It seems that the initial gap had been sealed with plywood or something, and the side of the
cabinet was made to resemble shutters with wooden slats arranged diagonally but without a
handle. Jeong Taeui wondered why they left that part open if it wasn't meant to be a door.
When he looked up, he saw a vent with a running exhaust fan. In the corner, a small
ventilation pipe was attached. Maybe because of the ventilation pipe, there was no other way.
Damn it, just when he thought he was safely hidden, he encountered trouble. There was
someone on the other side of the door.
Jeong Taeui held his breath. He didn't know who it was, but he couldn't let himself be
discovered. Moreover, this was the last room in the carpeted hallway, with private rooms
lined along it. Just the location of the room was enough to raise suspicion.
Jeong Taeui carefully turned around, trying not to make any noise, and looked into the
adjacent room through the gap in the side of the cabinet.
"―…Ah ...ah ...ah..."
The faint, ambiguous voice he heard earlier repeated. The moans turned into sobs. It was the
cry of a woman.
Jeong Taeui frowned and directed his gaze towards the source of the crying. The crying was
disturbing him, but the fact that it was a woman crying disturbed him even more.
But when he saw the woman through the wooden slats, Jeong Taeui suddenly froze.
It wasn't just because the woman was naked. It wasn't just because a man was thrusting his
hips between her legs – and the man's face wasn't visible from his vantage point through the
slats.
It was a face Jeong Taeui knew.
Not intimately, but he had seen it before. Just recently, in Tarten's forest, standing right next
to Richard.
The beautiful curly hair was now drenched in sweat and tears, sticking to her face. She was
sobbing and pleading in a barely audible voice.
"Please... Please― just... go ...in..."
The broken pleas, mixed with obscene words, made Taeui's ears burn, and he stood petrified
like a statue at the scene unfolding before him.
She seemed deeply ashamed of uttering those words, her face flushed and wet with tears.Jeong Taeui couldn't move and could only look up. He couldn't and shouldn't watch any
longer.
But why was she here, in this condition?
She was Richard's lover...
"..."
That thought flashed through Jeong Taeui's mind, and he widened his eyes.
That's right, this was Richard's bar. And she was Richard's lover. So, the man holding her
waist...
"Good girl, you speak so nicely. Because you listened to me, I'll stop now."
The man's gentle, laughing voice spoke to her.
As Jeong Taeui thought, it was a familiar voice.
When the man bent down to stroke the woman's back, his face became clear. There was no
doubt.
Richard Tarten.
It was him.
He smiled contentedly and started thrusting harder and faster. The screams and moans mixed,
echoing throughout the room. As he did so, Richard kept whispering obscene words into the
woman's ear, forcing her to repeat them.
Jeong Taeui's face turned pale.
My God, he really is a pervert. A true pervert...
It felt like he was lost in a nightmare. This wasn't the Richard Jeong Taeui knew. He was
whispering unimaginable things with a face he couldn't possibly have and being cruel in a
way that the Richard from the West of Tarten would never be.
Jeong Taeui suddenly felt dizzy, his vision swirling. He tried to avoid looking at the scene by
raising his eyes.
He wanted to cover his ears. The vivid and raw sounds echoed right beside him. It was
horrifying how one could humiliate another person like this.
His lips trembled. Truly a pervert. He couldn't believe there was such a person around him.
For some reason, he felt that if he was discovered, he would die. If caught – "You saw, didn't
you?" – Richard would smile gently and then instantly become a ruthless pervert.Jeong Taeui tried to stay calm while his mind whirled, not knowing if he was dreaming or
awake.
At that moment, from the right – where he couldn't see – came a man's deep voice.
"You really haven't changed your taste. You always pick the same type of girls."
My God.
The voice pierced Jeong Taeui's ears like a needle.
He felt breathless. His ears buzzed. His vision went black.
It was a very familiar voice. No mistake about it. He had lived with that person for several
years.
...Ilay. Ilay Riegrow.
...I avoided the fox's den only to fall into the tiger's lair.*
(*Avoiding the fox's den only to fall into the tiger's lair: an idiom meaning to escape a small
danger only to encounter a greater one.)
Jeong Taeui clenched his trembling hands and looked into the room with a pale face.
Richard – who continued to make love in front of Ilay – seemed to have finished. He
withdrew from the woman's body and used a towel to wipe himself.
The sexual acts alone were perverted enough, but now he saw him doing it in front of
someone else. This could only be described as extremely perverted.
Richard tossed the towel into a basket in the corner of the room and began dressing. He
smiled nonchalantly, exposing his bare body, and put on each piece of clothing.
"These lovely things are truly wonderful. Just stroke them a few times, and they will obey my
words and beg for forgiveness with tearful voices. The feeling of completely controlling them
is fantastic."
"Just like always."
Ilay laughed in response.
Unbelievable that someone who always spoke gentle words could say such disgusting things.
Not lovely people, but "lovely things." Truly someone everyone should avoid.
Jeong Taeui's eyes widened in disbelief. But no matter how many times he looked, it was still
Richard Tarten.
While Richard was dressing, the woman remained motionless as if she had exhausted all her
energy. Her face was wet with tears, and she was only breathing faintly."What about over there?"
Ilay's voice rang out again. Ilay was closer than Richard. His voice came from only a few
steps away from the cabinet. But from where Jeong Taeui stood, he couldn't see him. Richard
finished putting on his pants and turned to Ilay.
"Over there? Ah... nothing major has changed at the moment. The situation is as known, with
no signs of change." – As he spoke, Richard put on his shirt, which had been hanging on the
back of a chair.
"It's not yet time to act. Nothing has been decided yet. We're just waiting for the final
decision."
Richard shrugged, and Ilay was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"If Al-Fahd can hold out a little longer, there might be another direction to go."
His ambiguous way of speaking made it hard for the listener to distinguish whether it was
hopeful regret or simple excitement. It would have been easier to understand if one could see
his expression.
Richard mumbled – "Al-Fahd holding out...?" – and then shook his head.
"He will be overthrown soon. It's just a matter of time."
"Even so, the pro-American regime of that country will not be overthrown. The policy won't
change much."
"That's right. But the important thing is who will take power. The critical question is who will
be in control..."
Richard left the sentence unfinished, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Ilay smiled lightly
and added. – "So, who do you want to take power?"
"Haha, I want someone who offers more acceptable terms."
"More acceptable terms." – Ilay repeated, emphasizing the phrase.
A short silence followed.
The room was enveloped in quiet. Jeong Taeui swallowed hard.
Damn it. Silence like this is not good. Please, say something, sing, or at least move.
Jeong Taeui observed the scene through the gap in the cabinet, under the vent, cursing
inwardly.
No one wanted to eavesdrop on others, but this situation was truly horrible.This cramped built-in cabinet was unbearably hot. The vent above blew hot air straight down
on him. The hoodie, covering him from head to knee, obscured his vision and suffocated him.
After running wildly, his body was burning, and the air inside the cabinet was stiflingly hot.
This damn hoodie retained heat excellently, making him drenched in sweat.
Why did he take the hoodie? If he had planned to hide in this corner, he wouldn't have
needed it.
Now he couldn't take it off. Just moving a finger would be enough to get noticed by the
people in the room.
He was suffocating, his breathing becoming heavier and more difficult.
Damn it.
With the room so quiet, he couldn't move and had to hold his breath. But if that was all, he
would just think he was unlucky and in a bad situation. But the person he accidentally
eavesdropped on was that person. Such unimaginable bad luck.
It was understandable why Richard was here. After all, this was his bar. So it wasn't strange
that he was in the innermost room of the bar.
But why was he the one talking to Richard?
Moreover, the worst part was that if he overheard an unimportant conversation, he could
laugh it off and sneak out. But this was a serious conversation, and he clearly heard things he
shouldn't have.
So unfair. He had overheard something he didn't fully understand but felt was incredibly
important, something that would not be forgiven if it got out.
'Damn it. I don't care anymore. Please, just someone say something. I can't hold my breath
forever
'
Jeong Taeui felt his vision blur. His labored breathing made him feel even more suffocated,
and sweat poured into his eyes.
As the thought of passing out from lack of air and being discovered when he collapsed in the
cabinet crossed his mind, Richard's voice broke the silence.
"There is one thing that bothers me. As far as I know, Al-Faisal is someone who values
practicality. He is very good at determining what benefits him. But this time, the prediction
was wrong. Which means..."
"Someone is behind it, or there's a plan we're unaware of?" – Ilay's deep voice continued.
Jeong Taeui exhaled softly without making a sound. Sweat continued to run into his eyes,
blurring his vision further. Not that he could see anything clearly with the hoodie covering
half his view, but now it was even worse.When will they leave? I have to hold on a little longer.
Silence descended again. He wanted to scream out loud.
Talk, damn it! If you keep quiet like this, it's hard even to breathe. Do you know that?
Even though he was hiding and eavesdropping – let's emphasize again, not by his choice – he
still found himself wanting to blame them.
Fortunately, this silence was broken quicker than the last.
Ilay's light laughter echoed.
"Tarten must be in a difficult position. Facing choices without clear decisions must be
stressful."
"There's no other way. You reap what you sow. But..."
"Yes, but..." – Ilay's voice lowered. He stood up from the sofa.
Jeong Taeui's ears became more sensitive as his vision blurred, clearly hearing the slow and
relaxed footsteps.
"I've been wondering about something since earlier–"
The footsteps approached leisurely, filled with an air of excitement.
In an instant, his entire body turned cold. The heat in the cabinet seemed to dissipate,
replaced by a chilling sensation.
The footsteps headed straight for Jeong Taeui. More precisely, to the other side of the panel
that separated the built-in cabinet from the room.
The footsteps stopped right there. Only a step and a half away from Jeong Taeui's position.
"In this cramped and filthy place, what are you hiding?"
"To avoid misunderstandings, I'm not hiding anything here."
"Oh, really? Then let's see―."
The voice was laced with a laugh. Immediately,
*Crack—...*
The panel between the room and the cabinet cracked, creating a long, sharp fissure.
Light streamed in through the crack, and a solid fist brushed past Jeong Taeui's nose.
" —...!?!?!""If you're going to build a nest, why not choose a more spacious spot? Why squeeze into
such a tight place?"
The deep voice sounded right next to his ear. He was laughing lightly, his breath brushing
against Jeong Taeui's ear.
In the blurred vision, he saw a hand wearing dark green leather gloves.
The monstrous fist had split the plywood panel. Then, with a loud Bang, the hand began
tearing away the pieces of the panel. Light flooded in like a tidal wave.
Jeong Taeui stood frozen, unable to move even a finger.
Right beside him, Ilay – who had pushed aside the panel – leaned against the wall, looking
down with a faint smile.
"Ah... You're wearing a black hoodie that covers you from head to toe. Aren't you hot? Tsk
tsk... Look, your back is drenched."
The gloved hand slid down Jeong Taeui's back. Each time it pressed lightly through the
fabric, his heart felt like it would stop. It was a hand that could tear through flesh at any
moment.
Richard, sitting a few steps away on a stool, didn't bother to turn his head, casually asking.
"One of our family members? Or someone else?"
"Well, who knows where he came from..."
Ilay smiled sinisterly. His other hand slipped under the hoodie. Jeong Taeui reflexively
shrank back as the hand grasped his chin.
A powerful hand that could easily crush a person's jaw. The hand that held tightly to Jeong
Taeui's lower face moved slowly from his chin to his cheek.
"If you hide in this black cloth..."
The smell of leather from the gloves filled his nostrils.
That eerie scent made Jeong Taeui close his eyes.
Damn it... I knew it would come to this... I'd rather face a demon.
Jeong Taeui opened his eyes, letting his face rest in Ilay's hand, knowing that if he dared to
pull back, his jaw would be crushed without mercy.
Under the hood that covered half his vision, Jeong Taeui saw the lower part of Ilay's face.
Below the familiar nose was a mouth he recognized. A smile like that of a child who found a
living toy, a mischievous grin.