Shim Iyul, who reached behind to close the door, collapsed to his knees just like that. Heat rose in his body, making him hot. The feeling that all his bodily sensations had gathered between his groin didn’t easily fade. Other parts of his body felt dead, and only his center seemed alive.
It was a feeling similar yet different from when heat came. Unlike heat, which was close to torture with cold sweat all over his body, the feeling of harboring flames was the same. If heat was like setting fire to oil, now it was like firewood. Meaning it wasn’t violently blazing up and quickly extinguishing, but rather seemed to keep harboring flames of the same intensity without easily going out.
Shim Iyul barely endured the impulse to keep putting his hand into his pants. He had Fire Fox pride – he couldn’t do something like masturbation. Even while suffering in heat and rolling around, he never masturbated once until the end.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Tsk, why is my rear throbbing too?
During countless heat cycles, his rear, which had never asserted its presence, was throbbing as if to say ‘I’m here,’ which was absurd. The swelling from Eun Seonmyeong’s member going in and out had definitely healed, but was the memory engraved in his rear instead of his head? Impulses to stick even a finger in kept surging up.
‘Did I awaken to new pleasure?’
This is serious. He knew from when he felt it instantly through his rear, but his unnecessarily sensitive and easy body had definitely learned new pleasure.
Shim Iyul paced around Eun Seonmyeong’s room with a face full of worry. Heat cycles would come periodically in the future too, and thinking that both front and back would be agonizing now made him feel dizzy already.
No, more than that.
“Why am I thinking I want to do it?!”
The heat cycle has definitely ended!
Of course, it wasn’t like he could only have sex during heat. Enjoying it was always possible, but it wasn’t desperate.
“But why does it feel desperate?!”
Shim Iyul looked up at the air in a praying posture and shouted. Why? Why why why? Why does it feel desperate? And of all people, toward a hunter? Why did it stand just because I briefly touched the hunter?! Though it was clearly an accident, anyway, after the accident, the hunter with no manners who didn’t even say whether it was bad or good – why am I thinking I want to do it again with him?!
“Fox-nim?! What’s desperate?!”
Whether he heard Shim Iyul’s shout, Ban Hanseong knocked on the door and asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“When will you come out?”
“Soon.”
Shim Iyul took deep breaths with his left hand on his solar plexus, calming his mind. His groin, which seemed like it would stay erect forever, was fortunately in a subsided state.
“It must have been a momentary delusion.”
Wanting to roll around with Eun Seonmyeong desperately. He must have lost his mind for a moment. One’s mind can wander, that’s all. After forcibly concluding that and coming out to the porch, he saw Ban Hanseong sitting blankly with a bored face.
Ban Hanseong discovered Shim Iyul coming outside and stood up briskly like a dog greeting its owner.
“What were you doing instead of playing with me?”
“For a moment… I was thinking about the hunter…”
“If you were badmouthing the Gaju, you should have done it with me! There’s still an infinite amount of Gaju badmouthing left.”
Shim Iyul nodded in agreement.
“The hunter does have many faults.”
“Right?”
“Especially no manners.”
“The Gaju is originally self-centered.”
As always when they met, after thoroughly chewing on Eun Seonmyeong as if he were a squid, his mood improved a bit. And after finishing badmouthing Eun Seonmyeong, they seriously discussed how to torment Choi Myeongwon. After a very long discussion, they concluded that since they sold the wild ginseng, once his energy returned, they would add exposing corruption to the ghost play to get revenge for Seo Junhui. Ban Hanseong was steadily gathering corruption to send Choi Myeongwon to his grave.
“I’m a bit hungry, shall we order something to eat?”
Ban Hanseong, who had come without eating breakfast, said while rubbing his lower abdomen. After talking for so long, his stomach was grumbling for food.
“Let’s do that.”
Now that it was mentioned, Shim Iyul was also hungry. As soon as Shim Iyul answered, Ban Hanseong immediately took out his phone and turned it on, saying “What shall we order?” and began seriously looking at the delivery app.
“You keep your phone off often?”
“Yes. Electromagnetic waves come from phones. They’re harmful to health.”
Ban Hanseong, who very seriously talked about the dangers of phones, lived with his laptop in his arms all day. Shim Iyul was about to say ‘I saw before you were practically one with your laptop’ but stopped.
“How about mulhoe for cooling heat with cold?”
“Good.”
As soon as Shim Iyul’s permission fell, Ban Hanseong, who had been pondering for a while where to order from, suddenly turned pale and ran to the Sarangchae saying “S-stomach.”
“I completed the order!!!”
Even with his stomach suddenly churning, Ban Hanseong had completed the order.
Ban Hanseong, who had rushed away, didn’t return for a long time. Did he get a stomach ache? As he glanced at the Sarangchae, he heard knocking on the gate. The food he ordered seemed to have arrived.
After crossing the yard and opening the gate, as expected, a delivery driver was visible.
“You ordered food…”
“Yes.”
“I-it’s 42,000 won.”
The delivery driver checked Shim Iyul’s face and then stuttered. Shim Iyul frowned after receiving the food. Payment should be done all at once through the app, but apparently it wasn’t done.
When he held out his card, the delivery driver who said “Just a moment” fumbled around.
“I think I forgot to bring the card reader, do you have cash?”
Shim Iyul, who let out a sigh, took out his wallet. There was exactly one 50,000 won bill. It was the money Eun Seonmyeong gave him as New Year’s allowance. Shim Iyul looked inside the wallet for a moment, then turned around saying “Please wait a moment.” Allowance was received to use when needed, but it felt a bit wasteful to use.
As he entered the Sarangchae, he met Ban Hanseong rubbing his lower abdomen with a relieved face saying “Success after three days.”
“Fox-nim, did the delivery arrive?”
“It arrived, and money.”
“Pardon?”
“You didn’t pay? He didn’t bring the card reader so he only takes cash. He says 42,000 won.”
“The signal came after three days so I was rushing to order and didn’t prepay.”
Ban Hanseong took out money from his wallet and handed it to Shim Iyul. Receiving the order would only take a second so that was fine, but handing over cash and receiving change meant having to face a stranger for a long time, which was burdensome. Of course, if forced he could face them, but when there was someone to do it instead like now, it was better to postpone.
Shim Iyul went to the gate as soon as he received the money and finished the payment. The driver who handed over the change glanced at Shim Iyul’s face as if regretful, then sent a final look dripping with lingering attachment before leaving.
“Shall we eat on the porch?”
Ban Hanseong, who received the mulhoe from Shim Iyul, pointed to the porch. Though the weather was too cold to eat on the porch, Shim Iyul answered let’s do that. Then while Ban Hanseong was humming and setting the table, he brought out an electric heater.
Since the picky Eun Seonmyeong who wouldn’t eat at the same table as ghosts wasn’t there, Chwiweol and Taeho also sat down next to Ban Hanseong.
“Fox-nim, eat a lot.”
“Yes, shaman you eat a lot too.”
Shim Iyul, Ban Hanseong, and the two ghosts began eating mulhoe while trembling with each bite. After eating not only the thin noodles but also rice mixed in, they were full and cold. Feeling like he would freeze, Shim Iyul, who sat close to the heater, rubbed his hands together. Then, feeling like the heater alone wouldn’t solve his frozen body, he stood up.
“I need to go in. It’s too cold.”
“Me too. I think I need to warm up in Seolju’s room.”
Ban Hanseong was also pale blue from the cold. Shim Iyul took refuge in Eun Seonmyeong’s room, and Ban Hanseong in the Sarangchae.
Shim Iyul, who lay on the bedding and pulled the blanket over himself, muttered “I miss the hunter’s body temperature a bit.”
Perhaps because his stomach was cold, even wrapping himself in the blanket his body was trembling, so he thought just a tiny bit, like a baby bird’s tears’ worth, of Eun Seonmyeong’s warm body temperature.
***
“Where have you been?”
When he returned to the store, Han Seolju followed and asked, his face full of questions. Only then did Eun Seonmyeong recall that he had left without saying anything to Han Seolju and laughed helplessly. There was no rush, yet remembering how he had hurriedly gathered necessary items and rushed as if it were an emergency, only hollow laughter came out.
“Someone was possessed, so I went there.”
There was no commission fee, and he didn’t mention that the client was a fox. Fortunately, Han Seolju thought it was a commission that came in as usual and didn’t question further.
“Go out.”
Eun Seonmyeong, who sat down heavily on the CEO office chair, waved his hand at Han Seolju.
“Yes.”
“Ah, Seolju.”
“Yes.”
At Eun Seonmyeong’s call, Han Seolju, who had just been about to leave the CEO office, turned around.
“I need to go to Jirisan tomorrow or the day after.”
“Jirisan, are you going to draw Jeong-ansu?”
Eun Seonmyeong nodded.
“I used up what was at the store, and there’s not much left at home either.”
Jeong-ansu was used in various ways. For light purification, and also needed when writing talismans or making bullets. Sometimes he drank it as water too.
“I will accompany you.”
“You need to guard the store. I’ll go alone.”
Han Seolju let out a light sigh.
“Since we acquired Fribel, it seems there are no more occasions to serve the Gaju, which is a bit disappointing.”
The main duty of the Han family was to guard the Gaju of the Eun family. He had heard it from his father until his ears hurt since childhood, and Han Seolju also thought it was his natural duty to protect Eun Seonmyeong by his side. But since acquiring Fribel five years ago, Han Seolju’s main work was manager duties. Though he was obeying the order and request that he was fine going alone so please guard the store, unable to disobey, he felt disappointed. Looking up at such Han Seolju, Eun Seonmyeong smiled briefly.
