Chapter : 05
“And it’s working hours. If you go home and come back, it’ll practically be time to clock out. Are you planning to slack off again?”
Everything he said was true, leaving Harang unable to argue. Kim Hyun smiled, his eyes curving as he watched Harang merely move his lips without saying anything.
“I’ll lend you some of my clothes. They’ll be a little big, but… I suppose that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Before even hearing an answer, Kim Hyun turned and started walking. Harang had no choice but to leave the wrecked bathroom behind and follow him with drooping shoulders.
“Oh, right, Lee Harang. Please be careful from now on.”
“Huh?”
“Even though our company looks sturdy from the outside, there are quite a few sensitive spots. If you mess with the wrong thing, it might explode again.”
“……”
Had he never believed that it was simply the toilet tank that had exploded in the first place?
To Harang, the man’s back as he walked ahead felt colder than the damp chill of the filthy clothes clinging to his body.
Kim Hyun’s private lounge was so luxurious that calling it a “lounge” hardly seemed appropriate.
Entering through a door on the opposite side from where the team was located, Harang found a lounge connected to the team leader’s office, complete with a bedroom and bathroom.
“I sometimes have to stay at the company because of work. Go ahead and wash up comfortably.”
After explaining the excessive luxury of the room, Kim Hyun opened the bathroom door and nodded toward it.
“I’ll leave some clothes in front of the door.”
“Thank… you.”
Harang awkwardly stepped into the bathroom. The moment the door closed and he locked it, the tension drained from his body and his legs nearly gave out.
He braced himself against the sink and looked in the mirror. He looked absolutely awful. His hair, soaked with filth, clung to his face like strands of seaweed, while blood had begun to bead once again from the cut on his cheek caused by the explosion, trickling down to his chin.
This is driving me crazy. What a mess.
With a sigh, Harang began unbuttoning his wet shirt. As the damp fabric peeled away from his skin, his naked body was revealed in the mirror.
His thin body, with his ribs starkly visible, was so pale that it was almost bloodless. And that wasn’t all. The marks he had accumulated while living as a Baektaek were chaotically etched across his body, like scribbles left on discarded paper.
A long sword scar stretched from his left shoulder to his chest. There were claw-like scratches along his side, resembling the marks of an animal’s claws, along with dark bluish traces left behind where his blood vessels had burst from an overload of spiritual power and later healed.
Every one of those wounds was both a glorious scar earned while sealing Rifts and monsters as a Baektaek, and a brand marking his cursed fate.
It’s disgusting.
Hating the sight of his own body, Harang quickly turned away and switched on the shower.
Whoosh.
Warm water poured down over his head. Feeling his tightly hunched shoulders slowly relax, he squeezed out generous amounts of shampoo and body wash a few beats later and began scrubbing himself.
The heavy woody and musky scent was the same smell that had lingered around Kim Hyun. Harang rubbed the other man’s scent over his own body as he washed away the dark-red filth.
Soap bubbles mixed with blood and disappeared down the drain. As the hot water warmed his body, his tense muscles gradually relaxed into a pleasant lethargy.
I just want to melt away and disappear like this.
If what had happened today was reported to Baektaek, how much of a damn fuss would they make this time?
After imagining himself escaping the life of a slave, where all he received in return for working himself to death was coldness and contempt, melting away like the water seemed strangely appealing. More than anything, it would be satisfying to see those bastards unable to figure out why Harang had disappeared.
He was still standing beneath the shower, enjoying his pleasant fantasy, when—
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the bathroom door startled Harang, and he quickly shut off the faucet.
“Lee Harang.”
As soon as the sound of the water stopped, Kim Hyun’s voice came from beyond the door, as though he had been waiting for it.
“I’m leaving some clothes here. The underwear is new, so just wear it.”
“Oh, yes! Thank you!”
Harang hurriedly shouted loud enough for him to hear outside. Only after he confirmed that the footsteps had moved away did he let out a sigh of relief.
When he finished showering and came out, a neatly folded set of clothes was waiting in a basket in front of the bathroom.
A white dress shirt and black slacks. And an unopened package of men’s boxer briefs.
He roughly dried himself with a towel and hurriedly pulled on the clothes. They were much bigger than he had expected. The pants barely stayed on his hips even with the belt tightened as far as it would go, while the shirt hung down to his thighs. The sleeves were so long that they completely covered his fingertips.
What the… I look like a little kid wearing his nonexistent dad’s clothes.
Harang rolled up the sleeves twice and roughly shook the water from his damp hair before opening the bathroom door.
“Are you done washing?”
Kim Hyun, who had been sitting on the lounge sofa looking at a tablet, raised his head. Their gazes naturally met, and for some reason, Kim Hyun’s eyes took on a strangely sticky intensity as they slowly traveled over Harang from head to toe.
The slender line of his neck and sharply protruding collarbones visible through the loose shirt. His thin, pale wrists exposed beneath the rolled-up sleeves. His moist eyes still glistening with water and his cheeks flushed red.
Kim Hyun’s gaze settled into something strange.
“…Those clothes are really big.”
“Ah, do I look that ridiculous? Still, thanks to you, Team Leader, I survived. Thank you for lending them to me.”
Harang gave an awkward smile and began gathering his still-damp clothes, intending to leave. Just then, Kim Hyun rose from his seat and strode toward him.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Your button is fastened incorrectly.”
Kim Hyun reached a hand toward Harang’s chin. The second button of the shirt had been fastened into the wrong hole. Harang tried to step backward in surprise, but Kim Hyun was faster.
“Stay still.”
Kim Hyun’s long fingers undid the button of Harang’s shirt. Pop. The button came loose, causing the front of the shirt to part slightly.
Through the gap, a long scar carved across Harang’s chest came into Kim Hyun’s view. It was an ugly wound that began at his shoulder and extended toward his heart.
Kim Hyun’s hand stopped.
“What… is this?”
His voice had dropped considerably, as though he were trying to understand the cause of the scar. Instead of fastening the button again, he lightly touched the scar with his fingertip.
“Ah!”
Harang’s body trembled involuntarily. He hadn’t expected the man to suddenly touch him. Startled by the small cry that had escaped him, he hurriedly tried to pull his collar closed while making an excuse.
“Ah, it was an accident. There were… some accidents.”
He belatedly came to his senses and tried to step away, but Kim Hyun quietly caught the hand Harang had raised to cover his collar and lowered it.
“An accident?”
His piercing gaze had gone beyond simple curiosity, becoming almost obsessive.
Ah, this is uncomfortable.
“It doesn’t look like a traffic accident. This is… a sword mark? No, were you clawed? Did you happen to run into a bear?”
“……”
“There’s hardly a part of your body that hasn’t been injured, Lee Harang. You look like a pampered young master on the outside.”
Feeling too weary to explain anything, Harang simply let out a deep sigh.
“Yes, well. I’ve been hurt quite a lot.”
Harang gave him a vague answer. But Kim Hyun still seemed to have many more questions and wouldn’t let him go. Instead, he continued rubbing Harang’s exposed collarbone with his thumb.
“…Team Leader?”
“You’re too thin. It looks like you might break if I put any strength into you.”
“……”
“Do you actually eat properly?”
“Yes.”
“Ah. This won’t do.”
Kim Hyun seemed not to have heard Harang’s answer. After slowly fastening the buttons of the shirt all the way to his neck, he spoke quietly.
“It’s a little early, but let’s eat. Together.”
“Huh? No, I need to go back and work…”
“Liar.”
Kim Hyun chuckled.
“You’re troubled because no one is making you work, aren’t you, Lee Harang? I could practically hear your eyes rolling around all the way in my office.”
“…What?”
Had he known everything and simply been watching from the sidelines? What an asshole.
The uneasiness that had churned in Harang’s stomach only moments ago instantly turned cold.
“Come with me. I’m going to put you to work properly from now on, so I’ll give you some medicine first.”
Medicine? Was he some kind of pest?
While showering the man who was buying him a meal with an endless stream of twisted thoughts, Harang followed him.
He thought they were going outside, but Kim Hyun instead led him to an exclusive dining room for executives located inside the company. An incredibly luxurious and plentiful Korean meal was laid out before them, so lavish that Harang could hardly believe it was a company cafeteria.
“Eat. Don’t leave anything.”
Kim Hyun barely touched his own portion and instead busily placed food onto Harang’s plate.
Grilled eel, amberjack sashimi, beef, and more.
They were all foods Harang’s usual finances wouldn’t even allow him to look at, let alone eat. Thanks to that, Harang moved his chopsticks without even having time to worry about appearances. The food melted delicately in his mouth, and his face brightened involuntarily.
“Is it good?”
Kim Hyun rested his chin on his hand and asked while watching Harang.
“Yes. It practically melts in my mouth.”
As Harang answered while chewing, a satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Kim Hyun’s lips.
He looked almost like someone watching a skinny stray cat he’d picked up from the roadside greedily devour its food.
