconsciously leaned his head halfway out of the driver’s window to look back. Those were not words to be spoken by a man who had smashed a perfectly good car and embedded a hook at a speed that made the wind sting the ears.
Christoph, clearly thinking the same thing, listened to the phone with an expressionless face for a moment before glancing sharply at Jeong Tae-ui.
“Look at him, spoiling you. If it were anyone else, he’s the type who would have smiled while driving a hook into their skull. …I’m not answering your calls anymore.”
Christoph spoke grumpily and threw the phone away. The innocent device hit the windshield hard and bounced, rolling onto visit our sitethe passenger unauthorized copyfloor. [stolen content]Christoph’s fierce eyes stared at Jeong Tae-ui.
“When I worked with this guy before, there was a similar situation, and he told me to ride that wire over to the car in front and catch the driver. In a car going nearly 200 kilometers.”
“…And?”
“I did it.”
“Hey, what if the wire had snapped or the hook had pulled out halfway…!”
“And yet, he tells you not to do dangerous things.”
Listening bitterly to Christoph’s blatant mockery, Jeong Tae-ui looked into the rearview mirror.
Regardless of how deep the hook was embedded, to shake off that car, he first had to break that connecting wire. To do that, with very little time left, there was only one method.
However, by any normal standard—certainly different from these monsters—it was clearly dangerous. If he drove at this speed and jerked the steering wheel [stolen content]almost in the opposite direction to take the side road, if he was lucky, he might lightly hit the guardrail, dent the car in a few places, and change direction; if he was unlucky, he’d dive into the river while trying to turn. Even if he successfully hit the guardrail and turned, a wrong impact would lead to a major accident.
Wait, how many years has it been since I properly held a steering wheel? As he ran the calculation in his head and lifted his foot from the accelerator, Christoph tapped the nape of Jeong Tae-ui’s neck with his fingertips and muttered, still grumpy.
“Fine, pull over. I remembered a debt I have to pay that guy, and besides, I… I don’t particularly like the idea of you getting into danger… Not that I’m greatly worried or anything.”
He looked in the mirror at Christoph, who was muttering bluntly while looking out the window.
Jeong Tae-ui felt slightly awkward and shifted his gaze between the mirror and the road ahead a couple of times.
…Is that so. Come to think of it, while turning might pull out the hook, it would delay the time to reach the mansion. That would be nothing but bad for Christoph.
Should I just keep driving?
Just as he thought that and readjusted his grip on the wheel.
“Saying that I’m spoiling you isn’t something you’re Read on Read BL Novelsin visit our sitea position to say to Riegrow.”
The car was already entering the bridge.
That low, calm voice came from beside Christoph.
In that instant, the expression vanished from Christoph’s face. In place of the indifferent look, a statue-like expression took over.
“Richard…”
Since when had he been awake?
Jeong Tae-ui’s eyes met Richard’s in the mirror. Seeing those eyes curving in a way that seemed almost cold, he realized that Richard hadn’t just woken up.
He lightly shook one of his hands, which was secured by handcuffs. Clink, the sound of the handcuff chain rang softly.
The moment that sound was heard, just before Christoph reflexively reached out, Richard gripped his [unauthorized copy]own thumb. Then, stolen contentJeong Tae-ui [visit our site]heard a chilling snap right behind the head cushion he was leaning on. And at the same time, he realized: he was no longer bound by handcuffs.
“You’re unusually careless, Christoph. Did you lack enough blood for your brain to function?”
Muttering in a seemingly concerned tone, Richard popped his thumb joint, easily freed his hand from the handcuffs, and massaged it lightly.
“Since when were you awake?”
“Since when? I wonder, perhaps since the moment I began to insidiously dislike you.”
Richard smiled thinly.
Jeong Tae-ui frowned slightly. That meant he had been awake for quite a while. Christoph’s eyes grew even sharper.
“Right, I thought you were sleeping too soundly; I guess you didn’t get much rest then.”
“No, I actually feel quite refreshed and energized. [Read on Read BL Novels]—Enough to [unauthorized copy]finish the knots that were left untied.”
Richard spoke softly with a calm smile. And as he finished his sentence, he violently flung the car door open with his elbow.
“Wait—!”
But before Jeong Tae-ui could finish his words, the door, which had been flung open roughly, slammed into a steel post that served as a safety barrier at the edge of the bridge. Sparks flew.
As they reached the middle of the bridge, a spot open without safety barriers where the bridge segments joined like an island in the middle of the river, the door had already been half torn away.
There, Richard grabbed Christoph by the shoulder. Narrowly dodging Christoph, who threw a punch at his face as if pouncing on him, Richard wrapped his arm around his waist.
And then, he threw himself outward.
“—…!!”
Jeong Tae-ui didn’t even have time to say anything.
Smiling leisurely, Richard dragged Christoph and jumped out of the car. From a car speeding terrifyingly, into the river. The sound of a massive splash faded into the distance behind them.
Jeong Tae-ui reflexively slammed on the brakes. An ear-splitting screech of friction echoed from beneath the tires. He hurriedly turned his head to look outside.
It was too dark to see the river at all.
The bridge wasn’t that high. It was only about one or two stories above the water. The jump itself wasn’t dangerous.
Surely a man like Richard wouldn’t have jumped intending to die, but the problem was their current physical condition. Especially Christoph’s.
On the seat where blood had dried and hardened, the damp sensation of blood still remained.
I have to go back and fish them out quickly, Jeong Tae-ui thought as he pressed the brakes.
Suddenly, there was a light thump from behind. Startled, Jeong Tae-ui looked Read on Read BL Novels[visit our site]into the rearview mirror and flinched.
‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.’
Above the small letters engraved at the bottom of the mirror, Ilay was wiggling his fingers. He had pressed his bumper tight against the back of the car.
“Hey, people fell in!”
Jeong Tae-ui shouted at the top of his lungs to Ilay, who must have seen everything from behind. But at this speed and distance, there was no way the sound could be heard.
As if he had only seen Jeong Tae-ui shouting, Ilay made a gesture of curiosity. Jeong Tae-ui formed the shapes of his words more slowly and clearly while pointing toward the river. Ilay seemed to understand and gave that characteristic smile of his.
Seeing him shrug his shoulders as if it didn’t matter, Jeong Tae-ui exploded in frustration and leaned precariously to fumble around the passenger floor. He soon grabbed the phone Christoph had thrown.
He pressed the call button twice, and after one or two rings, a familiar voice answered.
‘Yo, Tae-yi.’
“You saw it, right? Those guys fell in.”
‘Ah, of course. I confirmed that you didn’t fall in.’
“Then you know, we don’t have time to play around like this, slow down!”
‘Aha… So you were ‘playing around’ just now?’
“You’re the one playing around, you!”
Only after venting his temper into the phone did Jeong Tae-ui suddenly remember.
Come to think of it, this guy was following them ‘to ensure that the worst possible situation does not occur regarding the safety of the precious succession candidate.’
“Right now, your ‘precious succession candidate’ is facing the worst possible situation regarding [unauthorized copy]his safety; is it okay to just leave him there?”
They had already passed the bridge. Having missed the chance to turn back, Jeong Tae-ui turned the wheel and entered the riverside road. He would have to make a U-turn and go back to that spot.
In response to Jeong Tae-ui’s question, a chuckle returned from the other end, sounding like a breeze.
‘Worst possible situation? Tae-yi, look, do you really think those guys would die from something like that?’
“I don’t know. But it wouldn’t be very strange if they did.”
‘Hahaha, really? Since you think so, I should go see about fishing them out. But before that, Tae-yi.’
“What now.”
Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue and suddenly thought.
But why am I being chased? Come to think of it, I have absolutely [unauthorized copy]no reason to be. The person [visit our site]who actually mattered has already floated down the river, so we could just stop the car…
‘Is there a valid reason why he slipped away while I was in the bathroom? Or was my body his only goal? Was he just playing with me?’
The hand resting on the steering wheel slipped, falling downward. The car swerved for a moment, and he hurriedly gripped the wheel again.
Jeong Tae-ui turned pale for several different reasons. This bastard was becoming an expert at teasing people.
“No, my body being the only goal, and playing with… …, no matter how much I think about it with my currently malfunctioning brain, I don’t think those are lines you should be saying, Ilay. Don’t joke around at a time like this.”
‘Oh dear. I was being quite serious. Did it sound like a joke?’
That voice, which carried a slight hint of amusement, sounded like a joke no matter how many times he heard it, but only then did Jeong Tae-ui realize the very faint anger buried within those words.
Like a fool, only then.
“… No, it’s not like someone actually ran away, so why are you…”
‘I am under the impression that you are currently running away from me.’
There was nowhere to retreat. He was completely cornered.
Jeong Tae-ui agonized for a moment over whether he should step on the accelerator or the brake. However, Ilay ended that deliberation for him.
‘If you take the bridge you see ahead to your right, cross the river, and turn right, you can return to where we were before. At this speed, it will take about ten minutes to get back to the spot where those guys fell in.’
“…?!”
‘If your car and my car—which are currently kissing quite passionately—separate by even a single meter before we return to that spot, I’ll consider tonight as having “played” enjoyably.’
“… And if we can’t separate?”
The answer to Jeong Tae-ui’s question came back a few seconds later.
‘If we can’t separate—right, this would be better…’
* * *
The first time he almost slept with a woman, Christoph ended up vomiting.
He had to learn.
No one had told him he needed to learn how to sleep with a woman. However, everyone who had taught him said that ninety-nine percent of the things in the world—provided the right method was chosen—were better experienced firsthand.
Thus, though he was not yet an adult but no longer a child, when a girl he had encountered a few times before subtly seduced him toward the end of a banquet [Read on Read BL Novels]one [stolen content]day, he visit our sitedidn’t particularly refuse, even though he was reluctant.
He couldn’t stand it when the other person touched him, but he could touch the other person. And while the girl seemed somewhat dissatisfied, she was infatuated with Christoph enough to suppress such dissatisfaction. Therefore, Christoph could have had a relationship with her if he wanted to.
But he failed.
He felt nauseous from the moment he saw her naked. When he stroked the inside of her arm, that nausea turned into a churning sensation, and by the time he kissed her breast, he could no longer endure it.
Christoph sent her out. As soon as he closed the door, he ran to the bathroom and threw up everything inside him.
He thought it would be perfectly fine as long as he was the one doing the touching, but it seemed he was wrong. He didn’t know whether the degree of affection or the degree of contact carried more weight, but at the very least, it was impossible for him to engage in overly intimate contact with someone for whom he felt no affection.
Christoph pondered. Just how far did that limit go?
He didn’t want to reveal the fact that he had vomited in the middle of it, even though he was the one touching the other person. To prevent such a thing from happening in the future, he first had to understand his own limits. However, he didn’t have the slightest desire to get into bed with someone again just to test those limits.
On the other hand, the thought that the girl was the problem writhed in his mind like an excuse.
I just didn’t like her. I definitely hated her. Right, there’s no way I’m that sensitive. If I were, it would be like a mental illness. I’m not that sensitive or sharp.
Thinking this, Christoph brushed it aside.
He knew he was somewhat sensitive, but not “that” much.
And it wasn’t long after that.
During the summer vacation season, a relative who had worked at a diplomatic mission in North Africa for over a decade visited the mansion for the first time in a very long while. The relative couple, who had come to spend their vacation at the mansion to get a feel for things before returning to Germany the following year, had a daughter about two years older than Christoph.
Her name, as lovely as honey, was Christina.
The moment they heard that name, the peers among the relatives present at the introduction all fell silent. Christoph could tell they were gauging his reaction.
When he was very young, the relatives who first saw Christoph naturally assumed such a beautiful child was a girl, and after mishearing his name, they would often start their first sentence by calling him “Christina.”
At first, Christoph simply ignored it and didn’t respond when called that. He didn’t care how those around him perceived him in the first place. And for a short while, there were quite a few people who called the young boy Christina.
However, when “birthday presents for Christina” the following year began to include a heap of dresses and accessories, he could no longer simply ignore it. To be precise, it started from the moment he heard his mother, who received those gifts, whisper, “Would it have been better if he were a girl?”
She had never stroked Christoph. She had never smiled at him. But Christoph liked her quiet, neat voice whenever she occasionally spoke to him.
No, he didn’t know if he liked it. Every time he heard that voice, he felt the blood drain from his face for a moment, his heart beat weakly, and his fingertips trembled slightly. Yet, despite that, Christoph wanted to hear her voice.
He could no longer remember exactly when that was.
But it was around the time he had stopped thinking such things that a girl named Christina arrived.
By then, several incidents had occurred where Christoph suffered terrible things whenever someone accidentally called him by the wrong name, so no one called him by that name anymore. It had practically become a taboo name.
When Christina shyly smiled and stated her name, people fell silent for a [stolen content]moment and looked at Christoph; [visit our site]Christoph looked at her with an indifferent face and soon turned away without interest.
What did a name matter? As long as they didn’t call him by that name, he didn’t care.
Staying at the mansion throughout the summer, she soon blended in well with them. However, she had never heard her own name spoken properly until then. Everyone had called her Tina. It was as if “Christina,” which had already become a forbidden word, belonged to someone else.
Among them, only one person, Richard, called her “Christina.” Especially clearly when Christoph was present.
It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel unpleasant whenever that name came out of Richard’s mouth.
However, Christoph didn’t bother to react. What was wrong with calling Christina “Christina”? Moreover, Richard had never once referred to Christoph as Christina, even as a joke.
Around the middle of summer, he heard through rumors that Richard and Christina had become closer than ordinary relatives, but that too didn’t matter to him.
Richard has a lover, therefore he is more attractive than Christoph—even when malicious boys whispered such things, he didn’t mind.
The only thing that weighed on his mind was his own flaw: his vulnerability to contact with others.
He didn’t take it seriously. He thought that if it were absolutely necessary, he could endure it. He just wasn’t enduring it because there was no situation where he had to.
Furthermore, although he didn’t engage in it because he was reluctant, he wasn’t ignorant of what relationships between men and women or sexual contact were. And Christoph had never made a mistake or failed when executing something he knew theoretically.
It’s fine. It doesn’t matter. Whenever there’s a need to do it, I can do it then. There’s no need to test it with someone I dislike—the reason I gagged then was definitely because I hated that woman.
Thinking this, Christoph dismissed it as trivial.
Then, it was a few days before Christina was to return to North Africa.
It was an exceptionally humid night.
Though he lay in bed, the stiflingly hot air clung to his body, so Christoph got up, flung open the terrace window, and leaned against the window frame, waiting for his body to cool. He also thought that perhaps he could fall asleep refreshingly if he went for a ride on his horse.
As he closed his eyes, feeling the occasional breeze cool [Read on Read BL Novels]the nape of his neck, he visit our sitesuddenly heard a faint sound.
“…ris…”
It sounded as if someone had called his name, so Christoph opened his eyes. He turned his head toward the direction of the sound.
It was below. Right downstairs, or perhaps the room next to it.
As he tried to gauge the direction, Christoph frowned.
It was Richard’s room.
From that room, the sound of small, giggling laughter leaked out. A flushed voice was whispering something softly and laughing.
He couldn’t hear what was being said, but Christoph soon realized it was Christina’s voice. Richard’s voice, seemingly responding to her, could be heard in short bursts.
As he instinctively looked down, he saw Richard sitting and leaning against the wide terrace window. And he also saw Christina, sitting on his lap, [Read on Read BL Novels]her arms wrapped around his neck in an embrace.
Their clothing was extremely disheveled. To be precise, pieces of clothing were scattered at their feet, barely hanging on.
On the man’s shoulders, which were not yet fully grown but sufficiently sturdy and broad, the woman’s slender, smooth arms were entwined. And along with their low laughter, a wet sound filtered through.
For a moment, Christoph looked down at them as if entranced.
Every time her body swayed on Richard’s lap, every time they kissed each other’s necks, faces, shoulders, and chests, every time they stroked each other’s bodies with their hands, the sound of skin colliding could be heard.
Suddenly, he felt nauseous.
Frowning and placing the back of his hand over his mouth, Christoph clicked his tongue lowly.
It was then. Richard, who had been licking her earlobe, seemed to sense the presence and looked up.
Their eyes met.
The moment Richard saw Christoph looking down at them with a distorted, uncomfortable face, his expression went blank for a second. A flash of displeasure crossed his face.
But then, she suddenly let out a low, short moan and curled her body. She hugged Richard’s neck tightly and buried her face in his shoulder. And Richard’s gaze dropped away from Christoph.
As if he had never seen Christoph, he never looked up again. And he slowly rocked her body.
With the same uncomfortable expression, Christoph took a step back. He had seen something he didn’t want to see.
Just as he was about to turn away, he heard a whispering voice from below. This time, the voice was much clearer.
“Christina, did it feel good?”
The name called in a tender and soft voice was grating. Displeasure surged at that familiar name.
She let out a ragged sigh and answered something. Then Richard’s [unauthorized copy]laughter followed. And a Read on Read BL Novelsvoice, subtly lowered, whispered.
“Right, then it’s my turn to enjoy myself, Chris.”
Following that was the sound of a light kiss.
The blood drained from Christoph’s face.
Richard did not call Christoph by a nickname. He rarely called him at all, but when he did, he always used his full name with precise pronunciation, without missing a single syllable. Therefore, that was a nickname for Christina.
And yet, a chill ran down his spine. A disgust bordering on instinct wrapped around his skin like goosebumps.
It was clear malice.
It might have only contained the intention of light mockery or insult, but Christoph felt distinct malice in Richard’s voice.
He heard the sounds.
He quickly moved away from the window, but the whisper that had entered his ear would not leave.
Sticky, messy presences were conveyed vividly from below.
It didn’t take long for her voice, which had been whispering happily in a flushed tone, to change into sobs and pleas drenched in shame. And throughout it all, Richard called her in a consistently gentle voice. Chris, he said.
At the chillingly perverted and erotic words Richard demanded of “Chris,” at the wet sounds, at the rough breaths and moans that felt as if the hot breath were right next to him, Christoph suddenly covered his own mouth.
His stomach churned. It didn’t take long for the nausea that had begun to set in to surge like a wave.
His legs lost their strength, and Christoph crouched down on the spot. After gagging painfully a couple of times, he soon vomited.
That strange, raw feeling crawling up his skin.
He suddenly remembered.
The first time he tried to sleep with a woman, when he stroked and kissed her and their bodies overlapped, when a body—much closer to the heart than a hand that occasionally touched others—contacted another person.
The touch of another’s skin, the warm body heat, things he already knew naturally in his head, when they actually touched his own body.
It was foreign. It was so terribly foreign that his body recoiled.
Christoph did not know this sensation.
The feeling of touching, hugging, and being embraced by someone was extremely foreign.
Perhaps he had tasted such sensations when he was very young, but as far as Christoph remembered, he hadn’t.
No one. With no one. Just entirely alone.
Therefore, that sensation was not meant for Christoph. Even if it was a sensation [stolen content]that all other people accepted and Read on Read BL Novelsregarded as natural, it was not his.
Because that foreign sensation was eerie. Because it felt as if every single nerve in his entire body was standing on end. Because the deepest part of his heart became vaguely afraid.
He felt bad. He was extremely displeased. The sensations of his goosebump-covered body ran wild.
Christoph continued to gag until there was nothing left to come out, even when there was nothing left. As if trying to expel everything inside his body.
The water pierced the flesh like a knife.
Even though it had been a humid day just a few hours ago, the river water was like ice, chilling his bones.
But Christoph didn’t care about such things. The arm of another person, wrapped tightly around his waist like a water ghost, [Read on Read BL Novels]was more than [stolen content]enough to overshadow all other sensations. A displeasure indistinguishable from rage.
“…! …!!”
Christoph gripped Richard’s upper arm. He hated touching him, but he had to rip this arm wrapped around his waist away immediately.
Movement was sluggish because they were underwater. In the water engulfed in pitch-black darkness, the only thing he could rely on was touch. That was why the sensation coming through so vividly was so unpleasant.
However, when Christoph twisted the arm as if to rip Richard’s shoulder out, Richard tightened the arm wrapped around his waist. He brutally gripped Christoph’s waist with his palm. Precisely widening the wound on the waist.
Flinch, the strength in Christoph’s hand vanished for a brief moment. He felt a throb in his waist and blood flowing out.
If only there were something. If only there were a knife. No, even a small ballpoint pen—he would have punched a hole in that hand at the same time as the waist.
Christoph’s thoughts were soon read by the hand groping his body.
Richard pressed down hard on [Read on Read BL Novels]visit our siteChristoph’s neck. Christoph ended up exhaling the small amount of air remaining in his lungs.
And only then did Christoph realize.
The reason his sensations were dull was not because he was underwater. It was because of the blood constantly flowing from his waist. His fingertips had already grown cold. The only thing supporting his bloodless head was the unpleasant sensation clinging to his waist.
In the pitch-black darkness, they began to float upward.
Regardless, he had to get out of the water.
In the water, where everything was pitch black and obscured the vision, only the surface shimmered. Above his head, the water sparkled with a hazy, silvery light.
The light piercing through the surface wavered, casting a pale glow over Christoph’s face. Along the trajectory of their ascent toward the surface, thin streaks of blood swayed.
Dragged toward the surface by Richard, Christoph had been swaying in the current like a corpse. Just before his head broke the water, he gripped Richard’s arm. It was an arm that could no longer function properly, as Christoph had already twisted the elbow and damaged the finger joints.
Instead of the arm holding Christoph firmly by the waist, [stolen content]Christoph grabbed that twisted arm—the one paddling through the current to reach the surface—and pulled, despite his own slow and sluggish body. Even underwater, the sensation of joints snapping and twisting was clearly felt.
Richard’s mouth tightened in a grimace. He released the arm holding Christoph’s waist and seized his throat. He squeezed the windpipe as if he intended to strangle him to death with that massive hand, causing a few more bubbles to burst from Christoph’s lips.
Having surged to the surface only to be dragged back down without a chance to breathe, Christoph grabbed Richard’s head and slammed it violently against a nearby bridge pillar. With a dull thud, blood splattered from the head that had been torn open by the edge, mixing into the surface of the water.
All that could be heard were the sounds of splashing water, ragged breathing, short curses that were nearly unintelligible, and more splashing.
The two fought again like beasts.
Though their movements were sluggish in the current, making it impossible to move properly, they bit and tore at each other, creating violent ripples as they let their blood and flesh flow into the river.
However, the fight in the water, where one could not even breathe properly, revealed the outcome faster than a fight on land would have.
From the beginning, it was a fight that disadvantaged Christoph.
His remaining stamina, the wounds on his body, and his inherent, visceral unauthorized copyhatred for being entangled—nothing worked in Christoph’s favor.
‘Christoph,’ it felt as if he heard Richard calling his name. But with half of his consciousness submerged, he didn’t know if he had misheard it amidst the sound of the water.
It felt as if river water was flowing through his veins instead of blood. Every ounce of strength that could be squeezed from a single drop of blood had been exhausted; his body would no longer move.
Then just sink.
Go down to the very bottom of the river, where no one’s hand can reach, and never come back up. Be buried in the mud at the bottom of the river so that no one can touch you.
“…Ridiculous. Do you think I’d just leave you like that?”
This time, the voice reached him clearly, as if burrowing into his ear.
Despite the fact that Richard must have been just as exhausted as Christoph, he seized Christoph’s throat, drenched in the blood-stained river water. It was as if he would rather kill him with his own hands than let him drown in the river.
“Don’t… touch… me—.”
The hot body heat of the hand on his neck felt so alien and eerie that Christoph shouted reflexively. However, the words did not leave his lips. The moment he opened his mouth, he was swallowed by the rushing current pouring in.
Richard swam toward the riverbank, dragging Christoph along. He paddled with one arm that was already nearly useless and kicked with legs that were no different from that arm.
It felt horribly unpleasant. Even as he suffocated from the streams of water pouring in every time he opened his mouth, and even amidst the distant haze of blood loss that felt as if life were draining from his entire body, the hand gripping his neck was the hardest thing for Christoph to endure.
And Richard undoubtedly knew that. The powerful grip, which felt as if it would drag him all the way to hell, never let go of Christoph.
By the time they reached the bank, after dragging Christoph—who occasionally shuddered in frantic, convulsive fits—until they finally hit land, Richard looked like a demon himself. It was difficult to find a single spot on his body that wasn’t injured.
Beside the pale, limp form of Christoph, who lay like a corpse, Richard breathed heavily, his chest heaving, as he pressed his fingers against his eyelids. With only his eyes flashing intensely as he blinked heavily a few times, he didn’t even wipe the stream of water flowing from the bridge of his nose to his chin. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had collapsed right then and there.
How much time passed?
Eventually, Richard slowly looked down at Christoph.
Christoph, lying prone on the dirt ground without a single movement, had a waist stained red. Richard looked down coldly at the blood-soaked body.
“If you didn’t possess the name Tarten, you would have been left to roll around as a mud-covered corpse under this bridge where no one comes.”
No answer returned. Perhaps he had already lost consciousness. No, he deserved to be unconscious.
Richard looked down at the clothes where the blood was slowly spreading and grabbed the fabric. It was then.
The moment Richard’s hand brushed over the clothes, Christoph’s body rippled very faintly. Opening his eyes into thin slits, Christoph glared at Richard with a pale, bluish hue.
“Don’t… don’t touch me…”
However, the words flowing from his barely parted, pale lips hardly reached the ear.
Richard watched as Christoph’s fingers barely [stolen content]twitched, then [visit our site]he pulled at the clothes that were soaked and clinging to his body.
“You hated it to the point of creeps when other people touched you, didn’t you? But I want you to know that I also find it extremely unpleasant to touch you, Christoph ‘Tarten’.”
Richard was saying that if it weren’t for that surname, he would have already abandoned him and turned away.
It was when Richard’s hand briefly brushed against the bare skin beneath Christoph’s clothes.
Christoph, who had been nearly immobile like a corpse, twisted his body with a groan of horror. Then, he struck Richard’s face with his elbow.
Richard, who hadn’t even thought to dodge, had his head snapped to the side with a fairly loud impact. It was a blow with almost no strength behind it, but because it was unexpected, Richard’s head jerked. Christoph tried to push himself up as if to snap Richard’s neck, but he could barely lift his upper body before reaching his limit.
The clothes soaked in river water were already more than half stained with blood. Judging by the staining alone, it wouldn’t be strange if he were in hemorrhagic shock.
The arm supporting his body against the ground trembled violently. It was too much to even take a deep breath; thin, short gasps escaped through his lips.
Beside him, Richard, who had been silent with his head [visit our site]turned away, suddenly snapped back toward Christoph. Simultaneously, he struck Christoph’s jaw.
Though his fist lacked the strength it usually had, it was enough to knock down the barely clinging Christoph.
“You crazy bastard…!!”
Richard shouted softly and wiped his struck face with the back of his hand.
He stood up. Then he approached Christoph and struck his face once more. Grabbing the neck of Christoph, who was spitting blood onto the dirt, he pressed his knee down onto Christoph’s stomach. With his other knee, he pinned Christoph’s hand. The back of the hand was crushed against the dirt.
Finally, he released the neck and grabbed the remaining free arm. Then, he snapped the joint in the opposite direction.
“…!!”
Not a single scream escaped Christoph’s mouth. He only widened his eyes slightly.
“Christoph. You said you hated me?”
Pressing him down with his knees as if sitting atop him, Richard spoke.
Christoph, who barely managed to lift his eyelids to look at Richard with eyes that were beginning to lose focus, struggled to look up.
There was no expression on Richard’s face. The face that always held a smile was nowhere to be found. Eyes that shone eerily looked down at Christoph.
“Yes, that’s right. I hated you. Pleasurably so. It was through you that I learned what it means to hate a person. Still, it was enjoyable in its own way. Since I had never hated anyone before, it was quite refreshing.”
Richard gripped Christoph’s neck. He slowly squeezed the slender neck that fit easily in one hand, applying pressure.
“As for you, it didn’t matter what you did. Even if you beat the people around me half to death, even if you spat curses at me… yes, even if you threw a dog’s corpse onto Olivia’s grave, it was fine. You could do whatever you wanted. Because then, the reward I would gain after enduring all that time would be all the greater! —But you see, Christoph. You ruined it all.”
The voice that had been speaking calmly lowered at some point.
Applying strength to his grip as if to tear visit our siteaway Christoph’s white neck, Richard leaned down. Bringing his [visit our site]face so close that their [visit our site]noses almost touched, he looked at Christoph, who could not even breathe properly.
“You should never have given up the succession competition.”
Richard’s lips distorted faintly as he chewed out the words in a low voice. Glassy, glistening eyes looked down at Christoph as if licking him.
“You should have stayed until the end. You should have remained until the final moment the successor was chosen, lost to me, and struggled beneath me for the rest of your life.”
“—…”
Even if he opened his mouth, he couldn’t breathe. Christoph bit his lip. He forced his eyes open, which kept trying to close, and glared at Richard.
What did you want, Richard? Did you want to win the succession competition? Did you want to clearly taste the feeling of victory while looking back at the loser the moment you were chosen as the successor?
If so, he has already won.
Christoph lost.
Ten years ago, when Christoph abandoned the second opportunity for selection. When he stepped down from the competition and chose a massive debt instead of the promised wealth and honor, Christoph had run away from the competition with Richard.
There was no need to wait another ten years. That’s why Christoph ran away then. In that way, he lost.
“You have no way of knowing how disappointed I was, how furious I was, when I heard you stepped down from the succession struggle. I decided to obtain Tarten solely to crush you beneath my feet, and yet you ran away…? At that time, I sincerely wanted to kill you. If I couldn’t, I hated you so much that I wanted to smash my own head in.”
With a grip that felt as if it would break the cervical vertebrae, Richard strangled Christoph. As if he truly intended to kill him right then, hatred was smeared in that grip like blood.
Christoph closed his eyes as his vision blurred. His mind spun and his consciousness drifted away so that he wouldn’t feel the pain of suffocation.
But just before he let go of consciousness beyond the distant darkness, the hand strangling his neck suddenly released.
When he forced his eyelids open, Richard’s face had moved away.
Sitting atop Christoph, he had tucked away [unauthorized copy]the madness-fueled rage from visit our sitea moment ago and was casting a cold gaze down.
“And yet, you still use the name Tarten.”
A low snort was heard, followed by a voice muttering as if to himself.
As air entered his blocked lungs, a fit of coughing erupted.
Christoph curled his body, coughing as if his lungs were tearing. Looking down at him, Richard climbed off his body.
But it was only for a moment.
Without hesitation, Richard flipped Christoph over and sat down, pinning his arm and thigh with his two knees.
Christoph, who was panting heavily as if he lacked the strength even to cough, tossed and turned, but Richard blocked his movements by putting his weight on his knees.
Richard silently ripped the seams of his clothes, tearing the shirt open toward the back. Soon, Christoph’s back unauthorized copyand waist were exposed. Between [visit our site]the hardened blood and the gruesome exposed flesh, thin streaks of blood were still flowing.
It was too dark to see well. Richard clicked his tongue.
He placed his hand directly over the wound and pulled the skin very slightly. At that, Christoph flinched and curled his body. Richard looked at the trembling, shrinking shoulders as if it were somewhat strange, then nodded as if he had reached a conclusion.
It wasn’t because of the pain. Christoph curled up because the touch of another’s fingers stroking the skin of his waist was skin-crawling.
“Stop…! Riha…”
Grinding his teeth with a low, pressed voice like a wounded animal, he stopped mid-sentence. It was because Richard’s finger pressed into the center of the wound. No, the fingertip moved slowly, digging into the red flesh as if probing along the wound. Seeing those shoulders stop trembling as if he were now indifferent, Richard let out a short laugh.
“That’s right. You were the type who could endure any amount of physical pain. Fine, then let’s see how much you can endure.”
Richard shifted his position slightly from where he was sitting on him, bent Christoph’s arm over his thigh, and sat on top of it. Then the direction of the shadow changed, and a distant streetlight illuminated the wound enough to be recognizable.
“Don’t touch me…! I’d rather you stab me…!”
Christoph’s voice had already become so small it was hard to understand. Despite the malice in his voice, his body lay limp like a corpse. Occasionally, his body twitched as if remembering to move, but that was all.
Slowly tracing the wound with his finger, opening it even to the depth of the healing flesh, Richard looked down at Christoph’s face, which had turned pale for a reason other than pain. Only after slowly confirming until the end that no other foreign object was caught at his fingertip did he remove his hand from the wound. Until then, he did not take his eyes off Christoph’s face as he bit his trembling lips.
“Why. …Are you going to throw up again?”
Suddenly, Richard whispered softly.
He slowly wiped the blood on his fingertip by tracing it over Christoph’s bare back. The exposed shoulder flinched.
Richard’s hand stopped.
Only the bloodstain drawn by the finger remained on the flawless, white back. And in the center of that smooth back, Richard’s hand rested.
“Still, it seems you’ve improved a lot. It looks [unauthorized copy]like you’ve become able visit our siteto tolerate being touched by others now. Yes, I mean that ‘friend’ of yours.”
“You, don’t…”
“I believe I told you that I don’t like it either.”
Even as he said this, Richard slowly slid the palm that had been resting on the back across it. Christoph’s complexion grew even more bluish.
“Stop, …I feel, …like I’m going to throw up…”
“Ha, that would be a sight to see. It would be quite a spectacle to see that face, which people call sculpture-like, smeared with vomit.”
A voice mixed with ridicule reached Christoph’s ear.
From the back to the waist, that large hand slowly swept down the skin, avoiding the wound. Touching the skin subtly with each fingertip, he scanned the white skin as if he were caressing it.
“Riha, stop, …kill me…”
“I wondered why you were so precious that you loathed even a single finger touching you, but this is indeed a body worth cherishing and protecting. Those who practice sodomy would go crazy for this.”
Richard suddenly fell silent. His hand stopped above the waist.
Eyes that had lost even their ridicule slowly examined Christoph. From the lips pressed tight as if to suppress rising nausea, to the bloodless cheeks, the nape of the neck, the shoulders, the back. The waist.
“Come to think of it, Riegrow mentioned it. He said you would shudder with horror and hate it if I did this. Although I have no taste for such things, …—.”
The low voice cut off at some point.
The hand, which seemed to move for a moment above the waist, dug toward Christoph’s abdomen, which was pressed against the dirt.
Christoph’s body jolted violently.
However, while pressing down on Christoph’s back, Richard pushed [visit our site]his hand in deeper. He was expressionless, as if possessed by something. No, perhaps there was [Read on Read BL Novels]a faint wrinkle between his brows, as if he were slightly bewildered.
He pressed firmly with his palm about half a palm’s width below the navel.
It was surprisingly soft.
A texture as soft as a baby’s skin clung to his palm.
Christoph struggled, letting out unintelligible words in a growling voice. However, Richard pinned him down, putting his full weight on top of him, and moved his hand slightly. He did so very carefully, like someone stroking the belly of a crying child who complained of a stomachache.
A coarse texture caught the tip of his pinky finger. Rubbing the fur that was soaked and clinging to the skin with the tip of his pinky, he slid his hand a bit further down.
At some point, Richard fell silent.
Christoph, too, had thrashed a few times and spat out something akin to curses, but now he was clenching his teeth, his face pale. Occasionally, a stifled sound could be heard as he barely suppressed a gag reflex.
The hand, which had lingered [unauthorized copy]for a moment over the thick growth of hair [Read on Read BL Novels]on the lower abdomen, moved down further.
For the first time, another person’s hand brushed against the private parts that had never been touched by anyone else. The hand seemed to flinch for a moment upon contact, but after hesitating for a few seconds, it reached for the private parts again.
Warm flesh touched his fingers, and then his palm.
Thump. Christoph’s body jolted. Perhaps it wasn’t intentional, but reflexively, the hand gripped that powerless piece of flesh. Just firm enough not to cause pain.
The unfamiliar sensation of palm and genitalia, flesh pressing against flesh.
And in that moment.
“Ugh, …urp… ugh—!”
Christoph curled his body and ended up vomiting.
Since he had eaten nothing, there was nothing to throw visit our siteup but gastric juices, visit our siteyet he shuddered and gagged several times.
As Christoph flailed like a fish thrown onto dry land, Richard suddenly seemed to snap back to his senses and quickly pulled his hand away.
Withdrawing his hand awkwardly, Richard looked down at Christoph with a bewildered expression, then soon frowned and clicked his tongue. He muttered a curse under his breath, though it was unclear who it was directed at.
“Damn it…”
Richard stepped aside and stood up from Christoph’s body.
He looked down at Christoph—who was still gagging and unable to even lift his body properly—with fierce eyes and clicked his tongue once more. He reached out as if to help him up, but then withdrew his hand again.
As if Christoph’s aversion to touch had been contagious, the hand that had been approaching Christoph’s shoulder or arm hesitated and stopped in mid-air.
Finally, the gagging seemed to stop. After a few coughs, Christoph caught his breath; aside from his ragged breathing, he looked exactly like a corpse. The tears that had physiologically pooled in the corners of his eyes trickled down in droplets the moment he closed them.
Looking down at Christoph stolen contentwhile clicking his tongue, Richard soon realized unauthorized copythat Christoph was losing consciousness.
That was actually easier. If he were to struggle, Richard didn’t have enough strength left to handle it right now.
Tsk. Clicking his tongue again, Richard let out a heavy sigh. He wiped the water droplets clinging to his hair and flowing down his forehead with the back of his hand, then suddenly looked at his own hand.
“…”
He clenched his fist anxiously. A curse escaped his lips unconsciously.
Christoph lay limp as if dead. Beside him, soaked and sprawled like a drowned corpse, a puddle of water began to form, faintly tinged with blood.
Rubbing the deep crease between his brows with the tip of his thumb, Richard stood up, practically hauling Christoph up by draping his arm over his shoulder. Almost all of Christoph’s weight rested on Richard.
Rising more easily than expected, Richard looked down at Christoph, whose head was lolling over his shoulder, and began to walk.
Weight pressed against his back. Along with the body that unauthorized copyhad grown cold and soaked in water, a warm body temperature was also transferred.
“Hmph, when he’s awake and moving, he’s not even like a human…”
It was just as Richard was muttering lowly.
From above, on the bridge that cast a giant shadow over them, a shouting voice was heard.
“Chris! Christoph!! Are you there?”
The voice calling out to find them, hidden by the darkness, belonged to the young man who had been with Christoph.
Richard stopped walking. He glanced at Christoph, who had already lost consciousness. The voice would not reach the man who, had he heard it, would have likely beamed with secret joy beneath an expressionless face.
Richard began to walk again. Hearing the sound of footsteps stepping on the dirt and climbing up the riverbank, the voice grew closer.
“Are you over there? …Hey, Christoph?!”
Following the young man’s voice, another familiar voice overlapped.
“Don’t forget the promise.”
“…”
Richard recognized that low, relaxed voice laughing softly behind the young man, who had suddenly fallen silent for some reason.
…Ah.
Only then did Richard recall the fact he had forgotten.
Right. That was it. Before jumping into the river earlier, Richard had definitely heard it.
Suddenly, he felt like a light laugh might burst out. His steps became slightly more cheerful.
As Richard took a few more steps and emerged from the shadow, it seemed they had spotted him from the bridge.
“Chris! …—Richard.”
Richard looked up at the young man who called Richard only after calling Christoph first. Their eyes met.
Turning his gaze away from the young man, who was frowning at the sight of Christoph sprawled like a corpse with clothes stained in blood, Richard looked at the man standing behind him. When their eyes met, that man, Riegrow, raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You look fine.”
At Riegrow’s words, Richard finally brought back his usual smile.
“Ah, thanks to you.”
Then, he shifted his gaze to the young man who was hurrying down toward [Read on Read BL Novels]them. He scrutinized the young [unauthorized copy]man from head to [Read on Read BL Novels]toe, as if seeing him for the first time.
As the young man reached Richard and reached out as if to help Christoph, Richard shifted his body slightly to make the gesture futile and smiled calmly.
“Come to think of it, I should introduce myself properly, Mr. Jeong Tae-ui…?”
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