“Please, please, please…”
Woonghee crouched down with his upper body bare. He rummaged through a tangled bundle of wires. Poof—white dust flew up. Could there really not be a single phone charger among all these wires? It was while he was searching like that.
“Oh, fuck…”
Woonghee’s hands stopped dead.
“Found it.”
He let out the words quietly, as if moved. Crawl, crawl, crawl—he got on all fours and reached the outlet. Fuck, please, please, please. After plugging the jack into the bottom of the phone, he even closed his eyes and prayed desperately.
Then he slowly opened one eyelid at a time.
“Crazy…”
A pill-shaped icon appeared on the screen that had been completely blacked out. Inside it was a thin red line drawn like a thread.
It works, it’s really charging…! Just as he was celebrating like that, Tula called for him from outside.
[Woong…!]
What, suddenly? Woonghee walked out barefoot with quick steps. Tula was in the kitchen. And in a horrifyingly creepy state at that.
“What the hell is that look, fuck…”
He was a guy whose whole body was covered in jet-black tattoos. With fierce piercings on his smooth nipples. His bare upper body was dressed in a kitty apron.
…What a crazy bastard. The imbalance made him feel like throwing up reflexively. On the dining table, he’d even laid out a tablecloth with strawberry cakes drawn on it.
Omelet, bread, strawberry jam…
A delicious smell pervaded the air. Grumble—his stomach clock rang. Even though he’d eaten yesterday like a beggar bastard, he was hungry again already.
“Ugh, fuck, I’m starving to death.”
Even Director Hwang, who caught the smell, came over and quickly took a seat. Had he forgotten how to use chopsticks in the meantime? He grabbed food with his sausage-thick fingers and ate it with his hands. Chomp, chomp, smack, smack—sounds could be heard.
In the past, Woonghee would have rushed over too. He would’ve rolled his eyes and jumped in like a fruit fly to stick a straw into the food.
“Hey.”
But instead, he kicked the table with his foot—thud. The plates rattled and shook. Tula’s eyes wavered with a flinch.
“What are you trying to do?”
The guy’s gaze was half a span above his own, but Woonghee lowered his eyes. His jet-black eyelashes spread out like a fan, creating a strange shadow. It was the look in his eyes that would start a fight at every opportunity, asking what the hell he was doing.
“What, did you set up house with me or something?”
Acting like this, do you really think we came on some picnic? Did you want to pretend to be newlyweds or something? Is that why you were making food so carefully one by one?
“You’re such a fucking selfish bastard. If people find out you killed that captain bastard, your life is fucked.”
Woonghee ground his molars. Now, setting aside whether he understood or not, he exploded in anger.
“What are you going to do about Jjokko?”
[…I’m going to run away.]
“What, you’re going to stow away or something? What power do you have? A bastard with no money, no connections.”
The corners of the guy’s eyes drooped. His door-wide shoulders sank powerlessly. Did he think he’d get praise from Woonghee just for making breakfast?
Outside, he acted all high and mighty waving his gun around, but the reality was he was a coward tormented by guilt. Whenever Jjokko was mentioned, his lips would tremble. The guy bit his lower lip slightly. His cautious gaze slowly swept over Woonghee’s nape.
[If I sell this necklace, it’ll work out.]
“Don’t talk such dogshit.”
Woonghee burst out laughing, “Ha.”
“Because I’m going to sell this to the people here when we leave.”
It was an important statement. He gestured while talking in case Tula didn’t understand, but the really big reaction exploded from the side.
“Whaat!?”
It was Director Hwang, whom he hadn’t even realized was there the whole time. He’d been burying his head in a bowl like a dog eating, and now he was spitting out words while spewing eggs.
“Hey, we ran around like crazy here because of that necklace, and you’re going to hand it over to these bastards?”
Woonghee just stared at that sight with cold eyes.
“Did you bash your head on a rock? Do you know how much that’s worth!”
Crash—Director Hwang slammed his fist down on the table. Screech—he tried to stand up while dragging the chair back, but Tula grabbed his shoulder and slammed it down.
“Ugh…!”
[Where does some alpha bastard get off raising his voice while Woong is eating, huh?]
Tula brought his face right up to his. It was a posture like he was about to kiss him right then. Then he ground his molars and spat out threats.
“Wh-what…?”
Director Hwang looked at the guy as if he was dying of absurdity. Unable to stand up because of the force gripping his shoulder, his body just trembled.
Tula was a guy who reached 187cm in height, and his whole body was covered in tattoos. Literally the appearance of someone living without a tomorrow. Should I say he had the kind of eyes that would stab you in the belly if you got tangled up with him unluckily?
“You brats still wet behind the ears, every single one… Tch!”
Director Hwang, who cursed like that, scooped up a ton of omelet with his spoon and shoved it down his throat. Then, chomp chomp, he started eating again as if afraid it would be taken away. As if he’d lost interest in the necklace now. He didn’t give it a single glance.
A suspicious person. There’s no way he’d end it with just that… Suspicion arose in Woonghee and he raised his guard.
***
And that night.
Woonghee was lying in bed, blankly staring at the ceiling. Beyond the small window, the sound of waves crashing—swoosh—could be heard.
“……”
From right below the bed, breathing sounds flowed out occasionally. On the cold floor, Tula was crumpled up haphazardly.
‘Haven’t you come to your senses yet, you crazy bastard? Husband, daily band, just fuck off already…’
He’d said that several times, but Tula was insane. He brought up that beast-like Director Hwang. Saying he didn’t know when that beast-like guy would latch on, that he would protect him or whatever…
“…Hmm.”
Well, the guy who said that was sprawled out sleeping like that though.
It was when he was alone with his hearing sharpened to the max like that. His sixth sense activated unconsciously. Woonghee just rolled his eyes in the darkness. He could feel the quiet darkness stirring.
He slipped his hand under the pillow stealthily. Grip—he grabbed a brick. Then suddenly swung the brick into the darkness.
“Aaaagh…!”
The brick Woonghee threw slammed—thud—into the flimsy wall. The next moment, Director Hwang’s heavy scream was heard.
“Wh-what the fuck…! Did you throw a brick? My head almost got smashed to pulp!”
Director Hwang, who tripped over his own feet, rolled in the darkness and was flung out of the room. Caught on the doorframe, his large body tumbled into the living room. While falling like that, he knocked over drum cans that had been standing on one side with a crash.
“Wh-what the hell is all this…!”
Rattle rattle—the drum can rolled. The lid opened and something spilled out from inside, and it was definitely a head. With long black hair, eerily long eyelashes, and two large eyes wide open.
“……!”
He was so startled his heart nearly stopped right then. Woonghee cautiously approached and grabbed its hair to lift it up.
“A mannequin…?”
It was some mannequin. The long wig slid down smoothly. The separated torso was dressed in an incredibly short dress and smooth fishnet stockings.
[Woong, what does it say here…]
At that moment, Tula, who must have woken up, popped out from behind and approached the drum can lying on its side. Then he scraped the letters written on the surface one by one and spoke.
[Long hair, omega.]
“Fuck, were there some perverted bastards on this island?”
Could they be relieving their sexual urges on something like that? Their sexual preferences were truly extravagant. Fuck, what shitty luck. Even while thinking they were really cursed with bad luck, he could roughly understand. There’s no way people living on an island in the middle of this vast ocean could be normal. They were definitely bastards with something shady going on.
However, the biggest problem right now wasn’t those bastards. Swish—Woonghee turned his head. He stood up while roughly throwing the mannequin head on the floor.
“Couldn’t hold out and starting again already?”
Director Hwang, whose eyes met his, flinched and trembled.
“N-no. I just came out to go to the bathroom, why are you overreacting so much, overreacting, you crazy bastards.”
Woonghee felt around his nape. He wondered if the necklace was still there, and fortunately it was hanging there well. At first he wanted to somehow get it off his neck, but now he couldn’t do that even if he wanted to. He’d learned that Director Hwang was eyeing it like a hawk.
“But why are you sneaking around without even turning on the light, just like a thief bastard?”
“Th-thief bastard? Who the hell are you talking to right now!”
The atmosphere was highly charged. It was an atmosphere where it wouldn’t be strange if they grabbed each other by the collar and threw punches at any moment. But a sound ringing from somewhere cut off the tension. Buzz, vroom, vroom. A vibration sound rang out.
“What is this sound…?”
Director Hwang raised his thick eyebrows. Six eyeballs whipped around. Soon, gazes converged on one place all at once.
When he wondered what this sound could be, the culprit was the phone. The power had finally come on…!
