1.2 Beneath the Bark of the Evergreen (4)
He couldn’t answer that. Confusion settled into his brown eyes. He carefully retraced the man’s words. Living in the neighborhood, this wasn’t the first time he had smelled alpha pheromones. Occasionally, customers would sneak up to the second floor to do wicked things to the other kids; Im Gyun-il had done it often before he started wandering outside; and he could frequently smell the pheromones of the locals or even Park Gil-pyeong.
Every time that happened, Geum Seoul felt nauseous. There were times he actually vomited, leading to frequent beatings for being “filthy,” and if his stomach was empty, he would throw up yellow gastric juice before fainting. He had never had a Trait Examination, but those in the know said it was because he was a Recessive Omega with allergies, so he just lived his life accepting it. He thought it was simply his constitution.
But.
“Did you realize it because I told you?”
“Ah. Yes…”
Earlier, when the small white cotton swab rubbed inside his mouth. And when this man’s fingers kept pressing and rummaging through his lips. When those pitch-black eyes brushed past his cheeks, nose, mouth, and nape. There was a scent that seeped slowly into his chest, gently tickling something inside.
Having never smelled such a pleasant scent before, he didn’t know how to describe it, but he thought it was the most beautiful and luxurious scent in the world. It resembled the smell of dried flower petals, yet it was far heavier; he wondered if this was what very expensive, high-quality leather smelled like; and it felt as though something heavy and soft, something he had never encountered, was subtly digging into the back of his neck with every breath.
He had smelled it before. When he was embraced by the man who had briefly turned off the megaphone and reached out to tell him to come down. And when he woke up in his bed. Though it was very faint, blended with the smell of burnt leaves, he could tell it was the same scent.
A ticklish sensation. It was the first time pheromones had continuously tickled his skin and made his breathing shallow. After the initial impression that it smelled good, it gradually felt as if he were swallowing powder; a tightness began in his lungs, the itch spread, and a dull heat gathered in his lower abdomen, making him instinctively realize it was pheromones.
Watching Geum Seoul, who didn’t utter a word while mentally retracing everything, Guichang relaxed the corners of his mouth. Geum Seoul, who possessed both Dominant and Recessive traits, found other alpha pheromones disgusting, yet he reacted to Guichang’s pheromones with heat. Probably because he was a Dominant Alpha. The fact that only he had smelled Geum Seoul’s faint pheromones was a result of the same cause.
“If you’re still not sure, try it again. See if you feel nauseous, or if your cock gets hard and your hole gets wet.”
“What? No, no? I’m not. I’m not wet.”
Shocked and embarrassed by the mention of his cock getting hard and his hole getting wet, Geum Seoul shook his head violently and pulled his knees tighter against his chest. Guichang’s gaze looked down at him, meticulously tracing every inch of his skin. His appetite was piqued, and sweet saliva pooled in his mouth.
Chirp.
The small radio that Geum Seoul had found curious until a moment ago abruptly cut through the atmosphere.
Even after receiving the report, Guichang continued to thoroughly scan the small animal before him. Red earlobes. A slender, straight neck. The collarbones hiding beneath, as if teasing. Thin wrists under frayed sleeves. Shins that likely still bore mottled heat marks. The crevice of his buttocks, which might have actually become wet in that short interval. The ankle bones were red. Had he attached actual peach seeds to them? Dry insteps. Neat toenails and a round pinky toe.
Guichang leaned down. Geum Seoul let out a sharp intake of breath as the distance closed instantly.
“…”
“…”
An excessively close distance. A distance where one could swallow the exhaled breath of the other. Guichang looked at the light grayish-brown hair, the rounded forehead, and the reddish cheeks, then reached out. His hand, which seemed poised to cup Geum Seoul’s cheek, went past it and picked up the Pinburg from the armrest of the sofa.
“Stand by for departure.”
A low voice resonated above his head. Seoul, who had unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut, lifted his trembling eyelids. The distance was too close. Guichang smiled and called out softly, “Hey.”
“The next time you smell these pheromones, you’re fucking me.”
Swoosh.
Only as Geum Seoul’s mouth dropped open did the man finally move away. The man, whose presence was as massive as his height, walked toward the entrance. The moment he vanished from sight, Seoul let out a small “Ah,” as if he had forgotten something, and his head peeked out from the end of the hallway.
“Put your makeup back on. You have to hide your face if you don’t want to get eaten.”
The face, still wearing a silly grin, narrowed its eyes. Shortly after, the sound of the door clicking shut returned the house to silence.
“Uh, what on earth…”
Geum Seoul muttered softly, his mind hazy from the sheer magnitude of the words the man had left behind.
Thump. Thump.
His heart began to race wildly. Why he had closed his eyes when the man’s face came close, why he wanted to smell those skin-tickling pheromones more instead of feeling repulsed by the vulgar words—every thought was so surprising and appalling that his heartbeat wouldn’t subside. He quickly cut off the flow of thought.
Earlier, the title the man was called via the device was ‘Deputy Director.’ Thinking that the title suited him very well, Seoul pulled the fabric near his shoulder and buried his nose in it.
The clothes smelled only of the laundry detergent that always clung to him. Because the man’s pheromones had smelled so good, he had hoped a bit of it would have rubbed off. Geum Seoul remained still for a moment, nose pressed against the cotton fabric.
‘The next time you smell these pheromones, you’re fucking me.’
Geum Seoul, jumping up in protest that such a thing was impossible, hurriedly applied the makeup from the table to his body. Shortly after, he left the house following the strangers who entered the living room. The car parked in front of the house was the same as the one he had ridden in before.
Vroom.
The high chassis rattled as it climbed the unpaved road. Since they said they had found the person who bought Noki, he felt an intuition that these people would no longer come to this neighborhood. They seemed like important people, so they would likely find the person quickly, and then he would never have to meet them again.
Still, he thought it was a relief that Noki had been found. He hoped Noki would meet his parents soon. With those thoughts, Seoul kept his brown eyes fixed on the window as the car entered the familiar neighborhood. He occasionally lifted his sleeve to smell it, but there was still no trace of the man’s scent.
It took Guichang three days to bring Lee Hee-jung before him. Although he was a corpse.
On the lower abdomen of the dead Lee Hee-jung, whose eyes had been gouged out, was a pattern carved with a knife. Iljang Trading. Despite having stolen the core ledgers and fled, the fact that his organs—excluding the eyes—were intact suggested that the rumors about Gwak Chun-young cherishing Lee Hee-jung were true.
The eyes of a Jewel Omega were sold as expensive decorations. Had it been said that after death, the pupils are stained with the color of their own gemstone? Recalling one of the rumors from the deep web, Guichang briefly thought of Geum Seoul. It was only for a fleeting moment.
There had been a chance to catch him alive faster than Iljang, but because No Pil-gyu entered the country, Guichang and his team members had headed straight for Seoul. Finding him by making the buyer who purchased Lee Hee-jung talk was easy. However, the key was how much they could avoid No Pil-gyu’s eyes, so they had no choice but to move with maximum caution. The result was greeting a bluish corpse.
It didn’t seem like Gwak Chun-young had entered Geum Seoul’s neighborhood. Rather, the reason he skipped that route was that Im Gyun-il had taken Lee Hee-jung near the house. Since that area was Gwak Chun-young’s territory to begin with, there was no way the news wouldn’t reach him.
“As expected, it’s not there.”
Guichang, wearing thin half-rim glasses, was dressed in a dark jacket embossed with a luxury logo. He exhaled white smoke while looking at Lee Hee-jung’s corpse on the monitor. It wasn’t the usual cigarette he smoked, but a black plastic one.
There was not a single clear piece of evidence on Lee Hee-jung’s body after the autopsy. There were no traces of drug use, nor any signs of something being hidden by cutting open or swallowing.
“Do you think that ledger went to Gwak Chun-young?”
“No.”
As all team members, including Yoo Jeong-ham, knew, Guichang did not respond unless it was a definitive answer. The cheap curses he spat out nonchalantly were also sincere in every moment.
Gwak Chun-young was a renowned gemstone collector. There were stories that the reason Lee Hee-jung, whom he kept around like a lover, left home with the ledger was that Gwak Chun-young had brought in another beautiful gemstone. Since it was a fight of passion, if the ledger had been handed over quietly, Lee Hee-jung’s body would not have ended up on the docks.
Of course, there was a possibility that the rage became too great and he simply killed him, but the body was too clean for that. Not a single organ was missing; the only things carved out were the gemstone-embedded eyes, and there were no signs of anyone else violating the body. It was Gwak Chun-young’s style of consideration.
“He killed him because he couldn’t find it.”
“Then, isn’t finding the ledger a lost cause?”
There was a brief silence at that question. It seemed the time to retrace everything in his head would be a bit long, but the silence was soon broken. It was when his wrist vibrated with a call from No Pil-gyu, who possessed the ledger.
“Dispose of it.”
With that short command, the man rose from the chair in the deputy director’s office and stepped out through the glass door. The several monitors floating in the air turned pitch black all at once. A blue light blinked twice. It meant the memory had been wiped.
Beep.
“Yes. You called.”
No Pil-gyu, returning from his business trip, seemed to have gained a few more kilograms in the meantime. Appearing plump, he patted his protruding belly and gave nonsensical orders as usual.
“Sigh, fuck, always performance, performance. The media is so rotten… [Read on Read BL Novelsstolen contentstyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]I’m gonna have to replace all those fuckers soon.”
Guichang looked indifferently at the boss babbling in front of him. The man, who was heading down to Namhae tomorrow, was already drooling as if thinking of local specialties. He was greedy but lacked ability, and while he hated seeing anyone more capable than him beneath him, he wanted to climb higher. Watching such excessive stupidity made Guichang feel as if an allergy he didn’t have was acting up.
“Give me a detailed report on what you’ll be doing while I’m in Namhae.”
“Yes.”
“Get out.”
Guichang left the team leader’s office with a crooked gait, barely bowing. The pungent smell of alcohol resonated at the tip of his nose. He had a tiring personality, constantly suspecting whether the people under him were betraying him. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, Yoo Jeong-ham, who had been waiting, followed with long strides.
“Deputy Director. I’ve prepared the schedule report.”
It was the signal. After the sensor detected him, the door to the deputy director’s office opened, and he took a seat in the black leather chair. His upper body leaned back as if lying down, and his long legs crossed on top of the desk.
Thud.
The half-rim glasses were carelessly tossed onto the hardwood.
“Start.”
“It seems the ledger wasn’t found, as you said. Gwak Chun-young just moved. I heard men visited CEO Lee’s funeral hall and asked around about various things.”
“CEO Lee? Lee Dae-chang?”
“Yes.”
Lee Dae-chang was the man who had taken Lee Hee-jung to Park Gil-pyeong’s neighborhood. The fact that he was tracing his tracks after killing Lee Hee-jung meant that the ledger had still not fallen into Gwak Chun-young’s hands.
“He’ll be entering that neighborhood soon.”
“Once he identifies the surrounding figures and hears that CEO Lee frequented Park Gil-pyeong’s auction house, it’ll probably be within a few days.”
Lee Dae-chang’s death had been disguised as an accident, but Gwak Chun-young was more than capable of sensing the suspicion. The death of the man who first discovered Lee Hee-jung. The trace that someone was searching for his ledger. Gwak Chun-young would soon enter Geum Seoul’s neighborhood.
If he found out that a gang impersonating ‘Iljang Trading’ had already stirred up that neighborhood and left, the probability of him moving in earnest was high. This was what Guichang had aimed for. He predicted that Gwak Chun-young, knowing someone was poking around to find his weakness, would take action, and that could serve as a kind of bait. That was why, for the simple reason of amusement, he had used the name of Iljang Trading to enter the neighborhood. However, a variable had emerged.
“Hmm.”
The probability that Geum Seoul’s fake disguise would be effective in the eyes of Gwak Chun-young, a seasoned gemstone collector and arms dealer.
The man couldn’t understand why he thought of Geum Seoul every now and then. Because of those pheromones. Or because of his looks. Setting aside subjective impressions, Geum Seoul was the prettiest person he had ever seen. To the point where he instantly understood why he had to live so tightly wrapped up. He was certain that if that face had been exposed, regardless of Gem Grade, he would have lived a much more wretched life.
Park Gil-pyeong wouldn’t have left him alone. He had raped him the very night he brought Lee Hee-jung. Seeing as it was a quite natural sequence, it seemed to be his usual repertoire.
‘I could smell that fucker Park Gil-pyeong’s pheromones on him. I mean, it’s not like it’s the first time that bastard loses his mind whenever he sees a pretty Omega with a flat stomach, but Omegas don’t usually run away. If he came this far, it means he’s already gone through everything…’
Im Gyun-il had spoken like that before all his teeth were knocked out. Guichang was certain that Park Gil-pyeong had not yet touched Geum Seoul. The fake flesh he wore under his clothes only looked plausible over several layers of cotton; the moment it was pulled away or touched properly, it was a crude, cheap fake. [Read on Read BL Novels]wm: Read on Read BL Novels -->If Park Gil-pyeong had fucked Geum Seoul, he would have known long ago that the bulk was fake, and then he naturally would have removed the conspicuous nose and retainers.
Geum Seoul would have likely become Park Gil-pyeong’s cum-dumpster or toy long ago, or perhaps been sold somewhere. A bastard who buys and sells gemstones wouldn’t easily give away something prettier than that. Instead of making him do ‘Bacchus’ work, he would have tucked him away somewhere and then reluctantly handed him over to another wealthy bastard who saw Geum Seoul’s face…
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
For three days, Guichang thought of Geum Seoul once a day in this manner. On the first day, it was the face begging desperately in the field; on the second, it was Geum Seoul reaching out to him while holding onto the antenna on the rooftop. And now, it was an imaginary Geum Seoul, pinned under Park Gil-pyeong, his white skin being frantically bitten.
And the imagination that had just been added was Geum Seoul appearing before Gwak Chun-young. To say he only cherished high-grade gemstones, Gwak Chun-young had taken the mere C-grade Lee Hee-jung as a lover. Geum Seoul, too, would be seized by him regardless of Gem Grade.
“Install cameras in Geum Seoul’s neighborhood.”
“What? You’re going to monitor Gwak Chun-young?”
“Are you reporting to me right now?”
Emotionless pitch-black eyes met Yoo Jeong-ham’s.
“Ah, no, I didn’t mean…”
“The entrance of the village, the alleys, the first floor of the buildings. The second-floor hallway.”
“What? Yes… Understood. To avoid the Team Leader’s [Read on Read BL Novelsunauthorized copystyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]eyes, it’ll be possible around the beginning of next week.”
That was already the most rushed schedule, but Guichang shook his head instantly.
“Too slow. I’ll go down to Namhae with No Pil-gyu tomorrow, so get it done in the meantime.”
“What?”
“You’ve been saying ‘yes yes’ for a while now. You doing hip-hop?”
The only moment No Pil-gyu let his guard down was when Guichang, whom he viewed as such an eyesore, was in his sight. In other words, if he moved with No Pil-gyu from the start, the difficulty of Yoo Jeong-ham secretly slipping out of the schedule to install cameras would be significantly lowered.
However, the problem was why he would go as far as spending two days with that horrible human being. While he hated even breathing in the same space, feeling as if a moth was eating away at his IQ. Yoo Jeong-ham began to wonder if this was a useless endeavor or something that truly had to be done to find the ledger. Naturally, it must be for the ledger, and he must have given the order after finishing his own calculations and guesses, but even so… Yoo Jeong-ham recalled Geum Seoul’s face, which he had briefly seen not long ago.
“…No way.”
No way. There’s no way our Deputy Director would do that. There’s no way he could feel affection for a person.
Previously, a terrorist organization that had discovered his identity had intentionally tried to lure him by attaching a beautiful Omega.
It was an after-party for someone’s wedding, either in politics or business. People who were already completely drunk were clinging to each other everywhere. The beauty was nestled snugly in his arms, and he rubbed the beauty’s body to his heart’s content. The two looked quite well-matched, and remembering that even our house ghost falls flat before a beauty, he had laughed a few times while on the radio with Da-ol.
In any case, at the time, he had no dream that the partner was a spy, and because the beauty’s appearance was so dazzling, he had let his guard down.
Just as everyone had become heavily intoxicated. He, who had been embraced while leaking pheromones, [Read on Read [stolen content]BL Novels]was suddenly, flash, lifted up.
He didn’t pick him up like a princess; instead, he held him 180 degrees upside down. Gripping the man’s ankles with both hands, the Deputy Director began dunking him repeatedly into the swimming pool. It was to prevent him from emitting pheromones.
Everyone present was horrified, and the party scene instantly devolved into chaos. Only this man, as if playing a fun game of claw machine, sat with his knees bent in the corner of the pool, dipping the other man deep into the water over and over. Huh? He’s still emitting pheromones. Still? Even after this? How about this, then. That was the vibe.
Eventually, the situation settled once it was revealed that the man had been intentionally approaching them under the orders of a certain organization. However, he couldn’t stop the rumors from spreading among some who were unaware of the details that he was a psychopathic lunatic. While that was technically true, the Team Leader at the time—unable to let the team’s image be tarnished—stepped in and brushed it off by claiming their boy occasionally had seizure-like episodes due to psychological issues, which finally quieted the rumors. That, too, wasn’t exactly a lie.
Anyway, it wasn’t a question of who was more beautiful between that person and Geum Seoul; it meant that if this ghost were to be swayed by someone simply because of their face, he should have been swayed by that spy first.
“If you’re going to mutter, do it loudly, or just get lost. Why the hell are you being so annoying? Is it time for you to die?”
“No, sir….”
At the dismissal spat out with a sidelong glance, Yoo Jeong-ham shook his head. Since the man had volunteered to enter hell first, Jeong-ham planned to quickly install the cameras in the meantime. To install them in the building without Park Gil-pyeong noticing, it would likely have to be at dawn. He left the Deputy Director’s office while sketching out the detailed plan.
It took a day for Geum Seoul to return to his usual routine. He was kicked a couple of times by the CEO for not staying until the end of the auction and for the fact that Im Gyun-il, who was supposed to transport the guests, was gone. Still, he was happy because he had sold many gemstones and the balance for renting the building to the Iljang Trading people had come in, so that was all there was to it.
Today, as usual, he was busy from the morning. He did the laundry, walked, hung it, folded it, and then diligently ran through the neighborhood to deliver clothes and collect payment. Because it was too hot during the day and there were no people, he had to run early in the morning to see faces and get paid.
Often, if a house was empty and he couldn’t deliver the clothes, the date would be pushed back, and he frequently went without pay. Today, he returned after failing to visit two houses, and all he had earned was a single 500-won coin. Since it was now pitch black, there were no more errands to run. That was the entirety of today’s income.
“Seoul.”
At Lin’s call, Geum Seoul looked up from the thin silver aluminum aria-label="stolen content">Read on Read BL Novelspacity:0;font-size:0;">stolen contentpot on the portable gas burner.
“I think we need more water.”
“I’m about to add some.”
The two of them used to make food together for several days and share it. It differed in that for Lin, it was a simple meal to get by, while for Geum Seoul, it was a meal he barely managed to eat, but the fact that they shared it remained unchanged.
Lin said that many of her gemstones had sold for high prices at the last auction. Thanks to that, they were able to get plenty of rice. As he added two eggs and salt and increased the volume with water, white foam bubbled up over the pot. Fearing that something precious might overflow, Geum Seoul stirred it carefully with a plastic ladle, while Lin, sitting a bit further away, rested her chin on her hand and fluttered a fan.
“Still, I’m getting used to how quiet it is now that everyone’s gone. It’s only been a few days, right?”
Geum Seoul knew that the “few days” Lin mentioned were exactly five days. It had been five days since those people left. As expected that day, the black car that had dropped him off and departed had not been seen since. Of course, why would they have any reason to come here?
“They were scary people. The atmosphere was too….”
Adding to the conversation, Lin frowned slightly while looking toward the heat-emitting gas burner. Geum Seoul, sitting right in front, answered with a short “Yeah” while carefully scooping the food with the ladle.
In truth, those people weren’t such a bad memory for Geum Seoul. There were moments that were chillingly scary, but they weren’t gangsters; they were police. Among them, the man called the Deputy Director was the most terrifying, but also the most handsome. He had even had the sudden thought that if he could, he wouldn’t mind spending days on end just staring at that face. Naturally, it was a foolish thought.
‘My pheromones are so good that your back gets wet?’
Sizzle.
“Ah, hot….”
At the sudden thought, his thumb, gripping slightly inside the ladle handle, was engulfed in steam. Since it didn’t touch directly, he quickly withdrew his hand. Lin, glancing at him, leaned her head back and stretched both legs forward. The fluttering fan moved from her face to her thighs.
“Still, that man was really handsome…. I wonder why he didn’t come personally to buy my gemstones? I thought he would.”
“I don’t know….”
Lin, who had the highest grade here, was also beautiful, so there were many people looking for her for various reasons. Sometimes people from the next neighborhood would come up just to see Lin’s face and linger nearby, and she had even faced dangerous situations because of bad people.
“Phew. Now that the broadcasts aren’t playing, I feel like I can actually live.”
The biggest change over the last five days was indeed the quiet neighborhood. Since that day, the speakers that had repeatedly broadcasted chilling sounds were completely turned off. While they had been off for a day or two occasionally before, this was the first time it had been silent for so long, and the neighborhood residents were delighted, forgetting the heat and saying they could finally live.
“Ah, tomorrow is the day the goods arrive, right? Seoul, are you going?”
“Yeah. I have to go.”
“To buy a newspaper again? Who reads those these days?”
“Just because. It’s fun. And to buy medicine….”
“Ah.”
Lin gave a short look of sympathy.
“Right. I’m going up to sleep now. Good luck, Seoul.”
“I’ll put this in the fridge.”
“Thank you.”
Even though it was already past midnight, the sweltering heat showed no sign of ending. Lin entered the building with the sound of her fan fluttering, and Geum Seoul, sweating profusely, divided the porridge into small packs. Since Lin had provided almost all the eggs, only one of these was his, and the rest belonged to Lin.
He scooped out just the rice, avoiding the eggs as much as possible. His share was barely a handful. He then divided that into two halves. After a moment’s thought, he scooped a small clump of yellow yolk from one side of the pot and put it into one of the two packs.
“Let’s wash up and sleep quickly….”
He wiped his forehead as he spoke. Tomorrow was the day Mr. Jang sold his goods. Occasionally, he would bring medicine and other necessary items from below and sell them to the neighborhood residents; it was also the only way to obtain pheromone control medication or adhesive. Even though Mr. Jang was a stingy man who only paid half the fee regardless of what errand Geum Seoul ran, that was the reason he prioritized his errands.
Adhesive was used particularly often in the summer. The silicone attached to the nose or stomach would easily slip off due to sweat, so he had to use increasingly stronger types. Because of this, he often asked for various things, and yet the man was the type who never asked anything. Even when he occasionally needed a new makeup kit, the man only charged more money and never asked why he needed it or what he would use it for.
“How much money do I have….”
With a series of click, click sounds, he closed all the packs, finished tidying the kitchen, and put the food in the refrigerator. The small refrigerator was old and only emitted a faint chill, but it was a very precious appliance.
Most of the things in the refrigerator were Lin’s food. Occasionally, people who came to buy gemstones would buy her various things, and the neighborhood residents also gave Lin many gifts. After forcing a spot to put his packs, Seoul rolled up his sleeves, tidied the pot, draped a towel around his neck, and stepped onto the stairs to the second floor.
In the hallway, the sounds of a couple of people snoring overlapped. Walking quietly with muffled steps, Seoul visit our siteBEGIN: unauthorized copy -->unauthorized copyopened the red room door and peeked his head in.
“…Kang. Are you sleeping?”
Creak.
The child the CEO said he had bought from a guest at the last auction was called Kang because he was a red gemstone. Park Gil-pyeong had said that his grade was similar to Rini’s and that he had invested a large sum of money he’d received this time to buy him.
“…….”
Seoul crouched slightly in front of the door. Though very faint, he could hear slow breathing, so it seemed he had fallen asleep. He was a friend who rarely came out of his room. Geum Seoul took out one of the packs from his chest. That was the reason he had divided his share in half.
Since his grade was high, if he sold his gemstones well, he would earn more money than Seoul and could afford this kind of food, but Seoul still wanted to give it to him. It would be hard to adjust in just five days.
Slide.
The one with the yolk was Kang’s share. After sliding it through the gap in the door, Seoul closed the door and stood on his tiptoes. He immediately took his clothes from the room and returned to the hallway. He had to wash.
“…….”
Before entering the shower room in the corner, he held his breath out of habit. It was to listen for any presence. Park Gil-pyeong rarely appeared in the hot summer, but sometimes he would barge in during the evening after sunset. Still, he had never come this late at night, so after waiting for about a minute, he crept into the shower room.
“Phew. It’s too hot….”
Perhaps because he had been in front of the hot fire for so long, his cheeks felt hot. Normally, he would just roughly peel off the chunks of flesh on his site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]body and wash quickly, but today he had to peel off the things attached to his face as well. Because of the sweat, they had already been slipping precariously for a while. It was better to wash quickly and then go back to his room to apply the adhesive again.
He took off his clothes one by one and placed them neatly to one side. As he peeled off the silicone masses clinging to his body, sweat that had pooled and tangled with the adhesive dripped down from the gaps.
The shower room was only as large as a small room and had no mirror. Faucets were attached to the walls at intervals, but some were broken and no water came out.
Screech. Squeak.
Seoul turned the round faucet. The one that was stiff and wouldn’t turn easily finally rolled to the right after a couple more forceful attempts, pouring out water. Only cold water came out, but it was lukewarm from the sun, so it was fine for washing.
The red, swollen skin stung as the water hit it. He rubbed the soap he brought in his palm vigorously to create lather. As he washed his entire body starting from his hair, the lukewarm water still made his shoulders flinch as the heat was stripped away. Geum Seoul moved his hands diligently to rub his skin and wash off the foam. Then, he used his thumb to wash the inside of the makeup tool that had been perched on his nose. Since the retainer was a clip-on type, he could clean it with toothpaste and then wear it again, but for the other parts, he needed adhesive, so he placed them neatly on his clothes.
“Huh?”
Geum Seoul suddenly tilted his head. A very brief memory flashed through his mind.
‘Wait, is there nowhere to wash?’
That day. The day Lee Hee-jung came to the CEO’s office at dawn. He had stopped by the shower room. Since they had entered into an unwanted relationship, it was natural to want to wash it away, and since he had only stayed in the shower room for a few minutes, he had forgotten about it until now. He hurriedly looked around in panic, but naturally, there was no way to tell them. Besides, by now, wouldn’t they have found Lee Hee-jung? Since he remembered it late, it was useless. Ah. That person had asked several times if something had happened….
“Ah! I forgot that, like an idiot.”
Squeak. Squeak.
He couldn’t shower for long. Closing the faucet again, Geum Seoul patted the water off with the towel he brought. The skin that had been struggling with the heat wrapped in clothes all day finally felt cool enough to breathe, but as soon as he dried the moisture, Geum Seoul shoved his unauthorized copy]aria-label="stolen content">stolen contentneck into the new T-shirt he had brought. The shirt got wet because of his damp hair.
“Huu….”
A refreshed sigh. After putting on his underwear and pants, Geum Seoul gathered the belongings he had thrown off before the shower in his arms and stepped out of the shower room. Water was still dripping from his hair and chin, but he planned to dry them properly once he got to his room.
Step. Step.
He walked down the hallway barefoot. The air flowing through the single layer of clothing he only wore at this time felt cool. Walking carefully and holding his breath toward his room, Geum Seoul gripped the doorknob of the room below the stairs.
“Seoul?”
Flinch.
His small shoulders jumped in surprise. As Geum Seoul whipped his head around, he saw a familiar face. The smell of alcohol wafted over.
“Seoulll!”
Park Gil-pyeong smiled, thrusting his slick face forward. Those greasy eyes scanned Geum Seoul’s exposed forehead, eyes, nose, and his thin arms or somewhere in his embrace.
……His face.
Unable to even let out a surprised sound, the tangled clothes in Seoul’s arms tumbled down in a heap.
Now, fuck, my luck is finally turning. About 30 minutes ago, Park Gil-pyeong stolen [unauthorized copy]contenthad hummed to himself. Things that had been annoyingly stalled for a while had recently started to resolve themselves. Thanks to the Iljang Trading gang coming and paying a lot of money as rent, the number of Credits had increased significantly, and the profits from this auction were quite substantial.
Although the promise to open other business channels for Seoul hadn’t been fulfilled, since the other side hadn’t found the kid named Lee Hee-jung, it was ultimately a profitable deal. Normally, he would have pestered them more or used some tricks, but the opponent was Iljang Trading. If he twisted their mood even slightly, he might end up with a hole in his own gut.
Moreover, he liked the new red gemstone he bought at the auction. Because it was too hot to stay in the neighborhood for long, he hadn’t tasted it yet, but looking at that flat stomach and pretty face, it seemed like it would be satisfying to ram into. Although there was a bit more muscle than his usual preference, that was just a new flavor.
‘I can stop by the CEO’s auction house tomorrow, right?’
Also, while drinking earlier, a tall man who had naturally joined the table showed interest in the auction. With wavy long hair reaching his shoulders tied loosely in the back and flashy rings piled on his fingers, he looked quite wealthy.
Along with saying he had lost one of the gemstones displayed at Seoul’s house, he said he wanted to see some of the gemstones hidden here and there. At the mention that he would pay any amount as long as the color was pretty, regardless of the grade, Park Gil-pyeong immediately invited him to the auction tomorrow. If he hit the jackpot tomorrow following last week’s auction, it would be a total windfall.
Feeling good for the first time in a while and with blood rushing to his cock, he was entering the neighborhood at a time he usually didn’t. He intended to devour the red gemstone he had left untouched while organizing the auction profits and laundering money for several days. Certainly, that was his first goal.
What caught Park Gil-pyeong’s ankle just as he was about to enter that room was the faint sound of water. He was already taking money from the kids under the guise of electricity bills—and honestly, he was taking more than what was actually spent—but if someone was secretly using water, he had to say something. As he marched toward the middle of the hallway, he noticed someone’s presence by the flickering shadow inside the shower room.
There was no need to get closer. The person stepping out of the shower room with short, quick steps was Geum Seoul. However, it felt a bit unfamiliar. He was wearing long pants and long sleeves, but the fit was loose, and his forehead, which he always covered, was exposed, making his eyes clearly visible.
Park Gil-pyeong’s greedy gaze sharply scanned Geum Seoul. Wet brown hair. Thin arms revealed under rolled-up sleeves. A handful of silicone masses in his arms. Heavy clothes. After quickly assessing the situation, a deep smile formed on Park Gil-pyeong’s face. Ha, he’s been living while hiding this all this time? Geum Seoul.
“Seoulll!”
At that call, the clothes dropped. Thanks to that, his flat stomach was clearly visible. But surprisingly, his face was even more eye-catching. Park Gil-pyeong smiled creepily and reached out. As if predicting what would happen next, the brown pupils became vivid with fear.
Thump.
“Ah!”
Before Geum Seoul could even take a proper breath to flee, Park Gil-pyeong pushed him backward first. As if cutting off any bud of resistance from the start, he climbed on top of the fallen body, bent his elbow, and pressed Seoul’s slender neck down with his forearm.
“Kh, ugh.”
“Come to think of it, I’ve never actually stripped our Seoul before, have I?”
If he had stripped him sooner, he would have known it was fake right away. Geum Seoul’s face, which was struggling to breathe while pushing against Park Gil-pyeong’s wrist and elbow, quickly turned bright red. Even so, the thick fingers kneaded those features without any mercy. It was literally an act of kneading as if tearing them off.
“Stop… it!”
“Stay still, fuck.”
After gripping the hair so hard the follicles throbbed to see if there were any more fakes or anything else attached, he forcibly pried the mouth open. The red lips parted, and fingers invading while pressing against wet teeth roughly rummaged through the mucous membrane and the surface of the tongue. With a clack sound of something slipping, the fake retainer popped out of the small mouth.
“Hngh!”
“You even know how to glare? Just how much has this brat been hiding?”
Despite being terrified, the brown eyes gripping his wrist glinted with defiance. Lips lightly moistened from a bit of roughing up. A forehead pale and smooth from just having washed, and pink cheeks. A thrill shot up the back of Park Gil-pyeong’s neck, and he let out another hollow laugh.
“Fuck… would it have been better if I’d just stripped you sooner? Huh?”
“…Move.”
“Move? Move? Why should I? What are you going to do about it?”
A blatant sneer played across his glistening face. No beast would back down just because a lackey, who had spent his time obediently saying “yes, yes” while getting beaten, was now struggling. If anything, he was the type to cackle and provoke him to try harder.
“Now that we’re standing, go ahead and try more, Seoul.”
“I… don’t want to.”
As the weight on his arm increased and his breath tightened, Seoul clawed at the forearm, but Park Gil-pyeong looked down and felt Geum Seoul’s lean stomach with his other hand. The stomach, tightening as he gasped for air, was so thin that it felt smooth and hollow whenever he kneaded it.
His lips twisted further as his hand roughly searched through the fabric. The thick palm rubbed and pressed against the bare skin without a shred of consideration. Park Gil-pyeong exhaled sharply, his expression clearly aroused. With every breath, the scent of alcohol and pheromones wafted out, causing Geum Seoul to open his mouth and shake his head.
“I told you… to move!”
“Ugh!”
Thump.
Seoul, who had been making only choking sounds, lifted a struggling foot and kicked Park Gil-pyeong in the stomach. Because he was being strangled and couldn’t put his full strength into it, and because of the difference in their size, he couldn’t push him away completely. However, the moment a massive arm swung out to clear Seoul’s ankle, he ducked and escaped from in front of him.
Tap. Tap.
He immediately broke into a sprint.
“Ugh!”
“Where do you think you’re going, Seoul!”
Whoosh.
But before he could even run down the hallway, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck. He wasn’t completely caught, but the force pulling him back—as if to rip his clothes—sent Geum Seoul tumbling onto the hallway floor with a loud crash.
“You have nowhere to go anyway, do you?”
Bang!
Pain surged as his body hit a nearby door, but Seoul immediately tried to push himself up from the floor. However, his ankle must have sprained during the push, as he couldn’t put any weight on it. After failing to stand up twice while wobbling, Geum Seoul crawled backward on the floor to avoid Park Gil-pyeong, who was approaching with heavy steps.
Slap. Slap. His palms scraped the floor.
At that moment, a surge of alpha pheromones crashed over Geum Seoul. Hum. Hummm. Along with a strange noise ringing in his ears, his breath hitched and nausea surged. Unable to control his blurring vision, he drooled clear saliva while his body continued to scramble backward. The most he could do was flail his legs and crawl on the floor.
Screech. Creak.
“Ugh… don’t… follow me.”
Late at night, with no rain falling. A hallway where every sound echoed. As a few doors on both sides opened slightly, Geum Seoul’s flushed eyes searched toward them. As if to taunt him, Park Gil-pyeong was walking a few steps behind with a smirk; to his right, Lin poked her head out through a gap in an open door. Holding her nose, her frowning eyes landed on Seoul’s face and then widened.
“What? You think they’re going to help you?”
A sneer leaked from Park Gil-pyeong’s thick voice as he noticed Geum Seoul’s gaze. He laughed a couple more times with a grating sound, then popped the buttons of his shirt and spat on the side. Simultaneously, Geum Seoul turned his head and gagged. Though he only spat out clear saliva, the nausea that felt like his stomach was flipping made the palms of his hands tremble against the floor. The pheromones covering his entire body made his vision flicker.
Grab!
Slide.
In that gap, Park Gil-pyeong seized Geum Seoul’s ankle. As he yanked him downward, the back of Geum Seoul’s head—which he had been trying to cover by wiping his mouth with his sleeve—dragged across the floor. He couldn’t even scream because of the retching scratching his throat. When a black shadow fell over him, he barely managed to gasp and open his mouth.
Thud.
“Ah….”
Blink. Blink. Inside Geum Seoul’s vision, he saw the open door closing. Lin, who had been in sight just a moment ago, and Bunhong-i’s door, which had been open by a hand’s width, both closed. And as if he had expected it, Park Gil-pyeong’s face, smiling with yellow teeth, filled his vision. Grit. Geum Seoul clenched his molars. He had to escape. A deep-seated desperation spread like blood, and he twisted his upper body with all his might.
Whack!
His elbow, tensed with strength, snapped back and struck Park Gil-pyeong squarely in the face.
“Gah! You little shit!”
His head was twisted only for a moment. With a shout of rage, a palm like a pot lid slammed into Geum Seoul’s cheek. With a loud crack, his entire head shook.
However, thanks to that, his ankle was released, and Geum Seoul ran again with a swollen face. One ankle was throbbing—something was wrong with it—so he couldn’t put full weight on it, but Geum Seoul sprinted with a strength he had never imagined before. Since Park Gil-pyeong had blocked the way to the stairs, he had to run in the opposite direction.
Screech.
At the height of the commotion, neither of them noticed that the red door, which had been silent until now, had opened by about a palm’s width.
Thump.
“Seoul! Won’t this just be a nuisance for you?”
A man’s voice chased after him. His voice was still full of amusement. How are you going to escape? You have nowhere to go. You only have this place. Such words pierced Seoul’s eardrums.
Nevertheless, Geum Seoul ran. With a limping gait, he climbed over a window frame. It was a place he had come to hang laundry even in broad daylight, but it was starkly different now. Now, his breath was hanging by a thread, he was desperate, and he was engulfed in a paralyzing fear.
But before he could take a single step, his throbbing ankle gave way again, and his body collapsed. Falling onto the corrugated tin roof, Seoul barely managed to brace himself on the floor. The only way down to the alley from here was a ladder, but with this ankle, he felt like he would fall before he could even step on the rungs.
His mouth was bone-dry as Geum Seoul turned his head toward the building’s window frame. Before he knew it, Park Gil-pyeong was approaching the window from the hallway, grinning. His pale face turned even whiter from the sheer terror. It’s over. The strength left his shoulders.
Flutter.
“Ah.”
Right then, a white cloth dropped over Geum Seoul’s head. Whether it had fallen because of the shaking from his fall, a single white towel hanging on the clothesline blocked Geum Seoul’s vision. A familiar scent of detergent. Just before a single tear, which he had been holding back, fell from his eye, Geum Seoul pulled the towel down and wiped the moisture. The tear that couldn’t fall through the air was absorbed into the fabric.
Snap!
Thud.
Suddenly, a noise he had never heard before pierced his ears. A cracking sound, as if the air were being sliced open rapidly, followed by the sound of something falling. Feeling a chill run sharply down the middle of his shoulder blades, Seoul pulled the towel down, revealing the night air settled in pitch-black darkness.
However, it was excessively quiet.
“…….”
Panting, Geum Seoul turned his head. Park Gil-pyeong, who had clearly been visible at the window frame just a moment ago, had disappeared. He looked around to see where he had gone, but the time was too short for him to have moved. After standing dazed for a few seconds, Geum Seoul grabbed the iron pole connected to the clothesline and slowly pulled himself up.
Park Gil-pyeong might suddenly pop out from the window frame that reached his mid-chest. He swallowed hard, but only silence remained; there was no sign of him. It was as if he had instantly fallen somewhere. Just as Geum Seoul hesitated very cautiously.
“Geum Seoul.”
Creak.
He was so startled that his body trembled violently. His moist eyes searched the pitch-black scenery of the night alley. The reason his heart was pounding so loudly it could be heard in his ears was similar to, yet different from, the fear he had felt moments ago. While before he was afraid of being caught by Park Gil-pyeong, now, he was afraid that he might be hearing things.
“Is that all? You should look here too.”
It wasn’t a hallucination. At the end of Geum Seoul’s gaze, looking down from the roof, a man was standing in the pitch-black alley of the empty neighborhood. Not in a short-sleeved T-shirt like before, but wearing a black shirt, a tie of the same color, and a thick tactical vest over it—he was somehow suffocating. Geum Seoul swallowed hard. Their gazes met. The summer night breeze brushed past his white nape. The man who appeared again when his throat felt completely blocked.
“You really want to come down, don’t you?”
It was just like that time. Even when he was holding onto an antenna on the sweltering rooftop, he had said something similar to him when he had reached his limit. And he was reaching out his arm now, just like then.
“…….”
It was a bit different from that time. He wasn’t running errands for him now. Since there was no one at the window frame, it seemed he could go back to where he came from. Nevertheless, the man reaching out from below looked more stable because he was so tall. Or perhaps because his shoulders were so broad. Because he looked strong.
The makeshift buildings people had cluttered around the concrete structures to survive weren’t that high, so the man’s hand wasn’t very far. Of course, he couldn’t just reach it. It was a distance he would have to jump.
“Did you put honey on your feet?”
“…No.”
Geum Seoul, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard, slowly leaned his body down, his eyelashes trembling. He let his throbbing leg dangle over the edge of the roof and took a deep breath.
His heart was racing wildly. The man who had suddenly appeared felt surreal. The man who had disappeared to find Noki appeared exactly when needed and reached out his hand. If he took this hand, would he disappear? It might be a momentary mirage. For the past few days, this man had appeared and disappeared in his mind once a day.
He searched through the answer sheet in his heart to find the reason. Was it because he’d never seen a man who looked like this? Or because he’d never seen a man this scary? The answer closer to the truth was…
It’s just that he’d never had a person like this in his life.
In the life he was already living, he had developed his own knacks and learned how to coax people. Moreover, living as a lackey here was a daily routine that repeated 365 days a year, so he didn’t particularly need anyone’s grand help. That was why it hadn’t happened. No one had ever reached out a hand to him.
But was it possible for the same person to keep appearing only at times like this? Geum Seoul was calculating it again.
When he first collapsed in the brush, the man was there as soon as he opened his eyes. The second time was when he was sizzling under the scorching sun, and now…
‘They say if someone calls your name three times in a dream, don’t answer and run away. You’ll die.’
On days as hot as these, he had heard such things from Bunhong-i, who occasionally told scary stories. How many times had this man called me? He might have actually called three times. If he followed him now, he might actually die.
Even if he wasn’t a ghost but a real person, it was a problem. If he followed this man, he would be beaten severely by the CEO later. This time, bones would definitely break or he would pass out. But his face had already been seen. His fingernails made a clicking sound.
“Hey. The Deputy Manager’s arm is gonna fall off.”
“…….”
“If my arm becomes crippled, are you gonna tell me to eat my meals with my toes?”
A tall stature. A body with muscles firmly attached to broad shoulders. Despite not looking uncomfortable at all, the man frowned and shook his arm slightly as if urging him. He wasn’t truly scolding him; it was a joke. Even Geum Seoul could see that.
Yet, that brief change in expression made his heart race. He was afraid the man might withdraw his hand at any moment. Then, without even a moment to breathe, he might be dragged back over that window frame. No matter if it was a dream, no matter if this man was a mirage.
He stared blankly at the black summer night sky for one second. He looked at [stolen content]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">stolen [stolen content]contentsomewhere in the village behind him for another second. Then, he lowered his chin.
I’ll go.
Strength filled his clenched hand.
It was easy to let his body drop from the edge of the roof, leaning his weight forward. But for Geum Seoul, it was far more difficult than running millions of miles.
Whoosh.
From the tips of his toes to the crown of his head, he sliced through the air and fell. A strange feeling of being fully subjected to gravity. A motion sickness he had never experienced. But it was only for a moment. A firm body caught him against his back.
Thump.
His stomach churned. The embrace that caught him so easily was so wide and large that Geum Seoul kept pressing his eyelids against that shoulder, letting out ragged breaths. He smelled of dry leaves.
This man was truly a living person. Not a ghost, not a mirage, not a hallucination. He was real then, and he was real now. Even though he had suddenly disappeared overnight.
The sudden reunion was quite welcome, and the fear that had been crashing over him like a house regarding the aftermath was soon swallowed by his racing heartbeat. Geum Seoul clung tightly to the man’s neck. Then, and now, this was the first time he had ever hugged someone.
Whoooosh.
Without knowing where he was going, he kept his vision closed for a long time until a strange wind wrapped violently around his body, and only then did he lift his head. What he saw was a very sleek-looking helicopter, but it didn’t make the characteristic loud noise.
Far from the thunderous roar of propellers that usually echoed through the neighborhood sky, the noise now was just a whistling wind. Its appearance was Read on Read BL Novelscompletely different too. Instead of one giant propeller, it had four smaller ones, and it was a deep black that seemed as if it would be buried in the darkness, save for the occasional blinking red lights.
Since it was his first time seeing such a thing, the brown eyes that had been wet until a moment ago widened with curiosity and surprise. At that point, Guichang, who had loaded him into the transport aircraft while pressing down on the small back of his head, smiled.
“Close your eyes. There’s still more to load.”
At the sound of the seatbelt clicking into place, Geum Seoul quickly closed both eyes without asking why. Thump. Thump. His heart began to race faster than before.
<To be continued in Volume 2>
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