It seems that the initial gap had been sealed with plywood or something, and the side of the cabinet was made to resemble shutters with wooden slats arranged diagonally but without a handle. Jeong Taeui wondered why they left that part open if it wasn’t meant to be a door. When he looked up, he saw a vent with a running exhaust fan. In the corner, a small ventilation pipe was attached. Maybe because of the ventilation pipe, there was no other way.

Damn it, just when he thought he was safely hidden, he encountered trouble. There was someone on the other side of the door.

Jeong Taeui held his breath. He didn’t know who it was, but he couldn’t let himself be discovered. Moreover, this was the last room in the carpeted hallway, with private rooms lined along it. Just the location of the room was enough to raise suspicion.

Jeong Taeui carefully turned around, trying not to make any noise, and looked into the adjacent room through the gap in the side of the cabinet.

“―…Ah …ah …ah…”

The faint, ambiguous voice he heard earlier repeated. The moans turned into sobs. It was the cry of a woman.

Jeong Taeui frowned and directed his gaze towards the source of the crying. The crying was disturbing him, but the fact that it was a woman crying disturbed him even more.

But when he saw the woman through the wooden slats, Jeong Taeui suddenly froze.

It wasn’t just because the woman was naked. It wasn’t just because a man was thrusting his hips between her legs – and the man’s face wasn’t visible from his vantage point through the slats.

It was a face Jeong Taeui knew.

Not intimately, but he had seen it before. Just recently, in Tarten’s forest, standing right next to Richard.

The beautiful curly hair was now drenched in sweat and tears, sticking to her face. She was sobbing and pleading in a barely audible voice.

“Please… Please― just… go …in…”

The broken pleas, mixed with obscene words, made Taeui’s ears burn, and he stood petrified like a statue at the scene unfolding before him.

She seemed deeply ashamed of uttering those words, her face flushed and wet with tears.

Jeong Taeui couldn’t move and could only look up. He couldn’t and shouldn’t watch any longer.

But why was she here, in this condition?

She was Richard’s lover…

“…”

That thought flashed through Jeong Taeui’s mind, and he widened his eyes.

That’s right, this was Richard’s bar. And she was Richard’s lover. So, the man holding her waist…

“Good girl, you speak so nicely. Because you listened to me, I’ll stop now.”

The man’s gentle, laughing voice spoke to her.

As Jeong Taeui thought, it was a familiar voice.

When the man bent down to stroke the woman’s back, his face became clear. There was no doubt.

Richard Tarten.

It was him.

He smiled contentedly and started thrusting harder and faster. The screams and moans mixed, echoing throughout the room. As he did so, Richard kept whispering obscene words into the woman’s ear, forcing her to repeat them.

Jeong Taeui’s face turned pale.

My God, he really is a pervert. A true pervert…

It felt like he was lost in a nightmare. This wasn’t the Richard Jeong Taeui knew. He was whispering unimaginable things with a face he couldn’t possibly have and being cruel in a way that the Richard from the West of Tarten would never be.

Jeong Taeui suddenly felt dizzy, his vision swirling. He tried to avoid looking at the scene by raising his eyes.

He wanted to cover his ears. The vivid and raw sounds echoed right beside him. It was horrifying how one could humiliate another person like this.

His lips trembled. Truly a pervert. He couldn’t believe there was such a person around him.

For some reason, he felt that if he was discovered, he would die. If caught – “You saw, didn’t you?” – Richard would smile gently and then instantly become a ruthless pervert.

Jeong Taeui tried to stay calm while his mind whirled, not knowing if he was dreaming or awake.

At that moment, from the right – where he couldn’t see – came a man’s deep voice.

“You really haven’t changed your taste. You always pick the same type of girls.”

My God.

The voice pierced Jeong Taeui’s ears like a needle.

He felt breathless. His ears buzzed. His vision went black.

It was a very familiar voice. No mistake about it. He had lived with that person for several years.

…Ilay. Ilay Riegrow.

…I avoided the fox’s den only to fall into the tiger’s lair.* 

(*Avoiding the fox’s den only to fall into the tiger’s lair: an idiom meaning to escape a small danger only to encounter a greater one.)

Jeong Taeui clenched his trembling hands and looked into the room with a pale face.

Richard – who continued to make love in front of Ilay – seemed to have finished. He withdrew from the woman’s body and used a towel to wipe himself.

The sexual acts alone were perverted enough, but now he saw him doing it in front of someone else. This could only be described as extremely perverted.

Richard tossed the towel into a basket in the corner of the room and began dressing. He smiled nonchalantly, exposing his bare body, and put on each piece of clothing.

“These lovely things are truly wonderful. Just stroke them a few times, and they will obey my words and beg for forgiveness with tearful voices. The feeling of completely controlling them is fantastic.”

“Just like always.”

Ilay laughed in response.

Unbelievable that someone who always spoke gentle words could say such disgusting things. Not lovely people, but “lovely things.” Truly someone everyone should avoid.

Jeong Taeui’s eyes widened in disbelief. But no matter how many times he looked, it was still Richard Tarten.

While Richard was dressing, the woman remained motionless as if she had exhausted all her energy. Her face was wet with tears, and she was only breathing faintly.

“What about over there?”

Ilay’s voice rang out again. Ilay was closer than Richard. His voice came from only a few steps away from the cabinet. But from where Jeong Taeui stood, he couldn’t see him. Richard finished putting on his pants and turned to Ilay. 

“Over there? Ah… nothing major has changed at the moment. The situation is as known, with no signs of change.” – As he spoke, Richard put on his shirt, which had been hanging on the back of a chair. 

“It’s not yet time to act. Nothing has been decided yet. We’re just waiting for the final decision.” 

Richard shrugged, and Ilay was silent for a moment before speaking again. 

“If Al-Fahd can hold out a little longer, there might be another direction to go.” 

His ambiguous way of speaking made it hard for the listener to distinguish whether it was hopeful regret or simple excitement. It would have been easier to understand if one could see his expression. 

Richard mumbled – “Al-Fahd holding out…?” – and then shook his head. 

“He will be overthrown soon. It’s just a matter of time.” 

“Even so, the pro-American regime of that country will not be overthrown. The policy won’t change much.” 

“That’s right. But the important thing is who will take power. The critical question is who will be in control…” 

Richard left the sentence unfinished, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Ilay smiled lightly and added. – “So, who do you want to take power?” 

“Haha, I want someone who offers more acceptable terms.” 

“More acceptable terms.” – Ilay repeated, emphasizing the phrase. 

A short silence followed. 

The room was enveloped in quiet. Jeong Taeui swallowed hard. 

Damn it. Silence like this is not good. Please, say something, sing, or at least move. 

Jeong Taeui observed the scene through the gap in the cabinet, under the vent, cursing inwardly. 

No one wanted to eavesdrop on others, but this situation was truly horrible. 

This cramped built-in cabinet was unbearably hot. The vent above blew hot air straight down on him. The hoodie, covering him from head to knee, obscured his vision and suffocated him. After running wildly, his body was burning, and the air inside the cabinet was stiflingly hot. This damn hoodie retained heat excellently, making him drenched in sweat.

Why did he take the hoodie? If he had planned to hide in this corner, he wouldn’t have needed it. 

Now he couldn’t take it off. Just moving a finger would be enough to get noticed by the people in the room. 

He was suffocating, his breathing becoming heavier and more difficult. 

Damn it. 

With the room so quiet, he couldn’t move and had to hold his breath. But if that was all, he would just think he was unlucky and in a bad situation. But the person he accidentally eavesdropped on was that person. Such unimaginable bad luck.

It was understandable why Richard was here. After all, this was his bar. So it wasn’t strange that he was in the innermost room of the bar.

But why was he the one talking to Richard?

Moreover, the worst part was that if he overheard an unimportant conversation, he could laugh it off and sneak out. But this was a serious conversation, and he clearly heard things he shouldn’t have.

So unfair. He had overheard something he didn’t fully understand but felt was incredibly important, something that would not be forgiven if it got out.

‘Damn it. I don’t care anymore. Please, just someone say something. I can’t hold my breath forever’

Jeong Taeui felt his vision blur. His labored breathing made him feel even more suffocated, and sweat poured into his eyes.

As the thought of passing out from lack of air and being discovered when he collapsed in the cabinet crossed his mind, Richard’s voice broke the silence.

“There is one thing that bothers me. As far as I know, Al-Faisal is someone who values practicality. He is very good at determining what benefits him. But this time, the prediction was wrong. Which means…”

“Someone is behind it, or there’s a plan we’re unaware of?” – Ilay’s deep voice continued.

Jeong Taeui exhaled softly without making a sound. Sweat continued to run into his eyes, blurring his vision further. Not that he could see anything clearly with the hoodie covering half his view, but now it was even worse.

When will they leave? I have to hold on a little longer.

Silence descended again. He wanted to scream out loud.

Talk, damn it! If you keep quiet like this, it’s hard even to breathe. Do you know that?

Even though he was hiding and eavesdropping – let’s emphasize again, not by his choice – he still found himself wanting to blame them.

Fortunately, this silence was broken quicker than the last.

Ilay’s light laughter echoed.

“Tarten must be in a difficult position. Facing choices without clear decisions must be stressful.”

“There’s no other way. You reap what you sow. But…”

“Yes, but…” – Ilay’s voice lowered. He stood up from the sofa.

Jeong Taeui’s ears became more sensitive as his vision blurred, clearly hearing the slow and relaxed footsteps.

“I’ve been wondering about something since earlier–”

The footsteps approached leisurely, filled with an air of excitement.

In an instant, his entire body turned cold. The heat in the cabinet seemed to dissipate, replaced by a chilling sensation.

The footsteps headed straight for Jeong Taeui. More precisely, to the other side of the panel that separated the built-in cabinet from the room.

The footsteps stopped right there. Only a step and a half away from Jeong Taeui’s position.

“In this cramped and filthy place, what are you hiding?”

“To avoid misunderstandings, I’m not hiding anything here.”

“Oh, really? Then let’s see―.”

The voice was laced with a laugh. Immediately,

*Crack—…*

The panel between the room and the cabinet cracked, creating a long, sharp fissure.

Light streamed in through the crack, and a solid fist brushed past Jeong Taeui’s nose.

” —……!?!?!”

“If you’re going to build a nest, why not choose a more spacious spot? Why squeeze into such a tight place?”

The deep voice sounded right next to his ear. He was laughing lightly, his breath brushing against Jeong Taeui’s ear.

In the blurred vision, he saw a hand wearing dark green leather gloves.

The monstrous fist had split the plywood panel. Then, with a loud Bang, the hand began tearing away the pieces of the panel. Light flooded in like a tidal wave.

Jeong Taeui stood frozen, unable to move even a finger.

Right beside him, Ilay – who had pushed aside the panel – leaned against the wall, looking down with a faint smile.

“Ah… You’re wearing a black hoodie that covers you from head to toe. Aren’t you hot? Tsk tsk… Look, your back is drenched.”

The gloved hand slid down Jeong Taeui’s back. Each time it pressed lightly through the fabric, his heart felt like it would stop. It was a hand that could tear through flesh at any moment.

Richard, sitting a few steps away on a stool, didn’t bother to turn his head, casually asking.

“One of our family members? Or someone else?”

“Well, who knows where he came from…”

Ilay smiled sinisterly. His other hand slipped under the hoodie. Jeong Taeui reflexively shrank back as the hand grasped his chin.

A powerful hand that could easily crush a person’s jaw. The hand that held tightly to Jeong Taeui’s lower face moved slowly from his chin to his cheek.

“If you hide in this black cloth…”

The smell of leather from the gloves filled his nostrils.

That eerie scent made Jeong Taeui close his eyes.

Damn it… I knew it would come to this… I’d rather face a demon.

Jeong Taeui opened his eyes, letting his face rest in Ilay’s hand, knowing that if he dared to pull back, his jaw would be crushed without mercy.

Under the hood that covered half his vision, Jeong Taeui saw the lower part of Ilay’s face.

Below the familiar nose was a mouth he recognized. A smile like that of a child who found a living toy, a mischievous grin.

Through the thin layer of the glove, Ilay gently caressed Jeong Taeui’s chin. His hand continued to glide lightly over his cheek.

At that moment, the hand suddenly stopped. Simultaneously, the faint smile on his lips vanished.

“……”

His lips parted slightly but then quickly closed again.

The tightly closed lips no longer showed any trace of the previous smile, and his eyebrows furrowed.

The hand gripping Jeong Taeui’s chin tightened. The hand brushed over his face once more. From his cheek to his nose, from his chin down to his neck.

The fingers slowly slid over his skin, finally touching Jeong Taeui’s lips. The fingers gently pressed against the edge of his mouth.

“………―.”

It looked like he wanted to say something but then closed his mouth again, instead clicking his tongue lightly.

At that moment, Richard spoke from a distance: “Who is it?”

Ilay slowly withdrew his hand from Taeui.

“Well… before knowing who he is, this situation is really timely.”

Ilay’s voice was as lazy and leisurely as ever.

“Since you put on a show in front of me earlier, I feel the need to release some tension before leaving. It’s perfect timing that an idiot walked right in here.”

A faint laugh followed. That laugh pierced Jeong Taeui’s ears like a needle.

His heart pounded. He suddenly had a bad feeling. Cold sweat began to break out on his back.

“Are you going to do it with him?”

Richard asked with a faint laugh. But the sound of a belt being unbuckled was clearly audible nearby.

“Anyway, I’ve been holding back for two months, and now it’s time to release. Moreover, on the bed, people tend to say things they wouldn’t usually say. When he’s enjoying himself, he’ll spill everything. Ah, right, you don’t like watching this kind of thing, do you? Then it’s better not to look.”

‘Hey, wait. This is a joke, right? Hey, hey– wait.’

Many words swirled around his tongue, but none escaped.

Ilay unbuckled his belt in front of the stiff Jeong Taeui and murmured – “Oh, right” – before taking off his gloves.

The familiar white and neat hands were revealed.

“See, aren’t my hands beautiful? Some people love my hands so much that they claw at my shoulders and back, their nails tearing and bleeding. But no matter what, they don’t dare to scratch or touch these hands.”

With a light laugh, those beautiful hands approached.

Jeong Taeui stared at him with a pale face, thinking he might bite his hand if necessary.

“If it gets too noisy, it will kill the mood. Maybe I should gag him first…”

Ilay muttered to himself, then shoved the glove he had just removed into Jeong Taeui’s mouth. He tried to shake his head and spit it out, but the hand gripping his head made resistance useless.

“Appropriate moans can add to the fun.” – Richard’s voice rang out.

Though not clearly visible due to the hood obscuring his view, Richard’s slow, lazy voice was very clear.

“That’s your preference. You like hearing moans and screams until they say what you want to hear. I hate the noise.”

Ilay replied with a light laugh.

Jeong Taeui struggled to spit out the glove and muttered through it. In his mind, he screamed – ‘YOU LIAR!’ – He remembered how Ilay had tried everything to hear his moans not long ago when he swore to stay silent to avoid hearing his own sounds.

But no matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t help when the words couldn’t come out of his mouth.

“Mm―… mm mm―…”

Jeong Taeui made meaningless sounds while trying to struggle, but it was all in vain.

Ilay easily turned Jeong Taeui around and tied his wrists behind him. He felt the sturdy, secure grip of the leather belt tightening around his wrists.

This is insane. This is really insane.

He was truly stupid. Avoiding the fox’s den only to end up in the tiger’s lair.

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have run away from those guys. He would have knelt down, raised his hands, and said – ‘Take me anywhere but not to the deepest room.’

When his wrists and arms were bound, Jeong Taeui’s body became more awkward. Losing the use of his arms, it was harder to maintain balance.

Jeong Taeui tried to scream with his mouth gagged, but Ilay didn’t care. He turned Jeong Taeui around, pulling him towards the dressing table against the wall. Ilay used one hand to sweep all the decorations and picture frames off the table, clearing the space. The sound of objects falling and rolling on the floor echoed throughout the room.

“Are you going to do it right there? It’s cramped. Why not use the sofa?”

“I don’t intend to do it seriously. Just need a little release.”

Ilay gently refused Richard’s suggestion and placed Jeong Taeui on the dressing table. His stomach and chest pressed against the table, his feet on the floor, and he was truly terrified realizing what they were about to do.

Wait. Are they really going to do this? Right here in this position and in front of that pervert?

His heart pounded with each thought. He hated all of this.

But when Ilay’s large hand pulled the hoodie from his knees to his waist, the bad feeling became clearer.

“…!!”

‘Don’t do this, you bastard. Don’t do it. When have I ever refused you? Wait until we get home, do as much as you want, but not now. Please, don’t do it now. Don’t!!!’

Jeong Taeui screamed in his mind. Even though he didn’t believe his plea would reach Ilay’s ears, he couldn’t stop yelling in his head. Jeong Taeui’s mind was in turmoil, his thoughts chaotic.

 ‘Damn it, why did I come here? Why am I in this situation?’ 

Even when trying to recall, he couldn’t picture anything in his mind.

And then, in that moment, all thoughts were swept away by the sensation of being touched. A hand moved to the front, unbuckling his belt, opening the button, and unzipping his pants.

Without looking, he knew those were the most beautiful – and also the most disgusting – hands in the world, at least to him. 

Immediately after, those hands roughly pulled down his pants and underwear.

“……!!!” 

His mind went blank. His vision darkened. Above, he still wore the heavy hoodie, but below, he was completely exposed. 

“…….…….…….” 

‘What is this? What is happening? What is this scene?’ 

He felt humiliated and wanted to sob. He felt angry and wanted to cry. 

That bastard surely knew. He surely knew that the person he just stripped naked was Jeong Taeui. He couldn’t not know.

“Looks tasty.” 

Ilay’s soft laugh echoed behind him. Jeong Taeui felt like his heart was bleeding.

‘If it looks tasty, just eat it. Kill me right here, then do whatever you want. But for now, just kill me.’ 

Jeong Taeui felt his neck burn. His neck was hot, his face was hot. Soon, his whole body would be burning. 

“Well, I’ve never seen a man’s ass look like this before, but actually, it’s not as bad as I thought.” – Richard’s voice came from afar. 

‘…Yeah, take a good look. Bring everyone in here and look.’ 

Jeong Taeui was sobbing in his heart. 

But—of course—it didn’t end there. 

He felt ashamed to expose such intimate moments before others, something only a few had seen – even though he could confidently be naked in public baths, he never thought he’d be stripped in front of others here – this made him almost lose his mind.

During that time, the sound of unzipping pants echoed again. 

Then, the sound of fabric being torn followed.

‘…? Earlier, my pants were unzipped, right…? That’s why my bare butt was exposed like this…’

 In his dazed mind, Richard’s click of the tongue sounded in his ear. 

“Don’t talk about my preferences, Ilay. You’re still the same with ‘that thing’. …Even if there’s a punishment for eavesdropping, sticking that thing in is too cruel.” 

Hearing those words, Jeong Taeui’s dazed mind snapped back to clarity. He had forgotten, in the shock of his bare butt. Other things could be forgotten, but how could he forget this?

What Jeong Taeui truly had to worry about right now wasn’t performing in an uncomfortable position with half his body leaning on the dressing table or doing it in front of Richard.

It was doing it with Ilay in an unpredictable situation that was the scariest part. 

“……! ……!!” 

Jeong Taeui struggled against the horrific scene unfolding behind him, even without looking, he could feel it. 

The fear of the ‘thing’ that hadn’t touched him for two or three months was slowly rising behind him. 

‘Calm down. Calm down, Jeong Taeui. You’re used to this. It’s just been a month or two apart, nothing serious. Your body will remember. It’ll be okay.’ 

In his head, another part of him tried to comfort him as a self-defense mechanism. But… Honestly, he was still scared.

Though used to it, whenever the ‘thing’ opened and pressed into his body, he always felt suffocated. There were times he doubted that ‘it’ was trying to rearrange his internal organs.

And now, facing it in a state where both his body and mind were so uncomfortable, Jeong Taeui’s mind became hazy.

He’d rather faint, but even that didn’t seem possible in this situation.

‘Ilay. Ilay. Please, let’s not do it here. Please.’

Richard said he loved hearing pleas. If that could help him get out of this, Jeong Taeui was willing to beg Ilay for mercy.

‘…Please don’t do it here. And don’t do it in front of someone else. Please.’

But no matter how much Jeong Taeui prayed, the actions behind him didn’t change.

“I don’t think ‘that thing’ of yours can fit into such a tight space. …Maybe it’s better to call an ambulance in advance?”

Even Richard’s voice, which Jeong Taeui found increasingly hateful, didn’t stop Ilay. If he really thought so, he should have intervened more seriously.

But Ilay’s laughter echoed behind Jeong Taeui.

“I didn’t plan to do this either, but since it’s come to this, I have to go through with it. …Who told him to eavesdrop? He dug his own grave.”

The last sentence was clearly directed at Jeong Taeui.

Ilay’s hand gripped his buttocks. When they were pulled apart, Jeong Taeui felt the cold air touch his insides. His heart sank.

Finally…

Jeong Taeui closed his eyes tightly, cursing every word he knew under his breath. Every muscle tensed, bracing for the sensation that was about to come.

Just as the searing heat pressed between his legs.

Then…

*Knock knock*

A dry knock sounded in the room.

At that moment, everything seemed to freeze. The air, time, space, people, feelings.

Jeong Taeui, eyes tightly shut and mentally preparing for the immediate future, didn’t realize what the sound was at first.

However, the sound didn’t wait long and knocked again, this time more clearly, and he recognized it as a knock on the door.

Jeong Taeui’s eyes snapped open.

Not that he expected a savior – that was nearly impossible – but another person to witness his humiliation.

Even though he was naked below, Jeong Taeui felt deeply ashamed, but Ilay – who was exposing himself more – casually turned around.

“Someone is looking for us. Why don’t you open the door and see?”

The relief of escaping immediate danger lasted only briefly as Jeong Taeui thought,

‘Another person to see this scene. That bastard should cover ‘that’ before letting anyone in. After this person leaves, I’ll be in danger again and hope we don’t do anything in front of this person.’

These thoughts filled Jeong Taeui’s mind as the door opened. At that moment, Ilay pulled the hoodie down over his head.

‘Hey, pulling it like that just makes my butt more exposed!!!’ – Jeong Taeui thought, but in an instant, he saw through the hood’s gap who entered and ducked his head under the hoodie.

“Richard, sorry to interrupt. There’s a bit of trouble… Oh, I really apologize for cutting into a good time. But this isn’t about that guest; there’s a personal issue Richard needs to handle.”

The cheerful, lively voice belonged to Eric – the one temporarily managing the bar for Richard. The one who had persuaded Christoph with quick words.

The bar was fine just a moment ago, what happened now… Jeong Taeui thought, but the sound of objects breaking outside the room puzzled him further. At the same time, there seemed to be distant shouting.

Richard frowned slightly.

“Is there a drunken guest causing trouble? If so, just have the staff throw them out. No need to maintain the bar’s image with such people, just beat them away.”

Richard spoke nonchalantly, waving his hand, but Eric quickly shook his head.

“No, if it were that, I wouldn’t bother you! The problem is…”

Eric lowered his voice.

Jeong Taeui, wishing to hide his bare bottom, filled his mind with trivial hopes when he heard a familiar name.

Simultaneously – “…Who?” – Richard’s voice echoed.

Hearing the name Eric mentioned, Richard frowned as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“I said Christoph is causing trouble outside. I tried to manage it initially, seemed okay but then not. Anyway, I managed to convince him to wait about an hour…”

Eric spoke with a troubled expression and sighed.