“Ha…… It should be okay……”
Yoon Gyeom muttered while looking with worried eyes at the back of Pyeonghwa being dragged away by the unidentified man. They seemed to know each other, so nothing bad would happen. It had to be that way. But why did Dohae come to mind when their eyes met? That couldn’t be…….
When he couldn’t even protect one person, what would they trust to follow him? Today’s plan was a failure from start to finish. Yoon Gyeom’s shoulders drooped, feeling powerless.
Oh Gidong’s hand brushed against his foot as he was about to return to the dinner venue. It was the very hand that had molested Pyeonghwa.
Yoon Gyeom struck down hard on the back of his hand with the tree branch he was holding. It was an action he would never normally do, but he was currently very drunk.
*
Bang! Dohae put Pyeonghwa in the passenger seat and climbed into the driver’s seat. He turned on the ignition and was about to start, but the seatbelt warning light blinked.
“Noh Pyeonghwa, put on your belt.”
“Belt? I wore elastic waistband pants today though.”
“Seatbelt.”
“Ah, that! I was confused for a second. Heave-ho, why won’t it work… huh?”
Dohae, who had been trying his best not to look at Pyeonghwa, ground his teeth and turned to the side. Pyeonghwa, completely undressed on top, was pulling the black seatbelt and straining while trying to put it on his arm.
“How much did you drink?”
“I tried alcohol for the first time today though. I thought 10 minutes had passed, but an hour had gone by. Is that normal when you drink? Have you tried drinking, hyung?”
“Raise your arms.”
“At first I was drinking makgeolli, then I had soju, beer, and bokbunja wine too…… Ah shit, but I spilled the bokbunja wine so I got all wet. It’s so damn sticky.”
The closer he got, the sweeter scent tickled his nose. Dohae held his breath and untangled the twisted seatbelt. Every time his hand brushed against Pyeonghwa’s skin, his body flinched involuntarily.
Click! After fastening the seatbelt, Dohae took out wet wipes from the glove box, placed them on Pyeonghwa’s thigh as if throwing them, and quickly returned to his position.
“Wipe yourself.”
“Yes. Hehe.”
Pyeonghwa started wiping his body with the wet wipes. His face looked innocent and thoughtless. Dohae deliberately looked away and stepped on the accelerator while watching the traffic light.
“Achoo!”
It seemed cold as moisture spread on his bare skin. Dohae turned on the heater and heated seats, then dry-washed his face as if disturbed and exhaled deeply.
‘Ha, fuck……’
Dohae had been tormented by disgusting dreams every night since the day he put on the ring that Pyeonghwa dropped.
The repertoire was always the same. Pax wearing a gas mask appeared and mocked him while spitting out vulgar lines. He felt the urge to strangle Pax to death, but what he ended up doing was shoving his dick between his legs.
He made countless resolutions never to give in, and spent some nights with his eyes open. But whenever he dreamed, he groped Pax’s ass as if possessed. Dohae had even thought about cutting off the finger wearing the ring because he was disgusted with himself for succumbing to desire.
But…….
‘Noh Pyeonghwa was Pax!’
Dohae, who had been waiting for Pyeonghwa, was very angry. He said he’d be right out but there was no word, and he didn’t answer his phone either. Just when he was thinking about just going back, he saw Pyeonghwa dragging someone in the distance. Dohae clenched his fist thinking of giving him a few knocks on the head.
But Dohae’s fist loosened powerlessly the moment Pyeonghwa’s silhouette became clear. For some reason, Pyeonghwa had completely taken off his top. Dohae realized that body was very familiar.
Pyeonghwa had the exact same body as Pax in his dreams. Dohae finally rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had gone crazy. It’s the ring’s trick. It’s just an illusion. He denied it while gritting his teeth, but ended up realizing that the two even had the same voice.
The man Pyeonghwa brought was very drunk and groped Pyeonghwa’s body. When he witnessed that scene, an unknown anger boiled up from his stomach. Dohae used his skill to choke his neck. If Yoon Gyeom hadn’t stopped him, he might have really killed him.
Yoon Gyeom seemed to have guessed his identity, but he was only focused on bringing Pyeonghwa to the car. It was the same now. He didn’t have the luxury to think about other things.
‘Why didn’t I realize?’
The two were identical in age, height, build, way of speaking, and even in how they infuriated people. The only difference was his own gaze. Pax seemed like a grown adult, but Pyeonghwa still only looked like that child from back then, perhaps because he had seen him when he was so tiny.
“Hyung, you were trying to find and kill Oh Gidong, right? You couldn’t kill him because of Yoon Gyeom ahjussi, so you’ll kill him next time?”
“……”
“Ah, hyung, do you know Yoon Gyeom ahjussi too? He’s the Lucky’s director. He came to our school because of a special lecture today and we were having a dinner. But are you going to kill that ahjussi too?”
“……”
“Just don’t kill me. Uhehe.”
At the sight of Pyeonghwa chattering alone and then giggling, Dohae felt self-loathing and banged his head against the side window. Earlier he saw that even when the guy next to him was openly hitting on him, he didn’t even notice, so Noh Pyeonghwa was that innocent.
‘……Wait. No. Would an innocent guy leave me that kind of malicious comment?’
Heat rushed to the top of his head in an instant. The starting point of all recent uncontrolled variables was Noh Pyeonghwa. Because Pyeonghwa left malicious comments, malice was generated, Byun Taehui stuck to his side like a goldfish’s poop, he even exchanged texts pretending to be a woman which hurt his pride, and eventually ended up with this horrible ring. If it weren’t for Noh Pyeonghwa, his life wouldn’t have become more difficult.
‘Let’s kill him.’
Veins bulged on the back of Dohae’s hand gripping the steering wheel. Not knowing that black energy was wriggling beneath his feet, Pyeonghwa tilted his head this way and that, saying the world was spinning round and round.
“Ah! Right. Can I ask you one question about my worries, hyung?”
“……Question about worries?”
“Yes. I thought Kim Chunsik hyung would know well since he’s dating Byun Bongsuk noona.”
Ha, that Kim Chunsik…. Dohae exhaled lightly and canceled his skill. Thanks to that, he came to his senses. He didn’t want to kill someone in his precious car. He should take him to a more secluded place and kill him so no one would know. Dohae turned toward the national road instead of the highway.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“You already broke up? Why? That noona seemed to really like you.”
“She’s my cousin. I was joking then.”
“Ah~ she was your cousin! I wondered~ I thought you treated her too roughly. But can I still get advice? I’m bored.”
“No.”
“Ah, why? Please please please please.”
Pyeonghwa suddenly grabbed Dohae’s arm and thrust his head forward. Dohae, startled, roughly pushed him away. Slap! The back of Dohae’s hand hit Pyeonghwa’s body, making a loud friction sound.
“Ah! My chest……!”
Chest? Dohae rolled his eyes and looked at Pyeonghwa. There was a red handprint on his left chest. Pyeonghwa made a tearful face and rubbed the area that was hit.
Dohae couldn’t take his eyes off the erect nipple and licked his dry lips. It looked like a really small bean. In the dream, the color was darker and it was swollen…….
“Hyung, there’s a noona I like…… Her replies have been really slow lately. Did I do something wrong?”
Even though he never said he’d listen, Pyeonghwa started talking about his worries on his own. Dohae hurriedly turned his eyes away. His heart pounded down with guilt.
“She… she probably doesn’t like you anymore.”
“No! I can’t live without noona!”
“Humans are originally alone.”
“Ah shit, I did everything noona told me to do…… I took the college entrance exam… I go to university… I didn’t drop out… I don’t do bad things anymore either!”
Listening carefully, that ‘noona’ was himself. It was a moment when it hit home once again that childish brat Noh Pyeonghwa and Pax who sent disgusting texts were the same person.
Dohae glanced at the road sign. There was an hour left until the destination. Since Noh Pyeonghwa would absolutely never stop talking, he decided to take this opportunity to ask the things he had been curious about from Pax.
“Why do you like that woman? You’ve never even met her.”
“Did I say I’ve never met noona?”
“Yeah. You did.”
At Dohae’s shameless answer, Pyeonghwa’s head tilted questioningly. Does he not remember because he’s drunk? Pyeonghwa blinked his eyes slowly and recalled memories with her.
“I was so lonely… but noona kept staying by my side. Through texts.”
A smile hung on Pyeonghwa’s lips. He continued speaking with a beaming smile as if just thinking about it made him happy.
“Back then, it felt like everyone in the world wanted me to fall apart. But our noona didn’t give up on me. Wash, eat, study, go outside and get some sunlight, she’d get so angry at me……”
Dohae was inwardly flustered. He thought he liked anyone in a skirt, but it was a more proper reason than expected.
Until now, Dohae hadn’t taken his confession seriously. Because he was playful in everything and constantly broke promises. He was annoyed that it seemed like he was playing with people, but he let it go thinking it was mutual.
