Underpainting Chapter 4.1 - Camera Obscura (1)

“Mister, I… help me.”

Despite the voice being pitifully thin, Dawon said this without hesitation as soon as he opened the door. He had known that Taehan was awake since he passed by the next room.

Taehan was sitting at the table beside his bed. There were a whiskey bottle, a tall glass, and ice on the table, suggesting he had been drinking. In the dim light mixed with moonlight seeping through the window, a faint shadow fell across Taehan’s face.

Perhaps because it was bedtime, his hair, usually neatly combed back without a single strand out of place, was naturally flowing down.

With his forehead half-covered, he looked younger and softer than usual, but his eyes still shone vividly, like those of a hunter poised to slaughter his prey.

He slowly stood up. Instead of his usual suit, he was wearing a nightgown reminiscent of the first day they met. The thin, smooth fabric outlined his firm body like a well-sharpened blade.

“What do you need help with?”

He asked leisurely, standing near the table as if he already knew what Dawon was talking about, yet he acted mischievously. It was as if he had been pretending not to know all along during Dawon’s ordeal.

Over the past few days, he had observed Dawon’s struggles like watching a trapped animal. Knowing that this would happen eventually, he hadn’t intervened. Even without Taehan directly breaking Dawon, Dawon was destined to collapse and roll at his feet.

“I don’t know. My body, it feels strange. Haah, huh…”

Dawon was panting so heavily that his chest heaved, taking faltering steps. He didn’t care if he looked wretched. Taehan might even want Dawon to look more pitiful and servile.

If Taehan wanted submission, Dawon could submit. Taehan was accustomed to making people kneel, and Dawon had always lived close to humiliation. There was just one thing he was curious about.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Since when? You knew everything from the start, right?”

At this powerless question, Taehan chuckled and replied.

“You knew too, from the start.”

His sharp words made Dawon’s neck hair stand on end. Indeed, it was true. During the time when Dawon had watched him through the small gap in the curtains, he had always thought. That man would smell really good. And when he finally crossed that little alley to meet him, Dawon immediately sensed his scent.

If it had been someone else’s affair, he would have easily understood what it signified. However, when it came to his own matter, Dawon had been as obtuse as if he were blind.

He had lived by desperately remembering and analyzing everything he saw and heard, but he had never truly examined his own heart and body. In a way, it was natural. Dawon had never truly owned his own life.

Without control over time or lifestyle, having all choices stripped away, he was bound to forget. That he too had emotions. That his body and mind were his own.

“…Yeah.”

Late, but now Dawon seemed to understand. His boiling blood, his itchy skin, were panting and breathing here.

One leg was already ruined, and now even going into heat uncontrollably, but this cumbersome body was Dawon’s. And whether he wanted it or not, the desire now making Dawon’s heart stir was his own.

When he left the studio on this floor and came to Taehan’s house, Dawon felt for the first time as if he had stepped out of a painting. And now, amidst sensations he’d never experienced before, he was truly feeling alive for the first time.

“Huh, hah…”

In just a few steps, Dawon’s breathing grew even more ragged. Taehan, with arms crossed, watched Dawon approach him. The gaze persistently tickling his right ankle made the impulse burn even hotter.

“Mister.”

Instinct was both frightening and fascinating. Dawon could vaguely feel how blatant his expression was and how dense his scent was.

“Help me. You can help, right? You too…”

‘Mister, you want to as well.’ 

Even as he moved his lips to say this, Dawon couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Taehan had definitely looked at Dawon with an odd gaze. When he touched his own lips, Dawon felt something in his heart being pressed down. It was a magical moment for Dawon. However, he couldn’t be sure if that moment was just as significant for Taehan.

Therefore, Dawon refrained from voicing his guesses. He didn’t mind looking servile, but he didn’t want to look foolish.

“Ugh…!”

Instead of saying anything, Taehan grabbed Dawon’s hair. His head was forcibly lifted, and air rushed into Dawon’s lips. It felt like the first breath he took at birth, his lungs tingling, and Taehan’s scent mixed in the air seeped into his body.

The thirst grew worse, and all Dawon could hope for was for Taehan to come closer. He desperately thought about how to make Taehan listen to him.

He wondered if he should try to seduce him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Seduction was something for people with leisure in their hearts. He couldn’t pretend to make a deal like when he first came to this house. Dawon had no cards to play before him.

“Please, please.”

All he could do was beg. Something, whether it was sobs or passion, clogged his throat painfully. At that moment, he saw Taehan’s eyes flicker slightly.

“Do you know what you’re talking about?”

“I know, uh, ugh.”

To the cold question, Dawon answered without hesitation. Or rather, he tried to answer but was interrupted. Perhaps Taehan didn’t ask to hear an answer; he lifted his other hand to press Dawon’s chin down.

The moment their eyes briefly met, Dawon felt his body stiffen under Taehan’s bloodshot gaze. With their gazes locked, Taehan’s lips covered Dawon’s. Dawon’s eyes trembled at the unexpected situation.

‘Why the kiss…?’

All the sex Dawon had seen or heard about was done for money. Since you could buy such acts with money, acts of charity or whims could also be part of such ‘transactions.’

If Dawon had known that for most people, sex was based on affection, he would never have dared to beg Taehan.

But a kiss was different. Kisses, in Dawon’s experience, were moments of love shared by lovers in paintings, and the occasional pecks his mother gave him on his cheeks, forehead, and lips when he was a child.

Not knowing how to interpret this situation, Dawon tried to pull his head back without even closing his eyes. However, Taehan gripped the back of Dawon’s head tightly.

“Ugh…!”

His head was roughly tilted back, his chin pressed down harder, and his lips were forced open wide. Then, Taehan’s tongue invaded Dawon’s mouth.

The hot, soft flesh swept the roof of his mouth and rubbed against his tongue. Before Dawon could get used to the foreign sensation of the mucous membranes rubbing together, Taehan sucked Dawon’s stiff tongue into his own mouth.

The base of his tongue ached, and their saliva mixed. Even though only his tongue and lips were being sucked, why did his whole body feel weak?

“Huh, huh.”

This moment felt entirely different from what Dawon vaguely knew about kissing. He felt as though he was being devoured by the man whose lips touched his.

The fact that Taehan was still violent gave Dawon a sense of terror mixed with a strange relief. Violence and venting were far more familiar to Dawon than any inexplicable tenderness or affection.

Understanding the situation, Dawon could finally fully feel what Taehan was doing to him. A strange pleasure sent shivers from his arms, and his breath came in short, sharp gasps.

“Hiik, huh…”

Since Dawon didn’t even understand what Taehan was doing, he certainly didn’t know how to breathe with their tongues entwined.

Their breaths and saliva mixed, half going down his throat in gulps, the other half seeping out from the corners of his parted lips. This only made the bizarre sensation of the mucous membranes rubbing together more pronounced.

When Dawon finally made a sound of his breath being stifled, Taehan pulled his lips away and murmured indifferently.

“Breathe.”

As Dawon took in the breath he’d forgotten, his upper body fell back. Pushed to the edge of the bed, Dawon collapsed with just a nudge from Taehan. Thud. The moment he sank into the unfamiliar bed, Taehan’s scent deeply embedded in the sheets and blanket enveloped him.

“Huh, huh, huh…”

Taehan leaned over, looking down at the panting Dawon. The tearful expression had vanished somewhere. Dawon’s lips were wetly parted, his eyes were unfocused, and a strangely flushed hue had risen under his usually red-tinged eyes.

“Uh, huh.”

A spark seemed to flash in Taehan’s eyes, and he moved smoothly to straddle Dawon. Gripping Dawon’s head again, he tilted his face to deepen the kiss.

Perhaps because he had done it once before, Dawon didn’t panic and accepted Taehan’s tongue, this time even sucking on it, making sucking noises.

Taehan’s large body completely covered Dawon. The sensation of being overwhelmed by his hot scent and warmth was exhilarating. Without realizing it, Dawon lifted his hips, rubbing his thighs against Taehan’s, feeling the taut muscles through the soft nightgown.

“Ha.”

As their lips parted briefly, Taehan let out a sigh as if he found it amusing. His large hand then dove straight into the front of Dawon’s pants.

“Just from kissing, you’re already leaking?”

After checking the state inside, Taehan, with a mocking tone, pulled Dawon’s pants halfway down. As he said, Dawon’s lower half was filled with steamy moisture.

His untouched erection was painfully hard, with beads of moisture at the tip, which was embarrassing. The situation behind was even more troubling; fluid was overflowing, trickling down between his buttocks.

His underwear clung to his skin, soaked front and back, revealing the outline of his erect shaft, swollen balls, and the twitching perineum below.

“Uh…”

Unlike his usual self, Dawon was at a loss for words. Part of him wanted to cover himself, but another part wanted to show everything. Even knowing Taehan’s gaze on his body wasn’t particularly kind.

Taehan, looking at Dawon’s thighs with cold eyes, reached out and touched him over his underwear. It was more like pressing down than touching. He crushed the shaft and balls with the base of his palm before his firm fingertips slid down to the perineum, heading deeper.

The finger thrust between Dawon’s buttocks wasn’t meant to stimulate but to demean, indifferent and perfunctory. The sensitive, fragile area was carelessly pressed. Squeak, press. Each time pressure was applied, fluid oozed out, squeezing through the opening.

‘What do I do. It feels good.’

It felt undeniably good. Perhaps because it was the first time someone else’s hand touched him there, but the thrill was beyond what that fact alone could explain.

It was shameful to feel pleasure from such violent handling. However, Dawon had come here hoping Taehan would do something to him, with no expectation of gentle treatment.

When you throw yourself into the mud, you must be prepared to get dirty. Fortunately, Dawon’s body was welcoming Taehan much faster than his mind could.

“Haah, huh…!”

The moans he had been swallowing down finally burst out. Everything was shaking. The intense pressure, the friction of being rubbed, and the rush of blood and heat when the hand moved away momentarily – all of it broke Dawon down.

What drove Dawon even crazier was the scent that now filled the room. As he took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent, his gaze met Taehan’s face.

Taehan’s well-sculpted profile was twitching in a way different from usual. Seeing the muscles tensing as if gritted along his long, straight neck, Dawon realized that the scent he was experiencing wasn’t just Taehan’s.

In that moment of awareness, Dawon could finally smell his own scent clearly. His head throbbed with the sweet, damp smell that seemed to melt his nose.

“Is leaking fluid not enough? You’re practically spilling pheromones.”

Taehan muttered lowly as he removed Dawon’s underwear. The already erect shaft rose even more prominently. With an attitude of familiarity yet with eyes of curiosity, he looked at Dawon’s bare groin.

Despite being conscious of Taehan’s gaze all this time, Dawon hadn’t shown it on the outside, but this time his body trembled. It was his first time exposing himself like this.

Dawon’s skin, which was rarely seen under clothes, was unusually pale, almost as if devoid of any pigment, showing every vein in excitement.

The tip of his swollen member had a transparent reddish hue. His body hair was sparse and light. Frowning, Taehan murmured as if something was wrong.

“What the hell, for a guy…”

He brusquely wrapped his hand around Dawon’s shaft. The sensation of his thick fingers pressing against the sensitive flesh made Dawon’s hips buck involuntarily.

“Hiik, uh, uh!”

Even just holding it still, the direct and blatant pleasure was different from before, making his lower body throb. Dawon felt like he might come any moment. When Taehan slid his hand up the shaft and rubbed the wet tip with his thumb, the urge to ejaculate intensified.

‘No, it feels like I’m going to come already.’

Dawon gritted his teeth, trying to hold on, not because he was ashamed of coming quickly but because he didn’t want this thrilling sensation to end once he reached the climax.

Whether Taehan was aware of Dawon’s thoughts or not, he chuckled coldly, as if amused by Dawon’s struggle. Then he gripped tighter with merciless force.

“Haahhh!”

The climax he’d been holding back so easily overwhelmed Dawon. With a flash in front of his eyes, he ejaculated. Particularly thick, cloudy semen splattered over Taehan’s hand and Dawon’s stomach.

“Huh, huhh.”

The intense pleasure that felt like it could split his skull made Dawon’s body convulse. Normally, after such a climax, he would feel some relief and emptiness, but this time, Dawon was panting pitifully for a long time.

It seemed like the wave of climax would never settle down; his body’s trembling, the heat, and most of all, the excitement churning in his stomach didn’t subside. Taehan growled, seemingly displeased with Dawon’s inability to catch his breath.

“I let you come once, why are you still giving off that scent?”

“Haah, uh…”

“Fuck, can’t you come to your senses?”

Even as he said this, he inhaled with a slow, sucking sound. Seeing his own scent become part of Taehan’s breath made Dawon feel even stranger.

Even in his state of trembling excitement, Dawon revisited the information from Taehan’s brief words. It seemed that the pheromones an omega released grew stronger with arousal but would subside after expelling desire.

According to Taehan, Dawon was still emitting a sweet smell. Even after experiencing the most thrilling pleasure he’d ever felt, Dawon was not yet satisfied.

Feeling desperate, Dawon unknowingly moved his hips. The sight of his body, covered in the semen he had just released and the fluid that had run down from behind, twitching uncontrollably – Taehan would surely be disgusted, but Dawon couldn’t control himself.

“Huh…”

At Taehan’s sigh, Dawon glanced up to check his expression. He was still frowning, but due to excessive arousal, it didn’t look entirely displeased to Dawon.

Taehan, who had been sighing, ran his hand through his black hair, which fell over his forehead, and lifted his head. His slow, languid movement somehow looked obscene. Although his robe had slightly opened, unlike Dawon, he wasn’t exposing anything inappropriate.

When his profile gleamed faintly in the lamp light as he tilted his head, Dawon, even while breathing hard, was momentarily entranced. He felt pathetic for even considering seducing such a beautiful man just moments ago.

Dawon’s earlobes, neck, and collarbone were all flushed red. Despite having just climaxed, his erection hadn’t completely subsided and soon swelled again.

“Ah, huh. Huh.”

In an instant, his body grew hot, and all he could think about was rubbing his lower body somewhere to release the heat. Watching Dawon squirm his hips, Taehan laughed coldly. Then he flicked Dawon’s cock with his finger and asked,

“Why are you trembling like a dog in heat?”

“Uh, ah. Can’t you do it like before, hah, again?”

Even in this situation, Dawon clearly expressed what he wanted, making Taehan smirk, looking even more exasperated.

“Why? Do you think it’ll get better after you come once?”

Rather than touching him like before, Taehan’s hand hovered teasingly close, making Dawon squirm his hips, unsure of what to do with himself.

“Huh, that, that’s not what… you said? Earlier, you said, even after coming, huh, I’m still giving off a scent…”

His words broke off because his insides were itching. Just as Dawon had figured out his situation from Taehan’s brief words, Taehan seemed to understand Dawon’s thoughts from his stuttering speech. He replied with a sneer still on his face.

“No, this alone won’t do for you.”

As if to tease him further, Taehan lightly flicked Dawon’s member before flipping him over and pressing him face down on the bed. With his pants and underwear half off and caught around his thighs, Dawon couldn’t even flail properly, like someone bound.

As Dawon tried to push up with his hands to lift his upper body, Taehan pressed firmly in the middle of Dawon’s back, pushing him deeper into the mattress. The sweet, heavy scent permeated Dawon’s lungs as he was further enveloped by Taehan’s bed.

Even though the position of being naked from the waist down while lying flat was humiliating, his body only grew hotter. It was as if he had turned into a dog in heat, just like Taehan had said.

“Hiik, uh…!”

The moment Taehan grabbed his buttocks, shivers ran down Dawon’s spine. He could only gasp, “Hiik, hic.” No one had ever touched him this way before, especially not from behind; he had never even imagined someone’s hand there.

Now it was clear, even if his clothes weren’t caught around his thighs, Dawon wouldn’t have been able to struggle. A tingling sensation spread from where Taehan’s hand touched, seemingly paralyzing his whole body.

Taehan, roughly kneading Dawon’s buttocks like a piece of meat, then ran a finger down the crevice, scraping it. The accumulated fluid trickled down, tickling the sensitive skin.

“Since you’re an omega, we should use this side.”

With a voice that sounded like he was mocking, Taehan’s finger finally touched the entrance. As the slick finger circled the opening, Dawon’s mind went blank.

Thanks to a certain uncle who often spoke lewdly, Dawon had a vague understanding of how men might have sex, and he’d even experienced the omega’s backside getting wet these past few days.

However, knowing it intellectually and feeling a large man’s hand prodding at his entrance was entirely different. Dawon was just confused.

He couldn’t understand how Taehan, who always seemed disgusted by even the slightest dirt on his shoes, could so casually touch such a place. Even more bizarre was his own body, reacting with excitement to Taehan’s touch.

“No, uh…”

“No? You’re practically begging for it to be stuffed, damn it, you’re so eager.”

Taehan pushed the tip of his finger slightly into the wet hole. His words about being eager weren’t just teasing. Normally, there should be a feeling of foreignness, but instead, Dawon’s body seemed to want to eliminate even the slightest friction by gushing out more fluid.

The sticky fluid seeped between the hole and the finger, and as the opening stretched, it seemed like the finger would go in deeper any moment. Out of fear of this anticipation, Dawon deliberately tensed his body.

“Already clamping down, what are you trying to do?”

With a cold voice, Taehan smacked Dawon’s buttocks, making a loud slap. The sensation of his tender skin heating up brought Dawon back to his senses.

“Huh, uh…”

His body trembled uncontrollably, and all strength drained from him. He was used to being hit, but he had never felt such a strange sensation during it. He clutched at the sheets, burying his face in the crumpled blanket.

Because of this, Dawon didn’t see the spark in Taehan’s eyes as he looked down at the red mark now imprinted on Dawon’s pale, round buttocks.

“Uh, hah!”

All he could do was gasp as a thick, long finger pushed into him. One finger wiggled inside, then another joined it.

Taehan explored Dawon’s insides with a practiced yet somewhat impatient manner. Perhaps because Dawon was so wet, the movements of pressing against the inner walls and spreading them with crossed fingers didn’t hurt as much as expected. However, it was still uncomfortable, unpleasant, and foreboding.

Every touch made something surge from within, shaking Dawon’s entire being, body, mind, and soul. Dawon, who had always held his mind tightly to not lose himself, was scared to surrender to this unknown flow.

‘I feel like I’m going crazy. No. Not like that…’

Just as he tried to resist by gritting his teeth, that mysterious scent from Taehan intensified. It was an oppressive scent that seemed to crush Dawon’s defiance, yet at the same time, it was so pleasurable that it sent shivers through him just by smelling it.

Dawon’s heightened instincts realized that Taehan was deliberately targeting him with his scent. Realizing that pheromones could be released or withheld intentionally, Dawon, almost as if in mimicry, fully released his own scent.

“Uh…”

As the scents mingled, embracing Dawon, Taehan let out a small groan from behind him. There was the sound of throat clearing followed by a hot exhale.

The heat from Taehan’s body against Dawon’s back intensified, and Dawon could feel Taehan’s skin against his thighs becoming taut and hard.

‘Is he hard? Since when?’

There was no reason for Dawon to feel happy about Taehan getting an erection, yet a strange excitement made his body tremble. Even as Dawon panted, another finger entered him.

Taehan grouped three fingers together, feeling around a certain spot inside. After some probing, he found a place that felt slightly different when touched. When Dawon flinched at the discomfort, Taehan pressed down harder on that spot.

“Hahh!”

A strange sensation began to resonate in Dawon’s lower abdomen, different from the pleasures he’d felt before—subtle, creeping up from deeper within. Before Dawon could even think about what was happening, Taehan pressed that spot again.

“Uh, huhh!”

After Taehan repeated the motion a few times, the sensations Dawon felt were no longer subtle or creeping. Each time that spot was pressed, his lower body felt tingly and sore, causing sweat to break out all over his body.

Without realizing it, Dawon lifted his hips, drawing out the end of his voice.

“No, no. Hahh, no. Mister…”

“What do you mean no?”

Taehan pulled his fingers out with a tug and then thrust them back in all at once. The overwhelming pleasure ringing in Dawon’s head silenced him. Even while his lips just moved silently, the hand stirring inside him didn’t stop.

“Haa, tell me. While you’re dripping like this, what can’t be done?”

Dawon couldn’t bring himself to say that it wasn’t like that. The sound of water squelching from his backside was embarrassingly loud. Every time Taehan moved his fingers in and out, the fluid overflowed, soaking not only Dawon’s groin but also the bed sheets.

Moreover, he didn’t even have the presence of mind to speak. All he could do was gasp from the relentless rush of pleasure from within. The only sounds he could manage were sobs and screams.

“Hahh, uh, huhh!”

He thought the climax he just experienced was the peak of pleasure, but Dawon was being pushed into a new realm of sensation. The strange sexual feeling from behind, the sweet scent, and the sensation of his member rubbing between the bed and his lower abdomen all contributed to the feeling of melting.

“Uh, again, hahh, I think I’m going to come… again… Ahh!”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Dawon crumbled under the onslaught of pleasure. His vision flashed white before turning black.

“Hahhh…”

Letting out a long, distant sigh, Dawon’s body went limp on the bed. He completely lost the grip on his consciousness.

This was the first time he had ever slept so peacefully. That night, there were no sounds of quarrels between customers and prostitutes in the tiny room of the brothel, nor was there the headache-inducing smell of paint and the pressure of work schedules.

There was only deep darkness, warmth, and a pleasant scent. Occasionally, he felt as if someone was touching him, but instead of startling awake as he usually would, Dawon sank deeper into the abyss of sleep.

‘How long did I sleep?’

When he finally woke up after a long, sweet sleep, Dawon found himself in an unfamiliar room. As he reached to pull back the curtains to check how bright it was outside, memories of the previous night flooded back, especially the ‘help’ he had received from Taehan.

His cheeks reddened at the thought of what he had done. He tried not to be affected, but the bizarre sensation of Taehan exploring him made his lower abdomen ache.

The fact that he had climaxed twice, the second time without even being touched in the front, was embarrassingly vivid in his memory. However, he couldn’t remember how he had fallen asleep – whether he had collapsed after the second climax or if something else had happened.

‘This is Taehan’s room. Here.’

Dawon inhaled the faint scent of Taehan left on the blanket as if recharging. As he moved to get up and return to his own room, he noticed the food laid out on the table.

He felt puzzled. The blanket felt cold as if Taehan had been gone for a while, and there was no smell of cigarettes in the room, indicating Taehan must have gone out.

‘Did he leave this for me to eat?’

The fact that food was prepared here instead of in his own room seemed like a command not to return to his room. He had thought something was off since he was prevented from going downstairs, but it appeared this place was a different kind of prison than the studio where he used to live.

However, Dawon was too hungry to leave the food untouched. He hadn’t eaten until noon, and the tension of the past few days had kept him from eating properly.

Dawon sat at the table as if entranced. There was quite a lot of food for one person to eat alone, but since his appetite had grown since coming here, Dawon ate most of it.

As he busily moved his chopsticks, he noticed that the sleeves of his month-old clothes had become shorter. Looking down, even his trouser legs had risen above his ankles.

‘Could it be?’

Dawon was twenty-one, well past his growing years. Wondering if he could have grown taller just because he had been eating and sleeping better, he tilted his head and walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room.

A large mirror felt very strange to Dawon. His studio was filled with countless canvases but no mirrors, and he never had time to look closely at the small mirror above the sink. He didn’t even like his own shadowy, dark face much.

‘Did I really grow taller? I think I’ve gained some weight too.’

Even his reflection in the mirror was unfamiliar, but Dawon gazed at the person before him. The indifferent expression, the overgrown hair, and the crooked posture due to his injured leg were all the same.

However, if you looked closely, you could see a faint hint of color on his previously pale cheeks. His lower lip was plump and moist, and there was something different in his eyes.

Dawon suddenly realized the reality of having manifested as an omega. Between Taehan’s scent that filled the room, there was a sweet smell emanating from his own body.

A body that got wet from behind, released pheromones, and could bear children. The feeling of becoming a different being than he had been was strange, with more vague fear than curiosity.

‘What should I do from now on?’

He quickly dismissed the unanswered question. Planning for the future had never been allowed for Dawon. His only plan for the future when he came here was the vague notion of asking Taehan for revenge. His already troublesome body had just become a bit more so, but that was all.

‘Nothing will change. If only Sir grants my request, then…’

The next question that came to mind was even more daunting. He had considered what to do if Taehan didn’t grant his request, but he had never thought about what would happen after Taehan fulfilled his revenge.

What to do with his life once the goal that had kept him going all this time was gone.

‘…No need to think about that yet.’

Imagining the moment his wish was fulfilled felt more unsettling than sweet. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like his heart was emptying, so Dawon pushed that question aside too.

His mind was in chaos, but his body felt unusually comfortable and languid. After clearing the breakfast table, he lay down on the bed absentmindedly, and even the last bit of tension melted away. Wrapped in a cozy, embracing scent, Dawon fell asleep once more.

 

When he came to again, it was the middle of the night. The window, which had been bathed in bright sunlight not long ago, was now filled with a silvery darkness, and the room was lit only by the faint glow of a large monitor.

‘It’s Mister.’

Dawon opened his eyes wide at the sight of Taehan’s back at the desk. Whether he hadn’t heard Dawon stirring or simply ignored it, Taehan, in his nightgown with slightly damp hair, was silently gazing at the monitor.

On the two large monitors that Dawon used for stock trading, different CCTV feeds were displayed. The left monitor showed footage near the entrance of a building, while the right was divided into several screens showing various areas inside.

Dawon also focused on the screens intently. When Taehan zoomed in on the left monitor, Dawon understood why he was watching this footage.

The zoomed-in image showed the back of a man. Taehan seemed to be trying to find him in the footage on the right. Dawon memorized every small detail of the man’s attire.

The man, wearing a navy short jacket, black pants, and a checked shirt, was walking quickly towards a large building. Just a few meters from the entrance, the left monitor suddenly switched to show street footage.

“Why did the screen change?”

Feeling his concentration break, Dawon asked aloud. Taehan, unfazed by the sudden question, answered calmly.

“There are security cameras like this. It alternates between filming the entrance of this building and the opposite street every three minutes.”

“Three minutes is too long.”

When Taehan fast-forwarded the street footage back to the point where the building entrance was shown, the man was, unsurprisingly, no longer in the frame. Dawon turned his eyes to the right monitor.

“Is this the entrance to that building?”

“Yes.”

“And you want to check if that man from earlier went inside?”

“If possible, I’d like to know which way he entered.”

“I think it can be done.”

Taehan gave a slight smile at Dawon’s enthusiastic reply but added with an air of frustration.

“But that guy might have changed clothes at some point. The last time he was seen, he wasn’t wearing those clothes.”

Dawon nodded as if that wasn’t much of an issue and moved closer to the desk. He had forgotten both his disheveled appearance in pajamas with a bird’s nest for hair and what had happened the previous night.

“Can we zoom into the split screens?”

“Which one do you want to see?”

“No, just leave it for now. Just turn the time back a little.”

Taehan reversed the right footage to when the man was approaching the shopping mall area and played it again. On the nine smaller screens, you could see the building’s structures and stores. It was crowded, with throngs of people everywhere.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

Dawon did not respond to Taehan’s suggestion, watching the screens almost without breathing. After images reflected in his clear eyes, Dawon asked as if he understood something.

“This is the building you showed me on the map, right?”

When Taehan was teaching him various things, he had once shown Dawon the layout of a large building that housed a shopping mall, a hotel, and offices.

At the time, Dawon had only seen the interior plans and photos of the hotel rooms on the upper floors, but he recognized the escalators and lobby structure from the footage as matching the plans he’d seen.

“Yes. Does it make sense now?”

“Roughly. Is this all the inside CCTV footage?”

“There are hundreds throughout the building. For now, these are just the ones that connect with that entrance and possible routes. Even though there are more than nine, not all areas cooperate.”

Dawon sat on the chair Taehan had suggested without taking his eyes off the monitor. Pointing to the part of the screen showing the area closest to the entrance, he asked Taehan.

“How can I enlarge this screen?”

Dawon began calculating in his mind. He had noted the man’s pace and speed from the footage outside the building, and the distances between sections were on the map Taehan had shown before.

Given that the paths from that exit were limited as Taehan had said, all he needed to do was calculate the time when the target would reach the CCTV locations and check the footage around that time.

Dawon stared intently at the enlarged screen Taehan provided, skimming through a few minutes of footage. Although the crowd was dense and the image quality was low, blurring the screen, it was clear the man wasn’t there.

“He’s not here. Go back to the initial screen.”

Dawon requested to zoom into other parts of the split screen, and after checking a few more minutes of enlarged footage a couple of times, he noticed something on the fourth screen.

“Here.”

Dawon paused the video and pointed to a spot in the moving crowd. At his fingertip was a man wearing a bright patterned jacket and black pants.

“This looks similar to the outfit the last witness described. But how do you know it’s the same guy?”

“The shirt and shoes are the same.”

Dawon pointed to the check pattern just visible above the man’s jacket collar and the white sneakers. While Taehan narrowed his eyes to scrutinize the man, Dawon added with more conviction.

“And, the way he walks.”

Dawon had meticulously observed everything in the world, but he was especially sensitive to footsteps and gait. He had trained himself to distinguish the approach of his uncles who might barge into his studio to pick a fight, and after his leg injury, he unconsciously analyzed how others walked.

As a result, with great effort, Dawon could mimic walking normally for a few minutes without limping, though it was exhausting enough to leave him drenched in sweat, so he usually didn’t attempt it.

“If he went that way, he must have headed to the hotel’s club floor. We need to secure footage from there.”

Taehan nodded, looking pleased. Seeing this, Dawon also felt a sense of achievement, similar to the feeling he had when he found the lens in the painting or when he learned something new from Taehan every day and solved his ‘homework.’

In fact, after his manifestation started, Dawon had felt disappointed that Taehan hadn’t taught him anything for days. He wondered if Taehan thought he was useless now that he was an omega.

However, watching Taehan now, sending messages on his phone, Dawon suddenly thought differently. Perhaps Taehan had left him alone not because he considered him useless, but because he had found a new use for him.

‘…Yeah. Instead, I learned something else.’

The memory of last night vividly came back as he watched Taehan’s nimble, delicate fingertips move. The sensation of Taehan’s tongue exploring his mouth, the feel of his thick, strong knuckles, the sweet voice and scent – at that moment, Dawon’s heart sank.

Dawon’s gaze on Taehan was laced with a kind of licking, covetous energy. There was no way the seasoned Taehan could miss that look. Taehan’s gaze in return seemed to heat up.

“You did well, kid. Your eyes are sharp, and you’re smart.”

“Uh, uh-huh.”

At the praise, Dawon felt embarrassed. Taehan smiled as if he was enticing someone.

“You did something commendable, so you should get a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Yeah. What do you want?”

Dawon’s eyes widened and then blinked slowly. Though he couldn’t be sure, there seemed to be a subtle, languid tone in Taehan’s voice. As Dawon’s cheeks flushed, Taehan’s lips curved into a smoother smile.

“In fact, considering you stirred someone up like that last night and then fell asleep on your own, you deserve a scolding.”

“…”

“But since you found that slippery bastard earlier, things could have gotten quite complicated if you hadn’t. Right now, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Though Dawon vaguely felt something suggestive, he didn’t fully understand Taehan’s words. Why was he saying this when it was his own rear that was stirred, and what did he mean by deserving a scolding?

Taking Taehan’s words at face value, Dawon started to think about what he wanted. It probably didn’t mean he could ask for something as big as killing his uncle like he had requested when they first met, but even the promise of a light reward was tempting. No one had ever asked Dawon what he wanted or promised to fulfill his wishes before.

While deep in thought, a part of Dawon’s heart fluttered like a child in a candy store. With just one indifferent remark, Taehan was showing him a whole new universe. It had always been like that since they first met.

“Then, I want to see you smoke.”

The fleeting wish that crossed his mind quickly turned into words and escaped his lips. Back when he was watching Taehan from the studio, seeing him smoke was one of Dawon’s only joys.

In the dark room, the faint light from the monitor flowed across Taehan’s face. Dawon followed that light with his eyes, tracing the sharp, neat lines of Taehan’s forehead, nose, and jaw, recalling the moment when those cold eyes looked up at the dissipating smoke.

“Cigarette? Now?”

At Taehan’s surprised question, Dawon realized his mistake. It was a night with darkness outside, and Taehan had never smoked inside the house. The only exception was when they first met.

“Oh, I just…”

As Dawon trailed off, Taehan stood up. Expecting anger, instead, Taehan took out a cigarette, a lighter, and a small portable ashtray from the jacket hanging on the coat rack.

Dawon’s eyes sparkled as Taehan pulled a cigarette from a crumpled pack. With the cigarette in his mouth, Taehan muttered indifferently.

“You want to see something like that, huh?”

A flame leaped from the small, square lighter. Taehan’s face, with its clear shadows, was etched in Dawon’s eyes. Taehan inhaled deeply, casting a shadow on his cheek.

It was exactly the motion Dawon had watched from afar, memorized in his closed eyelids. Dawon looked at Taehan as if he were admiring the most beautiful painting.

Dawon, who had no experience mingling with others, was ignorant of gauging interpersonal distance. He couldn’t hide his fascination, often looking at Taehan with piercing eyes like this.

A normal person might have found that intense gaze uncomfortable, but Taehan always met it without faltering. The feeling of being observed and observing. Like a snake swallowing its own tail, their gazes always coiled around each other.

“Phew…”

The sweet pheromones mixed with the bitter, spicy smoke of the cigarette. Through the haze, Taehan’s lips uttered an unexpected question.

“Why? Want to try it?”

“Yes.”

Dawon nodded without hesitation at the tossed-out suggestion. He had been curious about smoking even before meeting Taehan. Although he had secretly drunk alcohol left by his uncles, he never dared to pick up a cigarette butt from the ground to smoke.

Dawon bravely took the cigarette and lighter from Taehan. But no matter how much he tried to light it, the cigarette wouldn’t catch fire, as if the lighter was broken. Taehan laughed again as Dawon tilted his head in confusion.

“No.”

With the cigarette still in his mouth, he reached out to cup Dawon’s chin, forcing his lips apart. For a moment, Dawon thought Taehan was going to kiss him, his breath catching as his eyes widened, but instead, Taehan placed the cigarette filter, not his lips, between Dawon’s parted lips.

“You need to suck for it to light, kid.”

Whispering in a low voice, he leaned his face close to Dawon’s. The burning end of Taehan’s cigarette touched Dawon’s, the mingling of their gazes and the sparks feeling peculiar.

Following Taehan’s instruction, Dawon clamped down on the filter with his lips and took a big inhale. It felt similar to the first time they kissed, all mysterious and trembling.

Huff. As he inhaled, the harsh smoke invaded his lungs through his throat. The stinging sensation made him cough reflexively.

“Huh, cough, huff.”