The Dog’s Mask Chapter 9.1

Lee Jaeha drove the car desperately, as if trying to get even a little farther away from the hotel where he had met Jang Taegun.

He ran away, even while thinking he could not understand his own actions. He just could not possibly remain in Seoul. It was because the things he had done were pathetic.

Forgetting he had even reserved a hotel room, he returned home and had to shower immediately.

It felt as though Jang Taegun’s pheromones were clinging to his skin, and he felt like he would do something reckless if he left them as they were.

He loved the scent of the man on his own body so much he could go crazy. It wasn’t even long—just the time it took to eat a meal. It was absurd that just by facing him for that brief period of an hour to an hour and a half, he had been consumed by his pheromones like a mated omega.

Engulfed in self-loathing, Lee Jaeha gripped his penis under the showerhead. The tip was swollen of its own accord. It wasn’t even his rut period, yet it was so absurdly flushed red, as if expecting to knot.

That state pushed Lee Jaeha to the edge. His water-soaked toes curled inward. His lower abdomen hardened as blood rushed to his penis.

The color of Jaeha’s erect member grew redder and redder. His heated body was in agony, so he stood pressed against the cold tile wall. When the tip of his penis touched the cold surface, the urge to urinate washed over him. As soon as he tried to hold it in, his urethral opening gaped open on its own.

His light-colored penis had for some time now become bright red with even the slightest stimulation. When the urethral opening at the tip of his reddened glans opened its small mouth as if mumbling, its color would change to a slightly pinker shade. Today was no different.

Jaeha slammed his forehead against the tile wall and groaned, clenching his teeth. The masseter muscle in his jaw bulged from the force.

His eyes closed on their own. He reached climax the moment he recalled Jang Taegun sitting across from him, opening his mouth to swallow a piece of sliced meat.

To get excited by watching someone else eat. Could he be like this unless he was truly out of his mind? Jaeha let out a deep sigh and washed the evidence of his climax down the drain.

He had gotten hot from standing under the hot water for so long. From then on, he turned the water to its coldest setting and stood blankly, cooling his flushed body.

Jang Taegun’s pheromones, which had settled on his skin, must have been washed away long ago. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to remain there like that.

It was quite some time later when he stepped out from under the shower. He threw on whatever clothes he could grab. Water dripped from his wet hair. The water droplets left a trail on the hoodie, which had the logo of the university he attended during his study abroad printed large on the front.

It was something he sometimes wore when he went boxing, and for Jaeha, who did not care about clothes unless they were the suits tailored for him by Section Chief Im, it was a piece of clothing he had worn for nearly ten years now. The cuffs were worn and frayed, but it didn’t matter. For pants as well, he simply put on a pair of training pants and picked up his car keys. He had only grabbed his wallet and cell phone.

He practically ran down to the underground parking garage of the annex. Taegun’s subordinate, who had been guarding it every day, was nowhere to be seen.

He did not even feel relieved that there was no surveillance. He wanted to leave Seoul right away, without a single thought. Without any promise of when he would return, Jaeha immediately pressed the button to open the garage shutter, got into the car, and started the engine. Without even time to warm up the engine, he released the parking brake and shifted gears.

From then on, he just took the Bukbu Expressway, passed through Guri, and merged onto the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway.

On the late-night expressway heading toward Gangwon Province, there was nothing but Jaeha’s sedan and the box trucks and dump trucks making early morning deliveries. Jaeha stared blankly at the Yushin Logistics logo covering the enclosed cargo bed of the box truck ahead. When his eyes met those of the exclusive model who was holding a cardboard box and smiling at him with a trustworthy face, he turned on his indicator and overtook the truck. No matter how much he drove, his gloomy mood did not recover.

Throughout the drive, whenever his chest brushed against the seatbelt, his nipples, which had swollen on their own, would touch it and become ticklish. Each time the round, blood-engorged areas brushed against it, it was so itchy that he could not concentrate on driving. In the end, he folded a handkerchief several times and tucked it between his chest and the belt. A curse came to him automatically. He didn’t actually say it out loud, but that was how he felt.

It was around 1:23 a.m. when he stopped at the Hongcheon rest area to refuel. The franchise cafes were all closed, so he had no choice but to buy a can of coffee from the convenience store, one he used to drink often in college.

It was a product in a bottle-shaped aluminum can, and it was just about drinkable. He remembered buying a can of this type of coffee and heading to the library when he was in college before studying abroad. Like most cheap coffees, its caffeine content was high, which was just right for the current Jaeha.

Jaeha placed it on the counter, hesitated, then spoke to the tired-looking convenience store part-timer standing in front of him.

“…A pack of cigarettes too, please. The blue one back there. …I’ll pay for a lighter as well.”

“That will be 7,600 won. Please insert your card in the front.”

Jaeha inserted the card right away, not fumbling like he had that one day. Holding the coffee, pack of cigarettes, and lighter that the part-timer handed him in one hand, he pulled out his card and turned away.

Returning to his car, he held the card between his lips, opened the car door, and got in.

He placed the unopened pack of cigarettes and the lighter in the console box and opened the can of coffee. With a click, the aluminum lid twisted off. Jaeha drank the coffee inside the unlit car. He wasn’t sleepy, but his mind remained blank. The heat in his body had long since cooled, but his heart was in turmoil.

His mind was constantly replaying Jang Taegun. He found it absurd that he had even bought cigarettes, missing the cigarette he had briefly smoked with him just once, years ago.

In the end, while holding the fuel nozzle, he put a cigarette between his lips, only to be scolded by a truck driver fueling up next to him for doing something so dangerous at a gas station. Jaeha apologized to the driver as he broke the unlit cigarette in half. Making a mistake he had never made in his life and being scolded by a complete stranger made him feel even more like an idiot.

After getting back into the car, he drove continuously without a break. One of the villas his mother had left him was in Gangwon Province, but he did not go there, instead heading to a Yushin-affiliated hotel near Seoraksan Mountain.

He needed a place with a swimming pool. He had called the general manager in advance, so he received his card key at the same time he handed his car over for valet. He waved off the butler who followed him as he made his way to the presidential suite. As he headed toward the elevator, Jaeha asked the butler just one thing.

“The swimming pool, is it open now?”

“It is available for use.”

Despite the late hour, they did not say it was unavailable. It seemed there was a separate pool for guests of the presidential suite.

Even so, it probably wasn’t ready since he had arrived without a reservation. It was something he would not normally do.

Jaeha did not particularly like making the staff below him do unnecessary labor for his sake. That was also why he always told Section Chief Im that excessive special treatment was unnecessary.

But today was different.

At this late hour, knowing full well that a report might go up to Lee Ikhyun, even if it meant bothering the hotel staff on the night shift. Lee Jaeha had to devote himself to something.

At this rate, he would not be able to sleep. Whatever he did, he wanted to abuse his body and push himself like a madman, then sleep without waking until the sun set the next day.

Entering the pool that had been opened late at night for just one person, Lee Jaeha had to overcome the impulse to tear himself down completely and then reassemble himself.

That day, he swam until late. Until he could see the sun rising from one side of the pool’s glass-walled enclosure. Lee Jaeha wanted to die from exhaustion.

It was a cheap wish, and one that was too unrealistic to come true.

🍃

What did I see in my dream?

Truth be told, Lee Jaeha was not one to dream often. He did not like dreaming itself, so he would consciously reject dreams. As if that rejection worked, most of the time, it would be complete darkness when he fell asleep, and when he woke up with stinging eyes, it would be morning.

But something must have finally visited him during the night. He only guessed this upon waking and finding a single drop of tear pooled inside his eyelid. Because he had slept on his side, the teardrop had collected on the straight bridge of his nose.

Every time Jaeha blinked, tears fell drop by drop. What on earth did I dream of? To have to feel pathetic about myself as soon as I wake up. It was beyond absurd.

The digital clock on the bedside console was already flashing, indicating the late afternoon. It seemed he had slept for quite a long time.

Jaeha got up and ordered a club sandwich, a galbi half-portion set meal, pad thai, and meatball spaghetti from room service.

It was a rather random selection of dishes. Soon after, a butler pushed a tray with the food on it and rang the doorbell. He told him to leave it at the living room entrance and go. He did not want to face anyone and exchange even a few words.

Jaeha soon pulled the tray in himself and began to eat, not in the guest room’s living room, but in the bedroom. Just as he had chosen the menu, he ate ravenously without any order to the food.

He had not brought a change of clothes, so he wore only a robe over the pair of drawers he had bought at the convenience store in the wee hours, not even bothering to close the front.

He placed the sandwich plate on his bare thigh and ate blankly, not caring if he spilled anything.

He also got a Coke from the minibar. He didn’t usually enjoy carbonated drinks, but it was essential to get such a large amount of food down his esophagus. He crushed the empty can.

The amount of food, which looked enormous at a glance, gradually dwindled. He wasn’t a picky eater, but he had never eaten this much, yet the plates were soon empty.

“…”

Then, suddenly, his appetite vanished. His mood sank endlessly. The thought that he was still in the same place after pouring years into his efforts would not go away. It was because of the anxiety that everything he had done might have been foolish.

He put down the sandwich he was eating, took off his underwear, and put on his swimsuit. He went down to the pool once again, still in his robe. The pool, used exclusively by guests staying in the suite, was quiet, unlike the general pool which was separated by a single wall.

After a rough warm-up, he dived into the pool, and white foam welcomed him. That day, he just swam and swam like that again.

He came back and fell into a doze. Still without drying his hair. He didn’t care that what he had eaten late in the afternoon had been his first and last meal. He was desperate for sleep. His consciousness sank as if being sucked into a swamp.

It felt like he was awake even while sleeping, and asleep even while awake. In the space between consciousness and unconsciousness, clarity and chaos, Jaeha would cover his ears with a pillow every time he heard the sound of the room’s heater running.

Perhaps it was because he had fallen asleep as if sinking somewhere, but the moment the faint dawn light seeped through the blackout curtains and touched Jaeha’s eyes, his consciousness returned all at once with a gasp.

Jaeha had to struggle to open his eyes, which would not open.

“…”

“…”

It was because Jang Taegun was sitting on the sofa next to the bed, watching him with his arms crossed.

“…How did you get here?”

Only after speaking did Jaeha realize his voice was severely low. It was quite hoarse.

As he blinked his unopening eyes, the figure of the man sitting quietly in the unlit bedroom finally came into clear view.

The man was wearing funeral attire. Had he been at a wake all night? But there was no lingering scent of incense. Jaeha blankly had such thoughts.

“Honey.”

“…”

“Who runs away all the way to Gangwon Province? Myungsoon almost worked his dick off driving in the dead of night.”

As he said that, a cracking sound came from Jang Taegun’s neck as he turned it.

Jaeha just blinked and then slowly sat up. The blanket covering him slid down, revealing his bare shoulders and chest. Only then did he realize he had fallen asleep last night wearing nothing.

Normally, he wore sleepwear to bed, but everything felt like a bother. He didn’t have any clothes, but if he had asked, pajamas of the right size in all sorts of materials like silk and cotton would have been delivered, but he didn’t want to. He had been living in just a bathrobe, leaving only the food tray outside, and had already told the butler that he did not need any cleaning.

Naturally, he had no choice but to sleep naked. It wasn’t strange. He had seen Lee Jaeho sleep completely naked several times. He didn’t even need to go as far as Lee Jaeho; hadn’t Jang Taegun always slept without a shirt on? It wasn’t uncommon, yet he flinched without realizing it. Jang Taegun smirked as if he found Jaeha absurd and said,

“I’m not the one who took them off, so why are you looking at me like that?”

Then, as if a thought crossed his mind, he frowned, stood up from the sofa, and approached Jaeha. There was no light in the room, so he could not see his face well. Soon, he asked in a low voice,

“Or did some other guy take them off for you? Who could that kind friend be?”

Thinking he was joking again, Jaeha did not answer and bit his lip, then asked again.

“How did you get here?”

“Took the Yeongdong Expressway.”

The man knew that wasn’t what he was asking, so Jaeha’s brow furrowed as well.

From Jang Taegun’s perspective, he himself was probably the willful one, but from Jaeha’s point of view, there was no one as unpredictable as Jang Taegun.

His tone of voice was so familiar, as if he had forgotten all about his attitude toward Jaeha for the past two years.