Chapter 4 Part 36

Should I follow that man? But the distance was ambiguous for that. If I rashly chased him, I’d easily be discovered, and if I waited too long to follow, I’d probably lose sight of him. On the other hand, Jeong Tae-ui’s sense of justice and curiosity weren’t great enough to brave the risk of following someone without knowing their business, simply because they looked suspicious. He had suffered setbacks more than once by meddling in unnecessary affairs.

“But he still seems suspicious…,” he thought, and while he was contemplating, there was no longer a need to hesitate. Or rather, the room for hesitation vanished. The man had disappeared from Jeong Tae-ui’s sight, entering behind the bushes.

Jeong Tae-ui hesitated a moment longer but soon gave up and shrugged his shoulders. That man wasn’t trying to harm him, nor did he seem likely to do anything to his colleagues—for starters, the direction he was headed was the opposite way. In that case, it was best not to be curious about pointless matters.

Jeong Tae-ui cleared his mind again and continued walking in his original direction. And as he expected the sound of water to draw nearer, before long, his view opened up, revealing the sea.

The night sea was pitch black. The sea, utterly black without a single trace of light, was simply a gaping maw of dark, inky blackness, so deep that if no sound were heard, one couldn’t even guess if it was the sea or something else.

Darkness. The sound of waves. The smell of the sea. Damp wind. All of it enveloped his eyes, ears, nose, and skin. That’s why Jeong Tae-ui had always loved the night sea.

Hoo, he let out a long sigh. His breath mingled with the sound of the waves. Suddenly feeling good, a clear smile appeared on his lips.

Next time, should I bring Shinru? Although the forest is dangerous at night with many snakes, after seeing it today, it seems there’s not much to worry about if one prepares properly. In this vast darkness, how wonderful would it be if he could hold someone else’s warmth in his hand? …Actually, anyone, not just Shinru.

The ground beneath his feet was unstable. The beach, stacked with large boulders instead of sand, was difficult to walk on comfortably as if strolling. There were large holes and gaps between the rocks everywhere, making it perilous. But Jeong Tae-ui tapped the rocks lightly with his heel, smiling. As a child, his parents were often busy, so he was frequently left at his maternal grandparents’ house, which was by the sea. So, every day, he would run and play on the rocks by the sea. Thinking about it, his brother already seemed to be talking about the corrosion process of rocks due to high-salinity seawater back then—.

Walking on the rocks as if on flat ground, Jeong Tae-ui hummed softly. The pitch-black darkness, the cold, damp wind—everything felt good. Perhaps because childhood memories came to mind, he suddenly missed his brother. It would be nice if his brother were walking beside him now. He would surely have been happy too.

Jeong Tae-ui smiled wistfully and stopped walking. A lighthouse stood in the distance. A couple of streetlights near the lighthouse were lit. Their light didn’t reach here brightly, but it dimly illuminated the vicinity.

Should I turn back now? This is far enough. One more step, and this pleasant darkness would end, and the dim light would approach. Ending his night walk here and slowly returning to his colleagues, he figured he would roughly make it back for his guard duty.

Jeong Tae-ui gazed at the sea for a moment longer, then turned around. He looked back at the way he came and assessed a shortcut. Going diagonally to the right would be faster.

Confident in his sense of direction, he veered slightly to the right from the path he had taken and began traversing the rocks. One, two, there were quite large rocks, so he adjusted his direction little by little as he made his way back.

But then, at one moment. At a certain moment, a small sound that could have been easily missed, mixed with the wind.

Jeong Tae-ui’s steps slowed. He cocked his head slightly, gradually slowing his pace, until he finally stopped altogether. It was because he hadn’t misheard the sound that was coming in faint bursts.

The sound was coming from beneath the rock. It was a massive rock blocking Jeong Tae-ui’s path—truly the size of a house. Deep within that rock, which was hollowed out inward, seemingly forming a shallow cave with an open ceiling, a small sound was continuously emanating.

It was the presence of people. Someone was inside. Jeong Tae-ui realized that if he took a few more steps, he would come face to face with the person inside.

Perhaps it was someone who, drunk with sleep, had come out to the beach in the middle of the night and was relieving themselves in a secluded spot. However, he knew well that such a possibility was rare. Because it was quite a distance from the forest where they were camping out.

Or perhaps it was the person he had briefly seen in the forest earlier. Recalling that person whose movements had been suspicious, Jeong Tae-ui inwardly clicked his tongue. He didn’t know what it was, but he wanted to avoid getting involved in bothersome affairs. Would it be better to just secretly turn back now?

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been contemplating for a moment while listening intently to the presence, soon realized that there was more than one person inside. No voices were heard. But the short, intermittent exclamations and movements indicated more than one person. Probably two.

Mixed with the sound of the waves, a gurgling sound was heard. Jeong Tae-ui initially thought it was the sound of water. But he soon felt a sense of incongruity. Although it was a type of water sound, it was different from the sound of the sea or a puddle in a cave. The sound was stickier and squelchier.

“…—.”

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been tilting his head in puzzlement and rubbing his chin, suddenly covered his mouth without realizing it. A look of embarrassment appeared on his face. That sound was one Jeong Tae-ui was familiar with.

It was a wet, damp sound. To be precise, it was the sound of licking and sucking on wet skin. And interspersed with those sounds were gasping, choked breaths and low, guttural breathing. Occasionally, short, dying moans of pleasure could also be heard.