Harmonious Love

Yang Gi Thief (16)

“Would you react the same if Kyung-min touched you?”

Kyung-min? Who’s that?

After thinking for a while, Mo Yeon finally recalled the face and shook his head. In truth, he didn’t want contact from Kyung-min or anyone else. The only person Mo Yeon wanted to touch was still only Tae Young-won.

When Mo Yeon shook his head, Tae Young-won burst out laughing.

“I was planning to leave you behind if you passed out today too, but I’m glad it’s not that bad.”

…Huh?

“Tae Young-won! Aren’t you coming for round two?”

Hearing someone shouting from outside, Tae Young-won answered in a cheerful voice.

“I’m going to leave with Mo Yeon first. He’s pretty drunk.”

After saying this quietly, Tae Young-won stood up. Mo Yeon, his arm grabbed, staggered to his feet as Tae Young-won led him.

The air outside was cool as they were pulled out. Mo Yeon blinked several times, trying to clear his blurry vision.

Oh, my wallet.

After looking around for a moment, he spotted his familiar wallet and phone in Tae Young-won’s hand. Relieved, Mo Yeon continued walking as Tae Young-won led him.

As he walked in a daze, they came to a path that Mo Yeon particularly disliked. That alley with an unusually gloomy energy was a place Mo Yeon never passed through normally. Nothing specific had happened there. He had never even properly entered it because just passing by felt ominous.

However, today, whether due to the alcohol or something else, he suddenly felt curious and approached it. Tae Young-won was beside him. Mo Yeon tightly held Tae Young-won’s hand as he silently followed him into the alley.

“…”

Surprisingly, the alley wasn’t much different from other places. Something seemed to be squirming at the end, but it didn’t look like it would approach. Mo Yeon, who had been a bit tense, leaned his back against the wall.

Even standing still, his vision was swaying – he must have drunk too much…

“Are you going to keep holding my hand?”

Oops. He had momentarily forgotten he was with someone else.

Mo Yeon blinked for a moment and nodded.

This was an alley he would never have entered if he were alone. He could come in because Tae Young-won was beside him. He gripped the hand more tightly, not knowing when their fingers had become interlaced.

“Want me to pat your head too?”

“…”

This time too, Mo Yeon nodded.

Tae Young-won chuckled and took a step closer. Mo Yeon looked up at him while leaning against the wall.

He raised his hand as if to place it on Mo Yeon’s head, but stopped just in front of his face.

“You bring it to your head.”

Mo Yeon stared at the hand for a while before bringing his head to it. He grabbed Tae Young-won’s clothes to steady himself as he swayed. Their bodies touched as if embracing, but Mo Yeon didn’t care and rubbed his head against the hand. He heard Tae Young-won laugh.

“You’re like a pet if I just pet you.”

“…”

The softly spoken words didn’t reach Mo Yeon’s ears as his mind was elsewhere. Not getting the feeling he wanted, Mo Yeon took Tae Young-won’s hand and pulled it onto his head.

He remembered how nice it felt when Tae Young-won had stroked his head while sitting on the terrace before. Thinking of that time, he moved Tae Young-won’s hand around as he wanted to be touched.

Then, when Tae Young-won’s hand cupped his cheek, his fingers caught on Mo Yeon’s lips. Suddenly, the hand that had been relaxed applied pressure, and the fingers invaded Mo Yeon’s mouth.

The fingers that had pushed between his soft lips fondled the inside of his cheek. At the unfamiliar sensation, Mo Yeon unconsciously gripped Tae Young-won’s clothes tightly.

It felt like kissing fingers. After the hand stirred inside his mouth for a while, Mo Yeon’s hazy consciousness became somewhat clearer when his eyes met Tae Young-won’s.

A moment later, the hand withdrew.

“…Huh?”

And Mo Yeon realized something was strange.

He raised his hand to feel his face. What should have been there couldn’t be felt anywhere.

…His glasses were gone.

Mo Yeon’s pupils shook, unable to look directly at Tae Young-won.

“…”

Since when? Come to think of it, before they got up from their seats, Tae Young-won had dropped something into Mo Yeon’s drink. With a gentle gesture, as if adding ice. He seemed to hear the clinking sound he had vaguely heard then. So that was the glasses.

“Let’s go now.”

As if nothing had happened, Tae Young-won took Mo Yeon’s hand again and started walking. Mo Yeon gradually became aware of the situation.

As he quietly followed behind Tae Young-won with his bag, no words were exchanged between them.

It was all dark alleys around, to the point where he couldn’t tell where they were heading. Tae Young-won led Mo Yeon deeper and deeper.

“Sunbae, are you going to kill me…?”

Mo Yeon asked in a trembling voice. Even though he was drunk, it didn’t take long to grasp the situation he was in.

Since when had it been like this?

Yet on the other hand, there was still a bit of hope that maybe this was just misunderstood and they were simply going home. Mo Yeon waited nervously for his answer.

“What if you knew?”

A gentle voice replied. Those words sounded like he really might kill him.

“…I just want to know.”

If that’s the case, there’s not much point in knowing anyway.

No matter how gentle his voice sounded as usual, this cold atmosphere made it impossible to fall into any delusions. It felt like the alcohol was wearing off as if he’d been splashed with cold water.

No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t find a way out. Then Tae Young-won’s voice was heard again.

“If you run away like last time, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

It was a despairing statement, as Mo Yeon had been looking for a chance to escape.

“But well, since I know who you are now, you probably won’t do such a stupid thing again.”

Tae Young-won’s voice seemed the same as usual, yet it was so cold. Now he would never see the Tae Young-won he had experienced over the past few days again.

Then what will happen to me now?

Tears came involuntarily from the sadness.

But in the midst of this, black things flitted by, brushing past the two of them. Even as he cried, Mo Yeon tried his best not to get too far from Tae Young-won.

“…Hic.”

“…”

Tae Young-won seemed dumbfounded watching Mo Yeon follow along obediently while sobbing. Eventually, Mo Yeon was holding onto Tae Young-won’s collar, who wasn’t even holding his hand anymore. He didn’t feel like letting go. Anyway, he was crying so much that he had to walk while leaning on something. In other words, he couldn’t see anything clearly.

“Uu…”

His tightly closed lips trembled.

“…Sunbae, I’m sorry.”

Apologies should be quick and clear.

“I’m not doing this to hear your apology.”

“…”

“And what’s the use of apologizing? You’ve already done wrong anyway.”

Teardrops rolled down his cheeks. Tae Young-won’s lips curved smoothly. However, it wasn’t a smile containing any pleasure.

“I just want to confirm something.”

Even while fearing the consequences, Mo Yeon still held onto Tae Young-won’s collar as he walked. Even though he was on his way to be punished, he still didn’t have the courage to let go.

All things considered, it seemed Mo Yeon was still most afraid of ghosts. Tae Young-won wasn’t scarier than ghosts yet. Even if he had to pay the price for following him like this, he had no choice…

However, Mo Yeon encountered an unexpected new ominousness.

The place Tae Young-won took him was some hotel.

Seeing him in the bright light made the difference from Tae Young-won’s usual appearance even more stark.

Tae Young-won had an expression and tone that showed no trace of kindness.

Mo Yeon belatedly realized that Tae Young-won had been completely deceiving him at school all this time. He wasn’t the type of person who was only warm to those close to him.

There was a safe in the corner of the hotel room. Tae Young-won put Mo Yeon’s wallet and belongings in it and closed the door.

“I don’t know what you want, but couldn’t you spare my life if possible? Honestly, even though I did wrong, I don’t think I did something bad enough to be killed…”

“Killed?”

He sat down in a chair, crossing his legs in front of a small round table. Mo Yeon stood in front of him, naturally clasping his hands together. Earlier, Tae Young-won had seemed quite heated, but now he looked calm again.

“I came here to talk with you. I never intended to use force. After all, you’re my junior, and I want to resolve this amicably through conversation.”

Could that really be true?

After standing and observing for quite a while like a student dragged to the teacher’s office, Tae Young-won spoke quietly.

“Mo Yeon, it was the first time in my life that I kissed a man, and being forced at that, so I was really shocked then.”

And as soon as Tae Young-won opened his mouth, Mo Yeon let out a deep sigh.

When on earth did he figure it out?

“At first, I just thought I’d been tricked by a gay guy who wanted to sleep with me, and I didn’t intend to track you down and hold you responsible…”

“…”

“But then you started hanging around me openly at school.”

So it was from the beginning…

Then is Tae Young-won trying to hold me “responsible” now?

“Not only was I forcibly kissed, but I was also deceived by a junior younger than me… I thought I had lived honestly, swearing to heaven, but lately I’ve been feeling like I’ve completely wasted my life.”

“…Really?”

He didn’t seem like the type to be so troubled by something like this. Mo Yeon had only imagined him showing contempt and anger like before, never picturing him agonizing like this.

This approach honestly made Mo Yeon feel uncomfortable.

“…I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“I did. It was really hard.”

But even while cornered, Mo Yeon started to have some doubts.

‘Is this real?’

He began to suspect whether someone like Tae Young-won had truly been distressed by his actions.