SLC 18

“Young master. Please have your snack before continuing.”

As the door burst open and Secretary Kang came in, Mok Seongha pulled his chair and snuggled himself right up against Kim Jinkyung. When the man’s solid shoulder touched him, Kim Jinkyung flinched. Mok Seongha didn’t care and leaned in even closer.

“I’ll eat it after class. Leave it there.”

Mok Seongha answered while deliberately not even looking that way and resting his shoulder against Kim Jinkyung. Secretary Kang set the tray down on the desk and gave Kim Jinkyung a cold look.

Please don’t look at me like that. I didn’t tell him to do this.

Kim Jinkyung inwardly lamented and continued the lesson.

“Would you like to read this once? Don’t worry about pronunciation.”

As Mok Seongha slowly read the English passage aloud, Secretary Kang watched with a satisfied expression.

…At this point, it’s like he gave birth to him himself.

Kim Jinkyung swallowed another sigh and cautiously called out to Secretary Kang.

“We’re in the middle of a lesson, so if you have something to say, maybe later…”

“I have nothing to say.”

“……”

Then please leave.

The words hovered on the tip of his tongue, but Kim Jinkyung timidly just fiddled with his pen.

“Leave.”

Mok Seongha said what Kim Jinkyung couldn’t. Secretary Kang bowed slightly, gave Kim Jinkyung one last hostile glare, and left the room.

Only then did Kim Jinkyung let out the breath he’d been holding and push Mok Seongha aside.

“Please move over a bit.”

“Just a little longer. He might still be watching through the door crack.”

“……”

Kim Jinkyung counted to 5 in his head and then sat far away from Mok Seongha.

“Keep reading.”

Kim Jinkyung pointed at the English passage that had been cut off. Mok Seongha started reading again.

His voice was low.

It sounded like ripples spreading across the surface of a lake covered in thin ice. It wasn’t fluent, but it was the kind of voice that made you stop whatever you were doing and listen.

Isn’t it unfair for a handsome guy to have a nice voice too?

With a blank face, Kim Jinkyung organized the structure of the English passage in his head while listening to Mok Seongha’s voice.

“Hey.”

Mok Seongha suddenly called out to him mid reading.

“Yes?”

“Then why do you always make me read the English passages out loud? We don’t have much time.”

“Reading out loud helps with memorizing vocabulary and getting used to sentence structure.”

“What if I read out loud during the exam then?”

“You can’t. You’ll get kicked out.”

Kim Jinkyung looked at Mok Seongha in disbelief and emphasized it again.

“You absolutely can’t read out loud during the exam. Never.”

Mok Seongha stared at him. When the gaze lingered, Kim Jinkyung felt awkward and asked, “What is it?”

“You sometimes treat me like I’m a kid who doesn’t know anything.”

“Haha. Do I?”

There were plenty of things to worry about. Hearing that he never even went to elementary school and had almost never gone outside made Kim Jinkyung say ridiculous things just to get him out of the house.

“I know things too.”

Mok Seongha smiled in a meaningful way.

“Yes. I’m sure you do.”

The moment the contract was written, Mok Seongha boldly demanded to be taught how men did it together.

‘…You know how men and women do it, right?’

Kim Jinkyung asked carefully. The words “common sense” meant nothing with this man. Even a stone bridge had to be tapped before crossing.

‘I said I didn’t go to school, not that I can’t read.’

Mok Seongha pulled a book off the shelf and tossed it to Kim Jinkyung.

“Puberty and Beautiful Sex”

Kim Jinkyung doubted his own eyes.

‘What is this?’

‘What do you think? A book about sex.’

Kim Jinkyung took a moment to calm his breathing and regain his composure. He even flipped through it quickly, wondering if some other magazine had been tucked inside.

‘You learned from this book?’

‘Of course. If not from a book, then from what?’

His tone was matter of fact. Kim Jinkyung blinked for a long time, then answered in a tiny voice.

‘Videos.’

‘You watch recordings of other people having sex?’

Mok Seongha asked back with apparent disgust.

‘No, not recordings, I mean…’

‘Then what?’

‘…That…’

How was he supposed to explain this?

‘Something like scenes where people imitate it.’

‘Then why would you watch other people imitate it?’

Mok Seongha frowned and added, “That’s gross.”

Kim Jinkyung remembered the things Mok Seongha had said to him before.

‘If you’re going to have sex, do it somewhere I’m not. I’m not going to watch that kind of thing.’

‘I wasn’t disappointed in you. As long as you don’t do that disgusting stuff in front of me.’

…So it wasn’t because it was men together that he didn’t want to see it, but because he had never seen sex scenes at all and found them disgusting?

Kim Jinkyung stared at Mok Seongha for a long while.

‘Don’t you use the internet?’

‘I do.’

…Aren’t you curious?

‘Are you curious about watching other people have sex?’

Mok Seongha asked with his chin resting on his hand, his eyes looking as if they were coated in indulgence and obscenity. Seeing him ask such an innocent, almost pre-puberty question with that face made Kim Jinkyung feel like the filthy one.

In the end, Kim Jinkyung smiled awkwardly, lowered his head, and said no.

‘So how do men do it together?’

‘It works on a similar principle to men and women.’

‘So where do you put it?’

Ah. I really want to die.

At this age, having to give sex education to the person you have a crush on.

‘…In a place you can put it, I guess.’

Kim Jinkyung’s face burned with self loathing and shame. He fidgeted with his pen and barely managed to answer.

Mok Seongha went hmm and was lost in thought. His gaze landed on Kim Jinkyung. The searching look made every nerve in Kim Jinkyung’s body go on edge. Wherever that gaze touched, heat spread and his skin prickled.

“Ah. There.”

Mok Seongha’s eyes settled around Kim Jinkyung’s lower body.

‘If it’s a hole you’d put it into on a man, there’s only that one.’

Mok Seongha’s lips, with their clear lines, exuded a peculiar impression. The mischief lingering at the upturned corners reminded Kim Jinkyung that he was a feline creature, and the sharp fangs visible between his lips whenever he spoke radiated a carnivorous, almost cruel sensuality.

Even knowing that his sexual knowledge was at a child’s level, the moment the word “hole” came out of his mouth, heat rushed up to Kim Jinkyung’s ears. At the same time, guilt followed. It felt like leaving one footprint after another in a wide stretch of white snow on a snowy dawn.

‘Belly button.’

“………”

The next moment, Kim Jinkyung froze completely. Mok Seongha asked again to confirm, ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’

His irises, like golden threads bursting like fireworks in the black night sky, sparkled with intellectual curiosity. Kim Jinkyung hesitated for a long time before he could only nod quietly.

That man’s ignorance wasn’t his fault. In the first place, it was Secretary Kang’s fault for handling sex education for a kid with nothing but a single book.

“Anyway, do you think Secretary Kang is reporting this properly?”

If he was reporting it properly, this whole con would definitely fail. A supposed romance between a professional in unrequited love and a man who believed the belly button was a viable hole had no chance of being convincing.

“What do you think, teacher?”

“About what?”

“Do you think he’s buying it?”

“…I don’t know.”

Kim Jinkyung awkwardly avoided his gaze. If he told the truth, dealing with the aftermath would be hard, but if he lied, dealing with what came next would be just as hard.

Secretary Kang kept glaring at Kim Jinkyung whenever they met, but he didn’t say anything. It seemed Mok Seongha had warned him not to say anything unnecessary to the teacher. However, it wasn’t like he really suspected their relationship. He just hated the sight of the two of them sticking together.

“We have to last a month.”

Mok Seongha chewed on his pen as he worried.

“Worry about it after you solve the problem.”

Kim Jinkyung advised him, sticking to his role as a tutor. Mok Seongha started solving the problem as told. He had always listened well to advice related to studying, but lately he didn’t argue back even once. Ever since they wrote into the contract that anything related to studying would follow Kim Jinkyung’s instructions, that tendency had only grown stronger.

“Hey.”

After finishing the problem, Mok Seongha lifted his head.

“Yes?”

“Let’s go out.”

“Now?”

“No, after class.”

“Why?”

Kim Jinkyung asked, looking distinctly uneasy. This was the first time the suggestion to go outside had come from Mok Seongha himself, so his intentions were impossible not to question.

“For a date.”

After spewing that nonsense in a voice good enough to be irritating, Mok Seongha continued reading the passage.

…Bastard.

Kim Jinkyung swallowed the curse as his heart fluttered despite himself at those careless words.

‎

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“This place?”

The moment they stepped inside, the big cat, with every hair on his body on edge, asked with a hostile face.

“…Probably, yes.”

Kim Jinkyung answered without confidence.

‘Take me somewhere couples go on dates late in the evening.’

At Mok Seongha’s sudden order, Kim Jinkyung nearly got a headache trying to piece together a date course he had never experienced even once.

A movie theater was out since there was one at home. Shopping malls and department stores would be crowded and close soon.

Where was he supposed to go?

Finding a place to go late in the evening with someone who hated crowds because of the smell and noise was like picking a star from the sky. It was even harder for someone who had never properly dated in his life.

After agonizing over it for a long time, Kim Jinkyung cautiously suggested an amusement park. It was the only place he could think of where they could act like a couple without having to do much. Since bodyguards would definitely follow, they needed something visible to show.

“Why are there so many people and why is it so loud?”

The big cat asked with a fierce face, his fur already bristling from the moment they entered.

“…I’m sorry.”

Kim Jinkyung’s miscalculation was population density. Contrary to his expectation that it would be quiet late in the evening, the cool weather had drawn not only couples but also families in droves.

Walking through the crowded amusement park, Kim Jinkyung apologized repeatedly every time they were jostled by people.

“How are you even supposed to date in a place like this?”

Mok Seongha asked with a face that genuinely couldn’t understand.

How would I know? I’ve never done it.

“Did you come here often?”

“When I was a student, a few times.”

Those school trips were the only times he had ever been to an amusement park.

“So you were doing it since you were a minor? That’s fucking promiscuous.”

Coming from someone who barely knew how sex even worked, dating was apparently synonymous with sex in his head. Faced with that massive irony, Kim Jinkyung found himself increasingly at a loss for words.

“What did you do when you came?”

“We just rode rides, ate, took photos…”

He listed what he had done with school friends back then. At that moment, a roller coaster thundered past on nearby tracks with a loud scream. Mok Seongha scowled and looked up at the rails.

“No. I don’t need to ride something like that.”

“Then what?”

“Something that moves slowly?”

Kim Jinkyung pointed at the merry go round turning with music. Seeing the ride, which was more than half full of children, Mok Seongha’s expression grew even harsher than before.

“You want me to ride that?”

“…I’ll ride it by myself.”

“Then what about me?”

“Wave your hand while memorizing vocabulary.”

It was the best imitation of a couple Kim Jinkyung could come up with. In the end, Kim Jinkyung lined up alone and got on the merry go round.

He got on. Mok Seongha leaned against the safety fence and waited for Kim Jinkyung.

Each time the merry go round completed a circle, Mok Seongha did exactly what Kim Jinkyung had told him to do. He held the vocabulary book in one hand and waved the other.

He waved a couple of times, dry and mechanical, with an expressionless face.

…Would anyone believe this?

Kim Jinkyung spotted the bodyguards watching from a distance and sighed. He could already imagine what would get reported back to Secretary Kang.

No matter how he thought about it, this was insane. How was someone like him supposed to pretend to be the lover of someone like that?

“…Should I quit now?”

Kim Jinkyung mumbled with his forehead pressed against the cold pole. There was nothing in it for him. The contract offered no compensation.

The terms were simple.

1. For all advice related to studying, regardless of reason, the tutor, hereafter Party A, would be followed.

2. Pretending to be lovers would be done only when necessary or when requested by Mok Seongha, hereafter Party B.

3. Unnecessary physical contact would not occur, and even when necessary, Party B would withdraw if Party A refused.

4. If this matter was unintentionally exposed, Party B would bear all responsibility.

5. Once the June mock exam results were released, all contracts between Party A and Party B would be terminated. This included every previously signed contract.

After reading clause 5, Mok Seongha had looked displeased.

‘So you’re saying you won’t tutor me anymore?’

‘…If you still can’t persuade him by then, wouldn’t it be better to consider another approach?’

It was a realistic suggestion. If the June mock exam results were bad, he wouldn’t be able to persuade the Chairman, so Mok Seongha would need to change direction.

‘But quitting tutoring doesn’t make sense.’

‘If persuasion still doesn’t work then, shouldn’t I find a way to survive too?’

If his exam results were terrible and he was pretending to seduce the grandson on top of that, survival after June wouldn’t be guaranteed.

‘Then take out clause 5.’

‘If you do, I won’t sign.’

Kim Jinkyung had held his ground. He needed a line of retreat too. He deserved at least one rope to escape all of this.

The other clauses were minor. Party B would not kill or bury Party A. Party B would not kill, hit, or verbally abuse others while outside. Party B would not behave rudely or make violent remarks toward others, and so on.

‘What about payment?’

Mok Seongha asked before signing.

‘It’s fine.’

‘No. Take money. The Chairman said you shouldn’t trust deals made without money or contracts.’

Mok Seongha said with a very serious face.

‘I’m already getting enough as tutoring pay. And thanks to you, food and lodging are covered too.’

On the day he moved in, Secretary Kang had brought him an armful of new clothes, saying they were from the young master. It was a shame there weren’t any checkered patterns, but people had been telling him he looked cooler since then.

‘Then you’re getting the short end of the stick.’

Mok Seongha mumbled with a dissatisfied expression.

At least you realize that. Kim Jinkyung smiled inwardly, signed the contract, and handed it over.

‘Then let’s do this.’

‘Don’t.’

The word slipped out of Kim Jinkyung’s mouth without thinking. Every time Mok Seongha suggested something, it only ever made his heart drop.

‘You don’t even know what it is. There’s nothing in it that hurts you.’

“……”

Even if it hurt a little, he didn’t want to do anything.

‘When the contract ends, I’ll grant you one wish.’

What kind of wish did he think he’d make?

‘Anything.’

Mok Seongha said that as he signed the contract.

‘Say it, and I’ll grant one.’

“Anything, if I say it.”

Kim Jinkyung murmured Mok Seongha’s words under his breath with his forehead pressed to the pole. With money to burn, he could buy almost anything if asked. But he didn’t want to ask for something like that.

“People should live with what they’re given.”

His parents had never coveted what belonged to others or been greedy.

Live with what you’re given.

That was how his parents had lived their whole lives as farmers. If it didn’t rain, it didn’t rain. If there was a drought, there was a drought. You couldn’t blame nature. Nature gave days humans couldn’t choose. You couldn’t reject them just because you didn’t like them. You simply did what you could where you stood.

Kim Jinkyung had naturally learned that way of living. He didn’t covet what belonged to others, and he didn’t indulge in excessive desire. That even applied to the place where he should have been the most selfish. He didn’t dare to want. So even when this contract ended, he had no intention of wishing for anything from Mok Seongha.

…Either way, I’m losing out.

Kim Jinkyung sighed inwardly and tapped his forehead gently against the pole.

That was when it happened.

“Hey.”

“……!”

Golden eyes appeared in his vision like lights switching on in the dark. Startled by the sudden presence right in front of his face, Kim Jinkyung recoiled in shock.

“What are you doing?”

Mok Seongha caught him as he nearly fell backward and sat him upright again, asking with disbelief.

“What are you doing? How did you get here?”

Why is he here? He was over there just a moment ago.

Kim Jinkyung looked back and forth between where Mok Seongha had been standing and the Mok Seongha right in front of him.

“Why weren’t you looking at me?”

“Huh?”

“I kept waving my hand.”

Only then did Kim Jinkyung realize he’d had his head down the whole time, pressed against the pole.

“Did I do something wrong? Should I have waved the other way?”

Mok Seongha asked while moving his hand back and forth.

…Did he really jump the fence and climb onto a moving merry go round just to ask that?

While Kim Jinkyung stood there pale, an announcement began.

“There is currently an unauthorized rider on the merry go round. This is extremely dangerous. Boarding or exiting a ride while it is in operation is prohibited. For safety reasons, the ride will be stopped temporarily.”

After the announcement, the merry go round came to a stop. He could feel the heated stares of the murmuring crowd.

“Why did it stop?”

“…Get down.”

Kim Jinkyung quickly unbuckled the safety belt and got off. A staff member holding a microphone glared at the two of them.

“Sir. Please wait.”

The staff member stopped them. Expecting to get scolded, Kim Jinkyung lowered his head and stepped forward. At that moment, Mok Seongha suddenly grabbed his wrist.

“Let’s go.”