Boy Monster Chapter 77

Watching them, Prince Uichin’s youthful mischievousness and prodigal temperament suddenly popped out.

“Family Head, I hear that in Vladivostok, you took a prisoner’s finger….”

“Your Majesty! Your royal countenance is particularly radiant today. Has something auspicious happened recently?”

“You were quite a good singer, too. And talented at rewriting lyrics….”

“Your Majesty. Actually, on the way up, I saw some wild truffle mushrooms. I will yield them to you.”

Seeing Jang Hwonwoo trying so hard to hide his true self behind the polite mask from his teacher to the very end was reassuring. Indeed, he wouldn’t have to worry about their cooperation.

“I’m aware that profanity becomes commonplace when you’re among rough men, but….”

“Wild truffle mushrooms that are said to make even the bedridden rise! Would you like to see for yourself? I will guide you, please follow me!”

Jang Hwonwoo shouted resoundingly with a polite smile, but a cold sweat was surely trickling down the back of his neck by now. Prince Uichin decided to put away his youthful prodigal streak at that point.

“I will finish preparing for the act on the day of and go to Changdeokgung Palace. I will also arrange for a possible escape route and funds. On that day, the seal on the folding screen must not be broken. You understand? The power of Sa Hwelju and the folding screen must be returned to Joseon intact.”

“Of course, we will execute the illusion before the seal is broken.”

After Eunho finished his reply, the three men looked at each other and nodded. Prince Uichin, who had started down the mountain path, offered his farewell with a small smile.

“I hope the day comes soon when we can bring back the son and relatives I sent to Japan as hostages to our land. Let’s work hard.”

The king said he had to go back to his act of being lost in drink and gambling and went down the mountain first. In his retreating figure, one could glimpse the longing for the family and brothers he had lost to the enemy nation across the sea.

As Jae Eunho was carried down the mountain on the servant boy’s back, wrapped in a straw mat, he spoke in a murmuring tone.

“Now that the biological son of Emperor Gojong and the master of Sadonggung Palace has joined us, doesn’t it feel like we’ve gained a spiritual ally? Of course, after the operation, His Majesty will also forget all memories of us.”

Prince Uichin didn’t know that Eunho intended to erase the Sashimcheon family’s existence not only from the minds of the Japanese, but also from the memories of the Joseon people. It was something to be done without telling anyone. Jang Hwonwoo nodded and then replied in a grumpy tone.

“We have to make them forget completely. Especially the memories of you, sir, not even a speck the size of a grain of rice should remain. By the way, sir, am I not enough as a spiritual ally?”

“…Who on earth are you jealous of? Don’t tell me you’re jealous of the King right now?”

“Of course. Sa Yeonri, Sa Yeonri, I wish I was the only one who could say that name. The sound of the words is so pretty, Sa Yeonri. Sa Yeonri.”

The boldness with which he dismissed any criticism with words like ‘of course’ or ‘why not?’ was one facet of Jang Hwonwoo’s affable personality. From his back came the scent of his skin, a mixture of the mountain’s summer smell, a sweltering heat, and the body odor of a young man. It was a hot body. Wanting to be a little more intoxicated by that fragrance, Jae Eunho stopped their verbal sparring and leaned deeper onto his back, inhaling the living breath and youth of the man treading the earth through his nose and cheek.

Meanwhile, Jang Hwonwoo, sweating profusely while carrying Jae Eunho on his back, was seized by a strong intuition.

Someone in the royal family is hiding the Sa Hwelju bloodline.

He would have to keep an eye on the royal family even after the operation was over. Lest a situation arise where Jang Hwonwoo had to eliminate that bloodline. He must not let his guard down until the very end and must cleanly erase their memories.

Jae Eunho, a man who has lived with a rebellious will that no one could have imagined.

Even if the beginning was a wretched ambition, he was the one who reached out to me first, who poured more time and effort into me than anyone else, and who now needs me more than anyone else.

A sticky, gooey sense of connection bound Jang Hwonwoo’s heart tightly. The feeling that someone desperately needed him seized Jang Hwonwoo’s deep darkness, giving rise to obsession. That darkness was the anxiety and loneliness deeply engraved in Jang Hwonwoo’s heart.

I want to be with him. No one can take him away. Not even if it’s a Sa Hwelju. As long as I desire him, the bloodline of power will not appear….

“I still haven’t acknowledged that we’re in a romantic relationship. I need to sort out my feelings, so wait. A theory is only complete after it’s been systematized and reviewed for counter-evidence. I also have to prepare written responses to refute any criticism… Until then… it’s not….”

“Of course, of course. We do everything, but we’re still just in a master-disciple relationship. You’re absolutely right, sir.”

Jae Eunho’s cheeks twitched slightly as he chattered. Feeling Jae Eunho’s cheek and voice pressed damply against his back, a cool, unusual light once again glinted in Jang Hwonwoo’s eyes.

And now, I must possess him more fervently.

So that their bodily fluids mix deeply, so that their mucous membranes and cells are completely submerged in the wave where their two selves have mingled into one, so that they can be connected.

I must possess him, more cruelly.

The sound of the monsoon rain kept him from sleep. Jae Eunho turned to look at Jang Hwonwoo lying next to him. The family head’s spacious bedroom exuded a long history and dignity even in the darkness. Furniture decorated with gold and mother-of-pearl, weapons passed down through generations, and Buddhist paintings with a detailed yet grand style guarded the room.

This spacious and luxurious place was their temporary residence. After the operation, they would sell this mansion to the royal family and set out to find a new home.

The bed he shared with Jang Hwonwoo was as cozy as the small gudeul-floored room that had existed before the mansion was renovated in the Japanese style. Jang Hwonwoo’s tall back rose and fell with his breath. Deep in sleep, his lips moved.

“…cold. Godmother.”

Jae Eunho quietly brought his cheek closer and listened to his mumble.

“It’s cold… Godmother. I was… I was wrong….”

Jang Hwonwoo sleep-talked in a gloomy voice. Jae Eunho felt a throbbing ache pinch his heart. He hadn’t known until he started sleeping with him. That the boy always had the same nightmare.

He would often say he was cold in his sleep. At ten, when his Hwelju powers manifested, until he came to the Sashimcheon mansion, Jang Hwonwoo had lived with a servant’s family, grateful for being fed and housed. His father never showed his face, and he didn’t know his mother’s. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had been kicked out at any moment from the house, which was on the verge of starvation. Even if the child had starved to death, his father wouldn’t have even doubted the servant’s lie that he died of an illness. The child lived every day being beaten, worrying about cold and hunger. He had to beg the servant couple for food and a place to sleep just to survive day by day.

After learning that Jang Hwonwoo had the same nightmare, Jae Eunho would often wake up and listen to him. When he muttered in his sleep, he would stay by his head for a long time, stroking his forehead.

“…It’s cold. I was wrong….”

It was summer, and with the rain falling ceaselessly, the room was humid. There was no way he could be cold, covered by a blanket. Eunho gently wrapped his arms around Jang Hwonwoo, who was lying on his side. His back and shoulders were too broad to be held in one arm. The body heat that came into his embrace was scorching.

Eunho kissed Jang Hwonwoo’s earlobe and stroked his forehead.

“Is it okay now? Are you warm?”

Jang Hwonwoo’s body, which had been trembling and stiff from the heat, slowly relaxed. Jae Eunho stroked the back of his hand and whispered softly.

“Are you not cold anymore?”

“Yes… I won’t… do it again.”

“……”

Eunho buried the tip of his nose, tingling sharply, into Jang Hwonwoo’s hot shoulder. A hot and strong scent emanated. Eunho kissed his cheek and ear again and whispered calmly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay….”

Jang Hwonwoo finally fell into a peaceful sleep. Forgetting his sleep-talking, he began to breathe softly and evenly. It was hard to believe this was the same man who, after coming down from the mountain and being secretly taken to an inn, had pushed Eunho to endless climaxes, his face so innocent. His closed eyelashes were dark and long.

Jae Eunho kissed Jang Hwonwoo’s cheek one last time, then pulled his back into an embrace and buried his forehead there.

A wave that would shake Jae Eunho’s life to its core was crashing in. Eunho could feel the change that had occurred within him. A man who had lived for a mere seventeen years had brought about a change in the life of a man who had lived for thirty-one. There was an emotion that had engulfed Eunho’s heart, who had lived only honing the blade of revenge, like a tsunami.

The true name of that tsunami was love, but until then, Jae Eunho had only thought of its name as responsibility.

‘I’ll protect you. No matter what happens.’

Jang Hwonwoo had noticed that Jae Eunho had approached him with some kind of motive. But he accepted Jae Eunho’s ill intentions. And he gave Eunho everything he wanted. He became a Japanese citizen and rose to the position Eunho wanted. He carried out the operation Eunho wanted and offered his blood and sweat. He gave his youth. He taught him how to dance and taught him true sexual love. All just to win Jae Eunho’s heart. To become the one and only special person to Jae Eunho.

Jae Eunho was not unaware. Of the fact that he would never again meet someone who would give themselves to him so unconditionally. No one could ever be this blind to Jae Eunho. Not any person he would ever meet in the future.

After his parents were executed, Jae Eunho had been driven by the sole thought that he had to keep his wits about him to survive. He endured everything alone, calculating and studying so there would be no mistakes in his conduct. Relying on someone else was out of the question. But Jang Hwonwoo alone was the person who broke all those rules.

He was ashamed. All Jae Eunho had ever given him were scribbles about his love life, full of crossed-out lines.

‘So now, I will make you happier than you have ever made me.’

Within his arms, Jang Hwonwoo’s body and life force breathed. Jae Eunho repeated to himself in overwhelming emotion.

The boy who took beatings for me and spent grueling days under the family head for over a decade. The man whose thoughts are eighty percent wicked thoughts of sex, but who silently paves the way I want to go.

I will make sure your life is glorious. This is my responsibility… At the end of that vow, Eunho even came to think that it wouldn’t matter if Jang Hwonwoo eventually left him. Could you love me to the end, me who must regularly copulate with Sa Hwelju? You might not be able to bear it, but…. Is there any need to worry about this? You will be free. You have a childish heart for me now, but you will soon greet a more passionate youth in a liberated land, and you will meet countless lovers. You will soon forget me.

The thought that his heart would move on to another Yeonri even made Jae Eunho feel lighter. Without even considering his own life without him, he became happy at the hope that Jang Hwonwoo’s bright future would open up.

In a liberated land, on a spring day with plum blossoms fluttering, if I could just see you smiling with a normal lover… I am not afraid of the operation a few days from now…. No matter what happens, I will make you happy. That is my duty for having used the young you.

This tsunami that caused a huge change within Eunho was a love that Jae Eunho could not control. But Jae Eunho did not realize it. He considered it his final responsibility towards the young man and a reverence for the life of the being named Jang Hwonwoo. Thinking this, he let a tear fall on his cheek, on his tanned skin.

If I lose you, I won’t be able to bear it. This world without you will become an empty world. You are, Hwonwoo….

You are now more precious than my freedom and my homeland.

I will protect you, even if I have to risk everything I have. My young boy… my eternal Hwelju….

Letting you into my life is the only reason I was born.

I’ll protect you.

No matter what, I will protect you. I promise.

Jae Eunho pressed another kiss on the tear he had shed. With a vow to dedicate his all to the boy in his arms.