Hak, haak. He let out rough breaths. Woonghee’s delicate face flushed in a strange way, taking on a reddish balsam color. Without resting for even a moment, he ran all the way up to where Tula was.
“Hey.”
As soon as he arrived at his destination, Woonghee steadied his breathing and called out to him. Immediately, an “Uh-uh?” sound was heard. It was an exclamation as if lightning had struck his head.
[…Woong!]
Tula quickly came down from the tree. As if worried he might run away, he desperately grabbed his shoulders.
[Woong, it’s really you, I didn’t hear wrong, I, I thought I was even dreaming…]
Bloodshot red eyes and blood still dried and stuck to his lower face. It was a mess as if in protest.
“Eat.”
Woonghee pushed away the bastard’s arms and, whoosh, threw something. It was something wrapped round and round in leaves. It was the wild boar meat that Managing Director Gi had given to Woonghee as if doing charity.
The well-roasted meat gave off a savory smell that stimulated the appetite, but Tula’s entire attention was only fixed on Woonghee.
[…Woong. Di-did you come all the way here to see me? I, I didn’t think you’d come back…. Because you were so disappointed in me, because I acted like such a stupid idiot bastard.]
Tula, who originally had the feeling of being tall and lanky, had lost a lot of weight in the meantime. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, giving off a decadent model vibe.
What the hell had he been eating alone in the mountains all this time? When he glanced around, the only things that looked edible were a few mushrooms and bits of grass. Of course, that was only if the guy had the eye to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from regular ones.
He probably couldn’t properly light a fire to hunt and eat animals. For fear of being noticed by other people.
“Just fucking eat it.”
[I’m sorry.]
He was never a good guy, but seeing him so thin that his ribs were barely visible, he couldn’t help but be concerned. Especially when he thought of the young face that overlapped with that face.
[…Maam.]
The face of a gentle baby who smiled brightly with all his front teeth missing. Whenever he recalled that face, guilt spread in his chest.
However, the bastard didn’t even glance at the food he’d brought with effort, and only tried to embrace Woonghee somehow. As if he would disappear from this world right now.
[I’m sorry.]
Crazy bastard. Stupid son of a bitch. He didn’t know why he was being unnecessarily stubborn with a body that looked like it would die at any moment.
[I’m sorry, Woong. Sorry for hurting you. Where, where else are you hurt?]
After muttering to himself, he brought something from above the tree branch. It was a bouquet of flowers. The abundant petals were moistly covered with water drops and looked fresh.
…Did this crazy bastard really turn 180 degrees? He should take care of himself.
Thinking that he’d been wandering around the mountains in that state picking flowers made his blood boil. In the end, Woonghee tore the flowers he handed over to shreds. The reddish petals fluttered wildly.
Tula stared at it blankly. More precisely, at Woonghee trapped in that rain of flower petals…
[You’re really angry, Woong. For stealing yours, for, for making you misunderstood, I’m, I’m really sorry….]
Thud, a petal fell onto Woonghee’s cheek. The bastard hurriedly grabbed Woonghee’s cheek and spoke obsessively.
[I wanted to appear in front of you earlier….]
As if he’d been desperately waiting only for Woonghee to return, he poured out all his long words indiscriminately.
[Fuck, I just, I didn’t have the courage. I couldn’t speak.]
“Hey, shut up and eat.”
It was all words he wouldn’t understand anyway. He should fill his stomach in the time he’s talking, why does he have so many words? He was wasting the already insufficient time.
At that moment, hearing a swish sound from behind, Woonghee was startled and quickly turned his head. Fortunately, it was the sound of a small bird flapping its wings. Phew, Woonghee couldn’t relax. He didn’t know when or where Managing Director Gi would appear.
“You have to eat to get out, don’t you?”
He grabbed the bastard’s collar. He snapped at him to get a grip and aligned his pupils exactly with his eyes. His own hardened face was reflected in the shaking pupils.
“Or do you want to just die here?”
Leaving that small child behind, you’re going to collapse helplessly? After putting the child in such a scary situation with your own two hands?
“If you’re going to do that, die by my hands instead.”
Even the wrinkled pink raincoat grabbed by the collar was so ugly he could go crazy. Selfish bastard. No matter what, in the end this bastard was a bastard who abandoned even a young child for his own success.
On top of that, he’s a bastard who stole someone else’s raincoat, stole a machete, and stole ramen for survival.
“Jjokko, you’re going to abandon even such a young child?”
What was the word for trash? Woonghee muttered the word he once saw in a trash can. When he stammered ‘We… Waysty? Waste?’, Tula’s eyes opened wide.
[No, Woong, I didn’t abandon, I didn’t abandon anything.]
“So just fucking eat it already.”
Woonghee looked beyond the mountain. He was gauging the position where the sun was hanging. How much time had passed? What was hanging at the neck area was now at about the shoulder level…. Had about 30 minutes passed?
Managing Director Gi might be gathering firewood by now.
[…O-okay.]
Tula finally hesitantly picked up the piece of meat that had fallen on the ground.
“Dispose of the bones well too. So they won’t be noticed.”
With those words as the end, Woonghee turned his back again. He was going to go down the mountain that way, but from behind, Tula firmly grabbed his wrist.
[Woong, where are you going? Stay with me.]
In an instant, irritation surged to the top of his head.
[Stay here with me. Don’t go back to that guy.]
Woonghee looked up at him with cold eyes. After roughly matching his gaze with the bastard who was about 15cm above, he frowned. It was annoying and headache-inducing how he acted as if he was walking into a devil’s den with his own feet.
Does he think he’s being forcibly held by Managing Director Gi?
It’s not like that at all. I just found my own way to survive.
Why? Can’t I do that?
“Hey. I’m an Omega, an Omega.”
Speaking each word with emphasis, he properly shoved the word Omega into the bastard’s ear.
“It’s natural for me to fuck with an Alpha. Get a grip, you stupid Beta bastard.”
When he personally spat out the word fuck, he even slapped his palm down on his fist with a smack smack. Then, whoosh, he came down the mountain.
It wasn’t wrong. For Manifests, resolving the heat cycle was essential, and the most effective way to solve this was through copulation between Manifests. So there was nothing to be ashamed of.
***
Because he’d been wandering around the forest full of traces of rain, Woonghee’s walkers were covered in mud. Because of that, even the wooden floor of the bungalow got dirty. Bothered by that, he was scraping the soles against the floor, scratch scratch….
“You’re back?”
The man who was lighting a fire stares at Woonghee. When he got up, creak, the wood grain groaned.
“Your feet hurt so much, yet where do you keep going?”
“To the beach to hunt.”
The man said Woonghee-ssi is really diligent even at times like this, and bent one knee to sit in front of Woonghee. His large hand gently gripped his ankle.
He slowly removed the walker, then checked various spots on the soft sole to see if any more wooden thorns were embedded. Stroking very delicately with his large thumb.
Then he even personally kissed the instep where bluish veins showed through the pale skin.
He smiled generously. As if he knew all of your transgressions.
Why are you pretending not to know even when you know?
You must have clearly seen it, the mud stuck to my soles.
While mercilessly punishing others. Why do you cover my eyes, block my ears, and pretend to be as kind as possible in front of me?
Why am I an acceptable existence to you?
“…Managing Director Gi-nim.”
Woonghee quietly called him. He looks up at him. The eye shape that gives a strange feeling narrows. This angle is unfamiliar. His position looking up at someone.
However, the man soon calmly buried his nose in Woonghee’s ankle. He acted cutely, tracing the line of the ankle with the bridge of his nose.
“You called me?”
“Until when exactly do the others have to stay like that?”
The smile pooling on the man’s lips deepened even more. Come to think of it, he seemed to have heard such a story somewhere. Was it that if Managing Director Gi smiles with his eyes, run away? Just like those words, the kinder Managing Director Gi became, the scarier and more frightening he was.
“What if they dry up and die like that?”
Woonghee, who swallowed his saliva, stroked his face. His fingertips trembled at the thought that the beast dog in front of him might bite off his hand at any moment. But he suppressed his fear and showed affection.
“Why is Woonghee-ssi asking that? Did you become more curious about me?”
Why is that a question about you? It’s a matter of someone else’s life or death. At that question so terribly overflowing with self-love and self-centeredness, Woonghee clicked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Where did the focus go wrong?
“…I thought Managing Director Gi-nim wasn’t the kind of person who plays around with other people’s lives.”
No, it’s not like you’re not that kind of person. You’re a more cold-hearted and cruel person than anyone. You could hand down such punishments any number of times. Thinking that, Woonghee softly whispered to the man.
“You’re a kind person.”
“Even though they say my brain is broken?”
The man’s thumb slowly rubbed Woonghee’s instep. A zzzzk sound was heard and the white skin heated up red.
“Yes, well, since that’s congenital, it can’t be helped.”
Woonghee deliberately paused for a beat. Slowly rubbing his lower lip with his tongue, he spewed more bullshit again.
“You’ve accepted me every time. When I was being assaulted by that son of a bitch Director Hwang, when people misunderstood me as a thieving bastard, and even now….”
A strange light circled in the man’s pupils. Hmm, he made a low sound reverberating inside his throat. It was a gaze searching him out. As if he would dig out his inner thoughts no matter what.
“I’m just a mere Omega.”
“……”
“Mere?”
The man smiled deeply with his lips.
“Woonghee-ssi is beautiful.”
He fiddled with Woonghee’s big toe. Woonghee slowly rubbed his thumb over the top of his head. The dried sap slowly pushed out from the skin.
…Now everything is a matter of time. Just a little more, I just need to endure a little more.
