M 97

With a heavy thud, the gas mask worn by the person in front rolled to their feet. Sehwa blinked hard and struggled to raise his collapsed body. Even if it was a pathetic gesture like a crushed insect wriggling, he didn’t want to look up at that person while lying down.

However… this damn body simply wouldn’t move as he wished. More than his ankle, his wrists, which seemed cracked, were the bigger problem. Unable to even brace himself against the ground, Sehwa flailed several times before finally managing to stand up.

Sweating profusely, he barely managed to look ahead. The blinding lights that had seemed bright enough to blind him were now beginning to fade one by one, as if having achieved their purpose. The rays that had fulfilled their duty were all being sucked into the man standing before him.

Sehwa roughly wiped his blurry eyes with his forearm. As the hazy white light surrounding Ki Tae-jeong dissipated, a face that seemed to have absorbed all the light in the world unrealistically appeared, stepping about five paces closer.

“…”

Ki Tae-jeong was calmly looking at Sehwa. As if all these shocking events were unrelated to him, he merely stared intently at Sehwa with an innocent expression.

The slightly overgrown hair tickling his nape, the face smudged with ash, the cheeks and wrists thinner than before, the hands desperately clutching his stomach, and the right ankle twisted in a strange shape…

Especially fixating his gaze on his foot, Tae-jeong carefully scrutinized various parts of Sehwa several times after that. Despite putting on such a show with Aunt Song, it was as if… he truly hadn’t expected to meet him again. He just stared quietly at Sehwa, as if unable to believe who was standing before him.

“…It’s been 3 weeks?” The man’s voice that finally flowed out was much lower than what Sehwa had heard through the speakers. “Coming here injured without permission.”

As Ki Tae-jeong took a step closer, Sehwa retreated just as much. After repeating this a few times, he frowned slightly as if displeased.

“What are you trying to do now?”

“…What did you…” Sehwa pressed his thumbs hard against his painfully undulating Adam’s apple, and barely managed to continue speaking, “What did you do to my aunt?”

He narrowed one eye as if surprised, then immediately sneered, “You’ve lost your manners while we were apart. Now you’re even speaking in half-sentences.”

“I’m asking… what you did to aunt Song.”

“Nothing.” Ki Tae-jeong shrugged. 

Sehwa glared intently at the man who was deliberately acting casual. Of course, he seemed completely unfazed, as if such a glare had no effect on him whatsoever.

“I told you, she’s safe without a scratch.”

“…”

“I heard she even ate the meals the lady prepared quite well.”

Ki Tae-jeong gestured lightly behind him, saying nonsensically, “I was going to bring her here to ask her to cook for you, but it would be terrible if she got hurt anywhere.”

Sehwa glanced furtively at the cargo ship docked at the port over Ki Tae-jeong’s shoulder. Perhaps unconsciously knowing it was impossible, he had indulged in dreams out of defiance. He imagined boarding that glacier-like ship and swimming through the sea like a whale. Anchoring in another country, growing from a small, fragile sprout into a towering tree… 

For a moment, Sehwa clung to such futile hope.

“…Do you want to… grab someone who knows nothing and do this? Shouldn’t there be at least some minimum standards, no matter what?”

Though directly referring to Aunt Song, it was also a criticism including Sehwa himself. Ki Tae-jeong, not unaware of this implication, smirked and tilted his head slightly. As if daring him to continue being impertinent.

“It’s only been a week since aunt and I became acquainted.”

“I know.”

“…To bring aunty, who has nothing to do with me, all the way here, telling such ridiculous lies…”

“And?”

…And? 

Sehwa was dumbfounded. But Ki Tae-jeong seemed quite serious. He just stared at Sehwa as if wondering what the problem was.

“Is that… is that all? After destroying this place like this? How is this any different from what Lieutenant Kim did?”

“How is it different, you ask?” Ki Tae-jeong took a few more steps closer. The world suddenly narrowed until only that man was visible in his sight. “Since you bring up that fucking Lieutenant Kim again, let me explain. With even the air routes blocked, a suspicious ship was trying to sneak into the port without permission, so we just handled it according to proper procedures.”

Saying it was completely different from the shit Lieutenant Kim pulled, Ki Tae-jeong leaned his head towards Sehwa.

“But to do that in front of civilians,”

“Civilians shouldn’t criticize decisions made by military officers on security issues, and besides, doing that brought you out, didn’t it?”

“…What?”

“Mr. Lee Sehwa, who even drugged me to die, came running out on his own when we shook up the life of a complete stranger. Isn’t that enough?”

Sehwa was speechless at his matter-of-fact response, as if asking what the problem was. It felt like a stone had suddenly landed on his chest.

Fine, let’s say it’s not his place to question a soldier using military thinking to shoot down a military ship. But what about bringing an innocent person and threatening them with a deadly weapon, firing a bazooka right in front of them? Was that right? Is it all fine just because he, who was hiding, crawled out?

“…You crazy bastard.”

At the low curse that slipped out in disbelief, Ki Tae-jeong raised one eyebrow crookedly as if genuinely surprised. However, he didn’t get angry, asking how dare he curse at him. No, he seemed rather intrigued.

“All of a sudden? When you know I can do even worse things.”

Sehwa just pressed his lips together as if to stop talking. Sparks flew as their gazes clashed. Ki Tae-jeong moved only his eyes downward, staring intently at Sehwa’s pale, chapped, and dry lips.

The upper teeth biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, the glimpse of the tender tongue inside… As the man stared fixedly at such things, his eyes soon lost their reason and crumbled.

It happened in an instant. A large hand reached out swiftly and grabbed Sehwa’s chin. As if his earlier composure had never existed, the man’s eyes now blazed with red-hot flames.

“Let go…!”

Ki Tae-jeong’s face, as he roughly held Sehwa’s face and examined it closely, seemed somehow anxious and much sharper than before. Dark shadows hung under his sunken eyes, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept properly.

“Let go, y-you…ah!”

As if he could no longer endure, Ki Tae-jeong pressed his lips against him. His scorching tongue immediately invaded Sehwa’s mouth. He probed everywhere with his tongue, then engulfed his entire lips as if chewing them, and swept away all the saliva inside like a man possessed by thirst.

Sehwa hated Ki Tae-jeong, who seemed to be contemplating killing him right then and there, but as soon as their bodies touched, his frozen face melted as if he could finally breathe. He hated him. He despised him and couldn’t stand it.

“…Mmph.”

So Sehwa bit down hard on Ki Tae-jeong’s tongue and lips. He clenched his canines with considerable force, biting down as if he would tear the flesh to shreds.

“Ugh, I told you… to let go.”

Having achieved his goal, Sehwa stumbled half a step back, breathing heavily. Despite the unexpected attack, Ki Tae-jeong showed little reaction. He merely wiped his mouth carelessly with his palm. He stared briefly at his own blood droplets as if they were unfamiliar, then grinned as if finding it absurd. His eyes gleamed with a somewhat unhinged light.

It was horrifying that he tried to kiss him passionately first, as if reuniting with a long-lost lover, rather than simply pinning him down and assaulting him outright.

“You really learned nothing but bad habits while you were away?”

“Stop with the deception already.”

“Deception?”

“Yes, deception.”

‘You must think I’m nothing. You probably thought you could easily figure out where I was and what I was doing, so my desperate struggles must have seemed like mere play to you. You arrogantly thought that after putting on this show to catch me, I would never dream of escaping again, and you could continue to control me as you did before…’

“What you’ve caught now is just my body, I… never…”

Sehwa trembled as he wrapped his arms around his lower abdomen. 

‘I won’t let you control me again. And I won’t end it like this. I won’t give up. From now on, I’ll do my best to get away from you with all my might. You seemed to be on edge the whole time, worried I might ruin your trial. Keep feeling that way. I…’

“Never what?”

“I told you to let go…!”

“Fuck, so what are you going to do about it, in your position.”

A body as hard as armor gripped Sehwa tightly. Even though he struggled and protested, even though he hit him with all his might with his damaged hands, Ki Tae-jeong didn’t budge. Instead, he buried his nose in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent deeply, then kissed his collarbone and below his earlobe as if nibbling.

“I told you not to do that!”

“It’s daunting to think about teaching you everything from the beginning again…” Sighing, Ki Tae-jeong pulled something out from within his embrace. 

Sehwa instinctively shrank back. He assumed it would be something terrifying, a gun, a club… Since he said he would “teach from the beginning,” he naturally thought he was going to beat or kick him…

“You… Right. Well, that form of address isn’t bad.”

Suddenly, something cold touched the nape of his neck. Sehwa, who had been bending at the waist to protect his abdomen, blinked in confusion. It was too soft to be a gun muzzle, too solid and blunt to be a knife. Something round, and…

“I was planning on using terms like ‘honey’ and ‘darling’ with you from now on anyway.”

“You, crazy…!”

In an instant, the solid metal encircled Sehwa’s neck, and the lock clicked shut. It was… like an ankle shackle used on prisoners, but sized to fit around the neck.

“This thing, ugh…!”

Ki Tae-jeong hooked his index finger into the ring attached to the back of the collar. Then he yanked it upward, forcing his head to tilt back involuntarily.

Sehwa felt his neck with a pale face. 

‘Is it… iron?’ 

There seems to be some kind of small decorations attached all over… He couldn’t tell exactly what it was. In any case, it was clear that it couldn’t be cut with ordinary blades.

“It suits you well.” Ki Tae-jeong caressed Sehwa’s neck as if admiring it. “I ordered it to be made with platinum for the chain, and only the highest grade diamonds for decorations. I thought that would suit you better than colored gems.”

“…”

“It really is pretty,” Tae-jeong said as he kissed his forehead. “I missed you, baby.”

“Sehwa, can I kiss you?”

The man who used to call his name calmly yet carefully, and ask permission before kissing him, was gone now.

“Baby.” 

At this perfectly regressed term of endearment, Sehwa couldn’t help but laugh, making a deflating sound. The implications of that address were all too clear. It was a declaration that from now on, there would be no human respect for him, that he would use him as a sex object after collaring him like an animal. 

Just like before.

“I have a lot prepared at home that I hope you’ll like.” Ki Tae-jeong gently wiped away the dirt on Sehwa’s cheek and his welling tears with his thumb, smiling brightly.