The World of Contrasts Vol. 3 Chapter 3

After returning to Tokyo, Yukito holed up in his apartment for three days. Mama looked a bit puzzled when Yukito excused himself with a claim of being sick, but as always, he didn’t pry for reasons.

Since Mama’s bar was still busy until the end of the year, he seemed quite preoccupied, which was a relief for Yukito.

“Make sure you go to the hospital today. All the clinics and pharmacies will be closed by New Year’s, so you should get your medicine in advance.”

Mama seemed to think Yukito’s symptoms were a prelude to heat. Whenever Yukito experienced his heat cycle, which occurred every three to six months, he would take days off from work, lock himself in his house, and endure it with heavy doses of suppressants.

“…Yes.”

“I’ll be back.”

Yukito nodded half-heartedly, saw Mama off, and then opened the fridge to gulp down some cold water.

Nothing had happened to him in the last three days, but his insides were burning up, which was only natural. He flinched every time he heard a sound at the door, feeling as if the man might barge in any moment with a gun in his mouth.

“I don’t feel like joking anymore. I had one real bullet in there.”

The man’s expression when he said it was a joke was far from playful.

The fact that there was nowhere to run was driving him mad. How did he find him in Izu? There was only one answer: the man had someone tailing him. Given that he followed him to the underground fight club, the tailing must have started from the club.

As a result, Yukito had to check his surroundings even in public restrooms on his way back to Tokyo.

“Fuck, really…”

In a situation where he couldn’t even pee outside without looking around, profanity came naturally.

Yukito decided to stay at home because he concluded that no matter where he ran, the only end would be confronting the man. It was to show that he had no intention of running away. Even suspects of serious crimes are left unarrested until a warrant is issued if there’s no flight risk.

“If you’re curious about what our relationship was, come find me today.”

Of course, Yukito wasn’t curious at all. No, honestly, he was curious to the point of going crazy, but he didn’t want to open Pandora’s box to know about his past as a yakuza underling.

What he wanted now was to escape the unpleasant shadow of his past and continue the mundane life he had been living.

“Who does he think he is to order me around… that bastard…”

Moreover, going to him just because he was told to would be against his pride. He had bowed his head to all sorts of people at the bar for the past five years without feeling anything, yet suddenly, he couldn’t explain why he felt this sense of defiance.

However, the only thing that was becoming clearer was the ominous feeling that every time he faced him, a hot, maddening heat would surge inside him.

“…”

Suddenly feeling an appetite, Yukito chuckled. The human survival instinct was truly remarkable; even in this situation, he was properly hungry. All the food he had bought from the convenience store on his way back home three days ago was gone.

In the end, Yukito grabbed a coat from the wall and put on his shoes. He didn’t know how long the man would wait, but given his temper to point a gun at him, his patience was likely not great.

“Don’t drive me crazier by rejecting this chance I’m giving you.”

He didn’t want to be forcibly dragged out of his apartment and shorten Mama’s lifespan. Yukito decided to fill his stomach first and prepare his mind.

Ding.

― Welcome.

Entering his usual convenience store, Yukito suddenly stopped. There was a faint scent of the man lingering in the air. Instinctively scanning the store while walking towards the refrigerated section, he found no sign of the man in the store.

…Did he come and leave?

Yukito chewed his lip as he saw the part-time worker who glanced at him and then quickly turned his head when their eyes met. Realizing that the man had indeed come and gone, he didn’t want to stay here any longer. The lingering scent of the man in his nostrils made it even harder to bear.

“Haah…”

Exhaling the breath he’d been holding, Yukito, with reddened eyes, realized where he needed to go. He walked briskly towards the hospital in O-okubo.

Another issue that had complicated his mind over the last three days was that something was wrong with his body. Yukito grimaced and took a harsh breath.

As people passed him, or the wind carried various pheromone scents, he could smell them. The stench of rotting fish, the smell of a clogged sewer, the unpleasant stench of alpha pheromones that stung his nose. And the sweet, sharp smells were from omegas like Mama.

Until now, he had never found anyone’s pheromones appealing. But… just recalling the scent that clung to the air in the convenience store made all the blood in his body rush to one place. It meant the incident three days ago was not a misunderstanding.

Yukito bit down hard. If the imprint hadn’t broken and this was a side effect accumulating in his body, the old doctor who had injected him with suppressants would have to take full responsibility.

From the moment he entered the 50-year-old building on the third floor, Yukito felt a chilling emptiness. He slowly entered the hospital, seeing the signboard indicating clinic hours had fallen at the door.

What’s this?

The heavily made-up, bleached-haired nurse who was always on her phone at the reception was nowhere to be seen, and the examination room door was wide open. Inside, with the curtains pulled back, there was no one, just an old monitor that the doctor had been looking at lying on the floor.

Heading further inside, where he had never gone before, the situation was even worse. The metal cabinets, organized by name, were in disarray with analog medical files scattered everywhere.

Had there been a robbery? Or had the doctor finally been caught for illegal drug administration and taken away by the police? The prescription of suppressants for individuals with traits was strictly controlled by the government, so giving medicine to Yukito, who didn’t even have a health certificate, was definitely illegal. The problem was that this hospital had many patients like him, especially omegas of the “don’t ask about the past” variety.

It didn’t matter what had happened, but he was disappointed that he couldn’t grab the old doctor by the collar and demand to know what was happening to his body.

“Welcome!”

As he entered the soba shop on the first floor of the building, the owner with a hood on called out loudly. Yukito pulled a ticket from the meal ticket machine and sat at the counter. There were no other customers in the shop since it was before the peak dinner time.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Yukito quickly finished his steaming bowl of soba and casually asked the owner.

“Does the hospital on the third floor not operate anymore?”

“Ah…”

The shop owner, with his white beard, smiled awkwardly.

“Well, this neighborhood has a lot going on.”

Yukito looked at him, deliberately showing a troubled expression.

“Hmm… I’ve been a regular there for a long time, so this is quite inconvenient.”

Since he had visited this shop several times while going to the hospital over the last five years, he was certain the owner would remember his face. Of course, this was the first time they had spoken.

“Though the doctor was a bit peculiar, there’s no hospital as convenient as that one.”

Lies flowed effortlessly from Yukito’s mouth. Was he always this shameless? Surprised by his own affability, the shop owner’s attitude softened a bit.

“Actually, this morning, some scary people went up there in a group. And I saw the doctor coming down with them, looking pale.”

“Scary people, you mean…”

“Yakuza, of course.”

The owner added in a lowered voice, looking around to make sure no one was there, his expression filled with concern.

“I am worried that trouble might spill over to patients who used to visit the clinic, but… well, it’s got nothing to do with our shop, so I hope you continue to patronize us…”

“Thank you for the meal.”

Yukito put down his chopsticks and stood up. He had gathered all the information he needed; there was no reason to linger. It seemed the old doctor had more than one enemy holding a grudge. But fortunately, it wasn’t “that guy” who had raided the place.

He couldn’t feel his pheromones in the chaotic hospital. But now, where would he get his suppressants? With this new concern, Yukito began to wander aimlessly again, his mind in turmoil.

✽ ✽ ✽

Daeyoung blinked slowly at the rows of onigiri on the counter. According to the Indian part-timer at the convenience store, the beautiful man living in the yakuza’s mansion liked the pickled ume onigiri the best. He always had it with cold green tea.

It wasn’t a big deal that the part-timer could recite a regular’s order, but Daeyoung had to suppress the urge to gouge out the part-timer’s white eyes that widened in recognition when Seonho showed him Jaemin’s photo.

Jaemin’s apartment was right next to the convenience store. Daeyoung smoked a cigarette in front of the store, looking at where Jaemin had holed up for three days, before he left.

He knew Jaemin had started moving again when he was on his way back to the hotel.

It was unfortunate that he had visited the convenience store right after he left, but if they had met head-on, it would have been problematic in its own way.

Daeyoung was not confident that he could just look at his omega without having sex when they met again.

✽ ✽ ✽

Whether it was at the club where he had seen Jaemin bowing respectfully to yakuza or at the beach where he had rushed like a madman, fearing Jaemin might walk into the sea, it was the same.

If he hadn’t taken the suppressants, he couldn’t be sure what he would have done to him.

Daeyoung had been steadily realizing the limits of his patience over the past three days.

In the past, he had resolved to act with great generosity if he ever met Jaemin again. Even when Jaemin didn’t respond to his letters during visits or when he completely disappeared from his life after going missing, clearly still alive, Daeyoung had promised to treat Jaemin like the most precious thing in the world, suppressing his boiling emotions.

He had intended to endure with all his heart and sacrifice until the time when the wounds Jaemin had suffered would heal, and he could look at him without it hurting.

Of course, that resolution shattered the moment they met.

He realized that what he truly wanted wasn’t patience and sacrifice but confinement and union. He wanted to lock Jang Jaemin away where no one could see, not allowing him to move an inch until the sex they had postponed for seven years was over.

The desire to punish and awaken his omega, who didn’t even remember his imprinted alpha, with his body, making him cry out in pleasure, was maddening.

It wasn’t that he felt new self-loathing for being an inevitable alpha. It was just that Jang Jaemin’s lukewarm response, which he had to be because he was an inevitable omega, drove him even crazier.

How do you manage to hold back this desire?

Only after his phone fell to the floor with a loud vibration did Daeyoung bend down to pick it up.

“Yes, I was about to call you.”

The yakuza who had raided the back-alley hospital Jaemin used to visit cleared his throat.

― I apologize for making you wait. Was the material you were looking for sufficient?

Daeyoung licked his dry lips while glancing at the documents he had crumpled and thrown into the trash.

“It seems so.”

― What shall we do with the doctor?

The doctor of the crumbling hospital had a hobby of putting patients to sleep with suppressants and sleeping pills to take photos.

― He claims he didn’t do anything more than that even if he died…

The old doctor’s hard drive was filled with countless photos of omega body parts. Daeyoung reached out, took one of the onigiri, and peeled off its wrapper.

“Handle it as you see fit.”

― We’ll make sure he never opens a clinic again. Don’t worry. It’s beneficial for the country too, since he’s openly shaming alphas.

Daeyoung took a bite of his food while listening to the yakuza’s voice, who spoke as if it were nothing significant. The crisp seaweed and cold rice grains gave way to a tart taste, causing saliva to pool in his mouth. He wondered if the same change had occurred in the old man’s mouth when he held a camera over Jang Jaemin.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you. I owe you a lot this time.”

― Don’t say that. It’s not a burden, not at all. Ha ha.

“But…”

As Daeyoung continued, the person on the other end, who was about to end the call, paused. A slow voice came from Daeyoung’s vocal cords.

“Is suicide common among the elderly in Japan?”

Silence flowed for a moment from the other side of the phone.

― Of course, it’s not uncommon. As you know, there are so many old people in this country. Ha ha.

The other party broke the brief silence with a raised voice.

“I see.”

Daeyoung thought it was frustrating that he had to specify how the matter should be handled, as he opened a plastic bottle of green tea.

The astringent drink went down, but the tartness lingered in his now sour mouth. It was a taste one could never forget after experiencing it once. The old doctor who obsessively photographed Jang Jaemin’s red lips must have felt this way as well.

As he threw the remaining food and drink bottle into the trash, Daeyoung added one more thing.

“If someone committed suicide but their tongue was cut off, would that be very strange?”

✽ ✽ ✽

After wandering aimlessly away from the soba shop, Yukito found himself in front of Mama’s bar. Instead of going inside, he peered through the glass window at the bar’s interior.

The small bar was bustling with customers in black suits. Normally, this would be the time right after opening preparations were done.

Do yakuza have year-end parties too? The men, with their obviously unusual attire, and the women, dressed flamboyantly, already seemed quite drunk. Their voices were loud enough to be heard from outside.

‘Yukito!’

Mama, spotting him from behind the counter, seemed delighted. Holding up the most expensive bottle of champagne, he gestured towards the packed bar, exuding excitement over the high sales.

“I’ll go.”

Yukito gave a faint smile and waved at Mama. Mama put a hand to his forehead, asking ‘Are you okay?’ checking if he still had a fever.

Yukito nodded and turned away before Mama could come out, quickly exiting the alley. He had intended to down some strong liquor at Mama’s bar before confronting the man, but it seemed today wasn’t the day.

Returning to his apartment, Yukito first filled the bathtub with water. After soaking in the hot water until sweat dripped from his head, he got out and opened a can of beer.

Perhaps due to wandering the streets in the wind all day, his exhausted body easily absorbed the alcohol, gulp by gulp. The three cans he had brought home ran out in less than an hour.

The need for cigarettes was the unfortunate trigger; he grabbed his wallet and went out. Although he had intentionally taken a roundabout way when coming home, his feet automatically led him to the nearest convenience store out of habit.

Ding.

― Welcome.

With the automatic door chime, Yukito hesitated a moment too late.

“If you’re curious about what kind of relationship we had, come here.”

“Damn bastard, really…”

The man’s scent was gone, but the memory couldn’t be erased. The can boasting a 9% alcohol content was cost-effective, but the problem was that he was already feeling drunk without realizing it.

Instead of buying more alcohol, Yukito headed straight to the counter and bought a pack of cigarettes. Instead of going back to his apartment, he turned towards the park, where the man’s hotel was located.

“…”

In front of the luxurious hotel he had no reason to visit normally, Yukito lit a cigarette. So, that bastard is somewhere in this building…

“Sorry, but smoking is not allowed in front of the lobby.”

A hotel employee with a hat with a badge rushed over to him. Yukito took a long drag down to the filter before flicking it off and handing it to the employee. As if he had seen all kinds of troublemakers, the hotel staff accepted the butt without any sign of surprise.

“Thank you.”

“Sorry, sir.”

The employee with gray hairs sparsely sprouting at his temples looked at him and said, “Yes?” His polite tone faded slightly, replaced by a suspicious look, wondering if there was more business.

Yukito pulled out the blue card key from his loose pants pocket and handed it to him. The plastic card key was almost bent in half from being repeatedly squeezed over the last three days.

“There’s no room number on it, can you check?”

The employee’s demeanor slightly changed from his initial doubtful look.

“Are you a guest here?”

“No.”

“…Then…?”

Feeling like he was being interrogated, Yukito snapped irritably.

“I was invited.”

“Ah, what is the name of the guest who invited you?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”

He actually knew but didn’t feel like saying it. He doubted a yakuza would check into a hotel under his real name.

Seeing Yukito’s sharp, defiant eyes, the employee hesitated for a moment before extending an arm towards the hotel. If this guy was truly invited by a guest, it could lead to trouble later.

“It’s cold outside, let’s help you in the lobby.”

Even as he followed the employee inside, Yukito was unsure.

His current attire was that of an unemployed person who had just stepped out of his house to buy cigarettes, without even a jacket. The shining lobby with its magnificent chandeliers clearly didn’t match his appearance.

Would they really tell him the room number when he looked nothing like a hotel guest?

Considering the scenarios where they might send an alley-found key-holder like him to a room, it seemed more likely they would throw him out.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

After a while, a manager with a clearly bored expression approached, accompanied by someone with droopy, docile eyes but a folded ear and a physique that obviously belonged to someone who worked out. They must have been called to throw him out.

Yukito swallowed a curse and stood up from the sofa. He had come here because he was told to, but not giving him the room number was the man’s fault. He had justified his actions in his head, and now he had something to say if he encountered the man again.

After quickly rationalizing in his mind, Yukito moved to avoid being escorted out by the guard. Frankly, his heart had been beating anxiously since he entered the lobby, and he didn’t want to stay there long.

As he hurried out, the guard’s pace quickened to match his.

“…Have you arrived?”

The man with the cauliflower ear who had almost run up to him bowed while blocking his path. Hearing unexpected Korean, Yukito bit his lower lip. The guard brought by the manager seemed to be one of the man’s subordinates.

“No, I came to the wrong place.”

Not wanting to be dragged away in this situation, Yukito frowned and stepped back. The guard, who looked like a golden retriever, drooped his eyes even further. What’s with that look? As if he’d been kicked or something.

✽ ✽ ✽
“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

As Yukito furrowed his brows at the sudden apology, the other responded with a trembling voice.

“I’m truly sorry for not being able to bring you here faster.”

To anyone watching, it looked like a guilty subordinate bowing to a yakuza boss. Surprised by the unexpected situation, Yukito let out a hollow laugh, which made the other’s expression even darker.

“Let’s go together.”

The guard, making him feel even more awkward with his excessive courtesy, gestured towards the elevator. Yukito, finally in the glittering golden elevator, tapped his foot anxiously.

“Is there anything… uncomfortable for you?”

The guard asked him in the quiet space.

“Is this situation… one where I could be comfortable?”

His words were sharp with irritation. Even if the guard suddenly changed his stance and threw him to the ground, it wouldn’t be surprising, but for some reason, Yukito couldn’t suppress his temper. It must have been because the cauliflower ear was too submissive.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened with a quiet chime. Although it couldn’t be, he felt like the man’s scent was lingering throughout the hotel. As they walked down the carpeted corridor that absorbed sound, the guard stopped and handed him something.

“What’s this?”

Yukito raised an eyebrow, glancing at the green capsules in a transparent plastic container.

“…It’s suppressants. I thought you might need them.”

Yukito licked his red lips once and flicked the bottle with his thumb, sending it into the air. The sound of the capsules rattling came from where the bottle landed precisely on the guard’s chest.

“I don’t take medicine from people I don’t know.”

The guard’s eyes turned red for some reason, but Yukito didn’t have the leisure to care anymore. He could feel the man’s scent strongly from the corner room.

If he didn’t keep his wits about him now, he might end up falling from the 40th floor.

✽ ✽ ✽

With the skyline glowing blue beyond the opened panoramic windows at his back, the man was sitting on the sofa, drinking. He looked like he had just showered, with his hair slightly damp and wearing a bathrobe.

“You’re late.”

Even though he was only in a bathrobe, the man exuded a considerable amount of intimidation. Yukito felt the alcohol he had consumed on the way here, but facing the man, all traces of drunkenness disappeared.

Yukito cleared his throat, trying to hide his own tension.

“I was so tired that I collapsed right after getting home.”

“Ah, I see.”

The man half-listened to his words while lifting his drink.

“Want a drink?”

To think of drinking alone in the most expensive suite room in Tokyo with a view of Tokyo Tower during the year-end peak. For a yakuza, he certainly had nothing better to do. But then again, Yukito was no different, having been drinking alone until now.

“I don’t drink without food.”

Although the man had previously told him he could speak informally, Yukito thought it better to assess the situation first. As he sat down on the sofa opposite him and calmly refused, the man reached for the room service menu.

“What do you want to eat?”

“…Pig’s feet and buckwheat noodles?”

The man paused his search through the menu and stared at him for a moment. Since it was obviously something they couldn’t order, Yukito had said it on purpose, but maybe it annoyed the man. Yukito swallowed hard and then asked, feigning nonchalance.

“Do you dislike it?”

When the man picked up his phone after a brief silence, Yukito panicked belatedly.

“Oh, you don’t have to order it.”

He had thought of the scenario where the cauliflower ear would scour the Korean town for real pig’s feet. If he had to force himself to eat in front of the man, he might end up vomiting.

“You said you wanted it.”

“I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

“To me, it doesn’t sound like just that.”

The man looked at him with an odd expression as he continued.

“I thought you might have remembered the old times when we ate pig’s feet together and ended up having sex several times.”

But that couldn’t be. Knowing Jang Jaemin’s character, he wouldn’t even mention something like lightening the mood.

“…”

Seeing Yukito’s sharp eyebrows knit together, Daeyoung decided to provoke him a bit more.

“Ah, we used to have sex, mainly.”

An empty glass was placed in front of Yukito, who was frowning. The man poured whiskey worth more than Yukito’s monthly salary like it was water and continued.

“After about three hours of sex, we’d get hungry even in the early morning, so we’d eat a late-night snack. There was a place near your apartment that delivered pig’s feet 24/7.”

“…”

“You were too lazy to even move chopsticks, so I had to feed you by hand.”

“…”

“Really bad manners, huh?”

He spoke about these ridiculous stories as if he were telling fairy tales from a thousand nights. Seeing his focus slightly blurred as he smirked while filling his own glass, it was clear he wasn’t entirely sober either.

After receiving the report that Yukito was coming his way, Daeyoung had finished a bottle of whiskey, something Yukito didn’t know. He hesitated for a moment with the glass in front of him.

“You’re not drinking? This is the whiskey you used to keep at home.”

The man spoke nonsense again while looking at Yukito. Yukito, out of irritation, drank the high-end whiskey without ice, gulping it down. His throat burned, but thanks to the alcohol he’d already consumed at home, his stomach didn’t twist; instead, it felt like the liquor clung to his stomach.

“I thought you’d like it.”

Daeyoung refilled his empty glass, and Yukito, not to be outdone, emptied it again. With a thud, he set the crystal glass down on the table, the veins on the back of his hand bulging under his tattoos.

“…Even lies should have limits, old man.”

As the alcohol kicked in again, his mouth moved of its own accord, unable to bear it any longer. Seeing him drop the formal speech, Daeyoung let out a low laugh.

“Ha ha.”

What the hell was his identity? From his first appearance until now, this man had kept Yukito’s nerves on edge, haunting his dreams with nightmares.

Yukito thought his twisted smile, on that disgustingly handsome face, was particularly irritating. The rotten smile suited his face too well.

“You’re going too far. What’s your name?”

In fact, he had known his name from the beginning. He had seen the news Mama had shared dozens of times, there was no way he wouldn’t know. But for some reason, Yukito didn’t feel like saying his name out loud.

“You call me old man, so what should I call you?”

Daeyoung asked, his thick eyebrows drawing together in an elegant manner.

“How old do you think I am?”

“Forty-two?”

He said it expressionlessly, intentionally to annoy him, but the man seemed unaffected, just smiling and sipping his drink.

“Do you know we’re the same age when you say that? I was born on the same day as you.”

Yukito, who had lost his memory, didn’t know his own age or birthday. Moreover, the man’s expression when he said the last part was somehow meaningful, which made Yukito feel even worse.

“You want me to believe that?”

It was hard to guess someone’s age just by looking at their face, but Yukito was certain he couldn’t be the same age as this man.

The eyes of someone who had clearly experienced everything could sometimes be frightening, and the man’s eyes were just like that. Compared to his, even the glaring eyes of young thugs seemed almost pure.

“Why don’t you believe it?”

But he couldn’t honestly say that. It would be like admitting his fear. Of course, it was true that a yakuza who pointed a gun at his face in broad daylight was terrifying, but he didn’t want to show it.

“Because you look older than me, that’s why.”

The man’s laughter didn’t sound annoyed. Perhaps because of his deep voice, it felt like a bass tone that vibrated through his ears, which only made Yukito more tense. Something… in a strange way.

The man wasn’t emitting any pheromones, but Yukito felt hot due to the tension. As he licked his lips, Daeyoung suddenly asked.

“How old do you think you are?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“Forty-two?”

This fucking bastard, really.

The urge to punch Daeyoung, who was smugly throwing back his own words, rose within Yukito. Yukito clenched his teeth and repeated what others had said about him.

“With this face, even if you stretch it, I’d be in my early twenties.”

He felt ridiculous explaining it, and Daeyoung’s lips twisted in a way that annoyed him even more. With his elbow on the armrest of the single sofa, the angle of his chin was perfect, looking as if he was holding back a laugh.

“But you, even being generous, look like early thirties.”

“Hmm… I’ve never heard I look old, that’s strange.”

As Daeyoung’s lips moved again, Yukito felt his insides heat up. With a face that looked like he was born with a frown, what was he saying now?

From the first time they met on Christmas Eve, they hadn’t had a proper conversation for more than an hour, but this man had a knack for irritating people in a bizarre way. More precisely, it felt like he was playing with someone in the palm of his hand.

But Yukito had no intention of becoming his toy. His instincts were constantly sounding red alert. This was definitely a danger signal.

“…Enough, what do you want from me, Daeyoung Jang?”

Yukito took a breath and asked him. He wanted to quickly conclude the business of why he was called here. If it was about a debt, he could think of a way once he knew the amount.

“…What did you just say?”

Daeyoung looked at Yukito with an expression as if he had been doused with cold water.

✽ ✽ ✽
Fuck. Did he get pissed because of the way I addressed him? He was calm when called “old man,” but when Yukito used his name, the temperature seemed to drop, making Yukito tense up even more. But he didn’t want to back down here.

“Don’t you have something to discuss?”

Daeyoung furrowed his brows and bit his lower lip slightly. It didn’t seem like a good sign.

“I told you if you were curious about our relationship, you should come see me here. You’re the one who thought about it for three days and finally came.”

“If you were going to respect my will, you shouldn’t have threatened me with a gun, Jang Daeyoung… CEO.”

As Yukito calmed his trembling insides and spoke his true feelings, Daeyoung fell silent for a moment. Then his voice came out tightly controlled.

“You speak Korean well.”

“…”

“I thought you really had lost it all, become a complete idiot, but your way of speaking hasn’t changed, honestly, it’s nice to see.”

Yukito’s long eyes narrowed.

“Jang Jaemin’s shitty personality is the same wherever you go.”

The crazy bastard was introducing himself.

“Fuck you…”

He accidentally spoke his thoughts out loud. Yukito bit his lip, his habit of cursing slipping out.

Instead of slamming Yukito’s head into the marble table, the man who had searched and found out he had killed seven people yet was paroled after five years was now looking at him with a twisted smile.

“That was just me talking to myself.”

Yukito added belatedly. The man had said he wouldn’t kill him, but in reality, there were more yakuza who killed without warning than those who did. And Yukito had no desire to be toyed with by a yakuza in a hotel room.

Click.

Instead of responding, Daeyoung lit a cigarette. Even while sucking on the filter, he was looking at Yukito. Facing the white smoke he exhaled slowly, Yukito felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.

“Can I have one too?”

“You don’t need to ask.”

“I mean, I want one of yours.”

He had smoked his last cigarette in front of the lobby, so Yukito had none left.

The man gave him a slight sneer before handing over the cigarette case. As Yukito familiarily took a cigarette from the metal case, Daeyoung leaned forward from his chair. Instead of offering a lighter, he tilted his head, cigarette in mouth.

His intense gaze seemed to consume him. Yukito’s heart thumped.

Fssst.

Yukito took the light from him, lit his cigarette, and inhaled. The moment the single flame became two was fleeting. Neither of them closed their eyes. For some inexplicable reason, in that fleeting moment, Yukito felt the hair on his nape stand up.

After deeply inhaling the smoke until his cheeks hollowed, Yukito exhaled it slowly without turning his head. He knew the man in front of him was dangerous. But for some reason, he felt strangely comfortable.

A feeling as if this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. It didn’t make sense, but with this man, it felt like it was okay to act like this.

Moreover, in the look he gave while tilting his head to light his cigarette, there was clearly an inexplicable thirst and an emotion that tugged at Yukito’s heart. Not quite sadness, but not anger either. What was this called again?

…Longing?

Yukito let out a small, sarcastic laugh at the melodramatic word, which seemed out of place with the man in front of him. Could someone who had killed seven people and been out of prison in five years ever have felt such longing in life?

He even felt sorry for those who had been brutally killed by him. He certainly wouldn’t have given them a kind, clean death.

“Don’t laugh like that.”

Daeyoung said in a low voice, and Yukito raised his sharp eyebrows.

The displeased look in Jang Jaemin’s eyes when he glared at him. The slight sneer he would let out while licking the inside of his teeth. Daeyoung couldn’t stand it when he made that face.

How can you not know me, looking like this?

How can you call me by such a name?

“…You’re really something.”

As Yukito chuckled again, bringing the cigarette to his lips, Daeyoung let out a groan-like “Fuck.” Instead of the cigarette, it was his hot tongue that slipped into Yukito’s mouth. His kiss was still unannounced and forceful, yet Yukito’s lower abdomen quickly filled with blood.

“Hmm…”

As their tongues intertwined deeply, Yukito felt like a match had been struck inside him, igniting a flame.

Despite sharing the same whiskey and smoking the same cigarettes, the man’s scent was completely different from his own. It was unlike the rotten stench of the other alphas’ pheromones. His face felt hot, as if the scent was seeping into his mind.

“Haah… hmm…”

It didn’t take long for the one-sided kiss to become mutual. Yukito sucked on the tongue that was forcefully rubbing against his, gasping. He craved the source of the faint scent he had felt in the club, tangling his tongue with Daeyoung’s like snakes.

“Haah…”

Daeyoung took the cigarette from Yukito’s hand and tossed it into the ashtray, then grabbed Yukito’s now free hand and guided it to his crotch. The sequence of actions was so natural that Yukito couldn’t help but flinch.

The erection under the navy bathrobe was massive when it touched his hand, but he wasn’t particularly surprised. He had already expected that a man lacking nothing would be overwhelming in size as well. What was more surprising was how reluctant he felt to remove his hand from the man’s cock.

The penis, incomparable in size and rigidity to his own, aroused him just by touching it. He had never envied another’s endowment, nor had he ever imagined doing foreplay, but Yukito’s hand naturally began to stroke his shaft.

Smack, slurp, suck, the kissing continued with wet, vulgar sounds. Yukito spread Daeyoung’s precum, which was dripping down from his bare cock, onto his palm and circled the swollen head. The dangerous moan from Daeyoung’s throat, sounding like a beast growling, further stimulated him.

“Hmm…”

Daeyoung continued kissing, about to delve into Yukito’s throat. Yukito’s pale face flushed with heat, turning peachy. Feeling the throbbing pulse of Daeyoung’s erection with his hand, Yukito’s body heated up knowing he was aroused.

His hole twitched next. The tightly clenched hole opened and closed as if breathing, and then something started to leak out. Yukito stopped his hand, suddenly feeling fear and goosebumps on his neck.

“Stop… ugh…!”

As Yukito tried to pull his hand away, Daeyoung overlapped his hand with his. With his other hand, he gripped Yukito’s head tightly, sucking on his tongue while moving their joined hands vigorously on his cock.

It felt like his palm was about to catch fire from the friction. The movement was stupidly intense, yet paradoxically, it seemed to suit Daeyoung.

Even as he felt the hot semen burst from Daeyoung’s cock, he didn’t stop using Yukito’s hand to masturbate. Nor did he stop the kiss that seemed intent on devouring Yukito’s lower lip.

“Hmm… hmm…”

The intense movement, which seemed like it would detach his genitals from his lower body, finally slowed down. Daeyoung, catching his breath, put his arm under Yukito’s armpit and sat him up properly from where he had been sprawled on the sofa.

Yukito realized for sure, watching Daeyoung untie and drop the waist cord of his bathrobe, that the man had no intention of ending this act with just masturbation; the earlier actions were merely a prelude to what was to come.

Sensing oral was coming, Yukito pushed him away roughly.

“Fuck, stop it.”

“Stop what? Did you come here without understanding what I meant by coming to the hotel? After all that time in the night business?”

Daeyoung said in a voice filled with heat. The semen that had shot out left a faint trace on his navy robe, but he didn’t look ridiculous.

“I was a guard, not a host.”

“Don’t act innocent. Not my type.”

This damn bastard. He was incredibly annoying with his beast-like gaze and husky sneer, hard to ignore but arousing to the point of making Yukito’s mouth dry.

“You’re the one who told me to come if I wanted to know about my past.”

Yukito shook his head, trying to dispel the lingering lewdness, talking as if to himself.

“I didn’t come here to suck your cock.”

He thought this wasn’t something to discuss after their tongues had intertwined like beasts. But who cares? The more physical contact he had with him, the more he feared stepping into an unknown, terrifying world.

After watching Yukito swallow hard, Daeyoung exhaled a long breath, closing and then slowly opening his eyes. Even in that fleeting moment, Yukito thought he looked like a work of art. The feeling of facing a massive statue that might open its eyes and grasp him in its hand was somewhere between admiration and fear.

Whether aware of Yukito’s complex feelings or not, Daeyoung sank back into the wing chair he had been sitting on. After seeing the cigarette that had burned down completely in the ashtray, he lit a new one.

“More precisely, I told you to come find me if you wanted to know what our relationship was.”

Daeyoung’s subdued voice still carried an uncontained excitement. His eyes showed it even more clearly. Yukito had to admit that he was being provoked by Daeyoung’s gaze. Was this what it felt like to be licked by someone’s eyes…?

“Who the hell are you?”

What Yukito wanted to know wasn’t his name or status.

Daeyoung smoked silently in response to his question. Yukito also craved nicotine, but he didn’t feel like smoking. Maybe what he needed wasn’t nicotine. The erection straining against his loose pants made him feel both ashamed and uncomfortable.

He felt a strong desire now, so much so that his past belief that there was something wrong with his body because he never felt sexual attraction to any specific person seemed foolish.