Lovers

6

The price for toppling the Jenga tower

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Was I hallucinating due to being too immersed in this situation, or too consumed by fear?

Especially that thing, am I, right now, seeing an illusion?

Riegel noticed my gaze and smirked.

“What? Do you like it?”

Aaaaargh—

I screamed internally and stepped back. Goosebumps spread from my extremities to the core of my body.

Shit, you’re half-erect!

As I turned away in disgust and shouted, “Put some clothes on!”, Riegel hummed and stalled for time. The goosebumps showed no sign of subsiding.

This is sexual harassment! If you brought me here because I’m an agent, this violates the Geneva Convention! You can’t torture prisoners!

—I felt pathetic that I couldn’t shout these things.

“Mr. Riegel!”

Unlike me, who could only shout to hurry him up, he remained relaxed.

“What do you prefer?”

“What are you talking about?!”

Will he put clothes on if I answer?! If so, I should answer right away…!

“Between a waxed dick and a regular dick?”

Why should I like any kind of dick?!

Humans are strange. Even though it’s nonsense, for a moment I found myself seriously considering it.

What’s less shitty? No, ‘shitty’ isn’t a good expression here. What’s less crappy? ‘Crappy’ isn’t good either. What’s less… Oh, fuck!!

“Ah, just whatever…”

They’re all equally terrible.

No, that’s not right. Dogs are lovable. This is really, really… no matter how you put it, it’s just fucked up.

As I frowned, Riegel said, as if he just remembered something.

“But I guess you’d have to suck it, right?”

“You son of a—”

I can’t take this anymore. I’ll write a report. I’ll tell the Section 2 director to eat me alive. I can’t…!

“I meant the clothes.”

…I wish you were dead, Sebastian Riegel.

Seeing my dazed face, Riegel, as if amused or as if to compensate for that amusing time, smiled and pointed to the shower room.

“Use it as you like. I’ll have someone bring you some clothes.”

He must be a sadist…

Of course, I’ve seen sadists before. There’s one among my team members. A guy who gets more excited by hitting women than seeing them naked. Naturally, he’s single. We have a bet on whether he’ll be able to get married by thirty-five, with the pot almost reaching his annual salary. His dream is to get married by thirty-five.

Of course, I bet that he won’t.

No way, impossible.

I glanced at Riegel. I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy. I wasn’t sure if Riegel was older or younger than me, but one thing was certain.

If he’s a sadist, he’s out of luck with marriage too.

Riegel, catching my eye, still half-erect, said,

“The clothes might be a bit small, so I’ll have to ask for some to be brought. Take your time washing up.”

He might not be a sadist, just someone with a bad personality. Either way, I don’t like it. I need to get out of here quickly.

First, I entered the shower room and took off my top in case someone came in. I turned on the tap at the sink to make some noise, squeezed toothpaste onto a toothbrush, and while holding it, I looked around.

Where could the signal jammer be? Are there waterproof versions of those? Assuming it’s not waterproof…

Knock, knock.

I heard a knocking sound from somewhere. It was a very faint sound, as if a ghost was knocking.

What’s that?

I reflexively turned towards the door, but it showed no signs of opening. As I cautiously approached the door, muffling my footsteps…

Knock, knock.

It’s not the door? Then where is it coming from? The wall? The window?

Even knowing it couldn’t be, I found myself looking at the walls and window…

Is that a person dangling outside the window? And the face looks very familiar?

Startled, I ran to the bathtub. I had to get into the tub to get a clear view of the face of the person dangling outside the window next to it.

“Hey, why are you here…”

As I was asking, Lee, suspended on a rope used for cleaning high-rise windows, started typing something on his phone. His face, illuminated by the phone’s light, was pale.

It couldn’t be helped. Why would a guy who only does desk work be hanging from something like that? No, wait, why are you in such a dangerous place?

He typed a message and held the unsent screen close to the window.

Can’t hear you.

I took out my phone too, typed in front of our message thread, and without sending it, pressed the send button and held it up to the window.

     Why are you there?

Volker ordered me to.

Nina Volker.

That’s the name of the Section 2 director. Lee wouldn’t have gotten on that rope unless it was absolutely necessary, so Volker must have really pulled a gun on him.

In the Security Bureau, there’s a saying that from the director level up, it’s the Realm of Yama. It means it’s a place where no one human can go. These are people who can bend guys like Lee to their will. You can’t become a director while maintaining your humanity.

Just as I was starting to feel a bit sorry for Lee, he stared at my bare upper body, made a circle with his left thumb and index finger, and mimed a piston motion with his right index finger through that circle. Then he pointed towards the bathroom door. In short, he was asking if I had undressed to have sex with Riegel.

Just as he had asked with pantomime instead of words, I answered with pantomime too. I showed him my middle finger, then pointed at him with my index finger and drew my thumb across my throat. Lee giggled at that. Despite laughing, his face was still pale.

Feeling both annoyed and sympathetic, I typed a message.

     Why didn’t you send someone from Section 2 instead of coming yourself? They’d be more skilled at this kind of thing.

The guys in Section 2 are mostly on the operations team, so they have some physical prowess. They’re quite different from Lee, who’s only ever developed his “brain-sical” skills. The fact that they sent Lee down instead of those guys shows the malice of the Section 2 director. Whether that person is a devil director or whatever, it’s all fine, but Lee Martin is not suitable for this kind of work. They made him do something dangerous.

How could they do this to you after sending you here.

Is he saying he volunteered? …This bastard still has some loyalty. I guess that’s why we keep maintaining this relationship.

But the director said to build some rapport.

I don’t know what kind of operation this is, but given that they got cooperation from the hotel club for the operation and the director participated directly, it must be quite a big operation. It’s natural that they’d want to build rapport with a key person who showed up there.

And since I drank the alcohol bought with operation funds, it’s a bit awkward for me to act like I don’t know anything. So it’s right that I cooperate to some extent.

‘Build some rapport’?

The nuance sounds really ominous and shitty.

     What kind of rapport?

You’ll have to decide how.

Lee’s eyes scanned my bare upper body once. Sometimes, a single glance can speak a thousand words.

No way, this bastard? He didn’t come here out of concern for me, but to sell me out?

When my eyes stared directly at him, he quietly averted his gaze. It became clear. He must have been cursed out by the Section 2 director and came to persuade me to be his shield instead.

As I was about to type some curses in the message, I heard a knock, knock sound. This time it was definitely a knock on the door. I turned my head and then checked outside the window again to see Lee’s face had turned blue. He seemed scared. I quickly pulled the shower curtain and answered.

“Yes?”

Riegel’s voice came through.

“I’m getting impatient. How clean are you trying to get?”

This was my first time seeing Riegel today, but one thing was certain. That bastard’s mouth was cursed. And humans can’t win against a cursed mouth. I’m just a human nobody, how could I beat him? Especially not with words.

Suddenly, I missed my father. My father, Father Schnieke, perhaps because he’s been giving sermons for so long, is so devout that God could reach out His hand right now, but he’s also sharp-tongued enough that the devil would try to scout him. But why didn’t I inherit my father’s ability? Because I’m not his biological child?

Anyway, I can’t win with words against either that long-haired guy with the cursed mouth outside the door or the traitor outside the window.

Ah, forget about the Section 2 director and the operation, I need to get out of here first. If I hang onto that traitor’s rope, surely he wouldn’t drop me? He’d pull me up, right?

As I pulled back the shower curtain with a swish and looked at Lee, he went “Ha, ha” and laughed. He shook his head. His face said not to even think about it, though he didn’t know what I was thinking.

Hmph, you didn’t think at all when you were selling me out!

I could vividly imagine how Lee might have placated the furious Section 2 director. I’ve seen him appease our director a couple of times before. With his devilish tongue, he would have spewed whatever came to mind. Underlying that would have been the thought that as long as he survived, it didn’t matter, and he wouldn’t have cared about my human rights at all.

That bastard would tell me to offer my body to that crazy long-haired sadist if it meant the operation would succeed.

Who does he think he is! To me, who hasn’t even had my first kiss, how dare he!

Of course, it’s not that I’ve been saving my first kiss. I just never had anyone to kiss. I’ve never liked any girl. When I say this, 100% of the time the question that comes back is, “Do you like men then?” No, I’ve never liked men either. I like my orphanage brothers and I like our father, but I’ve never thought about wanting to have sex with anyone in this world. If I had to say, maybe my right hand? Why? Why do I need any experience beyond masturbation? I’m not sure if it’s worth it. It might be for others, but not for me.

So sex might not actually be a big deal. But that doesn’t mean I have to offer my body for someone else’s operation.

I reached the toilet and lifted the tank lid. It’s suitably heavy.

Hmph.

As I smiled and looked out the window, Lee’s eyes widened.

And you know what, you fucking bastard? You’re a participant in this operation, and I’m the stupid victim you dragged in, but you can’t even say sorry to me? What? Build rapport? With the nuance that I should have sex if necessary?

Do I look like a pushover to you?

Of course, I don’t intend to kill Lee. I don’t even intend to hurt him. What if I ruin this operation and the Section 2 director beats Lee to death? That’s not my problem.

You should have thought about the consequences when you sold someone out!

As I approached the window holding the toilet lid, my eyes bulging, Lee went “Aaaaargh” and started typing something in the message box.

It’s too late to beg.

I’ve been patient for a long time. I’ve been patient ever since I came from Maderke until now! Of course, I haven’t just been patient with Lee, but Lee was the last drop that made the cup overflow. Lee was the one who toppled the Jenga tower!

You’re, dead, you fucking bastard.

I glared at the shower room next to the bathtub. The shower room window is connected to the bathtub window. I was planning to break that window and escape through there to hang onto Lee.

Just as I entered the shower room and was about to break the window with the toilet lid.

Riiiiiing—

The magic bell that stops everyone rang.

It was the fire alarm.