M 38
by Sorai“Why… are you acting like this?”
“No, it’s nothing much.”
Though he said it was nothing, Ki Tae-jeong grabbed Sehwa’s ankles and pulled them down.
“It’s a bit strange.”
It felt like it wasn’t nothing… Sehwa unconsciously held on to the hem of his shirt. It was a habit that he developed because Ki Tae-jeong frequently opened his gown.
It may have been true that the bunker was used as a lodging, but fortunately, the bunker was equipped with indoor clothes. Unable to bear the sight any longer, he had immediately washed up upon entering, but he was in despair because it seemed like he didn’t even have a gown, let alone clothes. Should he just wrap the lower part and go out like this? While seriously considering, she reached for a towel to staunch the blood flowing from his sole. In the midst of rummaging through the shelf, he noticed neatly laid-out indoor clothes next to her. They were even wrapped in plastic packaging as if they were new.
‘I thought I wouldn’t find it.’
When Ki Tae-jeong saw Sehwa’s smiling face with a rosy hue, he clicked his tongue as if regretting something. It was fortunate that he didn’t have to stay naked until Lieutenant Park came to pick them up, but Sehwa was cautious because he still couldn’t wear underwear. Although he had suffered so much until just now, it didn’t seem like Ki Tae-jeong would suggest having sex… But you never know. Ki Tae-jeong was someone who had never acted as Sehwa expected.
“What Kim Seok-cheol gave you wasn’t a drug.”
As if scolding Sehwa for even thinking about sex, Ki Tae-jeong looked at the soles of Sehwa’s feet with a professional attitude.
“He did give it to me while transporting it though…”
“So, the drug that bastard wanted to make wouldn’t have been made solely from narcotics, right?”
Ki Tae-jeong muttered as he looked at the soles of Sehwa’s feet, which were starting to become smooth unlike before when it was torn.
“Well, yes, but…”
If anyone actually saw the manufacturing process, no one would be able to easily get their hands on the drug. Tar, poison, blood or skin of dead animals, unknown chemicals, medical waste that has not been clinically tested… Boiling and refining those things before inhaling or injecting them into veins. It was inevitable that consuming such things would ruin the body. So Lieutenant Kim asked Sehwa for help, saying he wanted to create a similar drug that was safer but had great effects. This must have been after delivering marijuana and philopon to Lieutenant Kim’s customers several times.
“What exactly is your constitution? Even if you ingest something bad, does it not accumulate in your body, or does your body detoxify itself?”
“Well, um….”
After hearing Ki Tae-jeong’s words, Sehwa also became curious. It was a part he hadn’t consciously thought about before… There wasn’t really anything to distinguish it. Even though he had dabbled in all sorts of drugs and became a drug dealer since he was young, he never got seriously ill from them. Now that he thought about it, when Ki Tae-jeong applied the patch, he definitely reacted to the aphrodisiac, but the drugs he had taken just before didn’t suddenly rush and reflux through his veins.
“Now that I’ve been living fine up until now, there shouldn’t be any major issues, right?”
“Well… We’ll have to check when we get back.”
“Why, why? Is something wrong?”
“It’s not normal.”
As Ki Tae-jeong looked at the soles of his feet with a serious expression, Sehwa also became nervous. Sehwa had thought that being involved in this line of work was just perfect for his constitution… but could there have been some unknown issue with him as well?
“If you only get wet but can’t get pregnant, it’s a big problem.”
“Yes?”
Could he please stop with that pregnancy talk? Ki Tae-jeong’s hand, which had been pressing the soles of my feet here and there as if assessing the wound, brushed against his toes and swiftly traveled up to his heels and ankles. Sehwa thought that being with this man right now was more dangerous than his own lifetime of having no issues with his body’s constitution.
“Why are you doing this…”
Sehwa wasn’t confident that he could take Ki Tae-jeong’s d*ck right now. It’s too big, too hard… Above all, Sehwa didn’t have the strength to endure his obscenities. If he listened to Ki Tae-jeong’s nonsense in this state, he felt like he was going to cry. As he weakly twisted his body, Ki Tae-jeong surprisingly released his grip.
“You have weak ankles.”
‘You’re not good at running away,’ said Ki Tae-jeong with a smirk resembling that of a villain. Sehwa got scared for a moment and pressed his body against the back of the sofa, and Ki Tae-jeong deliberately grabbed and released his foot, playing around.
“Uh, soon… Didn’t you say someone’s coming to pick you up? Uh, someone named Lieutenant Park…”
Desperately trying to change the mood, Sehwa hinted at another topic, and Ki Tae-jeong seemed to relent, letting his body relax.
“On this end, we’ve safely made it into the bunker and secured the goods… so the first priority is confirming the situation over there.”
Ki Tae-jeong responded that work at the shelter might take more than half a day. Sehwa, who was nodding, suddenly thought that his tone of voice was a little different from before. Despite still teasing aimlessly and only saying what he wanted, it was… how should he put it? Although rougher and more abrasive, much of the mocking tone had disappeared. When he used to call Sehwa by name, it felt like he didn’t even see him as a person, but now it seemed like he regarded him as a mere nuisance he could deal with comfortably. Of course, this was just Sehwa’s own thought… but still…
Sehwa crouched down with his knees up and wiggled his toes, which were red from being played by Ki Taejeong. Then. Now that they seemed to have gotten a bit closer… should he ask why he had called his name earlier? Of course, Ki Tae-jeong probably hadn’t thought anything of it, but he had never been called by his name like that before…
“How did you know?”
“Yes?”
Sehwa, who was looking for an opportunity to speak, jumped in surprise, Ki Tae-jeong narrowed his eyes as if suspicious.
“Uh, I’m sorry… I was just thinking about something else for a moment. What did you say?”
“How did you know that you don’t have the constitution to become addicted? You wouldn’t have realized until trying drugs, and even then, multiple times.”
Ah… so he was asking why he had dabbled in drugs. Sehwa recalled the first time he had laid hands on narcotics.
“It wasn’t because I wanted to… I was just… born into this… kind of place…”
When he was young and couldn’t even count his age by more than ten fingers, used to envy the stories of the older people around him. Their struggles because of the ruined home, the scams they fell victim to, the despair… and then, dabbling in gambling, preparing for business, and just living frivolously because they liked to have fun… he was envious of those who could open up about the life they lived outside the house, how they ended up like this. The grim, solitary shadow that hung over them whenever they closed their eyes seemed somehow admirable.
“My last name is Lee. There’s really no reason for that either. Since I was born in 2-Hwan, so they call me Lee… They say the name Sehwa was given to me so that I could catch a really strong Hwatu card. It was given by some Hwatu player.”
Sehwa had none of those stories. There was no life outside the House or memories to miss. His day started when he woke up in a warehouse-like place. He would scavenge for leftovers cautiously, and if there were any tasks, he would obediently follow along. He didn’t remember much, but the grunts in that house said Sehwa was too young to kill. There was a lot of money to be made, but his body hadn’t fully grown yet, making it difficult to take out organs, they said.
“I was just waiting for the day I would die… then suddenly, an opportunity came. A chance to be a transporter.”
They said it was as simple as swallowing a round candy and then vomiting it all up after taking the offered medicine. While the other kids hesitated and avoided eye contact with the men, Sehwa boldly raised his hand. He wanted to be away from the older guys he shared the room with, who would beat him and spit on him every day. If he could be away from them for even a day, he wanted that.
“After succeeding so many times, the men stopped bothering me. They hit me less, and they gave me plenty of warm meals… It was good. So I kept going, and then, well…”
One day, Sehwa swallowed something round like he always did, but some guy made a fuss afterward. They said it was packed incorrectly and that they had to pack it again, but he didn’t know. Everyone clicked their tongues, thinking, ‘That young thing must have had a proper funeral today, as he swallowed the bag with the drug still in it…” but surprisingly, Sehwa didn’t die. As such incidents repeated several times, Sehwa realized that his constitution was a bit peculiar.
“… It’s such a lame story.”
Maybe because he was tired. As he spoke, he found himself getting caught up in his own story and ended up bringing up things he wasn’t even asked about. Ki Tae-jeong didn’t say anything and just stared at Sehwa.