“……”
Gil Taeseo scrutinized the face clearly showing signs of confusion and contemplation. It was true that emotions and greed had definitely mixed into the ‘what needs to be done’ he’d mentioned earlier. It was just that there had also been another purpose.
For Lee Saehyeon right now, Gil Taeseo’s pheromones were no different from a life-support device. To fill the fuel tank that would have emptied while he was away, Gil Taeseo had been releasing pheromones from the moment he discovered and approached the person lying on the sofa.
Thanks to that, even though the act ended as an attempt, the pheromones at least were thickly stuck in layers to every corner of Lee Saehyeon’s entire body.
It wouldn’t be as effective as full sexual intercourse, but it seemed it would be fine as a suitable stopgap measure. He couldn’t force someone trembling this much any more forcibly. He’d end it around here today and next time he’d have to coax it out gently.
“If you have nothing more to say, go in, wash up and sleep. I’ll go to the study so don’t worry.”
Like Saehyeon forcibly pulling together his body that kept drooping with all his energy drained, Gil Taeseo also rubbed his brow as if tired.
The past few days had been breathless for the man as well. Even now, he’d been staying up all night dealing with work he’d been putting off all at once.
In this complicated situation, there was no way he’d refuse when he was offering to get off him. Saehyeon immediately ran into the bedroom he’d been so averse to.
He almost fell over in the middle, but after the bizarre feat of landing on all fours and bolting upright, he was able to safely enter the bedroom.
Washing his body quickly without knowing what state of mind he was in and climbing onto the bed and losing consciousness was his last memory of that day.
***
Saehyeon stood by the window and gulped down saliva. After hesitating in front for a moment, he finally seemed to gain courage and grabbed the end of the thick blackout curtain.
When he peeked through a slight opening, only empty space was visible. Normally, seeing a pitch-black, huge back would be normal.
‘No, that was what was abnormal.’
Saehyeon, who snorted, grabbed the curtain hem tightly. The curtain hem filled his slender hand tightly like someone’s hair. And just like he’d done yesterday, he pulled it to the side with all his might and swept it back.
Light poured down simultaneously with the loud sound of the metal rings scraping the curtain rod and the fabric sweeping.
“Urk.”
Saehyeon, whose eyes were stabbed at once, frowned. The indoor lighting and sunlight were different after all, as his eyes felt cold to the point of aching. After blinking several times with physiological moisture in his eyes, his vision finally cleared.
What appeared before his eyes was an open, desolate plain. The corpses of plants faded to brown carelessly bounced off the light.
But Saehyeon’s interest wasn’t in that scenery. Saehyeon, who approached the window with a big step, pressed his face in and carefully examined outside. The child was also stuck next to Saehyeon, who was even standing on tiptoe slightly and looking around, in exactly the same position.
“Mmmmm…”
“Hmmmmm…”
The sight of the two people standing side by side rubbing their faces against the window enough to squash their cheeks while looking around would have been really funny. But there was no one to see it.
The lawless, perverted bastard homeowner had already gone out at the crack of dawn. It was embarrassing how he’d woken up trembling in fear of running into him. He didn’t know if he was really busy or if he was avoiding this side because he himself was embarrassed.
Moreover, the people that homeowner had placed were all removed from in front of the house too. Still, just in case, he kept looking, but nothing particularly changed.
“…He really didn’t lie.”
Saehyeon, who pulled his face slightly away from the window, swept up his disheveled hair. While casually ignoring the steam that had formed in the shape of his face.
He was scratching his neck vigorously with a still half-awake dazed face when suddenly a tingling pain rose.
“Ow.”
Only then could Saehyeon discover his bruised nape in his reflection in the window. Come to think of it, the memory of being bitten on the nape like chewing gum at dawn came back vividly.
‘…This son of a bitch.’
After chanting beast-like, dog-like, son of a bitch, son of a cow, son of a horse, son of a fuck, he really acted like he’d become one. He should have kicked his balls instead of grabbing his hair yesterday.
It felt like the dog that had driven away the pervert in the alley had suddenly transformed into a pervert and pounced on him. Saehyeon’s eyes, which had been grumbling, rolled toward the front door this time.
“No matter how I think about it, that’s it.”
It was because he’d discovered a note with a suspicious number written on it under the medicine packet that came with the lunch box earlier. The intention of placing it underneath so it could only be discovered if he obediently took the medicine was one thing. The handwriting was neat but with the ends slightly extended at specific numbers, so the owner of the handwriting was obvious as day.
The use of this number also seemed predetermined. After all, hadn’t Gil Taeseo said something?
“…Haaah.”
After deliberation, a pale hand covered the pitch-black door lock. Every time he pressed the keypad where numbers floated up sparkling, there was a beeping electronic sound.
No one was watching, and he was just going outside, but he felt a strange tension like he was opening someone else’s house door.
The moment he pressed the last number. Beep beep.
“…!”
Saehyeon, who flinched at the cheerful sound, grabbed the door handle and pressed it down firmly and pushed. Surprisingly easily, the door that hadn’t opened until now opened wide.
Dry grass was stepped on under Saehyeon’s feet as he walked out as if possessed. The sensation of it brushing and scratching his bare skin was rather good for giving a sense of reality.
“Daddy? Where are you going?”
Saehyeon, who was about to walk forward, whipped around at the voice calling him. The child was standing blankly inside the wide-open door.
Sunlight he was receiving for the first time in a while fell over his small body and shone brilliantly. As did the upright eyes fixed on him.
Normally he would have already come running out by now, but the sight of him hesitating inside the door was somehow displeasing.
It was probably his conscience hurting. Saehyeon, who sighed at the poking feeling, lowered his body and crouched down.
“…You come here quickly too.”
“…Okay!”
Only when he clumsily spread his arms did the child come running out with a patter. The warm, soft sensation entering his embrace was like some kind of fish cake pouch.
Since it was a body that always felt cold, the warmth easily penetrated to inside his chest. Saehyeon, who was reflexively patting the child’s back, suddenly looked toward the floor and frowned.
It was because the white, small doll-like feet standing on the yellow grass caught his eye then.
“…Come to think of it, there are no shoes.”
He could walk while holding the child, but if strength left his arms and he dropped him, it would be a major disaster. Saehyeon also had a record of swaying once even while walking to the bathroom in that small studio.
It was when Saehyeon was contemplating with a serious face like that.
“Do you need shoes?”
“Hyak!”
At the voice that flew in out of nowhere, his body that had been crouched down trembled with a flutter. Saehyeon pressed down on his chest that seemed about to pop out beyond his ribs in surprise and whipped around.
A few steps away from Saehyeon and the child, a face that was starting to become familiar stood. It was the man called Yoon Changwook who was the lunch box delivery person and front door gatekeeper.
“Th-there was no one just a moment ago?”
“Ah, security is still in place. I was a bit farther away.”
It seemed that because he’d said something about standing in front of the window, they’d really only removed themselves from there.
“…The people who were blocking the window?”
“They’re working the same way outside the front gate.”
“Ah… I see.”
He thought that would be the case. How obedient could a man be who said with his own mouth that he had severe obsessive and controlling tendencies, and whose current job was probably a gangster? Even so, actually facing it was a separate matter from feeling discouraged.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say he’d never once thought about just grabbing the kid and running like this. As expected, early frustration broke the wildly raging ego.
“Daddy! Over there, that cloud looks like a puppy.”
“Uh… it does.”
Saehyeon, who let out a deep sigh, raised his head and looked around. It was a scene that would appear in a horror movie, but the sky was clearly visible on the open land. The cloud that looked like a Maltese that the child was jumping and pointing at was the same.
Compared to before when he’d obsessively covered himself with blackout curtains and couldn’t even come outside, this was very gentlemanly.
Saehyeon narrowed his eyes as if gauging. Right now, Saehyeon intuited that he and Gil Taeseo were standing at a certain crossroads. Gil Taeseo had stepped back as he’d agreed to yesterday. Now it was Saehyeon’s turn. Would he overturn it further, or would he compromise to some extent?
He recalled again his mindset at the parking lot. Hadn’t he already been willing to do a bare lower body opening and lose his anal virginity to regain his health and memories?
‘I wonder if this is about the lesser evil.’
He couldn’t do everything in the world as he pleased. The law was that if you gained something to some extent, you also had to give something. That was the principle of how the world worked.
Saehyeon had never gotten anything for free from when he was young until now. Something only came into his hands when he gave up and clashed and fought for it.
It was just that arbitrarily confining him and poking around as he pleased was in a range Saehyeon couldn’t understand or endure. Now that that was resolved, there was nothing more to make a fuss about. …He wanted to think that way.
Saehyeon, who had made a decision, turned his body and looked at the man standing nearby.
“That question from earlier. I’ll answer it now.”
The house was clean and solid and got good sunlight. The food was also incomparably delicious. Saehyeon tried hard to see only the positive parts and turned away from the sound of his pride crumpling.
“Yes?”
After slowly brushing himself off and standing up, he naturally pulled the child’s hand slowly. Saehyeon, who had placed the feet of the small human who was pulled along onto his own, calmly opened his mouth.
“I’m trying to go home, but as you can see, there are no shoes.”
It was a place they’d driven for quite a while to get to. That distance would be hard even with shoes, there was no way it was possible barefoot.
“Could you give me a ride on the way?”
So the bastard who dragged him all the way here should properly take responsibility.
