Chapter 38

“Wow… Gwak Chun-young is a certified pervert, isn’t he?” Yu Jeong-ham remarked with an incredulous whistle.

Reconvening at the mouth of the village a short while later, Yu Jeong-ham turned the curious little object over in his hands, studying the bizarre contraption Gye Do-hyeop had passed him with a disbelieving click of his tongue.

Jeong-ham had practically cheered the instant he heard the ledger had been recovered. Escaping the grueling assignments Noh Pil-gyu kept dumping on them felt like a massive victory, though Gye Do-hyeop had shot him a disgusted glare and told him to stop acting like an idiot. Jeong-ham had initially dismissed it as his superior’s usual abrasive temperament, but one look at the item in his hands proved Gye Do-hyeop right: they were celebrating far too soon.

“Haaah…”

The object Geum Seoul had pulled from the shower room was barely half the length of an index finger: a slender rectangular prism with a circular bore through its center, the opening fitted with transparent optical glass.

“He designed it so it can’t be opened easily, didn’t he?” Jeong-ham asked.

“Yeah,” Gye Do-hyeop confirmed. “Figure out what locking mechanism it uses.”

A syndicate kingpin like Gwak Chun-young would never store a vital ledger carelessly. They had no idea how to access whatever was sealed inside, which meant the device would have to go back to headquarters for technical analysis. For now, simply having the ledger physically in their hands was satisfaction enough.

“If we’re returning directly to headquarters, I’ll file the operational notice,” Jeong-ham offered.

Gye Do-hyeop nodded and slipped the ledger into his pocket. After grabbing his helmet from the bike, he glanced over and found Geum Seoul still standing several paces away, rummaging through his pockets. Wondering what was keeping him, Gye Do-hyeop strode over and stopped in front of him.

“What is it?” Gye Do-hyeop prompted. “Did you bring something?”

Seoul nodded timidly. “Ah, yes.”

The moment he finished washing his hands in the shower room, Seoul had darted toward his old room beneath the stairs. Someone had clearly rifled through the cramped space; strange stains marred the bedding he had once kept painstakingly clean. Even so, Seoul crouched beside the mattress and lifted it to search underneath.

“Here,” Seoul whispered.

The slender fist extended toward Gye Do-hyeop opened to reveal money nestled in the palm: three paper banknotes and a scattering of mixed-denomination coins. It was the sort of pocket change someone might scrape from beneath a vending machine, yet it was unmistakably Geum Seoul’s entire savings—the reason he had curled up like a hamster to search under the mattress.

“Showing off your fortune?” Gye Do-hyeop scoffed with an amused smirk.

It was almost painfully adorable, the way he displayed those meager savings with the solemn pride of a child. Yet the moment Gye Do-hyeop chuckled, Seoul’s amber-brown eyes darted aside in flustered embarrassment. With quiet reverence, he took Gye Do-hyeop’s enormous palm and carefully deposited the coins and notes into it. The sum that had felt substantial in Seoul’s fist barely covered a fraction of the man’s hand.

“This is… for the disguise materials you gave me, and the clothes… and the sneakers…” Seoul stammered.

The instant those quiet, halting words left the youth’s lips, Gye Do-hyeop’s brow twitched, then settled into a hard line. His sharp mind understood at once what Geum Seoul was trying to do.

“And the meals while I stayed there,” Seoul added in a trembling murmur. “I can’t repay everything, but this is all the money I’ve saved…”

Every trace of warmth vanished from the face that had been smiling since the moment Gye Do-hyeop laid eyes on Geum Seoul that morning. A few paces behind them, Yu Jeong-ham barely caught his own jaw before it dropped. At last, he understood the source of the deep anxiety Geum Seoul had carried throughout the entire drive.

Geum Seoul glanced up and immediately noticed the rigid set of Gye Do-hyeop’s jaw. The icy expression frightened him enough that his voice dwindled to almost nothing, his gaze skittering cautiously away, but he still had to say what needed saying. Most likely, this was the last time he would ever see this man.

Seoul bowed his head slightly. “Thank you for everything. Please take care.”

He had wanted so badly to say a proper goodbye. The last time Gye Do-hyeop left the village, the departure had been so abrupt that Seoul never had the chance to say farewell, and the omission had lingered in his mind ever since. This time, he had promised himself that once they arrived and parted ways, he would say it properly. Summoning every scrap of courage he possessed, Geum Seoul clenched his fists. When he stole another glance, one corner of Gye Do-hyeop’s mouth had curled upward—but it looked nothing like the easy smirk from before. Slowly scratching one eyebrow with a forefinger, the man looked utterly dumbfounded.

“Ah,” Gye Do-hyeop drawled coldly. “So you’re saying you’re staying here?”

Geum Seoul nodded while staring at an empty patch of air. In truth, he could not understand why Gye Do-hyeop was asking him that. This was where he had always lived. He had stayed in the man’s apartment only because Gye Do-hyeop had helped him, and he could hardly impose forever. Park Gil-pyeong was gone, and the Deputy Director had recovered what he had come for. There was nothing left for him to worry about. Seoul felt a small, stubborn ache of regret, of course. But regret alone was no reason to remain at the man’s side.

Gye Do-hyeop scoffed in disbelief. “Ha. You’re staying here… You want to crawl right back into that rotting trash heap of a building buzzing with blowflies, so I should just fuck off alone.”

This little bastard. Gye Do-hyeop muttered under his breath and let out one incredulous snort after another, as though his ears had betrayed him. He was so dumbfounded that a pulse of pain began throbbing at his temples. He scrutinized Seoul for any hint of calculation and found none—only a pale face, nervous fingers fidgeting helplessly, and total fear. Arms crossed, Gye Do-hyeop looked the shamelessly innocent brat up and down. So the fucker was really going to use him and toss him aside?

Even if he demanded to know why the kid wanted to stay, that soft, lewd mouth would probably answer with a baffled, Because this is where I’ve always lived? If Geum Seoul ever taught a course on getting under Gye Do-hyeop’s skin, every conniving bastard in Seoul would line up to enroll. The sheer absurdity of it sent one wild thought after another through his head.

“Ah, but I’m planning to move somewhere else too,” Seoul blurted, anxious to explain. “Since no one lives here anymore, maybe the neighboring village…”

Look at this. Completely oblivious to what Gye Do-hyeop was actually thinking, the kid kept babbling as though the man’s only concern was where he would live next. One dark brow tilted crookedly.

Gye Do-hyeop had never met anyone like this in his life and genuinely had no idea where to begin. Usually, one sharp slap or a stream of vicious curses was enough to make people understand his meaning and disappear. Geum Seoul’s screws, however, had been tightened in some entirely different direction. Even now, Gye Do-hyeop found himself rolling his tongue against the inside of his cheek, weighing each word because one careless curse might make those narrow shoulders shrink even further.

Gye Do-hyeop crossed his arms with a sharp scowl. “Say it takes you a week to hike over to the next village. What the hell are you going to do once you get there?”

That was the gentlest version he could manage. When negotiating with terrorists holding hostages, Gye Do-hyeop could make his voice smooth, measured, almost soothing. None of that polished veneer would come out now. Somewhere between thought and mouth, the entire system had apparently malfunctioned.

“…”

Seoul fell silent. The road ahead was undeniably daunting. When he first settled in this slum, his mother had still been beside him; leaving for an unfamiliar place and building a life alone was completely uncharted territory. Even so, it was something he would have to do eventually. He could sleep in whatever abandoned shack offered shelter and run errands each day for enough coins to scrape by. One or two days would become ten, ten would become a month, and after that he would simply keep living as he always had. That was how Geum Seoul understood survival.

Gye Do-hyeop could practically see each thought passing across the youth’s face, and an exasperated sigh slipped out. In a settlement where everyone already knew Seoul, living beneath the vile yet protective umbrella of Park Gil-pyeong had at least kept certain predators at bay. If he wandered into an unfamiliar slum alone and unprotected, who knew what deranged bastard would take one look at him, roll his eyes back, and pounce?

“If you’re going to run errands for a living, do them at my place,” Gye Do-hyeop ordered.

“…Pardon?”

Geum Seoul’s eyes rounded in utter bewilderment.

Gye Do-hyeop eyed him up and down. “What’s the market rate for that body of yours right now?”

Swallowing back a curse, Gye Do-hyeop caught Seoul’s wrist once more. Forcing open the pale palm, he dumped the handful of spare change right back into it.

“Down payment,” Gye Do-hyeop stated flatly.

“…”

Watching the youth offer up this miserable handful as his entire fortune made one thing obvious: he did not even possess the digital wallet into which his errand fees had supposedly been deposited. Where the fuck was Gye Do-hyeop even supposed to begin educating this idiot? Swallowing a bitter mouthful of patience he had never known he possessed, he shoved the helmet toward him.

Gye Do-hyeop flipped the visor up. “Are you coming or not?”

If Geum Seoul refused here, would he simply leave him behind? The thought flickered briefly. There was no need to force the matter. It wasn’t as if he intended to lock the kid in a room and keep him as a personal plaything.

Why couldn’t he do just that? In any other neighborhood, the youth risked ending up as an abused plaything anyway. It would be far better if he took him hundreds, thousands of times himself. As perverse, twisted thoughts crept through the cracks of Gye Do-hyeop’s ribs, something stirred.

Tap.

Geum Seoul reached out with both hands and took the helmet. A quiet resolve settled over that clear face. Those pale, delicate features dug straight through Gye Do-hyeop’s murky desires and took firm root.

“…I’ll come,” Seoul whispered.

Gye Do-hyeop gave a curt nod. “That’s more like it.”

With that, he pinched Seoul’s soft cheek between thumb and forefinger, then let go. Even that tiny touch was enough to send Seoul’s mournful lashes lowering as crimson heat crept over his face. Should he just swallow this kid in one bite and chew him up? Entertaining the thought, Gye Do-hyeop bent down. Seoul, still carefully tucking the coins into his trouser pocket, yelped when Gye Do-hyeop sank his teeth into his shoulder and bit down hard.

“Fuck, just you wait till we get to Seoul,” he swore under his breath.

He didn’t bother telling him to repay this bewilderment with his body later. The anticipation of stripping him bare the moment he returned from work, licking and kissing every finger and toe until he was soaked, brought sweet saliva flooding into his mouth. How did things turn out like this? Placing the blame squarely on Geum Seoul, he mounted the motorcycle.

When Seoul rubbed his bitten shoulder and climbed on behind him, wrapping both arms tightly around his waist, the man’s annoyance melted away into humid warmth. Fantasies of burying his tongue deep into the youth’s plump heat. Crying out in sweet whimpers, sobbing as he dropped gleaming white gems.

The bike tore through the sweltering summer air, speeding down the slope. His pace was noticeably faster than before. It was a petty sort of retaliation, yet the arms clutching his waist with desperate tightness coaxed his speed down by the time they reached their destination. Gye Do-hyeop smiled. The refreshing fragrance clinging to his face originated not from the barren hill resembling a vulture’s perch, but straight from Geum Seoul pressed against his back. He realized his headache had completely vanished quite some time ago.