Winter Season Chapter 11

It didn’t seem that the sensation of something sticky and hot leaking out with every breath was simply due to last night’s pleasure. Even as the cold wind sharply clawed at his face, the fact that his breath felt burning suggested he definitely had a touch of a cold.

“You can just stop by a pharmacy on your way.”

“Don’t go to your part-time job today, just go to the hospital with hyung—”

“Hyung, I think the taxi is here. That’s it, right?”

Yihyeon cut Subin off while looking to the side.

An orange taxi with its “Reserved” light on and a black sedan were slowly approaching this way.

Due to the illegally parked cars and the standing signs set up in front of the motels, the road was narrow and precarious for a car to enter.

Yihyeon twisted his head to pull away from Subin’s hand and took a step back. It was as if he were doing so to create space for the car to stop.

The hazard lights blinked, and the taxi came to a halt in front of the two of them. The pitch-black sedan following right behind also slowed down. Beep, a short honk sounded.

While Yihyeon hesitated while looking at the sedan behind them, Subin quickly stepped forward and opened the back door for him. He then took a fifty-thousand-won bill out of his wallet and held it out to Yihyeon.

“You don’t have any cash or anything on you right now. Buy some porridge and medicine on your way and go inside.”

“…Thanks. I’ll pay you back next week.”

“Pay me back for what. Don’t just sleep because you’re lazy, make sure to take the medicine. Get home safely.”

“Yeah.”

Yihyeon stared blankly down at the single thin bill placed in his hand before climbing into the taxi. The gaze looking down worriedly with a hand hooked over the top of the door was quite affectionate. Yihyeon bit his lower lip slightly, feeling uncomfortable with the tender attitude that felt as if he were being treated like a lover.

Drawing a line around himself when dealing with people was a personality trait formed over a long time. This applied not only to Subin but also to other people he had met so far.

Like a police line set up at an accident scene, he cut ties after a short while with anyone who tried to step inside. All Yihyeon wanted to do with men was mix bodies and share warmth. Emotional exchange was useless.

He thought that Subin, who was quick-witted, had keenly realized that. Had he perhaps misjudged the person?

Suddenly, he felt as if the ground beneath his feet had turned into a mire, dragging his body down in a muddy and heavy way. Fatigue began to wash over him.

As Yihyeon sat down and only kept his eyes lowered without a word, Subin, who was standing by the door, gave a short laugh and leaned down. He then lightly pressed his lips against Yihyeon’s forehead, where the lingering heat of the fever remained, before pulling away.

He felt the gaze of the taxi driver sitting in the driver’s seat looking through the rearview mirror. Swallowing a sigh, he closed his eyes.

“If you don’t feel well, don’t push yourself to go to work later and contact hyung.”

Subin slowly stroked Yihyeon’s hair. Then, with an expression showing he was reluctant to let him go, he carefully closed the car door.

Once the cold, dry wind was cut off, the warmth of the car’s heater finally began to be felt. Yihyeon stroked his forearm with his palm as the skin exposed to the air felt itchy.

“Please go to Suhyun-dong.”

There was no reply. The eyes of the middle-aged taxi driver reflected in the rearview mirror were filled with a look of unpleasantness. Two men making a fuss in broad daylight, and in front of a motel no less, probably wasn’t a pleasant sight to see.

He might have been hurt when he was younger, but such things were nothing to Yihyeon now. The car began to move somewhat roughly, and Yihyeon pressed his forehead against the hard window.

As he closed his eyes, the cold glass window began to cool the heat on his forehead. As his head cooled, he felt a dull ache near his waist. He wasn’t cold, but a part of his heart felt empty. It was a feeling he often felt the day after overlapping bodies with someone.

The thought occurred to him too late that he shouldn’t have held onto Subin when he was trying to leave yesterday. I need to keep my distance starting now. Yihyeon swallowed the regret past his throat and let out a small, surging breath.

༘⋆🤍˚ .❄️₊˚ෆ

It was a day when Seunghyeok’s mood was particularly low because he had received a call from Chairman Gu as soon as he opened his eyes. Instead of Taeshik, who was away on other business, the new organization member who took over the driving had to spend the whole day walking on eggshells around Seunghyeok, feeling extremely tense.

While heading to the head office after picking up a few documents from Nexus, a taxi suddenly cut in front of the lane they were driving in. Just as he was about to swear while hurriedly adjusting his speed, he realized that Seunghyeok was in the back seat and quickly covered his mouth.

‘If I mess up, I’m screwed.’

At first, he had forgotten because he was excited about the fact that he could serve Seunghyeok, but he was one of those counted as someone to be just as careful around as the Chairman within the organization.

If his older brother was always the cool-headed and rational style, Gu Seunghyeok was the exact opposite. He was rough, like something raw and unrefined. His peers used to say that he would act slyly with a smirk only to transform in an instant and bury someone, and that Seunghyeok was scariest when he was smiling.

The tense man looked up and checked the rearview mirror. Fortunately, Seunghyeok was sleeping with his arms crossed. The organization member secretly sighed in relief and only glared at the tail of the taxi that was the culprit of the situation.

The problem was what came next. It would have been fine if their paths only overlapped for a moment, but the taxi ahead began to turn first into the narrow alleyway they were planning to go through.

Since Seunghyeok was sleeping anyway, he followed closely behind with the mindset of “see how it feels to be screwed,” and the taxi repeated moving forward and backward little by little, whether it was because the driver was unskilled or because it was hard to find a spot in the narrow alley. Every time it did, he pulled the car up close and chuckled meanly.

“Hey.”

It was around then that a low voice suddenly came from the back. Feeling as if all the blood in his body was drying up in an instant, the organization member stammered out an answer.

“Ye-yes…?”

“Stop the car with some distance.”

It seemed he hadn’t been sleeping, but just had his eyes closed. He was staring intensely at somewhere outside the window with eyes that held not a hint of sleepiness.

The organization member felt a chill go down his spine, and his hands and feet began to freeze. Perspiring cold sweat, he glared at the orange taxi that had become the culprit of the situation. Two men who appeared to be passengers were approaching the taxi that had stopped about five meters ahead.

“Hy-hyung-nim… I’m sorr—”

“No. Get a bit closer.”

He could tell it was a moment where he had to do as told before begging for forgiveness. Swallowing even the sound of his breathing, he slowly moved the steering wheel.

He stopped the car again at a position where the passengers’ faces and mouth shapes were visible and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

‘Fuuuck…. Why aren’t they moving quickly, why are they acting up over there…!’

Beep, at the lightly pressed horn, the customers flinched as if startled. When one short man turned his head toward the back, Seunghyeok’s eyes, which contained no emotion, met his gaze.

Through the heavily tinted window. Unilaterally from one side.

“…Ha.”

It was Kwon Yihyeon. Standing next to him was the tall man with curly permed hair who had been stuck to Kwon Yihyeon at the club.

The man narrowed his eyes and glared at this car, then soon took a fifty-thousand-won bill out of his wallet and held it out to Yihyeon. Seunghyeok just watched the scene silently.

The bill landed on the white, thin hand. Yihyeon stared blankly at it with a expressionless, clean face, and then got into the car without refusing.

Seunghyeok, who had been pulling up the corner of his mouth crookedly without even knowing it, let out a cold, hollow laugh the moment Subin pressed his lips to Yihyeon’s forehead. He gazed at the retreating taxi with a cold stare.

Two gay bastards. In front of a motel. A white hand receiving fifty thousand won.

It was a situation that could be understood without further explanation. Seunghyeok twisted the corner of his mouth with eyes that had turned ice cold.

Five million won is no go, but fifty thousand won is fine.

“He has a unique sense of economy.”

“Pardon?”

Seunghyeok, who had been clicking his tongue while tapping his crossed foot, suddenly opened the car door and stepped outside. He lifted his wrist to check the time and, cracking his stiff neck, opened the driver’s seat door. The terrified organization member was looking up at Seunghyeok with eyes full of fear.

“Do you want to get out on your own two feet, or do you want to be dragged out?”

“I-I will get out!”