SLC 48

Kim Jinkyung felt an intense gaze; he rubbed his eyes and gasped. Under the blanket covering his body, something jet-black was visible. Startled, he threw back the blanket. He met Mok Seongha’s eyes, who was tucked underneath it.

“What, what are you doing there?”

“I’m looking.”

Mok Seongha replied brazenly while staring between the other’s legs.

“What on earth….”

“I thought there might be something different.”

Did he have a strange dream while sleeping? Kim Jinkyung first pushed Mok Seongha, who was between his legs, to the side. Mok Seongha licked his lips; he was visibly disappointed.

“…You’ve transformed.”

“Yeah.”

Mok Seongha answered while stretching out his stiff body. It was a body that would naturally draw admiration no matter how many times he saw it.

The flexibly extending muscles proved his feline DNA. Kim Jinkyung, who had unintentionally looked down following his muscles, saw the trace left on Mok Seongha’s back. It was an old scar he had seen before.

“Um….”

“Yeah?”

Mok Seongha turned around.

“That, how did you get that scar?”

Mok Seongha turned his body to check his scar and asked, “Ah, this?”

“I don’t know. It’s been there since I was young.”

It was a fairly large scar. If he didn’t remember, it means it’s a scar from before he was five years old.

Before age five. The age when he lived with his parents. When he was in human form. In Kim Jinkyung’s mind, various pieces of information began to connect in order. Just before a conclusion was drawn, Mok Seongha asked, “Why?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking why you’re suddenly curious about a scar on someone else’s body.”

Kim Jinkyung blinked. He found himself at a loss for words when asked for the reason behind his curiosity.

“Just….”

“Just what?”

Mok Seongha brought his face close. Seeing it in the morning, it was an even more dazzling sight. Kim Jinkyung quickly bowed his head.

“…I was just curious how you got hurt. I thought it might have hurt a lot, too.”

“Then lick it for me.”

“Pardon?”

“Treat my wound.”

“…I don’t have that kind of power.”

Moreover, since the wound was in a state where only the scar remained, even assuming he had such power, it was a useless act.

“I know.”

A lopsided smile hung on Mok Seongha’s lips. It was a particularly playful look. Did he have some kind of good dream?

“What you said yesterday. Do you remember?”

“Me? What did I….”

Mok Seongha’s lips took in Kim Jinkyung’s. It was an intense and long kiss. The man’s tongue swept down the roof of his mouth. Kim Jinkyung unintentionally clutched the sheet spread beneath him.

“Haah….”

Mok Seongha pulled his lips away, murmured:

“You said when I return to my human form, …let’s do that.”

“No, what I meant by that was….”

His mouth was blocked again. A kiss more intense than before followed. The man’s naked body touched him. Mok Seongha began to rub his heated flesh while pressing his lower body close.

“…Seongha-ssi…. Wait….”

Kim Jinkyung pulled his lips away and tried to stop him, but Mok Seongha was relentless. Since it was morning, when stimulus was added to his lower body, the flesh quickly raised its head.

“…It was meaningless.”

“Yes? Ngh….”

“Turning into a human, it was completely meaningless to me.”

Mok Seongha continued speaking while biting and sucking on Kim Jinkyung’s neck.

“But, you said so. That this kind of act, it’s something you can only do in human form….”

Mok Seongha repeatedly thrust his lower body. The sensation of his genitals being rubbed made his lower body felt tingly and his breath stifle.

“So, I think it’s become meaningful.”

Mok Seongha sank his teeth into the flesh of his neck, biting down shallowly before letting go. It was a hunting strategy engraved in a predator’s instinct to subdue prey by seizing the throat.

Even in human form, these instincts remained strong within Mok Seongha. Although Kim Jinkyung knew the man didn’t actually view him as prey, he occasionally felt as though he were about to be devoured. Especially during sex.

Pinning both of Jinkyung’s arms above his head, Mok Seongha ran his tongue in a long stroke up Jinkyung’s cheek.

“So, Teacher, you have to take responsibility.”

…Where is the logic in that?

All I taught him were the proper norms and ethics a human being ought to follow.

Perhaps he saw the sense of injustice reflected in Jinkyung’s wide eyes, Mok Seongha chuckled.

“Hahaha.”

Mok Seongha tapped Jinkyung’s eyebrows with his finger.

“Is this what they call ‘ㅅ’ shaped eyebrows?”

‘ㅅ’ (pronounced si-ot). In facial descriptions, this represents eyebrows that slant downward toward the temples, similar to the shape of a rooftop or an inverted “V.”

“…They’re slanted.”

“Slanted looks like this.”

Mok Seongha drew a figure eight on its side across Jinkyung’s forehead.

“That’s infinity. Infinity isn’t a number, it’s a process. …Anyway, if you write the number eight (八) in Hanja…”

“Ah.”

Mok Seongha traced Jinkyung’s eyebrows again. Then, he repeated “slanted” to himself like a refrain.

“Teacher, you know so much.”

Mok Seongha leaned down again. His lips took Jinkyung’s earlobe into his mouth before gnawing on it.

“…In that spirit, can’t you teach me one more thing?”

His voice was low and cold. It felt like standing barefoot on ice. Shivers ran up from his toes, and Jinkyung managed to ask a question.

“What?”

“Somewhere other than the belly button.”

“…….”

“I’m certain there’s somewhere else fit for putting it in.”

…Has this virgin cat, who skipped sex ed, been shoving his head between another man’s legs since morning just to look for that?

Mok Seongha continued, rubbing his pulsing lower half against Jinkyung.

“It’s not the belly button, right?”

Mok Seongha’s eyes sparkled.

“Wh-why are you asking me that?”

“Who else would I ask?”

Every time Mok Seongha rubbed against him, the veins in his arm muscles bulged. With only a thin layer of fabric between their genitals, Jinkyung’s senses were heightened to a razor’s edge.

“You’re my teacher, so I’m asking you.”

Having said his piece, Mok Seongha began a kiss so fierce it felt like he was biting. His fully aroused member forced its way between Jinkyung’s legs. Jinkyung tried to resist by tensing his muscles to keep his hips down, but the difference in their physical build was too great. Soon, his legs were hooked over the other man’s thighs.

Mok Seongha’s cock rubbed precariously against his perineum, just below the testicles.

…This cat. Does he really not know?

Even while his lower body was being hammered and he was being subjected to the kiss, Jinkyung didn’t let go of his suspicion.

“Teacher….”

A voice, feverish from the heat called out to him.

“Do I put it in here? Is it okay to put it in?”

Mok Seongha began to rub his penis against Jinkyung’s stomach. Every time the tip brushed his navel, Jinkyung felt a spine-chilling fear.

“If I put it in… I feel like your stomach might burst.”

No matter where you put it, it’s so big that it’ll burst.

Jinkyung shook his head.

“…No.”

“Why?” Mok Seongha asked. “Why not?”

Mok Seongha peppered him with small kisses, seeking permission.

It was ridiculous to say this now after everything they had done, but penetrative sex felt like crossing the final line.

“You like men.”

“…….”

Mok Seongha looked down at Jinkyung. It felt like a massive beast was looming over him.

“A lot.”

All because Jinkyung had blurted out those specific words as his excuse for getting fired.

“You like them, but….”

Jinkyung looked up at the man with the golden eyes.

He liked him. He liked Mok Seongha. However, his preference for men did not serve as a valid justification for sexual intercourse.

He needed to know. He had to check if the cat in the box was alive or dead.

“Um, then, Seongha…”

Before Jinkyung could finish the question, Mok Seongha relaxed the arms that supported him on the bed and leaned his upper body forward. He began to kiss Jinkyung while holding their bodies in a tight embrace.

Jinkyung knew he had to ask. He needed to know what the other man thought of him, or if he genuinely wanted to do this because he liked him.

“Seongha, wait…”

Mok Seongha seemingly mistook the resistance for a rejection, as he urgently covered Jinkyung’s mouth and continued the kiss. It was a tempestuous kiss.

Jinkyung felt he should ask, or at least stop this first. But it was impossible. He liked it too much. He loved kissing him. He couldn’t find a way to stop when it felt this good.

Just as his mind was about to melt into mush, the phone rang.

“…….”

“…….”

Both men immediately stopped. They turned their heads toward the floor where the phone lay.

“…I think you should pick that up.”

Only three people knew Mok Seongha’s phone number: Jinkyung himself, Secretary Kang, and Chairman Choi Dojung.

“It’s probably a wake-up call.”

Mok Seongha turned back and focused on the kiss again. Jinkyung, who had momentarily hesitated, closed his eyes and responded to the kiss.

Then the phone rang again.

“…Seongha-ssi.”

“Fuck.”

Mok Seongha cursed and sat up. He reached out and grabbed the phone.

“Hello.”

His expression immediately darkened after he answered in a fierce voice.

“…I understand.”

Jinkyung guessed what the person on the other end said without much difficulty.

“I have to go to the hospital.”

Jinkyung nodded. Chairman Choi Dojung, Mok Seongha’s grandfather, was in critical condition again.

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“Is he all right?”

–His consciousness seems to be fading in and out. His blood pressure dropped a bit, but he’s asleep now.

Mok Seongha had rushed to the hospital right after the call. Jinkyung went with him, but he had to return without a proper goodbye because Secretary Kang appeared at the hospital entrance.

“Are you going to stay at the hospital?”

–Yeah. I should.

“…Where do you wash up?”

Lately, Mok Seongha had called Jinkyung over for a kiss whenever he showered to practice staying in his human form despite the water. It didn’t always work, but he maintained his human form with a high probability these days.

–Secretary Kang put a heavy-duty fan in the room. But I fail to stay human about once every three times.

When he was with Jinkyung, he only changed back once in ten tries even after a shower. The comparison of these variables allowed them to see the correlation.

“Is that okay?”

Jinkyung worried that a large black panther appearing in a hospital room would cause a disaster.

–I only wash when Secretary Kang is around. Don’t worry.

This news brought Jinkyung some peace of mind.

“Do you need anything? I can bring it to you.”

–It’s fine. Secretary Kang brought everything.

Jinkyung no longer tutored him, so he couldn’t go over to check his studies or bring workbooks. But he wanted to do something for him.

“Is there nothing I can help with?”

–What would you do at a hospital? You have classes to attend.

“Yes.”

It was true. Jinkyung was the one who had drawn the line before with talk of credits and graduation. If he wanted to say it was okay now, he would have to explain why he drew that line in the first place.

Jinkyung sighed softly as he doodled on his notebook.

–Later…

“Yes?”

–Maybe you could come by for a bit.

“Ah, yes. I’ll go. Should I buy you something?”

–No. I just want to see you.

Jinkyung’s heart thrashed against his ribs. It felt as though he had caught a glimpse of the cat’s tail wagging through a small hole in the box.

“…What time should I come?”

–Whenever is convenient for you… hurry.

Jinkyung dropped his pen when he heard that last word.

…My heart almost stopped.

“O-okay. I’ll go as soon as my classes end.”

Mok Seongha ended the call with a brief “See you later.” A few seconds later, a text arrived.

Mok Seongha

When are you coming?

Jinkyung checked the time. If he left immediately after the next class, he would arrive in four hours.

I think I’ll arrive around 7:00.

An emoticon of a black cat sitting on the floor and waiting arrived in response.

…Isn’t it cheating for a handsome guy to be this cute?

Jinkyung rubbed his red cheeks and put his phone in his bag. The break ended, and the professor returned to the lecture hall.

He worried about the Chairman’s condition and about Mok Seongha being alone at the hospital. He wondered how bad the Chairman’s health really was. …Perhaps he should have gone to med school instead. He had only chosen social studies because he was afraid of blood.

He had never regretted choosing social studies over medicine as much as he did today. Under the desk, he searched for terms like cancer, terminal, and blood pressure. A flood of terrifying posts appeared. He stopped reading after the first two or three.

The lecture content failed to register in his mind. He grabbed his bag and rushed out the moment class ended. He considered buying a gift but had no idea what to choose, so he called Secretary Kang.

A blunt voice answered after two rings.

–Why?

The “why” was quite abrupt.

“Ah, hello. This is Kim Jinkyung.”

–I know. Just state your business.

It seemed he really disliked Kim Jinkyung.

“I’m planning to head to the hospital…”

–Do not come. There is no need for you to be here.

“…Seongha-ssi asked me to come.”

“…Room 908.”

It was the same room as before. Jinkyung muttered the number to himself and then continued.

“I feel it would be rude to go empty-handed. Do you have any recommendations?”

–As you know, the Chairman is in no condition to eat or look at anything.

“Then, perhaps something Seongha-ssi likes? A favorite food or…”

The man had mentioned staying at the hospital for a few days. Jinkyung’s own grandmother had been ill once, so he spent a week in a hospital during his freshman summer break. He learned in those short days that a hospital is an exhausting place even if one does nothing. He wanted to be of some help to Mok Seongha.

–The young master has no particular preferences. Besides, you know well enough that he won’t eat food brought from outside anyway.

Mok Seongha never ate food given by others. He never ate out. He refused to take even a sip of water from a stranger, no matter how thirsty he was.

“But there must be something he likes.”

–What do you think, Teacher?

“Pardon?”

–I am asking if you know what the young master likes.

The sudden question left Jinkyung speechless. Mok Seongha’s favorites… his preferred foods…

Not a single thing came to mind. Mok Seongha always ate fixed meals and followed a set routine in designated places.

Becoming human meant nothing to me.

The words he had brushed off in his previous confusion now pierced his heart. They meant that the man had never possessed an object of meaning or even a personal preference. Jinkyung imagined Mok Seongha spending all those long years alone in that massive mansion.

–Just come empty-handed. The young master isn’t expecting anything specific from you.

“…Yes.”

Jinkyung ended the call with a heavy heart. He thought of Mok Seongha throughout the bus ride to the hospital.

He felt selfish. He cared far more about Mok Seongha, who would soon be left alone in that house, than he did about Chairman Choi Dojung and his remaining days.

…I’m a piece of trash.

Jinkyung brooded over his bitter affection and resolved not to let it show in front of Mok Seongha. Then, some text flashing past the bus window caught his eye.

“Driver! I’m getting off!”

Jinkyung pressed the stop button and hurried off the bus.