Chapter 34

“…Mmh.”

Still asleep, Geum Seoul let out a faint sigh. He had passed out sometime after being carried into the bedroom and had yet to stir, even after Gye Do-hyeop pulled on a pair of sweatpants, finished a bottle of soju, and returned to the room.

Having touched, licked, and entered him in the living room before spilling over his pale cheek, only to drag him into the bedroom for another round, the entire apartment was thick with alpha pheromones. Thanks to the automatic circulator whirring in the corner, the scent was finally beginning to thin out. Outside the window, the sky was tinged with the cool blue of dawn, hinting at the hour. Instead of climbing into bed, Gye Do-hyeop sank into a single armchair in the corner of the master bedroom, leaning his weight to one side. In his slanted gaze lay Geum Seoul, motionless upon the mattress.

He had drenched Geum Seoul in his pheromones during sex and continued long after it ended. Gye Do-hyeop knew exactly where the impulse came from: he liked Geum Seoul. Quite a lot, in fact. The striking face, the lack of whining, the sharp instincts, the exquisitely responsive body—even the way Seoul kept his pheromones suppressed instead of letting them flare wildly—every part of him aligned with Gye Do-hyeop’s tastes. For a man who disliked other people’s scents enough to sleep almost exclusively with Betas, the match was nearly ideal.

Being a dominant alpha meant there was a risk of pregnancy even outside rut cycles, making condoms a tedious necessity, yet it was a nuisance well worth enduring.

Appearance, voice, pheromones, scent—everything suited him, and the boy’s unpredictable reactions in conversation were refreshing. Not that he harbored any profound sentiment, but Seoul was a perfect partner to sleep with on occasion: a pleasant anomaly in his routine. Gazing at the pale toes peeking out from under the duvet, Gye Do-hyeop set down his water glass and pushed himself up.

Rustle.

“You ran around like crazy the second the sun came up back there,” Gye Do-hyeop muttered with shameless ease. “Why aren’t you being diligent here?”

Muttering the shameless remark with a black electronic cigarette dangling from his lips, Gye Do-hyeop gripped Geum Seoul’s pale ankle. Bracing a knee near the foot of the bed, he lifted the foot of the young man sprawled dead to the world with one cheek pressed flat against the pillow. The thin duvet slid from his shins, baring his thighs along with the dried fluids crusting between them—the aftermath of Gye Do-hyeop pulling off the condom at the end of their second round to spill over his perineum.

“Better wake up before I leave for work,” Gye Do-hyeop said.

There was no particular reason to wake him when he could just leave him asleep. He simply liked seeing those brown lashes flutter open, revealing vivid, high-contrast eyes that stared back at him in quiet stillness.

The young man stirred with a faint groan, nuzzling into the pillow. “…Ugh, mm.”

Geum Seoul tossed restlessly upon the mattress. Without hesitation, Gye Do-hyeop pressed the sole of that foot against his groin and rubbed it firmly. If he still felt unslaked after coming twice, it was because he hadn’t knotted and tangled their pheromones to his heart’s content. Yet that was hardly necessary; he was the sort to consider the sex they had just shared more than sufficient.

Watching him, Gye Do-hyeop murmured, “Mm. Seeing you clutch your belly would be hot as fuck, though.”

Geum Seoul whimpering while holding his stomach every time he was taken to the hilt—Gye Do-hyeop rubbed his semi-erect shaft against the soft sole of Seoul’s foot. Gripping the shin and arch to stroke it in earnest, he watched the closed eyelids flutter and twitch.

“…Deputy Director?” Seoul murmured.

The tip of his red tongue slipped out and in as he shaped the syllables. Having slept facing one side, the cheek of the half-awake young man was pressed into a rosy imprint. Taking in Seoul’s swollen eyelids, reddened lips, and bruised skin, Gye Do-hyeop pressed the rounded big toe downward to graze along his glans. Recalling how those tight walls had clamped down around him earlier, a low, appreciative hum rumbled in his throat.

Blinking in confusion, Geum Seoul rubbed his eyes. “Uh, um….”

Waking up with one leg hoisted into the air, Geum Seoul was thoroughly disoriented. His dry eyes could barely focus, yet his captured foot was being rubbed against something hard. All he could do was rub his eyes and call out cautiously in a sleep-thickened voice.

“If you called me, speak up,” Gye Do-hyeop said. “Once I leave for work, who knows when I’ll be back from busting my ass?”

“Ah….” Seoul breathed in soft realization.

As his vision cleared, he realized precisely where his foot was resting. Accustomed to the pale blue dawn, he could estimate the time with ease. Just as before falling asleep, the man was staring straight at him with pitch-black eyes. The odorless white vapor he exhaled rose into the air like wisps of steam.

Geum Seoul’s shoulders shivered. Piece by piece, memories of the previous night came rushing back. Thoroughly intoxicated by the alpha’s pheromones, he had sex for the first time. A bubbling tickle of shame churned in his stomach. Though barely a few hours had passed, Gye Do-hyeop’s face showed no sign of fatigue. His broad shoulders were densely packed with muscle, and the predatory hunger in his gaze bit sharply into Seoul’s waking mind.

Clutching the sheets with white knuckles, Seoul whispered, “There was something… I wanted to tell you….”

Gye Do-hyeop gave a sharp tilt of his head. “Again?”

With the lingering haze of pheromones making him pant almost instantly, Geum Seoul clutched the white duvet and parted his lips. His swollen eyelids made his lashes feel heavy, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut and open them several times. Even so, his gaze periodically dropped to his big toe and sole. Far from feeling repulsed, the nape of his neck and ears burned hot.

“Speak,” Gye Do-hyeop commanded.

Seoul averted his gaze to his captured toes. “If you… let go of my foot first, I’ll say it.”

Gye Do-hyeop retorted flatly, “Just talk. I’m going to come once over this foot before I head out anyway.”

Even as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Geum Seoul’s cheek and eyes. The flattened hair still steeped in sleep, the eyelids fluttering as if struggling to focus, and the dazed pupils drifting before sharpening again easily stoked Gye Do-hyeop’s dark desires. Flushing red in response, Seoul stammered, parting his plump lips.

“Back then… the day I first saw Lee Hee-joong,” Seoul whispered.

Yet the unexpected confession tumbling from the young man’s lips was far from what Gye Do-hyeop had anticipated hearing, prompting him to furrow his brow in a puzzled, skeptical squint.

Swallowing hard, Seoul met his gaze. “Before going to his room… he stopped by the shower room.”

It was something Seoul had meant to tell Gye Do-hyeop the moment they met again. The detail had returned to him while he was showering, but at the time there had been no way to contact the man. Lee Hee-joong was already dead, so perhaps it changed nothing now. Even so, Gye Do-hyeop had questioned him repeatedly about that night, and the forgotten stop at the shower room had never quite left Seoul’s mind.

From the moment they finally crossed paths last night, there hadn’t been an opening, and the warmth now heating his flesh would cloud his thoughts in no time, making it essential to speak now. Besides, the man had warned that once he left, there was no telling when he would return from busting his ass.

“Why bring that up now?” Gye Do-hyeop asked.

Seoul explained hastily, “I forgot and only remembered later. Because Park Gil-pyeong forced himself on him, he went to the shower room to wash up. It slipped my mind, but then it suddenly came back to me.”

Gye Do-hyeop’s eyes locked onto Geum Seoul’s face as he explained earnestly. There wasn’t a corner of that neighborhood, abandoned shacks included, that hadn’t been searched. In particular, the room where Lee Hee-joong had stayed briefly, Geum Seoul’s room, the building perimeter, and naturally the shower and laundry rooms had all been swept by his men. Nothing had turned up.

Thud.

Releasing Geum Seoul’s foot, Gye Do-hyeop leaned over to plant an arm beside his head. As their bodies overlapped and their faces drew close, Seoul flinched in fright, whispering an apology. Instead of answering, Gye Do-hyeop propped his head on an elbow and lay sideways beside him—a posture befitting a tender couple.

Once again, the kid managed to pique his interest in countless ways. He had wanted to cup the arch and spill over that wrinkling sole, but hearing this story took precedence.

“Is there anywhere to hide something in that shower room?” Gye Do-hyeop asked.

Geum Seoul looked down tentatively. “…I didn’t look at it that closely.”

If anything, it was the place where Geum Seoul spent the least time in the whole neighborhood: a spot where he couldn’t strip down comfortably unless he had a reason to wash off his makeup, always hurrying through his wash. Tilting his head, Gye Do-hyeop tapped the space between Seoul’s swollen eyes.

Gye Do-hyeop remarked dryly, “Your memory is insane. Enough to recall my name and the helicopter model from a newspaper a year ago.”

“That was…” Seoul murmured, trailing off.

Gye Do-hyeop held his gaze. “Think again. Is there anywhere a person walking into that shower room for the first time could hide something?”

Geum Seoul fell silent, thinking hard.

Hesitating at those words, Geum Seoul slowly rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. His wandering gaze drifted downward, scanning everywhere except Gye Do-hyeop’s face hovering at point-blank range, until at last his hesitation gave way.

“A lot of the tiles and walls are cracked in there,” Seoul whispered. “If it’s a gap like that, maybe…”

Gye Do-hyeop raised an eyebrow. “A gap someone searching wouldn’t easily notice?”

Once again, Geum Seoul searched his memory. The pupils that had barely managed to focus on Gye Do-hyeop after waking drifted into the haze of recollection.

Seoul murmured as he searched his memory, “…A long time ago, they tore out several faucets and tiled over them, so there are some clogged drain openings inside.”

At that, Gye Do-hyeop nodded and sat up. Thinking the man was about to leave, Geum Seoul braced his elbows against the sheets to push himself up, but far from leaving the master bedroom, Gye Do-hyeop settled himself right back between Seoul’s legs.

“Uh… aren’t you going?” Seoul asked in surprise.

Gye Do-hyeop smirked down at him. “I told you I’d jerk off with your foot before heading out.”

Seoul breathed softly, “Ah.”

“Aren’t you paying attention?” Gye Do-hyeop demanded roughly.

Geum Seoul’s jaw dropped at the unfiltered roughness. Thinking he would rub his cock over that cheek or nose next time, Gye Do-hyeop pulled down his sweatpants to free his engorged shaft and stroked it in broad sweeps. Seoul’s eyes snapped back into focus. Bestowing a fond grin, Gye Do-hyeop took hold of Seoul’s ankle and gently bit the edge of his foot in praise for a job well done. Understanding the reward with his sharp mind, the young man’s cheeks blushed warm rose.

In the end, Gye Do-hyeop actually spilled his release all over Geum Seoul’s feet. Having come once over the right sole and once more between both feet pressed together, he prodded the aroused youth, asking if his soles were an erogenous zone and teasing that for a virgin he was quite the pervert, before clamping Seoul’s thighs together to thrust between them. Every time the heavy shaft drove forward from behind Seoul’s thighs to slap against his uncircumcised pale cock, Seoul’s hips shuddered with wanton tremors, prompting Gye Do-hyeop to spill another generous release over the fragile, sensually melting man’s belly and shaft.

Rubbing their spilled seed together over the pale flesh, Gye Do-hyeop threatened to lick clean the blend of their releases to see what it tasted like, finally reducing Seoul to tears. Yet by then, the youth was thoroughly intoxicated by Gye Do-hyeop’s pheromones, trembling in feverish yearning even while sobbing that he couldn’t take any more inside.

Ultimately turning him onto his stomach, Gye Do-hyeop gathered the plump buttocks in both hands to lift them high, rubbing against the perineum before aligning his slit with the fluttering entrance to release once more.

Even after that, Gye Do-hyeop pressed his crown firmly against the reddened entrance as if ready to plunge inside without a condom, only for a sounding alarm to reel in his slipping reason. Trembling face-down on the mattress, Seoul had soaked the sheets beneath him, prompting Gye Do-hyeop to pull back while gently nipping the rounded back of the youth’s head.

Fastening his wristwatch, Gye Do-hyeop instructed, “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow, so get dressed and wait for me.”

“…Yes,” Seoul whispered obediently.

Having showered for work, Gye Do-hyeop reentered the bedroom pulling on a black t-shirt. Shrouded in their mingled scent and heavy pheromones, Geum Seoul sat dazed on the edge of the mattress, exhaling soft, shallow breaths.