DEARG Ch 3

“What?”

Jo Jihyun’s lips twitched into a slight grimace.

“I saw a pizza shop sign at the apartment entrance, so I ordered from there. Why? Do you have a preferred brand or something?”

Lee Jaegyeong asked. The pizza shop at the apartment entrance was the one where Kang Seokwon worked as a deliveryman. Jo Jihyun shook his head and said, it’s fine.

“Where’s Myeonggyu?”

“He said he’s on his way. He said he’s buying beer on the way.”

Jo Jihyun could easily predict the drinking party that would soon unfold in the living room. The members, gathered after a long time, became noisy as they caught up. Jo Jihyun glanced at the front door.

“Myeonggyu? That bastard will be here soon.”

Jo Jihyun smiled ambiguously and turned his head.

Then the intercom bell rang.

“Myeonggyu must be here.”

Kim Seonwoo pressed the open button and ran to the front door, opening it in advance. Soon after, the elevator’s arrival chime rang in the hallway.

“Hey, Kim Myeonggyu. Why are you so la…”

Jeong Taesu flinched and stepped back. Kim Seonwoo, who had followed him out, also gasped, “Huk.” Jo Jihyun, who had turned his head without thinking, froze for a moment. Kang Seokwon was standing at the entrance. Even though he was just standing there holding a pizza box, the sense of intimidation was immense.

“Hey, the pizza,…did you guys order it?”

Kim Myeonggyu, who seemed to have come up in the same elevator and was visibly nervous, said as he walked in from behind.

“Uh, we ordered it, but…”

Jeong Taesu swallowed the rest of his words. His gaze was fixed on the large-bodied deliveryman holding the pizza box. Jo Jihyun quickly got up from his seat, took out his card, and held it out.

Kim Myeonggyu took off his shoes and glanced at Kang Seokwon, who was holding the reader, as he hesitantly came inside. Everyone’s attention was focused on the entrance.

Jo Jihyun waited silently for the payment to finish. An awkward silence flowed. Kang Seokwon held out the reader with an indifferent face. Jo Jihyun roughly drew a line with his fingernail to substitute for a signature. Kang Seokwon still had eyes that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.

“Hey, by the way, should I tell you some big news?”

Kim Seonwoo shouted in a deliberately cheerful voice. Jo Jihyun was well aware of his personality, which could not stand an awkward atmosphere.

“What is it? Leave out the stories related to your wedding. I’m sick of hearing them so much.”

Jeong Taesu managed to turn his head and banter.

“It’s not my wedding news, but news of our Honey’s wedding.”

“What? Jo Jihyun is getting married?”

The color drained from Jo Jihyun’s face. The mechanical sound of the receipt being printed, “jijit-jijit,” could be heard.

“Jo Jihyun, are you really getting married? Awesome. Is that why you came back to Korea?”

“It’s not that…”

Jo Jihyun bit his lip.

“What do you mean it’s not, that bastard came back last time and went on a blind date behind our backs. And they say he came back again to meet that woman.”

Kim Seonwoo continued speaking in the tone of a child tattling on a bad deed.

“Hey, then I’ll throw the boutonnière at the wedding, so you catch it.”

“No way. That Jihyun guy is getting married before me.”

“Well, you live long enough and you see all sorts of things.”

The voices coming from behind felt as distant as a dream. Jo Jihyun’s fingertips trembled. He did not want to have this conversation in front of Kang Seokwon. Even if he had erased his existence from his mind.

Once the receipt came out, Kang Seokwon tore it off and held it out. Jo Jihyun took the small piece of paper.

“Thank you.”

He said in a voice that was barely audible. And in that moment, an unexpected reply came back.

“You’re welcome.”

“…”

At the voice he had not heard in a long time, Jo Jihyun almost collapsed on the spot. After he left, the center of the topic shifted to the pizza deliveryman.

“Did you see that? Huh, I thought he was some kind of martial arts fighter. He must be well over one ninety, right?”

“I almost had a heart attack riding the elevator up with him. What kind of deliveryman looks so murderous. I wonder if they get any complaints?”

“Who knows. Maybe the ladies in this apartment deliberately order pizza only from that place.”

“The madams would be going crazy ordering from there.”

A boisterous laughter erupted.

“Jihyun. What are you doing. The pizza is getting cold.”

At the sound of someone calling him, Jo Jihyun barely managed to come to his senses and return to his seat.

“It feels like I’m eating pizza after a long time too. Reminds me of the old days.”

“I miss those days. The days when we would party all night at the club and then cure our hangovers with pizza.”

“We can still do it now.”

“If I did that, my wife would beat me to death. You guys get married as late as possible. Jo Jihyun, I’m talking to you. Think carefully.”

Kim Seonwoo tapped the shoulder of Jo Jihyun, who was sitting with a blank face.

“Hey, what are you doing. Aren’t you eating pizza?”

“You guys eat.”

“Why? It’s delicious.”

“I have no appetite.”

“Well, now that I think about it, even in America, you only ever ate one slice. Then why did you suddenly invite us to your house saying you’d buy us pizza.”

At Kim Seonwoo’s words, everyone made a face that said, how would I know. Jo Jihyun stood up from his seat. Just before the door closed, he saw Kang Seokwon. No, the twisted smile on his lips.

It felt as if he had been doused with cold water.

After sending everyone off, he threw out all the piled-up pizza boxes and trash bags. The same went for the pizza that had been piled up in the freezer.

“Haaah.”

Jo Jihyun gasped for breath. He thought he would feel refreshed after throwing everything away, but instead, his feelings only became more complicated. Kang Seokwon had spoken to him before he had even reached ten times. To think that the only thing he heard was, you’re welcome. It was a word better left unheard. More than anything, he could not forget Kang Seokwon’s expression that he had seen before the door closed.

A gaze and a smile that starkly revealed his loathing and contempt for the other person.

Just thinking about it made his blood run cold. He probably would not be able to order pizza again. Why did Kang Seokwon quit sports and do that kind of work? He shakes his head at the thought that flashes through his mind, maybe. It is a pointless thought. It is an overabundance of self-consciousness. It has been years. He sent a letter but received no reply. People’s hearts change. Kang Seokwon must have been the same. All the way up in the elevator, Jo Jihyun rubbed his temples. It seemed he would have to take medicine and go to sleep today.

Ding.

A cold mechanical sound echoed in the empty hallway. There were only two units on one floor. Because the hallway split right after getting off the elevator, he had never seen his next-door neighbor even though he had lived here for about a fortnight.

That is why the moment Jo Jihyun sensed a presence, he stopped walking without realizing it. A large body slowly stood up in the darkness.

At first, Jo Jihyun thought he was seeing things. He slowly blinked his eyes. The large figure was walking towards him.

“Uh…”

He had to say something, but his lips would not move. He had not expected to run into him in a situation where he had not ordered pizza. How foolish a thought that was.

Kang Seokwon stopped walking, standing tall in front of Jo Jihyun.

“…, Did you miscalculate?”

It was the most plausible guess Jo Jihyun could come up with. A smile appeared on Kang Seokwon’s lips. It was like a flower blooming on a stone. The words someone who had seen his smiling face had said, came to mind without thinking.

Kang Seokwon closed his eyes and then opened them.

“Jo Jihyun.”

The name called from Kang Seokwon’s mouth was so terribly sweet that it gave him goosebumps.

“You’re still the same.”

The moment he was about to ask what was still the same, Jo Jihyun’s body was lifted into the air and slammed against the wall. Fear preceded bewilderment. He realized through the grip that was clutching his neck that if Kang Seokwon put his mind to it, he could easily break his limbs.

“The way you toy with people, it’s still the same.”

Because his throat was being choked, a proper sound could not come out. Jo Jihyun’s face began to turn pale.

“…Euk.”

His vision blurred. The brain, not supplied with oxygen, was losing its function. The moment he was about to let go of the thread of consciousness, Kang Seokwon let go of Jo Jihyun.

Jo Jihyun gasped for breath roughly, like a person who had just been pulled out of the water, and coughed. Only after oxygen circulated in his head could Jo Jihyun lift his head. Kang Seokwon was looking down at him.

The enmity and desire starkly cast in that gaze pierced Jo Jihyun’s lungs. A large hand grabbed Jo Jihyun’s face. A finger came between Jo Jihyun’s lips. He knows what will happen next.

His breath was blocked. A hot piece of flesh invaded the inside of his mouth. It licked the mucous membrane, and pressed down on his tongue that tried to retreat. As if being prodded, saliva flowed from his lips like the love juices from a woman’s vagina. As if raping him with his tongue, the man kissed Jo Jihyun. The hand that gripped the back of his head blocked Jo Jihyun’s refusal. A gasping, choking sound echoed. A hard thigh dug between Jo Jihyun’s legs. At the rough and crude stimulation, blood pooled tightly below. Jo Jihyun felt an urgent need to urinate. He was afraid. To have his desire laid bare, it was terribly shameful.

Kang Seokwon gripped Jo Jihyun’s buttocks and pulled him. His genitals began to rub against Kang Seokwon’s thigh. He wanted to run away. In the sensation of endlessly falling downwards, Jo Jihyun flailed his arms desperately. He was suffocating. He had to grab onto something. When he barely came to his senses, Jo Jihyun realized that he was hugging Kang Seokwon’s shoulders.

Kang Seokwon smiled. His blood froze cold. And in that moment, the area below became warm and wet.

It was not incontinence, but ejaculation.

Semen flowed down, as if licking Jo Jihyun’s slender thighs. Jo Jihyun’s body trembled slightly.

“Have you been well?”

It seemed he had heard a terribly unrealistic thing.