"Yes."
Hayeop opened his eyes wide and nodded. Setting his soft cheeks into a firm expression as though bracing himself, he saw his mother off.
"Have a safe trip."
Once she had left, Hayeop busied himself with work. His mind was in turmoil. It was frustrating to be unable to do anything but stand by and watch.
If the Young Master had indigestion, Hayeop could prick his finger with a needle. If he had a fever, he could gulp down spicy squid soup boiled with plenty of chili powder. If he was hurt somewhere, they could spread soybean paste on the injury. Of course, if he was bleeding, they had to be careful with the red antiseptic. That hurt so terribly that it could make a person roll across the floor like a crushed grub.
"If it isn't time for his sickness yet… did the heat really get to him?"
It seemed as though Yoonwon had not even drunk a glass of water. He had to be terribly thirsty in this heat. Worried that his throat must be parched, Hayeop quietly poured some barley tea from the refrigerator. He was neatly arranging the drink and a cup on a tray when his mother's voice suddenly echoed through his mind.
You must never enter the Young Master's room.
The warning left him uneasy, but people died if they went without water.
He would only go for a moment. Just long enough to leave some cool water outside the door.
Hayeop picked up the tray and hurried away.
He circled the courtyard where an enormous pine tree stood, then quietly climbed the stairs to the second floor. The ice cubes floating in the barley tea clinked with startling loudness. His heart inexplicably tightened.
Knock, knock, knock.
Growing impatient, Hayeop rapped on the bedroom door hard enough to bruise it.
"Young Master, it's me. Hayeop."
He cautiously pressed his ear against the door, his soft flesh squashed against the hard wood. No sound came from within. Something about the silence filling the room felt so cold that the fine hairs along Hayeop's back stood on end.
"You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Are you all right? Did the heat get to you?"
Hayeop fretted anxiously. His mother had always behaved as though missing even one meal would bring disaster, so Hayeop believed the same thing. Even if the world were collapsing, he would not feel at ease until he had swallowed one final spoonful of rice.
If even a neighborhood dog missed a meal, Hayeop would panic like a grandmother whose own grandson was starving. He would bring the dog home, feed it, pat its newly rounded belly, then release it to go play.
And this was the Young Master, who lived under the same roof and ate the same food. People who shared meals were called family. How could his mother expect him to turn a blind eye? If they left Yoonwon like this, a perfectly healthy man might succumb to the heat and wither away. No matter how hateful the Young Master was, they were still family.
I'm really going to leave the water and go. That's all.
"I thought you might like some cold water."
"Water…."
Hayeop jumped when a voice finally emerged from the room. It sounded unbearably parched. That voice, usually as sweet as a male oriole's song, had been scraped raw.
Hayeop's heart clenched. He quickly set the tray down outside the door.
"Yes, I left it right here!"
He had finally given the Young Master some cold water. Pride swelled inside him, hanging heavily like fruit from a tree. He was about to turn and leave when a sinister voice behind him caught him by the ankle.
"Come here."
What did he just say…?
Hayeop froze.
Come here?
The Young Master's lips rose in his mind, curved naturally into that sensual smile. For one moment, Hayeop nearly found himself drawn inside. Although there was no one around to see or hear him, his shoulders hunched timidly.
"I-I can't. I'm not allowed to go inside."
"At this rate…."
The voice was cracked almost beyond recognition.
"I'm so thirsty I think I'm going to die."
Fear seized Hayeop. What if the Young Master truly died in there?
Oh, to hell with it.
Gripping the tray tightly, Hayeop caught the doorknob and turned it. The door creaked open.
The next instant, a hand shot out of the darkness and seized him viciously by the collar.
"Whoa—"
Hayeop was dragged inside. Heavy, chilled air lay damp and stagnant throughout the room. The Young Master's eyes gleamed ominously in the darkness.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to come?"
Hayeop was so startled that he dropped the tray. Barley tea streamed from the juice bottle across the floor. Yoonwon yanked hard on his wrist, and Hayeop could not even resist.
"Ugh…!"
Splash, splash, splash. Even as his feet struck the spilled water, Hayeop could not believe what was happening. Yoonwon dragged him to the bed and flung him down.
"Wh-what?"
Hayeop could not make sense of the situation.
What is this? Why am I lying on the Young Master's bed?
He immediately struggled to climb down, but it was useless. Yoonwon's heavy body came down over him.
This is strange. This can't be right. The Young Master is a man, and I'm a man too. There's something wrong with this picture.
"Y-Young Master, why are you doing this?"
Yoonwon looked slender at first glance, but his body was built on a solid frame layered with muscle. He drove one knee into the mattress. The bed creaked and shrieked as though begging for its life. The Young Master's hot breath poured over Hayeop from inches away.
"…Beautiful."
The Young Master gazed down at him with eyes steeped in ecstasy. With his long fingers, he swept Hayeop's disheveled hair aside. Hayeop could not understand what was wrong with him. Perhaps he had eaten something he shouldn't have. His lowered eyes looked unbearably sensual.
"Are you sick?"
Hayeop had once seen a lingerie commercial on television. Tall, slender models had appeared wearing clothes no thicker than strands of thread, staring directly at him.
"Or did you lose your mind because you haven't eaten…?"
The same strange, burning sensation he had felt then surged up from somewhere deep inside him.
"Sweet."
The urge to pee inexplicably gathered in his lower belly, and his legs twisted together. The Young Master truly must be ill. But what sort of sickness was this? Hayeop's heart pounded so wildly that it seemed ready to burst through his ribs.
"Young Master, why… Why are you…?"
Yoonwon pulled him closer, and before Hayeop knew what was happening, he had ended up straddling the man's body. Hayeop's soft thighs rubbed against hard abdominal muscles.
"Young Master, Young Master, I'm a man. I'm Hayeop."
Yoonwon must have mistaken him for someone else. Hayeop muttered the words as he pushed against his body, but the force pulling him closer was far stronger. Yoonwon's powerful hands tightened around Hayeop's waist as though they might snap it.
Hayeop's hair spread out like a fan. All he could do was blink.
How did this happen?
His mind was in such a haze that he could barely resist.
Is this the fox sickness Mom was talking about? This doesn't look like an illness. It looks like he's gone into heat.
"Ah…."
Yoonwon buried his nose against the nape of Hayeop's neck. The breath against his skin was so damp and hot that it made him shudder. It felt as though his soul were being sucked out of him. Goose bumps rippled down his spine, and Hayeop curled his toes in embarrassment.
…This is bad. Mom told me never to enter this room.
Hayeop flushed all the way to his neck, as if he had submerged his entire body in crushed balsam flowers.
"I have to leave. I'm not allowed to be in your room, Young Master."
But Yoonwon's answer mercilessly severed that fragile hope.
"You can't go."
Crossing his long arms, the Young Master pulled off his shirt, exposing his firm upper body. Hayeop had heard that he went swimming whenever he had the chance. His shoulders were broad, and sleek, solid muscles covered his frame.
"What do you think?"
The Young Master was asking whether Hayeop liked his body. A suggestive smile hung from the corner of his lips.
"Young Master…."
Hayeop's heart hammered. At this rate, his blood-red organs might spill straight out of his gaping mouth.
"Why? Don't you like it?"
Yoonwon coaxed him gently, then gave Hayeop's pink tongue a playful little bite. Hayeop parted his lips with a gasp, and Yoonwon's tongue immediately plunged so deep that it nearly reached his throat.
Why was the Young Master suddenly doing this?
"Mmm…."
Hayeop's mouth grew sweet, as though he were eating ice cream. Yoonwon's tongue rubbed against his swollen tongue until Hayeop felt as though he might melt and stick to the roof of his own mouth. His round cheeks flushed rosy red. His small, plump bottom began to squirm of its own accord.
"Don't kiss me."
Hayeop hurriedly covered his mouth with one hand, but the Young Master extended his tongue and slowly licked the back of it.
"Sweet."
He smiled languidly.
Wh-what is this rubbing against my stomach? This large, hot thing has to be….
It was the Young Master's cock.