DMH Ch7

‘Dad, what is the fluid that comes out of an omega?’

Mu Jeonghoo was reading a sex education comic book published for children. While reading the book, he was overcome with an overwhelming curiosity and went to his father’s room, swinging the thick comic book cover. Knock, knock. A small fist knocked on the oak-colored wooden door. Soon, the door opened, and a rush of hot air enveloped Jeonghoo’s face. The door swung open, revealing a healthy man’s legs. A large bed could be seen between his legs. There was a mound on top of it.

‘Hmm… the fluid that comes out of an omega’s body, you say.’

The man scratched his chin, which was covered in stubble because he hadn’t shaved. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door, thinking of what to say to his son, who had become aware of sex. Looking down, he saw sparkling eyes waiting for an answer. He believed that one action was more certain than a hundred words.

‘Come in.’

The man stepped aside. Mu Jeonghoo scurried into the space given to him. The massive door closed with a sound. The pink-covered sex education comic book was left behind on the floor, unable to enter.

At the time, Mu Jeonghoo was just over six years old.

The word “curiosity” didn’t suit him. He had been taught from a young age to quickly get rid of anything he was curious about. There were no riddles he hadn’t solved, and he hated nothing more than feeling frustrated. For Mu Jeonghoo, curiosity was like an apple pie that he reached for first, even before finishing his meal. Even if he reached for the apple pie before eating his meal, no one would say anything.

But now it was a little different. He felt curious, but he had other thoughts. Like how the satisfaction and anticipation that came at the end were doubled when you saved the best part for last. If you ate the apple pie cold, the jam inside would be colder than when it was freshly baked. At that time, if you ate it while crumbs of the crispy crust fell, the viscosity of the jam inside the apple pie that stuck to your teeth would be even sweeter and stickier.

“I want to pinch his nipples.”

Jeonghoo muttered quietly and rubbed his fingers together, looking at Wan buried in the bed. The navy blue pants were stained here and there with moisture.

“Kim-ah.”

“Yes.”

Mu Jeonghoo called Chief Kim, who entered as if he had been waiting. He slightly furrowed his brow at the sight of the mansion worker’s son sprawled out on his young master’s large bed.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. He suddenly fainted.”

“…”

“His pants look wet. Take his clothes off first.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chief Kim approached the bed. He grabbed Wan’s arm to remove the loose cardigan. He felt soft flesh and bone rather than muscle. Chief Kim removed the worn school uniform cardigan and summer shirt. He felt around the back of Wan’s head with his fingers, wondering if Mu Jeonghoo had knocked him out. It was an act of caution, fearing that troublesome things might arise. Fortunately, there were no signs of being hit or collapsing from a shock. Jeonghoo, watching Chief Kim’s actions, smiled, raising the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t touch him.”

“I apologize.”

Chief Kim bowed his head in apology. He waved his hand dismissively and buried himself in the sofa next to the bed. Leaning back, Jeonghoo stared silently as Chief Kim’s hand touched the buckle of Wan’s school uniform pants. The buckle clanked open, and the uniform pants slid down. Wan, left only in his underwear, was sound asleep, oblivious to anyone who might take him away. If it weren’t for the color in his face, one might mistake him for a wax doll.

Chief Kim pulled the blanket covering Wan’s legs down to his feet. In the light illuminating the spacious room, Wan’s pale, naked body shone. Jeonghoo looked him over from head to toe, as if licking his exposed body, which only covered the important parts, with his tongue. There was nothing particularly eye-catching. When Chief Kim reached out to dim the bedside lamp, Mu Jeonghoo stopped him.

“Leave it.”

Chief Kim removed his hand from the lamp and opened a small drawer next to the bed. It was as natural as washing his face and brushing his teeth before going to bed. Inside the open drawer, condoms were neatly organized by type. Chief Kim chose the thinnest one. Mu Jeonghoo usually preferred condoms so thin that he couldn’t even feel them on his member. Although he didn’t like wearing them, he always used condoms when sleeping with someone, so these condoms were custom-made to his liking. Chief Kim checked the manufacturing date printed on the bottom of the condom.

“Kim-ah.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to choose one. I don’t plan on doing anything today.”

“Is that so?”

Chief Kim put the condom wrapper, scrawled with English cursive, back in its place.

“I don’t have a hobby of doing it with someone who’s unconscious.”

“…”

“You can go home now.”

Chief Kim bowed deeply to Jeonghoo, who was sitting down.

“Rest well.”

Chief Kim gave his final greeting and closed the black door behind him. The atmosphere in the room sank back into silence. Mu Jeonghoo rubbed his chin with his fingers, lost in thought. It was strange. There was a rabbit trapped in a hole right in front of him, but he didn’t feel like having sex. He got up from the sofa, grabbed the neck of his thin, loose knit sweater, and threw it off in one motion.

Suddenly half-naked, Mu Jeonghoo climbed onto the bed. He lay down next to the sleeping Wan and brought his index finger to the area below his nose. The sound of his breathing was faint. Jeonghoo felt the breath, like petals tickling the side of his finger. Then, he stroked his upper body with his large palm. Soft skin slid beneath his palm. He took hold of Wan’s soft arm, which lay still. The pale pink nipples were soaked in the light from the nearby lamp.

During his preschool years, he used to take cooking classes with his peers every weekend at clubs and other places. When the oven, filled with round donuts, chimed, they would take turns descending from the mobile stairs and, under the guidance of the assistant teacher, take the donuts out of the oven. Then, they would roll the warm, small, round donuts on a large cutting board covered with powdered sugar.

Young Jeonghoo was surprised when he first touched the powdered sugar. It felt like touching the softest powder in the world, dropped by a fairy. He touched and touched the fine powder that fell down when rubbed with his hands. It was a pity that such a superior tactile material was only used to be put in the mouth. Eight-year-old Jeonghoo would bury his face in the cutting board so much that white powdered sugar would be smeared all over his nose and cheeks, and he would be stopped by his nanny.

It was the same now. He felt the sensation of sticking his small hand into a cutting board piled high with powdered sugar again as he stroked Wan’s skin. He put his nose into Wan’s folded armpit. It was soft and smooth. It was fragile as if it would break if touched, and the texture was as fine as if it would be filtered through a sieve. Park Wan’s body seemed to be made by sticking powdered sugar together to form a human shape. Jeonghoo, who had been rubbing his nose in his armpit, raised his body.

He lightly climbed onto the sleeping body like a cheetah climbing a tree. He grabbed the thighs that seemed like a fish about to escape the net. Just as he had buried his face in the white powder pile that resembled the summit of Everest, he raised Wan’s thighs like mountains and buried his face between them. It was an action without hesitation. It was a more intimate area than the scent he had smelled in the bathroom. A primal scent touched the tip of his nose.

However, the body’s changes move quickly only when the brain is awake. He was disappointed by Wan’s physical reaction, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

***

His vision is blurry. Wan instinctively opened his eyes in the morning. He heard the chirping of sparrows. What are those called? He watched the white bird with a dazed expression, and the bird with white wings turned its head to the side. His eyes met the bird’s yellow eyeballs. As soon as he saw the eerie white bird’s eyeballs, he woke up with a start. In the meantime, the white bird fluttered into the sky. Wan looked around. Instead of the ceiling of his house, which was speckled with black mold due to the monsoon rain, he looked at the high and spotless marble ceiling. It was the room where he had been cleaning the bathroom yesterday.

“Crazy, crazy.”

The wish was fulfilled, although in a different way. He got to spend a night in this kind of bed.

“No way.”

He pulled the crumpled blanket as he raised his upper body, and tightly held onto the nightgown he was wearing. He doesn’t remember. He did work at the request of an employee working here, but after that, a man barged into the bathroom as if it were his own room, embarrassing him with awkward words and actions….

“I don’t remember.”

Why did I faint? All I had to do was clean up roughly and leave. Wan ruffled his confused hair and got out of bed. He found his school uniform, which he had worn yesterday, neatly folded on the drawer next to the bed. He quickly untied the gown he was wearing. He quickly unfolded the folded pants and shirt. When he grabbed the sleeves and unfolded them, the scent of fabric softener strongly permeated the uniform. That’s good. It was laundry day at home anyway. Even in this situation, he found meaning in saving water and detergent.

At the very bottom of the uniform was a new pair of socks wrapped in packaging. Wan tore open the sock packaging while watching the sparrows scurrying across the railing. He looked for a trash can to throw away the packaging, but there wasn’t a single trash can in the room.

“Ah, damn it.”

Wan crumpled the trash roughly and put it in his pants pocket. As he turned the closed doorknob, he noticed the cardigan he hadn’t taken. Just as he was about to drape the cardigan over his arm and leave, he found shoes blocking the door. The shoe size looked at least twice as big as Wan’s.

“Where are you going?”

“Uh…”

It was the man who had embarrassed him in the bathroom. Wan swallowed hard without realizing it.

“You suddenly fainted while cleaning the bathtub.”

Mu Jeonghoo said with a seemingly worried expression.

“I’m sorry. I was too much yesterday…”

Wan came to a firm conclusion. This man is the owner of the room. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d be wearing shoes and blocking the door of someone else’s house like this. Besides, he’s wearing a suit that looks luxurious at a glance. Jeonghoo smiled faintly and brought his hand to Wan’s cheek. Wan quickly pulled his face back from the man’s touch.

“Are you going around without even checking what day it is?”

“…”

A forgotten fact came to mind. When you have so little, you sometimes forget what you have. Jeonghoo brought his hand back to Wan’s embarrassed face. He caressed the soft skin he had stroked all night again.

“You especially have to be careful.”

“…”

Thump, thump. His heart was pounding as if a giant was stomping around a small house. Wan pressed down on his pounding chest and moved his body to the side. Mu Jeonghoo did not fail to send a smile to Wan, who was clearly terrified but trying to come to his senses.

“Was the sleepover okay?”

Wan didn’t answer the man’s words and ran quickly. He tumbled down the stairs. The lobby leading to the front door was unusually long. As he passed through the front door and stepped down the marble stairs, he was suffocated by the scorching sunlight, which felt like it was burning his skin, unlike the cool mansion. This summer felt particularly long.

You have to be careful of madmen in the summer.