Jeong Taeui stared blankly at Ilay.

His black eyes were only a few handspans away, quietly watching Jeong Taeui with one hand supporting his temple, lost in thought.

Every time he saw Ilay like this, he had a thought.

The eyes of this man were sometimes chillingly cold.

When he was thinking or sometimes talking on the phone about work, his cold, icy black eyes often squinted dangerously.

Only when Jeong Taeui looked into Ilay’s eyes did he realize that his black eyes were icy in nature*.

(*寒色: The author uses the Chinese term 寒色, meaning cold color, to express a sense of coldness, darkness, or mystery.)

But so what?

He had known that from the beginning.

He understood clearly that this man had personality issues, even if his psychological state was different from that of a criminal. And knowing all that, Jeong Taeui still stayed with him. Simply because that man was Ilay Riegrow.

“Just sitting still, why do you still look so good…?” – Jeong Taeui suddenly mumbled. Right in front of him, Ilay was quietly watching him—or somewhere else. His lips looked unusually prominent today and kept catching his eye.

“…….”

Taeui suddenly impulsively leaned forward. And then he placed his lips on those silent ones.

Their closed lips overlapped.

Jeong Taeui felt his body heat on his lips.

‘Warm’

He found it strange that this warmth was also flowing to the other person.

Thinking back, he realized he had kissed this man many times. But it seemed there weren’t that many gentle kisses like this.

And when he savored it slowly like this, it was quite good. He liked the dry yet soft and warm feeling.

“…….It’s alright.”

Jeong Taeui kept his lips like that for about ten seconds, then pulled back and sat straight on the chair as before.

Ilay’s face was still in front of him.

However, the expression on that face had changed slightly compared to earlier. It was no longer the cold gaze piercing him.

Ilay was looking down at Jeong Taeui, frowning slightly in a strange way. His hand, resting on his temple, didn’t move.

“… Ah… that’s really strange. I really like it, but it makes one feel strange.”

Jeong Taeui scratched his head in a daze. Ilay, who had been watching Jeong Taeui with a look like he was observing a strange creature, finally spoke slowly.

“Rather than strange, I’d say it feels uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable… isn’t ‘uncomfortable’ usually accompanied by words like ‘annoying’ or ‘weird’?”

When Jeong Taeui seriously asked, Ilay suddenly smirked.

“Maybe the meaning of ‘uncomfortable’ you know and the ‘uncomfortable’ I know aren’t different, but when you say it like that, it seems quite different.”

The moment he finished speaking those words.

Ilay reached out. His large, white hand brushed past Jeong Taeui’s earlobe and generously wrapped around his nape. He pulled him closer.

Once again, lips met lips. But this time was entirely different from before.

…… Ah… This man was right.

The feeling he unconsciously recognized.

The tongue tangling with his lips seemed to want to penetrate deep into his body. He felt as if those lips would soon devour him. Or he might suffocate and die before that.

This was exactly what happened when he locked lips with this man. Even if it started with a gentle touch, the ending always left Jeong Taeui struggling with the feeling that if he didn’t wake up, he would be devoured.

Even now.

Ilay used those big hands, one cupping his cheek and the other around the back of Jeong Taeui’s head, pressing his lips against his as if trying to swallow him. Now, he no longer looked human; he seemed like a giant wild beast or something entirely different, holding him and devouring him. This wasn’t a cute way to kiss someone.

Sometimes Jeong Taeui feared this man… He felt like he would really be eaten by him.

Even as he felt himself about to faint from lack of oxygen, Jeong Taeui mustered enough strength to think about this. Then, after a moment, he tried to push Ilay away, thinking he would pass out from suffocation if this continued. However, the solid figure remained unmoved, not budging an inch. It seemed like Ilay wouldn’t easily let go.

“Wait a minute… .”

Jeong Taeui was almost out of breath; he tried to turn his head to say something, but once again, his breath was taken away as Ilay’s lips quickly followed, sealing his own.

Wait, this situation had some issues.

If this continued, Jeong Taeui felt he would definitely pass out from suffocation, and even if he didn’t, he didn’t think this would end if it kept going. More importantly, this wasn’t his room; Jeong Taeui didn’t know when the owner of this room would return.

“Wait a minute, wait…… !”

Jeong Taeui tried to turn his head away and shouted again, but the man entwining him seemed uninterested in listening. No, more accurately, he smiled lightly, enjoying Jeong Taeui’s confusion. That smile quickly filled Jeong Taeui’s mouth.

Jeong Taeui suddenly felt that if he made another sound, this man would really bite him. With that thought, he kept silent.

He decided to wait a bit longer before starting to scream and struggle.

Jeong Taeui liked this feeling.

Sometimes, when Ilay kissed him, he discovered something small, interesting, and new. He liked that feeling. The sensation when he heard Ilay’s laughter when something happened.

When Ilay laughed like that, their lips and tongues touched, and Jeong Taeui’s mouth felt ticklish. A deep, gentle laugh seemed to transmit directly from his mouth to his ears.

Jeong Taeui liked the feeling of ‘tasting’ his laughter.

So he decided to stay silent for a while. Even when Ilay’s hands began to move improperly around his waist, sliding down lower, making him feel increasingly dangerous.

Just wait a little longer. Just a bit more.

But because of this distraction, it seemed Jeong Taeui missed something important.

Even though the room was well soundproofed, if you listened carefully, like when reading in the room, you could hear footsteps from the hallway. And Jeong Taeui missed those footsteps.

So the door suddenly opened, not because the person was trying to enter quietly or sneakily, but just an unexpected situation without any prior warning.

“I used this method before, and the bruises healed quickly. If it’s a bruise, it will heal on its own, but still…….”

The door suddenly opened with a cheerful sound.

At that moment, Jeong Taeui suddenly snapped back as if he had returned from another world. He opened his half-closed eyes.

Behind Ilay, who was occupying more than half of his vision, he saw Christoph standing in front of him, holding the doorknob.

He had just stepped in, one hand still holding something that looked like a medicine bottle, standing there staring at the two of them for a moment.

“…….”

Even without a breath, Jeong Taeui was momentarily lost and looked at Christoph in confusion, though Christoph didn’t seem that surprised. Christoph still looked at Jeong Taeui with his usual indifferent expression, leaving one wondering what was going through his mind.

The only one who seemed calm at the moment was Ilay.

“…….…….”

Although he was well aware that someone had entered and knew it was Christoph, the owner of this room, he didn’t even bother to turn his head. No, he continued what he was doing as if he didn’t even know Christoph had entered.

Only Jeong Taeui hurriedly pushed Ilay away, interrupting what he was doing while trying to remove his hand that was sliding under his shirt.

“Wait, wait…… wait a minute! Stop it!!”

Jeong Taeui glared at Ilay.

But Ilay pretended not to hear, despite being called several times.

Jeong Taeui used all his strength to push him away, so if he had fallen, it wouldn’t have been surprising (though that wasn’t going to happen). However, the distance between the two of them increased a bit.

Having his fun interrupted, Ilay looked down at Jeong Taeui with an unhappy expression.

“Why?” (왜)

“What nonsense? Because Christoph is back.”

Jeong Taeui responded without backing down, his voice displeased, while he resolutely resisted and pushed Ilay away once more. Ilay finally obediently moved back a bit and then turned his head to look.

“Perfect timing.”

Ilay said in a low voice. Jeong Taeui – once again – pushed hard against Ilay’s waist with his foot.

What to do now? A feeling of embarrassment filled his head.

With Christoph’s personality, there was no way he would be pleased seeing someone do something like this in his room. Although Christoph had accepted Jeong Taeui into his room, he didn’t think Christoph would overlook the sight of two men entangled on a chair in his room—or more accurately, on a chair right next to his bed.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.

“So…… this is…….”

But instead of trying to explain, Jeong Taeui realized Christoph was staring at something, so he followed his gaze.

There, his belt and the zipper of his pants were undone.

“…… !”

Jeong Taeui’s face froze.

His current state blatantly showed he was about to do something intimately related to the lower part of his body – no, he had no intention of doing that – but still, he couldn’t avoid being speechless.

Thinking about it, Christoph was old enough to understand and overlook what had happened. Christoph was no longer a middle or high school student, and this wasn’t something to brag about, but neither was it something to be ashamed of or hide.

What he should be worried about was his disheveled appearance on Christoph’s chair, not the fact that he looked like he was about to have sex. Moreover, the scene wasn’t that serious. It was just a bit of disheveled clothing and swollen lips.

…… The only issue was that both were men.

Unless Christoph was an idiot, he must have already figured it out.

When Ilay was an officer at UNHRDO, after Jeong Taeui left, he had gone everywhere to find him. When Jeong Taeui was kidnapped in Seringe, as soon as he found him, he had mobilized his former colleagues to get him out of the mansion of a high-ranking Saudi Arabian official, turning into a terrorist. After that, he moved to his parents’ house, where he didn’t want to live, and then finally lived with Jeong Taeui in that house for the past few years.

Rumors had spread among his colleagues. Not just Ilay’s colleagues, but almost everyone familiar with Ilay knew the name Jeong Taeui.

So unless they were idiots – or someone completely unaware of Ilay Riegrow – they couldn’t fail to guess the unusual relationship between the two.

That’s right.

As expected, this situation was embarrassing. The current situation was revealing too plainly the familiar things that had been ignored.

Jeong Taeui scratched his nape and lowered his gaze to his feet. His throat felt like it was burning.

But at that moment.

“Alright.”

While Jeong Taeui was embarrassed, staring at his feet, Christoph’s surprisingly cold voice rang out.

“Huh?” Jeong Taeui looked up.

Christoph was still standing at the doorway, holding the doorknob, looking at Jeong Taeui with a strange expression. It seemed he was mocking and wondering why Jeong Taeui was so embarrassed, or if he was annoyed by something insignificant.

“I don’t have any prejudice against homosexuality. So if you’re worried about my reaction, there’s no need for that.”

“Huh…….”

Jeong Taeui didn’t know what to say, so he just vaguely responded, blinking. It was an unexpectedly calm and friendly answer.

Jeong Taeui glanced at Ilay. He, who had been interrupted in the middle of his enjoyment, was now sitting on the chair with an undisguised displeased expression, dragging the table closer to him and reaching for the cigarette box on it.

Ilay took out a cigarette from the wooden box on the table, which seemed more for decoration than for actual use by the room’s owner. He put the cigarette in his mouth.

Christoph frowned, seeing Jeong Taeui looking back and forth between Ilay and himself with a bewildered expression. He spoke as if to end this bothersome issue.

“I have no interest in others’ affairs nor in anyone’s preferences. But if I had to say, on the contrary, I somewhat admire homosexuals. After all, it’s a difficult relationship, and deciding to stay together like that must not be easy.”

For a moment, Jeong Taeui couldn’t believe his ears.

When hearing something unexpected from someone one doesn’t expect, people tend to wonder if their ears are mistaken or if the person in front of them isn’t who they knew.

After a brief moment of doubt, Jeong Taeui finally realized that Christoph wasn’t joking and seemed to have sincerely said those words.

He couldn’t believe Christoph had such an amazingly humane side.

He really didn’t know Christoph could understand the hardships of a minority community. He didn’t know Christoph could have such understanding when he didn’t understand ordinary people.

“Um…… okay.”

Jeong Taeui, slightly confused, unconsciously looked at Ilay. The man who had just smoked in someone else’s room without permission was also looking at Christoph with a blank expression.

He stared at Christoph with the cigarette in his mouth and then tilted his head to look at the ceiling. And then, as if suddenly understanding, Jeong Taeui nodded to himself.

“Well… thanks for understanding.”

Surprised, Jeong Taeui didn’t know what to say, so he stammered. Christoph shrugged. At the same time, he looked at Ilay with curiosity.

“But it’s surprising.”

“I was skeptical when I heard Rick was living with a man. …… Not just anyone, but him, I didn’t expect Rick to live so abstinence.”

Christoph nodded as if he genuinely admired that.

At that moment, the smile on Jeong Taeui’s face vanished instantly.

Huh…… ?

He felt like he had heard something that didn’t quite fit the story.

Jeong Taeui looked at Christoph with a puzzled face. Christoph sighed and looked at him.

“Think about it, a relationship between a man and a woman can be maintained by being entangled on the bed even without any feelings or even the minimal respect for each other. But same-sex relationships are different; apart from pure emotions, there’s no other way to continue that relationship…. . You’ve managed to do that. …… so I don’t think there’s any reason to be ashamed and hide.”

Jeong Taeui stared at Christoph with astonishment equal to amazement. It was as if he was about to bore a hole into Christoph’s face.

In some way, Christoph seemed to be encouraging Jeong Taeui. Another surprising thing was that he had the kindness to encourage and comfort others. However…….

“My ears feel strange…… Or maybe my head is a bit dull now? Oh, I only got three hours of sleep yesterday because of reading.”

Jeong Taeui rubbed his ears and mumbled. Then he glanced at Ilay again. He was still exhaling smoke and looking at the ceiling.

“…….”

Perhaps he misunderstood a bit, but he still wanted to clarify.

“Physical relationship… How should I put it, a relationship that’s purely emotional…….” – When Jeong Taeui scratched his temple and hesitated, Christoph frowned slightly.

“What about it?”

“No… but… what about same-sex sexual relationships… .”

“There’s no such thing as sexual relations between people of the same sex? Women don’t have anything to put in, and men don’t have a place to put it……… Don’t you know that?”

Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui with a shocked expression. And Jeong Taeui looked at Christoph with a similarly shocked expression.

“…….…….”