1.2 Beneath the Bark of the Evergreen (1)

Blink. Blink.

A nice smell. With a sudden, random thought, Geum Seoul opened his eyes. Half of his field of vision was a mattress; the other half was a wall. It wasn’t raw concrete; there was wallpaper and tiles on the floor—it was a real room. He blinked a couple more times.

Beige wallpaper. Light gray tiles. And curtains. He pushed himself up sleepily and rubbed his neck. His body, which had been drenched in sweat, was now dry and crisp, leaving only a slight sticky residue.

“…Where am I?”

The inside of the house wasn’t hot at all. The thing blowing a wind so cold it was almost freezing was the air conditioner mounted on the ceiling.

That meant he wasn’t in the neighborhood. He swallowed hard, slid his legs out from under the blanket, and slowly stood up. The lights in the room were off, but since it wasn’t that dark, it seemed it was still daytime.

Geum Seoul summoned a great deal of courage to face his slight fear. His last memory was coming down from the rooftop. He had leaned toward the man who reached out his arms as if to lower him instead of using the ladder. For him, it had been a very brave act.

He gripped the doorknob and turned it very gently; not a single sound came from the hinges. Surprised by the silence, he caught his breath, then slowly pulled the door open.

A living room. There was a sofa, a TV, and even a floor lamp standing to one side—a real living room. To someone who had lived in a single room or a place barely large enough for two people to lie down since the time his mother was alive, a real house like this felt foreign.

“Are you awake?”

He flinched, his shoulders hunching at the voice that broke the silence. As if apologizing for startling him unintentionally, Yoo Jeong-ham raised both hands. Geum Seoul swallowed hard.

“Where… is this?”

“It’s one of the temporary lodgings we use. There was nowhere to rest coolly over there, so we came outside the neighborhood. Since you collapsed because of us.”

“Ah, a lodging….”

He nodded as if he understood, but his heart hammered with a slight anxiety. Since he had come to live there, he had never left the neighborhood alone. For one, he had nowhere to go, and if the CEO happened to look for him and he wasn’t there, he would be hit immediately.

That was why, even while running errands here and there, he would poke his head back into the building every now and then. Fearing he might have missed Park Gil-pyeong’s call. If he missed it, he would have to pretend to roll around desperately at the man’s feet again.

However, Park Gil-pyeong wasn’t in the neighborhood right now. Because the neighborhood was vulnerable to the violently pouring heat, Park Gil-pyeong usually stayed outside the neighborhood during the summer. He would still drop by occasionally at sunset to tidy things up, but since these people arrived, he hadn’t visited for several days.

Then how do I get home? I can’t go on foot.

It was obvious at a glance that he was worrying about that. Yoo Jeong-ham spoke toward the face that looked exceptionally scruffy, perhaps because he had woken up after fainting from sweat.

“It was heatstroke; it almost became dangerous.”

“Ah. I was fine until I was being held.”

“…That is.”

He decided not to say that he wasn’t actually fine.

“Just rest here for today, and tomorrow you can go back up with us for the auction.”

The superior, who had personally carried the unconscious Geum Seoul, had injected him with a provided Recovery Agent while putting him in the car. The instruction to stay at the lodging and the subsequent directions had also come from his mouth.

“Here?”

“Yes. I waited for Seoul-ssi to wake up to tell you this. That person has gone back out to work.”

Geum Seoul immediately realized that the ‘that person’ the man mentioned was Guichang.

“…Yes. Thank you.”

“But there’s no water or food here, so I’ll leave some in front of the door later.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Even if you’ve recovered, you need to drink some water.”

Yoo Jeong-ham scratched the back of his neck. He certainly agreed that his superior was showing Geum Seoul leniency, but he was quite confused as to whether this was an exception or not. Had that ghost softened up because the weather was too hot?

Until now, as far as he knew, the man had never shown sympathy, even to those who were pitiful. Of course, Geum Seoul’s situation was as pathetic as anyone’s, but at least his limbs were intact, and he was capable of the calculated thinking required to attach various fake pieces of flesh. It felt more fitting to think the man was acting kindly because of ‘utilitarian value’ rather than sympathy.

He was a man accustomed to acting as if he would give up his own liver if necessary. Of course, he would eventually stab you in the back. Regardless, that meant this was the only moment he mimicked kindness.

Showing his protruding teeth, Yoo Jeong-ham pointed to the towel, clothes, and a new toothbrush on the table. They were clothes extorted from the smallest member of the team.

“I thought what you’re wearing now might feel gross. That person ordered this too, so please change comfortably and rest. No one will come until tomorrow.”

Having delivered all the instructions, Yoo Jeong-ham walked toward the entrance. Geum Seoul, who had been standing there blankly until then, called out, “Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Thanks to you, we were able to finish an important call. Oh, there will be an injection mark on your arm. Don’t be surprised.”

With those words and a friendly wave, Yoo Jeong-ham left through the front door. The image of the man who had seemed only terrifying when they first met in the vacant lot had vanished.

Click.

As the sound of the door closing faded, Geum Seoul stood still, looked down at his hands, and rolled up his sleeve. The bruises on the back of his hand were still there, and indeed, one more small, round red bruise had appeared in the crook of his arm.

He had a very faint memory of this mark. His strength had failed, his eyes closed, his body trembled, and his mind was hazy, but even then, he thought the arms of the man holding him were incredibly firm. Even in his distant consciousness, he noticed the man’s stride was large, and he knew he was being laid down on a cool leather seat, and that the low voice saying “Get the kit” belonged to him. After that, the scolding—“Yoo Jeong-ham, are you being born right now? You’re fucking dawdling”—was also his. He realized belatedly that the man who had just visited was named Yoo Jeong-ham.

Slowly looking around, Geum Seoul carefully picked up the clothes and towel Yoo Jeong-ham had left and went in search of the shower. He still wasn’t sure if he was being shameless by enjoying this place, but at the very least, he wanted to wash. His body had been drenched in sweat, and although the clothes had long since dried, the unpleasantness kept making him touch the back of his neck.

“What is this place?”

Opening the bathroom door, Geum Seoul let out a short exclamation of admiration. There was a shower in the building where he lived, but it was communal, so Geum Seoul had to sneak in during the early dawn when everyone was asleep and wash in a hurry. The showerhead was so caked with grime that it looked yellow no matter how much he scrubbed, and the floor tiles were broken in places, so he stepped on crumbs every time.

Compared to that, this place was nothing short of heaven. It was just like the pictures he had seen in a discarded fairy tale book or photos in a newspaper. After carefully placing his clothes and towel on one side of the sink, Geum Seoul slowly took off the clothes he was wearing.

‘Seoul-ah. From now on, you must always wear this. When you get money, buy this first. Got it? You must [stolen content]Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="display:none;" aria-label="stolen content">stolen contentnot be caught by anyone.’

In a now slightly blurred memory, his mother used to hold him and tell him that. That this was the only way to protect him. So, from a time when he didn’t even know the reason, Geum Seoul had covered his face. He didn’t step out in front of others, he lived hidden like a shadow, and he always carried fake fat plastered onto his body.

Thump.

He took off the thin short-sleeved shirt he wore under the long-sleeved one. Beneath it, the lump of silicone clinging tightly to his body weighed him down like real flesh. When he pulled it off with all his might, his miserably scorched body was revealed before the large mirror.

It was always like this in the summer. He sweated so much that his skin became raw, and red spots broke out over it. It was a hideous and ugly sight.

“Wow. This feels so refreshing….”

Following that, Geum Seoul removed the thing pressing down on the bridge of his nose and the thing that scratched the inside of his lips every day to create bright red wounds. For the first time in a very long while, he stood under the water with nothing on.

The lukewarm stream of water made his red, swollen skin sting, but still, he didn’t want to leave. The thin energy that seeped through his hair and penetrated his scalp was so cool and refreshing that, even though he knew it was rude to use expensive water in someone else’s house for so long, Geum Seoul stood quietly with his eyes closed in the same spot until he had counted to ten in his head.

Furthermore, for Geum Seoul, who had only ever bought and used 300-won soap, even the plastic bottle on the side was new. Feeling that he shouldn’t use just anything recklessly, he squeezed a generous amount of the smallest one into his hand to wash his hair and body. It smelled like fruit. It was so wonderful that he rubbed it into his neck and wrists for a long time, reluctant to let even the rinsing foam go to waste.

Rustle.

Next, while brushing his teeth with the new toothbrush, he pondered for a long time whether he could take this back to the neighborhood. The one he was using now was in a state of total baldness, with the bristles all fallen out, but this one was smooth and soft, making a chika-chika sound every [unauthorized copy]visit our siteunauthorized copy -->time he used it. He enjoyed it so much that even after he finished brushing, he brushed once more with plain water.

“Do rich people live like this?”

Because it was his first time taking a slow shower without being chased, his cheeks were flushed red again, though for a different reason. While wiping the water from his face with the fluffy towel, he thought for a moment and then put on the provided clothes one by one. He wore nothing—no silicone lumps, no fake braces. Since he was told no one would come until tomorrow, he decided to rest a bit before putting them back on.

His legs dangled beneath the shorts that cut off halfway down his thighs. His arms stretched out beneath the short sleeves. Because he had no money and could only afford cheap makeup for his torso, he couldn’t expose his limbs and had to insist on long sleeves and long pants all year round; to him, this coolness was unbearably wonderful. It felt as if the cool breeze brushing his neck dove into the holes of the short-sleeved T-shirt and fluttered back out.

He slowly walked out into the living room and perched on the sofa. Not a fake leather one with everything torn apart, but a plush, intact sofa that swallowed his body. Moreover, the air was so cold that he couldn’t tell if it was winter or summer. How could it be like this?

‘You’ll be surprised when you find out how well people in Seoul live.’

Something Bunhong-i had said once flashed through his mind. Swallowing hard, Geum Seoul wiped away a stream of water that had fallen from his hair to his neck and rested his cheek on his raised knees.

‘This was also ordered by that person, so please change comfortably and rest.’

This time, Yoo Jeong-ham’s voice from earlier echoed. He said that man had ordered it himself. So, he could just rest here today and go back up with them tomorrow.

Clear saliva pooled again, and he swallowed once more. The face of the man who had reached out his arms to him on the rooftop also came to mind. Just as his height was tall and his shoulders wide, the embrace he had leaned into for a moment was incredibly large and firm.

‘Come down.’

Why had he felt relieved then? It was the first time he had been held in someone’s arms other than his mother. It had never happened before. Perhaps because he was curled up, he felt a slight heat rising from his neck to his cheeks. The scent of the foam from his shower remained on his body.

Come to think of it, there was a scent he had caught fleetingly while in the arms of the man named Guichang. It felt like the scent of slightly dried flowers, and also…. It was too brief to describe properly, but the heavy fragrance had certainly made the bridge of Geum Seoul’s nose tingle. How could someone smell so good? He buried his nose in his knees and closed his eyes. It was completely different from the scent he smelled earlier, but still. He slowly lowered his heavy eyelids.

Thump.

Flash.

He opened his eyes. It had definitely been daytime when he washed and sat down, but now the atmosphere drifting through the living room had changed strangely. However, because the curtains were tightly drawn where the windows should be, he couldn’t gauge the exact time.

“My neck hurts….”

As soon as he straightened his body, which had become crumpled from falling asleep curled up, the back of his neck felt stiff, but more important than that was the light noise coming from outside the door. He was told no one would come.

‘But there’s no water or food here, so I’ll leave some in front of the door later.’

Ah. Only after recalling Yoo Jeong-ham’s words did the tension leave Geum Seoul’s shoulders. He still didn’t know if he deserved such treatment just for someone keeping a promise, but a burning thirst drove him to move.

“Is it okay if I just take the water?”

He was truly fine without the food, but he wanted water. He was so thirsty that whenever he tried to swallow, it felt as if his esophagus was sticking together.

Rustle.

Slowly rising from the sofa, Geum Seoul approached the entrance. He glanced up at the ceiling as the automatic sensor light clicked on, then stepped forward barefoot. Before long, the horizontal doorknob appeared before him. He lowered the handle very carefully. Beep. The door opened with a short sound. He intended to open it just a hand’s breadth and only take the water.

Slide.

“Huh?”

However, far from taking the water, Geum Seoul couldn’t even get a single leg out of the gap. This was because someone was standing exactly one step in front of him. The man, Guichang, who had reached out his hand as if to grip the doorknob, was staring at him. Geum Seoul was suddenly swallowed up by a dark shadow again.

“…….”

Seoul froze stiff, his eyes widening. It was surprising enough that someone was in a place he thought would be empty, but the fact that it was this man made his mind go completely blank.

In his dazed state, Geum Seoul saw the man’s eyes narrow ever so slightly for a split second. His pitch-black pupils dropped from his forehead, to his eyes, his nose, and then from his lips to his chin. Only then did he realize he was exposing his bare face.

“Oh, shit!”

He was caught. Making a sound as if gulping down air, Geum Seoul covered his mouth with both hands and stepped back a couple of paces. Because his feet tangled in his panic, he felt a sudden chill on the back of his neck and his body tilted backward.

Grab.

In a very brief moment, the man, who had opened the front door further and stepped inside, gripped Geum Seoul’s lower arm and pulled. Thanks to that, instead of falling backward in an unsightly manner, Geum Seoul tilted forward and slammed his forehead right into the man’s chest. He smelled of bittersweet dried leaves.

“Ah.”

He felt dizzy. Not because he had hit his forehead, nor because of the T-shirt blocking him, but because this sudden situation was dizzying. His dry esophagus stuck together again, and he tentatively raised his gaze.

“What. You came out to get this?”

However, despite Geum Seoul’s utter panic, Guichang spoke of the business first. Only then did Geum Seoul notice the white bag held in the man’s other hand. He stumbled backward to get out of the man’s embrace and then, belatedly but hurriedly, apologized.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. You’ll probably be sorry again.”

He glanced up at the man who replied curtly, but the man’s gaze was fixed somewhere around his bare neck. Thump-thump. As his heart raced wildly, Geum Seoul rubbed his burning skin Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[stolen content]with his palms and tried to move away from the entrance.

However, the hallway was narrow and the man was too large, so Geum Seoul was practically forced to keep backing up. Every time the light passed over his head, shadows fell and then brightly illuminated the man’s distinct features.

What? What is this? The man continued to stride inside, and contrary to his intention, Geum Seoul, who had stumbled back all the way to the living room, barely managed to clear the way with a bright red face. The bag the man brought made a rustling sound as it was placed on the dining table.

“Eat. You haven’t eaten anything today, have you?”

“…….”

Because his heart was beating in his head, he couldn’t properly hear the low voice. With his back turned, he pressed his heart firmly with both hands.

“At least drink some water.”

“…….”

“Yeah. Chew the fuck on it. Did you decide to just ignore me?”

Feeling that if he opened his mouth, he might vomit out something important—his heart or his brain—Geum Seoul, who had remained stiff, let out a very quiet breath. He couldn’t ignore the man’s words three times. Leaving his still confused insides alone, he barely managed to squeeze out an excuse.

“Um. My face, I…”

“I know.”

“What?”

At the overly simple answer, he turned his head quickly. For a moment, the gaze that had dropped to his calves or thighs met again.

“I know. That it’s fake.”

“You know?”

The strength in the fists that had been pressing his heart vanished. He knew. He knew. How did he know? Was it obvious? But none of the people in the neighborhood knew. He had worked hard at it every single day, in the dawn and in the morning. Now, with a face confused for a different reason, Guichang took a long, thick foil-wrapped bundle out of the white bag and placed it on the island table.

“I’m the one who knows. Whether it’s someone from your neighborhood or some other bastard, I don’t know. It’s fucking obvious.”

Those words could have sounded a bit arrogant, but instead, they felt reassuring, so he nodded. Ah. This man is a policeman. That’s why he knows. Screech. In the meantime, Guichang pulled out a chair and gestured with his head for him to sit. Geum Seoul tilted his head a few times, like a wary cat, before approaching with small steps and sitting down.

Having waited for that moment with exceptional patience, Guichang opened a plastic water bottle with a crisp crack and set it down beside him. Glancing tentatively at him, Seoul picked up the bottle with both hands and pressed his rounded lips to it.

“…….”

Those pitch-black eyes now fixed on Geum Seoul’s pink lips without wavering.

He had known from the start that it was all makeup, but he wasn’t curious about the bare face. There were many people in this world who wanted to hide their faces, and the various criminals of different ethnicities he had arrested countless times were especially so. Wigs were a given, and disguising teeth or the nose, as Geum Seoul had done, was common; these days, people often used ear devices or glasses that used holograms to change the shape of the eyes every hour.

Even after seeing such people, Guichang could roughly deduce their bare faces. Unless they wore a perfect mask, they couldn’t change their basic bone structure, and since the purpose of such disguises was simply to prevent others from recognizing them, there was nothing particularly surprising once the makeup was removed.

Gulp. Gulp.

Perhaps he was thirsty; Guichang’s gaze followed the pale throat as Seoul took a few consecutive gulps without pulling his lips away from the bottle.

He had naturally expected him to be a beauty. The eyes he saw when the hair was pushed back or when it was wet and clumped together suggested as much, and he guessed the crooked nose makeup was because of a sharp bridge. Even though the front teeth protruded, he figured the plump, pink-tinted lips were part of those conditions.

“…….”

But.

He didn’t expect him to look like he could melt a person’s frontal lobe. Geum Seoul, with everything dirty stripped away, far exceeded any guess. It was as if the goal wasn’t to hide so that someone wouldn’t recognize him, but simply to ruin his features. Something gnawed under the skin. Guichang’s brow furrowed slightly and then smoothed out. In any case, Geum Seoul is not a Recessive Omega. With a face like that, if those pheromones were recessive, other Omegas would have gone extinct long ago. He reached that conclusion easily.

Blink.

Only after drinking a few sips of water did Geum Seoul seem to regain his senses. Shaking off some of his flustered energy, he now stared quietly at the foil placed before him. On his slightly mottled, scarred neck, his Adam’s apple rose halfway and then sank.

“Are you performing a ritual? Three or four people must have eaten this and passed on to the afterlife by now.”

Thinking that Seoul was waiting for permission, Guichang spoke up. As if trying to understand the strange metaphor, Geum Seoul blinked a few more times, lowering and raising eyelashes the same color as his hair, before tentatively extending only his thumb and index finger like tweezers to open the crumpled lump of foil.

“It’s kimbap.”

A short exclamation escaped as his crimson lips parted. There were simply two ordinary rolls of kimbap sitting there. Since there weren’t any proper restaurants near the neighborhood and he didn’t feel the need to go further to buy some, he had simply packed the leftovers from the children’s meals. It was common kimbap, packed tight with basic ingredients and nothing special, but Geum Seoul stared at it with his mouth open as if it were a grand feast.

Yet, since there was no sign of him actually eating, Guichang first tore open a pair of disposable chopsticks from the bag. When he placed them beside him, Seoul responded with a very small “Thank you.” However, he still only held the wooden chopsticks.

“What now.”

“Perhaps.”

Whether he was terrified or something else, Seoul’s ears turned slightly red. Guichang’s gaze didn’t miss even that. The brown eyes that had been staring at the kimbap looked up.

“Would you like to eat together?”

“…….”

It was obvious that food was scarce in that neighborhood. While a decent smell occasionally wafted from abandoned houses that looked like they were halfway built, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant scent. He had merely guessed that something was being boiled for a very long time.

The building where Geum Seoul stayed was the same. There was a cooking station right next to the laundry room, which was almost half outdoors despite having a roof. However, it seemed to have been used a long time ago, and now there were only a couple of portable gas burners. It seemed the Omegas living on the second floor used those to make something to eat.

Seeing how thin his limbs were beneath his T-shirt and shorts, he likely hadn’t been eating properly either, yet here he was, asking to eat together in front of a meal that was probably his first in a long time. Guichang wasn’t hungry and had no particular desire to eat, but after narrowing one eye for a moment, he pulled his chair closer. He was curious about what this kid was planning. In the gap between them, sitting across the corner of the four-person table, Geum Seoul hesitated for a moment before picking up a piece of kimbap that was pressed tightly against the others.

Plop.

The kimbap slipped out of the chopsticks. He adjusted the chopsticks in his fingers once more.

“…….”

Plop.

Again, the chopsticks, lacking proper strength, failed to lift the kimbap. A glance. Seeing him acting so tentatively, Guichang finally realized why Geum Seoul had been hesitating.

“Use your hands. Hands.”

He can’t even use chopsticks. Only after receiving the man’s permission did Seoul put down the chopsticks, his white cheeks flushing with slight embarrassment. Instead, his white, slender thumb and index finger picked up the kimbap that had just fallen from the tips of the chopsticks. No. He hesitated again, let it go, and picked up the thickest, largest piece from the center of the kimbap.

“…….”

That piece of kimbap headed not toward Geum Seoul’s plump, pink lips, but toward the lips of the man sitting next to him. As the kimbap drew closer, Guichang narrowed his eyes halfway.

It was absurd. Not only was the offer to eat together not just a polite gesture, but the fact that he was offering the first bite to him, despite being so starved that the sound of swallowing saliva could be heard, was even more so.

“You eat plenty of it yourself.”

The refusal was sincere. Kimbap was not a food he usually ate. He was the type to rather skip a meal than eat something haphazardly when in a rush, and he didn’t particularly enjoy the act of stuffing something crudely made with various ingredients into his mouth.

However, however he took that rejection, Geum Seoul’s pale brown eyelashes trembled slightly. The arm that had extended the kimbap to the edge of his mouth dropped abruptly, and this time, his entire face turned beet red.

“Because I’m dirty.”

Only then did Guichang realize how Geum Seoul had understood. Instead of answering “That’s true,” he let out a long breath and lightly grasped the white wrist that was about to put the kimbap back on the foil.

The neatly closed mouth opened, and he took the kimbap. Both the man and Geum Seoul knew that the fingertips holding the sides of the kimbap were brushing against the skin of the thin lips. Nevertheless, Guichang released the wrist slightly late, and Seoul stared with wide eyes, his neck dyed pink. The way he hurriedly reached for the water bottle as soon [stolen content]as his wrist was released visit our sitemade the corners of Guichang’s lips curl. Acting like a little shit again. At least for now, it wasn’t a calculated smile.

Guichang ate about three pieces of kimbap pushed toward his mouth before shaking his head, and Geum Seoul, rustling the silver foil, let out a full breath after eating half of it. Seeing him eat less than one full roll despite acting as if it were the most delicious food in the world, Guichang figured his stomach must have shrunk considerably.

Rustle.

Seoul, who had carefully closed the foil with greasy fingers, began to be preoccupied with something again.

“The kimbap will spoil by tomorrow. Because the weather is hot.”

“In just one day? It’s only for a little while.”

“If you monitor it all night, it’ll spoil slower.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

He cut off the nonsense more firmly than expected and popped one piece into his mouth. He seemed to have concluded that if he couldn’t take it tomorrow, he would eat one more today. However, as if he were too full for it to go down, his chewing became noticeably slow, repeating the cycle of chewing once and breathing once. Guichang, who had been smirking, couldn’t stand it and pushed the kimbap far away.

“I’ll give you a new one, so take that.”

“No. I don’t like being indebted. This is fine.”

“You’re already fucking indebted.”

“…Not any more.”

With his cheeks puffed out, his eyes, refusing the offer, remained on the edge of the foil. It was evident that he intended to take it tomorrow regardless of whether it spoiled or not, and it made Guichang’s head ache slightly. How stupidly, he could see the calculation that it would be better to eat spoiled food and get sick than to go hungry.

“Ah. It’s 4 o’clock.”

The words were so abrupt, while he still couldn’t take his eyes off the kimbap, that Guichang slowly raised an eyebrow. Brown eyes met his.

“Picking up the auction guests. It starts at 4. Isn’t that why you came to ask?”

“I came because this is my lodging.”

He had already found out that much information. This house had been prepared as his lodging, and the reason he had brought Geum Seoul here instead of where the other team members stayed was clear.

Geum Seoul was an Omega. Seeing that even Yoo Jeong-ham couldn’t smell him, his pheromones seemed quite weak, but he couldn’t just push him into a lodging swarming with Alpha boars and tell him to rest.

He didn’t think the team members, who had rolled around in the field, were idiots who easily succumbed to instinct. He wanted to believe that although they were generally a bit slow, they weren’t that kind of mindless morons. However, since Geum Seoul’s stolen content[stolen visit our sitecontent]pheromones, which he had smelled briefly, were of the type that seeped in naturally enough that even he barely noticed, and considering his physical state—having even fainted—there was no telling when they might amplify. It was easier to block all exceptional possibilities.

“Ah. I see.”

Seoul let out a very short exclamation. Indeed, it was impossible for those people, who were only visiting, to all rest in the neighborhood in this heat. They probably spent their time here unless they were looking for Lee Hee-jung. Feeling embarrassed that he had only just realized something so obvious, Seoul swallowed the food filling his mouth and pressed his lips together.

“If you’re going to keep fainting, don’t walk, just crawl. Or ride in a stroller.”

As he said that, Seoul turned his head toward the man who was handing him water. Though he didn’t know for sure, it seemed like he was asking, ‘Why do you faint so often?’ He quickly took the plastic bottle with both hands and pondered his answer.

“Because the weather is hot in the summer.”

“So you’re sturdy in the winter? Your price is market value, but your health depends on the season.”

“Isn’t that usually how it is? …Everyone but me is like that.”

“Not me.”

“I am.”

At the steady, point-by-point retort, Guichang pulled up one corner [visit Read on Read BL Novelsvisit our siteour site]of his mouth and tilted his head halfway. Look at this guy. That was the look on his face, but Seoul was just rubbing his earlobe.

Not knowing what Guichang thought, he was simply feeling embarrassed, recalling that he had already fainted twice in the few days since meeting this man. He felt as if he had only shown his frail side. In truth, he wished he were strong and muscular like this man or the other people he brought. It was just that he had no time to exercise, but he did tend to put on a bit of weight in the winter.

Gulp. Gulp. After swallowing the water, Seoul pressed his big toe firmly against the floor and continued. It was a matter of pride.

“Still, I’m not that weak. There are many times I use strength when doing errands.”

He wanted to say that he wasn’t simply frail, but fearing it might sound arrogant, he glanced at him. However, the man, who had been sitting with an expressionless face, had his gaze fixed on the nape of his neck. Is something on there? After wiggling the tip of his index finger and thinking deeply, he reached one conclusion.

“I’m sorry. Because I used the bed.”

Only after hearing the apology did Guichang’s gaze move up from the nape. Geum Seoul thought that was the reason the man had looked at his neck. He knew where he lived, and even that he had used makeup. Therefore, using the same bed must have been unpleasant.

Thinking that, it hit him that the bed he had been lying on until just now was the place where this man had rested. He had thought it smelled good. Blink, blink. His eyelids became busy, closing and opening while staring into the air.

“Did you go and lie down on your own?”

“Still. It’s dirty when someone else uses your bed.”

“Forget it.”

“What?”

“Stop asking back. Do I look like I have a hobby of soothing children?”

Geum Seoul shut his mouth. Guichang tended not to enjoy conversations that required constant elaboration like this. There were many things that required hands-on work or mental effort. It was tiring to have to hammer things in repeatedly just to make the other person understand.

In that sense, Geum Seoul was a type that required a lot of patience. He would often accompany a single answer with several seconds of silence, as if thinking deeply, and he had a tendency to bounce off in strange directions if a guide wasn’t provided. He could tell from such a short conversation.

While his mouth was shut, his body was restless, unable to keep his hands still, constantly pressing and rubbing his nape or earlobe. If not that, he would fidget with the fingers of the opposite hand on his thigh, and in the process, his neck or cheeks would turn red again.

“Your words.”

“Huh?”

Geum Seoul started.

“You speak unkindly.”

“What?”

He looks like he can’t even say one thing he wants to say properly, and now what? The man slightly furrowed one eyebrow, but the corner of his mouth rose just as much. Did his face turn red just to say that?

“Stop asking back.”

“…….”

“…I’m not good at soothing adults either.”

“Ha.”

Guichang, who had been sitting crookedly, lowered the angle of his eyebrows into a circle. Then, dropping his head abruptly, he let out a short laugh—ha, huh—and then continued into a long laugh. With his crown exposed to Geum Seoul, he laughed so hard his shoulders shook.

What is this? For the first time in his life, he was speechless. His face turns red and blue in a total mess, his eyes roll around as if he’s scared to death, yet he manages to spit out what he wants to say. He’s saying my words from earlier were annoying.

“Haa….”

After laughing for a while, Guichang straightened his head while rubbing his neck, which had grown hot. Geum Seoul blinked, as if he didn’t understand why he was laughing. Despite having said it, his face was still flushed and his eyes were shaking frantically, as if he were worried. Guichang thought. He wanted to poke through those white cheeks with a fork. He rubbed his calloused fingers against the edge of the table. His eyes grew darker.

“Hmm. As soon as I have an excuse, I’m fucking poking them.”

Guichang stood up with a pleased face. What he took out on the island table were tea bags. The ghost, who had no particular hobby other than stirring people up, quite enjoyed tea. That said, he didn’t brew tea leaves himself or perform a tea ceremony; he was just at the level of preferring water with a mint tea bag steeped for a moment over plain water because he was sensitive to smells.

Clink.

Guichang brought two cups of freshly brewed tea and set one in front of Geum Seoul. Because Guichang’s stomach was extremely sensitive, he used a metal cup he had brought separately rather than the cups provided in the temporary lodging. Since it was also used at the office, it had old scratches seeped into it. Of course, that was Guichang’s share, and the one placed in front of Geum Seoul was a chipped mug that had been rolling around the house.

As if he had never uttered those bold words, Geum Seoul’s curiosity-filled brown eyes wavered, lingering on the mug, the long hanging label, the tea bag tangled in white cloth, and the green tea leaves faintly visible.

“Um….”

“Yeah.”

“Noki. You hid him on purpose, didn’t you?”

It was an abrupt question that jumped far beyond the context. However, there was a heavy sense of guilt tangled in the words he must have been chewing over. Guichang simply sat back in the chair and took a sip of tea without saying anything.

It was a variable that Geum Seoul had smuggled Lee Hee-jung out. However, since it was a room without a lock in the first place, Lee Hee-jung could have left the building at any time.

But Guichang had given Geum Seoul the excuse that he was ‘trying to find his parents.’ By that [Read visit our siteon Read BL Novels]logic, Geum Seoul was indeed a disruptor. If he had just been coaxed and kept, Noki would have been able to meet his parents sooner. The thoughts in that small head were obvious.

“Are you very worried? About that friend’s parents.”

Guichang chose silence again. It was tedious to attach various lies, and he didn’t think stimulating guilt further would help change the situation. Instead.

Clatter.

Guichang, who had taken a sip without making a slurping sound, set down the cup.

“Anything else you remember him saying?”

“Uh….”