By Zephyria 
‘He should have called me…’
Of course, rationally, he knew that calling Kang Suk-young was the best option. Given that his movements were restricted and he was under surveillance, Kang Suk-young was the only person who could grasp the situation with a single word, not himself.
He understood, yet he couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of disappointment. He wondered if it was because he hadn’t yet become a mature human being. He left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Suddenly, Jeong Ing-bar, who was sitting next to him, tapped his shoulder. Composing his expression, he turned around to find that the man had opened a notepad on his phone and written a message.
[Below us is Mount Kumgang. The weather is great today, so you can see quite far.]
Following those words, he looked out the window. After a moment, the magnificent sight of a waterfall, presumed to be the Nine Dragons Falls, pouring down between sheer cliffs entered his field of vision. An exclamation escaped his lips involuntarily. The scenery viewed through the small window was beautiful enough to make him momentarily forget his disappointment.
After that, he spent the rest of the flight watching the port cities facing the overwhelmingly vast blue sea, including Wonsan, and the two-hour flight finally came to an end.
“It has been a while, Director Kang.”
“Have you been well?”
So Na-sang, the head of the Sona Department—the agency in charge of anomalies in North Korea—had come out personally to meet them at the helipad of the Hamhung office. He and Kang Suk-young seemed to be acquainted, as the two shook hands comfortably, but the tension between the South and North Korean Agents escorting them was palpable.
“And that fellow is…?”
So Na-sang tilted his head, looking puzzled by the sight of Yoo Jiha, who looked like an ordinary civilian, standing alone behind the fully armed Agents.
“He is the attachment human of our little troublemaker who ran away from home.”
“Haha, is that so? In that case, we must bring the runaway youth here quickly.”
At So Na-sang’s signal, an Agent entered the building and soon brought out Jeil Heon. The moment he stepped outside, he greeted them in a voice that sounded completely regressed to a child’s.
“Suk-ja Noona. Even though you pretended not to, you missed Heon-ie after all…?!”
Then, the moment he saw Yoo Jiha, his face went blank. Blinking his eyebrows several times with an expression of disbelief, he did something that no one present expected.
Closing the distance in a single burst—so fast that the gathered people couldn’t even react—Jeil Heon roughly pulled Yoo Jiha into a hug. The only thing that filled the senses of Yoo Jiha, who had been caught off guard, was the sound of Jeil Heon’s rapidly beating heart. …Until now, he hadn’t known that the man’s heart could beat even faster than his own.
“Mister…?”
When he called out in a small voice that barely reached the man, Jeil Heon shuddered violently and pulled away just as quickly as he had embraced him. Then, unable to say a word, he stood there with a stunned expression, his lips parting and closing like a fish, before suddenly collapsing into a crouch, his earlobes turning bright red. With his knees hugged tight and his face buried deep, he looked exactly like someone who was dying of embarrassment.
Kang Suk-young’s expression soured subtly, and Yoo Jiha was bewildered. What is wrong with this guy again? Regardless, the sudden change in behavior only served to confirm that he was an Aberration; So Na-sang laughed heartily and gestured for them to take him away quickly.
Jeil Heon couldn’t bring himself to meet Yoo Jiha’s eyes until they boarded the helicopter and he curled up in a corner. After Kang Suk-young exchanged a few words with So Na-sang and boarded with the Agents, the helicopter took off again.
There was a mountain of things he wanted to say, but the interior of the helicopter was too noisy for conversation, and the miserably curled-up Jeil Heon wouldn’t even lift his head. The first chance to talk came when they landed briefly at an Air Force base in Gangneung for refueling.
“Mister—”
But before he could even start the conversation, Jeil Heon bolted outside.
“…What the absolute fuck.”
Leaving behind Kang Suk-young’s murderous curse, Yoo Jiha quickly chased after him.
“Mister! Ah, seriously! Why are you running away!”
Despite having fled in a hurry, Jeil Heon’s pace slowed as Yoo Jiha called out while panting. He was finally able to catch him behind a secluded refueling station.
In front of the breathless Jiha, Jeil Heon stood with his head bowed, covering his face with both hands. His earlobes were vivid red. In the midst of this, Jiha had the useless thought that because the man’s hands were large and his face was small, he was completely hidden.
Jiha tried to pull his arms away to uncover his face, but he didn’t budge, keeping his face hidden. Yoo Jiha’s eyes narrowed. It was one thing that he hadn’t called, but what was with this attitude toward a lover he was meeting after several days?
“Did you do something wrong to me?”
“…Because.”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“…I’m embarrassed…”
The more he heard, the less he understood. What on earth was he embarrassed about?
“Did you do a pole dance behind my back or something?”
“Should I?”
“…No, I mean, what are you so ashamed of?”
Yoo Jiha barely managed to hide his piqued curiosity as he pressed for an answer. Jeil Heon’s mouth finally opened.
“It’s already embarrassing enough to be stranded at my age, and I didn’t expect you to come rescue me personally…”
“Don’t tell me that’s why you called the Director instead of me?”
“…Did you hear that I called?”
“Your aegyo was no joke.”
Jeil Heon let out a dying groan and curled up on the ground. Listening to the mumbling excuse that he had overacted to pretend to be an Aberration, Yoo Jiha let out a small, silent laugh. His feelings of disappointment melted away like snow, replaced by a sense of playfulness.
“Aren’t you going to do some aegyo for me?”
“I only want to show Jiha my beautiful side…”
“Your aegyo was pretty, though.”
“Stop acting disgusting at your age and just come over. We’re leaving soon.”
A chilling voice drifted from behind. Rubbing his still flushed face, Jeil Heon stood up.
“If you flirt with me one more time, I’ll actually kill you.”
“How can I say anything when you’re watching me with those wide-open eyes?”
“I know that, which is why I’m keeping you alive! Since you’re chatting away, your body seems fine. Write your report as soon as we get back.”
With an annoyed attitude that suggested he was only keeping him alive because he had to, Kang Suk-young walked ahead. Yoo Jiha pulled on the man’s sleeve and whispered in his ear.
“Despite that, the Director worried about you a lot.”
“The kid isn’t honest. He’s always been like that.”
“Sunbae! Hurry up!”
Yoo Jiha quickly shut his mouth and hurried his steps to follow Jeil Heon. Unlike the trip there, the journey back was very pleasant.
* * *
As soon as they landed at the Management Bureau helipad, Jeil Heon was dragged away by his ear by Kang Suk-young. It would take more than an hour or two to report everything that happened in North Korea, starting from the fight with the Smiling Man. Jiha intended to wait until it was over, but Jeil Heon pushed him away, telling him to go and rest first.
Only after returning to Pilgyeongdang did the fatigue finally hit him. It was partly because he hadn’t been able to relax his tension even after confirming that Jeil Heon was safe. The six-hour round-trip helicopter flight was also exhausting. Yoo Jiha, who had been waiting for his return in the living room, eventually leaned against the sofa and began to doze off.
After some time, Yoo Jiha, who was drifting in and out of a shallow sleep, opened his eyes to the careful sensation of being lifted and held. There was a man who looked much tidier than when they parted, having presumably changed clothes and washed up at the Management Bureau.
“Mister…? You’re back?”
“Are you awake? It’s still dawn. Sleep more.”
Jiha hugged the shoulder of the man who was trying to carry him to the room and rubbed his forehead against him.
“I want to sleep in your room…”
A low chuckle was heard, and the direction of the walking changed. As the man gently laid him on the bed and tried to turn away, Jiha grabbed his forearm.
“Didn’t you miss me? You didn’t even do any aegyo…”
“…I told you, that was to pretend to be an Aberration.”
“I want to see your aegyo too.”
The complaints mumbled in a sleep-drunk haze were blocked by lips that pressed down softly. He knew it was a cheeky trick to gloss over an awkward situation with a kiss, but the lips he tasted for the first time in a while were too sweet to push away.
The kiss, which began languidly by sucking on the upper lip, soon deepened. The tongue, which had been tapping as if playing a prank, slowly rubbed the tender flesh inside the cheek as if savoring a fruit.
Following the tongue that traced the boundary between the upper teeth and gums and licked long up to the roof of the mouth, Jiha clung to it clumsily, and a small laugh leaked from their interlocking lips. The tongue exploring the inside of the mouth was soon caught by Yoo Jiha, and the two tongues entwined wetly, letting out obscene sounds.
“Ngh…”
The act of rubbing and intertwining lips, as well as the caressing of the nape, always felt electric, as if it were the first time. A dull heat gathered below the navel, and his waist twisted. The moment he reflexively gripped Jeil Heon’s shoulder tight, their lips parted and the man’s body moved away.
While wiping the wet lips of the bewildered Yoo Jiha, Jeil Heon whispered softly.
“You must be tired, let’s sleep.”
What is he talking about after kissing me so much that my sleepiness flew away… Ah. Yoo Jiha realized his mistake in not considering Jeil Heon’s current state. He had come out of an Aberrant Realm, wandered North Korea without rest, and had only just returned; how exhausted must he be?
“You’re not hard, are you? I was too inconsiderate.”