Rabbit Hole Chapter 2

Left alone, Geumseo clutched his spinning head, wondering how he should take this situation, Go San’s words. Even Go San’s attitude, acting as if nothing had happened, made all of this feel like an illusion. Am I crazy? But he wasn’t crazy. He’d been told he was a bit slow, but he’d never once been asked if he was crazy.

In the meantime, an alarm rang on Geumseo’s phone. It was the sound urging him to leave for his part-time job. Ding, ding, ding. A loud noise burst out as if elevators were arriving at the lobby one after another. Even in the midst of confusion, Geumseo turned his steps to catch the bus. He had come farther than his own home, so he couldn’t afford to dawdle.

Geumseo’s ass hurt as if it would split into two, or maybe four, and his thighs pulled taut. Go San watched the back view of him clumsily, sluggishly running with sleepy eyes, then rubbed his own neck. On his neck, a nail mark stung, sharply asserting its presence.

∞ ∞ ∞

Geumseo went to work for now.

He worked at a tavern that was always short-handed. Thanks to customers flooding in regardless of whether it was a weekend or a weekday, the work was hardcore. Thanks to that, even though the hourly wage was relatively high, many people quit. In such a place, Geumseo was in his second year of continuous employment, an ace in his own right.

As soon as the break time ended, waiting customers streamed in one after another. A line had already formed 10 minutes before break time was over. The first three months had been deadly hard. Still, Geumseo, who learned faster with his body than with his head, had become skilled before he knew it, filling water glasses and water bottles on every table and handing out menus with familiar gestures. However, if you looked closely, you could notice he was a little slower than usual. It was because the space between his legs was still tingling.

Even so, whenever he had a spare moment, he contacted Go San. Is it really you? Is it really you? Please say it isn’t…. Go San didn’t answer for the longest time, then finally sent a reply around when Geumseo was getting off work.

Go San

If it’s not me, who were you expecting

Well, hyung Unha, obviously. Still, he had enough sense left not to say that to Unha’s younger brother.

Go San

To my place

The five characters that arrived in succession grabbed Geumseo by the ankle just as he was leaving the shop, his body covered in the smell of grease.

Come over?

Go San

What else would it be

Just through the text alone, he could feel Go San’s exasperation. Geumseo hesitated, then sent, Why?

Go San

I have to give you the hat

You’retheonewholeftit…

Go San

ThenIshouldreturnit

He wasn’t making any sense.

Even so, Geumseo was good-natured. He knew perfectly well that stealing was wrong. In the end, Geumseo headed to Go San’s place.

Go San’s place was 1101, hyung Unha’s place was 1102. If they were on the same floor, they could just live together, and Geumseo couldn’t understand the extravagance of brothers deliberately living separately. It was something he wouldn’t have understood even before his family went bankrupt. Above all, he couldn’t understand why the brothers disliked each other so much.

Arriving on the 11th floor, Geumseo agonized over whether to go left or right. He wished the door to 1102 would open and hyung Unha would acknowledge him, saying, “Geumseo.” Then he would pretend not to know and go in there.

However, while Geumseo was agonizing, the state-of-the-art elevator that had gone to the lobby arrived very quickly at the 11th floor. The door opened, and the one who appeared wasn’t Go Unha but Go San.

“What are you doing, scurrying around like a little rat?”

Little rat…. That way of speaking was so typical of Go San.

“You told me to come….”

Even though he had been wanting to go to 1102 just moments ago, Geumseo lied. Of course, it was plainly obvious. Go San had a convenience store bag looped around his wrist and draped his arm over Geumseo’s shoulder.

“Right. I did.”

You call me over and then forget, what a goddamn mess…. As Geumseo grumbled internally, Go San suddenly tilted his head, thrust his face in close, and asked.

“Do you have a problem?”

“Hehe, no….”

Geumseo laughed obsequiously. He silently made excuses to himself that anyone would have acted like him if they saw Go San’s fist right next to their cheek.

Go San stared at Geumseo quietly, then grinned. A deep vertical dimple appeared on only one cheek. He’d heard it was a scar from fighting with Go Unha when they were young, but it was hard to believe. Hyung Unha left that big of a scar?

Anyway, even if he hated to admit it, it was a scar that suited Go San well.

“If I see you put strength in the soles of your feet one more time, I’ll make sure you don’t need to walk at all.”

“…”

At those words, Geumseo let the strength drain from his ankles. He had been rigidly bracing from his thighs up, but Go San had noticed astutely. Anyway, no matter how much strength he put in, he wouldn’t have been able to overcome Go San’s pulling power.

Go San was good at sports. He was just naturally gifted with a good body and sense. He had even competed in amateur boxing tournaments, and he did all sorts of combat martial arts as a hobby, so no matter how determined Geumseo was to resist, it wouldn’t make him budge an inch.

Geumseo gave up early and decided to go with the flow. It was a survival method he had learned after his father’s business suddenly went completely bankrupt.

“Fuck, what’s that smell.”

Go San said, pushing Geumseo through the open door gap. Geumseo staggered at the sudden criticism, yet bundled up his clothes and brought them to his face. No matter how much he sniffed, to him it only smelled like the grease he was so used to.

“I don’t smell anything except grease….”

“Exactly.”

Go San replied, gritting his teeth.

“That’s what’s giving me a damn headache.”

“Then I’ll come next time….”

“When do you ever not work.”

“On weekdays I’m at the tavern, on weekends at the gas station.”

Go San’s eyes flared wide.

“What, do you like oil or something?”

“…”

“Is that your thing? Why is your resume so greasy.”

Geumseo thought it was a bit unfair for Go San, who seemed like he played around for a living, to say that to him when he was working so diligently, but he couldn’t voice it.

“And what do you mean next time. Go wash up. Take off all your clothes.”

“I can just give it to you quickly and leave.”

“…”

Go San’s eyes looked like he really would hang him upside down, so Geumseo murmured, Fine, and hurriedly went inside.

“You’re going in without taking your clothes off?!”

At the sudden shout, while running down the sleek hallway, he quickly stripped off his clothes. Go San was famously a filthy player, yet he was so fussy about cleanliness. The phrase “what a joke” came out of him involuntarily.

Go San, who had been walking in slowly, abruptly grabbed the shoulder of Geumseo, who was heading the opposite way, and properly redirected him toward the bathroom.

“You’re annoying people in a whole new way.”

To Go San, he might have thought he grabbed him gently, but to Geumseo’s shoulders, tightly knotted from all kinds of labor, even that much cried out in pain. Geumseo made whimpering sounds as he headed to the bathroom.

“I’m going to check every inch of you, from the nape of your neck to between your crotch. If you smell like grease, you’re dead.”

There was no bastard more nitpicky than this. He couldn’t possibly understand why he wanted to smell him when he said he hated the grease smell. And what was this about between his crotch? But it really did seem like he would do it, so Geumseo squeezed out more soap foam and diligently scrubbed his body.

‘San? He’s a bit peculiar. Maybe because he works out, he’s sensitive about cleanliness, but isn’t that a good thing? Peculiar but cute.’

Geumseo recalled what Go Unha had said about his younger brother. How could he call that cute? Hyung Unha really was kind, no doubt about it. The brothers were completely different. It seemed hyung Unha had taken all the kindness and good traits, leaving not even a scrap for Go San. Geumseo decided to feel a little sorry for Go San. How hard must it be for him to live with that kind of temper.

Thinking that way, the simple-minded Yang Geumseo quickly felt better. But that didn’t last long. Because the sight reflected in the large mirror, which he didn’t have in his cramped home, was a complete mess. His whole body was mottled with marks. If they were just red spots he might not have thought much of it, but there were handprints and even teeth marks, ghastly. His sore ass wasn’t the only problem.

Besides, there was one more problem. He had no clothes to wear. Flustered, Geumseo came out barely covering only his waist with a towel.

“Go San…. Where are my clothes?”

Go San, of all things, was reading a book. Surprisingly, Go San’s hobby was reading. How he found time for a hobby while playing around so busily was beyond him. Geumseo judged Go San with particularly harsh standards.

“In the washing machine.”

“Can I take them out?”

“It’s running.”

Go San replied as he turned a page.

“Then what do I wear…?”

“Stay undressed. We’re just guys, what’s the big deal.”

“You say that, but you fucked me even though I’m just a guy….”