Passion (BL Novel)

The atmosphere in the air from the morning was filled with a tense and oppressive vibe.
From the moment I took a step outside my room, I could immediately feel the sharpness of the air on my skin, as if it was sending a clear signal.
After half of the members of the branch left for the South American branch, the place, already underpopulated compared to the building's size, gave off an eerie emptiness. Yet, despite this, the growing tension in the air almost made the stillness seem irrelevant.

On my way to the bathroom, I couldn't help but feel a bit drained by the hard expressions on the faces I passed.
It wasn't as if enemies sworn to destroy us were coming, but why were they all so tense, so visibly hardened?
Scratching my head, I entered the bathroom. Tow, who had already finished breakfast, was brushing his teeth and mumbled a greeting while still holding his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Hey, Tae, you’re up late. Got everything packed?"
"Spit that out… It’d be nice if you could do that first," I muttered as I took a half-step back. Tow laughed out loud, then resumed brushing his teeth.
Still, he was better than the others. At least he wasn’t walking around with a death mask like the rest. Seeing even one face that wasn’t stiffened made me feel a little better. I stepped up to the sink next to Tow’s and turned on the hot water, wetting my neck first before speaking.

"I don’t have much to pack, so what would there be to take? I’ll just go with my body later."
"Umm... still, we’ll be there for about fifteen days, you know? Are you sure you’re okay with that?"
Tow rinsed his mouth and spoke slowly.

By tonight, I had to vacate my room. It wasn’t just me; a few other members had to do the same. When the European branch members arrived, they would stay in the rooms of those of us with fewer people, temporarily moving us to other rooms.
Early Saturday morning, the members heading to the South American branch left for the airport, leaving only those who would remain behind.
Then came Sunday. Normally, they would have enjoyed a leisurely day off, but now, the atmosphere wasn’t quite suitable for relaxation. In just a few hours, people who could be considered as nothing short of sworn enemies would be coming in groups.

I ended up staying in Tow’s room. The other member who shared a room with Tow had gone to the South American branch, so I decided to move in there.
‘Damn it, why do I have to give up my room to those damn guys?’ I grumbled under my breath, but those who had to move simply gathered their few belongings and switched rooms one by one. Some of them were so averse to even the slightest touch of their things by those "damn guys" that they were preparing for a full move.
With my wet eyes, I glanced up and saw Tow in the mirror, then shrugged my shoulders.

"If I think of anything else I might need, I can just pop by my room later and get it."
"Don’t even think about it. If you run into the European branch guy using that room, you're not going to be happy."
"Why? It was originally my room."
"That doesn’t work. It’d cause a huge disturbance, almost as bad as an invasion of territory."

"...Right."
I muttered a “right” again, an expression I often used. It meant, “I just can't understand how things got this bad.”
The digital clock installed on the bathroom wall showed a time that was neither quite morning nor quite noon.

I grabbed a dry towel from the shelf, stacked in piles, and wiped my face. My reflection in the mirror wasn’t great. It seemed I had been uneasy after waking up. It seemed like I’d had a restless night.
I hadn’t really realized it, but the talk of the horrific and disgusting guys from the European branch coming must have been bothering me in the back of my mind. I had always considered myself not the type to get nervous about things like that, but perhaps I was more sensitive than I thought.
The glove I’d fleetingly seen in the dream, blacker than red—no, even black as coal—had left its mark behind, blood red. The hand had dropped from the man’s neck after he collapsed with his eyes rolled back. There was a vivid, bloody mark on his neck.

"..."
The warmth left on the back of my neck from the wet water was now cooling off and chilling my spine.
"Why are you standing there like that? You look weird."

Tow, noticing something off, lightly patted my back. I turned my head slightly, still holding the towel against my face, and glanced at him.
"He’ll be here soon."
"Who?"

"Rick."
Tow shut his mouth. It was as if he had been infected by the nervous energy of the situation, and without a word, he glared at me. He then clicked his tongue and shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, it’s rare that the person scheduled to come doesn’t change after the final confirmation, so we’ll see. But if that guy comes... it's going to be pretty grim for the next fifteen days. We’ll see some truly ugly sights."

Tow muttered with a face that seemed to remember something unpleasant. Well, this guy had been there for the joint training with the European branch last time, so he must’ve experienced everything first-hand. Even if he didn’t personally go through it, he would have felt the bloodshed and the rumors of that time.
"I’ve heard that there are quite a few people who said they’d cut that bastard’s throat if he shows up this time."
I muttered, remembering some of the conversations I had overheard in the break room or while eating in the dining hall when some of the other guys from different teams gathered to chat. Tow’s face darkened further.

"Of course, if I could, I’d want to do the same. No one here would want to leave that crazy bastard alive and hanging on. But…"
Tow didn’t finish his sentence, but I could easily guess the rest. It would be hard, and even if it were possible, it would demand sacrifices greater than we expected.
As soon as I saw the footage, I knew. That man should not be fought head-on, he had to be avoided.

"And besides, that guy’s bad in ways other than fighting. If you touch him wrong, it could really turn out disastrous."
Tow clicked his tongue and said bitterly. I wiped the water droplets from my chin that had fallen from my hair with the towel and looked at Tow, confused. Tow stared at the mirror, as if he didn’t even want to talk about it, then spat out the words.
"That guy, if he finds a guy who looks decent enough, he’ll just knock him out, make him immobile, and then he’ll crush him. After any joint training with the European branch, there was never a guy who looked young and pretty who didn’t end up ruined."

"What…?"
I briefly doubted my ears at the unexpected statement. After confirming that I had indeed heard it, I questioned my understanding. But judging from Tow’s tone, it seemed I had interpreted it correctly.
"It’s been a few years, but there was one guy who went after him to take revenge when a close colleague of his ended up bedridden for life because of that guy. Unfortunately, that guy was pretty handsome. So... in the end, reality didn’t play out as the story of ‘good conquers evil.’ The revenge didn’t happen. Instead, he got crushed, and... there was even a guy who tried to hurt himself, unable to handle the humiliation."

"That's really... …I’m sorry to hear that."
"Hmm... anyway. That guy, he’s just bad news all around. Just a word of warning, don’t get involved with him unless you want to bring shame on yourself."
Tow, having finished his sentence, glanced at me in the mirror for a moment. Then he smirked and laughed slyly.

"Well, it’s fine. You don’t need to worry about anything but your own life."
I mumbled a thank-you under my breath and gave Tow a light slap on the back of his head.
Handsome, young-looking men, huh? Is he talking about someone like Shin-Roo?

The thought of someone fitting that description crossed my mind, and I frowned. If that was the case, I shouldn’t be nodding off like this.
"Hey, are you saying that Shin-Roo should be careful?"
Joo Hyuk grabbed Tow's wrist firmly and spoke, causing Tow to turn around and blink his eyes in confusion.

"Uh... yeah, now that you mention it. But, well, it’s not like there’s much chance of a member and Rick crossing paths. Besides, if he’s from another branch, we’ll have no reason to interact. Even if it’s him, I doubt he’ll go out of his way to bother the others after everything’s already settled."
"Is that so...? Yeah, I guess so, right?"
"......"

Tow’s cold gaze turned back toward Joo Hyuk as he desperately asked, almost as if saying, You fool, are you serious? That look made Joo Hyuk flinch and immediately shut his mouth. Maybe he had been too obvious.
"You don’t need to worry about the others. The guards will take care of them. As for you, if Rick comes here, just make sure you take care of your own life. No one else is going to protect anyone else’s life here, except for themselves."
Tow’s words were spot on. Joo Hyuk couldn’t even be sure enough of his own life to take care of anyone else’s.

"Well... still, the best thing would be if something went wrong with the assignment and that Rick guy doesn't end up coming."
Joo Hyuk muttered, even though he knew that was highly unlikely.
"Well, that’s one way to look at it. But either way, they’ll be here by tonight, and we’ll know for sure then."

"By now, they should be in Hong Kong."
"Yeah. I hope they’re stumbling around from jet lag when they arrive."
Tow mimicked a gesture of slitting his throat playfully with his hand, and Joo Hyuk couldn’t help but chuckle. The dark remnants of his earlier mood were wiped away, if only for a moment.

Only a few hours left. Soon, he'd be seeing those people he had only heard rumors about. It wasn’t exactly something to look forward to, but there was an uneasy excitement stirring in his chest.
"Speaking of which, they said that after the room changes, everyone should go to the office to check in. We have to mark it down."
Tow casually said as he wiped his mouth with a towel. Joo Hyuk flinched slightly at his words.

"If you go to the office, you'll see Shin-Roo. Oh wait, no. Since you’re in charge of internal affairs, you’ll have to talk to him anyway. Must be nice for you, Tae."
Tow gave a mischievous smile and poked Joo Hyuk in the side with his elbow. Joo Hyuk swayed unsteadily and mumbled a vague response.
This wasn’t good. No, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to see him. He did want to see him, to hear his voice. The scent of that pleasant soap was comforting. But he still wasn’t sure how to face him. It seemed like he’d freeze up again, just like last time when they saw each other.

And besides... what kind of expression would he have when they met again?
Joo Hyuk wiped his already dry neck with the towel, and his mood sank once more.
Since that day, he hadn’t seen Shin-Roo even once. It wasn’t that there weren’t opportunities, but whenever he thought he might run into him, he made sure to avoid it. Even when he had to go to the basement to visit his uncle’s room, he would sneak around, carefully checking his surroundings.

What was he even thinking back then, avoiding the person who was gently applying medicine to his wounds?
Tow, having thrown his towel into the bin, tapped his pockets out of habit to check for his cigarette pack and then moved toward the bathroom door. Joo Hyuk caught him and spoke with a gloomy tone.
"Are you going to smoke?"

"Eh? Yeah. You wanna come?"
"Sure, give me one."
"......You know there’s nowhere to get cigarettes around here, right? Fine. I’ll lend you one, but you’ll have to pay me back with a whole pack next time."

"You really looked like you hated that. I should show you the mirror."
Tow, being a heavy smoker, muttered an excuse about how he was running out of his stockpile of cigarettes, which he had saved for the next couple of weeks. Joo Hyuk sighed and patted him on the back as he left the bathroom with him.
Through the noisy hallway, Joo Hyuk followed Tow quickly, looking around as he did. He knew he was being a bit pathetic about it, but he still couldn’t figure out what kind of expression he should have if he ran into Shin-Roo.

Once outside the building, the sunlight was so bright that it almost blinded him.
Though they lived underground, the ventilation system was perfect, and the indoor lighting was set up to resemble natural light, so Joo Hyuk didn’t feel the discomfort of being underground. However, the rare sunshine, the sky, and the breeze still had a calming effect on his heart.
On his free time, he would often go outside for a walk. Other colleagues seemed to do the same, and inevitably, he would run into one or two people while strolling outside.

The dense forest paths were dangerous at night, and Joo Hyuk usually avoided them, but during the day, they were passable. There was also a small road that led behind the building. Though it was a bit far, it led to the beach. The massive rocks stacked up there, far from the dazzling sandy beach, but the color of the sea was as beautiful as ever.
Joo Hyuk, after forcefully stealing two more cigarettes from Tow, walked down that path alone. As he walked, the grass reached up to his knees, and his calves were covered in bites from bugs and scratches from the grass blades.
He hadn’t intended to wear shorts, and now he was debating whether he should go back and change. Still, as he continued walking, he started to smell the sea.

Tch, he should have come here for a walk with Shin-Roo. If he had, everything would have gone smoothly. He wouldn’t have gotten so heated and embarrassed... although, he couldn’t be sure about that.
Muttering to himself, Joo Hyuk lit a cigarette with a lighter he had stolen along with it and took a deep drag.
"Sorry, trees. Please bear with me even if it’s a bit suffocating."

As he walked through the forest, apologizing to the trees while exhaling cigarette smoke, he finally reached the spot where the forest ended and the sea appeared.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t just the sea that appeared.
After enjoying the sea breeze and scent, someone was walking back toward this direction. It was the last person Joo Hyuk wanted to see at that moment. That person walking alone was none other than Shin-Roo.

Joo Hyuk froze for a moment at the sight of Shin-Roo and instinctively looked for somewhere to hide, but before he could find a place, Shin-Roo had already looked his way.
After their eyes met, Joo Hyuk couldn’t hide and just awkwardly stood there. Shin-Roo seemed a little surprised, halting his steps for a moment, but then he ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) slowly approached. There was only one path ahead anyway.
"......Just out for a walk?"

When Shin-Roo got within a few steps, it would have been more awkward not to say something, so Joo Hyuk mumbled, looking down. Shin-Roo, not showing any sign of discomfort, nodded as he looked at him.
"Yeah. Are you, Tae?"
"Yeah, just for a bit. ……It’s been a while."

Joo Hyuk spoke briefly, trying to sound casual. But it was a failure. His face was heating up again. Maybe he should’ve just admitted he had a bit of a blush problem.
As Shin-Roo approached, he stopped just a few steps away. Joo Hyuk could see the hesitation in his eyes.