Passion Novel - Volume 4 - Chapter 102

Jeong Taeui had nothing to say due to his position of having overheard someone else’s conversation, but in reality, if he thought about it differently, it was a matter that could greatly displease Jeong Taeui.

“If you’re so curious about what I heard, I’ll tell you… Why did you hold back your temper and not just cut his throat the moment you saw him? Was it not satisfying enough to tear him to pieces with your own hands?”

Jeong Taeui spat that out and then clicked his tongue. Ilay’s gaze, fixed on Jeong Taeui, darkened.

He regretted saying it. There were countless times in life when it was far better to pretend not to know or not to have heard, and this was one of those cases. He should have just insisted he heard nothing.

Jeong Taeui nervously scratched his head.

Ilay’s cold gaze silently pierced Jeong Taeui’s face, then shifted.

“…?”

He had expected him to say something, but unexpectedly, he just turned his gaze away without a word. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously, but he couldn’t very well ask, ‘Why aren’t you picking a fight?’, so he also fell silent. It wasn’t particularly surprising anymore. From the moment Jeong Taeui’s eyes met Ilay’s in the forest, he had braced himself for any situation to come, no matter how strange. It was only painful that that resolve was gradually blurred by the anxiety that subtly festered in his chest, as the harsh consequences he had expected didn’t come immediately. If he wasn’t going to wear him down to death, it would be better to kill him instantly. Jeong Taeui glared at him for a moment. He thought it would be better to ask directly.

“Ilay.”

He responded to Jeong Taeui’s question only with his gaze, no words.

“I was curious too. What do you want to do with me?”

“Do you think it would be better to tear me to pieces, as you said?” Jeong Taeui added, and Ilay frowned faintly. And he too narrowed his eyes, as if lost in thought, and looked at Jeong Taeui. Then, slowly, he whispered.

“Well… I’m thinking about that too. What should I do?”

Jeong Taeui’s face looked like he’d bitten into a bug.

If you’re going to kill me, just do it quickly. As Jeong Taeui grumbled inwardly and clicked his tongue in displeasure, Ilay suddenly smiled crookedly.

“But I think I clearly said the general idea back then. I said I wouldn’t kill you easily. To live terribly until you die.”

Jeong Taeui’s face became expressionless. And he glared coldly at Ilay.

Suddenly, Ilay looked annoyed. He rose from the chair and walked towards Jeong Taeui. Step by step, he approached slowly, muttering to himself.

“Honestly, I said that, but I intended to kill you when I met you. I thought of all sorts of things, like cutting off your limbs one by one while you’re alive, or pulling out your eyeballs and tongue first. I was incredibly—angry, you know.”

“…….”

“Then I finally saw you. In that mountain lodge. Even from a distance, I recognized you at a glance.”

Ilay suddenly laughed. Something chilling lingered in that laugh.

“At that moment, I decided to postpone killing you. I can kill you anytime. But it’s not like I specifically thought of another method, so what should I do with this…?”

Jeong Taeui glared at Ilay. He had already come right in front of Jeong Taeui. Suddenly, he closed his mouth. His expression also vanished. He was as expressionless as a doll, and his chilling gaze fell intently. Meeting that gaze, Jeong Taeui felt a chill in his chest.

Suddenly, Ilay raised his hands and he cupped Jeong Taeui’s cheeks with both hands. Their faces were so close they almost touched. Ilay’s eyes were like glass—that thought suddenly occurred to him. Pitch-black and opaque, glass in which one couldn’t tell what was inside.

That glass seemed to flash for a moment.

“I think I’m crazy.”

A low whisper flowed out. Jeong Taeui swallowed his breath at the warmth on his lips.

“I think I’m crazy, you know. I keep doing things I can’t understand at all. Why am I like this, huh?”

Jeong Taeui didn’t know how to answer the barrage of words. He couldn’t understand this man’s intentions.

You were crazy from the start, the words almost escaped his lips, but he managed to swallow them.

Jeong Taeui silently met his gaze, as he scrutinized him intently with gleaming eyes, as if he were some grotesque creature. He truly looked like a madman. That thought occurred to him, looking at his red, flushed, gleaming, glass-like eyes.

“How… would I know that?”

Jeong Taeui answered lowly without averting his gaze and shook his head.

He didn’t know what had happened to this man in the time they hadn’t seen each other. What was clear was that he had become incomparably unstable and wild. Even without hearing it from Moro, he realized it just by looking at him.

His gaze, his expression, trembled unstably.

“…….”

But after thinking for a moment, Jeong Taeui shook his head. No, that wasn’t necessarily true. Ilay was no different when dealing with other people. He was just as—or even more—ferocious, savage, and cruel as before. When Jeong Taeui’s answer fell, Ilay lost his words as if doused with cold water.

His gaze never left Jeong Taeui for a single moment. Then he laughed. Very slowly. Twisting the corners of his mouth.

“Yes. …Yes. You wouldn’t know.”

The hand that had cupped Jeong Taeui’s cheek fell away. The still pale and beautiful hand slowly moved away.

Jeong Taeui felt a fleeting sense of regret. It was similar to a feeling he had experienced before. Sometime in the past, he had also felt regret for that touch. It felt like such a long time ago. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and pushed him aside. Then he limped to the chair Ilay had been sitting on and sat down. Alright. So what now? Where should I go and what should I do from now on? What will this man do?

Damn it, he muttered inwardly.

All his original plans were ruined. He had intended to find his brother and wander aimlessly again once his ankle healed, but he had been unlucky enough to get caught, so now he was destined to live every day worrying about his life.

…He’d have to find a chance to escape again.

Jeong Taeui earnestly pondered his future in his mind. But come to think of it, Ilay had no choice but to return to Hong Kong. Even if he quit UNHRDO, he had his family business to take care of in Hong Kong.

What was he planning to do? Would he insist on dragging him there to torment him?

In reality, it was difficult for a person to constantly drag someone else around. Without that person’s consent, it was almost impossible. Unless he literally cut off his limbs, there were always opportunities to escape or get away.

“…….”

He had thought a useless thought. Jeong Taeui rubbed his arm with a chilling expression, having recalled the words “cut off limbs.” He felt that man was perfectly capable of doing just that.

Ilay had been silent for a while. He was just standing a few steps away, looking at Jeong Taeui.

Standing there like that, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Your body, I guess you’re feeling a bit better now.”

Flinch.

Jeong Taeui, who had been lost in thought, flinched when Ilay suddenly spoke to him. And he looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.

A sudden concern for his body.

Jeong Taeui met his gaze and pondered for a moment. It would be hard to call it concern for his body. If he were truly concerned about his body, he would have clearly seen him limping earlier. Jeong Taeui frowned and lifted his bandaged leg, shaking it.

“Ah, yes, I’m perfectly fine. I think I could even run out of a burning forest now.”

“Yes. …That’s good.”

A short reply came back. Jeong Taeui, who was lowering his leg, thinking the cast was quite heavy, looked up at him with a puzzled expression. But by then, Jeong Taeui’s vision was blocked. At some point, Ilay had come right in front of Jeong Taeui.

“…—!”

Before he could even understand the situation, Ilay’s lips first bit into his throat. Truly, like a beast tearing at its prey, or a strong beast subjugating a weaker one. Firm teeth dug into his neck. He felt the sharp touch of a pointed tooth, as if a canine had touched him.

“Ilay!”

Jeong Taeui instantly frowned and cried out.

He felt a chill in his heart. The moment his throat was bitten, a fear close to instinct overwhelmed him. It was the fear of having his life string held by another person.

“Hey, hey! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?!”

Jeong Taeui cried out urgently.

He wasn’t surprised that Ilay attacked him. It was something he could even call familiar by now. What surprised him was that he actually bit his neck.

“…! Ilay! Ilay! Stop!”

Jeong Taeui’s face hardened. He felt a chill. He was sucking the thin drops of blood that seeped from the slightly punctured skin wound.

“Is this bastard crazy…! Hey!”

The sensation of blood being sucked from his neck sent a chilling shiver down his spine.

It was an instinctive fear.

Jeong Taeui instinctively slapped Ilay’s head without thinking.

“Ow…!”

His head came off his neck. But it detached while still biting his neck, tearing his skin a little more. In the mirror before his eyes, he saw drops of blood welling up on his neck. Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay with a dumbfounded expression. He wasn’t just crazy. No, he had never been sane from the start, but this was not normal.

“Ilay. …Snap out of it.”

Jeong Taeui said seriously.

However, unexpectedly, Ilay had a rather normal-looking face. The face looking down at Jeong Taeui with a slight chuckle seemed no different than usual. The sight of him nonchalantly wiping the blood drops from his lips with that face was even more grotesque.

He didn’t absolutely believe in science, but he also didn’t think a vampire had appeared before his eyes in modern society. This man was someone Jeong Taeui already knew. Jeong Taeui involuntarily grabbed the man’s wrist. As if he was about to go somewhere. And he stared intently at him.

This wasn’t a matter of whether he could escape or not. This truly needed a serious mental hospital.

Jeong Taeui felt a chill to the point of feeling a slight worry.

“You… let’s go to the hospital for a bit.”

Jeong Taeui said seriously. It wasn’t a joke; he was sincere.

Although he always kept in mind the thought of escaping from this man whenever he had a chance, he couldn’t just ignore a person with such serious abnormalities. Suddenly, Ilay’s expression, which had been looking at Jeong Taeui, became strange. Then, at some point, he burst into laughter.

It wasn’t a loud laugh.

The laugh, which started with a soft, deflating sound, was low but lasted quite a while.

“Hospital, huh… If it’s to stop the bleeding on your neck, I’ll go with you.”

Ilay said that, his voice still tinged with laughter. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously.

His low voice was no different than usual.

“Taei.”

Suddenly, Ilay lowered his voice, and the smile on his lips deepened.

“Have you heard the story about marking someone to show ownership?”

Jeong Taeui silently looked at Ilay, who was smiling calmly.

He knew plenty of similar stories. In fact, there were such theories about vampires, and even animals would bite the neck to establish dominance. Or during intercourse.

Jeong Taeui, recalling the last case, inwardly shook his head. It wasn’t someone else’s problem, so he disliked recalling it even more.

“That doesn’t apply to humans, and furthermore, I’m not property.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered. He half-understood what this man was trying to say.

Ilay looked at Jeong Taeui with a subtle smile and then muttered lowly.

“But I just thought. It might be good to engrave the mark that you are my property.”

Jeong Taeui was speechless. Ilay didn’t seem to be joking. But his words made no sense at all. He couldn’t understand what he was saying, and it was absurd.

Moreover, it was all the more unpleasant and unsettling for that reason.

“Ilay. Stop joking. A person cannot be another person’s property. A mark? …Ridiculous. What good would hundreds of those do to claim ownership anywhere? Can you claim it in court?”

“You’re wrong, Taei.”

Ilay grabbed Jeong Taeui’s collar. He easily caught Jeong Taeui’s wrist with his other hand as he reflexively raised it, and then brought his mouth to the opposite side of the neck from where he had bitten earlier.

He’s going to bite…!

He flinched and closed his eyes, but the expected pain didn’t come. Instead, his lips just moved very gently, as if stroking his neck.

“A person can be another person’s property and that ownership isn’t claimed in court or anything like that. A person owning another person is enough with a kind of symbol. …Don’t you understand?”

Ilay’s voice crawled up his neck. He felt an intensely ticklish and chilling sensation, making his body tremble.

“What nonsense are you spouting…! Damn it. If you want to fuck, just say you want to fuck! Don’t spout nonsense I can’t understand!”

Jeong Taeui cried out lowly. Suddenly, Ilay’s lips, which had been moving on his neck, stopped. At that sudden silence, Jeong Taeui involuntarily stopped moving.

“Jeong Taei. You said you didn’t know.”

“…—.”

Jeong Taeui, who tilted his head, not knowing what Ilay’s sudden whisper meant, recalled their previous conversation.

—I think I’m crazy, you know. I keep doing things I can’t understand at all. Why am I like this, huh.

—How would I know that?

“How… would I know that? How would I know why you’re doing that…!”

Jeong Taeui repeated the same answer once more. There was no way Jeong Taeui could know the cause of his instability.

This crazy bastard. He’s really gone completely mad now.

Jeong Taeui cursed inwardly.

However, Ilay’s lips, which had been moving on his neck, swept up to his ear. The sensation of his tongue slowly licking his earlobe was particularly chilling.

“A symbol is belief.”

“……?”

The lips that had been whispering in his ear let out a small voice. Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay puzzled. Though he said he looked, he could only see his hair.

“A person owning another person is simple. It’s enough if you recognize who belongs to whom. Very deeply. Subconsciously.”

Jeong Taeui stiffened. And after a short pause, he slowly said.

“Is that… are you talking about suggestion?”

Just thinking about it made his chest grow cold.

Among actions that make one act against their will, what else could be like that? The mind betraying the body, or the body betraying the mind, such actions separate a person’s body and mind.

He was increasingly unable to understand what this man was saying.

Ilay laughed.

“Well… I guess you could say it’s similar. I just, you know, suddenly had a thought. That it might be good to have the perception that you are my property.”

“…—What nonsense are you spouting…! Are you saying you’re going to do something crazy now, like put me under a suggestion so I believe I’m your property?!”

Jeong Taeui finally lost his temper.

He hated his life moving against his will. Even more so if it was intended by another.

But hearing Jeong Taeui’s angry shouts, Ilay laughed lowly.

“You’re wrong again. That’s not it.”

“Then what are you going to do? What, do you want to kill me? You said you wouldn’t. Then to torment me? Then just find a way to torment me, what’s this nonsense about ownership or whatever! No matter what you do, do you think I’ll think I’m your property?!”

“Taei. I told you, you’re wrong.”

Ilay laughed like a sigh.

Suddenly, he bit Jeong Taeui’s earlobe hard, then lightly pushed Jeong Taeui’s body. And he stepped back about a pace, scanning Jeong Taeui from head to toe.

Lick, his tongue licked his lips. Seeing the tip of his tongue, his heart throbbed involuntarily.

“It’s not you who recognizes that you’re mine.”

“What…?”

“It’s me who recognizes it.”

Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay with an expressionless face.

Ilay was unbuttoning his shirt one by one. His pale, leisurely hand movements were somehow extremely erotic. Jeong Taeui’s gaze was drawn to his hands, which smoothly handled and unbuttoned the shirt. He couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Ilay, as if reading Jeong Taeui’s expression, continued.

“I think my mental state is a bit strange right now. I’m not my usual self. But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t know why… At least, I’m sure the cause is you.”

He truly shook his head, as if he didn’t know. The breath mixed with his faintly frowned eyes seemed genuinely troubled.

“So, I’ve come to the conclusion that some kind of recognition is needed. Anything is fine. Once I recognize one thing, I’ll know whether it’s right or not, and I can branch out from there to find the correct answer.”

Ilay muttered with an ambiguous expression. Jeong Taeui stared at him blankly, speechless.

Jeong Taeui could only understand one thing.

This man’s degree of abnormality was increasingly exceeding the scope of his understanding.

Ownership, huh. Me? Ilay’s…?

Jeong Taeui probably had a very shocked expression. Ilay, who had unbuttoned his shirt completely, took it off and hung it on the back of the chair, then turned his gaze to Jeong Taeui, and seeing his face, he chuckled.

“Why that face? You don’t have to worry. It’s not you who recognizes that you’re mine, it’s me.”

***

The ceiling had been shaking constantly for a while now. The white wavy patterns on the ceiling swayed chaotically in his vision. It was like his mind, messed up and tangled.

“You damn bastard. You son of a bitch. I told you to just fuck me if you wanted to, you damn bastard…!”

Jeong Taeui continuously mumbled curses under his breath. Otherwise, he felt like he would lose consciousness.

He thought he was muttering to himself, but at some point, the words came out of his mouth, reaching Ilay’s ears. But Ilay, instead, laughed as if amused.

“Is it okay to fuck you like this right now? I thought you hated being fucked.”

“You son of a bitch, you’re doing this to fuck me anyway, you bad guy!”

Jeong Taeui’s anger flared even more at Ilay’s leisurely voice, and he burst out yelling. Ilay’s chest, pressed against his back, was damp with sweat. Perhaps it was Jeong Taeui’s sweat. His back felt slippery, and each time, he got goosebumps.

With Jeong Taeui seated on his thighs, Ilay was leaving bite marks all over Jeong Taeui, from his earlobe to his neck and shoulder. The pain of firm teeth digging into his skin was also overshadowed by other sensations, barely felt.

All this time, a squelching sound had been hitting his ears. Jeong Taeui thought he was definitely doing it on purpose. If the sound lessened even a little, this damn guy would put his finger into Jeong Taeui’s mouth. Even when he tried to spit out the finger that had been constantly moving between his legs, Ilay’s hand gripped Jeong Taeui’s jaw and wouldn’t let go.

After he reluctantly coated the finger stirring inside his mouth with saliva, Ilay would push that finger down again and stir it, making squelching sounds.

He felt like he was going crazy. His head felt like it was going to break.

The other hand, which had been rubbing between his legs, drew the moisture from the wet entrance and crawled up Jeong Taeui’s skin without leaving it. It passed over his perineum to his genitals, then to his lower abdomen and waist, and finally reached his chest.

When that finger reached the center of his chest, the sharply protruding nipple, Jeong Taeui flinched, his body jolting.

“Aha… as expected.”

He heard Ilay whisper lowly and laugh with pleasure. The moment that sound reached his ear, shame and anger surged within him. Damn it. What do you mean, ‘as expected’?!

Jeong Taeui tried to get up from Ilay’s body. But before he could even rise, Ilay, as if he knew, wrapped his arm around his waist. As if bound by chains, he couldn’t loosen his arm. After struggling a few times, his hand finally gripped his crotch, making him flinch and stop moving.

“Let go! What kind of person…—.”

“Stay still.”

Ilay cut Jeong Taeui off and said quietly. At the same time, one of his breasts was swallowed by Ilay’s mouth. Jeong Taeui’s body jolted again.