Passion (BL Novel)

The most important thing in that bag might be... the key. The key that was thrown into the bag without even hanging on the hook, making no sound as it rattled. It's the house key for six months from now.
Before leaving, I made sure to tidy up the house properly. It took me way longer than packing my things. I left a simple note for my brother, whose return is uncertain.

Thinking about it, I wonder what he's doing right now. No matter where or what he's doing, he's someone I don't need to worry about, but if I were to hear that the plane he was on crashed, I wouldn't be concerned.
Whatever he's doing, if he wants to meet again, we will. Whatever he desires, it happens easily.
I walked over to the neatly arranged bed and laid down on it.

My body felt tired, but the drowsiness didn't hit me as much as I expected. My body was heavy, but my mind was clear.
For now, it's a solitary room. It should be quiet and comfortable, but it must be quite inconvenient for someone who just arrived. To ask even a trivial question, I'd have to knock on another door.
I thought about this and stared at the ceiling before slowly getting up.

I wouldn't be locking the door, so I didn't need the room key, but I figured I would need the rules about living here. I didn't even know where I would be eating or what I needed to do tomorrow.
It was called Shinlu, right? If it was Gyohora, it must be the administrative office.
I scratched my head and got up. The next six months felt like they would be as long as a thousand years.

I had a feeling I would have to strangle my uncle's neck at least once to feel satisfied. On my way up, I was planning to stop by my uncle's room on the first basement floor to twist his face a little.
Joo Hyuk clicked his tongue.
Even though this was my first time here today, I didn't expect to get lost inside the building. And this is in a place that's no bigger than an elementary school playground.

It all started with the elevator.
I knew where the elevator Tow had ridden was. The old, almost falling apart elevator located just after a corner on the stairs. I had taken the same route a few times and didn't forget the way.
So I thought it would have been better to go to that elevator, but unfortunately, it was a little far from my room. After stepping out of my room and turning the other way, I decided not to take the elevator right in front of me, but instead, go to the farther one on purpose.

Anyway, in buildings, the structure is the same on each floor. Even if the layout is slightly different, buildings like this are often designed to be similar.
So I thought I could take the elevator over there and go back through the corridor like I came.
"Damn, what kind of building is this? It looks completely different from the lower floors."

Joo Hyuk muttered a curse and tugged at his hair.
I'd never experienced a building where the structure was so different from floor to floor. It's one thing if the hallways are in different places, but if the bathrooms are in different locations, that’s just absurd. How can they even claim their plumbing is efficient with this layout?
After wandering around for over ten minutes, I had found a few more elevators, though none were in the right locations. They were at corners along the stairs.
...No matter how weird the building is, surely the elevator and stairs' positions can't be different on each floor. If there were such a fourth-dimensional building, I'd report it to an architecture society.

"Goddamn it. Why is there no one around?"
Thinking back, most of the hundred people on this island are either on the fifth or sixth basement floors right now, and since no one usually comes to the first basement floor, it's not surprising that there aren't any people to be seen in this vast place, but Joo Hyuk muttered another curse after arriving at this floor.
Even when I was in the army, I was confident in my sense of direction. No, I didn’t even need a map. I’m good at reading directions, so even when I was sleep-deprived and wandering through the forest at night, lost in a daze, I never lost my way. When a subordinate sprained his ankle, I carried him and found a shorter path, never losing the way.

But there are no maps inside buildings, so I had no choice but to trust my sense of direction.
Uncle, you really know how to make people suffer. How does he live in a building like this?
Joo Hyuk gritted his teeth and stopped. He thought about where he was. He didn't know the structure of the building or where the exterior walls were, but since he had been moving through the building since he entered, he slowly recalled his movements.

...Still, I don't know. Then... there's no choice but to wander until I find my way.
Sighing, Joo Hyuk reluctantly started moving, knowing it wasn't the best idea.
As he walked, he noticed that the hallway he was in looked somewhat similar to the lower floors. The same doors faced each other in a zigzag pattern.

Maybe this room is also a dormitory like the one on the lower floor? In that case, the people staying on this floor must be the officers... Could it be that, without realizing it, I've arrived where I was supposed to?
Just as Joo Hyuk was thinking this, he saw a glass sliding door at the end of his vision and sighed.
No, it's not.

The door he had seen downstairs was a bathroom door. Tow had guided him to the men's dormitory earlier, and the bathroom looked exactly like this. If you open the glass sliding door, there would be an opaque glass door behind it, and once you enter, you would immediately turn around a wall to reach the changing room. Then, beyond that, would be the bathroom.
"But... they said the higher-ups have bathrooms attached to their rooms. Why is there a shared bathroom here? Or is it not a bathroom?"
Joo Hyuk stopped in ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ front of the door.

It wasn't really a problem, but his curiosity was piqued. Since there was no rush, the real problem was finding his uncle's room. To leave this floor, he could take any of the sporadically visible elevators to go up to the ground floor or down to the sixth basement floor.
"Since I'm lost anyway, should I wash up before I leave?"
Though it wasn't his plan, he muttered half-heartedly and opened the door, realizing it was, indeed, a bathroom. When he opened the opaque inner door, he saw the familiar partitioned walls of the changing room, and behind that, the bathroom.

Inside, there was someone.
When Joo Hyuk opened the door and walked in, the person seemed startled by his presence, standing like a statue with wide eyes, staring silently at him.
"Uh... ah... um..."

The young man, who looked close to a boy, raised his eyes just below Joo Hyuk's gaze and looked up at him. His surprised eyes were so big it seemed like his pupils might fall out with just a tap.
He looked young, though since he was in this building, he couldn't be a minor. This young man, who appeared very youthful, was dressed only in pants, holding a shirt in one hand, as if he had just finished showering. Or maybe, judging from his dry hair, he was about to enter the shower.
Joo Hyuk was momentarily at a loss for words.

Did I make a mistake? But there was nothing to mistake. It was just a coincidence that we bumped into each other. But why does it feel like I made a mistake? Why do I feel like I should apologize?
A brief thought flitted through his mind, but he still couldn't figure out why.
At that moment, his eyes were drawn to the smooth, light peach-colored skin. It looked soft and smooth, as though touching it would reveal a fine layer of soft fuzz. The faint scent of soap, or maybe baby milk, wafted up from him.

Suddenly, for no reason, Joo Hyuk became flustered.
Now he thought he understood why it felt like a mistake. But the truth was, this reason didn’t make sense. He hadn’t seen a commoner’s skin.
The image of his uncle's face, subtly smiling about a crime regarding minor misbehavior, flashed in his mind. But no, the facility didn’t have any minors, so it wouldn’t be a crime. And even seeing the upper half of a man’s body exposed shouldn’t trigger such thoughts.

Joo Hyuk must have looked particularly flustered. The young man must have noticed his discomposure because his wide-eyed surprise softened, and he quickly regained his composure.
"You're a new face... Who are you?"
The young man asked softly. Joo Hyuk, flustered once more, didn’t know how to respond.

His voice was youthful, almost innocent. The way he spoke, soft and careful with slight pauses, made him seem even younger. If he really was a minor, it wouldn't have seemed strange.
Trying to hide his embarrassment, Joo Hyuk covered his mouth, but he didn’t realize that his hand gesture—rubbing his chin—only made him seem even more awkward.
Asking how old he was would be rude, right?

"Umm... how old are you?"
Even though he thought he shouldn’t ask, he couldn’t help it.
The young man, as if understanding Joo Hyuk’s discomfort, responded with a slightly offended tone, clearly irritated.

"I'm twenty-two. But who are you?"
Twenty-two. Still a boy. But even if I were to touch him, it wouldn’t be a crime... Wait, that’s not it.
"Uh... do you work here?"

The thought of this beautiful young man, surrounded by rough and ferocious people, with venomous snakes outside, filled Joo Hyuk with a mix of pity and affection.
By now, the young man’s face had clearly shown his displeasure. He must have been confused by a stranger suddenly entering the bathroom and asking odd questions while treating him like a child.
"Which team are you with, under Chief Gyo Do-Gam? Or, did you come as a correctional officer or administrative staff?"

He spoke coldly, his face frozen with icy displeasure.
Only then did Joo Hyuk realize, as if waking from a dream, and scratched the back of his neck. It seemed like his presence had upset the young man.
"Ah... I’m lost. I was trying to find Instructor Jeong Chang-in."

"Jeong Chang-in? His room is on the right after you leave, go all the way to the end, and when you reach the dead end, turn right again, then turn right again and you’ll see an elevator. After you go around the corner, his room will be the second one."
"Ah... okay."
The indifferent answer was extremely helpful. As long as he had a rough idea of the direction, finding it would be easy.

"Thanks."
Joo Hyuk awkwardly thanked him. The young man, still looking displeased, shrugged his shoulders in response.
Now it was time to leave, but Joo Hyuk couldn’t make himself move. He wanted to keep looking at this beautiful young man. It was like looking at a fascinating doll—moving and speaking.

"Aren’t you going?"
The young man seemed to be about to take off his pants, but seeing Joo Hyuk still standing there, he frowned in confusion and asked.
Joo Hyuk suddenly blushed. He had no reason to, but he felt extremely embarrassed.

"No... I’ll go. See you later."
Joo Hyuk waved his hand and left the bathroom.
Without looking back, he walked toward the direction the young man had told him. He kept walking until he reached the dead end, and then his mind began to cool down. He brushed his cheek with his hand and realized his ears were still burning.

Joo Hyuk stood there awkwardly, then shook his head and turned right, continuing his walk.
He wasn’t someone who emotionally reacted easily. People often told him he was stone-faced. The truth was, even when he was flustered, his face didn’t show much.
But now, even without a mirror, he could tell. His face must have been full of embarrassment.

"Damn... I didn’t mention a kid like that, Uncle..."
He cursed his uncle again, but of course, no response came.
He had experienced something like this before. He once found himself flustered, mumbling and feeling lost in his thoughts. He had forgotten about it, but now the memory resurfaced.

It had been when he was still a student, just a teenager. At that time, he was already mature for his age, maybe too forward for his peers, but he had already explored his sexuality. He was attracted more to men than women, and he enjoyed the softness of a man’s body.
Then, one day, while visiting a friend, he met that friend’s cousin who was staying there. The cousin was a cute, soft-skinned boy with big eyes.
It was exactly like this.

His face turned red, his heart raced, and his mind went blank.
He kept visiting his friend's house for a few days, trying to get closer to the cousin, and even though he succeeded a little, every time he saw the boy, his heart raced.
But soon the cousin went back home, and Joo Hyuk’s first crush ended in vain.

Since then, Joo Hyuk had always been attracted to that type—cute, sweet boys who looked like they might melt from your touch.
But such men were rare, even among younger boys, and Joo Hyuk hadn’t met many in real life. He only got his satisfaction from occasionally seeing someone resembling that type at a club.
But to his surprise, he never expected to find someone who fit his exact taste in such a hidden corner.

"What should I do..."
Joo Hyuk muttered helplessly. What should he do? He had found the exact type of person he liked.
Actually, thinking about it, there was nothing to do. He had no intention of doing anything inappropriate, so if the young man was straight, it was just over. And the chances of that happening were extremely high. Even if he was lucky and the man had the same preferences, the time was limited to six months.

"What should I do?"
Joo Hyuk muttered again, not even knowing what he was asking for.
In the meantime, the long corridor ended. Joo Hyuk sighed quietly in front of the wall and turned right again.

Just as the young man had said, the elevator appeared. It was the same elevator Tow had used. There was also a door leading to the stairs nearby.
"Second one after the corner..."
Joo Hyuk muttered the young man's instructions and walked as he had been told.

Around the corner, he quickly found the second door. It was the one to his uncle's room.
His uncle wasn’t in the room.
Or rather, to be precise, it was more accurate to say he wasn’t in his seat.

Joo Hyuk had been lost in thought, and half-distracted, he opened the door without knocking. But no one would reprimand him for that.
The door wasn’t locked, and the room was empty, but the sound of running water from inside convinced him that his uncle was in the attached shower.
Joo Hyuk looked at a few familiar items scattered carelessly on the desk, confirming that this was indeed his uncle's room. Then he sat down slowly on the large chair in front of the desk and began to take in the surroundings.

His uncle’s personal room was quite different from Joo Hyuk’s dorm room.
Though the furniture and electronics were similar, what stood out the most was the books. The bookshelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with books.
Joo Hyuk gently ran his hand across the nearby shelf. His uncle had a lot of rare books. His uncle’s house—where he spent most of the year at his office—was filled with books that rare book collectors would drool over. It had even been broken into by book thieves before.

So, Joo Hyuk often stayed at his uncle's house for days, reading books, until there were none left, and then he stopped going. He used to even visit his uncle’s house to bring his brother.
Though Joo Hyuk didn’t like books as much as his uncle, he enjoyed reading enough to distinguish rare ones from common books. Among the books within his reach, there was one that he had wanted to read but was unable to find.
He raised his eyebrows slightly and pulled the book out. It was the one book he had desperately tried to find but had given up on because the original version was out of print.

How does he find things like this so easily? Well, it's convenient for me.
Joo Hyuk marveled at his uncle, slowly flipping through the bookshelves. However, he wasn’t able to focus on the book.