Hearing Ilay add - "Or you could stay here as a guest of honor like me" - Jeong Taeui finally
understood. It seemed he had vaguely heard about this before.
"Just staying at Dongik is enough to confer authority on some people."
"That's right. In fact, some people fell into depression after leaving here..."
Ilay paused for a moment, then fell silent. Jeong Taeui looked at him with curiosity.
"It seems like you were about to say something but stopped?"
Jeong Taeui asked inquisitively, but Ilay only shrugged slightly.
"Why? Did someone you know get depressed after being kicked out of here?"
"Well... you could say that." - Ilay answered vaguely.
It was rare for this man to speak so cryptically. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously but
didn't press further. After all, it wasn't a cheerful subject.
Moreover, the noise of the scuffle in the headphones was gradually dying down.
Occasionally, curses and gasps were still heard, but the sound of breaking objects or impacts
had become sparse.
Then, a low growl from Christoph could be heard.
["Don't touch me...!"]
Finally, it seemed like the fight had subsided.
["I told you before. You have a fatal weakness for close combat. Moreover, now you have no
suitable weapon. So what are you going to do now?"]
Richard was also gasping, seemingly exhausted from the duel. But the light laughter in his
voice indicated he still had the upper hand. Jeong Taeui frowned.
["Stay away...! Don't touch me!"]
["You can only growl like that."]
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. Frustrated, he pulled off the headphones and stared at them as
if looking at the owner of that voice.
"Do these people fight every time they're together? Are they always like this during the day
too?""At least when it affects Tarten's business, they don't."
"...So they fight during their private time."
Jeong Taeui lay back on the bed. He placed the headphones in his hand and wrapped the cord
around his finger before unwinding it again. He repeated this a few times while staring at the
ceiling.
"During the time in Berlin..."
Jeong Taeui suddenly spoke as if to himself. Ilay only glanced at him.
"After living peacefully at home for so many years, I feel like my adaptability has diminished
a lot. If this continues, in a few years, won't it be really difficult for me to live anywhere
else…?"
If he left Berlin and moved to a new place, it would be difficult if he couldn't adapt. By then,
he wouldn't be young anymore.
However, as Jeong Taeui muttered this, he noticed Ilay's gaze becoming sharper. Taeui
quickly said - "Oh right, how are those guys doing?" - and put the headphones back on. It
seemed like a topic Ilay didn't like.
["You are cruel and evil. Out of all the people I know, no one is as ruthless as you."]
Christoph's trembling, accusatory voice rang out just as the headphones were back on.
Speaking so bluntly in front of someone else, even when eavesdropping, was uncomfortable
to hear.
If Jeong Taeui felt this way, the direct recipient of those words must have been much more
affected.
A moment later, Richard's low voice came through.
["I didn't expect to hear that from you. No one but you sees me that way. Only you view me
like that... I am like a mirror reflecting what others expect of me."]
Suddenly, a chill ran down Taeui's spine.
There was something indefinable, but that low, cold voice seemed to crawl up his heart and
stab deep like a dagger.
It was a strange feeling.
Though that voice was gentle and kind, his chest felt cold.
At that moment...
"Don't listen anymore."Suddenly, the headphones were yanked off Taeui's ears.
Ilay pulled the headphones out of Jeong Taeui's ears and put them back in his pocket.
Jeong Taeui stood dazed for a moment after the cold feeling in his heart faded. He frowned.
"Why take it away when someone is listening..."
It wasn't that he really wanted to eavesdrop, but being abruptly deprived of it was
displeasing. Moreover, after hearing those chilling words, his heart felt heavy and anxious.
Ilay still had the headphones on and spoke calmly.
"They're just fighting again. There's no need for you to listen. Instead, continue with what
you were saying earlier."
"What was I saying?"
"You were talking about living somewhere else after a few years."
Ilay suddenly leaned down. He lowered himself over Jeong Taeui's upper body as he lay on
the bed.
"Why all of a sudden—."
But before Jeong Taeui could finish, a familiar tongue invaded his mouth.
This time, though, it seemed there was no intention to suffocate Jeong Taeui. Ilay's tongue
gently brushed against Taeui's tongue, gums, and lips a few times before withdrawing.
"Why? Are you getting bored of Berlin? Want to move somewhere else? If there's a place you
want to go, just tell me."
Jeong Taeui flinched as Ilay's tongue left his lips and moved to his earlobe.
He still wasn't used to these things. Sometimes, Ilay would whisper in a very gentle voice,
whether he was aware of it or not. The whispers felt as if he would give him anything he
wanted.
Those words made Jeong Taeui feel embarrassed.
"No, no, it's just something I thought about suddenly..."
The sensation of lips on his earlobe moving slowly down to his cheek had become more
familiar.
Yes, that was the problem. Why had he come to accept and become accustomed to these
things?
Indeed, if he left Berlin and started a new life, his life would change completely."It was just a passing thought."
"I suddenly thought that I've been in Berlin for quite a while. Now that place has become my
home."
"So what?"
"But I wonder if I have to leave, what would I do? Just a passing thought..."
The lips on his cheek paused for a moment.
Ilay slightly raised his head and looked at Jeong Taeui with a thoughtful expression - a bit
strange - then spoke casually.
"Why? Did your brother tell you to leave while I was away?"
"No, no, not at all..."
Jeong Taeui stopped to organize his thoughts for a moment.
Jeong Taeui looked at the ceiling and tilted his head to the right, then to the left. Ilay watched
him attentively, patiently waiting for Jeong Taeui's answer. Occasionally, Ilay's eyes
wandered as if listening to sounds from his own headphones.
"Later, if for any reason that you and I have to part ways, continuing to live in Berlin will be
difficult. Fortunately, I have friends in Korea, but it will be hard to see them often and my
brother is at UNHRDO, so living together is difficult. Surprisingly, I have nowhere to go."
"Hmmm... So what are you going to do?"
After a few seconds, Ilay asked curiously. For some reason, his voice and lips touching
Taeui's ear also became gentler. At that moment, Jeong Taeui didn't realize it was the voice of
a devil trying to coax a child into revealing important secrets.
"Well... In that case, just staying at that house as Kyle's guest, regardless of you... would that
be okay?"
Though the house was always full of guests, the longest anyone stayed was a month or two.
No one had ever stayed as long as Jeong Taeui. He had lived in that house for several years.
"Hmmm....."
A low hum came from Ilay as he slowly raised his hand, gently touching Jeong Taeui's face
and starting to caress Taeui's cheek with his thumb. Feeling the tenderness on his face, Jeong
Taeui looked at Ilay. Their eyes met, with Ilay gazing at Jeong Taeui as if lost in thought.
Suddenly, as if wanting to tease Jeong Taeui, Ilay pinched his cheek lightly but firmly enough
to cause pain as if twisting one side of his face, making him cry out - "Ouch" - and frown in
discomfort. However, Ilay continued to pinch his cheek a few more times as if he were
playing.Jeong Taeui wondered if something was wrong, but Ilay's face didn't show any signs of
displeasure or anger. He just mumbled - "Hm" - and frowned slightly as if pondering
something troublesome.
Then Ilay suddenly mumbled a vague sentence.
"This will be difficult..."
"What?"
Jeong Taeui asked curiously.
The story didn't match the context.
Or maybe Ilay was saying that staying at Kyle's house in Berlin as a guest would be difficult?
However, Jeong Taeui's assumption was completely wrong with the next statement.
"Your friends in Korea are not a problem, but Jeong Jaeil is unpredictable... it's hard to
eliminate him. Even if I shoot him in the head, I would be the one to get hurt. How to
eliminate—..."
Ilay's words were no joke. Though they sounded like a joke, Jeong Taeui had lived with this
man for several years. Such jokes were always real.
Jeong Taeui's heart suddenly sank. He hadn't expected those words and began coughing from
breathing incorrectly.
He pushed Ilay away and leaned over to cough for a while. When the cough subsided, Ilay
pinned him down and leaned over him again.
Jeong Taeui pushed Ilay away again when he tried to kiss him as if nothing had happened,
and he looked at him seriously.
He couldn't think of anything else but that if things didn't go well, his friends and family
might pay the price and be in danger.
"Why...why should eliminate…"
Jeong Taeui was too confused to finish his sentence.
Jeong Taeui patted his chest a few times with the palm of his hand, then asked seriously
again.
"Why should my friends, who have never met you, and my brother, whom you met a long
time ago, be eliminated?"
"Why…?"Ilay still kept his calm tone and grabbed Jeong Taeui's hand that was patting his chest and
gently lowered it.
"To eliminate the places you might go so that you won't have those thoughts in the first
place. Taeil, you often think too much about unnecessary things."
Damn it, so that's what this is about.
Jeong Taeui hurriedly spoke to Ilay, who was slowly licking his cheek.
"No, no! I will never think like that again! I've decided to bury my bones in Berlin!"
Ilay suddenly smiled lightly while continuing to nibble and lick his cheek.
Ah, he's teasing me again.
Jeong Taeui relaxed his body and took a deep breath.
"Go ahead, tease me all you want."
"Yes. Just so you know, I'm not joking."
Although he was smiling as if joking, Jeong Taeui knew that what he said wasn't a joke.
Jeong Taeui sighed and nodded.
He felt embarrassed as Ilay continued to caress and kiss his cheek.
Jeong Taeui had become very accustomed to Ilay's blind, forceful advances and the wild
satisfaction of his desires – because at those times, he had no time to think – but sometimes,
for some reason, he felt unfamiliar and even embarrassed with Ilay's gentle and tender
caresses. He felt uncomfortable.
Ilay seemed to enjoy his reaction and often did this for a while.
Jeong Taeui opened his mouth just before Ilay kissed him and suddenly asked, as if it had just
come to mind.
"How are things over there? Have they stopped fighting yet?"
Ilay pointed to the headphone he was wearing in one ear, then looked at him and mumbled -
"Hmm?" - and smiled somewhat contentedly.
"Don't worry, everything is fine" - Ilay said as if talking to himself and kissed Jeong Taeui.
Hearing that, Jeong Taeui felt relieved, thinking that the two had stopped fighting. Then
Taeui touched Ilay's tongue with his own tongue as it entered his mouth.