That day was Christmas Eve.

The sky that afternoon grew increasingly overcast, and the snow began to fall incessantly from the time dinner was nearly over until midnight.

And amidst the cheerful atmosphere of the wonderful dinner prepared by Rita and the fine wine brought by Kyle, Christoph sat by the window like a painting throughout the entire time.

Today, he seemed sadder than usual, sitting with his back to the window where the snow kept falling, and as the darkness enveloped his stunning face – though it was somewhat regrettable – it made him even more captivating. He looked like a character stepping out of some melancholic classic film.

Although he had seen it many times, Jeong Taeui still found himself mesmerized, staring until Christoph suddenly furrowed his brow and extended his hand.

“Painkillers.”

“…… Yeah, wait a moment.”

It seemed that when the weather was bad or his mood was off, he would get headaches again. Jeong Taeui took some painkillers from the drawer and handed them to him. Looking at the packaging, Christoph grumbled: “Is Tylenol* even considered medicine? This stuff doesn’t work at all.” But he still took a few pills and chewed them down without water, as Jeong Taeui handed him a glass of water.

“You used to always carry medicine with you. Not carrying it today?”

“Lately, I haven’t been carrying it. I don’t get headaches as often as before, ……”

While massaging his temples, Christoph’s voice grew quieter and quieter, then he clicked his tongue and muttered as if mumbling to himself.

“If I take medicine, that guy doesn’t like it…… He hates the things he doesn’t like, so it becomes troublesome.”

Jeong Taeui quickly realized who “that guy” was and nodded, but tilted his head in curiosity.

“That guy is the type to say something when someone does things that annoy him,  Richard?”

“No, he doesn’t say anything. But he’s incredibly bothersome…… The medicine too. He says taking medicine out of habit isn’t good, so he took my bottle of pills, saying I should come to him whenever I need it. Just that alone is annoying, and when I ask for medicine, he starts asking all sorts of questions. How bad is the pain, why does it hurt, what did I do today, who did I meet, what did I talk about, since when has it been hurting. I’d rather let my head explode and die than take the medicine.”

It seems that something has happened recently that makes Christoph look gloomier than usual. Jeong Taeui nodded, then turned his eyes to the pendulum clock chiming right on time. It was almost midnight.

“Christmas Eve, aren’t you going to Dresden? Aren’t you waiting for someone?”

Christoph didn’t answer but just stared intently at Jeong Taeui. His gaze had seemed very displeased for a while now. Christoph turned his eyes to the clock, looking very anxious, then tapped his interlocked hands with his finger before suddenly speaking.

“You, you like that guy?”

It had finally come.

Anyway, today was about to end, but the person Jeong Taeui was meeting today was Christoph, who hadn’t mentioned this matter at all, leaving him feeling puzzled all along.

This time, Jeong Taeui quickly realized who “that guy” was—surely Ilay, the one currently in the library under the pretext of handling something online. He let out a soft “Hmm” and awkwardly looked up at the ceiling. A few men sitting in the living room drinking also noticed this conversation and glanced over with mocking eyes, making it even more uncomfortable.

However, Jeong Taeui understood Christoph, understood the situation, and knew the wisest way to handle it. So, he didn’t think for long before nodding.

“Yes.”

“You like that guy that much?”

Christoph’s eyebrows raised. His voice also became sharper. Jeong Taeui wasn’t entirely sure what “like” here meant, but he naturally nodded anyway.

“Yes.”

“Like? That guy? Can’t you not like him? To the point where you have no intention of letting him go?”

“……Yes.”

Jeong Taeui felt a bit pressured by Christoph’s barrage of straightforward and bewildering questions but still nodded calmly in response. Mark, sitting nearby, also grumbled: “Look at how that guy is deliberately steering the conversation!” But Christoph didn’t even glance in that direction and just continued asking.

“Why do you like that guy?”

That was an unexpected and difficult question. Jeong Taeui was at a loss for words and couldn’t immediately respond. In his mind, countless reasons that those men had mentioned over the past few days flashed by like lightning. But as he listed each reason, such as: ‘Because he’s good at it, because he has a lot of money, ……,’ he shook his head.

“I don’t know……, it’s not that I like him, but……, it’s just that living with that guy has now become something natural. You could say it’s as familiar as breathing…… Well, something like that.”

Jeong Taeui calmly replied. But for some reason, after saying it, he felt that his statement was somewhat embarrassing, so he awkwardly scratched his head. Beside him, there was a sudden whisper: “Hey, this guy’s in deep.” “It’s over, really over.”

Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui for a long time without saying anything. Now, the expression on his face was truly serious, and he spoke in a chilling tone.

“You’re forgetting what kind of person that guy is, Taei. In the time you’ve convinced yourself that everything is fine, you’ve forgotten. Do you know how dangerous that guy is? Not just in the usual sense, but especially for you, that guy is an incredibly obsessive and terrifyingly cruel person!”

“……Uh…….”

It was hard to know which part Christoph was referring to, as there were too many possibilities to guess, making it difficult to find an answer. Perhaps thinking that Jeong Taeui was confused because he didn’t understand his point, Christoph clicked his tongue lightly and began to speak.

“Alright, let me tell you. The things that happened during the few days that guy was here. First, the first day. On the first day, in the afternoon when I came to this house, you weren’t there, and Rick was sitting in the living room reading a newspaper.”

“Where’s Taei?”

Christoph recounted that he had asked this while taking off his coat. Rick, without taking his eyes off the newspaper, calmly replied:

“He’s currently renovating the storage shed with Peter. Before that, he played soccer with the kids from the neighboring house at the park, and in the afternoon, he’s going to the flower market in the suburbs with Peter to buy materials for floral arrangements to decorate the house.”

“He seems very close to Peter, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, not much talking though. Just things about Peter’s grandchild, taking care of plants, fixing the fence. Yesterday, they even talked about how to get rid of red spiders and mealybugs on plants for an hour.”

“……, how do you know? Were you talking with them?”

“No, I heard about it later.”

Rick answered nonchalantly, and Christoph nodded without much thought, then let it go.

However, that very evening, while everyone was having dinner, Taeui said: “This afternoon, while I was at the flower market, I bought straw to weave and wrap around the trees to kill pests during the winter. Oh, that is……” and began talking about pest control with Rick as if it was the first time mentioning it. Christoph stared deeply at Rick when he saw him nodding as if hearing it for the first time: “Really?” and even when their eyes met, Rick remained so nonchalant it was shameless.

“At that moment, I realized there was something suspicious about him.”

“Of course, I’ve long doubted his true nature.” – Christoph coldly added, while Taeui could only listen in confusion. ‘I remember the first time I talked about pest control with Rick was that evening……?’ While Taeui was lost in such vague thoughts, Christoph continued: “And the next day, the second day.”

On the second day, Christoph came in the afternoon, and this time when he arrived, he found Taeui preparing to go out – saying he was heading to a nearby supermarket to buy something – so when he entered the house and only saw Rick and Mark sitting there, he didn’t ask about Taeui’s whereabouts. Acting as if he were at home, he asked Rita to make him a cup of coffee and sat in the living room, thus unintentionally overhearing Rick and Mark’s conversation.

The content of their conversation revolved around what Mark had said to Jeong Taeui during their meeting the day before, and upon eavesdropping on it, Christoph thought Mark was a lunatic.

“What’s so great about bragging that you’re good at using that large weapon in a crude manner? He’s inherently worthless……” – Christoph silently cursed and sneered while sipping his coffee. Rick listened to the story without showing any sign of discomfort, nor did he seem particularly amused. Instead of being interested in what Mark was boasting about, he mainly focused on Taeui’s responses or reactions.

What Mark had said, how Taeui had replied, how he reacted, and the tone of Taeui’s voice when responding—Rick quietly listened to Mark’s story and occasionally asked such things, then responded with phrases like: “Oh, really”, “Aha…”, along with a subtle enigmatic smile that made others feel uneasy.

“Normally, people would ask more details about what someone else is proudly boasting about. At most, they’d ask whether the other person reacted positively or negatively. But his reaction didn’t stop there. It was as if he was analyzing every nuance in your words.”

Christoph lowered his voice. The cold tone of his voice became deeper, making the surrounding atmosphere even more chilling.

‘It’s strange, the heating system in the house is working fine, so why does my neck feel so cold?’ – Taeui shrank his neck and picked up the warm cup of tea on the table.

“And then came the third day. That day, I had some work, so I arrived late. I came after dinner, and it was already quite late. When I walked in, I saw them lying around in different corners, while Rick was in the living room. You were nowhere to be seen. So, at that moment, I asked Rick: “Where’s Taei?””

Christoph paused and frowned.

In response to the question, Rick looked at the clock and said: “Ah, it’s probably about time”, then suddenly stood up.

“Probably taking a shower.”

After saying that, he went up to the second floor – the floor where Jeong Taeui’s room was – and even though Christoph shouted: “Wait, where are you going?” behind him, but he didn’t care and casually disappeared upstairs.

“……”

For some reason, after hearing this story, Taeui felt like he could guess something. He gently rubbed his face with an embarrassed expression, while Christoph just quietly looked at him. Then, Christoph continued speaking: “The fourth day.”

“On the fourth day, when I came to find you, I saw you standing by the window of the room on the second floor, talking on the phone with someone.”

So, when Christoph entered the house, he didn’t ask: ‘Where’s Taei?’ Instead, he said: “Who is Taei talking to on the phone?” However, the answer he received wasn’t something like: ‘Really? Who?’ or ‘Hmm…’ with a clueless expression. It seemed that Rita had gone out, so at that moment, Rick was making coffee for himself, and he answered very calmly.

“Probably talking to Jeong Jaei. This morning, he called but couldn’t get through, so he said he’d call back in the afternoon.”

“…… Why did he suddenly call over there?”

“A few days ago, Jeong Jaei sent him a plane ticket inviting him to visit. Although he thanked him, he said he couldn’t go.”

“Why? Are you holding him back? Just let him go for a bit, won’t you?”

Christoph mocked, but Rick didn’t mind and shook his head.

“No, Taei doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t like going to the Middle East unless there’s a special reason. Especially Riyadh.”

“Why?”

“Well, although it’s been resolved now, there was a time when Riyadh was bombed and under international pursuit, so he doesn’t like going there. That’s why he and Jeong Jaei only occasionally meet when he’s abroad and their schedules align, but otherwise, they rarely have the chance to meet.”

“At that time, not only Seringe but also Riyadh was bombed. It was truly a wise decision.”

Rick muttered as if talking to himself, and immediately Christoph lunged at him with a sharp cold gaze.

“The one who dropped the bomb wasn’t Taei; it was you.”

“Anyway, Taei is also internationally wanted along with me.”

“Hmph……, probably calling Jaei right now and cursing you terribly.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“After talking to his brother, what if Taei misses Riyadh so much that he abandons you and flies straight there?”

Rick dropped a few ice cubes into his coffee cup, completely indifferent to Christoph’s curses, and leisurely inhaled the aroma of the coffee.

“I don’t think that will happen……, but we’ll know for sure when we listen to the conversation later.”

“Listen to it……?”

When Christoph asked suspiciously, this time Rick didn’t care much either. He turned to look at Christoph and squinted with a smile.

“All the phones in this house are recorded by Kyle because of the nature of his work. It seems he doesn’t know that.”

Rick added that Kyle’s job requires a high level of confidentiality. Christoph glared at him this time with a colder gaze than ever.

“What?”

The person who had been silently listening to Christoph’s words until now, Taeui, mumbled with his mouth agape in utter surprise. Christoph clicked his tongue as if to say: ‘See that?’

“And you still like him? Huh?”

“……, Yeah……, maybe I need to reconsider.”

“The decisive moment was yesterday. The fifth day.”

The moment Christoph was about to continue speaking, his face grew even colder and more resolute, causing Taeui’s expression to become more tense than ever. ‘What’s the most decisive thing now???’ – He thought, recalling the nightmare-like encounter with Ángel yesterday.

Taeui cast a dissatisfied glance toward Ángel, who was sitting on the sofa across from him, holding a piece of cheese in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Christoph looked at Taeui with his icy blue eyes and spoke softly in a sharp tone.

“Last night, after dinner had passed, Rick came down alone from the second floor. When asked why he didn’t come down earlier, he simply said he was tired and had been sleeping.”

No one was unaware of the reason why Rick and Jeong Taeui were absent from dinner last night. After being punched hard by Rick and thrown out into the hallway, Ángel had staggered down to the first floor, cursing Rick while wobbling. Adding to that were the resounding sounds from the second floor, carrying a distinct intensity, occasionally echoing down to the first floor.

It was only long after mealtime had passed that Rick slowly descended to the first floor, moving like a well-fed lion. He snacked on the grilled meat that Rita had prepared, only to realize that Ángel was sitting in the living room, glaring at him with an extremely, extremely furious expression. Rick smiled.

“Your medicine really works wonders. Thanks, Ángel.”

“HEY, YOU BASTARD!! YOU COWARDLY AND DESPICABLE MAN!!”

In response to Rick’s gratitude, Ángel exploded with towering indignation, shouting and jumping up, but Rick only replied with a face as if he had done something very noble: ‘I didn’t go so far as to damage your internal organs.’

Ivan chuckled on the side, as it had nothing to do with him. He shook his head in admiration.

“But looking at you, it seems like you and Tay do it almost every night. Doing it so often, at least once you should let Ángel have his way, just hold back a little. Can’t you restrain yourself? You even skip meals to do it for hours. Don’t you ever get bored?”

“Bored? I still want to do more right now, but Taei is too exhausted and has passed out, so now I have to hold back like a true gentleman.”

As soon as Rick finished speaking, Ángel shouted: “THERE ISN’T A SINGLE TRUE GENTLEMAN LEFT IN THIS WORLD!!” and everyone agreed with that statement.

“Truly tireless. If they keep going at it like that, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tay ended up pregnant one day.”

Mark laughed mockingly and joked, Rick just shrugged lightly.

“That probably won’t happen. In the past, I intentionally went at it nonstop for an entire month, making sure his body was never without my semen, yet nothing ever happened.”

“This crazy lunatic.”

Christoph cursed, and this time many people agreed with him, yet Rick still didn’t show any discomfort, or even seem like he was joking at all. With an utterly nonchalant expression, he declared further:

“So next time, I’ll extend the testing period. Maybe a few months, or even a year would be worth trying.”

“……, ……what?”

Jeong Taeui’s face had turned pale. In an instant, his complexion became gaunt and darkened, Christoph stared at him and spoke softly:

“Do you understand? Before it’s too late, think carefully. Although it seems it’s already a bit late, you still need to think it through. He’s no longer sane, and there’s no way to save someone with an obsession this severe. The only option is to run away.”

In front of Jeong Taeui, who was frozen and unable to utter a word, Christoph emphasized once again. From the other side, Alain chuckled and spoke up:

“Hey, Christoph, are you okay? At this rate, you’re going to lose the bet.”

“What are you talking about? When he started talking to me, Taeui clearly said that he liked him so much he couldn’t think of abandoning him.”

When Christoph replied indifferently as if spouting nonsense, Alexei frowned and shouted:

“THAT WAS THE QUESTION YOU ASKED! HE JUST ANSWERED!”

“Anyway, when he talked to me, Taeui clearly expressed his intentions like that, that’s for sure.”

“That’s impossible! This is invalid!”

Ignoring the shouts of “Coward!” and “Dirty player!” from the men around, Christoph turned his head and spoke to Jeong Taeui as if to remind him:

“Remember, someone as crazy and obsessive as that should be left as soon as possible.”

“Aha,……. the story sounds interesting.”

However, before Christoph could finish his sentence, a voice tinged with a hint of mockery echoed from the staircase on the second floor, and suddenly the space fell silent for a moment.

Jeong Taeui turned his head creakily like a broken robot, and within his line of sight, Ilay was slowly descending the stairs and approaching with a leisurely demeanor.

“Thank you for the compliment, Christoph.”

Ilay bent down from behind Taeui and placed a kiss on the top of his head, then squinted at Christoph. Christoph nonchalantly replied: “You’re welcome.”

“Ilay, you……”

Taeui frowned, turning back to say something to Ilay, but Ilay gently touched his lips, stopping the words from coming out, while still smiling at Christoph.

“Isn’t it about time to head to Dresden? The car Richard sent to pick us up has been waiting outside for a while now.”

Ilay tilted his chin toward the clock nearing midnight, and Christoph glanced at the clock before standing up.

“Think carefully, Taei.”

Christoph put on his coat, emphasizing once more before wrapping a warm scarf around his neck and walking away. As he reached for the front door handle, Ilay seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke.

“Oh, right, Chris. Pass this on to Richard for me: Over the past few days, while you’ve been coming and going from this house, it’s fine that you’ve used Tarten’s entire information network to track every move of Chris in this house, among other things. But among those, anything related to Taei, I’d like to be informed about as well. Who knows, I might have missed something.”

Christoph froze and turned his head to look. He blinked his large eyes and glared straight at Ilay, who still smiled calmly and continued speaking.

“I must say, I’m very impressed with Tarten’s information-gathering capabilities. Even the fact that you poured oil instead of balsamic vinegar on the salad at lunch today is known. Perhaps by now, that guy even knows you just chewed a few headache pills earlier.”

Christoph’s face twisted into a grimace. Ilay waved lightly at him.

“You should think carefully too, Christoph. How could anyone endure a lover that obsessive? But no matter how much you think it over, I guess you won’t be able to escape. Good luck, Chris. Oh, and Merry Christmas――Fröhliche Weihnachten!”

Before the Christmas greetings came to an end, Christoph opened the main door and stepped outside. His angry footsteps echoed on the thick snow, gradually fading into the distance.

After a brief silence inside the room, the loud laughter and chatter of the men resumed, and Ilay took two cans of beer from the dining room, handing one to Jeong Taeui before sitting down.

Jeong Taeui opened the beer can and stared at him with a gloomy face.

“……Ilay. Don’t you have anything you want to say to me……”

Instead of answering, Ilay simply smiled and asked in return.

“Do you have anything you want to say to me?”

Jeong Taeui was momentarily at a loss for words. If he were to speak, there was a mountain of things he wanted to say. Starting with what Christoph had just said, and many other things……

However, after trying to choose his words in his mind, Jeong Taeui eventually gave up and swallowed those words.

He already knew what kind of person Ilay was. It was just that in the past few years, he hadn’t had to face the detailed reality, but Jeong Taeui knew well what kind of person he was and had accepted everything about him to be here at this moment.

“No, nothing……”

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered, quietly drinking his beer and adding sadly.

“But things like trying for a few months or a year, just forget about it…… Even if you do it for a lifetime, nothing will change.”

“If you do it for a lifetime, it might change.”

“Oh, please.”

Jeong Taeui muttered as cold sweat ran down his back, making Ilay laugh.

At that moment, the grandfather clock began to chime, signaling midnight, and the men, as if on cue, all said together: “Fröhliche Weihnachten!”, “Merry Christmas!”, “즐거운 성탄!” and raised their glasses in celebration. Jeong Taeui also joined in the atmosphere and exchanged Christmas greetings.

Christmas Eve, which was supposed to be peaceful and sacred, had now become lively with the laughter and chatter of the men, and as he sat drinking beer with them, Jeong Taeui suddenly looked outside.

Outside the window, the snow that had been quietly falling earlier was now growing thicker, blanketing everything in white. On the trees in the yard, on the bench, on the window frame, snow covered everything. The small lights Peter had just hung simply on the Christmas tree were twinkling beautifully.

Yes. It was Christmas. Another year was about to end.

This year had also passed, and the recent days, marked by encounters with those men that had weighed heavily on his shoulders, had come to an end. Now, only a quiet end of the year remained – hopefully so – to gather together.

Not bad. These were not bad days, and it had not been a bad year either.

Jeong Taeui slowly relaxed his shoulders, which had been tense for who knows how long, let out a sigh, and drank his beer.  

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

*Tylenol: is the brand name for a medication used to relieve pain and reduce fever. Its active ingredient is acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol).