Rabbit Hole Chapter 10

“See the numbers. For a year and a half, they’ve only gone up or stayed the same. You understand this much, right.”

No, does this guy seriously think I’m an idiot. Geumseo was dumbfounded. He smacked Go San once, but it weirdly made a light thud sound. It was utterly pathetic.

Geumseo grumbled, but the coach was appalled by what he had done. The coach and director’s sole worry was that Go San might cause a violent incident and get suspended from competition or, worse, be stripped of his athlete qualifications. And this guy had hit someone who was so unpredictable, you never knew which way he’d snap.

But contrary to the coach’s worries, Go San paid it no mind.

“But here. Yesterday. The numbers dropped, right.”

“No, I said I can read numbers too….”

“When it drops, is that good or bad.”

“I said I know already, okay? I know that the lower the number, the better it is.”

No matter how much Geumseo said it, Go San deliberately explained slowly. He was clearly teasing him. Surprisingly, that sight of Go San made him look his own age for once. The coach had now stopped being appalled and was watching as if observing something fascinating.

“Today, watch and see what happens. And if it drops or this number stays the same, you’ll be fucking sleeping with me from now on.”

And Go San smiled like a villain and declared.

For a moment, he thought he had heard a conclusion that didn’t logically follow, but he denied reality, thinking, surely not…. Then, pretending to look for the timer hanging around his neck, he distanced himself.

“I’m telling you, it’s a coincidence. San, that’s what you call a coincidence.”

Just as Go San had explained the numbers moments ago, Geumseo spoke slowly and deliberately. Their teaching-while-teasing tones of voice were quite similar. Though neither seemed to notice it.

“How can an athlete’s career be built on coincidence. Anyway, you promised.”

Did I…? When Geumseo looked at him with blank eyes, Go San grabbed Geumseo’s cheek tight.

“Go Unha will like it, so let’s do it.”

Having to say something he didn’t mean, and what’s more, doing something he never did, Go San was thoroughly displeased. Still, he had no intention of letting go of this rabbit’s foot1). Truthfully, after sleeping with him one more time yesterday, the record improvement felt like a bonus effect. A body that suited him disgustingly well. Most ordinary cocks wouldn’t even be able to properly prod that elastic flesh deep inside, so then I’ll just have to do it, what can you do. Go San was the type who didn’t even consider the option of not prodding at all.

Anyway, while Go San pressed him with sophistry, twisting things this way and that, and before Geumseo could properly answer, a conclusion was reached unilaterally. Go San was even planning to enlist Go Unha’s cooperation. He hated that bastard, but if necessary, he had to use him.

“Coach. Let’s start.”

Finally able to end the act of looking for the timer around his neck, the coach came back cheerfully. Go San pulled Geumseo along.

“You get some exercise too.”

“I have my part-time job in a bit, I just want to rest.”

“Build up some stamina.”

And so Geumseo joined Go San’s stretching as well. He had a listless, don’t-want-to-do-this air about him, but just as Go San thought, his springy body was proportionately flexible and stretched out well, smoothly. The coach, thinking it was unexpected, watched, and then spotted the bluish bruises on the inside of Geumseo’s thighs where they had been spread apart. Once that caught his eye, he realized that the marks left on other parts of the skin weren’t actually scars. The coach decided never to look in that direction again, even by mistake.

After stretching ended, Geumseo sat on the unused outer lane, dangling his feet in the water, and watched Go San train. Honestly, at first, he had wanted to be sent home to rest a bit before his part-time job and to change his clothes, but once Go San actually started swimming, he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

Go San seemed more like an amphibian than a fish. Like a large crocodile. Or maybe a shark after all. First of all, he was quite tall and had a big frame, so that was probably why. His sleek, agile movements made it seem like escape would be absolutely impossible. Had swimming always been a sport that looked this dangerous? No, it hadn’t, surely….

But what was certain was that he couldn’t take his eyes off Go San.

After going back and forth several times, Go San’s hand made the final touch. The coach pressed the timer exactly and shouted the record. Taking off his goggles and swim cap and letting out a huge breath, Go San grinned at that number. Geumseo, without realizing it, couldn’t tear his eyes away from that sight. For that moment, it felt as if there was no one but Go San in this place. In reality, including Go San and himself, there were three people, so it was just at the level of not seeing the coach, but for Geumseo, who was harsh on San, it was a tremendous moment.

“Did you hear that?”

Go San shouted. His body was wet, and he was exhilarated from the satisfaction with his record and the high-intensity aerobic exercise. His muscles were also more relaxed than usual.

“Did you hear that, Yang Geumseo?!”

“Huhh?”

The problem was that Geumseo had been so busy watching that he hadn’t heard the number.

When Geumseo made a clueless face as if to say ‘what are you talking about,’ Go San’s expression crumpled instantly. And he immediately got out of the water.

Long legs were walking over…. His head, which had been tilted down following that, was suddenly grabbed and yanked up.

“What were you thinking about again.”

Go San scraped out in a low voice. Geumseo let out a groan of ah, ah because the hair being pulled hurt. He wasn’t grabbing it that hard, but still, startled by the sudden situation, it felt more painful.

“Were you thinking about Go Unha? Right in front of me?”

“Oh dear. That bastard’s at it again. Go San, Go San!”

The coach, who had been humming and writing down the record, came running over in a fluster. Go San watched over his shoulder as the plump coach ran, trying not to fall, then snapped.

“Other times, I don’t care, but when I’m swimming, you have to look only at me. I don’t mean just your eyes, even with this head of yours, look at me. Huh?”

“Ah, okay.”

“No. You’re the type who, if I say that, will make all sorts of excuses and do something stupid. Just think only about me. That’s what you have to do now.”

“Whyyy….”

As soon as Geumseo felt the strength leave Go San’s grip, he slipped his head out and asked back. He should have been intimidated, but he wasn’t.

“Can’t I not do it at other times…?”

“No. Just think only about me. Then I’ll give you more money.”

“I told you I don’t need money.”

“Right. And that’s exactly what’s so fucking infuriating. Can’t you just do it for the money?”

“Then I’d be selling my body….”

“Ah, fuck, seriously.”

Go San ran his hand wildly through his wet hair.

“Well, I guess it does sound that way.”

Surprisingly, he admitted it readily. Though he didn’t apologize. Geumseo was surprised that Go San hadn’t actually meant his proposal that way. He’s got common sense in the strangest places. Which made him even more unpredictable and impossible to figure out. But that was fleeting.

“But anyway, your family owes my family money anyway. What does it matter. Think of it as debt forgiveness.”

“…”

What he said was true, which made it infuriating. Geumseo glared at Go San. Still, it wasn’t threatening at all. To Go San, it was nothing.

The coach had come running in fear a fight would break out, but when the two just exchanged words casually, all his strength drained out of him. Even for himself, who had rolled around in the sports world quite a bit, his legs turned to jelly if Go San so much as glared, so watching this blank-faced guy talk back to him without missing a beat was entertaining in its own way. He’d have to tell the director all about this, in minute detail.

“Show me.”

Go San turned his body and tilted his head. The coach had been pressing down his laughter by himself, and when he answered, “Huh?” Go San glared. That gaze was, funnily enough, even more ferocious than the look he had given Geumseo while grabbing his hair. It was to the point where one would rather choose to have their hair grabbed and not meet his eyes.

“No, why are so many people not listening to me today? Am I, like, a pushover? Do I have no presence?”

“H-how could that possibly be….”

Where else would you find a kid with a face that handsome and an inside that nasty. That would be a real problem…. The coach figured out what Go San wanted through sheer instinct. When he held out the tablet, Geumseo too could see that the last number had dropped by 1 from yesterday’s record.

“You saw it, right?”

Go San plopped down next to Geumseo, whose eyes were busy moving up and down, and snickered.

“Now you have to sleep with me.”

“I’m telling you, it’s a coincidence!”

“Let’s try it one more time, and if it goes back up then, I’ll say it was a coincidence. No. Considering condition, if we sleep together three times and the record goes up all three times, then it’s a coincidence.”

“So that means we have to sleep together three more times….”

Geumseo’s face crumpled. When it crumpled, his cheeks puffed up. Where had he been stashing his age, with a body that thin, leaving behind cheeks like this? Go San, who had been staring intently at those cheeks, suddenly grabbed and shook them. It wasn’t a painful grab.