Taeju did the rest of the cleanup. When wiping the semen on his face, he even sniffed the smell. Even after wiping it all clean, it seemed like his semen smell remained on Iseo’s face. A more chilling excitement rose than when ejaculating.
It wasn’t entirely wrong either. How much cock fluid had he poured into Seok Iseo. It would be a waste if the smell didn’t soak in. With such lowly thoughts, Taeju laughed refreshingly.
* * *
Until just before falling asleep, Taeju held Iseo tightly and searched for his own scent on him. Like Sleeping Beauty, Iseo never woke up in the end.
Taeju, who opened his eyes because of the phone ringing, looked for Seok Iseo first rather than the phone. Even lifting the blanket and looking around the room, Iseo wasn’t visible. He suddenly got angry. Where did Seok Iseo go?
Even while getting up huffing, Taeju looked for Iseo first rather than clothes. He flung open the bathroom door but Iseo didn’t come out from there either. Taeju swallowed his anger while twisting his jaw. He’d cleaned him nicely from his face to inside his groin, so where had he slipped away to?
The places Seok Iseo could be were either his own room or the workshop. Taeju tried to open the door but then remembered he was still naked.
Fuck, Taeju swallowed a small curse and roughly threw on the clothes he’d taken off yesterday when the phone that had stopped ringing rang again.
“Why since dawn?”
Taeju answered the phone with a voice where irritation had risen to the top of his head.
‘Hey, what dawn. It’s almost lunchtime now. Were you sleeping all this time?’
Yeon Muju’s voice wasn’t pleasant to hear just because he said it was lunchtime. Taeju’s eyebrows twitched. When he opened the door and came out, as Muju said, the sun that had risen to the top of his head was striking the huge window.
“Dawn or lunch, why?”
Taeju looked down at the first floor below the railing. It was still peaceful. Iseo wasn’t there. He went into the corridor as it was.
In Taeju’s mind, there was nothing but Iseo’s whereabouts. Why did he sneak away? When all this time he’d stuck close in the mornings. It was even Seok Iseo who liked seeing his face as soon as he woke up.
Before he knew it, as if he too had assimilated to such Seok Iseo, it felt strange if he wasn’t there in the morning. Now it went beyond strange—he was angry. Who told him to go out on his own?
‘Hey, we got contacted today.’
“About what?”
‘About Seokrim Electronics. It’s not that they contacted us, but a company that’s their partner, though we should just consider it an affiliate. They said they’re looking for new business partners and would like to contract with us….’
Iseo wasn’t in his own room either. Is he in the workshop? Taeju glanced at the time. It was about that time. While listening to Muju’s chattering with half an ear, Taeju transferred the phone to his other hand.
“Is that so?”
‘I knew you’d pull it off. Well, I didn’t know, but it seemed like you would. Our youngest is raising up the family.’
Bullshit. Taeju only cursed like that inwardly as he came out of Iseo’s room. Actually, he had no real interest in family matters. As long as his own comfortable life didn’t plummet to the bottom.
However, what mattered was that Iseo had helped with his work. Now he needed to think about what comes next. He’d obtained everything he could obtain from this place.
“What does big hyung say?”
‘Ah, Seongju hyung was so surprised his face turned pale. Whether it’s good or annoying. That hyung went there and made a scene and came back.’
Thinking of Seongju’s face made laughter bubble up. Muju also laughed along, seemingly in a good mood as everything was going smoothly. He went and made a scene, but now that they were actually receiving help from there, the sight of him unable to be happy or dislike it was vividly clear. Muju also seemed to find that sight amusing as he cackled.
‘Fuck, if you’d seen it you could’ve teased him for years.’
“Tsk, too bad. I should have seen that face.”
‘Don’t worry. You’re coming to Seoul now, right? That hyung still can’t manage his expressions.’
“Perfect. I’ll go and talk big to big hyung. What did he say to me again. I think he told me to act like a human being.”
‘Ah, really?’
Muju giggled as if he’d heard the funniest thing in the world. Taeju laughed along. He slowly traced the stairs going down to the first floor when he glimpsed Iseo at the end of the corridor leading to the workshop. Taeju quickly went down the stairs.
“So the problem is solved, right?”
‘Ah, that’s right. The contract is going back and forth, but anyway they’re doing us a favor. The order is a given, we’re in the middle of adjusting conditions. Hyung seems to be gritting his teeth trying to tear it all out.’
“Merchant bastard.”
‘Hey! Shit. To hyung.’
He didn’t even pretend to listen to Muju scolding him. But if Yeon Seongju was a merchant bastard, was he a whoreson? Taeju wet his dry lips with his tongue. But his lower lip stung as if torn.
“I’m hanging up. I’ll contact you when I go up.”
‘Ah, okay. Got it.’
When he hung up the phone, he was standing in front of Iseo. Iseo was still wearing a long-sleeved shirt with plenty of room and long pants. His face that seemed cool alone in the middle of summer stared at Taeju blankly.
“Why did you get up first? You should’ve woken me up.”
Iseo’s eyes rose from his chest and stopped at his lips. Where his gaze stopped seemed to be the end of his torn lower lip. Taeju stuck out his tongue and rubbed that spot. As if enjoying the stinging feeling, he pressed down on the wound with his tongue.
“Yeon Muju?”
“Yeah.”
It was a corridor where the sun didn’t reach. Since it was morning, the lights were also off. It was moderately dim and moderately quiet. A distance more than suitable for observing each other closely.
Taeju kept his jaw fixed and only moved his pupils. If he took the cool and neat Seok Iseo to Seokrim. The thoughts he’d had since yesterday connected as if meeting their end.
Just thinking about it was satisfying. He would become his parachute. No, not a parachute but a propeller. To take him to even higher places.
“Thank you.”
Taeju smiled. In the desolate space where light didn’t enter, his smile looked murky. It wasn’t refreshing or fresh. Rather, it looked lowly and obscene. Even the torn wound at the end of his lips made him look more vulgar.
“I knew you’d do it.”
At those words, Iseo moved his waist briefly to straighten his posture. Iseo looked like someone surrounded by riddles. It was difficult to dig into him.
“Really?”
“Now let’s go up to Seoul together.”
Iseo didn’t move at all. He quietly looked into him. It was somehow a gaze and face that was difficult to endure quietly. Just as he was about to open his mouth first, annoyed by that meaningful atmosphere and air, Iseo spoke first.
“Why.”
It was an answer he’d somewhat expected. Taeju took one step toward him. Then Iseo stepped back one step. His eyebrows shot up. What is he doing?
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you backing away?”
When he took another step closer, Iseo backed away again. Now he was annoyed.
“What. Why again.”
Irritation settled in Taeju’s voice and his face also contorted. Iseo was calm even with such a face before him. Rather than calm, he was dry.
When he walked with big strides to grab Iseo, Iseo also quickly backed away. An absurd empty laugh burst out while chasing him right in front of his eyes. What’s the problem again? He did what he was asked to do, so does his stomach hurt?
“Is there something that bothers you? Tell me. I’ll try to fix it.”
The chase between the two ended only when the workshop door bumped against Iseo’s back. Taeju strongly grabbed Iseo’s arm and pulled him toward himself. The distance between the two rapidly narrowed.
“What again, tell me. I did what you asked me to do, so why are you acting shitty and making me angry?”
“If I tell you, you’ll fix it?”
Iseo spoke as if scoffing. That also annoyed him. Deep wrinkles formed on Taeju’s forehead.
“Tsss, Iseo hyung.”
A rough voice called Iseo. Iseo’s eyes lifted up. The two gazes clashed like tightly pulled threads. They neither broke nor loosened.
“I don’t want to get angry at hyung right now, so I’ll say it again from the beginning.”
What great generosity. If he interpreted Iseo’s expression, that’s exactly how it looked.
Why is it so twisted? Blue-tinged veins bulged at Taeju’s temples. Did he want to act shitty again? For some reason, he didn’t speak but his gaze was annoying. Was he telling him to guess all his inner thoughts, or otherwise to shut up and fuck off? But fucking off seemed difficult.
“Fuck, why is your expression like that?”
Taeju irritably lowered his eyelids while drawing out his words. Iseo slightly snorted. It was a laugh like a puff of air with absolutely no change in expression.
“Go ahead. Say it from the beginning.”
Let’s see. Though he didn’t say those words, he seemed to be saying that. He expanded his chest to contain the rising irritation. Increasing his bulk as if about to pounce was quite threatening. Nevertheless, Iseo’s face remained dry.
“Fuck, let’s go up together, don’t live so boringly here. Let’s go together and enter Seokrim. Hyung, you can do it, you haven’t been completely pushed out of the succession yet.”
