By Zephyria 
I—I hate him more than a, a, son of a bitch…. In the chillingly gloomy dawn, the words I sputtered echoed through the hallway.
“You?”
It was a voice so low it felt sinister. The sound of his fragmented, stifled laughter was skin-crawling. His chest heaved as if it were about to rip through his shirt.
“Is that even possible? Hmm? Do you really think that’s possible?”
Pheromones exploded from between his lips as he smiled like an evil spirit. That rough, savage scent, undulating like the thick tail of a demon….
Eun-myeong bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. If he wasn’t careful, he felt like he might end up throwing himself into the man’s arms, wagging his tail like an idiot again. His face might be swollen tomorrow, but this was the only way he could snap out of it and hold his ground.
“How on earth do you think you could possibly choose not to pick me?”
The man grabbed Eun-myeong by the collar. He applied excessive force, as if he were literally about to rip the fabric apart.
“No, I’m telling you, no.”
Because of that, Eun-myeong’s throat was choked off. His face naturally turned red from the lack of oxygen, and he let out hacking gasps. The man had never used this much force against him before…. He was acting violently, as if he wanted to turn the clothes into rags right this instant. It would be a disaster if the clothes ripped; he’d end up exposing his chest, stomach, and armpits like a fool.
“Please let go….”
Grind, creak—a sound like rats gnawing through a wall could be heard. The muscles in the man’s jaw stood out, twitching. He was grinding his molars.
“I’m even putting up with the smell of another bastard on you, Baby. Who told you to get yourself stained like this….”
The gaze directed at him was also burning fiercely. He looked absolutely furious. Yet, as if what Eun-myeong was doing was merely a whim, and as if he were generously suppressing his anger, he whispered in a coaxing, soothing tone.
“If I take you back to my house, feed you, let you sleep, and come inside you, you’ll be reeking of my’s scent, right?”
While trying to rip his clothes, his voice pretended to be as sweet as honey. Having already been stung by bees several times, Eun-myeong looked miserable. He pretended to carry sweet honey, only to fire a venomous sting.
“I’m really not going with you….”
Eun-myeong stiffened his jaw and resisted stubbornly. Ugly veins popped out across the back of the man’s hand. Eun-myeong struggled, pleading for him to stop, to not do this.
“And these clothes aren’t mine…, I’m wearing someone else’s. If you do this, they’ll rip….”
At those words, the fire in the man’s eyes flared even more.
“Stop throwing a tantrum and come back. I told you I’d hold you in my arms and soothe you, hmm?”
Just then, from behind, there was the sound of a door sliding open with a screech.
“Eun-myeong!”
Still held by the collar, Eun-myeong looked back. Jun-il’s eyes widened as he stepped out the door. He quickly shoved his feet into his slippers and approached with fast strides.
“What on earth is going on…!”
Gasp, wheeze—Eun-myeong let out a ragged breath, suffocating. Thwack, thwack, thwack! As Eun-myeong frantically beat the man’s hand with his fists, the man, whose eyes widened slightly upon seeing Jun-il, finally loosened his grip. Cough, cough! Eun-myeong gasped for air.
Jun-il stepped in front of Eun-myeong, who was hunched over. Eun-myeong was obediently pulled away, burying his head as if hiding in Jun-il’s shadow. He didn’t have the confidence to look at the Boss’s face anymore. Haa, haa…. He could only heave his lower abdomen, breathing heavily. He had struggled so hard that beads of sweat dripped from the tip of his small nose.
“I tried my best not to interfere and just let it slide, but the hallway is ringing so loudly that I’m worried I might get kicked out.”
Jun-il’s eyes landed on Eun-myeong’s arm. Eun-myeong tried to hide his arm behind his back, but the forearm that had been gripped by the man was not just red, but already turning a bruised, purplish-blue.
“Does Kang Pyeong-won always act this violently?”
When Jun-il asked, the man’s eyes snapped open. The sight was so chilling that it felt as if one could hear the sound of his pupils rolling.
“Violently?”
The man let out a short laugh, his chest trembling. His face looked as if the suggestion was utterly ridiculous.
“Let’s go, Eun-myeong. I’ll take you—”
Jun-il grabbed Eun-myeong’s shoulder to pull him away, but Eun-myeong froze for a moment, terrified. Was it really okay to leave like this? Because the man was completely unpredictable, he didn’t know how he would react.
Still, he couldn’t stay here. Eun-myeong reluctantly took a few small steps.
Then, the man’s voice came from behind.
“You’ll regret it if you leave like that.”
As he said, it was certain that regret would remain—in whatever form, at whatever depth. Eun-myeong knew he would regret it. He just didn’t know how much.
However, if he followed the Boss now, he would simply fall back into the same cycle.
“…….”
Eun-myeong finally moved his feet. Step, step—he followed Jun-il, who was gently leading him. He felt a fierce gaze clinging to his back, but he deliberately didn’t look back once.
Except for one time.
Just one time, right before getting into the car, he glanced up at the building. The man was still standing there, waiting.
He was too far to see the man’s pupils, but… he could tell one thing. The man’s gaze was fixed solely on him.
That gaze was so powerful and clingy that even after returning home, Eun-myeong remained preoccupied with the thought of him following him.
While snapping off the heads of bean sprouts to make dried pollack and bean sprout soup, he let his mind wander completely.
The question remained: why had the man come to find him? If he just wanted to tell him to take his things, he could have done it over the phone. Why go through the trouble of visiting in person?
He had lost so much weight, looking like someone who couldn’t sleep….
He was dressed in a sharp, fine suit, but his eyes looked completely gone, like someone who had been hit several times with a hammer. The way he had glared at him with a gluttonous, craving look the moment he saw him kept sticking in his mind.
‘Stop throwing a tantrum and come back, I told you I’d hold you in my arms and soothe you, hmm?’
The words the man had uttered yesterday decorated Eun-myeong’s mind like a thick rain cloud. Perhaps what he really wanted to say was….
Then, snapping back to his senses, he shook his head violently. Are you crazy? Seriously, stop it. What’s the point of thinking about this now? Stop thinking. Let’s stop thinking.
He swept the trimmed bean sprouts into the boiling pot. He tore the dried pollack into pieces and added them to the pale broth. Along with the bubbling foam, Eun-myeong felt his own mind boiling over.
His Noona, who had gone all out drinking at a company dinner yesterday, crawled out with her hair a mess around the time the breakfast table was set.
“Ugh, I feel like I’m finally alive.”
Slurp—Noona let out a sigh after tasting the soup. Eun-myeong barely ate, picking up a single bean sprout with his chopsticks.
“Eun-myeong.”
Only after a few more spoonfuls did Noona’s eyes finally focus, and she softly called his name. Startled—Eun-myeong, who had been swimming in a swamp of thoughts, jumped and replied.
“Y-yes?”
“Why are you so spaced out?”
“Ah,” Eun-myeong uttered, then quickly shook his head.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“No, nothing like that. …Why?”
When Eun-myeong asked back, Noona laughed awkwardly and brushed it off as nothing. Then, burying her face in the soup bowl, she exclaimed, “Kua, so refreshing!” like an old man experiencing a cold-water plunge.
After Noona finished her soup and left for work, Eun-myeong got into Jun-il’s car, who had come to pick him up in front of the house.
Rattle, rattle….
Even after sitting in the passenger seat, Eun-myeong remained dazed.
Ironically, being apart made half of his mind drift toward the man. No matter how much he tried to slander or curse him, even that time was filled with thoughts of the man, which felt incredibly unfair.
But thoughts have a funny way of working; the more you tell yourself not to do it, the deeper you dig yourself into that hole….
Thump!
Eun-myeong’s body shook violently as they hit a speed bump. It felt as if a giant had grabbed the car and shaken it. He was forced back to his senses as if he’d been slapped in the face.
“Are you back with us now?”
When Eun-myeong looked beside him, Jun-il was watching him. He looked like he had something to say.
“That pervert bastard, you know.”
As he started the sentence, for some reason, the Boss’s face was the first thing to pop into his head again.
“I heard he was handed over to the prosecution. Apparently, he’s not a first-time offender. They say it’ll be hard for him to avoid prison since he already has several priors.”
“Ah….”
Eun-myeong’s mouth hung open. He realized Jun-il was talking about that total pervert he saw at the convenience store. He replied casually and thanked him once more. Then, a thought occurred to him, and he asked cautiously.
“Did you catch the person who damaged the car back then?”
“Ah, that.”
Jun-il gave an ambiguous smile. Did he not want to answer? He stopped talking for a moment.
Come to think of it, the atmosphere today was strange. Unlike his usual smooth and easygoing impression, he seemed strangely sharp.
Since his right eye was a long slit without a double eyelid, from Eun-myeong’s perspective, his impression felt even sharper.
“…….”
Eun-myeong quietly shut his mouth. Deciding not to pry, he turned his gaze toward the window.
However, the road they were taking kept looking familiar. Eun-myeong looked around. He tried to think that they were just heading in a similar direction, but this place was completely isolated from everywhere else. It was difficult to see it as a mere coincidence.
“Why are we here….”
A place where lush roadside trees isolated the building from the outside world. This place, which could only be reached after passing through a gentle, endless slope, was none other than the orphanage.
“I told you there was some volunteer work to do, right?”
Jun-il turned his head toward Eun-myeong. Now Eun-myeong could see both of Jun-il’s eyes, but even the left eye, which usually looked kind, felt a bit unfamiliar.
With a sharp expression, he asked.
“You said you used to be at this orphanage, right, Eun-myeong?”