PASSION Chapter 5 Part 14

Chapter 5 Part 14

Thinking he was asking unnecessary things, Tae-ui nodded. Though he dried himself with the towel, moisture still remained and he was reluctant to put clothes directly on. Though he could just wrap a towel around his waist, being naked in front of that dangerous man made him feel too defenseless. It felt like facing a beast without weapons. Come to think of it, that man could easily kill people barehanded while Tae-ui wasn't sure he could properly kill even with a weapon in hand.

Old man. This was really a personnel mistake. What were you thinking putting me in the same room with a guy like that? Should have put me with someone who points a .50 caliber revolver wanting to kill him instead.

"People have their preferences. Though I've occasionally embraced well-built guys too, I prefer someone soft and tender who feels good to embrace."

"Aha... So you've never been penetrated then."

Tae-ui paused his hand reaching for clothes. Then he glanced at Ilay with extremely bizarre eyes before leaving the bathroom. He clicked his tongue as the thin ash-colored training clothes - prison uniform to be precise - caught on his remaining moisture and wouldn't go on properly.

"Like I said, people have preferences. That side doesn't appeal to me. Never even thought about it."

Tae-ui spoke calmly. Actually he did have one very minor trauma. He couldn't remember exactly when now, but it was probably early summer not long after entering high school.

As one PE teacher happened to be absent, they ended up playing soccer during PE with seniors a year above. After PE class ended, he went to the tap, threw off his sweat-soaked clothes and was washing his back when a senior sprayed water on him from behind. While gratefully enjoying the cool water, the hands rubbing his back and waist felt strangely touchy. Though he thought it was just his imagination, things soon went wrong.

After that, the senior would often call him out to buy him meals or drinks, and though confused about when they had gotten so close, Tae-ui would follow thinking he was a nice senior. Then as summer grew stronger, while hanging out in the cool shade of the PE storage room sitting on a mattress, suddenly the senior fell on top of him.

Whether he was in judo or hapkido, though shorter than Tae-ui he was about 1.5 times his size. No matter how much he struggled, the other side also desperately clung on making it hard to shake off. Meanwhile that damned guy not worth calling senior randomly stuck his hands inside Tae-ui's clothes, groping everywhere.

Then finally when he panted and tried to force a kiss, a shocked Tae-ui threw a punch regardless of him being a senior. Then he ran out without listening to the senior shouting behind him, and never saw that senior again.

Actually even then, Tae-ui knew his orientation. He thought he was more comfortable with men than women and preferred mixing bodies with them. But thanks to that senior he learned one more thing. That people definitely have clear preferences. Not only did he hate being pinned by that senior, he had no desire to embrace him either. That person was just a senior. Simply an acquaintance.

Come to think of it, that senior was still just a high school student too, what a pity. That's why even if someone matches your preferences, you should think about whether you match their preferences too before making a move. Hopefully he's found a good partner and is living well now, Senior XX (even forgot his name).

Tae-ui shook his head recalling the bitter past. Then suddenly struck by an ominous premonition, he looked at Ilay.

"You, don't our preferences overlap?"

"Hmm?"

"Like that guy you touched at the beach, don't you prefer slender, soft guys?"

"Though I'm not particularly picky, those types are good to pin down. Feel good to embrace too."

Ilay nodded. Tae-ui sighed as if relieved saying "I see" and spoke solemnly:

"Let me tell you, you're not my type. I don't have a habit of embracing men bigger than me. So don't hope for anything like that, even by chance."

For a moment Ilay looked at Tae-ui, who was speaking solemnly even raising his index finger, with a very shocked face. Even with that look, Tae-ui glared back saying that what's not allowed is not allowed. Ilay stared steadily at Tae-ui without blinking, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?"

It couldn't feel good having someone suddenly laugh while looking at your face. Tae-ui frowned while looking at him. After laughing non-stop for a while and even leaning against the wall as if strength had left him, Ilay finally stopped laughing. Then he waved his hand.

"Ah, right. I'll remember that."

"Good. ..."

Tae-ui nodded at Ilay's compliant response. Yet he looked at him with suspicious eyes. With him being so pleased at being told he wasn't Tae-ui's type, it wasn't entirely pleasant as it somewhat cracked his pride too.

Prison life wasn't as bad as expected. Though he had thought it would be similar to military detention, hearing colleagues say "come out looking like skin and bones after going to solitary once" made him think it must be much worse than detention. But this was hardly different from a vacation.

[Just how did guys who stayed here for months come out looking like skin and bones? Did they go on hunger strikes?]

The answer to Tae-ui's question after spending several days in solitary came quickly. From Ilay who smiled slightly as soon as he said that:

"You came to the comfortable side thanks to your uncle. This side is just a simple detention facility. You'd have to go to the opposite side for proper solitary."

At Ilay's answer, Tae-ui recalled the scene when entering. When the elevator opened on basement level 7, the doors were divided in two. Both were identical black iron doors symmetrically placed. The view inside both looked similarly black and gloomy. He had forgotten about it thinking that's just how it was, but apparently that had been the fork between heaven and hell.

Tae-ui looked at the ceiling briefly then turned to Ilay.

"Then why did you come to this side?"

Though it made sense for himself having been wrongly imprisoned, wasn't it unfair for this man to be playing in a comfortable detention facility after killing several people - though he claimed self-defense.

However, even at Tae-ui's words, Ilay just smiled faintly without giving a proper answer. Only an answer came back that might have been joke or truth: "Because I have such good backing."

"Then you've never been in proper solitary either?"

"Hmm------ once I have."

"Aha? What did you go in for?"

He became curious what crime could have sent him to that 'proper solitary' that even killing people didn't warrant. But this time too Ilay just smiled subtly without answering. Tae-ui soon realized he wouldn't answer and turned his attention elsewhere.

He was a man Tae-ui would never have gotten close to outside. Not just his mentality of killing people calmly without batting an eye, but Tae-ui fundamentally didn't like such people. Someone who seemed to hide something yet also showed no room to dig deeper. Though his uncle was somewhat like that too, family was different.

"You were in the military in your country until recently."

Ilay suddenly spoke. Tae-ui glanced at him with surprised eyes. Large shadows flickered from the small light lit at the headboard.

"Think of solitary as a mix of military detention, prison, and torture chamber. Though torture rarely happens, the higher the punishment the higher the torture chamber ratio. While in solitary, think of it as not being able to lie down with your back on the floor. Though they don't let you sleep properly anyway, you end up passing out eventually whether sitting or kneeling."

Ilay spoke in a light tone. From his manner, Tae-ui realized he had experienced such situations. He frowned slightly. Though Tae-ui had been in military detention too, just sitting in proper posture all day had felt like his back would break. Even now thinking of those memories made him shake his head, and if there was somewhere worse than that, he didn't want to think about it.

Tae-ui stared blankly at Ilay. Looking at him quietly reading a book while leaning against the wall, he seemed ordinary. It was quite a sight seeing him calmly reading with his neat and gentlemanly appearance. When still like this he had looks that could easily win people's favor, yet how did his personality end up so broken? Was his family environment that unfortunate?

As Tae-ui clicked his tongue internally feeling needlessly sympathetic, Ilay closed his book, perhaps having finished reading. Then he met Tae-ui's gaze looking at him. As their eyes met, he smiled faintly.

"Your expression is quite subtle. What were you thinking about?"

"Hmm------ I was briefly feeling sorry about your unfortunate past."

"My unfortunate past?"

Ilay's tone quickly changed to one of amusement. Though he could have been offended, he showed no sign of it. Whether he was broad-minded or just didn't show it outwardly.

"I'm curious what unfortunate past of mine drew out your sympathy."

Ilay asked as if quite interested. Tae-ui went "hmm" and wrinkled his brow.

"Though I have no way of knowing your past, they say a person's personality is usually determined by their past. So in the process of forming your personality, there must have been quite..."

"Quite an unfortunate past? Ahaha, that's quite plausible reasoning."

Ilay laughed as if amused. His laughing voice suddenly turned bitter.

"It's not completely wrong. I certainly didn't have a happy childhood. I had to live under constant surveillance. Eyes of surveillance followed me everywhere. Naturally I had no friends my age. Their parents disliked them playing with me."

"Under surveillance? ...Ah. Because the family business was weapons brokering..."

Tae-ui tilted his head but soon understood. Unless it was small bladed weapons or firearms, weapons couldn't be handled privately. The weapons Jae-ui would develop wouldn't be such easily handled weapons. They would be items strictly treated as military supplies, and dealing in such things would inevitably have to be connected to organizations. Unless it was a large-scale broker big enough that even organizations couldn't easily interfere with, they would frequently be subject to supervision and oversight.