SLC 21

This is the worst.

That was the only thought in Kim Jinkyung’s head inside the elevator that was going up at high speed.

“There are a lot of people today.”

“It’s the weekend, that’s why.”

While chatting about this and that, a couple stepped into the elevator, and the moment Kim Jinkyung saw them, he froze on the spot.

“Jinyoung-oppa. Should we stop by the lounge first?”

“Let’s do whatever you want, Haein. If you like it, oppa likes it too.” A familiar voice drilled into his ears.

It can’t be, there’s no way, someone with the name Jinyoung who talks that greasy and affectionate has to exist somewhere else in Seoul.

Kim Jinkyung slowly, very slowly, checked the faces of the couple standing in front of the elevator control panel, then hurriedly lowered his head.

This is the worst. That really is Go Jinyoung.

“I’m hungry.”

Mok Seongha’s voice drew attention just like his looks did. When his low, cold voice echoed through the quiet elevator, people started looking in their direction.

“I’m going to eat what I brought, what are you going to eat? I can order room service for you.”

“…”

Kim Jinkyung couldn’t answer and just stood there with his head turned toward the corner.

“I’m asking what you’re going to eat?”

Mok Seongha asked again as he tugged on Kim Jinkyung’s clothes. The eyes of everyone inside the elevator turned toward them.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Mok Seongha grabbed Kim Jinkyung’s shoulder and made him turn around. Kim Jinkyung resisted with all his strength.

“What are you doing?”

Mok Seongha frowned slightly as he asked, unable to understand his behavior.

“…Wow. Oppa, look over there.”

The woman standing in front of the control panel whispered in a small voice to the man beside her. Go Jinyoung also started looking over.

“Hey. You…”

Mok Seongha forcefully turned Kim Jinkyung’s body to face him. He saw eyes filled with fear. Eyes that looked like tears would spill out the moment someone touched them were shaking anxiously. Mok Seongha’s expression froze.

“I’ve never seen this before. Between two guys….”

Go Jinyoung also started looking this way.

Even whispered in a small voice, there was a limit in a sealed space. Kim Jinkyung looked like he might pass out at any moment, trembling all over.

“Huh…?”

The eyes of the man who had been glancing over widened and he tried to acknowledge them. Kim Jinkyung’s stomach churned.

Should I have just greeted him normally from the start? Should I say hello now? Do I need to quit school?

He hadn’t meant to cry, but heat rushed to his eyes.

That was when it happened.

“……”

Mok Seongha suddenly pulled Kim Jinkyung and locked him inside his arms. He firmly cradled the back of his head with his palm and pressed their bodies together without leaving even the smallest gap.

Kim Jinkyung couldn’t understand what was happening. His entire body was hidden by the man’s frame. The other people in the elevator started whispering as they looked over.

“What are you looking at?”

A cold, smooth voice cut through the air. Everyone flinched and swallowed.

“First time seeing a homo?”

Mok Seongha asked threateningly. All eyes immediately turned away.

An awkward silence settled inside the elevator.

Kim Jinkyung closed his eyes. The man’s breath brushed his forehead. His whole body prickled. Hot blood flooded his heart and it started pounding. Heat rose where the large palm covered the back of his head.

Their bodies were close. The solid arm and chest pinning his upper body, the waist brushing him dangerously close. His toes tingled and a warmth slowly heated his veins.

Time passed like eternity, and the elevator stopped. People stepped out one by one. Last to leave was the Go Jinyoung couple. Mok Seongha didn’t loosen his hold on Kim Jinkyung until the doors fully closed.

Only the two of them remained, but Mok Seongha still didn’t release him. Kim Jinkyung tapped his arm gently with his finger. Mok Seongha slowly relaxed the hand holding the back of his head.

“Someone you know?”

The moment those golden eyes stared at him, Kim Jinkyung knew. In the end, this dead cat would take his entire heart.

“It’s fine. They didn’t see your face.”

When Kim Jinkyung couldn’t answer, Mok Seongha patted the back of his head as he spoke.

“…Thank you.”

He was still being held. His fingertips tingled. He should tell him to let go now, but he couldn’t manage to say the words. The man’s breathing rose and fell near his head.

“Hey.”

“…Yes?”

“Did you put on perfume?”

Mok Seongha asked with a slight frown. Kim Jinkyung shook his head. He hadn’t used perfume. He had deliberately used a body cleanser with no scent.

“Then why does it smell…”

Mok Seongha bent down and brought his nose to Kim Jinkyung’s neck. Kim Jinkyung shoved him away with all his strength. At the same time, the elevator doors opened and Mok Seongha fell backward.

“I’m sorry. I got startled all of a sudden…”

Kim Jinkyung hurriedly stepped out of the elevator as well. Mok Seongha sat on the floor and looked up at him. A chill flashed through his golden eyes.

Kim Jinkyung stepped back. The elevator had already gone down, and there was nowhere to run.

I’m going to die.

He closed his eyes, but even after some time passed, nothing happened. Kim Jinkyung slowly opened his eyes again.

“Ah…”

Mok Seongha was right in front of him, face close, staring at him.

“Teacher, did you know?”

…No. I don’t.

“You’re the only person who’s knocked me over and stayed alive.”

“……”

“And twice.”

Kim Jinkyung felt fear pin down his entire body. It was a different kind of fear from what he had felt in the elevator.

“I won’t let it slide a third time.”

Kim Jinkyung nodded vigorously. A barely there smile appeared on Mok Seongha’s lips.

“Come here.”

He held out his hand. At Mok Seongha’s order, the bodyguards hadn’t gotten on the elevator. There was no one watching. Even so, should he take it?

When Kim Jinkyung hesitated, Mok Seongha snatched his hand and tightly held it.

“Hallway cameras.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Kim Jinkyung quickly moved to his side. Walking side by side down the hotel corridor with their hands clasped, Kim Jinkyung stared absentmindedly at the man’s hand, all thick knuckles and strong fingers.

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Is this how much?

Mok Seongha spread his hands and gauged the width. The body he had held was thinner than expected. If he put strength into his hand, he could easily break bones.

Mok Seongha looked down at his own hand.

He was scared.

In the elevator, Kim Jinkyung’s pale face was pitiful, he was shaking uncontrollably. At first, Mok Seongha thought maybe he’d been startled because the elevator moved too quickly. It was hard to believe someone who had even been in the military could be that weak and timid. Kim Jinkyung startled easily and got scared over trivial things.

Kim Jinkyung’s frightened face had been very entertaining. His eyes widening, pupils shrinking in an instant, eyebrows lifting slightly, lips parting. Even the sound of his heart racing.

That was fun, so sometimes Mok Seongha scared him on purpose.

‘Young Master. If you frighten prey animals too much, they can die.’

Even Secretary Kang had scolded him once because he couldn’t stand watching it. In the end, Mok Seongha reduced how often he teased him, but he couldn’t stop completely.

But the fear on Kim Jinkyung’s face in the elevator hadn’t been fun. No, it had been unpleasant. Mok Seongha quickly realized that the cause of that fear wasn’t him, but someone else.

‘Huh…?’

The moment someone tried to acknowledge Kim Jinkyung, a vicious sensation made his gut churn.

Mok Seongha pulled Kim Jinkyung into his arms. At first, he’d only meant to hide his face. Then he wanted to hide his body too. His hair, his shoulders, even his toes. He wanted to cover everything, without leaving a single thing exposed.

“Someone you know?”

In response to that question, Kim Jinkyung stared up at him blankly. He had a tiny mole on his lower eyelid. It usually wasn’t visible, but when he looked up like this, frightened, it showed distinctly.

“It’s fine. They didn’t see your face.”

“…Thank you.”

He was this scared, so how had he even lived doing gay things all this time? And doing it so messily.

Mok Seongha couldn’t understand it. Kim Jinkyung was full of things he couldn’t understand. The more he learned, the more so.

That he was older than him but warm like a child. That he looked younger than him but boldly claimed to sleep around with men. That his heart got louder every time he was nervous, yet it didn’t bother him. And also…

“Hey.”

“…Yes?”

The eyes are the window to the heart.

It was something his grandfather always said. If you look into a person’s eyes, you can tell what kind of human they are. That was why he taught him to always talk while making eye contact.

Kim Jinkyung’s window was always clean, without a speck of dust. If you looked into it even a little, you could see everything inside as it is.

He never said it out loud, but sometimes, when he looked into Kim Jinkyung’s eyes, it felt like Kim Jinkyung was standing right in front of him, completely naked. That was the extent to which Kim Jinkyung was transparent with Mok Seongha.

But lately, whenever he met Kim Jinkyung’s eyes, he sometimes felt like his vision was going dark. It had been like that in the elevator, and it had been like that when he was holding him. Something that made him feel dizzy and his body heat rise.

‘Did you put on perfume?’

Maybe it was because he was so tense that his body temperature had risen unusually high. His natural scent felt stronger than usual. No, it was a little different. It wasn’t the subtle apple scent he always smelled, but something a bit sweeter….

He quickly shook his head.

There definitely was a different smell.

Mok Seongha bent down. He wanted to confirm the scent he had just smelled. He gently nuzzled Kim Jinkyung’s neck and was about to inhale, when he was suddenly shoved away.

‘I’m sorry. I got startled all of a sudden…’

It was the exact same expression Kim Jinkyung had worn when he pushed him away at the garden pond. If he was that scared, why did he keep causing trouble every time?

‘The teacher is a coward, but he seems to forget it very often.’

He remembered Secretary Kang’s evaluation of Kim Jinkyung.

Kim Jinkyung really did lose his sense of fear sometimes. Even now. As soon as they entered the suite, he said he was going to wash up and went into the bathroom, and even after an hour, he still had not come out.

What is he even doing in there?

Mok Seongha called out, “Hey.”

“Are you asleep in there or something?”

“Ah, no.”

The reply came from inside the bathroom. At least he was not dead.

Mok Seongha flopped down onto the bed. He rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Feeling the subtle heat lingering in his body, he slightly furrowed his brow.

Am I running a fever?

Mok Seongha placed his palm against his own forehead. He remained like that for a while, but he could not tell whether he actually had a fever.

Did I catch a cold?

It had been over ten years since he last had a cold, so he could not remember what it felt like. But something was definitely different from usual.

His body felt languid, and disoriented. More than anything, every time he breathed, heat traveled up his throat.

Should I ask Secretary Kang?

…No, if he did that, he would make a huge fuss and tell him to go straight home, sex or whatever be damned.

Secretary Kang looked like he was on his side, but at critical moments, he always sided with the Chairman. That was the same with the marriage issue. Even knowing how much he hated it, he still moved according to the Chairman’s wishes.

Just thinking about having sex with someone made his stomach churn. He had never done it, and he never felt like he would in his lifetime. And yet his family could freeze to death for all he cared.

The moment he got the call telling him to stop fooling around and go on a blind date, he deliberately headed to the hotel suite his grandfather had chosen as the blind date location. This hotel was also part of his grandfather’s company affiliates, so news must have already reached him by now.

That old man.

He had said he was suffering from low blood pressure, so this would make a fine filial gift.

Mok Seongha closed his eyes with one hand over his forehead. If he slept for a bit and woke up, it would probably get better. But as time passed, heat began to spread beneath his skin.

I should take some medicine.

Mok Seongha slowly pushed himself up.

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As soon as they entered the hotel room, Kim Jinkyung fled into the bathroom. He had gone in saying he would wash up and come out, but once inside, he could not bring himself to leave.

How could he possibly run into Go Jinyoung there?

Kim Jinkyung stopped trying to calculate the odds of running into someone he knew in a hotel he was visiting for the first time, especially inside an elevator.

His terrible luck that had pushed through such a slim probability was unfair. But, fortunately, before their eyes met, Mok Seongha had embraced him….

Kim Jinkyung swallowed his screams and scrubbed his body with the shower ball. No matter how much he washed, the sensation of the man holding him would not go away. The fact that Mok Seongha had held him for a long time weighed on his mind more than almost running into a school senior in a hotel elevator.

‘Did you put on perfume?’

Along with the man’s low voice, the image of his nose coming close flashed through his mind.

Aaahhh.

This time, Kim Jinkyung squeezed out a generous amount of shampoo and started lathering his hair. It was already the fourth wash. He had filled the tub and soaked for a long time, then showered three more times, but he couldn’t calm his restless mind.

The area around his neck where the man’s breath had touched felt itchy. The upper body his arms had wrapped around, the back of his head cradled by that large hand, the lower area that had almost brushed against him….

Nooo.

Kim Jinkyung bowed his head and let out a tortured internal scream. How was he supposed to face that man when he went out? No, why was it that the room was ridiculously spacious, but there was only one bed?

Should I take a cold shower?

While clutching the shower head and hesitating, he heard a noise from outside.

“Just a moment.”

Kim Jinkyung turned on the water and rinsed the shampoo foam from his hair. It sounded like he was being spoken to from outside, but with the shower running, he could not hear clearly.

“Just a moment. I’ll finish washing and come out soon.”

His face burned as soon as he said those words. He knew what those words could imply in a hotel setting.

…Of course, he would be the only one thinking that.

That man is a cat. A cat knows nothing.

Kim Jinkyung continued mumbling to himself as he washed his hair. He thought he heard something again.

Kim Jinkyung turned off the shower head and waited, but no more sounds followed.

What was that? Did I imagine it?

Just as he was about to turn the water back on, a loud sound echoed from outside.

“Is something wrong?”

Kim Jinkyung asked loudly. But there was no reply. He roughly wiped himself dry with a towel and called out, “Seongha-ssi.” It was still quiet.

Kim Jinkyung put on a bathrobe. He stepped out of the bathroom and looked around, but Mok Seongha was nowhere to be seen.

Did he go out alone?

As Kim Jinkyung was about to head back into the bathroom, his eyes caught on a dark mass beneath the opposite side of the bed.

No way….

Kim Jinkyung walked around the bed to check. Mok Seongha was there. More precisely, he had transformed into a black panther and was lying beneath the bed.

“Are you okay?”

Kim Jinkyung rushed over and helped the black panther up. It seemed he had lost consciousness briefly, because the panther opened his eyes.

“No, why all of a sudden…. Did it rain?”

Because of Mok Seongha’s condition, checking the chance of rain was a basic step whenever they went out. Today’s precipitation probability was under 2 percent. Just in case, Kim Jinkyung looked out the window. As expected, the sun was shining.

The black panther also seemed unable to understand the situation. He looked down at his own front paw, then turned his head toward the window.

“Did you spill water?”

Kim Jinkyung inspected the panther’s fur here and there. There was not a single water mark.

“Why did you suddenly transform?”

“…….”

Even knowing he couldn’t answer, Kim Jinkyung didn’t stop asking.

“Is there some kind of problem? How did this even happen….”

A large front paw blocked Kim Jinkyung’s lips.

Stop talking.

The beast’s golden eyes said exactly that. Kim Jinkyung nodded. The black panther sighed and pulled his paw away. The soft sensation of fur lingered on Kim Jinkyung’s lips. He quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and carefully asked,

“What do we do now?”

The black panther looked around, then jumped onto the bed. He buried his head into the pillow and lay down.

Just then, a growl rang out. Not from Kim Jinkyung’s stomach, but from the panther’s.

“Are you hungry?”

“…….”