Boy Monster Chapter 7

An arrogant ease that looked down on everyone and sharp eyes evoked power and fear. A deep, slashed scar on one cheek contrasted with his cold, delicate features. Lim Geonhwi replied in a polite tone.

“Rather than a lover, he’s… mine.”

“I never thought I’d hear such words from the Director. How cheesy.”

“I prefer that expression. ‘Lover’ doesn’t imply ownership as clearly.”

At Lim Geonhwi’s words, the room erupted in exclamations. The Blue House official continued the case briefing.

“While other Yeonri’s mental resonance is limited to their own Hwelju, Jae Eunho’s resonance is omnidirectional. It’s been reported that he was selected as a SaYeonri due to his superior resonance ability. His ability has further developed through repeated reincarnations, and according to current findings, he can resonate with tens of millions of people simultaneously…”

“If he reincarnates one more time, his resonance range will be even wider, won’t it?”

In the replayed video, Jae Eunho’s profile appeared, his face tilted towards the sky. His slowly opening eyes were immersed in a dreamlike state. His mouth slightly parted as he exhaled, a soft “ha,” into the air. A strange atmosphere filled the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters. Lim Geonhwi tapped his desk nervously with the end of his fountain pen. A burning desire rose, seeping through the uniform that encased his body.

“…He’s a coveted weapon.”

Someone licked their lips, giving their assessment of Jae Eunho. Lim Geonhwi quietly rose from his seat.

“I apologize for interrupting the briefing, but I must leave for an urgent meeting with the NIS. The military satellite proposal and HID1performance report will be handled by the Brigadier General. Wrap things up well.”

“Yes, sir!”

The officers stood and bowed deeply. The sound of polished shoes echoed loudly down the hallway, as large as his feet and broad shoulders. Lim Geonhwi, now in the elevator, stared at himself in the mirror and picked up his phone.

The middle-aged man, with a physique so solid that he seemed as if he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a knife, possessed sharp eyes that made it difficult to guess his age. As a former special forces soldier who had followed an elite promotion course within the military, a chilling and cold venom clung to his features. Only cynicism lingered in his gray eyes.

“…….”

Jae Eunho didn’t answer the phone. Lim Geonhwi’s brow furrowed subtly as he looked down at the screen.

:･⚜️⊹.️

Jae Eunho stared at the name “Lim Geonhwi,” highlighted red in his call log. Lim Geonhwi never made multiple calls. Leaving one missed call was always enough. Eunho had to obey Lim Geonhwi’s calls more than those from the NIS.

A long-awaited drinking party was taking place at S.E.T.U. headquarters. It was a double celebration: the ousting of the minister and the apprehension of the Philippine drug cartel. Deputy Director Oh Jigeun approached and plopped down on the sofa next to him. Jae Eunho spoke without taking his eyes off his phone.

“Stop shapeshifting.”

“Aw. You can’t fool the Captain.”

As expected, it was Choi Jungkyung, a first-grade Poong Hwelju. He seemed to be in a good mood, thanks to the successful removal of the minister. Choi Jungkyung, having returned to his original form after undoing his disguise, glanced at Eunho’s phone.

“That bastard’s been throwing tantrums a lot lately.”

Jae Eunho put his phone in his pocket. Choi Jungkyung was the one he was most open with among the Hwelju belonging to the S.E.T.U. special forces team. He was also the only one vaguely aware of Eunho’s relationship with Lim Geonhwi. Still, Eunho had no intention of confiding in him completely. If he knew the details, he wouldn’t look at Eunho with the same eyes.

Choi Jungkyung carefully spoke up.

“Are you okay?”

“…What do you mean? What’s not okay?”

Eunho carefully scanned Choi Jungkyung’s demeanor, wondering if their relationship with Lim Geonhwi had been discovered. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like that’s what he meant.

“You’ve been having a lot of sleep paralysis lately, too. Is it because of the lunar eclipse this year? Just… if it’s hard, talk to someone, have a drink.”

“I don’t have time to be struggling, I’m too busy catching bad guys. Don’t I look okay?”

Choi Jungkyung expressed his concern again to the nonchalant Jae Eunho.

“Looking too okay is the problem. …I don’t understand you, Eunho. Sometimes you seem genuinely okay, and other times it all seems like an act…”

Jae Eunho ignored Choi Jungkyung’s words and stood up.

“They changed the BGM without permission.”

Changing the subject, Jae Eunho entered the conference room where the drinking party was being held. As Eunho stepped inside, the drunken Hwelju and Yeonri waved their wrists. The prayer beads emitted light, creating a scene resembling a club. Eunho coldly turned on the lights and turned off the club music.

Lighting a cigarette, Eunho connected a different song to the Bluetooth speaker, ignoring the complaints of the agents. When swing jazz music reminiscent of the 1920s and 30s began to play, the Hwelju and Yeonri grew more disgruntled.

“Stop playing old songs!”

“Well, who told you to set up shop and drink at headquarters when I suggested going for Hanwoo omakase? I’m the DJ here.”

Eunho sat next to Monk Chogwang. Hyeon Jaewoong, who was watching Eunho from afar as he sat down, exhaling cigarette smoke, quickly grabbed his glass and moved to the seat next to Eunho. Monk Chogwang, seated at the head of the table, raised his voice.

“Now that the Captain is here, let’s all have a drink, S.E.T.U. special forces team, inheritors of the spirit of the Sashimcheon family. Shall we use the NIS motto for the toast?”

“We work in the shadows and aim for the light!”

As Monk Chogwang took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, numerous prayer beads and the talisman tattoos covering his right arm were revealed. He disguised himself as the Vice Minister of Justice and frequented the Blue House, so he usually wore a suit and wig instead of monk’s robes. He held an important position in the Blue House National Security Office, recognized for his long-standing patriotic service, political ability, and spiritual power as a shaman.

“It was you who ousted the minister and put me back in charge of S.E.T.U. I will do my best to protect your rights and interests, so I hope you will continue to shoulder the darkest shadows of Korea, alongside Captain Jae Eunho.”

Monk Chogwang, incredibly tall and thin like a stilt, was still vigorous despite being well over sixty. He was the oldest and most experienced among the current patriotic monks and had been appointed to the Eight Provinces Military Commissioner position of Monk Seosan and Monk Samyeong long ago.

His face was covered in pockmarks from having suffered severely from smallpox as a child. His hands and limbs were the same. People seeing him for the first time were often startled or couldn’t look him straight in the eye. However, to the S.E.T.U agents who had known Monk Chogwang for a long time, his bumpy skin was not a source of fear.

Deputy Director Oh Jigeun, also in high spirits, kept drinking. The fast swing jazz music fueled the excitement. Eunho, deeply inhaling cigarette smoke, called over the Ji Hwelju and Ji Yeonri.

“You two! Come here for a second.”

Jae Eunho’s eyes, suspiciously glancing back and forth between the two men, silently gleamed.

Eunho abruptly lifted the Ji Yeonri’s shirt. The symbol of the Northern King Bishamonten, representing the Ji Hwelju, shimmered faintly beneath his skin. A slimy liquid luminesced beneath the skin’s surface, illuminating the pattern. The viscous fluid, spread within his body, circulated around his abdomen.

If the bonding was successful, the Hwelju’s fluid should spread from the center of the body to the chest and buttocks, causing the pattern, reflected in the light, to shimmer translucently. This was a trace of bonding that Jae Eunho, who didn’t have a Hwelju, could never attain. Though, it probably wouldn’t look very aesthetically pleasing on Jae Eunho’s 180cm frame.

After intercourse, Hwelju and Yeonri became increasingly aroused only by each other, and the longer the relationship, the higher the resonance gauge. Moreover, when the bodies of Hwelju and Yeonri were continuously connected, a special phenomenon occurred. Their bodies gradually adapted to each other. They would secrete a sticky mucus from their genitals, giving the sensation of sensitive mucous membranes attaching and detaching, or suction bumps would form on the inner walls, developing an addiction to sex between the two.

Choi Jungkyung, a Poong Hwelju, summarized his sexual relationship with his Yeonri with one sentence: “Only those who have tried it know the taste, and you can’t quit until you die.” Since there had never been a case where a bonded Hwelju and Yeonri stopped having sex and severed their Cheonjiyeon, it was certainly a heavenly pleasure. This, too, was a sensation Jae Eunho would never know.

In any case, seeing that the mark of ownership left by the Ji Hwelju ended at his abdomen, it was clear that their last sexual encounter had been a while ago. Jae Eunho turned on a dedicated app and held it out. The Ji Yeonri hesitantly scanned his fingerprint, and the analysis results appeared.

[Resonance Gauge 78%]

“Didn’t you say there’s no need to worry about the resonance gauge? I told you to keep it above 90%. What happened?”

“…We’re on a sex strike. He’s terrible.”

“What!”

The Ji Hwelju’s eyes widened as he glared at his side. The startled Ji Yeonri fidgeted with his striped t-shirt, then suddenly burst out in frustration.

“What, fuck! It hurts like hell, and he just mindlessly shoves it in. He doesn’t even touch me…! He’s either popping some weird pills or something because he’s always hard, even after he cums, he’s hard again…!”

Loud laughter erupted from the drunken party. The Ji Hwelju covered the Yeonri’s mouth and dragged him out of the conference room, yelling, “You’re dead!” Choi Jungkyung laughed heartily.

“Captain, do you have to teach bedroom skills, too?”

“Yeah, when the man himself hasn’t used any in a hundred years.”

Hyeon Jaewoong coughed several times, then nervously asked a question, his face flushed red to his ears.

“But I’m really curious who Captain Eunho’s Hwelju will be.”

Hyeon Jaewoong, without a Yeonri, wasn’t yet an officially registered agent at S.E.T.U. Naturally, he didn’t know the secrets of Eunho’s past. As the atmosphere began to stiffen, Choi Jungkyung used his humor.

“Well, it’s not you.”

“Th-That’s not what I meant! I mean, I’m curious about what kind of style the Captain likes! Everyone’s curious, right? You are curious, aren’t you?”

Even if Captain Jae Eunho had a terrible past, he would eventually date someone. Although they hadn’t asked until now, everyone seemed curious. Eunho flicked off the ash from his cigarette and smiled.

“My style? I have a definite preference. I like them slutty. Extremely slutty. They have to exude a primal, animalistic charm, more beast than human.”

• Defense Security Command’s special forces unit