* * *
It felt like his waist was about to break. No, his waist had already broken.
“Ughh…!”
Doha swallowed a groan as he felt the pain upon opening his eyes. I’m crazy, just how much did we do it? He reflexively placed his hand on his waist.
‘It’s not actually broken, is it? A man’s life depends on his waist.’
He still had many days ahead to use it. This wasn’t a waist that could break now. He gently massaged his waist while looking up at Hyunseo, the root of all this trouble. Unlike himself, Hyunseo was sleeping with a peaceful face, looking like an angel.
Sunlight filtering into the cave illuminated his face. Like a halo, his handsome face shimmered in the sunlight. His fine hair was scattered across his face, revealing a broad chest underneath. His thick arm had been offered as Doha’s pillow earlier. Doha stared at him, entranced by the picture-perfect sight.
‘If only he wasn’t so handsome.’
How many times had he been deceived by that face last night? Hyunseo had said they would do it just once, but throughout the dawn, he had relentlessly driven into him without tiring. And that wasn’t all. What he claimed would be the last time was merely the beginning, and instead of letting him sleep, he had made the bed shake.
And so his waist had broken.
‘I really can’t walk like this.’
His waist hurt with every breath. As the pain surged, he felt annoyed at Hyunseo sleeping so peacefully. Doha pursed his lips and pinched Hyunseo’s cheek.
At the same moment, the thick arm wrapped around Doha pulled him closer.
“Flower Bin.”
In an instant, Doha’s head tumbled onto Hyunseo’s bare chest. Buried against bare skin, Doha’s lips quivered from the pain radiating from his waist.
“Aah.”
“Did you sleep well?”
His tone was more affectionate than usual. Doha slowly raised his head. Meeting the gleaming royal face, he pouted his lips.
“Does Your Majesty truly have no conscience? Driving me like that and then asking if I slept well?”
Hyunseo let out a small laugh at the petulant voice.
“I forgot I left it at Yongwa Palace. Next time we share a bed, I’ll make sure to bring it along.”
“Wasn’t it never there to begin with?”
“Ah, that’s right. I traded my conscience for candy when I took my Flower Bin. I almost forgot.”
At Hyunseo’s unrelenting response, Doha lost his words and gaped. I’ve been fooled, completely fooled. He thought Hyunseo was an innocent man who knew nothing, but he was nothing short of a centuries-old snake. As Doha struggled to free himself from the embrace, Hyunseo bound him tighter.
“Where are you going?”
A low voice resonated near his ear. It was a voice that reminded him of the previous night. Doha’s face reddened at the scenes playing in his mind.
“I, I should at least put on some clothes.”
“Why do you need to wear them?”
In an instant, Hyunseo’s thigh wrapped around Doha’s body. After restraining him so he couldn’t move, he buried his face in Doha’s ear. He toyed with Doha’s earlobe using his lips.
“Since we’ve already faced death together, how about we face it one more time?”
As the hot breath touched him, his body felt strange. His toes curled and his lower abdomen felt heavy. As Hyunseo watched Doha’s bewildered reaction, he moved his lips from the ear down to the neck.
“Hngh.”
He liked how responsive the body was. As if he found it adorably beautiful, he kissed the marks he had left the night before. After repeatedly making kissing sounds, he whispered.
“I’m confident I can make you breathless.”
Doha moaned at the feeling of lips traveling down his neckline. He couldn’t count how many erogenous zones he’d discovered in the past day or two that he hadn’t known about before.
“Ah, no, I can’t do anymore!”
Doha shouted as their lower bodies kept touching. At this rate, his waist wouldn’t just break; it would shatter. He couldn’t end a man’s life here. To defend his waist, Doha opened his eyes wide, but Hyunseo bit his shoulder.
“You’re taking the joke too far. Yesterday you said you couldn’t, but you received it just fine.”
“This time it’s really not possible, I might die here!”
“Well, don’t worry. I won’t let you be buried alone. I’m considering a joint burial.”
That’s not the issue!
Communication wasn’t working. No matter what excuse he tried, Hyunseo’s movements didn’t stop. His lips were moving steadily downward from the shoulder.
‘If this continues, I’ll be devoured!’
Feeling the crisis, Doha hastily thought of an excuse to stop Hyunseo. His eyes moved frantically.
“Y-Your Majesty! Ungeom will be looking for us. We must get ready quickly…!”
That was the Ungeom excuse he came up with. Hyunseo’s movements stopped at Doha’s words. This is it! Tasting hope, Doha continued.
“By now, he must be searching the entire hunting ground. Being someone who worries excessively, he must already be in a panic…”
“The Flower Bin has a talent for infuriating me.”
Hyunseo murmured, interrupting Doha. There was a growl mixed in his voice. It was a habit that emerged whenever something displeased him.
This is bad. He must have touched on something wrong again. With wavering eyes, Doha slowly called out to him.
“Your Majesty?”
“You speak another man’s name while with me.”
“…”
“I must have been unsatisfactory yesterday. I’ll try harder for my virile Flower Bin.”
Doha’s slender wrist was firmly grabbed. Binding both of Doha’s wrists with his healthy right hand, Hyunseo flipped their positions in an instant.
“Your Majesty!”
“I’ll make it so you can’t even look at another man.”
Hyunseo, who had climbed on top of Doha, flashed a dangerous gleam in his eyes. The hand on his wrist was hot. With the grip squeezing his wrist, Doha saw the future. A future where his waist bones would be crushed bit by bit.
You’re not trying to destroy my waist to prevent me from meeting other men, are you? Doha wanted to ask, but he couldn’t as Hyunseo’s lips blocked him. Once again, the cave began to fill with moisture.
* * *
Hyunseo lifted the completely exhausted Doha in his arms. Halfway through, Doha had fallen asleep as if fainting, and he showed no signs of waking even when being carried. Looking down at the sleeping face, Hyunseo briefly kissed Doha’s forehead.
“Mmmng…”
Doha stirred at the kiss. Even with a frown, how could he be so cute? He had been begging to stop while crying loudly, yet his eyes were still puffy. Hyunseo’s lips moved towards Doha’s eyes.
“So why do you provoke me?”
Murmuring words that couldn’t be heard, he picked up a hunting outfit from the ground. It was the outfit they had hastily discarded the night before. As he wrapped Doha’s body with it, something fell from the pocket onto the floor. It was an ointment.
“Ha.”
An ointment used on the battlefield. It was an ointment given only to warriors. On the battlefield, there were so many injuries that this ointment was applied for minor wounds or injuries.
Among the people Doha knew, there was only one man who might have this ointment. Guessing the owner of the ointment, Hyunseo’s eyebrows rose high.
“Our Flower Bin has quite a number of men.”
A twisted smile appeared on his face. Yesterday it was a knot, today it’s an ointment. He murmured softly and looked down at Doha.
“You carry around all these tokens, yet you don’t carry your husband’s things?”
The one who could answer was already deep in dreamland. Glaring at the soundly sleeping Doha, he clutched the ointment. The ointment crumpled as if about to break in his hand.
As he exited the cave, the sun was high. The ground was damp from the rain that had fallen the night before. With each step, leaves and soil stuck to Hyunseo’s feet.
It felt like the men who stuck to Doha, making him frown. Upon reaching the river, he threw away the ointment he had been holding. The ointment flew in an arc and fell into the river with a splash.
In an instant, the ointment was swept away by the current. Watching the ointment disappear rapidly, Hyunseo’s expression finally softened a bit.
“How nice it would be if he threw it away as soon as he received it.”
With a more relaxed face than before, he walked northward. Doha, asleep and possibly having a pleasant dream, smiled faintly.
* * *
Just one night, only one night had passed since Doha and Hyunseo had disappeared.
They had been out of his sight for just a day, but his heart was racing and his body felt cold. His mind had stopped, and it was difficult to make rational judgments. Dojin repeatedly drew his sword from its scabbard and put it back.
“It seems they’re not here either.”
“Not in the west either.”
“The same goes for the east.”
The scattered guard unit reported the situation. As Dojin’s reddened eyes turned towards them, the guards bowed their heads.
“We’re going downstream.”
He put his sword back in its scabbard and mounted his horse again. The court official who stood at the front of the guard unit stepped forward, seeing Dojin who seemed out of his mind.
“Isn’t the downstream too far?”
“If they were swept away by the river, that’s where they’d be. We’ve searched enough of the hunting grounds, so it’s right to check that area.”
“Then we’ll go downstream. Why don’t you go to the palace and rest a bit?”
At the court official’s words, Dojin drew his sword from the scabbard. As the coldly gleaming sword was placed at the court official’s neck, the soldiers of the guard unit rushed toward Dojin.
“His Majesty and Bin Mama have disappeared, and you’re telling me to rest?”
He glared at the court official with cold eyes.
“Even at this moment, their lives might be in danger, how can I rest?”
“But if you push yourself like this…”
“If you want me to rest, find His Majesty and Bin Mama. That’s all there is to it.”
He sheathed his sword after speaking quickly as a warning. He grabbed the reins again. While the court official and the guard unit were staring blankly, he urged his horse in a hurry.
“Hya!”
He needed to find Bin Mama and His Majesty as soon as possible. An uneasy premonition kept dominating his mind. With a stern face, Dojin cut across the hunting grounds.
He guided his horse along the river. Whenever the river current intensified, Dojin’s heart felt like it was stopping. In case there might be traces of Doha, Dojin didn’t take his eyes off the river.
It was then that Dojin stopped his horse.
“That’s…”
Quickly dismounting, he ran to the river. The water rose up to his waist, but there was no hesitation. As he reached into the water, a small object was caught.
The ointment. It was the ointment Dojin had given to Doha.
In that moment, Dojin’s knees gave way.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
