Salt Society Chapter 37

“Did you… come just by looking at my dick?”

The guy laughed. Ha ha, the echoing voice was so clear that it was even more irritating. Kihyun, completely forgetting that his ankle was injured, lifted his leg and tried to drive his shin into the guy’s neck. With a sound effect like “Whoops!” Cho Yeonoh snatched Kihyun’s ankle.

“You should move carefully. This part is a mess, you know.”

…And whose fault is that? He didn’t intend to place blame, but it was true that his anger was boiling over because of the guy holding his ankle while wearing a smile he couldn’t get used to.

What was even more annoying was that every time the guy grabbed and spread one of Kihyun’s legs, the space between his wet glutes made a squelching sound. It was absurd that such a sound was coming from between his own legs, but it was even more baffling because, for some reason, he couldn’t truly resist whatever Cho Yeonoh was doing.

“Let… go of this…”

A voice that was nothing short of rough came out. It felt as if Kihyun was the only one who couldn’t endure everything happening on this bed. Kihyun thought that the current Cho Yeonoh was out of his mind.

If he weren’t, he couldn’t possibly act toward him this way. In the first place, he didn’t know they were in a relationship where they could reach this far with each other.

Because of that, Kihyun actually came to a realization. He realized that between the two of them, he was the only one who couldn’t reach the other. That tilted scale made Kihyun laugh.

“Why are you laughing.”

Cho Yeonoh was watching that laughter. He even asked why he was laughing. Kihyun couldn’t help but ask back.

“Why are you asking? Whether I laugh or not, what the hell does it matter to you, why do you care.”

He had no choice but to spit out those last words with a face contorted like someone who had swallowed something bitter. Because even the moment he asked was painful. As much as his body heated up, his head cooled down chillingly. It hurt as if the airway through which he spoke was being scraped. It was because he only let out words he didn’t want to say.

Cho Yeonoh let out a hum from his throat as if contemplating Kihyun’s question.

“Hmm…”

Then he grinned. The line of his lips forming an arc was so unbearably pretty that Kihyun wanted to die.

“It’s because you won’t laugh for me. No matter how much of a fit I throw, how can you not laugh for me even once.”

“…”

“You’ve changed, So Kihyun.”

Because his tone was like a lover grumbling to a partner who had entered a period of boredom, Kihyun’s chest felt heavy. Cho Yeonoh spoke in a low, sunken voice as if he were truly hurt.

“Do you know how much effort I put in for you? You’re making me say even this, how embarrassing.”

“…”

The guy let out a low sigh. Kihyun gazed blankly at Yeonoh.

Cho Yeonoh was right. His grumbling was valid. Because he really did put in effort for Kihyun. Just like Kihyun, who tried not to show their relationship because he knew dating a Beta would become a political weakness for his lover, Cho Yeonoh also put in effort in various ways to ensure they didn’t harm each other.

Kihyun also knew that it was all because of that—turning his cousins who looked down on him into enemies, obediently following his grandfather’s orders to go down from Seoul to the far Namhae every weekend carrying apple boxes and Bacchus boxes filled with 50,000 won bills, and just digging up dirt with a golf club worth hundreds of millions.

Cho Yeonoh cherishes So Kihyun. He is affectionate. He always tried his best to minimize Kihyun’s discomfort. Kihyun knew that aspect of Cho Yeonoh all too well. It had been a full seven years; there was no way he wouldn’t see it.

For the past several years, Kihyun had lived flailing about, fallen into an affection that resembled love. Even though he was a mere goldfish that could only flap its gills in water. Just because there was a lot of moisture, he mistook the squishy jelly for water and struggled hard, only to end up gasping for breath due to a lack of oxygen.

A goldfish trapped in jelly, an orchid rooted in styrofoam soil, So Kihyun, Cho Yeonoh’s longtime lover. These were collective names for things that were only putting on appearances despite not being in their correct places. So Kihyun was forgetting how to breathe by Cho Yeonoh’s side. Even though he was clearly receiving affection.

Therefore, Cho Yeonoh’s point was correct. So Kihyun’s love had changed. It had become distinctly different from the beginning.

At the very start, it was an outflow of the heart wanting to stay by the guy’s side. During So Kihyun’s occasionally lonely boyhood and Cho Yeonoh’s boyish days of being constantly on edge, the two of them seemed to believe that the only thing they had left was each other, like wounded young animals comforting one another by licking their wounds.

The tragedy was started by So Kihyun first. He began to love Cho Yeonoh, who had no intention of doing so. Cho Yeonoh seemed to think of that as a betrayal. He seemed to view Kihyun as the person who poured water on the perfect sandcastle the two of them had built.

However, in the beginning, Kihyun also started loving out of a desire to cherish Cho Yeonoh. The feeling of not wanting to leave you alone, of wanting to become something you could lean on, developed into an emotion.

Consequently, at the very beginning, there was no such smell of mold. The So Kihyun of that time laughed well and took being by Cho Yeonoh’s side for granted. But everyone becomes an adult. For the aged So Kihyun, there was nothing left. He realized he was clutching a love that was hollow, like a puppet.

Kihyun gradually laughed less. He became a little more unhappy bit by bit. Eventually, he lived with depression following him. There was only one reason he didn’t show it. Because just because he didn’t laugh for you didn’t mean he could cry in front of you. He fully understood that was So Kihyun’s love, and that Cho Yeonoh also cherished Kihyun in the same way.

That knowledge made So Kihyun despair.

“Smile for me. I’m putting in my own kind of effort. Am I not pretty?”

“…You’re pretty.”

Kihyun’s voice was submerged. He even let out a faint laugh. Since the guy seemed to think this was a dream, he thought he should also act as if it were a dream and then wake up.

What else would he consider this strange state where his body was boiling and his desires were swarming, if not a dream? Kihyun’s eyes distorted for a moment. Cho Yeonoh followed those traces silently.

“…It’s really bizarre.”

Reaching out and lightly touching the corner of Kihyun’s eye, Cho Yeonoh chuckled. He even pulled Kihyun into an embrace and let out a groan.

“You smell good, So Kihyun…”

Kihyun quietly patted the back of Cho Yeonoh, who was mumbling with his face buried in his neck. He didn’t know why it had turned out like this, but if Cho Yeonoh thought this was a dream, he had to play along.

The relationship between the two was a castle on a sandy beach built through their respective efforts. So that one person wouldn’t happen to pour water on that sandcastle.

“Kihyun.”

“…Yes.”

Everyone had to try hard. So Kihyun understood Cho Yeonoh deeply. At the same time, he began to drift away little by little.

And, the sex became a bit softer. As if it were truly a touching of skin between lovers. Kihyun found that funny. If it was funny, he just laughed. Every time a small laugh like escaping air came out, Cho Yeonoh looked at Kihyun quietly, took his wrist, and kissed the palm of his hand.

The guy’s soft lips touched his palm, making it itchy. Kihyun reached out with his other arm and touched Cho Yeonoh’s cheek. Like a large animal acting spoiled, he tilted his head with a thud. Kihyun stared blankly at that Yeonoh and opened his mouth.

“This is a dream, Cho Yeonoh.”

“I know. Seeing you laugh, it definitely seems that way.”

Whether it’s me, who only laughs in your dream, or you, who thinks I would only barely laugh in a dream, we are both slightly warped somewhere, so why are we clutching onto this kind of thing as if it were love and affection? It was like people who didn’t even know that mold was spreading to their own bodies because they were clutching onto something rotten.

If you were to actually open the lid, what So Kihyun valued and what Cho Yeonoh cherished might both be rotting at the same time. No, one of the two—mine—is definitely rotting. Kihyun was certain. At the same time, he was confident. That Cho Yeonoh would think of this as a dream. That there would be no confusion even after waking up.

If so, there is no reason to deny it. There is no justification to dislike or hesitate. Because So Kihyun had lived all this time ignoring himself, who was dying to reach Cho Yeonoh. If I have no justification to refuse this and you have no reason to stop this, then this sex becomes something that can be passed over without either of us taking responsibility.

“Hey.”

Kihyun pulled Cho Yeonoh’s waist. Yeonoh’s lower body, pulled by physical force, touched between Kihyun’s wet groin. He felt their parts touch and bounce off each other in that slick place. Whether he liked or disliked that sensation, Cho Yeonoh was frowning.

Reaching out and slowly rubbing that part with his thumb, he said:

“Don’t just do it. Since it’s my first time, loosen me up properly and then do it. Don’t think about throwing away your sincerity just because it’s a dream.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

Cho Yeonoh replied while sticking out his tongue and licking his lower lip. The beauty mark on the bridge of his nose looked good as it distorted whenever the guy laughed mischievously. Kihyun, mixing in a sigh, asked what he had been curious about for a while.

“How did you end up in the mood to do it with me. Even if it is a dream.”

Cho Yeonoh loathed relationships with Betas. Even so, he started his dating life with So Kihyun without being able to completely reject Kihyun’s heart. Therefore, it was only right that there should be no skinship mixed with sexual desire between the two.

Then why was Cho Yeonoh having such a dream? At the question full of wonder, Yeonoh, who smiled brightly, lowered his head and replied while licking Kihyun’s neck.

“Kihyun.”

“…”

“Is my answer important?”