GHLL Ch 2

“Hey, Lunchbox! Wake up!”

I was roused from sleep by a hand roughly shaking my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, men had come in and were rummaging through the inside of the container.

“There’s nothing useful here.”

“Nothing to eat either.”

“Look at his state. You think he’d have anything worth eating?”

The men went around rummaging through the container, making a complete mess of the household goods my brother had painstakingly gathered. Then they grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, pulled me up, and pushed me on the back to go outside.

When I climbed the ladder to get outside, ash was falling. Fist-sized clumps of ash were dropping down from the dark sky. In the midst of it, Kim Daesik was leaning against a car with something in his mouth.

I thought it was something to eat, but it was not. It was that lit paper I had seen the other day. The end of the rolled-up thing was burning red, and smoke puffed out of his mouth. Seeing that sight, I tilted my head.

“What is that?”

“A cigarette.”

“A cigarette?”

“To be precise, something… similar to a cigarette.”

He mumbled that real cigarettes had disappeared a long time ago, then held it out, pinched between his index and middle fingers.

“Want to try a puff?”

Wondering what it was, I took it from him. I put it in my mouth first, but there was no feeling, so I just stared blankly at Kim Daesik. Seeing this, Kim Daesik gathered his lips, made his cheeks hollow, and said.

“Press your lips together and suck.”

Doing as he said, I gathered my lips and drew air into my cheeks, taking a sharp suck—sssp—from the burning paper. The smoke that was drawn from it filled my mouth. With my cheeks puffed out, I looked at Kim Daesik, not knowing what to do with it. Then he laughed and told me to swallow. When I did as I was told, the harsh smoke filled my throat and nostrils, and I started to cough. I was coughing so frantically—cough, cough—that I almost dropped the thing called a cigarette.

“Cough, cough! Cough, cough! Ugh, why would you… cough…! Ahem, ahem!”

Seeing me even letting out loud, dry coughs, Kim Daesik snickered. It seemed like he was teasing me, so I narrowed my eyes and punched him in the chest. Then I tried to throw the cigarette away. At that sight, Kim Daesik freaked out.

“Hey! Do you know how expensive this is?”

He snatched the cigarette away from me. Then he put it back in his mouth and, with his eyes narrowed as if eating the most delicious thing in the world, he inhaled the smoke.

The smoke that billowed out from his nose and mouth was like a cloud. At the strange sight, I scowled and looked at him. In the meantime, the men who had thoroughly searched the container and gathered up useful items got into the car.

“Let’s move quickly while the ash is falling.”

“We can’t go far anyway. There’s not much gas.”

The ash was falling so heavily that I couldn’t see ahead, so I couldn’t ride in the truck bed. The man who had driven before sat in the driver’s seat, and Lee Seokhyeon and the other two men got in the back. I got on the lap of Kim Daesik, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He lifted my bottom and grinned.

“Is it because you ate well yesterday? Is it just my imagination, or do you feel a little heavier?”

Seeing him groping my rear, the man at the wheel pleaded.

“Please don’t do that stuff in the car. It’s distracting my driving!”

Kim Daesik said not to worry, yet he did not take his hand out from where he had shoved it into my pants. Holding my bottom, he clutched me and casually draped my arm over his shoulder.

“Hold on tight, you might fall.”

“Just take your hand out.”

“You have to wear a seatbelt.”

As I was ignoring the snickering man, the car engine started. Soon the headlights turned on, and the car started moving.

Because of the fluttering ash, there was not much to see. Instead, the speed was slow, so I did not sway and lose my balance like before. And yet, for some strange reason, my head felt dizzy and I felt nauseous. Even though Kim Daesik was not bothering me, it was not long before a cold sweat started to break out.

Seeing my pale face, Kim Daesik asked.

“Are you carsick?”

“Carsick…? What’s that?”

“You’re carsick.”

Kim Daesik said to the man at the wheel, “Pull over somewhere nearby.” The man obediently followed his words, and the car stopped at the side of the road.

As soon as the car door opened, I rushed outside and took a deep breath. When I breathed in deeply, I could chew on ash in my mouth, and my mouth felt gritty.

“Use this.”

Kim Daesik, who had followed me out, put a hood that looked like a neck warmer on my head. I pulled it down to cover my nose and mouth and took what he handed me. It was an umbrella.

When I opened the umbrella, one of the ribs was broken. Still, for what it was, it was in very good condition. I slung it over my shoulder to block the ash. Then, saying, “Are you the only one using it? Let me use it too,” Kim Daesik lifted the umbrella and stood close beside me.

“Since we’ve stopped, let’s each split up and look for gasoline. It would be even better if we find food too.”

After saying that he would leave anyone behind who did not come back by sundown, Kim Daesik put an arm around my shoulder and said, “Let’s go.” The other people also paired up and disappeared in different directions.

The heavily falling ash erased all signs of people nearby. Since nothing was visible, it did not seem easy to find anything. But Kim Daesik walked through the ash with patience, and whenever an abandoned car appeared, he checked the fuel tank. It was a method of opening the fuel filler cap, shoving a nozzle inside to open the pipe, and pushing in a thin wire to see if it came out stained with gasoline or not.

During that time, he told me to hold the umbrella for him. Whenever my umbrella-holding was subpar, he would say, “Hold it straight. You have to earn your keep.” But because he was so tall, it was hard to hold the umbrella. Soon my arms and shoulders began to ache stiffly, and I got angry.

“Did I ask you to feed me? You fed me on your own whim.”

“Then you should not have eaten it, should you?”

“You were the one telling me to eat. You’re just trying to fatten me up to eat me anyway.”

“The one who ate something was you.”

“What?”

“You ate me with your ass.”

I scowled deeply at the unfunny joke. Seeing my face crumple, he snickered. Thinking that I wanted to slap his annoying face, I watched the sight of him opening the fuel filler cap and looking for gasoline. In the meantime, I heard the soft crunching sound of falling ash and looked around.

The ash was pouring down, so the view was hazily submerged. Nothing was visible except for Kim Daesik, who was engrossed in finding gasoline. I thought about what it would be like to just throw the umbrella down and run away, but even if I did, the only place to go back to was that container. Even if I went back there, it was obvious I would be caught by Kim Daesik right away. As if he had read that thought, Kim Daesik, who had pulled the wire back out, opened his mouth.

“Do not think about running away. You will only lose weight if you run for no reason.”

He soon lifted his head and lightly tapped my cheek as I was straightening the tilted umbrella.

“Since you are going to die anyway, is it not better to die with a full stomach, getting to eat delicious things? I will kill you with as little pain as possible. I can kill you in the blink of an eye. You will probably die without even knowing you are dying.”

Since there was a part of that statement that was tempting, I mumbled and then asked.

“Chocolate…? Will you let me eat chocolate?”

Kim Daesik grinned.

“Of course. I will let you eat chocolate too.”

Kim Daesik turned his body again and moved forward, and I followed him with short, quick steps to hold the umbrella over him. A cluster of cars appeared, and as he was continuing the tedious check again, Kim Daesik suddenly jerked the umbrella to the side and pressed my head down.

I looked at him, bewildered, then saw Kim Daesik staring intently beyond the car. I followed his gaze, but since the ash was still falling, there was nothing to see.

Kim Daesik cautiously removed his hand from my head and held his index finger to his lips. Then, he crouched down and moved toward the front of the car. Following him with a waddling duck-walk, I opened my mouth at the sight that suddenly appeared through the ash.

It was a general store.

The sign was faded, broken, and crumbled, but I could easily recognize that general store. There was an identical store on the street where the Pet Mart had been.

That was also where my brother and I had found the handmade treats. Like all other places, it was a ruin, so there was nothing to eat, but we were lucky that day. It had been wedged in a gap between the shelves where the <Hobbies> section and the <Organizing Supplies> section met.

Perhaps there might be something similar left here too. The general store in front of me was much larger than the one I used to frequent. That one was a single story, but this one was a full three stories.

As if possessed, I was about to dash forward but was stopped by Kim Daesik. He frowned and pushed my shoulder back from where I had gone ahead. Seeing him being so cautious, it seemed there was something inside the general store. A ghoul? It must be a ghoul. Kim Daesik took out the knife he had tucked between his back and the bag he was carrying.

That wide and blunt-looking knife was not very long. But it had been sharpened so diligently that the blade was keenly honed. Grasping it, Kim Daesik signaled for me to stay in place and then made his way toward the general store.

Peeking out from behind a car parked on the road in front of the general store, I watched him disappear inside. I held the folded umbrella tightly like a weapon and stared intently at the general store, but the ash swirled up and blurred my vision.

Since I could not see anything, it was frustrating. The tension subsided, and I became bored. It was also difficult to stay uncomfortably crouched behind the car, so I just leaned against the car and waited for Kim Daesik to return. But suddenly, a clattering sound—udangtang—came from inside the general store. Soon, a sharp cry was heard, cutting through the ash-covered, dull air.

“Aaargh—!”

I was startled and shot up from my spot. I froze with wide, rabbit-like eyes, staring toward the general store. I wanted to think I had misheard something, but that was not the cry of a ghoul. It was definitely a person’s voice.

I fidgeted on the spot, holding the umbrella. Could it be Kim Daesik? Had something happened to Kim Daesik, putting him in danger? The thought that he might need my help came to mind, but I questioned if there was any reason to help him. The guy who is trying to eat me? Should I not just let him die? It would be better to take this chance to escape…

The thought that running away would only lead to hardship held me back. It did seem better to at least try some chocolate and die at the hands of Kim Daesik than to starve and fight ghoul hordes before dying miserably. Of course, I wondered what help I could be if I went, but I choked up as I remembered what my brother used to say.

‘Do not get involved, you do not have to do anything. You are still young. It is not too late to do it after you become an adult.’

I was now 20 years old, and finally an adult. The thought that I should not just stand by but do my part came to me, so I gripped the umbrella tightly and went around the car. Then, crossing the parking lot where plastic carts were sparsely scattered, I stuck close to the door of the general store and peeked inside to take a look.

The inside of the general store, with all its glass windows broken, was dark because there was no light. The ash had settled thickly, making it difficult to see what was what. The thought that the darkness might be crawling with ghouls came to mind, but I mustered my courage and stepped one foot inside. Then, as I crossed between the shelves where useless things like dolls, artificial flowers, vases, and cosmetics were scattered, I opened my mouth.

“…Hey! …Hey! Are you in here? …Kim Daesik!”

Calling his name in a hushed voice, I wandered around looking for him, when I heard a thumping sound from the direction of the stairs. I whipped my head around to look that way, and someone whose face was wrapped in a hat, hood, and goggles rushed to attack me in an instant.

“Huk.”

I was startled and stepped back, but I was grabbed by the collar by the person I had come face to face with. I met the glaring eyes behind the colored glass of the goggles, above the beard that poked out from between the hood, and my own eyes widened.

“…Kkeueuk.”

The bloodshot eyes seemed to widen, and then the person’s eyelashes trembled violently. Soon, the eyelids lost their strength and closed downwards, and the body collapsed on the spot. Letting go of my collar, the person slumped to the floor, and I could see that the back of the clothes he was wearing was split open. Through that gap, I saw the gaping flesh and the blood that was streaming down.

“I told you to stay put, why did you come in here?”

As I was stepping back and looking down at the person who had died in front of my eyes, I heard Kim Daesik’s voice and lifted my head. Blood was splattered on his face and neck as he walked down the stairs with heavy steps. The knife slung over his shoulder was also a mess with blood.

Only then did I realize that what Kim Daesik had seen inside the general store was a person. He had gone to hunt, seeing him loitering inside the general store looking for food. Kim Daesik licked the blood smeared around his mouth like a wild beast and said.

“The ghouls will flock here smelling the blood, so let us take care of this first.”

At his words to help a little, I helped carry ash from outside. I put an unbroken plastic bucket on a cart and used a ladle with a rotten handle to scoop up the ash, but my hands were trembling. It was the first time I had seen a person die. And I had seen it from far too close. The fact that the one who killed that person was Kim Daesik stirred up a fresh sense of fear.

He was a beast that lived by eating humans and was a completely different species from me. My survival instinct was ordering me to run away from him immediately, but I could not.

It was not simply because the path to surviving alone was bleak, or because I would be caught right away if I ran. If I left him behind and ran away, he might find out that I was afraid of him. I did not know why, but it felt like I should not let him find out. That fact felt like my weakness, so I carefully hid my fear of him.

We covered the corpse with the ash we had carried in to mask the smell of blood. After that, we pushed the shelves to block the broken windows of the general store. In this way, we blocked the ghouls’ approach.

When the work was all done, Kim Daesik said, “Good work,” and ruffled my ash-covered hair. Then he put a new umbrella he had found in the general store into my hand.

“Let’s go back to the car, we have to bring the other guys too.”

While walking through the ash with heavy steps, Kim Daesik poked my side with his elbow as I was holding the umbrella.

“What was that earlier?”

I looked back at him as if to ask what he meant. Kim Daesik was grinning with the corners of his mouth stretched to his ears.

“You came running inside shouting my name at the top of your lungs.”

“Ah… that.”

Paying no mind to my nonchalant reaction, Kim Daesik continued.

“You could have used my absence as a chance to run away.”

“You were the one who told me not to think about running away for no reason.”

“But instead, you looked for me.”

“So what.”

“Could it be, were you worried about me?”

At his question, I stopped walking and looked up at him. Even though I was stretching my arm up as high as I could, he was so tall that the umbrella barely seemed to touch his head. Seeing that reminded me of the old days.

When was it, on a day when ash was pouring down as if to bury the entire world, I had once built a house with an umbrella. I was huddled inside it with my brother, and every time my brother, who was taller than me, lifted his head, the umbrella would lift and ash would pour down. I complained that the umbrella house would collapse at this rate, and my brother complained that his neck hurt from keeping his head bowed.

That brother was gone now, and the one by my side was the beast that had swallowed him. Feeling my arm ache stiffly, I just let go of the umbrella. When the umbrella caught on Kim Daesik’s broad shoulders, he lifted it up instead. But in the process, his hair got tangled in the umbrella ribs. Kim Daesik grumbled and pulled hard at his hair. He barely managed to lift the umbrella only after pulling out a clump of hair. Watching him, I said.

“Yeah, I was worried. Because if you were not around, I would be eaten by the other people right away.”

At my muttering that I did not want to die without even getting to eat chocolate, Kim Daesik, who had been rubbing the spot where his hair was pulled out, let out a chuckle.

“I will have to make sure you get to eat that damn chocolate.”

Kim Daesik, holding the umbrella, wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. Huddled in his arms, under the umbrella, avoiding the ash, I felt the same way I did when I was huddled in the umbrella house. I did not know if it was okay to feel that way while being with the person who had eaten my brother. I moved my feet in a state of confusion, and before long, we reached the car we had come in.

After getting in the car and waiting for a while, the four men who had scattered returned. They had come back empty-handed and were delighted to hear that Kim Daesik had made a hunt.

“Hey, that’s Kim Daesik for you!”

“There’s a lot to eat around here, huh?”

“We will not have to worry about food for a while.”

“Lunchbox, you have a long lifeline, huh?”

Amidst the men teasing me, Kim Daesik suggested that we stay at the general store for a few days and look for gasoline. Around that time, the ash was subsiding and the day was getting dark. We had to move before the ghouls became active, so we hurriedly drove the car towards the general store.

The men parked the car in the general store’s parking lot and went inside to seal off the surroundings to prevent ghouls from entering. They pushed all the shelves on the first floor to the edges to block the way and dragged the man’s body up to the second floor.

The second and third floors had no broken glass, so there was less dust and they were relatively clean. Being higher up, the view was also wider, making it easier to notice the approach of ghouls.

The men thoroughly blocked the landing between the first and second floors, then dragged the corpse to the third floor. There, they tore open the ceiling to find a pipe and hung the corpse upside down by tying a rope around its ankle. After that, they placed a bucket underneath and slit its throat.

A stream of blood—jureureu—flowed down and started to drip and collect in the bucket. While the blood was draining, the men made a place to build a fire. In the meantime, Kim Daesik searched the second and third floors. As he was looking around every nook and cranny for useful things, he saw me struggling to push a shelf and asked.

“What are you doing?”

“There might be something to eat fallen in the gaps between the shelves.”

“This is not a supermarket, do you think there would be anything edible?”

He snorted, but still helped me push the shelf. Later, he took the lead himself, checking the gaps between the shelves and meticulously searching even the walls by detaching every pegboard and wire mesh hanging along them.

When nothing came out, I grumbled and kicked the bottom of the shelf with a thud—kung. With that impact, the shelf opened as if it had popped off. Only then did I realize it was a magnetic door.

Bending over, I opened the door with my hand and saw that there was something inside. It was a paper box. Inside it, items wrapped in yellow plastic packaging were neatly stacked.

The letters on the packaging were all in a foreign language, so I could not read them. The only thing I could recognize was the picture. As I was staring intently at the picture, Kim Daesik let out a whistle—hwik—and ruffled my hair.

“Wow, what a windfall, huh?”

“What… is this?”

“You do not know what it is? It is a biscuit.”

“A biscuit?”

Seeing me ask in bewilderment, he chuckled, then took it from my hand and tore open the packaging. As soon as he tore it, a savory and sweet smell wafted out strongly.

Inside was a square food of a pale yellow color. Kim Daesik picked one of the things called a biscuit and told me to try it, so I opened my mouth. When he pushed the biscuit into my mouth and I chewed, it made a crispy, crunchy sound. As it crumbled in my mouth and mixed with saliva, it had a smooth and sweet taste.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah.”

Nodding my head obediently, I finished a whole box of biscuits on the spot. Normally, I would have eaten one a day, but since there were several more boxes left even after finishing one, I could not stop.

As I was mindlessly chewing on the biscuits, Kim Daesik laughed and said, “You eat so well,” and poked my cheek, which was busy munching. Occasionally, he would also wipe away the biscuit crumbs smeared around my mouth with his fingertips.

While that was happening, the men who were on the third floor came downstairs to get tools to use for dismantling the corpse. As they were coming down the stairs, they immediately recognized that what Kim Daesik was holding in his hand was a biscuit.

“Huh? What is that?”

“Is it not something to eat? Is it a snack?”

“Wow, it is a snack, a snack! It is a biscuit!”

“What? A biscuit, you say?”

Even the man who had remained on the third floor dropped what he was doing and came running. They saw that there were several biscuits and their faces lit up.

“How long has it been since we have had flour.”

“This will last us for a few days!”

“Wow, damn, am I going to die soon? Why have I been so lucky lately?”

As they rejoiced, they all reached out their hands to grab a biscuit. But Kim Daesik, who had handed the box containing the biscuits to me, stepped forward, shielding me.

Seeing Kim Daesik, who was grinning and laughing, prevent them from taking the biscuits, the men showed signs of bewilderment.

“What are you doing?”

“Hey, move aside. Let us eat some too.”

As he repeatedly blocked their reaching hands, Kim Daesik shook his head.

“If you want something to eat, it is up there.”

At those words, the men’s faces contorted.

“Sheesh… This and that are different.”

“That’s right. Are hairy, tough meat and biscuits the same?”

“I do not even remember the last time I ate flour.”

“It is not just one, there are several! We can share it enough!”

Despite the men’s protests, Kim Daesik was unshaken. His expression, as usual, wore a light smile, but his eyes were exceptionally cold.

“What are you cannibals going to do eating snacks?”

The atmosphere among the men turned hostile. They bared their teeth, glaring at Kim Daesik with a menacing air.

“Fuck, you think our tongues go bad just because we eat human flesh?”

“Is there a law that says those who eat human meat can’t eat flour?”

Even though the men were acting so fiercely, as if they would pull out their knives and swing them at any moment, Kim Daesik did not lose his composure. Only I, scared out of my wits, cowered while hugging the biscuits. I did not know for sure, but there were many of them, and Kim Daesik was just one person. Since he was outnumbered, there was a high chance Kim Daesik would lose if a fight broke out. Then they would not leave me alive. It was obvious they would pounce on me, not just for the biscuits, but to eat me as well.

But Kim Daesik did not seem to fear a fight with them. Without a hint of tension, he continued to speak with a relaxed attitude.

“It is a waste for you guys to eat biscuits anyway. You have plenty of other things to eat besides this. Just look at today, huh? I prepared a meal for you, did I not?”

Hearing what Kim Daesik said, the men’s eyes glinted.

“It is because of that bastard, isn’t it?”

“Because Lunchbox does not eat people?”

Kim Daesik smiled brightly instead of answering. Then he shrugged his shoulders and feigned innocence.

“Won’t he be more delicious if I feed him well and fatten him up nice and plump?”

At those words, the men cried out.

“Does feeding him flour change the taste of the meat!”

“That bastard already ate a whole can of tuna!”

“Let us eat something other than people too!”

“You think we eat human flesh because we like it?”

The men pounded their chests with their fists and stomped their feet on the ground in anger. Their appearance was less menacing and more like a child throwing a tantrum. It seemed it would be better for them to just team up, kill Kim Daesik, and take the biscuits, but they did not do so. They only begged and pleaded with Kim Daesik as if they were about to go crazy and jump out of their skin, but they did not dare to defy him.

They held onto Kim Daesik and pleaded desperately, but it was no use. Kim Daesik did not bat an eye and sent them away. They glared at me and, grumbling to the very end, gathered their vinyl clothing and tools and went up to the third floor. Once they were gone, Kim Daesik gestured at me with his chin and said.

“Pack all of that in your bag.”

“…Is that okay?”

At my question, asked while watching his reaction, Kim Daesik made a “hmpf” sound through his nose.

“What can I do when you are being so picky, saying you do not eat human meat.”

“I am not being picky. It is because you get sick if you eat people…”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”

He tapped my head once and then helped me as I opened my backpack and stuffed the biscuits inside. It felt good to have something filling the backpack that was always flat. It felt like my stomach was full even without eating my fill.

Perhaps that feeling showed on my face, because Kim Daesik snorted and muttered, “Look at him grinning because he is happy.” Then he glanced at me sideways, clicked his tongue, and pulled my arm.

“Come here for a second.”

“Huh?”

He stood me up against a corner and made me lift my chin. His lips came down and touched mine with a soft peck—chok—before pulling away, and soon his tongue parted my lips and searched inside. After coiling around my tongue once, he quickly pulled his lips away and licked them, then snickered with a flushed face.

“How is it that your mouth is sweet every time?”

“That is because I ate something sweet…”

“Yeah, it is delicious.”

He urgently pressed his lips against mine and mixed our tongues. And while thoroughly sweeping the inside of my mouth where biscuit crumbs remained, he pulled down my pants. Then he turned me around and pushed me against the wall.

I tensed up, thinking I was about to be penetrated, but that was not the case. Kim Daesik poured his hot breath into my ear and spat out, “Stand with your legs tight together and tense your thighs,” then inserted his member between my legs. It had already become hot and hard, and it was slickly wet as it moved in and out between my legs without rest.

Kim Daesik, holding my waist, grabbed my chin and made me turn my head back. And he sucked and bit my tongue, and my neck, bent all the way back, hurt. But I endured it forcefully, thinking it was better than my rear hole getting torn.

“Heeut. Heut…!”

He let out short moans as he moved in and out between my legs, but, as if unsatisfied, he pressed me several times. He kept telling me to tense my thighs and stand, but my thighs were skinny and had no muscle to speak of. Dissatisfied with the empty space between my soft flesh, he gnawed at my ear. I tensed up, afraid he might bite off my ear as I had done to him, but that did not happen. He merely prodded my ear canal with his tongue or sucked on my earlobe with loud slurping noises.

“Hoo…!”

His member, which had been poking at my scrotum, finally came. As it poured out a load of thick, milky-white fluid, a fishy smell arose. I was disgusted to see the semen that had not only smeared my legs but had even splattered on the wall and was trickling down stickily.

Seeing me make an “ugh” sound and look displeased, he buried his nose in my shoulder and chuckled. Then he lifted his head and looked down at my lower body.

“How can a guy who is 20 years old be so small?”

“What?”

I do not know why, but being called small felt really bad. I tried to push him away with my elbow, but he held my waist and would not let go.

“No, I mean, you are so white and soft and small, you look like a baby. Your scrotum is the size of a bean, and it is all taut and pulled up.”

He reached down and grabbed my member and balls all at once and kneaded them. I got annoyed and said, “Ah, do not do it!” and tried to push him away, but he did not budge an inch.

“Your hair is fluffy and soft too.”

Unable to push him away, I pushed at his hand instead. But Kim Daesik persistently twirled or rubbed my pubic hair with his fingers. When he got tired of that too, he smeared the sticky semen between my legs on his hand, grabbed my member, and started to stroke it. Because of that, a strange feeling started to stir, and I twisted my body.

“Stop it!”

“Why, it feels good.”

“No, it does not!”

Even though I said I did not like it, he would not back down, so I kicked his shin with my heel.

“Ouch.”

Only then did he let me go and step back. Kim Daesik looked me up and down as I stood awkwardly and snickered. I was half-erect and my crotch was dirty, so I could not pull up my underwear and pants, which had fallen to my ankles.

He brought a tissue that said “wet wipes” but was bone dry and wiped my lower half for me. I also pulled out a wet wipe and scrubbed hard at the semen that had gotten on the hem of my shirt. As I did so, my stomach and navel were completely exposed.

Kim Daesik, who I thought was stepping back after wiping between my legs, paused when he saw that sight. He suddenly knelt in front of me and pulled my thighs toward him. Then he buried his face in my lower abdomen.

“Ah.”

His face was scratchy and prickly, and the skin of my stomach hurt. I shouted, “Get off!” and tore at his hair, but it was no use. When he stuck out his tongue and prodded my navel, it was incredibly ticklish and the inside of my stomach throbbed. I let out a “Hik.” and flinched, grabbing his shoulders. But when his mouth engulfed my member, I could not even make a sound like that. I just gasped for air and gripped his shoulders tightly.

Shluup, shluup….

With a wet, slurping sound, Kim Daesik greedily sucked on my lower half. He put my member and balls in his mouth all at once and rolled them with his tongue, sucking them into his mouth so hard that his Adam’s apple bobbed. It was incredibly hot and wet, and my lower abdomen tightened as my member became erect. It swelled up large enough to push against Kim Daesik’s tongue and more than fill his mouth.

I started to pant even though I was not out of breath. Kim Daesik, who had slid his mouth down the length of my hardened shaft, laughed when he saw my member, which was raised high in the air and twitching.

“I take back what I said about it being small. It is quite a sight when it gets big.”

“Ugh… why, why are you doing this?”

At my question, which was mixed with a whimper, he raised his eyes and looked at my flushed red face. Then, he licked up the clear drops of fluid beading at the tip of my glans with a sucking sound and laughed through his nose.

“Because you said you did not like it, it made me stubborn.”

“I can dislike it. Is it not strange to like it?”

“Ah, of course you can dislike it. You can dislike it, but…”

He mumbled, trailing off the end of his sentence, then said to himself, “Because liking it is better?” and swallowed my member again. I could not move an inch. I clutched at his clothes uselessly and trembled all over. It was hard to endure the so-called pleasant feeling that surged up every time he rubbed my shaft with his flat tongue and sucked it strongly with his throat. Before long, a hot and sharp pleasure, like being stabbed with a heated needle, came over my member, and I suddenly pulled his head into a hug. And I screamed like I was screaming.

“Ah, get out. Get out…!”

He said something indistinctly with my member in his mouth. It sounded like he was just telling me to cum, so I could not resist and came in his mouth.

“Aheuuung…!”

Shuddering violently, I poured out my semen, and it seemed like Kim Daesik was going to swallow my thing whole. He swallowed every last drop of the gushing semen and sucked on my member. Because of that, the sensation of cumming did not subside for a long time even after I had finished. I kept flinching and bucking my hips at the continuous stimulation, and only after he opened his mouth and released my member could I let go of his head.

All the strength had drained from my body, and it was hard to stand. As I leaned my back against the wall and slid down to sit on the spot, the butt that touched the floor was cold. Only then did I look down at my lower body, and my member was clean as if it had been scalded in water. He had sucked on it so much that not a single drop of semen remained.

I was so dumbfounded that I lifted my head, and Kim Daesik’s member, which had definitely cum just a moment ago, was erect again. I was speechless at the sight of it, swollen large and stiff as a club right before my eyes, as if for me to see.

“Are you sick or something? How can you get hard again right after you have cummed?”

Hearing my chiding words, he grinned and grabbed his member.

“You are the one in your prime, why are you so bland?”

He forcefully shoved his erect member into his pants, pulled up the zipper, and fastened the button. Then he helped me up and put on my underwear and pants for me. This time, he even fastened my belt meticulously, but my waist was still way too loose. He tugged at the loose waistband of my pants and peeked at the member inside.

“Well, with a body like this, what kind of sex drive would you have. You are so skinny I can see right through you.”

“That is because you are looking with the intention of seeing.”

I tugged at my waistband and pushed him away. He let himself be pushed away obediently, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand and licked his lips for me to see.

“Is it because you live on dew, your semen is sweet too.”

“Am I some kind of snack? Stop treating me like something to eat.”

Saying this with a sullen voice, I tried to pass by Kim Daesik, but he hugged me tightly from behind. Then he rubbed his scratchy face against my cheek and snickered.

“Even if I ate you, you would not even be a mouthful. You are a snack, that’s right.”

“That’s prickly!”

Perhaps because of the unexpected harvest, he seemed to be in a very good mood. With his noticeably large member confined in his pants, he followed me around, pestering me. He definitely had not fully relieved his desires.

The words “if you are going to be this annoying, you might as well just finish it” almost came out of my mouth. But he did not seem to have any intention of doing so. It seemed he was worried that my hole would tear and I would be bedridden. The thought that it was like giving medicine after causing the disease was funny.

His plan to feed me well, fatten me up, and eat me was equally funny. For me, it made no difference whether I died this way or that way, but for Kim Daesik, that plan was certainly a very troublesome thing. Just like a little while ago. The men were being obedient, but if they had set their minds to taking the biscuits, he would not have been able to handle them.

Was he willing to go through such trouble just to eat me? Was it because it was a delicacy he had never tried, human meat? I was curious how delicious my meat would be. But that was a curiosity that could never be resolved.

---

After finishing the dismantling work, the men came down to the second floor and simply set up a tent. They made a wall with shelves, put up a screen, and after making a hole for the smoke to escape, they lit a small fire. There, they grilled meat skewers made to their individual tastes. The skewers, glistening with oil, looked appetizing, but the expressions of the men sitting around grilling them were gloomy.

Kim Daesik did not seem to care whether they were depressed or not, but I felt self-conscious. I wanted to take out my biscuits and eat them while the others were eating their skewers, but if I did that, it was obvious I would receive intense glares. I could feel the men glaring at me for no reason, or frequently glancing at the backpack I was hugging.

Unable to bear the burdensome gazes, I opened my backpack. And I took out a box of biscuits. As soon as I did that, everyone, without exception, gulped down their saliva. Hearing the gulping sounds that were even loud, I tore open the package and distributed the biscuits evenly among the men.

Kim Daesik frowned, as if he was displeased with what I was doing. On the contrary, the men could not hide their joy.

“Are you giving this to us? Wow, damn!”

“Now that I see it, Lunchbox has a human side.”

“Hey, thanks, thank you!”

They took the biscuits with their hands, which were black with grime, as if they were precious. And they took small bites from the corners and constantly expressed their admiration.

“Hah, it is so crispy!”

“I know, right, how is it not soggy?”

“The smell is absolutely amazing.”

“How can I eat this, it is too precious!”

They ate the biscuits sparingly, a little at a time, frequently sniffing the sweet smell. The way they praised them and licked them with their tongues was exaggerated. Seeing that, Kim Daesik spoke as if he was dumbfounded.

“What a pathetic display. Anyone would think you have not eaten anything for days.”

“We eat meat every day! It has been a long time since we had snacks.”

“So this is what biscuits taste like. It is really delicious.”

“How did I live forgetting this taste? It melts in my mouth.”

“I think I could die now and have no regrets.”

Thanks to sharing the biscuits, I could eat the rest without feeling self-conscious. I put a biscuit in my mouth and was munching on it when, a beat later, I became aware of Kim Daesik. I almost forgot because he did not seem to want a biscuit. I held out a biscuit to him too.

“Here.”

Kim Daesik’s eyes widened slightly at that, and he hesitated for a moment. He was undoubtedly conflicted about whether to accept the biscuit or not. It was clear that he too wanted to eat a biscuit, but he shook his head.

“It is okay, you eat it.”

“Why? You eat one too.”

“It is a waste of food for me to eat it.”

It was true that Kim Daesik did not need to eat biscuits since he was not lacking in food. The same was true for the other men. For survival, eating human flesh alone was enough. But the men were not cannibals because they wanted to be. If food were abundant like in the old days, they would want to eat things like these biscuits or chocolate rather than eating people.

“Even if it is a waste, it is delicious.”

“It is okay.”

Kim Daesik repeatedly refused my offer to the very end. I chewed my biscuit in silence and wondered. Is Kim Daesik different from the others? Does human flesh genuinely taste good to him?

Well, that could be possible. I roughly convinced myself that human flesh must taste better to his palate.

After each had filled their stomachs and a watch was set, everyone went to bed. Since Kim Daesik said he would take the first watch, the rest all lay down, using dolls or cushions gathered from here and there as pillows. But perhaps because the afterglow of the biscuits had not faded, no one was sleeping and they were all chattering away. Most of it was talk about food, and they were bragging about what they had eaten.

“I have eaten ham before. The ham that comes in a can.”

“I have eaten that too. It was salty and incredibly delicious.”

“None of you guys have eaten seaweed here, right? Seaweed?”

“How can you brag about eating just seaweed…”

As they were all diligently bragging, everyone’s eyes shot open in surprise at what Lee Seokhyeon said.

“I have eaten steamed rice before.”

“What? Steamed rice?”

Hearing the talk about steamed rice, the man who usually drove, Wang Iseop, made a remark that was not quite a criticism.

“Hey, do not lie. Grains are so hard to find, how could a guy like you have eaten steamed rice?”

“Ah, it is true. I have eaten instant rice before.”

Hearing what Lee Seokhyeon said, one of the other two, Kang Junyeong, asked back.

“Instant rice? What is that?”

The last man, Park Chankyu, clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for him.

“You do not know what instant rice is?”

As the four of them got excited and their voices grew louder, Kim Daesik got annoyed.

“It is so loud it is killing me. Now shut up and get some sleep.”

When Kim Daesik said a word, they all whimpered and quieted down. But they continued to talk about food in whispers.

“In the old days, people deliberately ate incredibly spicy things. They said it was so spicy that it was painful enough to make them cry and have a runny nose.”

“No, there must have been delicious things all over the place, why would they eat something like that?”

“How should I know?”

“When you think about it, are not snacks also amazing? They say there were all sorts of flavors of snacks. Sweet, salty, spicy, sour. There were ones that tasted like sweet potato or potato, and they said there were even ones that tasted like squid or shrimp or seaweed.”

“That is true. If you wanted to eat a sweet potato, you could have just eaten that.”

Lee Seokhyeon, who seemed to have eaten a lot of things, rambled on and on. Wang Iseop and Park Chankyu also seemed to have eaten various things here and there, so they occasionally added interjections to his words. Only Kang Junyeong was quiet, as if he had nothing to say. Then, Wang Iseop lamented.

“I once saw a factory that made shrimp crackers before, so I went to check just in case, but there was really not a single bag left. I saw a lot of shells with shrimp drawn on them though.”

Hearing Wang Iseop smacking his lips, Lee Seokhyeon muttered.

“I have not eaten shrimp either. I wonder what it tastes like.”

Kim Daesik, who had been listening silently to what they were saying, suddenly opened his mouth.

“They say it tastes like cockroaches?”

“Huh…?”

Lee Seokhyeon grimaced as if he was disgusted, and Kim Daesik grinned.

“Why, cockroaches are delicious, are they not?”

“Do not lie!”

As Lee Seokhyeon insisted that shrimp crackers could not possibly taste like that, Kim Daesik did something strange. It was a strange act that was difficult to explain. He varied the pitch and speed of his speaking voice.

“A hand reaches, a hand reaches. A hand reaches for the cockroach. A child’s hand, an adult’s hand, a hand keeps reaching.”

The men all shuddered at once and turned over to lie down. On the contrary, my eyes widened and I sat up.

“What did you just do?”

Kim Daesik looked at me with surprise.

“What?”

“That, just now.”

“What? A song?”

“That is a song?”

Seeing me so very surprised, Kim Daesik was even more surprised.

“What. You have never heard a song before?”

I nodded my head, and he frowned as if he could not believe it.

“No one has ever sung for you?”

“No.”

When I came to my senses, all the men were looking at me with expressions of disbelief. Seeing as none of them knew what instant rice was or what shrimp tasted like, it was clear they were as ignorant as I was. But was it so surprising that I did not know what a song was? My brother had been practically the only person I talked to, and since my brother had never sung a song for me, it was only natural that I had not heard one.

The surprised reaction felt bad, but only for a moment. More than that, the thought that I might be able to feel the Christmas my brother had talked about made my heart flutter. I shook Kim Daesik’s sleeve and asked.

“If you know how to sing, do you know how to sing carols too?”

“Carols?”

“Yeah. Everyone sings those at Christmas, they said.”

At those words, Lee Seokhyeon snorted and said sarcastically.

“A guy who does not even know what a song is knows about Christmas.”

Ignoring him, I tugged on Kim Daesik’s sleeve repeatedly and urged him on.

“Sing a carol for me. A carol.”

My brother had said he liked Christmas the most out of the whole year. A tree decorated with sparkling lights, a shining star on top, Santa in a red suit with a white beard, and presents wrapped in colorful ribbons… He said they were all nice, but the best thing was the carols. He said that even without a tree, Santa, or presents, just singing a carol would make you feel like it was Christmas anytime, anywhere.

I wanted to feel that feeling too, so I pestered my brother several times to sing a carol for me. But my brother only moved his lips, unable to sing anything. He said he could not remember and finally clammed up. After that, he would not talk for days on end. So I had given up on hearing a carol, but to me, a song was a carol. It was a way to feel the Christmas spirit anytime, anywhere.

When I pestered him to sing a carol, Kim Daesik looked embarrassed. He cleared his throat a few times—kheum, kheum—as if he was about to sing a carol, and opened and closed his mouth several times. When I urged him, “Hurry up,” he narrowed his brow and nudged Lee Seokhyeon, who was lying right next to him, with his foot.

“Hey, you sing it.”

“Why, Daesik, you sing it.”

When Kim Daesik glared, Lee Seokhyeon glanced at me once and started to sing.

“Jingle bells~ jingle bells~ jingle… something something.”

As I listened in anticipation, Lee Seokhyeon could not sing for long. “Hey, how does this go?” he asked the other men, but they did not know either.

“Sing something else.”

“What else?”

“Dashing through the snow~ in a one horse open sleigh~ o’er the fields we go~”

“Is that not Jingle Bells?”

“Is it Jingle Bells?”

They all tried this and that, but in the end, no one could sing it properly. They all only remembered parts of it or could only sing a snippet. Even that was a mess and did not sound like a song.

“Ah, shit. I have never even celebrated Christmas, how am I supposed to sing a carol?”

“I definitely knew it before, but since I never had a reason to sing it, I forgot it all.”

“At least you remember that much. I do not know any carols.”

“Should we sing something else?”

“What else?”

The men brought up popular songs or children’s songs they used to sing in the old days. No one could sing those properly either, and in the end, the only song that was sung properly from beginning to end was the one Kim Daesik sang. After humming along to the song about a hand constantly reaching for shrimp crackers, I asked Kim Daesik a question.

“Why does a hand keep reaching for it?”

“It is because it is delicious.”

“If you keep eating it because it is delicious, it will disappear quickly. How can you enjoy it anytime, anywhere?”

“I told you, food was common in the old days.”

“Why did it all disappear now?”

Instead of answering, Kim Daesik pushed my head down as if to tell me to sleep. I lay down silently and rolled my eyes. Looking at the screen on the ceiling where the light was flickering, I wondered how long ago those old days were. They said it was before my brother was even born, so I wondered if Kim Daesik had lived in that time. I just raised my eyes, looked at Kim Daesik, and asked.

“How old are you?”

Kim Daesik seemed to think it was an unexpected question and looked at me as if it were something new.

“What are you going to do with that information?”

“I am curious.”

“Why. Are you going to treat me as an equal if you know my age?”

“I am already treating you as an equal.”

At my retort, Kim Daesik snorted and flicked my forehead. It hurt quite a bit, so I rubbed my forehead and glared at him. At my glare, Kim Daesik smiled and reached out his hand. And he covered my eyelids with his palm.

“I am older than you, so do not act up and go to sleep.”

I muttered that I could not sleep. Having slept my fill when I was sick and bedridden, the situation of trying to sleep surrounded by strangers in a strange place felt odd. But I did not dislike it.

Come to think of it, it was a truly strange thing. Kim Daesik was the guy who had eaten my brother and was going to eat me too. Seeing him hunt people without batting an eye, it was clear he thought it was natural to kill for human flesh.

Then it would be natural to be scared of him and feel distant, but perhaps because I resolved not to be scared, I did not dislike it. I thought it was okay because he was feeding me and taking care of me under the pretext of fattening me up. If he just did not shove that ridiculously big member of his at me, he even seemed like a good person.

He would kill me, dismember me, and eat me someday, but if there was no pain, I did not want to refuse. With my brother gone, I could not see a reason to struggle to live. As Kim Daesik had said, it might be better to just live on what Kim Daesik gave me with a full stomach, and when the time comes, die in one go. I did not have the skills to live alone, and I did not want to be eaten by ghouls after suffering from hunger.

Of course, the worst case would be to be unable to bear the hunger, eat human flesh, get the cannibal disease, and become a ghoul. Human flesh is meat, so it would probably be ecstatically delicious, but I did not want to become a ghoul. To be neither dead nor alive, suffering from hunger, was truly the worst. Being hungry as a human was enough.

Perhaps because I said I could not sleep, at some point, Kim Daesik was combing through my hair with his fingers. It felt good because when I was young, my brother used to stroke my hair like this. As I was drawn in by that touch, I slowly burrowed into Kim Daesik’s embrace.

“Hmm?”

Kim Daesik sighed as if he found it absurd, seeing me lie down with his arm as a pillow. But he did not push my head away. Rather, he adjusted his position to make it easier for me to lie down.

Unlike my brother, Kim Daesik’s body was muscular, so his arms were thick. His body temperature was also high, so he was perfect to lean on and sleep. He was even stroking my head gently, so it could not be better.

I sought sleep under the touch of the hand that would one day kill me.

---

We stayed at that general store for a few days and searched for gasoline. The general store was located on a main road lined with similar-looking buildings, and as we followed the grid-like roads, we saw an endless line of similarly shaped high-rise buildings. Kim Daesik said they were apartments.

“In the old days, people lived in each of those compartments.”

“Not on one floor?”

“Not one floor, but each compartment.”

Even if people lived on each floor, the number would be enormous, but to think they split that floor and several people lived there was unbelievable. On the other hand, I also wondered why they lived so clustered together. Would it not be strange to have people living above, below, and next to me, with just a wall in between? It was even more so since he said there was a bathroom inside the house.

“So while I am eating, the person next door could be taking a shit right beside me.”

“I guess so? And while you are jacking off, someone would be having sex.”

Kim Daesik said it in a greasy way, but since I had no sexual experience before meeting him, I did not know how to react. When I stared blankly at Kim Daesik, he was the one who got embarrassed.

“Why did everyone live so close together in such a small space?”

As I asked while we headed towards the area lined with apartments, Kim Daesik muttered.

“They must have been lonely.”

“What is it like to be lonely?”

At my question, Kim Daesik stared at me intently. When I met his gaze as if to ask why he was looking at me like that, he ruffled my hair all over and said.

“You do not need to know things like that.”

The clouds were hanging low as if ash would fall again. The tops of the high-rise apartments, which had turned into ruins, were not visible. I tilted my head back as far as it would go and tried to count how many floors the apartment had, but it was not easy. I got confused after just 10 floors.

We looked for cars with gasoline left in them and checked every car around the shopping center in front of the apartment gate. There was no gasoline left in the abandoned and damaged cars. We went into the apartment complex, but the parking lot on the ground level was mostly empty.

As I was looking around the empty parking lot where only ash was piled up, I found a bicycle storage area. As I approached it, there were several rusty bicycles tied up. I grabbed one of them and shook it. The plastic lock was corroded, so it was easy to take the bicycle out, but the tires were flat and it was so badly rusted that it was not in a state to be ridden. Kim Daesik, who was looking around for a car, saw that sight and asked.

“Do you know how to ride a bicycle?”

I shook my head.

“My brother knew how.”

“Did your brother not teach you?”

“Yeah. He did not teach me because he said it was dangerous. He said he would teach me when I turned 20, but we lost the bicycle.”

“Lost it? How?”

“He went out to get food and got caught by a ghoul.”

I was waiting in the bunker, so I did not know the detailed situation. My brother, who had just said he was going out to get food, did not come back for two days without any notice. I was planning to go look for him if he did not come back on the third day, but he barely made it back, covered in blood after being bitten by a ghoul.

“He lost the bicycle and was in a bad state after being bitten by a ghoul. After that, he went around gathering firewood, asking me to cremate him when he died. But there was not enough firewood, so I could not keep my promise.”

As I muttered while kicking the rusty bicycle, Kim Daesik shut his mouth with an expression that said he had nothing to say. Then he turned around and started walking in another direction. I followed him closely and asked.

“When are you going to find the chocolate?”

“…Sometime soon.”

“You have to find the chocolate before you eat me.”

At those words, Kim Daesik clicked his tongue and mumbled something, but it was a mutter to himself, so I could not hear it well. I asked, “Huh? What?” but he did not answer. Instead, he went back to the apartment gate and checked the information board that was set up there. When he wiped the ash-caked information board with his hand, a map of the apartment complex was revealed.

Kim Daesik was silent for a long time as he looked at it. I, who was loitering next to him, got bored and asked about his thoughts, “What are you looking at?” Kim Daesik pointed to a place on the map with a serious expression.

“In an apartment complex like this, all the cars are underground.”

The sky was covered with ash clouds, so the weather was gloomy all year round. Only the difference in temperature between cold and hot could be felt; the seasons had disappeared, and ash poured down frequently, blurring the boundary between day and night. Nevertheless, I could feel the sun rising and setting beyond the thick clouds. It was because the day would get bright and then dark repeatedly.

Ghouls were nocturnal and mainly active at night. We could not be completely careless during the day, because on days when the ash clouds were thick, the sky was dark, so there was not much difference between day and night. It was just that their movements were slow when ash was falling from the sky. Therefore, when we had to move at night, we had to take advantage of the times when ash was falling.

But day or night, whether ash was falling or not, the dangerous place was underground. Because it was pitch black all day long and no ash fell. I looked at Kim Daesik, thinking, surely he is not going to go look for gasoline in the underground where ghouls are crawling.

I do not know how he interpreted that expression, but he grinned. He reached out his hand, rubbed the back of my head, and said.

“Do not worry, I am not going in.”

I tilted my head to the side as if to avoid his hand.

“I was not worried.”

Kim Daesik reached out his hand and relentlessly pursued me as I tried to avoid it, messing up my shaggy, long hair. When his hand withdrew, my hair was all standing on end, and I had to smooth it down with my hand several times. Kim Daesik turned his body as if it was time to go and said.

“It is impossible to do it alone anyway.”

Even if he brought all the other men, it did not seem like there would be a good solution. Lee Seokhyeon, Wang Iseop, Kang Junyeong, and Park Chankyu looked like their faces were only half-formed, and their minds did not seem to be all there. Without Kim Daesik, it seemed they would have starved to death long ago, let alone hunt people. Perhaps because of that, even though they did not show it openly, they tried to please Kim Daesik, who looked the youngest, and were afraid of him. They seemed to know well that it would be hard to survive without Kim Daesik.

Kim Daesik went around the apartment complex and checked the entrances of the underground parking lot one by one. After finishing this preliminary survey, he left the apartment complex. I followed him and then found a convenience store and went inside. I searched the empty shelves, broken glass, and piles of dust to see if there was any food, but as expected, not even a single bread bag was left.

I left the convenience store feeling disappointed and saw Kim Daesik entering a store on the other side of the street. I wondered where that place was and followed him in, and there were books scattered here and there. It seemed to be a small bookstore, but like the convenience store, it had been completely looted and there were not many books left.

Books could not be eaten, but they were useful for kindling or firewood, so it was difficult to find intact ones. Only torn pages of books were scattered messily on the floor. Most of them were dirty or the print was erased, so the contents were illegible. But some of the books that had been buried in the ash were intact.

Kim Daesik, who was examining them, found a plausible-looking book. It was a cookbook. It said <Making Desserts Anyone Can Do>.

The color on the cover had all faded, but it was printed with pictures of bread and snacks. I stood next to Kim Daesik’s arm, stretched my neck, and peered at the pages he was flipping through. There were pictures of food on every page.

I wanted to look closely, but Kim Daesik did not seem very interested. Even though there were pictures of all sorts of desserts I had never heard of, like financiers, tarts, pound cakes, and crackers, he did not look at them closely. Then he stopped flipping the pages and went back to the front.

The page he opened and held fixed had instructions on how to make chocolate cupcakes. Perhaps because I was nagging about chocolate, Kim Daesik looked at it closely.

The chocolate cupcake was black like burnt bread and looked moist and fluffy. As the name of the food suggested, it was a food made with chocolate, and the process of making it was explained in detail with accompanying pictures.

“Preheat the oven… to 170 degrees… Sift the flour. Put the unsalted… butter, which has been left at room temperature, in a bowl and… stir. Add sugar and mix…”

There were many words I was seeing for the first time, so it was difficult to read. It was even more difficult to understand. In the end, I stumbled over my words and gave up reading, closing my mouth. Kim Daesik frowned and grumbled.

“There are too many things we need.”

To make one palm-sized cupcake, you needed chocolate, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sugar powder, vanilla extract, eggs, sugar, milk, and unsalted butter. Most of them were things I did not even know what they were, so it seemed impossible to actually make it.

He flipped through the pages and looked for desserts made with chocolate. There were chocolate cookies and chocolate cake, but they similarly required numerous ingredients. As Kim Daesik sighed and was about to throw the book away, I quickly grabbed it. Then I tore out the page with the instructions for making chocolate cupcakes and folded it. Seeing that sight, Kim Daesik snorted.

“Why are you keeping something useless like that?”

I hesitated and then said.

“Well, I have tasted it before… Since I know what chocolate tastes like, I can imagine the taste by looking at the picture, can I not?”

I buried my nose in the torn page. And I breathed in as if smelling the scent that had risen in my mouth and stimulated my nose. Of course, even if I breathed in, all I smelled was old paper and ash, but as I recalled the memory, it seemed as if I could smell a scent sweeter than anything in the world.

I took my nose off the page and stared intently at Kim Daesik, who was laughing at me for my foolish act. As I gnawed on my lips, recalling the taste of chocolate, the ecstatic taste that had melted between my sticky, tangled tongue came back to life.

I tugged on the sleeve of Kim Daesik, who was about to leave the bookstore. He turned around, saying, “Hmm?” and I leaned against him and, standing on tiptoe, kissed his lips.

Kim Daesik seemed a little surprised, but he did not refuse my lips that were covering his. He welcomed my probing tongue and sucked on it gently, then crossed over into my mouth, sweeping over my teeth, scraping the roof of my mouth with the tip of his tongue, and rubbing our tongues together.

It did not taste as I had expected, but his saliva was sweetish. I gulped several times and sucked and swallowed his tongue. Soon, excited, he held my waist and pushed me against the counter where books would have been stacked.

When my heels hit the counter, he lightly lifted my waist. He placed me on the counter, spread my legs, and stood between them. Then he changed the angle several times and greedily tasted the inside of my mouth.

“I am the only one worried about your hole, am I not? Why are you wagging your tail?”

His voice was sultry as he muttered while taking off my clothes. I exhaled the breath that had built up and said.

“I have never, haah, wagged my tail.”

Hearing me say that I did not have a tail in the first place, he bit his lower lip.

“Then why are you rubbing your lips all over me?”

“That is because you ate my chocolate…”

Kim Daesik snickered and laughed as he took off my hooded outer jacket, zippered jumper, and thick shirt. Seeing that there was still a T-shirt left underneath, he let out a dry laugh.

“Just how many layers are you wearing?”

“Why are you taking everything off?”

“It is cold,” I said, clinging to his shoulders, and he laughed deep in his throat.

“This is why I am taking them off. Do not worry, it will get warm soon.”

He also took off my ridiculously large pants and underwear. In the process, my worn-out sneakers came off and flew away, but my knee-high socks were still on my ankles. Perhaps because it was too much trouble to take those off too, he just left them and sucked on my lips with loud smacking sounds. Then he laid me down and hurriedly took off his own clothes.

He had said something about me wearing too many layers, but he was no different. He was wearing a tight-fitting leather jacket over a black sweater that looked gray because of the ash, and a long-necked knit shirt. When he took off the two layers of clothing at once, his pale skin, which had not seen sunlight, was revealed. But the muscles, which were as defined as if they had been carved with a knife, had volume.

I unknowingly reached out my hand and touched his body. For some reason, it looked cold, but it was so warm it was almost hot. Drawn by that warmth, I caressed his chest and sides, and Kim Daesik, with a flushed face, frowned.

“Why are you groping me so much?”

“Just… I thought it looked delicious.”

I was surprised by the words I had unknowingly uttered. Did I pick up the way of talking from hanging out with a cannibal? I did not particularly want to eat human flesh, so I do not know why such words came out. Kim Daesik, who was equally surprised, paused and then let out a sputtering sound as he laughed.

“Just a moment ago you were whining about being scared of the cannibal disease. Now your mouth is watering?”

I withdrew my hand, feeling embarrassed, and made an excuse.

“I am scared. I am scared, but…”

With urgent hands, he unbuckled his belt, pulled down his pants, and took out his member. He grabbed the thing that was swollen to the size of my forearm and shook it a few times, then, unable to hide his excitement, he stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

“Want to try a bite?”

“Huh?”

“Come down here.”

He grabbed the scruff of my neck, pulled me down, and made me kneel on the clothes that had fallen to the floor. Then he held his monstrously ugly member right in front of my nose. I grimaced at the member that was tapping my nose and shook my head, but he held my head so I could not escape and rubbed the tip of his member on my lips.

“Why, you said it looked delicious?”

I glared at him with narrowed eyes and threatened, “I might actually bite it off,” but it did not work. He pushed his member into my mouth without caring about my teeth, and just that felt like my lips were going to tear.

“Uup, umm…!”

I wanted to protest somehow, but my mouth was blocked, so I could not make a proper sound. As if the tongue that was wriggling to speak and the rumbling throat were stimulating, the member in my mouth only swelled up even larger.

“Suck hard, if I just shove it in like this, I think I will tear you in half…”

“Huuuum…!”

“Yeah, like that. Purse your lips, lay your tongue flat. Deep in your throat… Heut.”

Holding his member in my mouth, my jaw hurt as if it would dislocate. In the meantime, the glans was poking at my uvula, so it was so painful I could die. It was hard to breathe, so I panted through my nose and held on, gripping his thighs. In the meantime, Kim Daesik held my head and moved in and out of my mouth as he pleased.