MORE 2

“This little punk? A little fly that got tangled up.”

“Yes. There’s one more person besides this guy, and it seems they distribute together.”

“‘Seems’? Or are the two of them a set? Speak clearly.”

The voice was low and resonated strongly. It wasn’t even a high pitch, yet it pierced the eardrum like an awl. With every word that fell, Siyul’s head dropped lower and lower. There was such weight in the man’s voice.

“They are a set.”

Compared to the indifferent question, the voice answering was full of tension. Siyul only wiggled his fingers. If it were Kwon Yuwon, he would have somehow resolved the situation and escaped safely, but with the brain that was teased as a goldfish at the orphanage, Siyul could see no way to overcome this crisis. He just wanted to wail.

The man grabbed Siyul’s hair with a forceful grip and jerked it back. Siyul let out a choked sob, an “Ack.” He squinted his eyes, dazzled by the fluorescent light, and lifted his gaze. The tears that welled up and flowed from the corners of his eyes were because the scalp being pulled with all its might hurt, and at the same time, because his eyes were stinging.

Hmm, the man hummed, observing Siyul. It looked as if he was examining what kind of creature this was, to have spit out its liver and gone out into the world to sprinkle dirty filth on his sacred club. Only after blinking his eyes a couple of times did Siyul’s vision, which had been only white, return to normal.

The moment he made eye contact with the man, the eyes that had narrowed because of the light opened wide. He didn’t know what kind of being this was to look like that; even in a situation where his life was hanging by a thread, there was a face right in front of him that made him momentarily forget his sense of crisis.

The facial features that everyone has were shining delicately and harmoniously within the man’s face. The bridge of his nose, his jawline, and even a single strand of his eyebrows were not out of place, nor were they grown carelessly.

He was the kind of person that made you tilt your head wondering, “Is he a celebrity? Have I ever seen someone like this on TV?”

“This punk…. Why does a guy with a dick look so seductive? Are you an Omega?”

Gasp, Siyul came to his senses. While his hair was still gripped in the man’s hand, he whipped his head back and forth. He was slapped across the cheek. Even though it was clear that no strength was put into the palm, the place where he was hit was burning hot.

“You should speak with words.”

“Ah, no, I am not.”

The man narrowed his eyes. The atmosphere seemed to have changed slightly, but Siyul didn’t know. He blinked his eyes blankly and then lowered his gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s eyes. He didn’t want to get hit again.

“…It’s better to get rid of flies.”

The man let go of Siyul’s hair and muttered. Even though he uttered it like he was talking to himself, thanks to his precise pronunciation, every single letter was stuck into Siyul’s ears without missing a thing. Siyul’s complexion turned deathly pale in an instant. Only then did he lift his head sharply.

“You can’t!”

“What?”

“I really, today is my first time! Originally… that’s not it, I will never come to this place again. I absolutely won’t come back. I won’t even turn my head this way, and when I sleep, I won’t even put my head in this direction. Please, spare me.”

His hands were tied behind his back, so he couldn’t clasp them to beg. He squirmed toward the man like a caterpillar. His eyes were already red. Soon, bead-like tears began to fall one by one.

“Please….”

He leaned his cheek against the man’s shoe. It was a flat, huddled posture. If he was told to, he would even lick the soles of those shoes with his tongue. What wouldn’t he do to live? Siyul was more afraid of dying than of ghosts. Even back when they were young and everyone went behind the wire fence at the abandoned reservoir to test their courage, he had a record of holding out that he would absolutely not go, even if he got beaten for it. That was how afraid he was.

“I won’t come back again. I swear.”

“….”

The man rubbed his chin and stared quietly at the back of Siyul’s head. If this was acting to survive, it was acting worthy of receiving an award.

He had given enough of a scare. He looked like he had the courage of a mouse bean, so it didn’t seem likely he would come back and pull tricks. Besides, he wasn’t a perfect, low-life gangster; he could do it if he set his mind to getting rid of someone, but that was something he did when he was full of youthful vigor—it wasn’t work to do now that he was older.

The feeling of having made a child cry also played a part. Siyul’s crying face looked just like it was made to stimulate someone else’s conscience. With his nose tip reddened, his cheeks flushed, his lips red, and the corners of his eyes flushed—the sight of him crying while dropping big tears, ripened like a plum in mid-summer, was exactly…

Hmm, the man lifted his head and turned his gaze to the ceiling. That was enough bullying for a kid.

“Tell your business partner. If you play tricks in someone else’s place of business one more time, I’ll have a drum can ready for you then. If you don’t want your stomach filled with cement, behave yourself.”

The man looked like the type of person who would really prepare a drum can. Siyul nodded his head frantically. Still with tears and snot running down his face. If Kwon Yuwon had seen it, he would have said, “What use is a guy who has so many tears? Cut off your balls,” but because he wasn’t here, he cried to his heart’s content.

“Discard him.”

“But Representative, to just send him away…”

“―What use is there in catching a kid who hasn’t even lost his scent of milk? Don’t make me say it twice.”

The man stood up, pulling his chair with a skrrt sound. The hulking men around them bowed their waists at 90 degrees in unison and shouted, “Yes!” Whether they did or not, the man shoved his hands deep into his pockets and walked out the door in a listless manner.

Meanwhile, Siyul, who had been lying sprawled out like a dead person in the back, cautiously straightened his waist as soon as he heard the sound of the door closing.

I survived.

I thought I was going to die, but I survived. The relief made the tears that had been flowing disappear under his eyes. Since there were eyes watching, he couldn’t grin foolishly, so he only twitched his lips. Vowing over and over in his heart that he would never come to this place again, and that he would never meet this scary man whose face was only hideously handsome, Siyul ran out of the club on his own two healthy feet.

“Hey! Why aren’t you picking up your phone!”

He was lying curled up like a cocoon under a blanket in the inn room when the door burst open and the person who nearly put the final nail in his coffin walked in. Kwon Yuwon shouted so loud the room could have fallen down, approached the bed in one stride, and ripped off the blanket.

After stinging him once on the back where he was curled into a ball, and when he dodged to the corner saying “Ow, ow,” he tensed the round muscles on his forearms and hauled Siyul up.

“Why aren’t you picking up the phone. How many times did I call! Do you know how worried I was—”

Kwon Yuwon, who had been firing off words like a machine gun, stopped dead. He narrowed his eyes and inspected Siyul’s face, and as if that wasn’t enough, he grabbed his jaw with his hand and turned it back and forth.

“Why is your face like this. Why are your cheeks and eyes swollen? Which son of a bitch dared to…!”

People really are colorful. First, he got angry because he didn’t answer his calls, and now he was getting angry because Siyul’s cheeks were red and bruised. Siyul held his head, which was dizzy from all the shaking, steady and pulled Kwon Yuwon’s hand away.

“I got caught by the club owner.”

“What? That shouldn’t be possible.”

“What do you mean, ‘not possible’? He knew everything. I thought I was going to die. I was really scared.”

Kwon Yuwon bit his thumbnail hard. It was a habit he’d had since he was young. Fearing he would see blood again this time, Siyul quickly wrapped his hand around that thumb, which was much shorter and blunter than the other nails. Even though his life was in danger because of him, he couldn’t hate him. Even if Kwon Yuwon backstabbed him, he could forgive him twice, depending on the severity.

“He said if we get caught again, it’s off to a drum can. He said he’d put concrete in my stomach too. Let’s absolutely not go there ever again.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Kwon Yuwon apologized, his spirit completely crushed. If he had animal ears, they would have been drooping down. Then, he hugged Siyul tightly and buried his face in his neck.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll take that place off our list of partners. Fuck… I really didn’t know it would be like that.”

This was enough. Kwon Yuwon wasn’t the type to say one thing and do another. Siyul also lifted his arms and patted Kwon Yuwon’s back. A sniffling, crying sound came from beneath his ear for a moment.

“Still, the owner there was incredibly handsome. I’ve never seen such a handsome human being in my life. The person is scary, but his face was fucking crazy.”

Not wanting the mood to sink, Siyul just picked up and blurted out whatever came to mind. But even after he said it, he felt a sting of guilt. Even if he threw it out without thinking, to praise the looks of a human who threatened to kill him. It was the most shocking scene among everything he saw today, though.

“You’re saying that after seeing the human who said he’d kill you?”

As expected, Kwon Yuwon tilted his eyes sharply. Hehe, Siyul laughed emptily.

“No, it’s just that he was too handsome.”

“…I shouldn’t have sent you. It’s all my fault.”

If he just left him alone, he would dig a hole and crawl into it. It was already in the past, and he had returned to the room safely, so hadn’t it worked out? Siyul patted his chest.

“Don’t be like that, let’s just eat chicken. You buy it.”

“I’ll tell them to leave out the salt.”

Kwon Yuwon made a nasally sound. After a big commotion happened a while ago because Siyul confused the salt that came with the chicken with the drugs, the two of them never accepted salt with any food they ordered.

Siyul wiped the corners of the other’s reddened eyes with his hand and grinned. He pushed the scary memory into a corner. Today was just a fortune where even if he fell backward, his nose would break. Tomorrow, a new sun would rise tomorrow.