PHUW 92

After finishing the awkward call with Haeri, Jeong Mok immediately contacted the residential security team.

Normally, incoming parcels had to be checked in advance for safety. They were to be unboxed and repackaged, or if repackaging was impossible, inspected with a metal detector and spectrometer. If the contents were deemed different from the invoice, the procedure was to notify and then open it. It was a basic security measure, but he ordered its cancellation. He instructed them to check the package without opening it, and if it seemed different from what was on the invoice, he himself would open it, so they were to just leave it at the entrance. The unexpected order left the security team a little puzzled, but they accepted without objection.

‘I can’t exactly say a package of adult products is going to arrive.’

Jeong Mok sighed as he hung up. He had never bought adult products, but he did know that such parcels often arrived with completely unrelated invoices.

Haeri, who had shamelessly denied buying anything strange, finished a hefty shopping spree on an adult site as soon as the call ended. Perhaps that a payment alert would be sent to him, he even paid it with his own card. That meant he had no intention of telling him either.

‘Normally, wouldn’t you start with dating. If you just lock someone up at home and do lewd things, wouldn’t they get angry, asking if you only care about their body or something like that.’

The truth was, Jeong Mok had many things he wanted to do once Haeri’s leg healed.

He wanted to take him to a fine restaurant and feed him delicious food, stroll with him along the Han River park, go to the cinema, exhibitions, and even an amusement park. He wanted to take Gomi too, to a pet-friendly campsite or swimming pool.

And that was not all.

He would not have him drive, but he still wanted to give him a car, so first he had to train him to get a license. He needed to get him a passport too, so they could travel abroad. There was a mountain of things to do, so why was he so fixated on something like that.

In truth, even petting could be more than enough. Besides, there were many things he wanted to try with Ahn Haeri that did not involve penetration. He wanted to grab that gelatin-and-sugar-like ass hard enough to leave handprints, and he wanted to suck those pertly raised nipples. He wanted to lavish care on the provocatively erect penis, fondle his scrotum in his hand, and if permitted, give him fellatio. He wanted to pull out three times, then hold the drained Haeri and carry him to the bathroom, wash him, then embrace the soap-scented naked body as they slept. Even just that would make him so happy.

Bzz, bzz.

A text arrived. It was Haeri.

When do you get off work? Come quickly.

It was a hurry-up message. Normally that would have made him happy, but now it gave him an oddly uneasy feeling.

‘Could it be?’

These days, there were plenty of “same-day shipping” services. Jeong Mok, unable to hide his unease, accessed the adult product site Haeri had used and checked the order history. It was still only at the order-completed stage. The products Haeri bought today would not be arriving right away.

“Ha.”

An unconscious sigh of relief slipped out. With trembling fingers, he typed a reply.

I’ll be leaving work soon. Is something wrong?

I’ll tell you when I get there.

What was he trying to pull again.

Something was amidd. Until before Haeri’s discharge, no, even just a little while ago, Jeong Mok had thought he would be the one to take the emotional role of villain, cornering Haeri into a dead end. But it was not like that at all.

‘How did it come to this?’

Jeong Mok stared at his phone, lost in thought.

The puppy he had found whining in the rain turned out to be a wolf cub. And as soon as it entered his home, it bared its sly nature without restraint. Under the pretext of a shower, the other had launched an assault, and Jeong Mok had ended up losing his self-control and touching Ahn Haeri.

They had not gone all the way, but it had been sex. Sex between two men, carried out without hesitation or identity crises. He admitted they were strongly drawn to each other. And as much as he liked Haeri, Haeri also liked him. That was an undeniable fact.

Their relationship had no impact on the world. It was simply that two men, each living a miserable life, met and, after pushing and pulling, ended up having sex. It was not some great catastrophe. But for them, it was a revolution that overturned their worlds.

Yesterday’s acquaintance had become today’s lover. Did they not need time to process that gap. Normally, people tried to name a newly formed relationship by exchanging little bits of emotional intimacy. Things like a movie date, an amusement park date, or even a hotel suite date. Since they were raising a dog together, they could even go on a dog-walking date.

But Ahn Haeri seemed to have no interest in dating. If anything, he was preparing for the next round. He had even bluntly hung up after their first sex, when their calls should have been tinged with embarrassment and affection.

‘So he really only likes my body, after all.’

Jeong Mok stood from his seat and went to the full-length mirror in the corner of his office. What came into view was his unusual build and a face that matched it fairly well.

He was well aware of his large physique. He only disliked it personally because he resembled a jealous murderer, but no one had ever called him ugly. His mother, Noh Heejae, had fallen so deeply for Jeong Yeongil that she went through with a marriage the family did not welcome, and the reason was his more than decent, even striking, appearance.

Appearance was the beginning of all favor. If someone looked too bad, they could not easily gain favor. That was why, although he did not like looking like a replica of Jeong Yeongil, if Ahn Haeri liked it that much, he was willing to raise his own assessment of it.

But if appearance was the only appeal, that was a problem. Appearance would inevitably change. Some people did grow more attractive with age, but him? Hard to say. Since he had never seen what Jeong Yeongil looked like with age, he could not be sure. With effort he could maintain it to some extent.

‘What if he gets tired of me?’

No matter how much of a flower someone’s face was, if you looked at it constantly, at some point it would lose its effect, and some people even grew sick of it. His mother, Noh Heejae, was a typical example of the latter.

By nature an artist, she loved change and upheaval, and abhorred stability and calm. That was why she tried to leave the perfect three-person family she had built with the man she once called her flawless ideal, Jeong Yeongil. In the same way, was there any guarantee that Ahn Haeri would not tire of him? No.

‘If he were a woman, at least we could have a child.’

The ruined bond of Jeong Yeongil and Noh Heejae dragged on stickily through Jeong Mok. In comparison, between the two of them, there was no firm link. For now there was Gom-i, but if Haeri abandoned him, that unstable dog would turn away without a second glance. Even if not, like Song-i, one day he would leave first. And after that, would Haeri stay by his side?

A fire that spread too quickly devoured fuel fast and died out on its own. The human heart, often compared to fire play, was the same. Run too fast, and you reached the end faster. If you did not even know where the end lay, it was better to walk than to run. Better still, to stop right there.

At least until he could be sure that Haeri was bound tightly to him, he needed to drag things out and endure. In the meantime, it seemed best to use another of his talents, ‘wealth,’ to keep Haeri dazzled. Once spending grew lavish, it was usually hard to cut back.

In the past, Haeri had balked at buying a single hoodie from an outlet store as too expensive, but now he was using his card freely. On this front, there seemed to be hope.

‘Even if he comes to resent me a little.’

If it could even slightly slow the inevitable rush toward collapse.

***

“Ah, it’s itchy.”

Haeri wriggled his foot, which was still a little swollen.

He had taken care not to let water into the half-cast foot, but he could not stop the sweat rising inside. Thinking it might get better if he dried the skin, he unwrapped the bandage. At first it felt cool, but the itch did not go away completely. He did not want to scratch openly, so he gently scratched with his fingertips or pressed down firmly.

As he sat on the sofa looking at his injured foot, Gom-i trotted over and tried to lick it.

“Ah, no. Go away. If it festers, I’ll have to go back to the hospital.”

That had been the condition of his early discharge. If recovery slowed or anything happened, he would be readmitted immediately.

Ignoring his protest, Gom-i kept shoving his big head in. The wound had been disinfected with red medicine, but sweat had collected between his toes and caused a musty smell, so there was no helping it. He was about to wipe it off with a wet towel when he suddenly stopped.

Yesterday he had lured Jeong Mok with shampoo. Clumsy as it was, he had finished a shower too. If he asked to be washed again, Jeong Mok would surely agree at least once more.

“Today it’s this.”

He planned to ask him to clean, disinfect, and rebandage his foot. He would exaggerate the pain and make him feel guilty, then kiss him at the right moment. Since Jeong Mok would not agree if he asked to do what they did yesterday again, instead today he would ask to sleep together.

“Perfect.”

Woof!

Not even knowing what it meant, Gom-i barked happily.

Yesterday, after discharge, Gom-i had ridden over an hour in the car and, overjoyed to see Haeri, had played himself out until he collapsed from exhaustion. He had slept so soundly that even while Jeong Mok and Haeri made a racket, he did not wake. But today was different. While luring Jeong Mok, Haeri needed to tire Gom-i out so he would not get in the way.

“Gom, let’s play fetch.”

Woof!

He understood the word for play immediately and wagged his tail.

Jeong Mok had not only turned the living room bathroom into Gom-i’s toilet but also set up a dog-only playroom in the adjoining room. It was filled with giant cushions, all kinds of pet supplies, and toys. Instead of the big ball they usually played with, he found a rubber ball perfect for fetch and a dog frisbee.

In any other home, people would ask how one could handle a calf-sized giant dog, not a tiny lapdog. But here it was different.

The place boasted zero noise between floors and gym-sized space. If he threw it once down the longest hallway, it took at least fifteen seconds for Gom-i to retrieve the ball. With a hundred throws, even a dog with endless stamina would collapse.

Unaware of his guardian’s wicked intentions, the dog charged after the ball flying across the ceiling, tongue lolling, ears flapping.