CI 1.12

That pervert bastard, is this why he’s being nice to me? Son Yeo-il tried to lift his foot to kick Boss Won in the head, while Boss Won pretended to be startled as if he found Son Yeo-il’s foot skills to be too cute.

Knowing full well that this was someone who wouldn’t even blink if Son Yeo-il hit him with all his might, Son Yeo-il simply swallowed his anger with a grimace and got up to his feet.

“W-Where are you going?”

“You said we should dip our feet in the stream.”

At a time like this, a normal man would get up,  say “I’ll be taking my leave,” and depart gracefully, but the temptation of “dipping feet in the stream” was too great for him.

At Son Yeo-il’s words, Boss Won hurriedly got up and first offered him the slippers placed under the platform. After putting on the slippers and going down a few stone steps, they reached the stream.

It was a shallow spot where water from the mountain was just meeting the flatland. The gentle ripples sparkled transparently like glass beads. While Son Yeo-il’s eyes shone like those ripples, he hesitated due to the breeze that was cooler than expected.

“Will it still be cold? It’s not too deep, right?”

“Hold on, let me check it first. I’m Yongju City’s water tester.”

Boss Won with his pants half rolled up looked unexpectedly fitting. More concerning than the tattoos that seemed to cover his thighs were the muscles of his calves, long and firm below the knees. He strode into the water, then turned toward Son Yeo-il with a bright smile on his face.

“Come here. It’s really refreshing and nice.”

Son Yeo-il also followed him in courageously. When he first dipped his toes, it felt so cold that the part touching the water tingled, but once he fully submerged his ankles, it felt pleasantly cool, just to the point of being bearable.

Though son Yeo-il hadn’t been on many proper vacations since his mother was often ill and busy with work, this sensation was exactly like the one time he had gone to a valley with his mother.

Son Yeo-il, who had been taking careful steps, began to splash more boldly. He thought that if he had known they’d come to a place like this, he should have brought some spare clothes. Seeing Son Yeo-il splashing water while wearing slippers looking both cute and unconcerned, Boss Won slowly approached and extended his hand.

“Be careful. It’s slippery in spots. Here, hold my hand so that you don’t slip.”

“I’m fine.”

“Tsk. It’s better than falling.”

“I won’t fall…eek!”

They say words become reality. Before his confident answer was even out of his mouth, Son Yeo-il stepped on a moss-covered rock and wobbled on his feet. Thinking he would inevitably sit down with a splash in the water, he tightly closed his eyes.

“Aha. See? What did I tell you?”

Boss Won’s long, thick arm wrapped around Son Yeo-il’s waist from behind. Although Son Yeo-il might be thin, he wasn’t particularly short, so he couldn’t be that light, yet the man effortlessly supported Son Yeo-il’s weight with one hand.

More surprised by Boss Won’s touch than by his near fall, Son Yeo-il couldn’t say anything for a moment there. He could clearly feel the man’s arm muscles wrapped around his body, and the large palm pressed near his solar plexus. His embarrassingly rapid heartbeat seemed about to transmit directly to Boss Won.

“L-Let me go now…ah, really, what are you doing?!”

“I’m just trying to help you up.”

Son Yeo-il, who was just about to collect his scattered thoughts and stand upright, was startled again. He felt something hard and warm touching his buttocks.

Without needing to turn his head to check, it was obvious which part of Boss Won’s body it was. Though the gap between their bodies seemed quite large, that particular part flaunted its presence, almost but not quite touching Son Yeo-il.

Wait. Is it only half-erect?

The sensation of the slight touch was not completely hard, which made it even more disconcerting. Though he disliked paying attention to someone else’s state of arousal in this type of situation, he couldn’t help but be on edge at the fact that it was this size without being fully erect.

Then how big would it be when fully grown?

Along with this unnecessary question, the fact that this enormous thing had been inside his body naturally came to mind. According to this man’s expression, that night, that flesh had entered Son Yeo-il up to where his navel was, lifting his skin.

Stop. Stop thinking about it!

Startled by his own thoughts, Son Yeo-il took hasty steps to get away from Boss Won. But immediately lost his balance again.

“Ugh…!”

“Oops, oh my…this is really force majeure.”

Once his body started to slip, it completely refused to listen, and Son Yeo-il staggered for quite some time trying to gain purchase with his feet. While steadying Son Yeo-il, who was swaying back and forth like a paper doll, Boss Won’s groin naturally rubbed against Son Yeo-il’s buttocks, pressed firmly against them.

“Ugh, uuugh…”

By the time Son Yeo-il barely managed to stagger out to the shore, he was in shambles. Though he hadn’t fallen, his pants were wet from thrashing in the water, his jacket was wrinkled, and a strange sensation remained on his buttocks.

“Whew. That was a close call.”

Boss Won brazenly smiled while pretending to wipe sweat off his forehead. Son Yeo-il turned his head sharply to glare at him and was even more shocked. Boss Won’s lower body had become so stiff that its silhouette was clearly visible through his suit pants.

Normally, if someone became erect like that in front of others, they would hunch over or try to cover it with clothes, but Boss Won stood proudly as if boasting. The sight was so grotesque that Son Yeo-il’s gaze naturally centered on it.

Surely that can’t all be…that. Isn’t he carrying something in his pocket?

The size of Boss Won that Son Yeo-il saw with his eyes was even more astounding. It was an inexplicable volume unless he was carrying a water bottle in his suit pocket. To be more precise, it was closer to a wine bottle than a water bottle.

Experiencing some cognitive dissonance, Soon Yeo-il ended up staring intently at Boss Won’s sensitive area for quite some time. Until Boss Won said with a grin, “My goodness, it’s going to wear out, wear right out. If you’re going to stare like that, why not just apply some saliva?”

Since this time it was clearly Son Yeo-il who had provided the opening, all he could do was open and close his lips. At best, all he could say was “You were the one who got erect first, Boss Won!”

“Would you like to have a taste? It’s a bit inappropriate in a public place, but we could go somewhere cozy and take a rest.”

“E-eek…please stop…”

With a guilty conscience, Son Yeo-il’s cheeks turned bright red, looking as if they might burst from embarrassment. Boss Won, finding this sight quite amusing, giggled and pointed toward a shaded spot underneath a tree.

“Ah, if I joke twice, our husband might get sick with anger. We can rest in the chair over there. Right? And dry your wet clothes while we’re at it.”

Where Boss Won pointed at, there was a parasol, camping chairs, and a small table. It looked like the perfect spot at a glance, so Son Yeo-il gave in and went to sit in a camping chair.

No sooner had he sat down than Boss Won brought a fluffy towel and iced coffee in a tall glass. Son Yeo-il took off his wrinkled jacket, wiped the moisture from his calves with the towel, and took a sip of coffee. His pants were still damp, but his mood improved quickly.

“Ahh. Coffee is truly Ma*im.”

As Boss Won said, the sweet mixed coffee refreshingly seeped into Son Yeo-il’s chest. The sound of water and wind was pleasant to hear, and the sunlight filtering through the leaves was perfectly comfortable. It was also a relief that Boss Won’s bulging lower body had somewhat subsided.

“But you know…”

Noticing that Son Yeo-il’s expression had softened somewhat, Boss Won started to pester him with conversation again.

“How long is our Attorney Son going to call me ‘Boss Won’?”

“Why wouldn’t I call Boss Won ‘Boss Won’?”

“You could say ‘Hee-yeon-ssi,’ like you say ‘Hong-sik-ssi.'”

“How can I be so disrespectful?”

“Talking about manners when we’ve been naked and matched bellies. Or how about calling me ‘oppa’? If you want to be polite, you could also call me ‘orabeoni.'”

“…”

“Hmm, yes. I guess ‘oppa’ is a bit much?”

Though he quickly changed his words at the ice-cold glare, Boss Won showed no signs of backing down easily.

“Well, come to think of it, didn’t I just save you?”

“Yes. Thank you for—”

“Hey, I’m your lifesaver, words aren’t enough. I’m not trying to make a big deal of it, but our Attorney Son isn’t the type to leave debts unpaid, right? Don’t misunderstand. I’m not asking for money. After all, Won Hee-yeon has more than enough money to spare. So how to repay this favor? That’s the question.”

It was a transparent build-up. To Son Yeo-il, who was staring blankly as if to say “So what?” Boss Won said languidly, “Try calling me ‘hyung’ once.”

I knew this was coming. Though annoyed by his already excited twitching cheekbones, Son Yeo-il had no other choice but to accept the proposal. Since it was true that he had caught him when he almost slipped, if this much could subdue that pervert’s advances, it would be getting off cheap. Son Yeo-il responded with a reluctant face.

“Fine. Just once.”

Son Yeo-il took a small deep breath and steeled himself. The age difference wasn’t the issue. In law school, there were many classmates almost ten years older than Son Yeo-il, who had graduated college on time, and Son Yeo-il usually called them “hyung” or “noona.” Boss Won looked much younger than those classmates.

The reason Son Yeo-il had insisted on the title “Boss Won” was simply because he wanted to maintain a distance from the other man. A more intimate form of address felt completely awkward. Just thinking about calling him that made every part of him tingle, from his fingertips to his toes to his heart.

This is really maddening.

Boss Won, as if enjoying that very tingling sensation, was looking at Son Yeo-il with sparkling eyes. Faced with that gaze that seemed to urge “Hurry and call me hyung, hurry!” Son Yeo-il suddenly thought of a clever solution.

Come to think of it, Hong-sik also calls him “hyung-nim,” right?

If he shouted “Hyung-nim!” in the way organization members speak, it seemed unlikely that any ticklish atmosphere would develop. Son Yeo-il clenched his fist and began with “Okay.” And then…

“Hyung-nim!”

Son Yeo-il shouted very vigorously and loudly like an organization member freshly released from Cheongsong Prison. Expecting Boss Won to be completely put off by this, he glanced to the side with anticipation, and sure enough, his face had completely hardened.

“Haah…”

However, Boss Won, whom Son Yeo-il had expected to turn all colors and say “Don’t ever do that again!” merely exhaled deeply with a serious face. At this unexpected atmosphere, just as Son Yeo-il began to feel slightly nervous, he abruptly stood up, covered his face with both hands, and turned his body toward a distant point.

“So cute I could die, damn…”

He seemed to be talking to himself, but Son Yeo-il could hear it all. Not only the voice that seemed to boil up from his gut, but the reddened nape and tips of his ears as he turned away were truly bizarre.

What’s wrong with him? He really must be crazy.

Son Yeo-il, whose face had also turned red in response, fanned himself busily. As they both awkwardly turned their backs to each other, cooling down their flushed faces, Boss Won’s phone rang. After checking the screen, he exclaimed happily.

“Wow. This guy is finally earning his keep. Attorney, Hong-sik says he took photographs of the scene?”

“What? Really?”

Surprised, Son Yeo-il checked the photo Boss Won showed him. In the picture, a middle-aged couple was entering a motel entrance. Although the man had his hat pulled down low, his face exactly matched the husband shown by the client. At this unexpectedly smooth resolution, Son Yeo-il felt both thrilled and somewhat dazed all at once.

“Let’s see. I should tell this guy to stay right there and take pictures when they come out too, right? Hmm? But why does Attorney Son’s face not look quite at ease?”

The perceptive Boss Won immediately noticed that Son Yeo-il’s expression was subtle. As if trying to lighten his mood, he poked Son Yeo-il’s side with his elbow and joked.

“Ah, I get it. You’re disappointed because the work is already finished, and now you can’t come to play here with me tomorrow too. Right?”

“No, it’s just…”

Even while thinking “Why am I telling this to this guy?” Son Yeo-il began to vent.

“That client who asked us to take this picture. This morning when she came to the office and started talking, I was honestly skeptical…it seemed like she was suspecting his husband without any evidence.”

Thinking about it now, there wasn’t any profound reason why Son Yeo-il had taken the client’s words lightly. It was just minor things like her disorganized way of speaking or her exaggerated attitude.

During law school, he had found it sickening when people formed prejudices based only on appearances and used them to categorize people, but he had done the same thing. Furthermore, Son Yeo-il was a lawyer.

“A lawyer should believe their client’s words, right? I’m wondering if I don’t even have the basics down.”

His voice retreated inward, and his fingertips fidgeted, having lost confidence. Boss Won patted Son Yeo-il’s drooping shoulders. That much was clearly a gesture of comfort and to be expected, but it was unclear why he was staring so intently at Son Yeo-il at this particular moment.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing. Just thinking how smart and pretty your worried face is.”

A light chuckle escaped at his nonsensical words, but Boss Won added without a hint of humor, “Representative Bae is very fortunate. To have such a good lawyer join the office.”

“I’m not a good lawyer, I tell you.”

“Why wouldn’t you be? The very fact that you think this way means you’re genuinely an excellent lawyer. And look, you’ve even found evidence!”

“…But I’m not the one who took the photo. So what?”

“Come on, it’s outsourcing, right?”