Rabbit Hole Chapter 9

Go San held back nonetheless. He too was extremely hungry. Instead, he slowed his walking pace a little. The fact that they had barely managed a pinch of distance in ten minutes was apparently because Geumseo had no strength in his legs and his pelvis was aching. And on top of that, the pants were long. Go San was satisfied.

“Let’s eat meat.”

“For the first meal of the day?”

“I’m going to order a variety. Pick and eat from that.”

True to his word, Go San, having taken a seat at a corner table, ordered most of the menu. The place was quiet and private, so the menu itself wasn’t extensive, but still, Geumseo was startled.

After a short while, dishes filled the table densely. Geumseo found it too much, and though the dishes were menus he recognized by appearance, the details were different, so he couldn’t bring himself to reach for them readily.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll lose weight.”

Go San replied indifferently to Geumseo, who was aghast, looking back and forth between the dishes and himself. Most swimmers were like this. They were the type to lose weight rapidly even if they ate just three regular meals like an average person.

On the other hand, Yang Geumseo ate a little less than average men. Instead, he ate more frequently. He was the complete opposite of Go San. Still, because the food was uniformly delicious and Go San ate very well, it didn’t show at all that one of them had eaten less.

Go San twirled thin capellini pasta and served a portion to Geumseo. It was a menu item well harmonized with Korean cuisine, using salted octopus, perilla leaves, and perilla oil. Perhaps because of the severe physical labor the previous night, Geumseo, who had initially felt a roughness in his mouth and hadn’t fancied anything, started with that pasta and ate quite diligently in his own way.

“Next time, let’s go eat eel.”

Go San said after the meal had progressed for a good while. Geumseo, who had been rolling a steak around with his fork, now far too full to possibly eat any more, raised his head.

“Next time? There’s a next time?”

“Is there not?”

“If your record went back up today, there wouldn’t be.”

“No. It’ll either stay the same as it dropped or drop more.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I feel good.”

“That’s all?”

Geumseo couldn’t understand. Just because he felt good? As if today was the only day in his life he’d ever had a good day?

Disbelief deepened in Geumseo’s eyes. Go San didn’t care whether Yang Geumseo believed him or not, but because, literally, he felt good today, he decided to explain a bit more.

“It’s so killer, I wonder if I’ve had a day like this in years.”

Still, Geumseo couldn’t understand. He liked doing that that much…? Even though it wasn’t his first time…. At Geumseo’s dubious look, Go San grinned. The scar on his cheek sank in like a dimple. Geumseo found himself blankly staring at it before lowering his head again. Frustrated by the fact that he had stared blankly at Go San, he was rolling the innocent meat around when Go San grasped Geumseo’s hand along with it and stabbed it with the fork.

“If you don’t want to eat it, just say so.”

He said curtly and brought the captured hand of Geumseo to his own mouth. The meat, cooked medium rare with its inside flesh red, slid neatly into Go San’s mouth.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Where are you going now?”

Go San handed Geumseo the hooded jumper he had put on to come out. That piece of clothing was a limited edition, originally priced at 280, but now it had become even more expensive. Go San briefly considered making Geumseo spill something on the clothes by mistake and then teasing him. He’d feel great if Geumseo got teary-eyed. It was the kind of harassment someone with a mean nature and a lot of money would pull.

However, the flow was interrupted when Geumseo grabbed and pulled his arm.

“I asked where you’re going. I want to go home.”

“Go home.”

“Really?”

“But no taxi will come here unless you call one. It’s like that everywhere these days.”

“I can just call one.”

“How are you going to call when you don’t even have your phone.”

Only then did Go San pull Geumseo’s phone out of his pocket, having brought it along. He could see Geumseo’s face crumple without even having to induce a mistake on purpose. Before Geumseo could snatch it, Go San tossed it into the air, caught it, put it back in his pocket, and tilted his head.

“Should I give you a ride, or will you take one.”

Geumseo quietly put on the helmet and took his place on the back seat. He was pretty because he listened well. Still, Go San didn’t put on an act of pretense either. Only the outer shell of Yang Geumseo was delicate and pretty. The inside was the problem, full of holes and flimsy like the inside of a dalgona candy.

“Where are you really going? I have to go to my part-time job….”

“I’ll let you go to your part-time job.”

“Really?”

“No. Just quit and want to work with me? Go Unha would pay your salary. No. I’ll pay you that instead.”

“If it’s money hyung Unha gives, I’ll do it.”

“Fuck, you really have a talent for ruining a person’s mood.”

Go San grumbled at his instantly soured mood and started the engine. Geumseo’s voice asking why he was in a bad mood was buried by the wind.

The bike carrying Go San and Geumseo headed for the swimming pool.

∞ ∞ ∞

You can tell the swimming pool is there from the entrance, by the sense of smell. Because the air, with the scent of water and disinfectant, always lingers with a strangely humid quality.

“I’m letting you see the record with your own eyes.”

Go San dragged Geumseo, who didn’t even have swimwear, inside without a second thought. On the way, even when his coach acknowledged him and asked who Geumseo was, he didn’t offer a single answer, just tilting his head. In the locker room, Go San was stripping his clothes off swiftly when he pulled the standing-there-blankly Geumseo over and stripped his pants right off.

“Hey!”

“What. You’re not even wearing underwear?”

“You didn’t give me any!”

“True. They’d be too tiny and cute for you to wear mine.”

Geumseo lunged at him again. His face bright red, he hit Go San, but it was only laughable. Laughing with his chest shaking, Go San grabbed hold of Geumseo’s member. His mood soared at the shrill scream. This might become a habit.

“Wear this.”

In the end, Go San pulled out a new swimsuit and tossed it to Geumseo.

“I’m not swimming. I can’t.”

“Then just come into the pool wearing that and then leave soaking wet.”

All of this could have been solved if Go San had just given him his clothes. If he was going to come find him anyway, he could have brought his clothes too. His nature was nasty.

While Geumseo put on the swimsuit, Go San finished getting ready as well. His bare body was, at least, better than in the morning. In the meantime, the red nail marks and teeth marks that had remained had faded somewhat. It was partly because Geumseo hadn’t had the strength when leaving the marks, so they weren’t deep, and also thanks to San’s skin being tough.

Geumseo frowned at the shark tattoo that covered Go San from the nape of his neck, across his shoulder, down to his shoulder blade, looking as if it might spread its wings and leap out at any moment. As his gaze lowered, he also felt a slight sense of wonder at the fact that Go San’s monstrous cock was fully stowed away.

“Doesn’t something like this violate regulations?”

Geumseo asked out of pure curiosity, pointing at the weighty mass of flesh that conveyed a sense of heft even when Go San wasn’t erect. Go San let out an empty laugh.

“Why would it. If it does, should I cut it off and go in?”

“Then doesn’t it pop out while you’re swimming?”

He decided not to answer nonsense any further. Go San wrapped his arm around Geumseo’s shoulder. It felt like a heavy, large, raw tuna had been draped over his shoulder.

Just like that, Geumseo was led out as if being taken into custody by Go San. When the pool spread out before his eyes, Geumseo whispered pleadingly.

“I, I really can’t swim. Don’t push me in or anything.”

“Since you’ve said it that emphatically, it really makes me want to try it.”

Geumseo shot Go San a glare. Unlike the water that flowed down when washing, this stagnant water, like one solid mass, was frightening to him. Unlike Geumseo, for Go San, who treated water like another form of air, the more he was dampened by the moisture, the more invigorated he seemed to become.

“Hey. San. Who’s next to you? If they’re not a related party, please….”

“They’re a related party. A very related party since yesterday.”

“Is that so…?”

The coach made a dubious expression at the strange nuance in the words. The feel of the word “related party” as the coach pronounced it and the word “related party” that came out of Go San’s mouth were quite different.

Still, if the person himself had no problem with it, it didn’t matter. Before warming up, Go San picked up the record pad the coach used.

“Yang Geumseo. Come here.”

Geumseo moved carefully, afraid he might miss his step and slip. Watching the slow, sluggish steps, the coach glanced at Go San’s reaction. However, Go San, who looked like he might shout ‘Hurry up, you want me to count to three?’ at any moment, was quiet. In fact, he was giggling as he watched the awkward, waddling walk.

‘What’s this, this bastard. Why is he smiling so unsettlingly.’

The coach also roughly knew Go San’s personality, so the sight of him smiling actually gave him goosebumps. It was a smile that evoked a sense of foreboding.

“What?”

Meanwhile, Geumseo arrived. Go San stood next to Geumseo and showed him the pad.