Chapter Text
It was a rather challenging operation.
The targets hiding out in Atlas weren’t necessarily stronger or more numerous than previous ones, but their ability to remain concealed was so impressive that tracking them down to their roots proved difficult.
No matter how many angles they analyzed it from, there was no way to uncover their hideout in advance, and at best, they could only eliminate a few scattered individuals. So what other option was there? A trap had to be set.
And so, Ilay decided to ‘die’.
He prepared a corpse with similar physical traits, orchestrated a convincing scenario to be shot down by the enemy, and then ‘died’ at their hands.
As predicted, the idiots who had been cooperating with him began to completely collapse, but thanks to that, the enemy finally believed that they had won. They started cheering and arrogantly flaunted their victory, openly revealing themselves.
And it was the perfect time for Ilay, who had escaped from the downed helicopter without a trace and remained hidden for two days, to pinpoint the location where the enemy were rooted.
Once the hideout was identified, wiping them out was a trivial matter.
After eliminating them without any evidence left of him, Ilay immediately headed to the urban areas, wanting to go to the hospital first and foremost. If he wanted to contact a teammate, the fastest way was to choose from those lying in the hospital.
As Ilay approached a fairly large building for a small-town hospital, complete with a mortuary and a morgue, his gaze landed on a man sitting on a bench outside the morgue.
Under the sun, the man sat hunched over with his hands clasped tightly together. There was no way Ilay could mistake him. Even if that man were mixed into a packed baseball stadium, he still could confidently recognize him immediately.
“ —Taei,” he called.
Why is he here? Ah, right, he must have received news of my ‘death’ and come here. I approached him without much thought, but the man seemed to flinch slightly. Then he looked up and stared straight at Ilay.
“.....”
It was a completely unfamiliar face. Clearly, it was the man Ilay knew, but at the same time, it was someone he had never seen before.
The face looked utterly empty and blank.
“........You..” Jeong taeui stood up from the bench and stood there like a lifeless doll, staring intently at Ilay. Then he slowly began to approach.
Step by step, he moved closer, but his eyes never left Ilay for even a second. When he reached Ilay, Taeui stopped, then slowly raised his hand. With a lifeless gesture, he touched Ilay. His rough but warm palm touched Ilay’s cheek, shoulder, and arm. One by one, each touch gentler than the previous.
Finally, Jeong Taeui tightly grasped Ilay’s gloved hand, silently looking at Ilay with his blank face, then suddenly lowered his gaze to the ground.
“Taei,” Ilay stared intently at Taeui.
He kept looking down at the ground……then raised his head to the sky, blinked a few times, and slowly took a deep breath. That pale and emotionless face couldn’t help but draw Ilay’s attention.
Soon, Taeui looked straight at Ilay again. This time, his face looked a bit more familiar. A bit awkward, or perhaps uneasy as he carefully observed Ilay from head to toe. He then suddenly muttered, “What if this is a dream?”
“.......Tae.”
“I– um……..actually, I’m struggling more than I thought, Ilay, but if this is a dream…..then it can’t be…………I really can’t handle that. So…..this can’t be a dream…”
Ilay continued to watch Taeui stutter erratically. He wondered what this heavy, strange, and unfamiliar feeling was. What was filling his chest with that dark and suffocating sensation…
Ilay took in the sight of that haggard and gaunt face, the deathly pale skin tinged with gray, the cracked and dry lips to the point of turning white.
“It’s not a dream. I’m sorry.”
A feeling he had never experienced before suddenly surged up, piercing his throat, and spilling out. —A belated bitterness that he shouldn’t have done this.
Taeui silently stared at Ilay, then his stiff face slowly crumbled. Now it looked a bit more familiar. His face twisted into a grimace, and then his forehead lightly bumped against Ilay’s collar.
“Ah, damn it…….it’s a dream. How could that bastard say something like that…?” A cracked, small voice came from him.
“Taei. I’m sorry.”
If I had known you’d look like this—, Ilay was about to say something more, but stopped. He realised he was panicking. No, not just that. Countless unfamiliar and dark emotions were swirling together inside him.
“You bastard….who told you to die first?” Taeui suddenly spewed out harsh, sharp curses, venting his bitter anger.
“Taei…….Taei.”
Ilay swallowed back words, pressing his lips against Taeui’s. He gently licked the dry lips, then pushed his tongue into the parched mouth. It seemed like a few curses were still trying to escape from the man, but Ilay paid no attention.
This strange and intense surge of emotion was overwhelming him, making it impossible to stop. Guilt, confusion, a dull ache, and a dizzying joy of relief all tangled together.
Taeui lost consciousness soon after, collapsing like a doll that had its strings cut. Ilay held him tightly and stayed rooted to the spot for a long time. It felt like he was dreaming some strange dream.
A dream in which even he, just as the other, had become unfamiliar.
— —
Jeong Taeui loves beer, but his alcohol tolerance isn’t particularly high. Even though he was dragged along by those rowdy thugs, he drank as if nothing was wrong, but by the time he got home, he was completely drunk.
Even while drunk, he just sprawled on the bed without washing up, but if it weren’t for Àngel collapsing on the spot and him having to step out, he would probably be dead asleep by now…
People often say ‘One drink calls for another,’ so Taeui didn’t forget to grab another can from the fridge on the way to the bedroom. Plopping on the bed, he lazily lifted his head just enough to take a sip. At this moment, Ilay, who was undressing, spoke up.
“Seems like you had fun. You drank more than usual.”
“Yeah—hic, it’s been a while since I saw everyone.”
“Was it fun meeting them after so long?”
“Who knows when we’ll meet again, the world might end at any moment.”
Ilay sat down on the bed and picked up the beer can Taeui had abandoned on the bedside table, taking a sip, he asked, “Is that so…..if the world ended tomorrow, what would you want to do?”
“Huh?” Taeui raised an eyebrow, his red-rimmed eyes stared absentmindedly at the ceiling before he shrugged.
“Mmm…probably nothing special,” he said, “First, I’d call my brother to say goodbye, then take a walk around the park near the house, have a meal with you, drink a cold beer, and wait for the end.”
“Give it here,” Taeui sat up and snatched the beer from Ilay’s hand, muttering and pondering for a moment.
“Thinking about it…if the world were to end, I’d rather it just end all at once. After all, since we’ve been born, we have to live until the last breath. But if I were unlucky enough to be left alone, I probably wouldn’t be able to bear it.”
“In the end, you’re still the type to live life to the fullest, hm?”
“Yeah, I guess so. But maybe the rest of my life will be full of pain,” Taeui muttered while swallowing a sip of beer, “When I thought you were dead, I struggled way more than I ever imagined.” He stared into the void, his voice soft as if talking to himself.
Perhaps half of his mind had already drifted into sleep due to the alcohol. Ilay silently observed him.
Those bloodshot eyes, along with the indifferent expression, momentarily looked exactly like back then…..the image of him quietly sitting outside the hospital.
At the same time, a not-so-distant memory suddenly overlapped with that image. The moment Ilay thought Taeui might lose his life.
When he saw the video of Taeui lying motionless, drenched in blood and surrounded by people screaming for his life, all happening thousands of kilometers away. Ilay had finally understood what death was, what the ‘end’ of a person truly meant.
It was a permanent loss. A complete separation. Never to be seen again, leaving no thought. The moment death almost touched Taeui….
A deep and dark fear had suddenly surged over Ilay.
“Even if it’s like this, I’ve always lived with the thought that at any moment, tomorrow or right now, you or I could die. There’s no other way…living with someone full of sins means you have to accept it,” Taeui muttered, the scent of alcohol lingering in the air.
His slightly drunken eyes silently focused on Ilay for a moment, then he sighed, “So I’ve thought about what I’d do if you died. I thought that even without you, I’d manage…….but maybe it’s not that simple.”
Taeui lowered his head in silence for a while, then sighed again, muttering softly, “So live a long life.”
Ilay just silently watched the melancholic drunk. Then he chuckled lightly, snatched the beer out of Taeui’s hand and threw it straight out the window. “Alright, I’ll live a long life. Lately, I’ve started to value my life a little more.”
While Taeui was still regretfully watching the beer fly out the window in a perfect arc, Ilay pulled him in and softly pressed a kiss onto his lips, tinged with the faint taste of alcohol.
“That’s why I’ve been diligently exercising, eating healthy, and taking care of my health as much as possible,” Ilay continued his slow whispers as their lips met.
Taeui, now half-pinned under Ilay, instinctively stirred slightly. As the drunkenness suddenly dissipated, Taeui’s wide-open eyes became clearer. Ilay climbed on top of him, pulling him to the center of the bed, and continued speaking.
“What about you, Taei? Drinking like this and being lazy about exercising, how are you going to live long?”
“No………..I don’t plan to live that long—AH! NO!NO!....I have to live long—! Live until my hair turns completely white!”
Feeling the hand pressing hard on his lower region, Taeui immediately backtracked on his words and shouted. Hearing this, Ilay let out a satisfied smile, loosened his grip and lightly patted the spot a few times.
“....Damn it, I fell into the trap,” Taeui silently lamented, his forehead wrinkling in distress. He quickly grabbed Ilay’s arm when the man leaned in closer, and urgently spoke.
“I was planning to cut back on drinking already! I even thought about going for a run in the park tomorrow!”
“The alcohol’s already been drunk, so there’s no helping that. But you don’t need to postpone exercising. Let’s do it right now, I’ll help you,” Ilay easily escaped Taeui’s tight grip and stood up to remove his own shirt.
Without any hesitation, he stripped off Taeui’s sweater as well. Taeui clung tightly to the bed and refused to budge, but for Ilay, stripping off one layer of clothing was no big deal. In no time, Taeui’s upper body was bare. When Ilay’s hand slid down to pull off his pants, Taeui flailed hopelessly and stammered, “Ya, ya! I haven’t showered yet!”
“It’s fine.”
In the blink of an eye, the pants were also tossed aside, and Taeui seemed to surrender from his futile efforts as Ilay began to remove his own pants.
Taeui sprawled on the bed as if letting Ilay do whatever he wanted, and when Ilay climbed on top again and slid his hand deep between his legs, Taeui obediently moved his body in response.
“Why are you so fidgety? You’re doing it with a handsome guy,” Ilay slowly caressed Taeui’s body while lightly pressing his lips against him, chuckling softly. Taeui blinked rapidly at Ilay with a questioning expression and froze.
He glared at Ilay as his face gradually flushed red, muttering through clenched teeth, “You heard everything……ah damn it…” Taeui rubbed his embarrassed face, and Ilay lightly bit the back of his hand.
“Come here, Taei. You’ll feel good in no time. Once it starts, you’ll cry and cling to me in pleasure.”
Taeui obediently responded to Ilay’s kiss and gently stroked his back, though still a bit embarrassed as he sighed, “Of course I like it. What kind of man doesn’t like sex? But I like it in moderation….”
Taeui, who had been muttering complaints, suddenly looked at Ilay with a serious expression.
“By the way, starting tomorrow, I’ll try to exercise more diligently, so can you cut back on your training?” He asked, “I’ll quit drinking, or at least cut back, and you should stop taking all those supplements. Lately, you’ve been overdoing it with the workouts and the healthy eating…”
Ilay looked down at Taeui, who was pleading earnestly, then tilted his head and said softly, “Hmm, lets see.”
“I prefer the current state. It seems to suit my constitution. Thanks to maintaining a regular routine and supplementing, my stamina has improved, and my vitality is much greater than before. You know that best.”
Hearing that, Taeui finally let out a shout, “I know! That’s why I said you’re overdoing it! Lately, you’ve been way too much, you were already too much to begin with!” Because he was so angry, he accidentally bumped his forehead hard against Ilay when he lifted it up.
“Seven times a week….is that even human?! Huh?! Actually, it’s not just seven times, each time it’s two or three rounds……Look, it hasn’t even been 24 hours since yesterday!”
“It’s precisely because of all this activity that you can drink and skip exercising while still maintaining good health, Taei.”
“...........”
“Aish, tomorrow I’ll sign up for the gym immediately, just you wait,” Taeui gritted his teeth and said. Ilay just kissed him and laughed softly. He gently licked Taeui’s lips, which were tightly pressed together in anger, as if trying to coax Taeui, while also caressing his body. Just feeling the warm skin clinging to his palm was enough to make Ilay’s lower body stiffen.
“Taei….I want you. Let me have you.”
Ilay pressed his lips close, whispering over and over again. He wasn’t in a hurry, because he knew that in the end, Taeui would curse in Korean even though he knew Ilay could understand, then bite Ilay’s lip hard.
.
.
.
Their bare skin overlapped each other, spreading a scorching warmth to each other. The tender tongue that filled Taeui’s mouth was equally blazing. Their genitals, touching at the lower waist, were already half erect.
Ilay tightly wrapped his arms around Taeui’s waist and pulled him closer. Their skin rubbed against each other, intensifying the heat between them.
“Mmm….ah—”
From between their intertwined lips, Taeui let out a soft moan. The pale hand that had been stroking his cock slipped downward, then a finger penetrated his body. Moving smoothly, the fingers quickly increased from one to two….then to three, stretching Taeui’s hole.
With each added finger, Taeui’s moans became increasingly fragmented. His body, already accustomed to his man’s actions, soon became wet and slick.
Ilay bit Taeui’s chin, then kissed his lips again before trailing down to his neck, sucking and nipping.
Every part of him was addictively delicious. It wasn’t just his taste buds that sensed this. Every sense, from his fingertips to Ilay’s entire body, was overwhelmed by this suffocating sweetness.
Even though he had devoured this body hundreds, thousands of times, he never grew tired of it. Instead, his craving and desire only grew stronger each day. Even he wondered how it was possible.
“...Ahhn!—”
As he pushed his fully erect cock into the hot and tight hole, Ilay furrowed his brows but didn’t blink, his gaze was fixed on Taeui, who was letting out short intermittent moans.
“Ah, ah!...Hngh..!”
If only I could swallow him whole, from head to toe.
“Taei, come here,” Ilay gently held Taeui’s waist and began to push in slowly, whispering softly.
Even though Taeui could now accept him easily, Ilay’s enormous size still left him breathless as it filled him. Taeui lifted his head to look at Ilay. In Ilay’s tightly furrowed brows, there was an unmistakable hunger.
Taeui reached out and wrapped his arms around Ilay’s neck, pulling him closer.
As if that was the signal, the cock that had been moving in and out slowly suddenly become intense, thrusting fiercely into his tight hole.
“Ah! Ah—ah…unnghh..!
Continuous moans spilled out of Taeui. At first, the sounds were mixed with pain, but gradually, desire took over. Pleasured moans mingled with Ilay’s ragged breaths.
“Hnghh..! Ah–! Ilay..!”
Whimpers mixed with cries, rapid breathing, and wet sounds filled the room as hip met hip, along with the suffocating heat.
Then suddenly, his already taut body stretched even wider. “Ahhnnghh—!......Ha….!”
Inside his body, a continuous stream of semen erupted, spilling endlessly and filling him up as it spilled from where they were connected. At the same time, desire exploded from Taeui’s soaked cock.
The frenzied sounds gradually slowed down. The moans, the breathing. Ilay slumped on top of Taeui, who was drenched in sweat and completely flattened, the weight pressed their body together.
In the lingering heat of the room, Ilay lay stretched out on top of Taeui, slightly turning his face to press his lips against Taeui’s cheek. Taeui remained motionless, but tilted his head slightly toward Ilay, as if allowing that small yet profound contact.
— —
Everything changes and shifts. Ilay knew that Jeong Taeui was a person of extraordinary mental strength.
Even if he were to become the last survivor on earth, he would still endure it and live until his final breath. It would be hard to find someone as resilient as him.
That’s why, even though Ilay never doubted Taeui’s feelings for him, he still believed that if he were to die, Taeui would simply grieve for a while and then continue to live bravely. But when he saw Taeui sitting motionless on the hospital bench that day….
When he saw that lifeless face, as if shrouded in a veil of emptiness and darkness.
When he felt the hesitant hand slowly reaching out to touch him, seeking confirmation.
When he heard the hoarse voice, trembling with hidden fear.
For the first time in his life, he tasted the bitter sensation of guilt intertwined with a terrifying joy. Finally—
‘Finally, Taeui has become just like me.’
He has changed, become like me….someone who cannot live sanely without the other without being crushed under the weight of despair.
He was already mine, yet it still made me crave endlessly, made me desire for it to the point of madness, it has finally fallen into my hands.
But at the same time, when I saw the dawn of my life extinguish into utter darkness, I felt my heart burning black like charcoal.
He shouldn’t have a face like this.
Not him. He shouldn’t have that lost and empty gaze, like an orphaned child thrown into a cast, desolate desert with no one in sight.
At that very moment, for the first time in his life, Ilay felt a reluctance to part with his own life. Before, he had never looked back, never cared for it before. But if his death were the reason Jeong Taeui wore such an expression, then it was completely unacceptable.
At least not until time gently embraced them and softly led them to the end of their journey.
Everything changes.
He has changed, and so have I.
Over a long period of time, even without my own awareness. I will change with him, transform alongside him to fit together. Just as it is now.
— —
“Taei, do you know your body is gradually changing too?”
“What……..?”
Ilay suddenly whispered while lightly nibbling on Taeui’s cheek, causing him to let out an exhausted sigh as if he were about to collapse. The scent of alcohol on his lips had faded significantly compared to before.
Ilay pressed a kiss against those lips then spoke slowly, “Every day, you become richer. Every time I taste you, your flavour sinks deeper. Look, even now….just staying inside you, you’re still holding onto me, sucking so tightly…..Just like this, I could easily cum.”
“...............Stop talking nonsense and pull out already,” Taeui gritted his teeth and spat out each word.
Ilay only let out a soft laugh and pressed his hips, pushing his cock deeper inside and adjusting his rhythm. The overwhelming pressure immediately forced a faint moan from Taeui, a fragmented sound escaping his throat.
“Ah..—...I’m not joking, starting tomorrow……ha, no more exercising, and no more nutritious food either..”
Ilay gently nibbled on Taeui’s lips, then his cheek, carefully observing Taeui’s face as soft moans escaped him. Despite the complaints, Taeui’s body was still clenching and wrapping tightly around him.
While watching Taeui, Ilay fell into thought for a moment before muttering, “Staying connected like this forever wouldn’t be so bad.”
“What…….?”
“Spending 24 hours of the day merging into one like this could be quite interesting. And then, one day, the world will end,” Ilay’s voice sounded strangely serious.
“Yeah, maybe around 2050 or something…” Taeui’s face darkened slightly as he looked at Ilay, “No, why are you suddenly joking in such a scary way………”
“Now that I say it out loud, I’m really curious. How long can human bodies stay connected like this?” Ilay said, “Of course, there will be times when we’ll have to separate, but if we gradually extend the time bit by bit each day, maybe we could maintain this stare for a significant period in the future?”
“Hmm…probably at least one or two days,” Ilay added, causing Taeui’s expression to become visibly darker. Of course, it was a joke……but there was something about it that gave Taeui a bad feeling, as if part of it might actually be true.
Taeui’s mouth twitched a few times…….and finally, in a voice so soft and low, he raised the white flag in surrender, “I’m sorry…..let’s just say seven times a week…….”
‘Just let me off the hook, you bastard….’ The words echoed extremely low, but Ilay still burst into laughter. At the same time, without hesitation, he captured Taeui’s lips and lifted him upright from the mattress.
Though muttering curses inwardly, Taeui still welcomed the tongue invading his mouth, savouring Ilay’s breath fully as he wrapped his arms around him. Once again, their breaths intertwined, heat flared up and their movements became one.
‘Seven times a week……..but what if today alone already used up all seven times…..?’ Ilay thought to himself as he pushed his lower body, his cock tensed and was unable to calm down for a long time. He searched for Taeui’s tongue.
Well, it’s probably fine, Ilay reassured himself, then readjusted his thoughts.
Because there’s still plenty of time. He would live a fulfilling life in the future, and so would Jeong Taeui.
Perhaps decades later, the world would come to an end, bringing their story to its final chapter, but at least, that day is not today. And until that moment truly arrives, they still have endless time to be together.
~ Fin