NTFT | Volume 1.19

He walked off to the bathroom, rudely clicking his tongue, but his appearance was quite irritating.

His dangling penis was carelessly left between his legs, not bothering to cover it up. Instead, he brazenly entered the bathroom and slammed the door loudly.

”Attention seeker? Really, why is he like that…?”

He was a hard guy to understand, but still, the glimpse of his buttocks as he entered the bathroom was quite a sight.

”Ha, if it had been a few hundred years ago, I would have drilled you nicely. You should be thankful, kiddo.”

I rubbed my nose with my index finger and slightly wrinkled my face. I somewhat missed my long-lost spouse.

It had been a good and busy life back then. Now, I cannot use it anymore.

”Ah, or is it possible with a feni-band…?”

Yeah, I should not think about it while eating, but I seemed to get turned on because of him. But since I cannot satisfy my sexual desire right now, I might as well satisfy my appetite with the remaining cockle bibimbap.

Ah, I was told to leave some. What to do? I was hungrier than I thought.

He will be mad when he comes out of the shower.

I felt a bit guilty. I was told to leave some, but I ate it all, which was noticeable, but it felt a bit wrong that he spent all the money and could not eat.

”No, the cockles… were too delicious.”

I put down the spoon in the empty bowl and checked what he had bought. There were snacks, sausages, jerky, and booze, and melted ice cream.

I threw the melted ice cream, still in the bag, into the trash can without showing it.

Then I waited a bit nervously for him to come out of the shower. As I waited, twiddling my toes, there was no news.

”What is up? Why is he not coming out?”

It was about time he should come out, but why was he not? I got up quietly and tiptoed toward the bathroom, pricking up my ears near the bathroom door.

Faint sounds could be heard inside.

”Is he pooping?”

I focused on the sounds when suddenly the door, which seemed like a wall, opened. A blast of steam hit my cheeks and ears.

”Hyung, are you a pervert? Why are you here?”

”Ah, are you done showering?”

”Yes. I am done.”

”No, you did not come out. I thought you were pooping or something.”

”I do not poop like that!”

He moved his body aside and stepped out of the bathroom. A familiar scent drifted by from where he had passed.

My keen sense of smell could catch it right away. I had smelled it countless times, and even moments ago, I had smelled it intensely.

It was fresh, freshly ejaculated ‘semen’.

”Hey.”

”Why?”

”Did you masturbate in the shower again?”

His face flushed red like a burning matchstick.

”No, I did not?!”

”What do you mean no? You are coming out smelling all fresh.”

I looked into the bathroom. Although he might have washed it off with water, semen, unlike water, tends to be sticky and often gets caught in the drain.

I looked that way. At that moment, I saw his wet chest in front of me.

”Ah, cannot you pretend you did not see?!”

”Right? Why hide it all of a sudden?”

”Ah, shit… It is embarrassing!”

”You? Ha, that is even weirder. Where is the confidence you had in front of the dinner table?”

”Ah, I do not know!”

He turned his head away and did not even make eye contact. Whether he was truly offended or just pissed off, he soon walked away to the living room where the sofa was.

”Youth is great, is it not? Cannot even wait a few minutes and has to masturbate in the bathroom?”

He did not respond and seemed thirsty as he cracked open a can of beer and gulped it down. I felt the urge to tease him.

”Why? Was it because it was just the chest and you felt empty below?”

”Phew!”

”Oh, guess I was right.”

”Cough, cough, bro…! Re, really…! Ah… my nose is burning!”

He coughed, his face turning red, and his body, freshly showered, was a sight in just a shower robe, choking in embarrassment.

Where did this come from?

This young guy seemed quite debauched and lascivious. Weak to pleasures and chasing after them, he would be perfect for a one-night stand or even as a sex partner.

If the circumstances were a bit different, he would be quite fitting to indulge in lust. A living human dildo was always better than one made of plastic or silicone.

”Hyung, you finished eating, right?”

”Ah, sorry about that.”

”Knew it. Tsk, I might as well drink. There is plenty of snacks.”

He settled down on the sofa, tore open a snack, and started drinking the beer he had grabbed. Alone, he turned on the TV inside the lodging and started watching a variety show.

”Are you very upset?”

”No. I will just drink.”

Not sure about other things, but I felt a bit sorry about eating all the food. I fidgeted and thought about sitting next to him, but then it seemed like I was the one smelling.

I smelled of sweat and perhaps of semen. Plus, I really needed to clean up below.

”I am taking a shower.”

Eventually, I left him alone and went into the bathroom. The clothes were borrowed from a fugitive when I escaped, and just in case, I had packed a few tampons in the jacket pocket.

”Yeah, that should do.”

Ridiculously, a man and moreover a Gumiho? Or… whatever that weird ambiguous thing was. It was quite funny to see him carrying tampons in a jacket pocket.

”Really lost its shape. This is not right…”

A mix of disappointment, embarrassment, annoyance, and disgust surged through me, but what could I do? It was the path I had chosen, and a curse I had received long ago.

Self-pity did not suit me.

It was not the right time either.

I undressed and quietly let myself under the shower. Warm water washed over my skin, taking away the dirt and unnecessary emotions with it.

When was it? I had heard somewhere, ’A bath is the laundry of life.’ Was it from a movie? Or a drama?

No, not something that grand.

It was from a manga.

What a brilliant quote.

Various complicated and unresolved emotions seemed to wash away with just a simple shower, leaving me feeling clean and refreshed. My body felt lighter, and my mind felt fresher.

I wiped the steamy mirror with my palm and looked at my face.

The face wearing a human guise, not exactly my original form, but now this was the reality of my human self.

Sometimes when I looked at myself like this, I felt like the spirits of those I had killed had gathered to give me a taste of being human as if to say, ’Now you try it.’ And they had been diligently doing so for a very long time.

Would this make me human?

What would I do if I became human?

That miserable and pathetic love you all so desperately desired? Ha, not even funny.

Love is not just for humans.

Gumiho can love too.

I placed my hand on my abdomen and then gently massaged around where my liver would be. My body still had a liver, and along with that, the grudge and curse of 99 Gumiho that had become human also resided within this body.

’Mi Hong, someday you will understand me too. So wait for that day.’

The words of a friend whose face I barely remembered echoed in my ears like an echo.

”Ha, someday? I wonder… So much time has passed, is that statement still valid? After this much time, has the expiration date on that statement already passed? Choi Jong-ho.”

He had asked me to call him by the name he had chosen when he was human, instead of his Gumiho name.

I had never properly called him that, but today, the name just came to mind.

Yeah, that was his name.

Just use the original name. Why bother making a human name and fuss about it? If you are going to make one, at least put some thought into it.

Wow, that is a terrible name.

The original name was much better.

”Bon Ha…”

I called the name of my precious friend for the first time in a long while.

I could not remember my friend’s face. The memory had faded as much as the years had allowed, and only the friend’s name remained.

’Koo Bon Ha.’

The only friend among the Gumiho.

Such a crappy personality, and you were the only friend I had. Pitiful, vile guy.

We played together, and after a long time, the thought of you intensified as I breathed in the chilly outdoor air.

Apparently, I had not properly dried you off like a thorn stuck in my throat. Maybe that was my only mistake and regret.

Really, why did you insist on becoming human and end up in such a miserable state?

Calling his name suddenly made tears flow down my cheeks.

I looked in the mirror and was surprised by the tears, quickly wiping them away with the back of my hand.

”Why sudden tears? What a sentimental fool. Bon Ha, you must be eating and living well in the underworld. Why am I crying now… How pathetic.”

It was an untimely sentimentality. Having showered, it really felt like my soul had been thoroughly laundered, capturing me in a strange feeling of nostalgia for the past.

It was an action unlike me. I really should have just stayed inside without thinking and messed around with sloppy sex broadcasts.

I regretted crawling out and indulging in this unfitting sentimentality.

”Ah, what is this? A trick of hormones? Ah… Why are my emotions such a mess? Ha, let us get out.”

I left the clothes I had taken off and put on underwear and just a shower robe. I roughly towel-dried my hair and stepped outside.

”Euijong, what are you doing, drinking? Is there still booze left?”

I closed the bathroom door and turned my head toward the living room where Euijong was supposed to be. But what was this scene?

”Ah! Hyung, you are out? Come on, say hello here!”

”What?”

”Everyone! The guy over there is a very pretty hyung I met today! Introducing Mi Hong hyung!”

While I was showering, he got thoroughly drunk. Holding his phone, he was making a fuss as if delirious. His face was all scrunched up, showing his displeasure, but he came over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

”Hey, bro, why are not you saying hi? Everyone is going crazy saying how handsome you are!”

This kid should have gotten drunk gracefully. Where is this nonsense coming from?

”Ah, you smell like booze…!”

I looked around and saw beer and soju bottles rolling on the floor. Judging by the glasses on the table, it seemed he had been joyfully mixing soju and beer.

Soaked tissues were stuck to the balcony window.

It was an astonishing situation. No matter how you looked at it, he had drunk quite a bit in a short time. Or maybe he was weak to alcohol.

Ha, how could this guy be so thoughtless.

”What are you doing?”

”What am I doing? I was waiting for you, got bored, and turned on Instagram Live, you know?”

”Huh? Why did you turn that on?!”

I snatched the phone to check the screen. My face appeared large on the screen, and at the bottom, chats and hearts were floating up massively.