Mother Tape Chapter 7.3

He could not remember it well. Wisoo’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“I am not saying anything about that.”

He murmured gently, and with a surprisingly rough touch, he pinched Wisoo’s nipple. Ah, a moan escaped. It hurt as if a core was forming inside. Can muscle aches even happen in a place like that?

Before he knew it, his knees were also caught by Jaekwon’s hands and gently pushed apart. As space was made, he reached his hand below Wisoo and fiddled with the inside.

“I intentionally washed it less thoroughly.”

“Ah…”

It certainly seemed that way. As he slowly spread the opening with his fingers, he could feel something that had pooled inside gush out with a squish.

“Can I do it more? It’s soft.”

“More? Ah, isn’t it swollen?”

“It is a little swollen.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Not really. My sex drive is a bit high. Still, I am not usually this persistent… Saying this to you, Seon Wisoo, makes it sound like I am lying.”

Giggling, he settled between Wisoo’s legs and, with his now erect member, rubbed it against Wisoo’s groin, whispering.

“I will just hold your hand and sleep.”

“…Lies.”

“The most obvious lies are often the most effective.”

“You said you don’t lie…”

“If Seon Wisoo says he doesn’t want to, I won’t do it, so it’s not a lie. Tell me if you don’t want to. I will not do anything Seon Wisoo dislikes. You know how to say it, right?”

Wisoo gulped. Then, instead of saying he did not want to, he reached out his arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer.

“Mmm… It’s strange. This feels like being submerged in water.”

True to his words, Jaekwon delved inside Wisoo as if he were swimming.

His bottom part opened up very softly, taking him in. Wisoo let out a sound of satisfaction. His lower belly felt warm.

He began to rock slowly. It was strenuous but not agonizing. It seemed like he would not feel any aversion to this in the future either.

❖ ❖ ❖

The next day, despite all the noise, Wisoo slept deeply without waking up once. It was only when evening came that he woke up and realized the bathroom remodeling was finished. The sleeping Wisoo did not know, but it was a new company that Jaekwon had found.

It seemed they had also swiftly installed an air conditioner while working on the bathroom. The humid air had retreated completely, and a cool breeze wafted through the interior.

The bathroom was a suitable reflection of both Jaekwon’s and Wisoo’s tastes. Standing behind Wisoo, who was looking around the bathroom with wide eyes, Jaekwon nodded in satisfaction.

“Fortunately, we were able to get the tiles right away. They’re pretty, right? It has a bit of a Mediterranean feel. They are from Italy. Have you ever been to Italy?”

There was no way he could have been. He did not even have a passport. Wisoo shook his head and stepped into the bathroom.

Soft ivory tiles were appropriately matched with deep blue tiles as accents. Watching Wisoo trace the patterns with his hand, Jaekwon thought to himself that it was a good thing he had it demolished.

As long as the fact that Seon Wisoo is here does not change, wouldn’t this house become quite a desirable place to live if he remodels it like this?

The important thing is the fact that Seon Wisoo is here. Jaekwon was instinctively rejecting it, so he could not articulate the thought, but he was unknowingly fostering a desire to keep Wisoo here, not letting him go anywhere.

“Shall we have some food?”

He went behind Wisoo, who was treading on the clean bathroom floor with bare feet, and hugged him, urging him on.

“You’re hungry, right?”

Only then did he feel a severe hunger, and Wisoo nodded.

Jaekwon did not know, but Wisoo was not originally one to feel hunger strongly. Eating had never been an enjoyable activity. However, because of the new flavors Jaekwon was showing him, meals had now become a challenge filled with novelty and wonder every time.

It was the same this time.

“I bought it while you were sleeping.”

The reheated food was American-style Chinese food, with a slight twist.

Orange chicken, egg noodle stir-fry, and fried rice showed off their savory, oily smell and stimulating spice aroma.

“There’s no cilantro this time, so it should be fine.”

Jaekwon carefully served the dishes onto Wisoo’s plate.

When Jaekwon left this country, he had not received any support from Kwak Bonyoung. It was both that he could not receive it and that he did not receive it.

Of course, he had assets received early on from his maternal grandfather, but he had no desire to squander them foolishly. Perhaps he wanted to show his stubbornness to Kwak Bonyoung. Even while knowing that she had no interest in him, the son without a mother.

Living in an old building in Chinatown, Jaekwon fell asleep accompanied by the smells of spices and oil wafting up. Maybe that was why Jaekwon frequented these kinds of Chinese restaurants. Hwang Gujo was the same.

“This one is my favorite.”

Pointing to the orange chicken, Jaekwon encouraged him to eat.

Since it was the first time Jaekwon had shown a preference for something he liked, Wisoo actively put it in his mouth. The sweet sauce spread in his mouth.

“Looks like it’s delicious.”

Resting his chin on his hand, Jaekwon smiled quietly.

Wisoo chewed his food diligently. The shiny food with all sorts of colors mixed in was enough to make him completely forget about the Teacher, at least for a moment.

“Eat a lot. That way you can play with me a lot.”

“We’re playing every day.”

“Are you saying something about me being unemployed right now…?”

“Ah, no… No. I like that you’re a person who plays, Kwak Jaekwon…”

“That’s what you say when you’re dropping hints…”

Jaekwon let out a hearty laugh.

“Not that. You have to have sex with me again.”

Wisoo swallowed what he was chewing with a gulp.

“We’re going to do it again?”

“Why. Now that you’ve tried it sober, does it taste bad?”

“No. I just didn’t think you would say you’d do it again.”

“Why do you think it’s something I’m doing for you?”

Jaekwon shook his head, showing a vigorous appetite.

“I want to do it. If you’re okay with it, Seon Wisoo.”

Asking for Wisoo’s opinion was a procedure that only occurred after the fact. After making him write his own withdrawal letter, after he received the certificate judging him to be an Omega, after he went to a stranger’s house and accepted a stranger’s dead body into his own.

‘It’s okay, right?’

It had never been okay, not once.

This was the first time. The first time it was okay.

“I… like it.”

Jaekwon stared intently at Wisoo, who spoke calmly.

“You have a strange side to you, Seon Wisoo. You’re not very shy about these things.”

“Why should I be shy about something I’m doing because I like it… It’s true.”

There were already plenty of things to be ashamed of. Like the rumors about him that he had heard from Kwak Jaekyung. Although they were mixed with malicious exaggerations, the fact remained that he had done those things. That was what Wisoo was most ashamed of. Things like the fact that Jaekwon had heard about it.

Just then, Jaekwon’s ringtone went off. Checking the caller, he said, ‘Just a moment,’ and got up from his seat. He was about to enter the first-floor room but paused and headed to the second floor instead.

Wisoo, who had been chewing quietly, cautiously took his own cell phone out of his pocket as the call grew longer. He had grabbed it when he got up and changed his clothes.

It was difficult to type a text while using all his concentration on any sign of movement. Still, he managed. The recipient was Na Hakyoung.

[Please come when I tell you the date]

Fortunately, the timing was right. Wisoo, accustomed to a life under surveillance, hastily chewed and swallowed the noodles for the sake of a perfect crime. No sooner had he sent it than he heard footsteps on the stairs. This time, Wisoo forced down some rice.

“You were eating well?”

Jaekwon sat down, stroking Wisoo’s shoulder. Wisoo gave him a grin.

❖ ❖ ❖

Eating well, my foot.

Wisoo ended up getting indigestion. It seemed the problem was that he had eaten in a hurry. About an hour after the meal, he started to feel dizzy, broke out in a cold sweat, and felt extremely nauseous.

“You’d feel better if you threw up.”

“It’s hard…”

When he was sick, as long as it was not a heat cycle or the influence of pheromones, he had to wait until he got better on his own. But not this time. Jaekwon firmly pressed the fleshy part between Wisoo’s thumb and index finger.

“Aaack!”

As Wisoo flailed and said it hurt, Jaekwon shook his head.

“I’m touching you more gently than when I was spanking your butt. You can endure other things well, but you can’t endure this very well.”

“Please be gentle… I’m telling you, it really hurts.”

At his tearful face, Jaekwon let out a small laugh.

However, seeing Wisoo’s back as he only dry-heaved, he could no longer smile like that.

“We need to prick your finger. I should go buy some medicine too.”

He was in so much pain that anything was fine. As Wisoo nodded, Jaekwon checked the time. Fortunately, it seemed that at least the pharmacy would still be open.

Taking Wisoo in the car with him seemed like it would be more of a strain on Wisoo. He found a nearby pharmacy on a map and grabbed his car keys.

“I’ll be right back, so wait here.”

He was about to leave in a hurry but paused for a moment, then took off his t-shirt and handed it to Wisoo.

“Is this enough?”

He spoke curtly, as if in a rush. When Wisoo hugged Jaekwon’s t-shirt and nodded with a pale face, he nodded back.

After pulling on a new shirt, he told him to stay put and left the house.

Wisoo realized that he had become unhesitant about using the first-floor room.

After Jaekwon left, Wisoo, whose head ached as if he had a cold, curled up his body. He was hugging Jaekwon’s t-shirt tightly.

“Ughh…”

A pained groan escaped on its own.

He was used to being sick. He had been sick a lot when he was young. At first, he thought his body was just weak, but it was not. The frequent high fevers that would suddenly drop to low temperatures were part of his body’s transformation process, and his tendency to vomit and collapse easily was also due to the process of change. The fact that he thought they were drawing his blood because his body was weak was also because they were checking to see when the desired results would appear…

When the results the Teacher desired finally appeared, Wisoo was twelve years old. The entire process was terribly dangerous. The pheromone regulation that started when he was nine was something that made him risk his life. Wisoo did not know what kind of process he was undergoing, and the doctor who prescribed the drugs that changed him probably did not know either.

‘But the Teacher must have known perfectly well.’

His eyes growing moist from the strain, Wisoo buried his face in Jaekwon’s t-shirt and took a deep breath.

‘He knew everything.’

The only reason he had survived was because he was born with a strong body, that was all.

Wisoo wonders. If his body had not changed, if he had not met the Teacher, and had grown up normally, how would he be living and what would he look like at this age.

No matter how hard he tried to imagine it, nothing came to mind. The reason was simple. He did not know what normal was.

But if he had to choose, he did not think he would choose that life. Because,

“Kwak Jaekwon…”

If he had lived that life, he would have never met Jaekwon.

If he had lived that kind of life, would he have fallen so deeply for Jaekwon? Such a hypothetical was unnecessary. Because Wisoo was already deeply submerged in the blue inkwell that was Kwak Jaekwon.

For a very brief moment, Wisoo dozed off. Then, the t-shirt fell from his hand with a thud. A little more time passed, and he opened his eyes.

The surroundings were still quiet.

“Kwak Jaekwon…?”

He thought Jaekwon had come, but he had not.

Finding it strange that the house was so quiet, Wisoo slowly got up and walked around. It was still quiet.

When he finally opened the door and stepped out, suffocatingly humid air hit him in the face.

The garden was very dark. This was because there was not even a minimum of lighting. The lights Wisoo had turned on while searching the house were barely illuminating the outside. As if possessed, he came outside. The wet grass rustled, swish swish, under his bare feet.

“……”

And then Wisoo spotted it, standing on a landscaping rock.

It was a woman. She was wearing thin, wide-legged pants and a neat shirt with sleeves that went slightly past her elbows.

The moment he saw it, Wisoo saw not this world but the other world. Suddenly, the garden was not night but dawn, and it did not have empty eyes or a mouth that let out gasping sounds, but rather pale, chapped lips.

「Was it you?」

It asked.

「If you were going to hide it, you should have hidden it to the very end.」

It, that is, the woman, let out a hollow laugh and glared at Wisoo.

「I despise you. You ruined me. You think you only ruined me? You ruined Jaekwon too. You ruined our entire lives, everything!」

At the familiar name, Wisoo’s mouth fell open in shock.

He tried to step forward, but his whole body felt as if it were tied up, unable to move. The woman glared at him as if to kill him. Even though the tears coming from her eyes were not tears of blood, they looked like them.

「I will resent you for the rest of my life. Jaekwon will hate you too. No, does he hate you already?」

Me? Are you talking to me? What are you talking about!

He wanted to ask, but his mouth was sealed as if it had been sewn shut.

「Remember this clearly. That you ruined it. That you ruined everything…. You son of a bitch. How could you, after deceiving me….」

It started to move towards him. What was at first a staggering but normal walk soon became a severe lurch, and then it started to move bizarrely, like a marionette with its strings cut. Its face also dropped down, out of sight, and then it suddenly rushed at Wisoo with incredible speed, jerking its head up at close range.

Only then did it become a face Wisoo knew.

It was the woman Kwak Bonyoung had been frantically searching for, wailing for, resenting, and obsessing over. Kwak Jaekwon’s… mother.

“……!”

Life, death, and people are all different, so Wisoo had no time to adapt to this fear. It was the same this time. It, with its empty eyes shedding tears of blood, opened its mouth and lunged, choking Wisoo’s neck with a squeeze.

“…Ghk…!”

「I hope my son kills you.」

The sound was a gasping, gawk gawk, the sound Wisoo usually heard, but it was heard clearly in his mind.

His vision was spinning.

The garden, which had been dawn, turned back to night, and Wisoo slowly collapsed backward.

As he fell backward, a pair of feet came into his similarly tilted vision.

Dress shoes…?

But he could not see well. He could not confirm.

Soon, the thing choking Wisoo’s neck slowly moved away.

「It’s gone now…?」

“Keo-heok…! Keok!”

「It’s gone….」

As Wisoo writhed and coughed out the breath that had been blocked, it staggered and muttered.

「But I’m still here like this….」

It’s gone. It’s gone… it repeated, then suddenly stopped talking and turned its head toward the entrance, letting out a familiar name with a clack, clack.

「Jaekwon…?」

And then came the sound of the main gate opening.

❖ ❖ ❖

The moment he opened the door, Jaekwon frowned at the strange atmosphere he felt. He had barely taken a few strides forward when he saw the front door, which was open, leaking light.

“Seon Wisoo?”

He ran up.

The first thing he discovered was Wisoo, collapsed just outside the yellow indoor light.

“Seon Wisoo!”

Startled, he made Wisoo lean against his body. No sooner had Wisoo, who had been gasping while clutching his neck, wondering what on earth had happened, touched him than he shot his eyes wide open.

“Kwak Jae…”

Muttering, Wisoo suddenly covered his mouth and ran to the bathroom.

Thus, Wisoo became the first one to use the beautifully decorated bathroom. Jaekwon followed and patted the back of Wisoo, who was throwing up everything he had eaten.

After struggling and suffering for a while, Wisoo finally came to his senses after rinsing his mouth with Jaekwon’s help and coming out to the living room.

“Why on earth were you out in the garden like that?! When you’re not even feeling well.”

Jaekwon chided him with a rather serious expression.

Wisoo had no way to explain. He drank the liquid digestive aid Jaekwon offered and held out his hand. It was very cold. Jaekwon clicked his tongue and said, ‘Do you know how scared I was?’ Even in the midst of that, he swiftly pricked Wisoo’s finger. Black blood welled up, plop plop.

“Just why did you do that.”

The hand stroking his back was large and warm. Wisoo lifted his dazed eyes and looked at Jaekwon.

Since when… did he start looking at me with such worried eyes? He certainly didn’t have these eyes when we first met, or when I saw him on the day he came back after leaving as he pleased, in a pathetic state.

Just then, Jaekwon’s face crumpled.

“Are you crying…?”

Jaekwon’s hand roughly scrubbed at his face, and only then did Wisoo realize he was crying silently.

“Why are you crying. Because you’re in pain? You’re going to be fine now, so what are you so upset about. I’m the one who wants to cry. Do you know how scared I was earlier?”

“Jaekwon…”

Wisoo called out to Jaekwon with a stunned face.

“I know you don’t like talking about… your mother. I know, but…”

“If you know, why are you doing it.”

Jaekwon deliberately brushed it off lightly.

However, Wisoo had to ask.

“Your mother… how did she pass away…?”

Jaekwon’s hand paused for a moment, then he began to clean up the trash he had laid out. Things like cotton pads and bandages.

“You told me before. I thought you remembered everything.”

“Ah, ah…”

He seemed to be talking about the time when Jaekwon was extremely angry and had been violent towards him.

But at that time, he was practically in a half-possessed state. A house built in a location so remarkable it was hard to fathom how they found this plot of land, here Wisoo often spent a third of his time not being himself. As if slowly being intoxicated by poison.

Wisoo’s face turned red, thinking that he must have hurt Jaekwon again with words he should not have said, though he did not know what he himself had said at that time.

Seeing that, Jaekwon let out a small laugh. Strangely, he did not feel as bad as he did back then. It really was strange. If it had been some other bastard spouting nonsense, he would have knocked out all their teeth so they could never chew food again.

“It was when I was living in the dorms. I came home for the weekend, and I was giving my mother the medicine she took, but on that day, she said she wanted to take it later. I usually made sure to check. But I didn’t that day. Because my mother looked so tired and exhausted.”

“……”

“I went back to the dorms like that… and then the incident happened. They said the sound of Kwak Bonyoung and my mother fighting hadn’t stopped until then. Everyone probably thought it was no big deal, since it was a daily occurrence. And then my mother passed away.”

Wisoo recalled his own vision.

Strangely, he would usually forget things that happened when he was under anesthesia as if he had been knocked out, but this time, the memory was still vivid.

She was resentful. And that resentment was directed towards him. Did she resent me? But why?

And what was scarier than anything else was her saying that he had ruined both Jaekwon and herself.

Were those words really directed at me? Usually, the dead either see only me or see only the faint silhouettes of the living through me. Then were the words not meant for me…?

“Seon Wisoo. What’s wrong. Are you still not feeling well?”

Jaekwon shook Wisoo, who was wrapping his arms around himself, shivering, and growing paler and paler.

He, too, had seen Wisoo act completely strange and distant before, so at times like this, he naturally became serious.

“Ah, no.”

Wisoo shook his head.

“I think it’s because I’m not used to the air conditioner wind. And I have indigestion, too.”

Wisoo, rambling incoherently, tightly gripped Jaekwon’s warm hand.

“And… I’m sorry for making you talk about something like that.”

“I know, right. I don’t usually talk about things like this. But you made me do it, so should I say you’re quite brazen, Seon Wisoo, or should I say that I, who confessed it anyway, have gotten old.”

Only then did Jaekwon’s stiff expression soften.

Then he reached out his arm and raised the air conditioner’s temperature a bit. He lay down flat on his back, still holding Wisoo. Lying with their bodies layered, he closed his eyes.

“You might get sick again, so shall we stay here for a bit.”

“…Okay.”

As long as they could be this close, anything was fine.

Wisoo glanced out the window. There was nothing there. Just pitch-black darkness. Turning his eyes back to Jaekwon, Wisoo looked at Jaekwon’s handsome face, even from below, and then closed his eyes.

Still, his unsettled heart does not calm down easily.

「You ruined Jaekwon too.」

「Jaekwon will hate you too.」

Why is it that today, the words of the dead, which usually do not remain even if he wants to remember them, are so clearly etched in his memory and stubbornly refuse to leave? Is it because she is Jaekwon’s mother?

「I hope my son kills you.」

At the words that struck him like a thunderbolt, Wisoo flinched and tightly gripped the collar of Jaekwon’s shirt. Jaekwon soothingly stroked his shoulder and back with his hand.

I didn’t do it….

Wisoo’s lips trembled.

I didn’t ruin it…. I don’t know anything about it….

The sound of Wisoo’s heart, ceaselessly shouting words that could never reach, somehow bursts out in the young voice of a five-year-old.

I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me…. The voice that was shouting wildly changes to ‘I didn’t mean to do it…’ right before Wisoo dozes off. Without anyone, not even Wisoo himself, remembering.

❖ ❖ ❖

Even after waking up, Wisoo did not look at Jaekwon and only stared at the ceiling.

It seemed as if something would appear if he stared at it stubbornly enough. For example, something like the spirit of Kwak Jaekwon’s mother, who had unleashed a thunderous scream at him yesterday.

The spirit of Kwak Jaekwon’s mother….

Until now, he had not had a personal relationship or built any rapport with any of his clients, so he was not affected even when he met the dead. They were just one more of the many things that tormented him. But now that he knew Kwak Jaekwon, that dead person was no longer just the vain and futile obsession of Kwak Bonyoung.

“……”

The fact that the scream was still memorable even after sleeping and waking up clearly meant that this was a different kind of contact than before.

This could not be a good thing.

In the end, Wisoo could not find any answers and just tossed and turned gloomily, hugging Jaekwon tightly.

“Mmm…”

Jaekwon let out a low groan and hugged back the person snuggled in his arms.

Does he know it’s me and is hugging me back? Or is it just because there’s something in his arms?

Knowing in his head that he should not become a meaningful existence to him and giving up on it were separate issues.

Wisoo drew countless circles on Jaekwon’s firm stomach.

“…I shouldn’t have bought you that sketchbook. If I’d known you’d be scribbling on someone else’s body.”

“Are you awake?”

“Of course. Who wouldn’t wake up with someone scribbling on their body like that? It tickles.”

Jaekwon gently pulled Wisoo’s hand away.

“How’s your body.”

Wisoo, counting the number of bandages wrapped around his fingers, nodded.

“I’m fine now.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to eat porridge?”

“I’m sick of porridge.”

What he had eaten until he was sick of it during his trait transformation process was porridge. Wisoo shook his head firmly. Even if it meant eating bread soaked in milk, he did not want to eat porridge.

Jaekwon shot up and followed Wisoo, who was walking ahead with light steps. Seeing him walk, it seemed he had definitely recovered completely. Is it because he’s young?

Jaekwon watched carefully as he went down the stairs with light steps. He was especially more careful in the spot where he had fallen last time. Unbeknownst to Wisoo, Jaekwon’s arm was extended behind him. To be able to catch him firmly at any moment.

But fortunately, he did not fall. Only Wisoo’s fluttering elbow brushed against Jaekwon’s fingertips.

“Hiss.”

Jaekwon pulled his hand back at the somehow stinging sensation.

Very soft skin had touched and then pulled away, but for some reason, his fingertips tingled. It was because his skin had become overly sensitive. It was not a matter of skin type, but of his nerves.

“……”

He stared blankly at the fingertips he was rubbing with a frown.

He counts the days. How long has it been since his last rut. But the memory of being dragged into Wisoo’s heat as if swept away was so intense that it was difficult to decide whether to count that as a heat cycle or not. The dates were all mixed up.

“Jaekwon, you’re going to have coffee, right?”

Wisoo called out loudly, choosing from the drip bags that Jaekwon had been preparing bit by bit at some point. It seemed he had taken a liking to timing with a watch and waiting for the ground coffee to puff up after being taught how to drip coffee.

Jaekwon let his hand, which had turned white from pressing down hard, drop with a thud and came down the rest of the stairs.

“Yes. I’ll have some. Get me the one with the orange background and black letters.”

His fingertips are still tingling. As if he was the one whose finger was pricked, not Wisoo.

❖ ❖ ❖

Jaekwon had a laptop on his lap, his head propped up by one fist, and a mouse in the other hand, lost in thought. Wisoo, of course, does not know what he is looking at or what he is pondering so deeply. Wisoo was solving a workbook and then tiptoed away, pretending to go to the bathroom.

Now inside the bathroom, which was no longer deep green but an ivory color tinged with blue, Wisoo sent a message to Hwang Gujo.

[Can you call Kwak Jaekwon out for a bit?]

The speed at which he could combine letters to form sentences and send a message had increased considerably.

[Seon Wisoo?]

However, seeing the speed of Hwang Gujo’s reply, Wisoo felt that his own speed could not even be called fast, and he quickly became dejected.

But that was not what was important.

[Why all of a sudden?]

[Is this a secret from Jaekwon?]

Wisoo felt a little annoyed at this moment with Hwang Gujo, whom he had considered a friend. He was envious of the fact that he could reply at a speed he could not even hope to match, and also of the fact that he called Kwak Jaekwon ‘Jaekwon.’

And above all, he was most envious of the fact that this person probably had nothing that could put Kwak Jaekwon in danger.

[I’m going to return Kwak Jaekwon’s money]

Hwang Gujo did not send his usual fast reply, as if waiting for Wisoo to explain further.

[I’m planning to renounce the trust]

He wanted to explain in detail. That if he had Kwak Jaekwon’s assets, the Teacher would use him to try to take away Kwak Jaekwon’s rightful share, and if that was not possible, he would scheme to be able to use the heir, Kwak Jaekwon, as he pleased. It was Jaekwon’s loss either way. For Wisoo, it was enough to have stained Jaekwon with the dirty rumor that was himself.

[I want to keep it a secret from Jaekwon]

And this… was a final wicked thought. The desire to postpone his own usefulness, even for a little while, by having Jaekwon find out as late as possible and the Teacher find out late as well.

[Okay]

Hwang Gujo replied.

[I’ll call him out. It was about time for that anyway]

About time?

Wisoo was about to ask what that meant. If only Jaekwon had not knocked.

“Is your stomach upset again?”

Wisoo hurriedly put his phone in his pocket and turned on the water for no reason.

“Ah, I-I’m fine!”

“Want me to pat your back?”

“No! Nothing even came up!”

Jaekwon, who was waiting for Wisoo after he had pointlessly rushed to brush his teeth and come out, had a dubious expression.

“It looks like you’re hiding something. You have the expression of a puppy that has caused trouble.”

“What does a puppy that’s caused trouble look like?”

“See. The way you’re trying to change the subject again.”

“It’s not that. I really don’t know. You know. That dogs don’t like me.”

Hearing Wisoo’s cheerful but all the more bitter words, Jaekwon’s expression softened a little. Seizing the opportunity, Wisoo pulled Jaekwon along. The man named Kwak Jaekwon, who had been so cold, had also come to feel compassion for him as the time they spent together grew longer, so how could the Teacher, who had practically raised him, treat him like that?

The longer he spent with Jaekwon, the more clearly and surely Wisoo began to realize that there was no affection whatsoever in what the Teacher had done to him. It was a delusion that had clung to him for so long, a feeling he had forced himself to embrace because he felt like he would die of loneliness if he did not believe there was at least a sliver of affection, so tearing it away hurt as if his limbs were being torn off.

Still, his body grows lighter as much as it hurts, as if the things attached to his limbs were fake limbs made of lead.

From now on, he will move not for the Teacher, but for Kwak Jaekwon.

❖ ❖ ❖

To get through the hot summer, Wisoo and Jaekwon ate young radish noodles. They half-thawed frozen cold noodle broth, poured it over boiled thin noodles, and topped it with plenty of young radish kimchi. On Wisoo’s, he put a little less to adjust the spiciness to a level that was easy to eat.

Wisoo, who had eaten the cold food, was given warm coffee diluted with a lot of water. It was bitter but savory. It was much better than beer.

“You should be able to take the exam in the winter.”

Jaekwon was grading the workbook Wisoo had solved. His explanations were better than the answer key. It seemed to be because he knew that he was quite different from other people. Is it because he could be more honest with him than with anyone else, even though he still hides a lot from him? Wisoo felt comfortable when Jaekwon was in front of him.

“You got this type wrong last time, too. You seem to be weak with these kinds of problems.”

He even quickly grasped what type of problems he was weak at. They all look like similar problems to me…

“It’s hard to categorize what’s similar and what’s different.”

To Wisoo’s grumbling, Jaekwon retorted nonchalantly.

“It’s probably because you live in a world where the living and the dead exist together, Seon Wisoo. Ah, you got this one right. You got it wrong last time.”

The score was not bad. Jaekwon was not a strict teacher, so he did not push Wisoo, saying he only needed to pass the minimum score.

From time to time, he showed signs of fatigue. Wisoo observed Jaekwon, who seemed somewhat more sensitive than usual.

“Are you not feeling well? Should I prick your finger for you?”

“It’s not indigestion.”

He repeatedly swept his hair back and let out a sigh.

“There’s something I’ve been worrying about lately.”

“Worries?”

Wisoo’s face stiffened, guessing that the worries were about him.

It was not an entirely wrong guess. Jaekwon was contemplating how he should relieve his rut period.

In the case of Alphas or Omegas like Jaekwon, whose pheromones are stronger than others and whose pheromone glands are also exceptionally developed, they have a thin, chip-like device inserted into their arm that can regulate their pheromones. It was a procedure similar to the contraceptive devices used by Betas. However, this did not prevent heats. It was merely a measure to prevent situations where one blacks out or has an explosive heat from happening in an instant.

“I might have to go somewhere else for a few days.”

Jaekwon muttered, spinning a red colored pencil in his hand. He is worried about Wisoo, who will be left alone.

“Without me?”

“Yes. I won’t be able to take you, this time.”

No matter how he thinks about it, it does not seem right to take Wisoo. The probability of hurting him is very high.

“For how many days? Where are you going?”

Surprisingly, Wisoo’s reaction was calm. Jaekwon raised an eyebrow. A sense of relief that he had avoided a troublesome task should have come first, but strangely, a feeling of displeasure came first.

“You look happy. Because I said I’m going somewhere.”

“That’s not it… How could that be.”

“Right. You should at least say that for lip service.”

Jaekwon not only laughed it off but also slyly avoided Wisoo’s question. He had not yet decided how many days or where he would go. Would two days be enough? However, he was a little concerned about having been completely exposed to Wisoo’s pheromones recently. He did have the chip implanted to avoid being swayed by others’ pheromones, but that was limited to daily life; it was not a magic tool that could block the effects that accumulate in the body.

“I’ll tell you that later.”

Jaekwon just hoped to buy as much time as possible before the point of explosion, so that he would have the capacity to go somewhere else before things blew up.

“You’ll pass the exam with ease.”

“I was lucky.”

“To be honest, it’s hard to say it wasn’t this time. It was just a compliment to cheer you up.”

His score was certainly better than last time, but it could have been a fluke. Wisoo pursed his lips into a pout and carefully examined the grading results in his hand, his brow furrowed.

The top of his head is round like a child’s. His whole head was like that. Jaekwon, who was watching him with his chin propped on his hand, wet his lips with his tongue.

A thirst is rising. Is all of this also a sign before the explosion? But from a certain point, he had often suffered from thirst whenever he looked at Wisoo. Where did his usual self go? Since that night, Jaekwon felt as if he had lost his homeostasis. It was not unpleasant. Even though it felt not like he was changing something else, but like something else was breaking him down and reassembling him.

❖ ❖ ❖

Hwang Gujo and Jaekwon both said they had to leave. The timing coincided as if everything had been prepared in advance. Yet, it was not pleasant.

Still, Wisoo left a message for Na Hakyoung saying he would contact him soon. In the meantime, Kwak Bonyoung did not appear again, as if she had really disappeared, and strangely, the spirit of Jaekwon’s mother did not appear either.

That was not all.

This house, which had been like a meeting place for the dead, had recently become quiet. They had not completely stopped visiting, but it had become rare. Moreover, their interest in Wisoo had also decreased significantly compared to before.

“Am I really being affected by something like yang energy…”

“Hmm?”

Jaekwon’s chest, which Wisoo’s cheek was resting on, heaved.

“Yang energy?”

He was reading a book with his head propped on his arm. His hands were so large that he had no trouble at all turning the pages with one hand. Jaekwon, who heard Wisoo’s muttering, put the book aside. Then he lowered his hand and grabbed the round mound of flesh. Wisoo’s butt.

“It’s still warm.”

“It hurts…”

“It would hurt. I tried putting a bit more force into it than before, but you still felt it.”

Today, Wisoo was spanked while on his stomach with his wrists and ankles tied together. The reason was that he had repeatedly made mistakes on the same type of problem he had gotten wrong. Wisoo had grumbled that he did not know what made them similar types, and Jaekwon had told him not to worry about it since it was just an excuse anyway. That someday he would understand, and someday he would find the right answer.

Then he placed the immobile Wisoo on his thighs and spanked him five times. After taking all the hits, Wisoo asked in a trembling voice if there were not eight wrong problems. Jaekwon gave a short laugh, left a bite mark on Wisoo’s shoulder blade, and gave him three more spanks.

As a result, he could not even lie down properly and was lying on his stomach on top of Jaekwon, yet Wisoo seemed unbothered.