Sentimental Shower

#013

Mr. Yoo rode in Yeon Tae-soo’s car to the District 2 Public Exhibition Hall. The exhibition staff recognized Yeon Tae-soo and greeted him enthusiastically.

No matter how big Eden was, it was still just a casino. And the attitude of the civil servants towards him was certainly not one shown to a mere casino owner.

This was good news for Mr. Yoo, who was considering accepting his offer of protection. After all, it would be better to entrust himself to someone with power.

After exchanging a few words with Yeon Tae-soo, the manager willingly opened the exhibition hall. He even bowed, telling them to enjoy their viewing.

Mr. Yoo hesitantly entered the empty exhibition hall. Yeon Tae-soo waited at the entrance, telling him to view comfortably.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, the first thing he saw was a photo of a supernova explosion.

They say stars have different colors depending on their temperature, but the supernova seemed to have all the colors of various stars. No, it looked like it contained all the colors that exist in the world.

It was hard to believe that such a massive, magnificent, and brilliant phenomenon actually occurs in just a few seconds.

It was also hard to believe that only gas remains after such a grand explosion.

He took a deep breath in front of the enormous square photo, which seemed to be about 2 meters on each side.

In astronomy, they say about 1 million years is classified as the “near future.” That’s because it’s a field that studies such vast spaces. They even say that among the stars observed now, some no longer exist.

Although human science had advanced enough to create beings similar to humans like himself, the universe was still too vast for them.

Mr. Yoo felt breathless at the vastness that felt distant even from a single photo. He felt like he might cry. He was aware that this reaction wasn’t normal.

It was probably because of the person who created him.

“…Hah…”

Suddenly feeling drained, Mr. Yoo sat down right there. It was hard for him to understand why he had come all this way in the rain. A warning popped up on his visual display. Blood pressure increase, muscle stiffness.

This body was already malfunctioning. So this might be one of the symptoms. Yes, even this feeling of being on the verge of tears must be just one of the symptoms.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. His blurred visual display returned to normal. The warning disappeared. He rubbed his face once and stood up. There were still many photos left to see.

***

Yeon Tae-soo, waiting outside the building, lit a cigarette. As he exhaled a long stream of smoke, he could see the view of Haeya-dong after sunset beyond it.

The wet Haeya-dong, with its soot marks, mold stains, and rust marks on buildings everywhere, looked just like a cave. The humid air, the stuffy temperature even after nightfall, the starless sky.

Below it, people moving for their livelihoods, self-driving taxis, and motorbikes traveled on roads glistening with rainwater.

Over this familiar sight of Haeya-dong, the image of Mr. Yoo he had just seen came to mind.

The sight of him curled up and trembling stimulated something long forgotten in Yeon Tae-soo’s heart. People seemed to call it a protective instinct, but Yeon Tae-soo wanted to call it possessiveness.

Yong-sik, who had just returned from patrolling the area, bowed his head in greeting. He seemed to have something to say, hesitating before finally opening his mouth.

“Um, boss, how much did you say that guy owed? I can collect…”

So he had been concerned about what he said while beating up that pork trotter guy. Yeon Tae-soo waved his hand dismissively.

“Oh, that was a lie. Don’t worry about it.”

“What? Oh, yes, boss.”

If he hadn’t mentioned the debt, he would have surely caused a commotion. He had stayed quiet only because he said he owed him too; otherwise, he would have nagged a lot.

After waiting for a long time, Mr. Yoo finally came out. He looked somewhat refreshed but also a bit bitter.

What story could this pretty man have to come see this exhibition, even getting soaked in the rain?

His chest tingled with curiosity. Yeon Tae-soo originally liked pretty things. Of course, he was crazy about something this pretty even with half its face covered.

So even now, he was licking his lips while looking at his side profile.

“Thank you. I was able to view comfortably thanks to you.”

The eyes visible above the mask had an incredibly beautiful look, but his actions and words were so plain that it made him even more tantalizing. Wasn’t it just like wrapping a precious diamond in cheap packaging?

“Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”

He was prepared to forcibly put him in the car if he said he’d take a taxi alone, but fortunately, Mr. Yoo obediently followed.

Sitting side by side in the back seat on the way to Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital, Mr. Yoo said nothing. Yeon Tae-soo didn’t initiate conversation either.

Several times during the journey, he suppressed the urge to grab that pretty face and kiss it. He wanted to remove the mask, strip off all the clothes underneath, and just take him right there in the car.

How delicious would it be? To unwrap that tightly wrapped package and savor each part. He wanted to put each finger and toe in his mouth and suck on them until they melted.

In fact, while Mr. Yoo was indeed very pretty, he had never felt this aroused looking at another person. He wondered if it was because Mr. Yoo rejected him, but even so, it seemed excessive.

Uncontrollable impulses kept surging. He couldn’t remember ever being this well-behaved. In fact, it didn’t make sense for his broken emotional system to cause such intense impulses. Had Mr. Yoo done something to him?

He suddenly remembered that teacher or pork trotter guy he met earlier. He also recalled Mr. Yoo’s face, just staring silently even as that guy yelled at him.

Those guys weren’t a problem; they’d fall away with just a wave of his hand. The problem was Mr. Yoo.

Countless unnecessary guys would keep coming at him in the future, but could he endure each time?

Because he couldn’t visit often due to business expansion, he had sent his subordinates to the animal hospital. He told them to watch the animal hospital 24 hours a day in 4 shifts, monitoring for any suspicious characters.

But of course, it’s not as good as keeping him close and watching over him personally.

“…That’s why I said to come to Eden comfortably.”

Although he suddenly broke the silence, Mr. Yoo must have understood. That’s why he wasn’t answering.

The passing neon lights illuminated Mr. Yoo’s masked face.

If only he could remove that mask. He felt like he could truly sell his soul for it.

The car had already arrived in front of Byeolbyeol Animal Hospital. He suddenly thought that the cute animal hospital name suited Mr. Yoo. Thinking that he had named it himself made him shiver with cuteness.

“Thank you for today. Take care.”

As he was about to leave with a formal greeting as if to a workplace superior, Yeon Tae-soo held him back.

“If you’re grateful, can I get a cup of coffee?”

Mr. Yoo’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then rolled once as if considering it. He wanted to lick those focused pupils with his tongue. It wasn’t his imagination that his perversion seemed to have grown since meeting Mr. Yoo.

After a brief consideration, Mr. Yoo nodded and went inside first.

The automatic lights that had turned on when they entered automatically turned off as Yeon Tae-soo sat quietly. The dark clinic had no drinks, water purifiers, or e-books for waiting guardians. As he waited quietly, Mr. Yoo, who had gone inside, came out holding a coffee cup.

“Why don’t you put some coffee mix outside too? Don’t you treat the patients’ guardians?”

“Yes. I didn’t feel the need particularly.”

He had meant to rebuke him on purpose, but again came a calm answer. He shook his head.

“There’s really no fun in teasing you.”

“Pardon?”

The face that asked without understanding looked dangerously innocent. That gaze, so different from his beautifully pretty eyes. Yes, that gaze was driving him crazy.

Yeon Tae-soo smiled, feeling something boiling inside him, teetering on the brink of overflowing.

No one would believe it, but he was as good as a corpse. Because he had already missed the time when he should have died.

His senses were dying. No one knows this fact.

That’s why he invited people to Eden and engaged in debauchery. He wanted stimulation. He hoped to awaken his dying senses even a little.

It was also a kind of act. It was to hide his body that was different from others.

He lived a life of pretending, as if he was crazy with pleasure, as if he couldn’t stand how fun life was.

Nevertheless, his dully hardened senses refused to come alive.

What drugs, self-harm, and sex couldn’t do, this pretty man was doing.

“No, I’ll drink it well.”

And Yeon Tae-soo realized that Mr. Yoo was terrible at mixing coffee.

The liquid in the mug was more like an unidentified water with a coffee scent and a faint smell of tap water rather than coffee.

‘Could it be… he has no tongue?’

He could find out if he kissed him. Would it be too perverse to say, “Let’s kiss to see if our Mr. Yoo has a tongue”?

While having these frivolous thoughts, Mr. Yoo was moving around pretending to clean the clinic, which didn’t seem to need tidying. The neon lights flowing into the dim hospital colored his profile.

Damn, he’s so fucking hot.

While internally using all sorts of vulgar words, Yeon Tae-soo sat quietly, just drinking the water-like coffee.

No, had he just said it? In his imagination, he had violated him over five hundred times with all sorts of lewd and strange acts.

But his belief that the more expensive something is, the more it should be savored, remained unchanged.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

So he quietly placed the empty mug on the examination table and got up stealthily, swallowing the desire boiling inside him.

As Yeon Tae-soo was stretching and about to approach the door,

“About your offer to protect me.”

Yeon Tae-soo, who was about to leave the hospital, turned around at his words.

“That, shall we start from tonight?”

And Yeon Tae-soo realized why he was so attracted to him.

It was because of this look in his eyes. He was the opposite of himself. Unlike himself who had always wanted to die, these eyes were so intensely alive.