Boy Monster Chapter 33

“To think you’d eat jajangmyeon after starving for two days.”

“Jajangmyeon always tastes best after you’ve suffered. Didn’t you know? I’m old-fashioned.”

“I knew as soon as I saw your glasses. You probably like old songs too, right?”

“I do. They remind me of the few friends I have.”

It was peaceful while they ate jajangmyeon together at the Chinese restaurant. Shi Taehyun even got his hand slapped by Jae Eunho for trying to wipe the sauce off his chin. That must have all been a ploy to put Eunho at ease. In the hospital lobby, he began to torment Eunho in earnest.

“Is your sex life old-fashioned too? Is that why you’ve been with your lover, Lim Geonhwi, for so long?”

Despite his denials, Shi Taehyun was convinced that Jae Eunho was in a voluntary same-sex relationship with Lim Geonhwi. To be fair, even if he had done a background check, it would be difficult to know the intimate details, so it was understandable that he would let Eunho’s words go in one ear and out the other.

“That guy has money and power, and a face as handsome as a vampire count’s. He could live his life changing pretty women whenever he wants. Why is he like that with you, teacher? I know you two even had a wedding at a hotel in 1992, how amazing is the sexual chemistry that you’ve stuck together for 20 years.”

The man, lying back expansively on the waiting room bench with his hands clasped behind his head, nudged Eunho with his elbow and whispered.

“Ah, I’m not saying anything bad about you, teacher. I prefer dirty to clean, you know. It’s more savory.”

Son of a bitch. Should I just run out right now, forget about the registration, and find another hospital? Shi Taehyun leaned towards Eunho, whose insides were boiling, and continued his mockery.

“And yet you miss the boy who became a monster? You want to see him that badly?”

“……”

“Well, it has been a long time. Even if you miss a dead person, you have to keep fucking so you don’t get cobwebs in your hole. Of course, of course.”

“We’re friends. The wedding is a ridiculous rumor. Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi is a man whose life’s pleasure is collecting rare items. I’m a rare item who’s been to the underworld 7 times, so he keeps me as a friend even though I’m far below his status. We’re nothing.”

He had no intention of giving any information about being held hostage by the bioweaponization project. The hotel opening banquet in 1992 was also practically a wedding announcement, but he added a lie. Shi Taehyun seemed completely uninterested in Eunho’s explanation.

“Aha… is that so.”

A sneer seemed to pass through his languidly open eyes. Eunho found Shi Taehyun’s gaze, which was scanning his body, burdensome. The thought that the man was picturing Eunho naked and having sex in his mind made his insides grow hot, just like when he was angry. It was better not to look into those unbearable eyes. He turned his head to a distant place and ignored the man. Just then, Jae Eunho’s name was called from inside the doctor’s office.

He came out of the examination room after receiving treatment for his big toenail. Shi Taehyun was loitering by the hallway connecting to another hospital wing, holding Eunho’s jacket. The adjacent building, which did not offer night services, was dark with its lights off. Shi Taehyun, who was standing in front of the dark automatic door, crouched down in front of Jae Eunho.

“So, your plan is to dare to change the era and fate before the lunar eclipse, and then die?”

Shi Taehyun’s hands gripped his ankles. It was to check the treatment on his toenail, but it felt chillingly like he was trying to immobilize Eunho. The man’s hot body temperature seeped into his skin.

“I have nothing to lose now. I have nowhere left to retreat. Even if Hwonwoo is alive, I have to do this to be with him, and even if what you say is a lie, I will do it to disappear from the world peacefully.”

“By digging through the minds of the people who get in your way as you please?”

“I will dig and tear them out.”

“You are truly, truly wicked.”

A flash of light swirled in an arc in the pupils of the man who lifted his face.

“I think I just understood a little why that moron Hwonwoo fell for you.”

“……”

“What’s the plan?”

I need to fully release my abilities and neutralize the defense devices that the higher-ups have. My and the higher-ups’ brain electrical signals and wave control chips operate on a satellite network. I have to shut down all the satellites in the Seoul area and cook their consciousness.

…He had no intention of giving that answer, of course.

“To think you’d tell me everything if I asked. You’ve tailed me for a long time, but don’t you know me too well?”

Shi Taehyun just stared up at Eunho without any particular reaction. His thick, dark eyebrows remained peacefully in place.

“Are you going to do it alone? That rebellion?”

He didn’t understand why he was asking such an obvious question. With whom was he supposed to share the responsibility for this dangerous task? When he looked down with questioning eyes, Shi Taehyun let go of Eunho’s ankles and stood up.

“I can go anywhere in the dark. I can become anyone. That’s how I infiltrated the NIS.”

“……”

“Let’s go to my place. It’s low, so you won’t see a city view, but there’s a man who’s good at both old-fashioned night work and new-style sex. I have a lot of old song LPs too.”

Eighty percent of the words the man had uttered so far had been dirty jokes or sexual harassment, but this one didn’t sound like a joke. On the other hand, it also seemed like he was testing whether Jae Eunho trusted him or not.

Because the dark, low voice was more sinister than seductive, the fear of what might happen if he followed was greater. The instinct to avoid someone who would harm him was a more developed nature in an animal with long-honed sensitivity like Jae Eunho.

Also, he had no intention of opening his heart to the man until he knew for sure the monster’s whereabouts. Jae Eunho flatly refused.

“No way. The control has gotten stronger. If they find out I’m meeting privately with a fugitive on furlough, the higher-ups won’t stand for it.”

“Then where are you going to go.”

“I plan to stay at the NIS headquarters for the time being.”

“The NIS basement? Is it safe there?”

You’re less safe. As he retorted inwardly, Shi Taehyun began to back away casually.

“I’ll trust you. Tomorrow night at 11. That manhole in Itaewon.”

The man, wearing an electric company’s bomber jacket, waved his hand over his white bleached hair.

“We’re going to meet the monster, so come with your hole well-loosened, Sa Yeonri-nim.”

Shi Taehyun clicked his tongue, making a “kkak” sound, and sauntered down the stairs. Jae Eunho, waiting for the elevator, glanced back at the spot where Shi Taehyun had disappeared three or four times for no reason.

“He always trails off ambiguously and disappears. It’s not even a trailer. ……Keeps making me think about it.”

The marks from his hands were still on both his ankles where the man had held them.

“Why are his hands so big. If his hands and feet are this big….”

Jae Eunho, who was grumbling while looking at the reddened, warmed marks, cleared his throat with a “hmm hmm,” his ears turning red. It was because he had remembered the man’s chat ID, which he had forgotten for a few days.

After leaving the hospital, Jae Eunho had no intention of returning to that high-rise hotel-style apartment. He didn’t want to see the door with the piece of metal that had been cut off by the chainsaw again. It was goodbye now to the house that had confined Eunho for so long.

:･⚜️⊹.️

When he entered the S.E.T.U headquarters in the NIS basement, it was a chaotic scene bustling with people. Armed police were stationed and patrolling among the people with S.E.T.U ID cards around their necks, moving back and forth between the hallways and rooms.

A police officer bowed his head and greeted Jae Eunho. It was a scene he couldn’t understand. Monk Jiguk appeared in front of Jae Eunho, who was looking around the scene where numerous Hweljus and Yeonris were being controlled by force.

“You’re here now? How are you. Are you safe?”

Monk Jiguk placed Eunho’s rosary, wrapped in a fine cloth, in his hand.

“Thank you, monk. By any chance, the favor I asked for earlier….”

“The mission bag? Jaewoong will bring it.”

There was only one thing he needed to get from the residence, and that was the photo album of film pictures containing Eunho’s life so far and the monster’s end. When he asked for the briefcase containing the album to be collected, the answer was that they had sent Hyeon Jaewoong. Eunho, who nodded, pointed to the crowded underground corridor and asked.

“What’s going on?”

Monk Chogwang, who was watching the armed police with his arms crossed in the middle of the corridor, saw Eunho and ran over in a hurry.

“Your attempted kidnapping case has been designated a national state of emergency. Until the matter is resolved, all Hwelju and Yeonri, including S.E.T.U agents, must stay here in this temporary camp. …It was the decision of the director, the Army Chief of Staff, so I had no choice but to agree.”

In short, it meant that they had designated the NIS basement as a temporary shelter and confined all the Hwelju and Yeonri. It was a plan worthy of Lim Geonhwi. Monk Chogwang asked in an urgent voice.

“Anyway, you were with that murderer? And that murderer even found evidence of a biochemical terror attack. What happened? Are you okay?”

“…Yes, I’m fine. The fact that he found that evidence is unusual, so I sent him off for now to investigate further.”

“Ha… what on earth is going on. It’s an unprecedented security emergency.”

Monk Chogwang paced his spot anxiously. His upright and tall body turned back towards Eunho.

“Was there any talk about Sa Hwelju?”

“……”

Monk Jiguk was also waiting for Eunho’s answer with the expectation that the claim that Sa Hwelju was alive might be true. It was not yet the stage to tell them. Eunho shook his head.

“There was none at all. I’m also being careful about giving information from my side first, so we’re just having a big power struggle.”

“Phew… if you see any hints about Sa Hwelju, you must report to me immediately. It’ll be a big problem if the existence of Sa Hwelju reaches the ears of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. You know we have to handle this quietly on our end without the higher-ups finding out, right?”

Monk Chogwang looked at Eunho with resolute eyes.

“You, of all people, should know better.”

Eunho bowed his head and swallowed his wounds. It’s okay, I’ll meet him soon anyway. The blood-stained tragedy is just a wound from the past.

Tomorrow at 11 o’clock, under the ground of Seoul, Jae Eunho would meet the boy who had died. Had Shi Taehyun tied up and imprisoned that monster? Would communication be possible? There were more than one or two questions. The thought that all the questions would be answered tomorrow felt like he had found a ray of hope.