Chapter 151
In the heavily silent room, Hyeon-woo only rolled his eyes around. He felt uncomfortable at the thought of having to share every meal alone with Tae-geon from now on.
While eating a meal where he couldn’t tell if the food was going into his nose or mouth, Hyeon-woo’s gaze suddenly fell on the chopsticks Tae-geon was holding.
Perhaps because it had been a long time since he had used his hands, Tae-geon’s chopstick skills seemed to have become more clumsy than before. As he repeatedly made awkward mistakes dropping side dishes, Hyeon-woo, unable to watch any longer, pulled Tae-geon’s hand and readjusted the position of the chopsticks. The braised pumpkin that had been troubling Tae-geon was finally picked up by the chopsticks.
“……”
“……”
Even after that, Hyeon-woo felt strange as he repeatedly grabbed Tae-geon’s hand and adjusted its position when he continued to make fumbling movements. Although it couldn’t be, Tae-geon’s inept chopstick skills seemed almost intentional, grating on his nerves.
After that day, Hyeon-woo sat next to Tae-geon at every meal to help him eat. Although it wasn’t to the point of having to feed him, his once-clumsy chopstick skills strangely showed no signs of improvement, and sometimes Hyeon-woo had to directly place side dishes on Tae-geon’s spoon.
It was an uneventful daily life, making his resolve to prepare for his identity being discovered seem unnecessary.
Occasionally, Tae-geon’s gaze, which was blankly staring into space, would fall on him as if by chance, but Hyeon-woo didn’t think much of it. Even if those gazes were truly directed at him, he didn’t want to assign meaning to each one, knowing that there was nothing to see anyway.
It was the same when he noticed Tae-geon sometimes opening and closing his mouth as if he had something to say, with a confused expression, before closing it again. Hyeon-woo consistently maintained indifference, pretending not to notice Tae-geon’s somewhat unusual behavior.
Perhaps it was due to a sense of defiance. The inferiority complex that made him react every time his name flowed out mixed with Tae-geon’s hot breath, the self-loathing for always being swept away by Tae-geon, might have been manifesting in an unexpected way.
*
“Jerome, can you come here for a moment?”
Noticing that Jerome’s pajama sleeves had become too short, Hyeon-woo took out a few winter clothes from the drawer and tried them on Jerome. Most of the clothes didn’t fit.
“This was a gift from earlier this year, but it’s already too small.”
Hyeon-woo’s eyes were filled with regret as he looked over the green sweater that Mrs. Kyung-ae had given as a gift. Jerome’s growth, which changed day by day, was astonishing. They needed to hurry and get winter clothes before the biting cold winds arrived. After a quick lunch of fried rice, Hyeon-woo and Jerome went out to the city.
It took time to buy clothes, asking Jerome’s opinion on each piece, as he had definite tastes. They had dinner at an outlet before returning home.
The next day, after falling asleep exhausted, it started snowing early in the morning. It was an early first snow.
“Jerome, wait! You’ll catch a cold if you go out like that. You need to dress warmly.”
“Hurry, Dad! Hurry!”
Hyeon-woo thoroughly armed Jerome, who was stomping his feet wanting to run outside, with the padded jumper and muffler they had bought yesterday. After jumping around in the yard catching falling snow, Jerome soon came back inside. His nose was red as he hugged Hyeon-woo, shivering.
What they thought would be a brief flurry had turned into heavy snowfall by evening, coming down in thick flakes.
After making rice balls with Jerome and sitting at the table drawing pictures with colored pencils, Hyeon-woo pointed to the window, where snow had piled up thickly outside. Jerome, following Hyeon-woo’s finger with his gaze, wiggled his bottom at the sight of the outside landscape covered in white snow.
They put on layers of clothes and went out to the yard. After gathering snow up to their ankles and making a daddy snowman and a baby snowman with Jerome, Hyeon-woo felt an ominous sign of a tingling nose as he lay down to sleep. He felt like he was going to catch a cold. And that premonition came true.
*Sniff*
“Do you have a cold?”
Tae-geon asked Hyeon-woo, who was sniffling from the morning he returned after the weekend. When Hyeon-woo stood there without answering, Tae-geon gestured for him to come over.
Tap, tap.
As Hyeon-woo sat down on the bed at the sound of Tae-geon tapping it, Tae-geon suddenly placed his hand on Hyeon-woo’s forehead. Surprised by the sudden contact, Hyeon-woo’s eyes widened.
“…No fever. Seems like a cold? Have you taken any medicine?”
The flurry of questions somehow felt affectionate. Enveloped in a strange feeling, Hyeon-woo somewhat coldly removed Tae-geon’s hand from his forehead and then drew a ‘Yes’ on his palm. Tae-geon’s shoulder twitched as if the movement tickled.
“What were you playing over the weekend to catch a cold?”
Thinking that it was unlike Tae-geon to be curious about such things, Hyeon-woo wrote on his palm once again.
‘Snowman’
“Snowman?”
Tae-geon asked back as if dumbfounded.
“You caught a cold playing and making a snowman?”
When Hyeon-woo drew a circle on Tae-geon’s palm, Tae-geon snorted.
“You’re not a child…”
Having played more excitedly than Jerome, Hyeon-woo felt strangely hit on the mark and threw down Tae-geon’s arm he was holding as he stood up.
*Sniff*
“Go and rest.”
When Hyeon-woo pretended not to hear and remained standing, Tae-geon’s voice became firm.
“Didn’t you hear me say go and rest? Don’t spread it to others and cause trouble. Rest in your room until you’re better. I’ll process it as paid leave.”
Paid leave…?!
As if hearing the cheer Hyeon-woo was shouting in his mind, Tae-geon quickly added.
“Don’t be so happy about it. You didn’t need to come here for a while starting tomorrow anyway.”
…Ah.
Hyeon-woo’s excited expression immediately fell. It seemed the date had already come to that.
Tae-geon’s rut was already tomorrow.
*
Past midnight, Hyeon-woo, who had taken his suppressants, cautiously headed to the third floor. Unlike usual, there were no agonized roars or loud crashing sounds today. The mansion, sunk in silence, was eerily quiet.
After sneaking into Tae-geon’s room, he blocked the cylinder emitting a foul smell. When Hyeon-woo approached the bed and pulled back the curtain, his eyes widened in surprise. The chains that had been binding Tae-geon’s arms and legs were nowhere to be seen.
No wonder the mansion was quiet today; it seemed Tae-geon’s seizures had noticeably improved. It was proof that the efforts of visiting Tae-geon during each rut had not been in vain.
Hyeon-woo observed the sleeping Tae-geon. Although his breathing was rough, he didn’t look as pained as before. Somehow, it felt good. Hoping that pheromones alone would be enough for today, he placed his hand on Tae-geon’s forehead.
*Sniff*
Hyeon-woo, whose cold hadn’t fully recovered, sniffled once quietly and slowly began to release his pheromones. Unlike Tae-geon’s breathing, which was stabilizing with the influx of Hyeon-woo’s pheromones, increasingly excited moans began to flow from Tae-geon’s mouth.
To avoid being distracted by Tae-geon’s center, which was growing in presence, Hyeon-woo tensed his neck and concentrated on pouring out pheromones.
But today was also a failure.
Rather, Hyeon-woo’s face was filled with dismay at Tae-geon’s writhing, which seemed even more agonized than before he had started releasing pheromones. Pheromones alone were not enough to subdue Tae-geon’s rut.
As Hyeon-woo bit his lip in disappointment, Tae-geon rubbed his forehead against Hyeon-woo’s palm.
“…Hyeon-woo… ya.”
A tingling pain spread over Hyeon-woo’s heart at the sound of Tae-geon uttering his name. It’s just a reflexive gesture towards the imprinted subject.
Although he knew well in his mind that there was no reason to attach meaning to or be seduced by the voice calling him, when Hyeon-woo thought about how Tae-geon must have repeated this unreachable murmur for years, he felt a tightness in his chest.
“…Are you stupid?”
Hyeon-woo burst out with a suppressed soliloquy towards the unconscious Tae-geon.
“You brought this all on yourself. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
However, Hyeon-woo’s hand, which was blaming Tae-geon, was trembling uncontrollably. His voice was the same.
“…Then why do I have to feel this way?”
His eyes towards Tae-geon were turbidly stained with a mixture of resentment and pity.
“Why do I have to feel this way because of you…”
“……”
“…It’s irritating.”
After venting the emotions that had been bottled up in his chest, even if just for a moment, Hyeon-woo felt much more at ease. However, unlike Hyeon-woo, Tae-geon’s writhing became more violent than before due to the deepened thirst.
“Nngh…!”
Unable to bear the surging internal heat, Tae-geon finally started to scratch at his chest, and Hyeon-woo quickly restrained his arm. Tae-geon’s Adam’s apple growled, writhing fiercely like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. At this, Hyeon-woo’s face turned pale.
…Damn it. Of all times, when there are no restraints…
Although he was barely managing to subdue Tae-geon with all his strength, it was becoming increasingly difficult as time passed. Hyeon-woo noticed Tae-geon’s dick, which had shot up towards the sky, throbbing menacingly under the black robe.
Just before being overwhelmed by brute force, Hyeon-woo quickly put his weight on Tae-geon’s lower abdomen. After firmly restraining Tae-geon’s hands by interlocking them so he couldn’t move, he slid his waist down and sat on top of the dick, rubbing it strongly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
