Hearing Ilay add: “Or you could stay here as a guest of honor like me” Jeong Taeui finally understood. It seemed he had vaguely heard about this before.

“Just staying at Dongik is enough to confer authority on some people.”

“That’s right. In fact, some people fell into depression after leaving here……”

Ilay paused for a moment, then fell silent. Jeong Taeui looked at him with curiosity.

“It seems like you were about to say something but stopped?”

Jeong Taeui asked inquisitively, but Ilay only shrugged slightly.

“Why? Did someone you know get depressed after being kicked out of here?”

“Well…… you could say that.” – Ilay answered vaguely.

It was rare for this man to speak so cryptically. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously but didn’t press further. After all, it wasn’t a cheerful subject.

Moreover, the noise of the scuffle in the headphones was gradually dying down. Occasionally, curses and gasps were still heard, but the sound of breaking objects or impacts had become sparse.

Then, a low growl from Christoph could be heard.

[“Don’t touch me……!”]

Finally, it seemed like the fight had subsided.

[“I told you before. You have a fatal weakness for close combat. Moreover, now you have no suitable weapon. So what are you going to do now?”]

Richard was also gasping, seemingly exhausted from the duel. But the light laughter in his voice indicated he still had the upper hand. Jeong Taeui frowned.

[“Stay away……! Don’t touch me!”]

[“You can only growl like that.”]

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. Frustrated, he pulled off the headphones and stared at them as if looking at the owner of that voice.

“Do these people fight every time they’re together? Are they always like this during the day too?”

“At least when it affects Tarten’s business, they don’t.”

“……So they fight during their private time.”

Jeong Taeui lay back on the bed. He placed the headphones in his hand and wrapped the cord around his finger before unwinding it again. He repeated this a few times while staring at the ceiling.

“During the time in Berlin……”

Jeong Taeui suddenly spoke as if to himself. Ilay only glanced at him.

“After living peacefully at home for so many years, I feel like my adaptability has diminished a lot. If this continues, in a few years, won’t it be really difficult for me to live anywhere else……?”

If he left Berlin and moved to a new place, it would be difficult if he couldn’t adapt. By then, he wouldn’t be young anymore.

However, as Jeong Taeui muttered this, he noticed Ilay’s gaze becoming sharper. Taeui quickly said: “Oh right, how are those guys doing?”, and put the headphones back on. It seemed like a topic Ilay didn’t like.

[“You are cruel and evil. Out of all the people I know, no one is as ruthless as you.”]

Christoph’s trembling, accusatory voice rang out just as the headphones were back on. Speaking so bluntly in front of someone else, even when eavesdropping, was uncomfortable to hear.

If Jeong Taeui felt this way, the direct recipient of those words must have been much more affected.

A moment later, Richard’s low voice came through.

[“I didn’t expect to hear that from you. No one but you sees me that way. Only you view me like that…… I am like a mirror reflecting what others expect of me.”]

Suddenly, a chill ran down Taeui’s spine.

There was something indefinable, but that low, cold voice seemed to crawl up his heart and stab deep like a dagger.

It was a strange feeling.

Though that voice was gentle and kind, his chest felt cold.

At that moment……

“Don’t listen anymore.”

Suddenly, the headphones were yanked off Taeui’s ears.

Ilay pulled the headphones out of Jeong Taeui’s ears and put them back in his pocket.

Jeong Taeui stood dazed for a moment after the cold feeling in his heart faded. He frowned.

“Why take it away when someone is listening……”

It wasn’t that he really wanted to eavesdrop, but being abruptly deprived of it was displeasing. Moreover, after hearing those chilling words, his heart felt heavy and anxious.

Ilay still had the headphones on and spoke calmly.

“They’re just fighting again. There’s no need for you to listen. Instead, continue with what you were saying earlier.”

“What was I saying?”

“You were talking about living somewhere else after a few years.”

Ilay suddenly leaned down. He lowered himself over Jeong Taeui’s upper body as he lay on the bed.

“Why all of a sudden—.”

But before Jeong Taeui could finish, a familiar tongue invaded his mouth.

This time, though, it seemed there was no intention to suffocate Jeong Taeui. Ilay’s tongue gently brushed against Taeui’s tongue, gums, and lips a few times before withdrawing.

“Why? Are you getting bored of Berlin? Want to move somewhere else? If there’s a place you want to go, just tell me.”

Jeong Taeui flinched as Ilay’s tongue left his lips and moved to his earlobe.

He still wasn’t used to these things. Sometimes, Ilay would whisper in a very gentle voice, whether he was aware of it or not. The whispers felt as if he would give him anything he wanted.

Those words made Jeong Taeui feel embarrassed.

“No, no, it’s just something I thought about suddenly……”

The sensation of lips on his earlobe moving slowly down to his cheek had become more familiar.

Yes, that was the problem. Why had he come to accept and become accustomed to these things?

Indeed, if he left Berlin and started a new life, his life would change completely.

“It was just a passing thought.”

“I suddenly thought that I’ve been in Berlin for quite a while. Now that place has become my home.”

“So what?”

“But I wonder if I have to leave, what would I do? Just a passing thought……”

The lips on his cheek paused for a moment.

Ilay slightly raised his head and looked at Jeong Taeui with a thoughtful expression – a bit strange – then spoke casually.

“Why? Did your brother tell you to leave while I was away?”

“No, no, not at all……”

Jeong Taeui stopped to organize his thoughts for a moment.

Jeong Taeui looked at the ceiling and tilted his head to the right, then to the left. Ilay watched him attentively, patiently waiting for Jeong Taeui’s answer. Occasionally, Ilay’s eyes wandered as if listening to sounds from his own headphones.

“Later, if for any reason that you and I have to part ways, continuing to live in Berlin will be difficult. Fortunately, I have friends in Korea, but it will be hard to see them often and my brother is at UNHRDO, so living together is difficult. Surprisingly, I have nowhere to go.”

“Hmmm…… So what are you going to do?”

After a few seconds, Ilay asked curiously. For some reason, his voice and lips touching Taeui’s ear also became gentler. At that moment, Jeong Taeui didn’t realize it was the voice of a devil trying to coax a child into revealing important secrets.

“Well…… In that case, just staying at that house as Kyle’s guest, regardless of you…… would that be okay?”

Though the house was always full of guests, the longest anyone stayed was a month or two. No one had ever stayed as long as Jeong Taeui. He had lived in that house for several years.

“Hmmm……..”

A low hum came from Ilay as he slowly raised his hand, gently touching Jeong Taeui’s face and starting to caress Taeui’s cheek with his thumb. Feeling the tenderness on his face, Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay. Their eyes met, with Ilay gazing at Jeong Taeui as if lost in thought.

Suddenly, as if wanting to tease Jeong Taeui, Ilay pinched his cheek lightly but firmly enough to cause pain as if twisting one side of his face, making him cry out – “Ouch” – and frown in discomfort. However, Ilay continued to pinch his cheek a few more times as if he were playing.

Jeong Taeui wondered if something was wrong, but Ilay’s face didn’t show any signs of displeasure or anger. He just mumbled – “Hm” – and frowned slightly as if pondering something troublesome.

Then Ilay suddenly mumbled a vague sentence.

“This will be difficult……”

“What?”

Jeong Taeui asked curiously.

The story didn’t match the context.

Or maybe Ilay was saying that staying at Kyle’s house in Berlin as a guest would be difficult?

However, Jeong Taeui’s assumption was completely wrong with the next statement.

“Your friends in Korea are not a problem, but Jeong Jaeil is unpredictable…… it’s hard to eliminate him. Even if I shoot him in the head, I would be the one to get hurt. How to eliminate—……”

Ilay’s words were no joke. Though they sounded like a joke, Jeong Taeui had lived with this man for several years. Such jokes were always real.

Jeong Taeui’s heart suddenly sank. He hadn’t expected those words and began coughing from breathing incorrectly.

He pushed Ilay away and leaned over to cough for a while. When the cough subsided, Ilay pinned him down and leaned over him again.

Jeong Taeui pushed Ilay away again when he tried to kiss him as if nothing had happened, and he looked at him seriously.

He couldn’t think of anything else but that if things didn’t go well, his friends and family might pay the price and be in danger.

“Why……why should eliminate……”

Jeong Taeui was too confused to finish his sentence.

Jeong Taeui patted his chest a few times with the palm of his hand, then asked seriously again.

“Why should my friends, who have never met you, and my brother, whom you met a long time ago, be eliminated?”

“Why……?”

Ilay still kept his calm tone and grabbed Jeong Taeui’s hand that was patting his chest and gently lowered it.

“To eliminate the places you might go so that you won’t have those thoughts in the first place. Taeil, you often think too much about unnecessary things.”

Damn it, so that’s what this is about.

Jeong Taeui hurriedly spoke to Ilay, who was slowly licking his cheek.

“No, no! I will never think like that again! I’ve decided to bury my bones in Berlin!”

Ilay suddenly smiled lightly while continuing to nibble and lick his cheek.

Ah, he’s teasing me again.

Jeong Taeui relaxed his body and took a deep breath.

“Go ahead, tease me all you want.”

“Yes. Just so you know, I’m not joking.”

Although he was smiling as if joking, Jeong Taeui knew that what he said wasn’t a joke.

Jeong Taeui sighed and nodded.

He felt embarrassed as Ilay continued to caress and kiss his cheek.

Jeong Taeui had become very accustomed to Ilay’s blind, forceful advances and the wild satisfaction of his desires – because at those times, he had no time to think – but sometimes, for some reason, he felt unfamiliar and even embarrassed with Ilay’s gentle and tender caresses. He felt uncomfortable.

Ilay seemed to enjoy his reaction and often did this for a while.

Jeong Taeui opened his mouth just before Ilay kissed him and suddenly asked, as if it had just come to mind.

“How are things over there? Have they stopped fighting yet?”

Ilay pointed to the headphone he was wearing in one ear, then looked at him and mumbled – “Hmm?” – and smiled somewhat contentedly.

“Don’t worry, everything is fine” – Ilay said as if talking to himself and kissed Jeong Taeui.

Hearing that, Jeong Taeui felt relieved, thinking that the two had stopped fighting. Then Taeui touched Ilay’s tongue with his own tongue as it entered his mouth.

*************

/In Richard’s Room/

The sound of running water continued for a long time in the bathroom.

Richard didn’t say a word as water splashed into his eyes under the shower. Only the heavy, uncomfortable breathing that occasionally escaped him, as if trying to suppress something, revealed his state of mind.

Christoph leaned against the bathroom door frame, watching him with a nonchalant expression but glittering eyes. Whenever Richard glanced at him, Christoph pretended not to notice and looked away.

Finally, Richard turned off the shower. Seemingly calmed down, he wiped his bloodshot eyes with visible veins using a towel. He stepped out of the shower stall.

“Christoph. Are you trying to blind me?”

His voice was cold and curt. Suppressed anger seemed to simmer within him.

“Of course not. If I wanted to do that, I would have used a simpler method long ago.”

“But you must have known that ointment shouldn’t be applied to the eyes. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have followed me to my room to check on me.”

Christoph didn’t answer. Instead, he simply tilted his chin, looking directly at Richard as if to say: ‘So what?’

“Anyway, thanks. Because of you, I don’t feel pain at the scratch anymore. I was so moved by your tender application of the ointment that I don’t feel any pain at all.”

Richard mocked and rubbed the area around his eyes with his knuckles. Christoph seemed satisfied and turned away, clearly not wanting to stay any longer.

He hadn’t expected Richard to cry so much, but he had hoped to see him at least unable to open his eyes and tearing up. That hope hadn’t come to fruition.

As soon as Richard sensed something was wrong, he stood up immediately, covered one eye, and said he would see them at dinner. Then he left.

Christoph followed Richard, who was walking quickly back to his room without looking back. Perhaps the others would go to their rooms to rest a bit before the dinner party.

When Christoph grabbed the door handle of Richard’s room, Richard, who was slowly drying himself with a towel, seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“Now that I think about it, you are quite amusing. People say you lock yourself in that person’s room every night and don’t come out. Does that mean if your body is happy, your mind is happy too?”

“What?”

Christoph frowned and turned around.

“Who stays in that person’s room every night? Who? Whose room?”

“You. Kim Youngs—…… Oh no, Jeong Taei’s room.”

“……. How do you know?”

Christoph asked with dissatisfaction. Richard tilted his head and sneered.

“Living in the same house, you think that wouldn’t get around? Why do you keep saying that same-sex relationships are so pure? But when you do that with him, do you feel differently?”

“I AND HIM?! I DID NOT DO THAT!”

Christoph shouted, although he thought it wasn’t that important. But he didn’t want to be the subject of Richard’s ridicule.

However, Richard didn’t seem intent on believing him; he laughed dismissively. The malice in his eyes slowly became apparent.

“So, what do you do in there every night? Read fairy tales?”

At that moment, Christoph fell silent. He tried to open his mouth a few times but eventually bit his lip and shook his head.

“…….. I won’t say. I have no reason to tell you.”

Richard silently looked at him. Suddenly, he tightened his grip on the towel he was using to dry his hair, then loosened it again.

“There is a reason.”

Richard’s voice lowered. The undulating tone indicated he was very angry.

Christoph frowned.

“What reason? Just because I work under you, do I have to expose my private life?”

“I’m not interested in your private life. What you do with whom is none of my concern. …….Oh, right. With your mental condition, it’s good if you can integrate with others.”

Richard spoke with malice, and Christoph’s face gradually turned cold.

“But if your private life interferes with my work, that is unacceptable.”

“…….I don’t understand what you mean.”

Christoph’s voice also lowered. Although he said he didn’t understand, his expressionless face said otherwise.

Richard deliberately threw the towel on the floor. Then he took a new towel and began drying his wet hair with the dry one. His meticulous habit to the point of discomfort in small details was nothing new.

Richard had always been that way. He seemed to let things slide comfortably enough, but in reality, he was almost a perfectionist.

“You have no right to criticize me for obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

Christoph muttered, looking down at the discarded towel, but Richard ignored him and began to speak.

“Malik seems to want to take you. A leadership position in the private security team…… That’s quite a good position, isn’t it?”

“Private security team? What is that?”

Christoph frowned at the unexpected words. Richard glanced at him as he walked toward the wardrobe.

“What they want isn’t just debt repayment…… But that’s not important right now; let’s set that aside.”

Standing in front of the wardrobe, Richard dried himself again with the now damp towel. Then he turned to look at Christoph as if to confirm something.

“Although there is still the final negotiation, you can guess what their final condition will be, right, Christoph.”

“……, ……”

“If they demand our people, what will you do?”

Christoph didn’t answer. He just looked at Richard with dark eyes. Seeing those eyes, Richard raised an eyebrow and squinted. Then he threw the towel on the floor again.

“That’s why you can’t be too close to Jeong Tay…… It’s a pity, Christoph. The first person you felt you could approach directly.”

There was a cold smile.