Come Looking for Flowers Chapter 5.3 - Pneumothorax

A firm hand touched his ankle. The thumb gently caressed the hollow place below the ankle bone and untied the rope that had been binding him.

Next, the wrists, then the gag that had been dangling from his neck, and finally the blindfold were all removed. Even though all the things that had oppressed him were gone, Yoonjo could not move a muscle.

The corners of his eyes, raw from tears, were red. His drenched eyelashes quivered, and his eyelids slowly rolled up. The amber eyes revealed between them were moist.

“Have you reflected a little?”

The man with his back to the light asked. Won Kangho, who had bent one knee to meet his gaze, let out a gentle voice.

The touch that caressed his pale cheek was warm. Suppressing the sobs that threatened to burst forth, he once again spat out the words he had screamed until his throat was hoarse.

“I was wrong.”

He forced his powerless body to sit up, laboriously getting into a seated position. He burrowed into the man’s embrace and muttered a few more times that he had been wrong.

“I was wrong, I was wrong. I will never…, I will never do it again. I was wrong.”

He did not know when the man would ever listen to him if not now. He wanted to escape this place as soon as possible. To do that, he needed this man.

The man chuckled lowly. He willingly embraced the filthy body and kissed the sorrowful cheek.

“You should have said that when I asked you earlier.”

“I was wrong. I’m so, so co, ld. I was wrong, I’ll never do it agai, heueu……”

“Oh my, you must have been miserable.”

Yoonjo clung tightly to the man’s body with trembling hands and let out a sorrowful cry. The only person who could take away his coldness and give him warmth, the only person who could get him out of this place, was Won Kangho.

“Shall we go home?”

The man whispered into his ear. His ears, relieved by the fact that he had met the man, were ringing so loudly that he could not properly understand what those words meant.

Without even knowing what it was, he first nodded his head frantically. Whatever it was, he consented. That everything the man said was right. Tears fell in large drops with the movement.

“Yes, let’s go home.”

Along with the gentle voice, the man’s jacket, full of his scent, covered his body. The man lifted the weightless body in a flash and headed towards the door he had come through.

His half-closed eyes turned towards the light seeping through the crack of the door. His vision gradually brightened. Only a single thought filled his dazed mind.

I’m saved. The tears that flowed with a sigh of relief soaked the man’s clothes.

He did not know how much time had passed. No, he did not even want to know.

He fell asleep and woke up repeatedly. When he opened his eyes, it was sometimes dark, sometimes bright. Regardless of when he regained consciousness, it was common for him to fall asleep again.

As if to heal his exhausted body and mind, Yoonjo confined himself in the room of sleep. He ate neither water nor food and only slept as if he were dead.

Early dawn. The first thing that entered Yoonjo’s vision upon waking from sleep was the view outside the brightly blue windowpane. Beside him, as if it were a matter of course, was Won Kangho.

Why is this person here. All his memories were faint. The days in the countryside where he would wake up to the sound of birds seemed like a distant past.

His whole body ached and stung as if it had been cut by a knife.

No, does it hurt? I’m not sure.

His sleep-drunken mind could not produce any proper thoughts. Yoonjo stared for a long time at the view outside the window, visible over the man’s back.

“Why are you awake.”

Just as the blue sky was fading to white, a dreadfully low voice fell from above his head. His gaze slowly moved, following the sound.

The man’s eyes were so clear it was hard to believe he had just woken from sleep. Looking at his own reflection in those pitch-black eyes, Yoonjo did not say anything in response.

Each other’s faces were reflected in their eyes. One person’s eyes were cloudy, and the other person’s were clear.

The man, who had been looking at him for a long while, extended his hand. The large hand covered the area around his eyes. Darkness fell in an instant. Just as all colors mix to become pitch black, Yoonjo’s world was also covered in blackness (黑).

The man’s body heat seeped into his cool skin. The world inside his closed eyelids was still dark.

I wish my body would melt away just like this, that I would never wake up. He filled his mind with such nonsensical fantasies.

Yoonjo burrowed into the man’s embrace like a young animal cuddling up to its mother. The man willingly embraced the delicate body that craved him. He buried his lips in the nape of his neck and inhaled the sweet body scent to the fullest.

I’m cold. Please hold me.

The words that rose up to his throat could not, in the end, come out of his mouth. At some point, Yoonjo had forgotten how to speak.

When he opened his eyes again, the man was gone. The room was bright. The silence that filled the room, which had not a single clock, pierced his ears painfully.

He opened his eyes but did not get up. Faint breaths flowed from his still body. His eyelids slowly concealed his eyes and then revealed them again, over and over.

After being dragged back to the man’s house, Yoonjo had not once stepped outside the room. The spot in front of the living room window where he used to sit every day, the glass garden full of the scent of flowers and grass, he did not set foot in any of those places.

His empty stomach, having eaten nothing, ached and burned as if on fire. The warm air of the room could not warm his body, which was wrapped in a chill.

The handcuff-like thing on his wrist squeezed his skin painfully. The bracelet, fastened over the red scar, had been adjusted to fit Yoonjo’s wrist size perfectly.

The person who had been staring blankly at the bracelet slowly raised his body. He could not get out of bed right away and squeezed the bedsheet tightly, shutting his eyes firmly.

“Haa……”

Only after the tinnitus and headache that had been plaguing his head disappeared did he let out an exhausted breath. His heart was beating excessively, making his ears ring.

His staggering steps headed towards the en-suite bathroom. A dry hand turned the faucet lever. Hot water poured into the bathtub with a rough sound.

Yoonjo, who found it difficult to even wait for the water to fill, got into the tub before the water had even reached his ankles. The robe covering his body fell to the floor with a thud.

The man had drawn pictures on Yoonjo’s body with his hands and mouth. Red, yellow, blue, purple. Colors that should not be on a body were placed all over the body that was like a blank white canvas.

The water slowly enveloped his body, which was curled up with his legs drawn in. The excessively large bathtub took a long time just to fill with water.

It’s cold. As if I’m going to freeze to death. A chill spread from deep within to every part of his body, so cold that his teeth chattered.

Yoonjo always washed his body with water so hot it seemed to scald. It was to warm his numb body and to cleanse his dirty body. But no matter how much he washed, the smell from his body and the filth would not wash away.

Showering took up the largest portion of Yoonjo’s daily routine after sleeping. The water from the showerhead never stopped until his white skin was flushed bright red.

Even after washing for so long like this, if he left the bathroom and lay on the bed, a terrible smell would creep up again. It was a smell so foul it made him gag, so Yoonjo would head straight to the bathroom as soon as he opened his eyes. He did so even when he was not fully awake.

— Yoonjo-ssi, I’m done with the cleaning, so please come out and rest comfortably. I’ll prepare your meal.

Knock, knock. Along with the small knocking sound, a middle-aged woman’s voice was heard through the crack of the door. It was the housekeeper’s.

As always, Yoonjo did not reply and curled up his body even more. The water, which had risen to his chest at some point, rippled.

After sitting for a long while longer, Yoonjo left the bathroom only after his skin had turned bright red. Water dripped from the ends of his undried hair.

The bed was neatly made. Sunlight, having crossed over through the window, occupied a spot on the duvet, which had probably been freshly changed.

His gaze, which had landed on it, turned to the side. On the table placed in the large room, a neatly prepared meal came into view.

Thin porridge and side dishes with almost no seasoning. All were foods prepared with Yoonjo’s health in mind.

The housekeeper, who was about the same age as Yoonjo’s mother, felt sorry for him. She made various efforts to open the sickly young master’s heart, but sadly, they were all in vain.

He quietly pulled out a chair and sat down. Sitting in an uncomfortable position with his buttocks perched on the edge of the chair, Yoonjo scanned the neatly arranged dishes on the tray with his eyes.

Next to the food prepared for lunch, medicine in a small dish proudly occupied a spot. His gaze on it was emotionless.

What would change if I took the medicine. His body was already broken beyond repair. Even as an empty compliment, it could not be called normal; if it were an object, it would be like a broken toy.

He was curious about the man’s thoughts. What on earth did he want from him. Why did he bring this body, which found it difficult to even eat and sleep, the ordinary activities of daily life, let alone work, back to this place.

The reason he was caught by Won Kangho and dragged here was to pay off his father’s debt. The man had proposed that Yoonjo become Hwayudam’s plaything, and a short time later, he had also signed a contract to become his exclusive male prostitute.

Yoonjo faithfully carried out the man’s words. If he told him to spread his legs, he spread them, and he was covered in white semen both inside and outside his body. All of that was to repay the debt.

But now, what on earth was he here for. Was he still having sex to repay that debt, even now that he had been caught again? In the first place, was that debt something that could ever be repaid?

There were many things he wanted to ask. But when he actually stood face to face with the man, his voice would not come out, as if a stone were lodged in his throat. He would feel suffocated, and his fingertips would turn cold.

The fortunate thing was that the man did not reprimand Yoonjo. It seemed he even preferred it when he did not speak. He did lose his temper on very rare occasions, but the frequency was low.

He picked up the small dish and poured the medicine into his hand. He gripped it tightly and then immediately stood up from his seat. The place he was heading was the bathroom he had just left not long ago.

He opened the toilet lid and dropped what was in his hand into it without hesitation. Kwareureu, with a loud noise, the toilet gulped down the medicine.

There were few things in this world he could do of his own will. He could count them on one hand and still have fingers left over. One of them was throwing away the medicine.

Nothing changes by taking this. A paper that has been folded once can never have its crease erased.

Only after watching the water finish flushing did Yoonjo exit the bathroom again. He ignored the untouched meal, climbed onto the bed with fresh sheets, and lay down, covering himself with the cleanly laundered duvet.

I’m cold. He rolled the words, which no one would hear, around in his mouth. Despite the heating temperature being raised high, unbefitting of the season, the chill showed no sign of abating. He curled his shivering body up small and hugged himself tightly.

The sky was clear. The warm breeze blowing from somewhere was filled with warmth.

It had been a long time since his eyelids did not feel heavy. Yoonjo, who had opened his eyes, felt that not only his eyelids but also his body was light.

A wide field stretched out, and behind it were sunflowers in full bloom. Not a hint of worry could be found on the faces of the flowers, each one facing the sun.

Flowers. How long had it been since he had seen flowers. Yoonjo stood still for a long time and listened to the sound of the blowing wind clashing with the swaying petals, and the sound of the grasses whispering.

‘……It’s a butterfly.’

His muttering voice was a little higher than usual. Whether it was because of the flowers he was seeing after a long time, or because of his body that felt light enough to fly, he felt inexplicably excited.

A yellow butterfly resembling a sunflower petal fluttered its wings gracefully. The butterfly lingered around Yoonjo’s head as if telling him to follow, then slowly moved ahead.

Yoonjo followed the butterfly as if possessed. There seemed to be nothing dangerous around, so there was no hesitation in his steps.

The butterfly gently landed on a small wildflower. The flower, whose name he did not know, was blue.

Carefully, carefully, Yoonjo sat down nearby and watched the butterfly with his legs drawn up. It was an ordinary, small yellow butterfly with black spots drawn on its tiny wings.

He carefully extended his hand. He just wanted to, for some reason. When he cupped his hands and brought them in front of the butterfly, the small yellow thing moved onto them as if it had been waiting.

Parereu, a sweet scent flowed from the butterfly as it fluttered its wings. It was a scent that was somehow familiar.

He gently opened his eyes. Unlike the bright scenery he had been looking at just a moment ago, only darkness filled his surroundings.

The sweet scent that had been tickling the tip of his nose and the warm breeze that had brushed past his cheek were no longer there. The only sound to be heard was that of his own breathing.

His just-awakened mind was dazed. On the ceiling spread before his eyes, only a long shadow of light created by the moonlight was present.

It was a dream. It was the first time he had had such a vivid dream, so he kept thinking about it. He felt strange. If he fell asleep again, could he continue that dream?

Unfortunately, sleep did not come. The clearer his mind became, the more the pains he had forgotten quickly set fire to every corner of his body.

His stomach hurt. His chest and throat burned as if on fire, and his head throbbed as if a solid wooden hammer were hitting it. To make matters worse, a chill also washed over him.

His hand, about to touch his head, froze. He followed the line starting from the back of his hand with his gaze. At its end was an IV pack.

Why the IV drip all of a sudden. He was sick and tired of anything related to hospitals now.

“Trying to take it out again?”

Just as he was about to pull out the needle, a voice from the side shot into his ear. His startled eyes widened, and his head whipped around.

On the bed where he had thought he was alone, Won Kangho was also there. The hand that reached out naturally covered the one on the needle.

From the moment his eyes met the man’s, he felt suffocated. His insides felt hot and painful, as if he had swallowed a heated stone.

The man who had been lying beside him naturally sat up and got on top of Yoonjo. His other hand was also caught, rendering him unable to move at all.

“Lee Yoonjo.”

He could not look the man straight in the eye. As if responding to the call, he glanced at him once and then lowered his eyes again.

“I told you not to avert your eyes.”

“Heuk……”

Along with the murderous glare, alpha pheromones poured out. Raw, unrefined fragments of pheromones painfully stabbed his lungs. Fear and pain mixed, blurring his vision. The man let out a derisive sneer.

Each time his wide-open eyes were revealed and then disappeared, a stream of water flowed down the reddened corners of his eyes. The man’s gaze on him was filled with displeasure.

He does not like the omega in front of him. To the point of wanting to kill him.

He had finally thought he had him in his grasp. He had caught the runaway, put him in a hospital, and it was he himself who had made him able to function like a person again.

Lee Yoonjo was broken. To be precise, he was tamed to his own liking.

The basement floor of Hwayudam, that place was a playground for those with dirty tastes. The reason he had summoned Lee Yoonjo there instead of to the house was to make him realize his place.

Compared to what he had put up with and overlooked so far, what Lee Yoonjo had experienced was not that terrible. Even that was a level where he had held back and gone easy on him.

In just one day, Lee Yoonjo was completely turned upside down. When he first came here, he had no sense of his place and put up his thorns, but Won Kangho had pulled them out with great ease.

And to think this little head dared to dream of escape. If he had known, he would not have been so fond of him.

As the saying goes, if you are only nice to a beast, it will try to climb on top of its master’s head. Perhaps that was the mistake. The foolish thing tried to escape from the palm of his hand.

He liked the tamer Lee Yoonjo after the incident in the basement. He didn’t chatter noisily, and the sight of him initiating an embrace around his neck was quite a spectacle.

“Why can’t a smart kid understand after being told once.”

He did not like that transparent liquid welling up in those glass-like eyes. Things that he had once been pleased with were recently getting on his nerves.

A being that seemed like it would break if touched incorrectly, like delicate glass. That was Lee Yoonjo. If he put up his thorns, he just had to pull them out, and if he groveled, he just had to dote on him. That was the way Won Kangho had lived his life so far.

In the way the man treated people, there was no such thing as considering the other person’s feelings. He spoke and acted as he pleased. There was no one in this world who would rebuke him for it.

But now, this omega before his eyes was grating on his nerves and provoking him. To the point where it was interfering with his daily life.

The trembling omega’s pheromones wavered anxiously. The man had to try tirelessly to keep that sweet scent from snapping his reason.

He wanted to break Lee Yoonjo even more. He wanted to engrave himself inside him to the point where it would be difficult for him to even breathe without him.

He buried his nose and mouth in the blood-congested nape of the neck. A sweet scent, so strong he wanted to chew and swallow him, flowed profusely. He toyed with the bracelet on the left wrist, repeatedly licking and biting the tender flesh.

Lee Yoonjo just sobbed. Even a half-wit invalid would speak better than this. The mouth that could not even properly suck a dick now did not speak and did not eat.

The man suppressed the urge for his hand to go to the neck that seemed like it would break just by grabbing it. Because it felt like Lee Yoonjo would really die if he did that. Lee Yoonjo must not die yet.

The man, having left a mark on the nape of his neck, slowly licked Lee Yoonjo’s lips. He abruptly bit down hard on the dry lips.

“Ah, euk……!”

The metallic taste of blood clung to his tongue. Even Lee Yoonjo’s blood was sweet. An impulse arose to suck out all the blood in this small body and swallow it whole. His pitch-black eyes shone fiercely like a beast’s.

An answer was not something that could only be heard through the mouth. The man, who had elicited answers from countless people, knew that better than anyone.

“How long will you be able to endure, I wonder.”

The grimly muttering voice pooled on the wound. The man, who had slowly licked the swollen lips, slowly pressed down on both of Yoonjo’s wrists with one hand.

He buried his lips in the pale cheek and slipped his hand inside the loose pants. Because he was not eating anything, he had lost weight from his cheeks and buttocks, where there had been at least some flesh.

The man fully released his pheromones without warning. Heuk, Lee Yoonjo, who had sucked in a sharp breath, his face gradually flushed red.

“Heu, eu-eu……”

He slightly let go of the struggling hands. It was a kind of test. The man’s pitch-black eyes were still fixed on the omega pinned beneath him.

As soon as his hand was gone, Lee Yoonjo reached out his arms as if he had been waiting. He wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed their bodies together without a gap, like a person suffering from intense thirst. A satisfied smile formed on the man’s lips.

Of course. Lee Yoonjo was his possession. A being that only he could have, and that he could break and tear apart. This reaction now was proof of that.

“You have to open your mouth.”

When he let out a gentle voice, the tightly closed lips parted softly without resistance. The man’s eyes shone black as he pushed his tongue through the gap.

“Would you like some more water?”

At the housekeeper’s words, Yoonjo shook his head. There was no strength at all in the hand that put down the spoon.

For the past few days, Yoonjo’s meals had been taking place in the dining room, not his room. Due to the man’s coercion that was not quite coercion, Yoonjo had no choice but to nod.

Food was left in every bowl. Side dishes, rice, soup, none of them were half-finished.

Yoonjo could not swallow even half of an amount that would be adequate for an average adult male. Fortunately, the housekeeper did not force him to eat more.

“Try this. It’s sweet, so it won’t be uncomfortable to eat.”

A small mug cup was placed in front of Yoonjo, who had given up on his meal after only a few spoonfuls. A sweet scent rose from the liquid, which had a yellow hue.

“It’s honey pear tea. I cooled it down, but just in case, be sure to blow on it before you drink.”

Yoonjo, who was about to return to the bedroom immediately, found his ankle tied down. He was not particularly inclined, but he could not ignore the courtesy, so he sat quietly in his seat.

His two hands carefully wrapped around the cup. The warm heat held by the mug transferred to his palms.

He had both bad and good memories associated with tea. One was the tea Nia had given him on the day he was dragged to Hwayudam; the other was the honey water that Yoon Chaemin had made, which was a bit of a stretch to call tea.

Perhaps because those two memories were mixed, he could not tell how he felt about the tea right now. It was neither good nor bad.

His fingertips gently rubbed the surface of the cup. He felt sorry for the person who had gone to the trouble of preparing it, but he did not feel like drinking it. His stomach was already uncomfortably bloated with just the rice and medicine.

“Do you like pears? My parents run an orchard. And my mother made this herself, with ginseng and……”

The longer she spoke, the more the end of her words blurred into a dull ache.

From a certain point, it became difficult to concentrate on a person’s words for a long time. Whether something was wrong with his head, it took him twice as long as others to understand what was being said.

In the beginning, he still tried to understand somehow, but at some point, he let go of even that. Because there was no need to. He simply confined himself in his own fantasies.

The day was clear and pleasant. Before he knew it, the season was running towards the end of autumn. The sun, shining in for a moment, reached the dining table.

“……”

It was truly a coincidence that Yoonjo’s gaze ended on the knife. A cleanly washed pear and the small fruit knife placed next to it. His eyes, which had been nothing but cloudy without a single spark, glittered for the first time.

The well-sharpened knife was sharp. Just looking at it made his heart pound loudly.

“Is there any fruit you happen to like?”

He glanced over. Where he looked, the housekeeper had her back to him. Yoonjo’s hand, having checked her, moved toward the knife.

“They say you have to eat seasonal fruits to be healthy. The world has gotten better, so you can eat them if you want, but still, if you’re going to eat something, it’s better to eat what grows in that season.”

The housekeeper’s words no longer entered his ears. His wide-open eyes were fixed on the coolly shining blade. His heart was beating in his ears.

He actually knew. That all of this was not normal.

To turn back, he had already come too far, and he was tired of living while fully shouldering this anxiety.

He wanted to stop everything. Being held by the man who had dragged down his life, and being forced to live because he could not die, it was all excessively painful.

He gripped the knife handle firmly in his hand. The sharply shining blade headed towards his stained nape.

A cool sensation brushed against his skin. Wookeok, red blood trickled down between the splitting flesh. Yoonjo’s eyes widened as he watched his homewear get stained with blood.

He could breathe. As blood circulated rapidly through his body, the chill that had tormented him, the headache, and the heat that had boiled in his stomach all vanished in an instant.

The hand holding the blood-stained knife trembled. The piece of metal, falling powerlessly, hit the floor and made an unpleasant sound.

“What the……. Yoo, Yoonjo-ssi!”

The housekeeper, who rushed over late, quickly pulled out a few tissues and pressed them to his nape, but the blood did not stop at all. The pure white tissues were instantly soaked in blood, losing their value.

She was shaking him and saying something, but he could not hear a thing. Yoonjo brought a hand to his nape and felt the blood pouring out.

This is it. The eyes of the one who had realized something shone brightly.

“……one, ……ome! Wai…… ……old on……!”

An unintelligible voice rang in his ears. His pupils, which had unfocused at some point, followed the retreating housekeeper.

That was his last memory. When he opened his eyes again, what he saw was a pure white ceiling.

Despite the unfamiliar scenery, Yoonjo did not look around or look for a clock. Such things no longer had any meaning to him.

“Have you woken up?”

The door opened and someone stepped inside. His slowly turning eyes faced the visitor.

“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?”

As if he had no intention of hearing a reply in the first place, Secretary Jung continued speaking.

“Fortunately, the wound was not deep, so we took care of it quickly. You might feel dizzy because you lost some blood, but they say it’s a temporary symptom, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“……”

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

A hospital. A beat later, Yoonjo recalled this place where he was lying. It was the first time he had woken up in a hospital without a needle in him.

In the silence, he quietly raised his body. He squeezed his eyes shut against his blackening vision and bowed his head deeply. He covered his ears with both hands as if to avoid the tinnitus that pierced his ears painfully.

Secretary Jung, who had been standing by the door waiting for an answer, approached Yoonjo’s bed. He placed the shopping bag in his hand gently on the bed and wore his usual business-like smile.

“These are clothes for you to change into.”

“……”

“If you leave the clothes you are wearing on the bed, we will take care of them. Please come out when you are finished changing. I will be waiting in front of the door.”

After Secretary Jung gave a silent bow and left, silence once again filled the hospital room. Yoonjo only stared blankly at the shopping bag placed in front of him.

He quietly raised his hand and covered his nape. A large bandage, placed where his pulse had been beating, touched his fingertips.

The moment his heart had pounded like a pulse from the bleeding wound. He might not know other things, but that moment was deeply etched in his mind and easy to recall.

Blink. He slowly closed and opened his eyes. From beneath his feet, a chill began to creep up again, climbing up his legs. The first thing that naturally came to mind was the knife.

“……”

He thought he might know a way to not be cold anymore.

“President-nim.”

Secretary Jung’s voice echoed in the man’s office. Behind Secretary Jung, who was just entering, followed a single omega with a pale face.

Won Kangho’s gaze touched him and then quickly fell away. He scanned the documents filling the desk and took one long drag from the cigarette held between his fingers.

“Leave him and go.”

“Yes.”

Please sit this way. Secretary Jung very familiarly led Yoonjo to the sofa on one side of the president’s office.

It was a familiar space. The place where he had once been summoned by the man, had a penis shoved into his mouth, and had to swallow it repeatedly under the table.

The massive door closed with a loud noise. A familiar silence dug into his ears.

The sky spread out beyond the glass window was pitch black. It seemed like it had been daytime just a moment ago, but the days were getting shorter.

“You pulled a cute little stunt.”

Could there be a world without day? He was having such thoughts. The man’s voice shattered the silence. The head that had been looking out the window turned towards the source of the sound.

Tuk, tuk. The sharp tip of a fountain pen tapped the desk in a regular rhythm. His gaze, sharper even than that, was directed at Yoonjo.

“What a shame for you. That you couldn’t die.”

“……”

“Are you feeling a bit relieved?”

The man who had risen from his seat approached, making the sound of his shoes. Yoonjo’s gaze followed him upward.

“If you really wanted to die, Yoonjo-ya.”

The approaching man’s hand lightly touched the thickly applied bandage. Heumchit, he gently wrapped his hand around the trembling body.

“Not by slitting.”

The man, who had raised his index and middle fingers together, swept the edge of his fingers over the bandage. Eventually, he pressed firmly on the wound with his fingertips.

“You should have stabbed.”

The previously motionless expression wavered. The man, who had removed his hand, lowered his body to meet his gaze. A twisted mouth formed a smile.

“It’s a little painful, but there’s nothing more certain than that, you see.”

“……”

“Keep that in mind.”

Tears he did not know when had welled up flowed down. The man’s tongue slowly licked the wet cheek.

The trembling of his body gradually shifted into sobbing. His reddened eyes, full of resentment, turned to the man. The corners of the man’s mouth stretched into a long line.

“Baby, a hunt, you see.”

The man, who had brought his lips to Yoonjo’s ear, whispered softly and gently gripped the slender neck. The hand, which seemed ready to squeeze the life out of him at any moment, was excessively hot.

“If you miss the timing, it’s over.”

“……”

“Whatever that target may be, once you miss the moment, that moment never comes back.”

“Aeuk……”

The hand that had been around his neck shot up in an instant and grabbed his hair. His head was flung back, and the man, pressing their foreheads together, smiled with a fishy scent.

“Don’t be too disappointed.”

Resentment flowed down the corners of his eyes.

“President-nim will take away all that disappointment for you today.”

His eyes, having consumed fear, quivered. While meeting his eyes, the man slowly brought his breath closer. His pitch-black eyes resembled those of a giant beast in front of a small animal.

The man, without a shred of consideration, ravaged the inside of the mouth that had grown hot with tears.

The tip of his tongue swept the roof of the mouth, slowly brushed the inside of the cheek, then poked here and there under the tongue, teasing him. He was pleased with the body that reacted sensitively to every poke.

Strength entered the hand that was placed on the man’s shoulder. He tried to push him away, but no strength came. No matter how much force he used, he could not push the man away.

A hot hand roughly dug into the back of his pants. Without a moment to be surprised and struggle, his body fell backward. The man, who got on top of Yoonjo who was lying as if he had collapsed on the sofa, buried his lips in his red nape and let out a sinister voice.

“You’re already wet?”

“Heu, ah……”

The hole his fingertips were fiddling with was already wet and slick. From a certain point, just looking at the man would make his rear wet.

Shame no longer remained for Yoonjo. Because in front of this person, he was not a human. The emotion of shame did not suit an object.

A thick finger gently dug into the hole. The still-untightened inner walls chewed on the finger tenaciously.

“Saying you like it by biting down.”

The man’s breath poured over the bandage. Even with the cotton in between, it was felt so clearly that shivers ran down his entire body. As if licking the wound, Won Kangho’s tongue roamed persistently over the bandage. A spark lit up in his eyes like a beast that has tasted blood.

“The sweet smell, for fuck’s sake, it’s overwhelming……”

Possessiveness boiled in his muttered words. The two’s pheromones flowed out, filling the surroundings. The large office was filled with a sweet and cool scent.

The pheromones the man poured out choked him. Even while suffocating from its thick concentration, Yoonjo felt a strange sense of stability.

“Aheut……”

He extended a trembling hand and wrapped his arms around the man’s neck. He burrowed deeper into his embrace and inhaled Won Kangho’s pheromones to the fullest. The headache that had been tormenting him gradually faded.

The man was a terrifying being. In front of Won Kangho, he was nothing more than a small animal. The fear of being hunted at any moment was always around him.

And yet, he felt anxious without him. It was hard to breathe, and his body kept freezing from the cold. Strangely, being with the man was terrifying, but when their bodies touched, he could breathe and his body would thaw.

“Where’s the nerve you had when you were brandishing a knife, and now you’re acting all coy, huh?”

The man sneered, licking the shell of his ear with his tongue. A snake-like hand slowly caressed his flinching waist.

The man did not force an answer from Yoonjo, who had forgotten how to speak. It was because he was behaving according to his tastes and had become docile.

If he had put up his thorns and glared as he once did, he would have broken that neck and had him stuffed right away. Indeed, it was only right to tame a beast by beating it.

It was gratifying that he was doing pretty things. How long had it taken for him to be held in his arms so obediently. The man did not feel a single regret for what he had done so far.

The one finger became two, then three, quickly spreading the hole open. The pulsing hole seemed to be urging him to feed it a cock right away.

“Did you masturbate with your asshole? It’s gotten loose.”

“Heu, ah, eu-eut……”

“You’re not a whore, what is this, Yoonjo-ya.”

The chiding voice was steeped in affection. The tip of the finger, buried to the root, pressed firmly on a deep spot inside. His body, which had grown hot from the man’s body heat, twitched.

Every time the finger went in and out, a graphic squelching sound echoed. The moans that flowed instead of words and that gooey sound mixed to create a strange harmony.

The damp hand slipped out of the wet underwear. When the man pulled away, Yoonjo frantically shook his head and clung to him.

“Why.”

The man asked, obediently responding to the not-quite-childish-whining. His eyes, full of fear, welled up with moisture. Even while pulling off his pants and underwear at once, the man’s eyes did not leave him.

“I have to know for you to tell me.”

“Heu-eu, eu, heuk……”

“Our Yoonjo isn’t a cripple. If there’s something you want, you have to say it, hmm?”

The coaxing and soothing voice undulated up and down as if singing a song. He lightly patted the buttocks that had lost their flesh and rubbed the head of his cock against the hole.

The already-prepared hole wriggled its lips, asking to be fed soon. The man tantalized him, acting as if he would put it in but not, waiting only for Yoonjo to open his mouth.

“Shall I put it in for you?”

At his playful face, Yoonjo’s head nodded up and down frantically. The man buried his lips in his cheek and whispered lowly.

“I told you to say it with words.”

“……”

“What should I do for you.”

The red glans pushed its head into the pink hole and then pulled out, repeatedly. His head felt dizzy from the teasing, flickering movements.

I’m cold. I wish he would hurry up and put it inside and thrust. I wish he would raise my body temperature. I wish the heat would transfer to our touching skin. Now that he had no knife, he needed the man.

He wanted to speak, but his voice would not come out. His lips, which had only been letting out gasps like “Ah, ah,” finally poured out their sorrow.

“Heu-eu-eu……”

“Don’t cry.”

At the sight of Yoonjo bursting into tears as if frustrated, the man laughed out loud. He buried his nose in his nape, took a deep breath, and pushed the formidable thing in all the way at once.

“Ah, ha-euk!”

The thing, as big as a child’s forearm, split his inner walls at once and buried itself to the root. His eyes rolled back from the sudden shock. Trembling hands scratched the man’s back.

The tightly stretched inner walls clung stickily to the man’s penis. The hole, stretched to its limit, bit down hard on the base of the cock.

A slick fluid that burst from deep inside seeped between the inner walls and the bulging veins on the man’s penis. The coarse pubic hair became damp with the fluid flowing from the hole.

“Fuck……”

His legs, which had been dangling in the air, wrapped tightly around the man’s waist. Pressing down hard on the flat stomach, the man chewed on a curse.

His mouth fell open from the pressure. The man had always been forceful, but this time, it seemed he too could not contain his excitement, and the insertion was excessively fast. The glans scraped the inner walls as it pulled out and then rammed inside again, repeatedly. The slick inner walls grew hot each time they rubbed against the penis.

“Heu, a-eu-eung, eut……!”

It did not matter where this place was. As long as it was someone who would take away his chill, he did not care who the other person was.

It feels like I’m alive. I can breathe. Yoonjo clung to the man’s neck and, just as he had done to him, buried his face deep in the man’s nape. A rich, cool pheromone scent wafted out.

“Ah, heut……!”

The climax came quickly. The man, holding the quivering body, thrusted his hips a few more times. The crumpled corners of his eyes spoke for the man’s state.

“He knows he did wrong, so he’s acting all cute.”

The muttered words fell onto his flushed skin. The man pressed down on the slender waist and the strangely protruding lower abdomen, and increased the speed of his hip thrusts.

A scream that sounded like he was about to have a fit burst out. Now, he was the one shaking his own hips. The bodies of the two people, dreaming different dreams in the same bed, grew hotter and hotter.

“Ha-euk!”

“Shi……”

The man’s hip movements stopped. White fluid filled the empty stomach. He reflexively clenched his rear at the thing that was pouring out endlessly, gurgling. Euk, the man’s face contorted with excitement.

“You’re going to break President-nim’s cock.”

“Heu, eu-eu……. More, more……”

“You’ve really become a whore.”

Won Kangho grabbed the chin spattered with semen and pulled it towards him. He slowly licked the lips wet with saliva and stared at Yoonjo with a sticky gaze.

“Baby.”

“Haa, haa……”

“You’re not answering, again.”

The face that had been affectionate just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen. The man’s mood, having flipped in an instant, turned cold.

As if throwing an object, the man forcefully flung away the face he had been holding. When he removed the arms wrapped around his neck and pulled out what had been filling him, the face of the one who had been limp turned pale.

Even though it was a heated affair that made him sweat, as soon as their bodies separated, a chill raged, making his body tremble. A panicked hand reached for the man.

“Ah, n-no, ah-ah……”

“Speak properly. Don’t stutter like a cripple.”

“Heu, euk, eu……”

His face, bursting into tears, was pitiful. Even seeing the face pouring out sorrowful cries, the man just made an emotionless face.

As Yoonjo laboriously raised his body, the semen the man had shot out trickled from his rear hole. Yoonjo crawled on the sofa like a dog and burrowed into the man’s embrace.

“Is your mouth just for show?”

“Heu, eu-eu, heu-eu……”

He cried his eyes out, clutching the man’s clothes. He wanted to speak, but he did not know how. No matter how hard he tried, the only sound that came out was a foolish sound like “Ah, ah.”

Haa, the man let out a frustrated sigh. He gently stroked his thick eyebrows with his index finger, then grabbed Yoonjo’s hair and pulled him towards his groin.

“If you don’t want to talk, then at least serve.”

Yoonjo hastily put the penis, which was messy with all sorts of bodily fluids, into his mouth. Afraid that he might not hold him, he opened his mouth, hot with tears, wide and sucked the man’s cock with all his might.

I’ll do as you say, so please hold me. He looked up at the man, his eyes conveying the words he could not spit out. The man, who knew nothing, smiled and wiped away his tears with his thumb.

His eyes, which were completely dead, were cloudy. It had been a long time since they had lost their original pretty amber color. Only dull brown irises remained, taking the place of his eyes. Yoonjo’s face, as he sat in the garden, was pale.

His impression was distinctly different from when he first came. The glass garden no longer brought Yoonjo any sort of feeling. Yoonjo’s expression, as he sat on a bench in the garden, was emotionless.

“Yoonjo-ssi, look at this.”

The excited person was not Yoonjo but the housekeeper who had come with him. Even with winter approaching, the flowers in the garden were still vivid and green.

“Isn’t it so pretty? My goodness……. Who would have known that President-nim’s hobby was gardening.”

“……”