By Zephyria 
“Please.”
At the desperate plea, Kim Ha-yoon let out a long sigh. When Ire asked why, he replied that he was going to see Gangsan. He, too, had known Matteo since childhood and was as close to him as Ire was, so he should know about Matteo’s disappearance.
Or Matteo might have already gone there…
Ire used to be sure that Matteo would come looking for him and his brothers no matter what, but now he didn’t know. Kim Ha-yoon stood up and pointed upwards. “Want to go up?” He was probably referring to the rooftop.
Wanting a definite answer, Ire brought up the Pass again, and Kim Ha-yoon wordlessly turned and walked down the hallway. Ire followed him to the rooftop, where the jellyfish he had seen before were still moving in the water.
When Ire pressed the button, the cover opened, and Kim Ha-yoon squatted in front of the tank and threw in food. The jellyfish gathered one by one, wrapping their tentacles around Kim Ha-yoon’s hand and playing with him, changing the color of their bodies.
“Come and touch them.”
Ire did as he was told and put his hand in, and they played with him in the same way. Perhaps because he had seen them before, he didn’t feel as repulsed as he had the first time, and he stayed like that for a while.
“Um, Captain…”
As Ire hesitated and was about to bring up the Pass again, he heard footsteps behind him. Ire’s eyes widened as he turned around. He didn’t recognize him at first because he wasn’t wearing a military uniform, but it was Major Kim Seon-oh, whom he had met in Area C before.
He was younger than Kim Ha-yoon, but he looked older. He was a cheerful and jovial person.
“Hey, look who it is. Long time no see. Are you stationed here?”
“How have you been, sir?”
Ire stood up straight and saluted, and Major Kim Seon-oh smiled broadly. “You’ve really shaped up while I haven’t seen you. You used to look like a kid, but now you’re quite the man,” he said, pleased.
“Did you get a haircut too?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You have a handsome face, so it suits you even with it cut like this.”
As the two were talking, Kim Ha-yoon approached. Judging by his expression, they had already made an arrangement. Major Kim glanced at the tank over Kim Ha-yoon’s shoulder and frowned.
“I don’t know why you’re raising that creepy thing.”
They were cute in person, but Ire understood why he found them creepy. It wasn’t a dog or a cat, but it expressed emotions and came to people to play and act cute, which was strange to him at first too.
Kim Ha-yoon went a little further away with Major Kim and started talking. Meanwhile, Ire stood in front of the rooftop railing and looked down. It was high… Not as high as when he jumped out of the helicopter, but still quite high. As if to prove it, the cars below looked like toys.
If he were to fall from here with a parachute, would he be able to land safely? There were separate parachutes for low-altitude jumps, but he wondered if they could be used here as well. Meanwhile, while his eyes were looking down, he was eavesdropping on Kim Ha-yoon and Major Kim’s conversation.
Focusing intently, he could faintly hear their conversation even from a considerable distance.
“Still?”
“We’ve connected an emergency escape route in the basement to the mountains. We’re searching that area with drones. They couldn’t have gone far.”
“Kill them as soon as you find them.”
“What happened to the kids they took hostage?”
“They’ll be executed in a week.”
“See? I told you how tough they are. I told you they’d never open their mouths. They’re on a different level from our well-bred kids. I realized during this battle, I don’t know why these kids these days are so stupid. They almost blew up our camp. And this is the level of Special Forces we picked as the best. You know?”
Instead of denying it, Kim Ha-yoon responded with a soft laugh. Ire leaned forward to see a little further down. “Dangerous.” Ire turned around and saw Kim Ha-yoon looking at him with a worried expression. Next to him, Kim Seon-oh was looking back and forth between them with a strange look.
After they finished talking and Kim Seon-oh left, a work-related phone call came in. Kim Ha-yoon was on the phone for a long time again, and Ire explored the rooftop by himself. There was a rocking chair under a large parasol, so he sat there and swung his legs.
The sky appeared and disappeared beyond the parasol. Kim Ha-yoon was busier than he thought. He thought he didn’t have a job because he kept popping up all the time.
Kim Ha-yoon, who had finished his call, approached.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Want to go get dinner?”
Ire was dumbfounded at how he was acting as if he had completely forgotten the conversation they had just had. Regardless, Kim Ha-yoon turned around without hesitation. As they were going down the stairs, an emergency alarm went off. It was an earthquake warning, and the building shook slightly a moment later.
Ire frowned and looked down at his feet. He felt uneasy even when the ground shook, so would he be okay at this height? Kim Ha-yoon had an indifferent expression, and Ire chased after him and asked.
“This building is sturdy, right?”
“Worried? That you’ll be buried with me?”
“…”
“It’s designed to withstand earthquakes, so it won’t collapse.”
“Um… about what you were saying earlier…”
Kim Ha-yoon ignored him and walked through the living room into a room full of clothes. Watching him pick out a shirt without hesitation, Ire couldn’t help but grab his arm. Kim Ha-yoon’s gaze went from his face to his arm and then back up. This was something Ire couldn’t have imagined before.
He quietly let go and bit his lip.
“Please.”
“No.”
Ire’s brow furrowed. He didn’t expect Kim Ha-yoon to refuse so quickly. He realized how easily Kim Ha-yoon had granted his requests until now. When Ire asked why not, Kim Ha-yoon said that the guys who had escaped to Area C might have entered District B. If they spotted him and found out he was a soldier, he could die.
“I’ll be careful.”
At Ire’s repeated requests, a look of concern crossed Kim Ha-yoon’s face. Seeing this as an opportunity, Ire put on an even more desperate expression. “Please,” he said, and Kim Ha-yoon let out a soft sigh, took out a new shirt, and brought it right up to Ire’s face. “Take it off for me.”
Then he gestured to Ire’s shirt with his eyes.
“If you take it off for me, I’ll seriously consider it.”
When Ire asked if he was serious, Kim Ha-yoon nodded. “Damn it.” Ire grumbled inwardly, wondering why he was being asked to do such strange things. He reached up to the top of his shirt to unbutton it. He used to button up the children’s clothes, but this felt very different.
He was so nervous that his hand slipped. Embarrassed, he made a lame excuse.
“It’s too stiff…”
“How can you go there alone if you can’t even unbutton one button properly?”
“Do you think I’m a kid…?”
“Yeah. You’re young. You’re a kid in my eyes.”
“Okay. I guess it’s good to be old… I’m jealous.”
Kim Ha-yoon’s eyes narrowed at the sarcastic remark. He was usually able to brush off everything else, but he was particularly sensitive when it came to his age. Twenty-nine wasn’t that old, so why was he reacting so sensitively?
As the buttons came undone, his shirt opened, revealing his upper body. His chest and abdomen were firm, and his muscles were clearly defined. Ire had also worked out in the gym whenever he had time to build muscle with Seo Young-jun, but he was far from that level.
After unbuttoning the last button, Kim Ha-yoon looked down at Ire.
“You have to take it off all the way.”
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this shit, ah!”
He meant to say it to himself, but it came out. Startled, he looked around, but Kim Ha-yoon didn’t care and put unspoken pressure on him to hurry up. Ire slipped the shirt over his shoulders and completely removed it from his arms before holding it up in his hands.
“Is that it?”
“You took it off first?”
Ire blinked with a blank expression. What the hell was that supposed to mean? But after a moment, he understood what Kim Ha-yoon meant. Kim Ha-yoon, who was a foot away, tilted his face, and Ire guessed what would happen next.
He quickly covered Kim Ha-yoon’s lips with his hand, and Kim Ha-yoon’s eyes turned fierce.
“Irgeua?”
He pronounced it strangely, which made Ire laugh softly. Taking advantage of Ire’s carelessness, Kim Ha-yoon removed his hand and buried his face in Ire’s neck. At first, Ire hated it, but after doing it a few times, he felt less repulsed and could tolerate it.
No, to be honest, he didn’t hate it.
He just didn’t want it to become a habit and be difficult to break later.
Kim Ha-yoon moved up, making kissing sounds, and naturally swallowed his lips.
He probed every corner of Ire’s mouth, persistently rubbing his canines with his tongue.
“Umm…!”
Kim Ha-yoon’s lips curled up at the moan, and his hands now entered Ire’s shirt, groping his body. Ire was pushed back and tripped over the sofa, and Kim Ha-yoon came on top of him as he fell. Ire grabbed the hand that was unbuckling his pants and shook his head, and Kim Ha-yoon looked into his eyes.
“One Pass is worth as much as a house.”
“What do you mean…?”
Kim Ha-yoon lowered his hand and gently stroked Ire’s thigh.
“I’m asking how far you’re willing to go for me today.”