SN | Chapter 3.3

The child’s shoulders shook, and he eventually burst into tears at the mischievous behavior that was shocking to hear. Seeing the child clinging to him, Kim Unhak openly frowned.

“Why do you do that?”

“Get rid of it. If I see it again, I’ll get rid of it myself.”

Ignoring Kim Unhak’s complaint, the man pointed at the babysitter standing in the distance. He continued speaking to Kim Unhak, who was frowning.

“And I’m about to do something inappropriate for a kid, so you go inside.”

He gestured at Yuwon with his chin and said that. Yuwon, who was thinking that the man must have a personality disorder, was startled by the term “kid.” It seemed to refer to him, not Yejun.

“Uncle, I hate you!!”

“Yeah, I hate you too.”

The man responded to the crying and shouting child with the same words. Even in his surprise, Yuwon couldn’t help but glare at the man. The man, who was acting like that toward a child who seemed barely five, looked truly pathetic.

“Ha….”

Kim Unhak, apparently thinking the same, sighed as he comforted the child, wearing a face that said he had a lot to say but wouldn’t. Eventually, he left with the still-crying child.

I’ll go first, Kim Unhak signaled with his eyes, and Yuwon bowed his head in response. The man, who had been standing crookedly, began circling around Yuwon with his hands in his pockets once Kim Unhak left. Even that looked like a dog that had found its prey.

“……”

The man circling around him felt like he was licking him from head to toe. Unable to endure the persistent gaze, Yuwon looked up at the man.

Despite his expressionless face, the man exuded a fierce aura. His gaze was predatory, as if something was bothering him. Living in the mountains, did he think he had become a wild dog? Yuwon tried not to be intimidated as he stood there.

The man, who had disappeared behind Yuwon, suddenly reached out and snatched the ice cream cone from Yuwon’s hand.

“Ah…!”

Instinctively turning toward the thief, Yuwon saw the man pouring the most delicious part of the cone into his mouth. The cone, perfectly sized for a bite, landed on the man’s tongue.

“It’s mine….”

The man closed his mouth without chewing, glancing at Yuwon with a disdainful look. His gaze, seemingly mocking, swept over Yuwon’s disappointed face, and he lowered his head, sticking out his tongue. The man’s tongue, red like a snake’s flesh, was wet.

The man silently nodded his chin, as if daring him to take it if he wanted it.

“……”

Yuwon was speechless, unable to say anything. He just looked up, as if asking what he was supposed to do, and the man’s gray-blue eyes licked over Yuwon’s eyes.

Then, with a crunch, the sound of the cone breaking echoed as his mouth closed. What a petty jerk. Yuwon unknowingly clenched his fist.

“I thought you had the guts to take it back, but you don’t have anything, huh?”

“……”

“Answer. Or should I pull out your tongue?”

What was he supposed to say to that? But if he kept silent, the man might get angry again. Avoid unnecessary conflict. Yuwon calmed his anxious heart and squeezed out an answer.

“Even half a bean is better shared….”

“……”

“So, just, eat it….”

Damn…. Of all the excuses, why did that one come to mind? It wasn’t a bean, they weren’t sharing, and they weren’t friends, so why?

Feeling the heat rising in his cheeks, Yuwon closed his eyes tightly. Then, suddenly, he remembered what the man had said and opened his eyes again.

‘Why do you keep closing your eyes when there’s nothing to see but your face?’

He had definitely said something like that. It wasn’t exactly welcome news, but it seemed the man liked Yuwon’s face quite a bit.

Anyway, he opened his eyes quickly, but the man didn’t miss it. He poked Yuwon’s forehead with his fingertip, mocking him.

“I thought it was just for decoration, but this tiny head does function, huh?”

He didn’t know if it was meant as a compliment or an insult. Yuwon couldn’t find a response other than asking why he spoke like that, so he awkwardly stretched his lips.

The man, unpredictably, didn’t demand an answer this time. He just looked at Yuwon’s face, as if smiling, and then suddenly growled fiercely.

“I don’t care where you wander in this mountain, but don’t think about making me your hole brother-in-law.”

“…What?”

“If you like alpha dicks so much, just tell me. I’ll fuck you until you puke cum.”

It took a moment to understand the contempt-filled sentence—male babysitter, child, Kim Unhak, and alpha. It seemed Kim Unhak was an alpha. The man appeared to think Yuwon had come out for a walk with him because he wanted something.

It was a very unpleasant and hurtful misunderstanding.

Gritting his teeth, Yuwon looked the man straight in the eye.

“It’s not like that.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Really, he asked me to go out first. I just followed…!”

“Even kindergarteners don’t fall for ice cream.”

“I said I’d go out before I got the ice cream. Ask Baek…, that person. It’s true!”

Feeling so wronged, his tone became accusatory. It was even more infuriating to be accused of such things about someone who reminded him of his mom.

But even as Yuwon shouted with his cheeks flushed, the man just smiled mischievously, like when he bit the child’s cheek.

“Hey. Kim Unhak is ‘that person,’ and Baek Jeshin is ‘that guy,’ so I’m ‘that bastard,’ huh?”

Then the topic shifted.

Honestly, ‘that bastard’ was generous, and he wanted to say something worse. He just didn’t know how.

Anyway, Yuwon instinctively sensed the man was ready to tear him apart. His heart raced, and his mouth went dry with anxiety. Swallowing hard, Yuwon shook his head.

“No, it’s not like that….”

“What’s not like that?”

“I never called you ‘that bastard.'”

“Did you call me a fucking bastard?”

“Of course not…!”

“Oh, then a fucking son of a bitch?”

For a few days, he had left Yuwon alone like a pillow. And now, he was picking on him again, just like when he applied the ointment. The man provoked Yuwon with words that were impossible not to react to. Yuwon couldn’t understand what he wanted—his personality was truly strange. He even got angry if you agreed with him.

“……”

Yuwon was frustrated and upset that he couldn’t assert anything strongly to someone like this. All he could do was bite his lip. Unable to glare, he looked up and stared at the man instead.

The man, as if daring him to look, bent down to lower his face.

“Why are you keeping your mouth shut? Do you find it hard to speak when you see a handsome face?”

Yuwon couldn’t keep up with the constantly shifting topics. The self-absorbed comment was one thing, but it almost felt like the man had a roulette spinning in his mind, randomly choosing what to say next. It was absurd—but still, the man was waiting for an answer.

Yuwon forced his lips to part. A reluctant, drawn-out response slipped out.

“…Yeah.”

“Are you flirting?”

Then the man suddenly reached out and slipped his hand into Yuwon’s pants. As Yuwon flinched in surprise, the man’s dangerously handsome face came right up to his nose. The faint smell of dry tobacco leaves wafted over.

“Why, why… Ah, it’s not healed yet…!”

The man’s hand squeezed Yuwon’s buttocks once, then slid down to the bottom. Afraid he might mess with the injured area, Yuwon tensed his muscles, and the man chuckled, then opened his mouth. With a snap, he bit Yuwon’s cheek.

Yuwon looked up at him with startled eyes, momentarily forgetting his shame. It felt strange—he was doing the same thing to him as he had done to the child.

“Ah, it hurts…”

“Damn, look at those chubby cheeks. If I slice them, they’d make three servings.”

The man, oblivious to Yuwon’s surprise, continued his nonsense, doing whatever he pleased. He licked the cheek he had just bitten, laughing, and with his thick fingers, he spread Yuwon’s buttocks and felt around the wound. Confirming it was still swollen, he clicked his tongue.

“Why isn’t the swelling going down?”

“……”

“Are you ignoring me again? Stick out your tongue.”

“Ah, well, healing isn’t something I can control!”

When he urged for an answer again, Yuwon shouted urgently, and the man raised his eyebrows, as if in disbelief. His beast-like gray-blue eyes sparkled as he glared at Yuwon.

Momentarily captivated by that light, Yuwon licked his dry lips and fluttered his eyelashes.

“I’ll heal quickly….”

“Oh. So you could have healed quickly all this time but didn’t?”

“No…!”

The man, who kept picking on his words, was absurd and ridiculous. As Yuwon raised his voice in frustration, not even afraid anymore.

“Ah, damn.”

The man suddenly cursed, shaking his massive body like a mountain as he burst into laughter. Despite his crude and annoying words, his laughter had a pure… innocence that Yuwon could only feel from his peers.

Innocence, a word that didn’t suit the man at all, was hard to even imagine. But.

“You’re so dumb, you’re cute like a puppy.”

With laughter still on his face, the man said that and flicked Yuwon’s cheek.

…Unbelievable.

But that impression didn’t last long. When he recalled the image of the man who had raped him—choking him, tearing him apart—the man in Yuwon’s mind transformed from a boy into a demon.

He could act playful like that, but who knew when he’d get angry again. That unpredictability was frightening, so Yuwon had to stay tense in front of him at all times.

“Come on, let’s go put some ointment on.”

Though Yuwon’s expression visibly hardened, the man didn’t care what he was thinking. He just pinched Yuwon’s cheek hard and let go, then turned around and walked off. His departing steps were absurdly light.

…Does he have multiple personality disorder or something? The man who had assaulted him and the man now seemed like completely different people.

Standing there with a puzzled expression, Yuwon soon followed the man with the mountain-like back. He resolved to behave—at least until he could escape.