[He always searched for prey in crowded places. During the day, the plaza; at night, the tavern. In places where many people came and went, he erased his presence and surveyed his surroundings. Din Telliano’s eyes, unable to find satisfactory prey, were bloodshot and gleaming brightly.]
“It was worse than I thought…”
I sighed deeply enough to sink into the ground and looked around, but prey that suited my taste wouldn’t appear at such convenient timing. The prey I had set my sights on over a long period didn’t have skin as smooth as I’d expected.
My disappointment was as great as my expectations. Was my disappointment greater than I thought? I had no motivation to search for new prey. Even so, because of the hunger boiling inside me, I had no choice but to wander in search of prey.
At least the fortunate thing is that I was born with a leisurely temperament. If not for that, I would have already hastily hunted just anyone. It was clear I would have lived an unsatisfying life with inferior prey and been caught and executed. It was a horrifying life just to think about.
“Haa, where are you…?”
My voice sounded sinister and thickly laced with venom even to my own ears. Concerned about others’ gazes, I looked around, but fortunately, no one seemed to have heard. I seemed to have unconsciously murmured quietly.
“Haaa…”
I sighed and headed to the plaza for the hunt. My eyes stung because I had been searching for prey at the tavern until late last night.
Even if my motivation had dropped, I couldn’t neglect searching for prey for my own sake. Just as beasts hunt to survive, so did I.
How long had I been scanning the plaza with bloodshot eyes? My clenched hand slowly relaxed. A shock that pierced through my head ran down to my toes. I sprang up from my seat.
“Ah…”
My pupils dilated with ecstasy, and my hands trembled. I don’t believe in miracles or coincidences. I was the type who thought there are only inevitabilities in the world and no results without effort. Before such a me, the existence I had so desired appeared right there. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Skin as white as snow. Hair as black as ebony. Skin so pale that blue veins were visible contributed to the man’s sickly atmosphere. It was truly the figure of a muse, fitting his taste.
I desperately snatched the arm of the man walking among the passing crowd.
“Y-yo-you are…!”
Damn! Stuttering stupidly like this wasn’t like my usual self. I scolded myself inwardly and looked at the man. He violently shook off the grabbed arm. Only then did I realize he was frightened by my sudden action.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
“Ah, ah, sorry, I’m sorry. That’s not…”
Damn it! I was really stuttering more than before, like a complete idiot. Was I receiving karma for cursing at people recklessly in the past?
Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now. With my mouth stiff and not working properly, I spoke to him.
“I’m Din Telliano. I work as a tattoo artist. That is, no, it’s just that when you passed by, you were so…”
Warm sunlight shone down on the man before me. The light made his skin appear even more radiant. It was like luxurious silk. It was what I had always desired. I could tell without looking closely. That skin was exactly what I had been searching for.
I swallowed my saliva and stared at him in a daze.
“Beautiful…”
Like someone witnessing light for the first time, in this moment, I helplessly fell in love. A predator falling in love with prey. Where could there be something more ridiculous than this?
But perhaps because I was born twisted from the start, the love I felt was accompanied by intense hunger. Saliva slid down my throat. I wanted to carve tattoos all over every corner of that skin right now. If I could carve and carve until finally only I could see it, how ecstatic would that be…
The man whose name I didn’t know was already mercilessly torn apart and reassembled according to my desires in my head. His appearance, transformed into a mess, was a perfect heavenly creation.
“Haha, that’s embarrassing…”
The man’s cheeks flushed red. My clumsy compliment, stupid as it was, seemed to have touched his heart. That shy appearance came to me like the image of an angel.
“Wh-what’s your name?”
At my cautious question, the man smiled brightly. I was deeply relieved that there was no fear on that face. That smile, as bright as the sun, was filled with joy.
“I’m Jay Doe!”
“Jay… Doe. Jay Doe…”
I murmured that name as if chewing on it several times. Just murmuring the name made an ecstatic taste linger subtly in my mouth, as if I had savored a delicacy.
Seeing me like this, he smiled as if amused. It was only natural that I became foolishly entranced seeing that smile.
We talked for a long time and made plans to meet again before parting. I watched Jay’s back as he waved goodbye and left for quite a while.
* * *
“Master is truly amazing.”
Strangely enough, Jay’s appearance walking down the alley changed. His skin, which had been white and smooth like pearls, changed to yellowish rough skin, and his hair, black as the night sky, changed to a bark-like brown.
Jay Doe’s true identity was me, Jack.
Conquering Din Telliano was easier than lying down and eating rice cakes. As long as Glutton existed to describe his thoughts and tastes in detail, he was in the palm of my hand. This must be what they mean by “no matter how much you jump, you’re still in Buddha’s palm.”
I’ll be honest. I found all of this quite enjoyable. Jumping into the story pretending to be a different character provided more pleasure than I thought.
“I really had a great time today, Doe-ssi.”
“Me too.”
Din spoke in a voice dripping with affection. He maintained this attitude throughout when meeting Jay. Like someone who fell in love at first sight, as if looking at an irreplaceable existence. Even though I knew his true nature to some extent, seeing his sweet gaze made my heart waver.
But there was a being who showed me similarly sweet eyes while behaving even more sincerely. Compared to him, Din Telliano was just a man with cold eyes, nothing special. As if flaunting that existence, Belly was flicking his tongue at the nape of my neck.
“Looking at you, I realize how worthless my life has been…”
“Haha, there you go again. Aren’t you exaggerating too much?”
He looked like a thug without any refinement, but surprisingly, he knew how to embellish his words atmospherically to the point where one would think it was cheesy. Even more so, his actions overflowed with sincerity, rather than just being flirtatious words to seduce someone.
Look at him even now. Din grasped both my pale hands with both of his and cried out desperately.
“That’s not true, Doe-ssi. My life only found light after meeting you.”
His lips curved in a faint smile. Eyes gleaming ecstatically yet darkly at the same time. Just looking at that, it would have ended with feeling a ticklish emotion, with something sinister about it.
But Din’s hands were damp, perhaps from nervousness, and that added a touch of innocence. In short, he was like a man yearning for his first love. That point made me endlessly happy.
“I’m also happy to have met Telliano-ssi…”
There was still much I needed to find out about Din. Also, I didn’t dislike him. He was quite an attractive character to me. But then, a very familiar voice was heard.
“Jack?”
It was a familiar voice. The voice soaked in shock belonged to someone I knew, but I didn’t turn around. Because I wasn’t Jack right now.
Besides, we were in a busy downtown area where people walked around. So if I didn’t react, Din wouldn’t have any reason to react to that voice.
“When can we meet again next time?”
As expected, Din showed no reaction to the call of “Jack” and brought Jay’s hand to his lips for a light kiss. I was blushing at that sight when Din’s face momentarily contorted in bewilderment.
“Jack!”
A man who had approached from behind firmly grasped my shoulder and turned me around. Forcibly turned around, there stood Carl with eyes wide open. A face mixed with indescribable emotions. Raw emotions laid bare.
Why are you making such a face?
“Wh-who are you?”
But Jack, who should receive those emotions right now, isn’t here. Because right now, I’m Jay Doe.
Carl’s face contorted at my composed acting. Since he’s smart, he would quickly grasp why I’m like this in this appearance. Then he would leave immediately. Because it’s the rule not to interfere when you meet a guild member on the street, especially if the other person is on a mission.
But how did Carl recognize that it was me when I had Jay’s appearance?
“Get lost.”
Din glared at Carl with a fierce face after dropping his hand that had been holding me. His sharp eyes were so vicious, incomparably different from when he looked at Jay.
Carl looked at me and Din alternately with a somewhat absurd expression, then turned around and ran without saying anything. He must have belatedly grasped the situation.
“Not even apologizing…”
“It’s okay, Telliano-ssi. He must have mistaken me for someone else.”
Since Din with his fierce face looked ready to chase after Carl right then, I quickly grabbed his arm to soothe him. He, who had been about to dash out like a wild beast, soon became docile like a gentle lamb.
“See you tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
When I smiled warmly and mentioned our promise to meet tomorrow, Din seemed to have forgotten all about the unpleasant incident from earlier.
When I firmly declined with a wave of my white hand as he insisted on walking me home, he made a sad face. He looked so pitiful that I felt like I should say yes. But since where I had to go wasn’t Jay’s house but where Jack lived, there was no helping it.
Din waved his hand like a fool. Continuously, until the sickly figure disappeared.
