Even without a breath, Jeong Taeui was momentarily lost and looked at Christoph in
confusion, though Christoph didn't seem that surprised. Christoph still looked at Jeong Taeui
with his usual indifferent expression, leaving one wondering what was going through his
mind.
The only one who seemed calm at the moment was Ilay.
"....."
Although he was well aware that someone had entered and knew it was Christoph, the owner
of this room, he didn't even bother to turn his head. No, he continued what he was doing as if
he didn't even know Christoph had entered.
Only Jeong Taeui hurriedly pushed Ilay away, interrupting what he was doing while trying to
remove his hand that was sliding under his shirt.
"Wait, wait... wait a minute! Stop it!!"
Jeong Taeui glared at Ilay.
But Ilay pretended not to hear, despite being called several times.
Jeong Taeui used all his strength to push him away, so if he had fallen, it wouldn't have been
surprising (though that wasn't going to happen). However, the distance between the two of
them increased a bit.
Having his fun interrupted, Ilay looked down at Jeong Taeui with an unhappy expression.
"Why?" (왜)
"What nonsense? Because Christoph is back."
Jeong Taeui responded without backing down, his voice displeased, while he resolutely
resisted and pushed Ilay away once more. Ilay finally obediently moved back a bit and then
turned his head to look.
"Perfect timing."
Ilay said in a low voice. Jeong Taeui - once again - pushed hard against Ilay's waist with his
foot.
What to do now? A feeling of embarrassment filled his head.
With Christoph's personality, there was no way he would be pleased seeing someone do
something like this in his room. Although Christoph had accepted Jeong Taeui into his room,he didn't think Christoph would overlook the sight of two men entangled on a chair in his
room—or more accurately, on a chair right next to his bed.
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.
"So... this is...."
But instead of trying to explain, Jeong Taeui realized Christoph was staring at something, so
he followed his gaze.
There, his belt and the zipper of his pants were undone.
"... !"
Jeong Taeui's face froze.
His current state blatantly showed he was about to do something intimately related to the
lower part of his body – no, he had no intention of doing that – but still, he couldn't avoid
being speechless.
Thinking about it, Christoph was old enough to understand and overlook what had happened.
Christoph was no longer a middle or high school student, and this wasn't something to brag
about, but neither was it something to be ashamed of or hide.
What he should be worried about was his disheveled appearance on Christoph's chair, not the
fact that he looked like he was about to have sex. Moreover, the scene wasn't that serious. It
was just a bit of disheveled clothing and swollen lips.
... The only issue was that both were men.
Unless Christoph was an idiot, he must have already figured it out.
When Ilay was an officer at UNHRDO, after Jeong Taeui left, he had gone everywhere to
find him. When Jeong Taeui was kidnapped in Seringe, as soon as he found him, he had
mobilized his former colleagues to get him out of the mansion of a high-ranking Saudi
Arabian official, turning into a terrorist. After that, he moved to his parents' house, where he
didn't want to live, and then finally lived with Jeong Taeui in that house for the past few
years.
Rumors had spread among his colleagues. Not just Ilay's colleagues, but almost everyone
familiar with Ilay knew the name Jeong Taeui.
So unless they were idiots – or someone completely unaware of Ilay Riegrow – they couldn't
fail to guess the unusual relationship between the two.
That's right.
As expected, this situation was embarrassing. The current situation was revealing too plainly
the familiar things that had been ignored.Jeong Taeui scratched his nape and lowered his gaze to his feet. His throat felt like it was
burning.
But at that moment.
"Alright."
While Jeong Taeui was embarrassed, staring at his feet, Christoph's surprisingly cold voice
rang out.
"Huh?" Jeong Taeui looked up.
Christoph was still standing at the doorway, holding the doorknob, looking at Jeong Taeui
with a strange expression. It seemed he was mocking and wondering why Jeong Taeui was so
embarrassed, or if he was annoyed by something insignificant.
"I don't have any prejudice against homosexuality. So if you're worried about my reaction,
there's no need for that."
"Huh...."
Jeong Taeui didn't know what to say, so he just vaguely responded, blinking. It was an
unexpectedly calm and friendly answer.
Jeong Taeui glanced at Ilay. He, who had been interrupted in the middle of his enjoyment,
was now sitting on the chair with an undisguised displeased expression, dragging the table
closer to him and reaching for the cigarette box on it.
Ilay took out a cigarette from the wooden box on the table, which seemed more for
decoration than for actual use by the room's owner. He put the cigarette in his mouth.
Christoph frowned, seeing Jeong Taeui looking back and forth between Ilay and himself with
a bewildered expression. He spoke as if to end this bothersome issue.
"I have no interest in others' affairs nor in anyone's preferences. But if I had to say, on the
contrary, I somewhat admire homosexuals. After all, it's a difficult relationship, and deciding
to stay together like that must not be easy."
For a moment, Jeong Taeui couldn't believe his ears.
When hearing something unexpected from someone one doesn't expect, people tend to
wonder if their ears are mistaken or if the person in front of them isn't who they knew.
After a brief moment of doubt, Jeong Taeui finally realized that Christoph wasn't joking and
seemed to have sincerely said those words.
He couldn't believe Christoph had such an amazingly humane side.
He really didn't know Christoph could understand the hardships of a minority community. He
didn't know Christoph could have such understanding when he didn't understand ordinarypeople.
"Um... okay."
Jeong Taeui, slightly confused, unconsciously looked at Ilay. The man who had just smoked
in someone else's room without permission was also looking at Christoph with a blank
expression.
He stared at Christoph with the cigarette in his mouth and then tilted his head to look at the
ceiling. And then, as if suddenly understanding, Jeong Taeui nodded to himself.
"Well… thanks for understanding."
Surprised, Jeong Taeui didn't know what to say, so he stammered. Christoph shrugged. At the
same time, he looked at Ilay with curiosity.
"But it's surprising."
"I was skeptical when I heard Rick was living with a man. ... Not just anyone, but him, I
didn't expect Rick to live so abstinence."
Christoph nodded as if he genuinely admired that.
At that moment, the smile on Jeong Taeui's face vanished instantly.
Huh... ?
He felt like he had heard something that didn't quite fit the story.
Jeong Taeui looked at Christoph with a puzzled face. Christoph sighed and looked at him.
"Think about it, a relationship between a man and a woman can be maintained by being
entangled on the bed even without any feelings or even the minimal respect for each other.
But same-sex relationships are different; apart from pure emotions, there's no other way to
continue that relationship…. . You've managed to do that. ... so I don't think there's any
reason to be ashamed and hide."
Jeong Taeui stared at Christoph with astonishment equal to amazement. It was as if he was
about to bore a hole into Christoph's face.
In some way, Christoph seemed to be encouraging Jeong Taeui. Another surprising thing was
that he had the kindness to encourage and comfort others. However....
"My ears feel strange... Or maybe my head is a bit dull now? Oh, I only got three hours of
sleep yesterday because of reading."
Jeong Taeui rubbed his ears and mumbled. Then he glanced at Ilay again. He was still
exhaling smoke and looking at the ceiling.
"...."Perhaps he misunderstood a bit, but he still wanted to clarify.
"Physical relationship… How should I put it, a relationship that's purely emotional...." -
When Jeong Taeui scratched his temple and hesitated, Christoph frowned slightly.
"What about it?"
"No… but… what about same-sex sexual relationships... ."
"There's no such thing as sexual relations between people of the same sex? Women don't
have anything to put in, and men don't have a place to put it...… Don't you know that?"
Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui with a shocked expression. And Jeong Taeui looked at
Christoph with a similarly shocked expression.
"....."