Rabbit Hole Chapter 33

And he threatened him in a very affectionate voice. Geumseo’s legs felt numb, so he nodded while standing on one foot.

Contrary to his worries, Go San’s hand didn’t go further inside or grab anywhere else. No, he did grope. It was the places Heo Sangmuk had touched. It was amazing. How did he know all of them? Then Geumseo recalled that Go San had been watching Heo Sangmuk’s behavior for a bit.

“Why… why were you just standing there?”

“I didn’t know you wanted me to help.”

“You could tell by looking.”

“How can you tell by looking. You don’t really like the things I do.”

Go San laughed lowly and added: Was it me you don’t like? His voice was rather eerie.

“Tell me to help you. Calling my name is fine too.”

“…What if you’re not there?”

“That probably won’t happen from now on. Because I’m going to take you with me wherever I go.”

“That’s not really….”

“No. You’ll like it. I treat you well, don’t I.”

Go San whispered softly into Geumseo’s ear. Meanwhile, the showerhead above Geumseo’s head kept pouring warm water, ceaselessly groping his body.

“Has there ever been a time when what I did ended up being something you hated?”

“…My ass hurts.”

“Even so, you say it’s good and squirt all over the place.”

“I don’t really like that stuff.”

“That’s why we’re a perfect match. I have a lot of sexual desire and you have little. Imagine if we both had a lot, fuck, then I wouldn’t even be able to go train. Because I’d be fucking you until the sheets were soaking wet.”

It was a plausible statement. Because Go San really was that kind of guy.

Go San kissed Geumseo all over his body. They stayed in until his body turned pink from the hot water, and eventually Go San took off his clothes and showered too. He washed quickly, got out, and put a bathrobe on Geumseo. It was something that hadn’t been there before. Moreover, it fit Geumseo perfectly.

“It’s yours. I bought it.”

He was like a child bragging to his parents that he folded a carnation himself at kindergarten. Geumseo fiddled with the fluffy, soft robe. Go San was especially affectionate today. He even brought out hot chocolate with marshmallows floating in it for Geumseo as he sat there. It was Mexican style, so it had a slightly spicy aroma, which warmed his body even more. By that sweetness and warmth, Go San was packaged as an even more plausible savior, and Heo Sangmuk became a despicable bastard one shouldn’t even associate with. That wasn’t much different from the truth. You could think of it like the warning on a car’s side mirror. ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.’ It was that level of distortion.

“Geumseo, are you sleepy?”

Go San gently rubbed Geumseo’s knee and asked. With eyes half-closed, Geumseo nodded.

“You’re not going back there anymore, right?”

“I can’t go….”

“If you could go, would you?”

Recalling the faces of Haeju hyung and the manager, the employees, and the owner, Geumseo shook his head.

“But I still have to go get my pay…. You think they won’t give it?”

“They’ll give it. If I go with you.”

What was the relationship between the owner and Go San? Just that he’s the younger brother of Unha hyung, an acquaintance?

The more Geumseo became connected to Go San, the more Go Unha was pushed out as an outsider in his life. It was an unavoidable situation.

“You… you’re not drinking anything?”

Geumseo said anything to chase away sleep. Go San gestured with his chin toward a pale green water with effervescent vitamins dissolved in it.

“Alcohol… you’re not drinking?”

“I normally don’t drink much. I have to take care of my body.”

“Then when you slept with me the first time, you hadn’t been drinking either…?”

Go San poked the marshmallow floating like a buoy on Geumseo’s hot chocolate. Having gone deep into the hot chocolate and come back out, it was no longer white.

“I wasn’t drunk.”

Geumseo felt that answer was somehow slippery. The answer was slippery? He knew it was a strange thing to say, but it was hard to express this feeling in any other way.

“Heo Sangmuk. Want me to get revenge for you?”

Go San gently scratched and probed the half-asleep, half-dreaming Geumseo. Before he knew it, Geumseo’s bare legs were resting on Go San’s thighs. His fingers wrapped around his legs like vines, tickling his knees and the backs of his knees. His toes twitched.

“Forget it. Don’t go to jail.”

“Got it.”

Go San listened well. He never usually listened to his requests. Even when he did, he never granted them easily. Finding that strange and just a tiny bit cute, Geumseo stared at Go San’s face.

It was a handsome face. He had thought he resembled Unha hyung, but looking now, he didn’t. Even though his hairstyle right now actually looked more similar.

“Want to go to sleep?”

“Yeah….”

“Then let go of my face a little.”

“Huh?”

Only then did Geumseo realize he had been holding Go San’s cheeks. It was something Go San often did to him. Startled that he was gripping his cheeks so tightly, he tried to pull away, but the person who should have told him to let go instead grabbed his hand and placed it back. Geumseo was flustered by the fact that he had been doing something similar to what Go San did.

“No. Just keep holding on.”

Go San chuckled and lifted Geumseo up just like that. Geumseo, whose strength was completely drained, felt heavier than he had at the bar where he had been rigid with tension, but to Go San it was nothing.

As he walked toward the bedroom, Geumseo hugged Go San’s waist tightly. If he didn’t, it felt like Go San might drop him with a thud at any moment. Maybe what Go San said about dying if you don’t hold on tight to his waist when riding his bike had lodged itself in his head.

If we go to bed like this, will we do it again? Geumseo resolved to just accept it this time. Since all he’d done so far was say he didn’t like it, he decided not to say that this time. After all, Go San was his hero and savior today.

“Let’s sleep.”

But contrary to Geumseo’s thoughts, Go San just flopped down next to him. Not covering himself with the blanket, he draped it only over Geumseo, propped his arm up, and patted him as if putting a child to sleep. It actually felt more like an act chasing sleep away.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I’ll go sleep in the other room.”

Flustered, Geumseo rolled his eyes. Today, Go San wasn’t acting like himself. The moment in the room where he had been more Go San than anyone else had been beautified and disappeared. Melted away by the affection. All he could remember was Go San carrying him out of the room, turning on the heater because he said he was cold, washing him with warm water, and making him hot chocolate.

Ah, right. Hot chocolate.

“I need to brush my teeth again.”

“Okay. I’ll bring it to you.”

“You’re telling me to do it in bed?”

The pillows, blanket, and sheets were pure white, like hotel bedding. There was no way Go San, who acted as if he had a mild case of mysophobia, would like that. Go San was the type who, after returning from being out, absolutely had to wash or change his clothes before sitting on the sofa or bed.

When Geumseo looked at him with dubious eyes, Go San, with a languid gaze as if he were somehow full, silently mouthed the word: Why.

“Is that okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be.”

As if Geumseo’s suspicion was funny, Go San let out a small laugh and headed to the bathroom. What he brought back was Geumseo’s toothbrush. Toothpaste was squeezed on generously, just as Go San liked.

“Ah.”

As soon as he opened his mouth, the toothbrush slipped in. Go San went so far as to brush Geumseo’s teeth for him. With his chin held, he opened his mouth when told, and stuck out his tongue when told. Once the brushing was done, an ice bucket and water were even presented to him. This service was so strange that Geumseo actually wanted to run away.

“Spit.”

Go San was humming, finding something amusing. Geumseo, exhausted, decided to just go along with everything and sleep. He probably couldn’t even manage to run away anyway, but right now, fatigue took priority over that.

Having placed the bucket and cup down, Go San turned off the light. Seeing that he didn’t turn on the mood lamp, it really seemed he intended to go sleep in the other room. Geumseo, looking around the dark room with an uneasy expression, ended up grabbing the hem of Go San’s clothes as he stood up from the bed.

“D-don’t go. Just sleep here.”

In the darkness, while Geumseo couldn’t see, Go San’s eyes flashed. He laughed brightly. Apart from his inner substance, his shell was beautiful. Go San pressed his body close to Geumseo’s side and sat down, asking suggestively.

“Scared? You want me to sleep with you?”

“Mm.”

When Geumseo answered definitively, Go San hugged him tightly. Then they covered themselves with the blanket side by side. The tip of Go San’s chin rested on the top of Geumseo’s head. Finally feeling relieved, Geumseo turned his body and hugged Go San face to face. A corner of his heart was still uneasy and bothered, but he figured it couldn’t be helped after having gone through something like that.

“Ah, it would’ve been nice if something like this had happened sooner.”

“Huh…?”

“Since I’d be saving you anyway, but like this, Yang Geumseo likes me.”

“That’s what you call me liking you?”