“Saying things recklessly isn’t something you can tell to Riegrow.”

The car was on the bridge.

A deep and calm voice sounded next to Christoph.

At that moment, the expression on Christoph’s face disappeared. Replacing the blank face was a stone-cold expression (Frozen).

“Richard…….”

When did he wake up!?

Jeong Taeui looked into the rearview mirror and met Richard’s eyes. Looking at his cold eyes, Jeong realized that Richard had not just woken up.

He slightly shook his cuffed wrist. The chains made a small clinking sound.

Hearing that sound, Christoph reflexively extended his hand before Richard tightly grasped his thumb. Then Jeong heard a terrible *Crack* right behind his head. At the same time, he realized Richard had escaped from the handcuffs.

“You’re so careless, Christoph. Losing so much blood, your brain’s not functioning anymore?”

Richard mumbled in a worried tone as he easily dislocated his thumb and pulled his hand out of the cuffs.

“When did you wake up?”

“When? Well, perhaps since I started ‘hating viciously’.”

Richard smiled faintly.

Jeong Taeui frowned slightly. So, he had been awake for quite a while. Christoph’s eyes also became sharper.

“Really? I thought you were sleeping well, but it seems you didn’t get much rest.”

“No, but I feel quite refreshed. Enough to finish the unfinished business.”

Richard smiled calmly and spoke softly. And simultaneously, as he was speaking, he suddenly slammed the car door with his elbow.

“WAIT––…….!”

However, before Jeong Taeui could finish his sentence, the rear door of the car violently swung open and hit the iron pillar on the edge of the bridge. Sparks flew.

They were in the middle of the bridge where there was no guardrail. Half of the car door was flung open.

There, Richard grabbed Christoph’s shoulder. He dodged Christoph’s punch aimed at his face by hugging his waist.

Then Richard leaped outside.

“―…….!!”

Jeong Taeui had no opportunity to say anything.

Richard, with a relaxed smile, pulled Christoph out of the speeding car down to the river below. The loud sound of water echoed behind.

Jeong Taeui instinctively slammed on the brakes. The screeching sound of friction tore through the tires. He quickly turned his head to look outside.

It was too dark to see the river.

The bridge wasn’t very high. It was only one or two stories above the water. Jumping from this height wasn’t too dangerous.

Perhaps someone like Richard didn’t jump to commit suicide, but the issue was their physical condition now. Especially Christoph!

The damp feeling of blood still lingered on the seat where the blood had clotted and dried.

Jeong Taeui thought: ‘I need to go back and save them right away’ as he stepped on the brake.

Suddenly, there was a light impact from behind. Jeong instinctively looked into the rearview mirror and was startled.

[Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.]

Under the small engraved text on the mirror, Ilay was waving his hand. He was tailing closely behind the car.

“HEY, SOMEONE JUMPED DOWN!”

Jeong shouted to Ilay; he must have seen everything. But at this speed, the sound couldn’t be heard.

It seemed Ilay only saw Jeong Taeui yelling; he pretended to be surprised and somewhat confused. Jeong Taeui slowly and clearly mouthed the words while pointing to the riverbank. It seemed Ilay understood, as he said – “A ha” – then smiled with his characteristic smile.

Seeing Ilay shrug lightly as if nothing concerned him, Jeong Taeui became angry and bent down to search in the passenger seat. He immediately grasped the phone Christoph had thrown.

Pressing the call button twice, the signal rang once or twice, and then a familiar voice echoed.

[“Hello, Taei.”]

“Did you see it? They fell into the water.”

[“Oh, of course. I’ve confirmed you’re not the one who fell into the water.”]

“So, you know, we don’t have time to play around. Slow down!”

[“Ah ha……. So you’re ‘playing around’, huh?”]

“You’re the one playing around! YOU!!!”

Jeong Taeui angrily shouted into the phone, then suddenly remembered.

Thinking back, this guy was following to ensure the ‘precious heir’ didn’t end up in the worst-case scenario.

“Now your ‘precious heir’ is in the worst-case scenario. Are you going to leave him?”

They were past the bridge. The opportunity to turn back was missed; Jeong Taeui turned onto the riverbank road. He decided to go back to the previous spot.

Laughter and the sound of wind echoed from the other side of the phone.

[“Worst-case scenario? Taei, do you think those guys are so easy to kill?”]

“I don’t know. But if they die, it wouldn’t be too surprising.”

[“Hahaha, is that so? If you think so, then go fish them out. But before that, Taei.”]

“What now!”

Jeong Taeui grumbled in annoyance and suddenly thought.

But why am I running away? Thinking back, I have no reason to run away. In reality, the important person had already drifted along the river, so I could stop the car…….

[“While I was in the bathroom earlier, you hurriedly fled. Was there a good reason for that? Was your only purpose is my body? Are you playing with me?”]

Jeong Taeui’s hand slipped off the steering wheel. The car swerved for a moment before he quickly grabbed the wheel again.

Jeong Taeui’s face turned pale as he realized this guy was getting better at teasing others.

“No, the purpose was just your body, and playing with you?……. Even if my mind is not clear, I still feel that’s not something you should say. Ilay, don’t joke at this moment.”

[“Oh, I’m quite serious. You think that’s a joke?”]

The voice had a hint of jest, but Jeong Taeui recognized a slight underlying anger in Ilay’s words. 

It was only now that he realized it.

“……. No one is running away, so why are you…….”

[“Currently, I see you running away from me.”]

There was no place left to retreat. Jeong Taeui was truly cornered.

Jeong Taeui hesitated, unsure whether to step on the gas or brake. But Ilay ended that hesitation.

[“Now, if you go over the bridge ahead and turn right after the bridge, you can return to the previous spot. It will take about ten minutes to get back to where those guys fell at this speed.”]

“…….?!”

[“If from now until then, at any point our cars get more than a meter apart, consider it a playful addition to ‘our fun’ tonight.”]

“If not apart, then what?”

Ilay responded after a few seconds.

[“If not apart……. Then good…….”]

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

The first time Christoph almost had intercourse with a woman, he vomited.

He needed to learn.

No one said he had to learn how to have intercourse with women. But everyone who taught him said: Out of hundreds of things in the world, ninety-nine would be better with experience – practical experience.

So, although he wasn’t yet an adult, he wasn’t a child either. When a girl he had met a few times before approached and seduced him at the end of a party, he didn’t refuse despite having no interest.

He couldn’t stand others touching him, but he could touch others. And that girl, although seemingly dissatisfied, liked him enough to overlook that dissatisfaction. So Christoph could have intercourse with her if he wanted.

But he failed.

From the moment he saw her naked body, he felt uncomfortable. When he stroked her arm, that discomfort turned into nausea, and when he kissed her chest, he couldn’t endure it anymore.

Christoph kicked her out. And as soon as he closed the door, he ran to the bathroom and vomited.

Chris thought he could touch others, but it turned out not to be the case. He didn’t know if it was due to the level of affection or the level of contact, but at least he couldn’t have intimate contact with someone he didn’t like.

Christoph thought about his limits.

He didn’t want anyone to know that even touching others made him vomit. To avoid that happening again, Chris had to understand his limits. But he had no intention of trying again with someone to find out those limits.

A part of him also thought the problem was with that girl.

Maybe he didn’t like her. Maybe he just didn’t like her. Yes, he certainly wasn’t that sensitive. Otherwise, it would be like having a mental illness. Chris wasn’t that sensitive.

Christoph thought so and ignored it.

He knew he was sensitive, but not to that extent.

And not long after that, during a summer vacation, a relative who had worked in North Africa for over ten years visited the villa. They said they would return to Germany next year and wanted to spend the vacation at the villa to get acquainted with the situation. They had a daughter a few years older than Christoph.

The girl sweet as honey was named Christina.

As soon as they heard her name, Christoph’s peers fell silent during the introduction. Christoph realized they were watching his reaction.

When Christoph was very young, the relatives who first met him thought such a beautiful child must be a girl and misheard his name as ‘Christina’. At first, Christoph remained silent and ignored it when called that. He didn’t care what people thought of him. And for a short time, quite a few people called him Christina.

However, the following year, when birthday gifts [for Christina] included dresses and jewelry, he couldn’t ignore it anymore. Especially when his mother, who had never caressed or smiled at him, whispered – “If you were a girl, it might be better”.

She had never caressed Christoph. She had never smiled at Christoph. But Christoph liked her gentle and calm voice whenever she spoke to him.

No, he wasn’t sure he liked it. Every time he heard that voice, his blood seemed to freeze, his heart beat lightly, and his fingertips trembled. But even so, Christoph still wanted to hear her voice.

Those memories had become blurry in his mind.

However, now he no longer cared about those things until the girl named Christina appeared.

Since then, whenever someone mistakenly called him Christoph, they encountered such terrible situations that no one dared call him ‘Christina’ anymore. That name became almost taboo.

When Christina, with a shy smile, introduced her name, everyone fell silent and looked at Christoph. He glanced at her indifferently and turned away.

The name didn’t matter. As long as they didn’t call him by that name, it was fine.

Throughout the summer at the villa, Christina quickly blended in with everyone. But she never heard her name correctly called. Everyone called her Tina. The name “Christina” became taboo as if it belonged to someone else.

Only one person, Richard, called her ‘Christina’. Especially when Christoph was present, he pronounced it very clearly.

Saying that Christoph didn’t feel uncomfortable every time he heard that name from Richard’s mouth would be a lie.

But Christoph didn’t react. What was wrong with calling Christina by her real name? Moreover, Richard had never called him Christina. Not even for fun.

Mid-summer, Christoph heard rumors that Richard and Christina had become closer than ordinary relatives. But that had nothing to do with him.

Richard had a lover, and therefore, he was more attractive than Christoph, the malicious children whispered, but Christoph didn’t care.

The only thing that concerned him was his own weakness in dealing with others.

He didn’t consider it a serious problem. He thought he could endure it if necessary. Just that there was no need to endure it, so he didn’t.

Although he didn’t want to have intimate relationships, he wasn’t ignorant of male-female relationships or sexual contact. And Christoph had never failed to perform things he knew theoretically.

It’s fine. No problem. When needed, he would do it. No need to try with someone he didn’t like – the reason he felt nauseous last time was surely because he didn’t like her.

Christoph thought so and didn’t care.

Then a few days before Christina returned to North Africa.

It was an especially hot night.

Despite lying in bed, the stuffy air made Christoph unable to sleep. He got up, opened the balcony window, and leaned against the door, waiting for his body to cool down. Chris thought that riding a horse might help him sleep better.

While closing his eyes and feeling the cool breeze blowing through his neck, he heard a faint sound.

“……. Chris …….”

It sounded like someone was calling his name. Christoph opened his eyes and turned towards the sound.

The sound came from below. It could be from downstairs or the room next door.

Christoph frowned as he identified the direction.

It was Richard’s room.

Soft giggles echoed from that room. A light and excited voice whispered something and then giggled.

Although Christoph couldn’t hear clearly, he quickly recognized it as Christina’s voice. He could also hear Richard’s brief replies.

When he accidentally glanced down, Christoph saw Richard sitting by the large window on the balcony. On his lap was Christina, who was wrapping her arms tightly around Richard’s neck.

Their clothes were in disarray. Garments were scattered everywhere, with only a few pieces loosely draped over their legs.

The girl’s slender and smooth arms encircled the shoulders of a not-yet-grown man, but those shoulders were already solid and broad. The sound of wetness mixed with their gentle laughter.

Christoph stood frozen, looking down at them.

Every time Christina’s body moved on Richard’s lap, each time they kissed each other’s neck, face, shoulders, and chest, the sound of their skin colliding became more distinct.

Suddenly, Christoph felt a discomfort in his stomach.

He frowned, placed the back of his hand over his mouth, and murmured softly.

At that moment, Richard, who was licking Christina’s ear, suddenly raised his head as if sensing someone’s presence.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, Richard’s face showed displeasure as he saw Christoph frowning uncomfortably at them.

But at that instant, Christina let out a soft moan and recoiled. She hugged Richard’s neck tightly and buried her face in his shoulder. Richard’s gaze also left Christoph.

After that, Richard never looked up again as if he had never seen Christoph. Richard slowly continued moving, causing Christina’s body to shake.

Christoph stepped back with a look of discomfort. He had seen things he did not want to see.

As he turned away, he heard the whispers more clearly from below.

“Christina, do you like it?”

The soft and gentle voice calling that name made him uncomfortable. That familiar name made him feel discontent.

Christina responded with heavy breathing. Richard chuckled softly and then whispered in a slightly deeper voice.

“Alright, now it’s my turn to enjoy, Chris.”

Then there was the sound of a light kiss.

Christoph turned pale.

Richard had never called him by a nickname. Even when he rarely called his name, it was always the full name. So that was Christina’s nickname.

Nevertheless, a shiver ran down Christoph’s spine. An almost instinctual discomfort enveloped his skin.

It was clear malice.

Even if it could be considered a gentle mockery, Christoph recognized the malice in Richard’s voice.

The sounds echoed.

Even though he had moved away from the window, the whispers that had entered his ears could not leave.

The strange and chaotic sounds from below became more distinct.

Christina’s voice from cheerful and excited, turned into embarrassed crying and begging. Meanwhile, Richard continued to call her gently – “Chris.”

Richard’s provocative and perverse demands, the wet sounds, and the heavy breaths and moans echoed as if right next to him. The sounds made Christoph suddenly cover his mouth.

He felt nauseous. The discomfort rose like ocean waves.

Losing all strength in his legs, Christoph squatted down on the spot. He dry heaved a few times before vomiting for real.

A strange sensation crawled over his skin.

Chris suddenly recalled.

When he first tried to have intercourse with a girl, when he touched and kissed her. When his body pressed against hers.

The feeling of someone else’s skin, that warm temperature, were things he clearly knew in his mind, but when he touched them, he felt distant.