# Chapter 168
“Kang Taesung.”
When Lee Hwan called his name again in a surprised voice, Taesung looked him over completely.
The unbuttoned shirt, rolled-up sleeves. The reclined passenger seat. Somehow Taesung’s eyes seemed to darken at the sight of Lee Hwan sprawled out, making him flinch and sit up slightly.
Taesung’s jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth.
“Did you come looking for your lover?”
Kang Dongha mocked, apparently feeling quite secure behind his civilian shield. Taesung fixed his gaze on him without responding. The atmosphere turned chilly. That confrontational voice stopped right there.
As the chatter ceased, Taesung suddenly picked up Lee Hwan’s phone that was placed on the dashboard.
Click.
The case came off, and a white business card fluttered down onto his hand.
[Kang Dongying]
The neat handwriting on the white paper was particularly eye-catching.
“…”
Lee Hwan looked up at Taesung with an awkward smile. How the hell did this guy notice that? The timing couldn’t have been worse for that business card to appear while he was with Kang Dongha.
Crunch.
Taesung crumpled the card loudly. Lee Hwan fully raised his body, which had been half-sitting, with a surprised expression.
“…How did you know I was here?”
“We met like this before too.”
His tone suggested it wasn’t even worth pondering.
Well, even in Lee Hwan’s memories, these troublesome brothers appeared here and there. During the cycles they were present, he and Taesung must have been constantly separated.
Had he rushed over because he was afraid it might happen again? Afraid that Lee Hwan would abandon him again and attach himself to this idiot?
“Nothing happened.”
Perhaps because the atmosphere had become too hostile, Kang Dongha, who had maintained a cold expression throughout, slipped in. He still seemed to think Lee Hwan and Taesung were involved in that way.
Taesung didn’t seem particularly interested in listening to him. He simply scanned the two people sitting in the car once more, then firmly grabbed Lee Hwan’s arm. Lee Hwan flinched in surprise. Taesung’s hands were always hot, regardless of summer or winter.
Taesung rubbed the soft inside of Lee Hwan’s arm with his thumb and tossed the crumpled business card back into the car. The small white paper ball rolled across the backseat.
Naturally, no one thought to pick it up in front of him.
“Let’s go.”
Taesung suggested with utmost conciseness. Despite his rigidly frozen face, his voice was gentle. However, as if suppressing something welling up inside him, the end of his words broke low.
Just then, a car passed by, shining its headlights. In the bright light, one of his pupils was revealed to be dilated like a predator that had caught its prey. Lee Hwan sighed deeply and looked into his eyes.
‘Sigh… fuck.’
His eyes were unhinged. This was the first time since the regression that Taesung had looked like this. No wonder Kang Dongha had stopped his provocations and was behaving submissively. Must have been survival instinct.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Lee Hwan answered readily, patting his hand. Though he was displeased with Taesung’s sudden intrusion and attempt to ruin things, he had no intention of pointing out his behavior and arguing in front of Kang Dongha.
As he followed Taesung out of the car, Kang Dongha also seemed to have no intention of stopping them, gesturing for them to get lost. But just before closing the door, in that moment, he gazed intently at Lee Hwan.
Kang Dongha’s index finger tapped his lips before pointing to the car window. A neatly placed mobile phone number, either his or his secretary’s, was attached.
Lee Hwan raised his eyebrows to indicate acknowledgment before closing the door with a bang.
‘…Success.’
Despite the interference, Kang Dongha had somehow agreed to join.
* * *
Taesung’s car had been carelessly abandoned near the Tamitree bar. Only after Lee Hwan got in and closed the door did Taesung’s excitement subside.
He thoroughly stroked down Lee Hwan’s arm before pressing the tip of his nose against his wrist. As if checking whether he was safe, and whether he had used his ability.
He was so excited that he didn’t even seem to realize how strange his behavior was. A ticklish sensation brushed the inside of his wrist. As a chilling sensation wrapped around the back of his neck, Lee Hwan began to feel feverish, like someone who had been drinking.
Should he tell him to stop, or just let it be? Lee Hwan watched his antics with a disgruntled expression, the tips of his ears completely red.
“If I’ve done something to upset you… I’ll apologize. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to completely exclude you from this matter.”
Taesung stared at Lee Hwan with his head half-lowered, only his eyes looking up.
“But Kang Dongha is not an option. He’s not a proper human being.”
As he spoke, he nailed it down as if there wasn’t even any value in reconsidering. Lee Hwan made a troubled expression, since he didn’t recall saying he trusted that guy in the first place.
“I know. He’s not trustworthy.”
“Kang Dongying is even more off-limits. He’s the type of person who can’t even be killed and disposed of.”
“I know that guy isn’t right in the head either.”
Lee Hwan was nodding along with his words when at some point he paused and clenched his fist. A vein rose prominently along the inside of the wrist Taesung was holding.
“…Kill?”
Taesung’s mouth closed firmly. His silence in these situations was essentially equivalent to confirmation. Damn it. Lee Hwan closed his eyes, his mind in confusion.
‘What the hell have you been doing… Coming out like that, did you think I wouldn’t figure out about the regression?’
Even after opening his eyes again, Taesung still had the tip of his nose against his wrist. His breath irritatingly stimulated the delicate skin.
Lee Hwan felt as if Taesung wanted to bite his wrist. As if he might leave teeth marks any moment, Taesung was staring at Lee Hwan with eyes full of longing that didn’t match his dry expression.
If gazes had temperature, by now his whole body would be scalded raw.
At that thought, a dangerous sensation stirred his heart. Kill and dispose of someone… Was it just a coincidence that memories of being confined by him in various places suddenly came to mind?
When he withdrew his hand like a mimosa, Taesung’s moist breath touched the inside of his wrist. Lee Hwan’s fingertips began to tingle slightly at Taesung’s strange atmosphere and behavior.
His stomach felt tight as if he had swallowed a fireball.
He seemed almost entranced. Was the alcohol he had drunk earlier now numbing his head? Lee Hwan blankly looked down at Taesung before lightly touching his face with his hand. His smooth cheek, damp with heat, fit perfectly in his hand.
Taesung turned his head like a disobedient dog and buried his mouth in Lee Hwan’s hand. Something soft accidentally touched his palm and then pulled away.
“…Don’t do useless things. Fire is so noticeable.”
In the early days of the monster wave, there were many Awakened criminals. It wasn’t like Lee Hwan had no experience capturing humans. So if absolutely necessary, if his life was truly in peril, he could string up and slaughter a person or two who had broken the world.
Still, he hadn’t meant to say something strange.
“If a situation arises where it’s necessary… even if we have to kill, let me do it.”
As if his mind was half-melted, such insane words flowed out. It wasn’t the apocalypse—who was there to kill?
‘…’
Crazy bastard. Since learning about the repeated regressions, he felt as if he himself was becoming increasingly strange too. Lee Hwan frowned and stroked Taesung’s face again.
HONK-!
Just then, a car horn sounded from somewhere. The tremendous noise hit his ears, and only then did he snap back to his senses like someone waking from sleep.
Taesung remained still with his face pressed against Lee Hwan’s hand. Lee Hwan withdrew his hand with a start. His palm instantly cooled, and disappointment flashed across Taesung’s face.
Eyes that simply gazed at him endlessly. His heart seemed to drop and rise again at those pupils tinged with a hint of obsession.
Throughout the drive back, Lee Hwan blankly looked out the window. The heat that had enveloped his body had mostly subsided, but his heart kept beating unstably, lifting and dropping his chest.
He kept imagining Taesung’s teeth digging into his arm. Each time, a chill ran from the back of his head, raising goosebumps and tensing his spine. Taesung’s body heat that had touched his hand earlier. Taesung smelling his scent.
That awkward act strangely and pleasantly constricted his breathing. Come to think of it, he really had choked him before.
In fragmented memories, the sensation of gasping in thin air came back to him. It seemed very strange that the person who could strangle and kill him would drop everything and rush to him if he wanted, entrusting his face to Lee Hwan’s hands.
Moreover, what was most ridiculous was that from some point, he had become increasingly conscious of physical contact with Taesung. Whenever they touched, his insides would churn, creating an uncomfortable sensation.
Yet it wasn’t unpleasant. Rather, if anything…
“I just kept Kang Dongying’s business card.”
Lee Hwan broke the silence.
“I thought it might be useful if something happened to you.”
Most of the major incidents that happen to him would probably be orchestrated by that side. He wasn’t sure if this side was the good side, but he could roughly be certain that the other side was the shitty one. Normally, someone you couldn’t find even if you searched all over Naru had their contact information fall into your hands, so he had just kept it safe.
“If something happens to me, just save yourself. I’ll buy time.”
Taesung answered resolutely. That statement was ominously meaningful, so Lee Hwan fired back just as firmly.
“No, I’m going to chase you to the end. Live carefully. So we don’t both die.”
Then he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, as if sulking. Though he couldn’t see anything, he could feel Taesung’s gaze.
* * *
Now, no more sounds were heard in the middle of the night. Still, Lee Hwan habitually went to Taesung’s room. In truth, Taesung couldn’t fall asleep alone. Too many memories wouldn’t let him go, even in dreams.
With a thud, he sat down next to Taesung and turned his head to see neat, straight closed eyes under disheveled hair. Asleep, Taesung didn’t open his eyes crookedly or say unpleasant things.
‘When you close your mouth, it’s frustrating, and when you open it, you talk nonsense.’
Silly fellow. If they had met through work, he would have cut ties with him long ago. Before the regression, he had been perfect in every situation, so why was he becoming increasingly troublesome?
Yet even while mentally criticizing him, Lee Hwan was holding Taesung’s hand as if entranced. The warm body heat characteristic of a sleeping person felt welcomingly pleasant.
‘…’
A strange sensation came over him. It felt like he was committing a wrong. Wasn’t this kind of behavior not supposed to happen between friends?
But by the time he thought of pulling back, Lee Hwan had already buried his face in Taesung’s hand like flowing water. He overlapped his own hand on top of the large hand, quietly feeling the warmth transmitted to his cheek.
When Taesung twitched his hand in his sleep, Lee Hwan’s hair stood stiffly on end with a chill. He blankly stared at the bed sheet and thought.
Something was wrong. It seemed like he might have gone crazy through the regressions.
