PASSION Chapter 2 Part 10

Chapter 2 Part 10

"Hands? Who was it?"

Tae-ui raised his eyebrows slightly in mild surprise. He thought his uncle would understand with just that much. Was he the only one who thought those white and delicate hands were beautiful?

"He said he found Laurent Gastier's Mythology. The 1925 edition. Said it was 3500 dollars."

"What? Laurent Gastier's Mythology?"

Color immediately came to his uncle's face. With wide eyes and a broad smile he approached Tae-ui again. Even his movements of adjusting his robe collar seemed joyful.

"Uncle..... These books, did you collect them paying such huge sums? You'd cry tears of blood if there was a fire."

"What are you saying, that price for the 1925 edition Mythology is a bargain, a bargain. Right, who was that blessed broker? I should call back and thank them."

"Ilay."

When Tae-ui said the hand owner's name, his uncle paused. Then looked at Tae-ui with a very strange expression. For the first few seconds his face seemed unfamiliar with the name as if not knowing it, but then he seemed to remember. Ah, he nodded. But the next moment he stared at Tae-ui with an even stranger face.

"....Who did you say?"

"Said his name was Ilay. Didn't hear his full name. Seemed to know you well. When I said I was your nephew he immediately knew I was the second one."

"Ilay..... He said that? That guy?"

"That's what I heard... But you're making me less confident now. Maybe I heard wrong since it was mechanical sound. Don't you have any idea who it might be?"

Then we can call back using the caller ID so don't worry about the book, Tae-ui added, but his uncle shook his head.

"No, I know who it is. Just haven't heard that name for a long time, had forgotten it."

"Does he have multiple names?"

That's a sign of a con man, Tae-ui smirked while muttering. However, that low cool voice's calm tone and elegant beautiful hands just wouldn't connect with the word con man. But it wasn't easy to say it perfectly matched the image of a rare book broker either, so you can't judge someone just by voice and hands.

"His hands were really pretty though."

When Tae-ui muttered this, his uncle who was taking wine from the cellar looked at Tae-ui with a complicated expression.

"Hands..... Right, though I never particularly noticed, thinking about it his hands were beautiful."

"Maybe it was just me thinking that. He said it was his first time hearing his hands were pretty too."

"That would be right."

He said it so matter-of-factly that Tae-ui briefly doubted his own aesthetic sense.

His uncle returned to his usual composed face and smiled calmly while spinning the corkscrew with his fingertips. As he easily inserted it into the wine cork and pulled it out, he muttered to himself:

"When would that guy have ever heard his hands called pretty rather than frightening."

"? Well, his nails were neatly arranged like glass pieces too.... His hands were beautiful to a frightening degree."

His uncle just laughed without answering Tae-ui's words.

"So, did Tou show you here? Being right by the elevator it shouldn't have been hard to find."

His uncle changed the subject. Tae-ui who had been briefly recalling those white hands just then remembered his minor grudge against his uncle. Even while getting lost, he had only cursed his innocent uncle about what kind of building structure this was. Then what came back to mind was the cotton candy-like young man he had met in the shared bathroom.

His face reddened again.

His uncle who had been taking out two glasses was watching Tae-ui with interested curious eyes. He seemed amused seeing the face change from flustered to blank then red.

"Why. Did something happen? ....Did our team guys play some mean prank? They're like that. They're not bad guys but when new people come they get excited about having new colleagues and tend to play rough pranks. Think of it like kids playing pranks on someone they like."

Whatever situation his uncle had imagined, he comforted Tae-ui saying 'don't worry too much about it, it's just guys,' and Tae-ui shook his head while suspecting his uncle's imagined situation might be even more troublesome between men.

"Whatever you're thinking, there was no problem with the team members. Though I got hit a bit, that was partly my fault too."

"Really? Then what's the problem? Since Tou took you, you must have mixed with those guys right away. So did the problem happen after parting from them?"

Sweet fragrance wafted from the golden liquid his uncle handed him. While smelling that sweet fragrance, Tae-ui clicked his tongue bitterly.

"Uncle. You said instructors live on this floor right?"

"That's right. Other members including officers are on basement level 6. Why, want to move up? Then get promoted."

His uncle joked with a grin. That gaze held a light trying to grasp why Tae-ui suddenly brought this up.

"....While wandering lost after taking the wrong elevator I met someone..."

Tae-ui brought it up trying to sound casual. However, when that person came to mind again he became needlessly anxious. His uncle watched Tae-ui's changing expressions with amusement and prompted "And?"

"He seemed about to enter the bathroom, but he gave me directions to find this place..."

"....Aha..... Right, who was it? Didn't you ask his name?"

His uncle asked after slightly curling his lips as if understanding something. Tae-ui shook his head.

"No, I just asked directions. He looked quite young, depending how you look at it he might not even be an adult yet. A fluffy feeling... Though he looked somewhat Western, he seemed Chinese..."

"Aha, looks young? Tsk tsk, your taste never changes. And here I thought surely not."

His uncle shook his head as if having figured something out. Tae-ui glared at his uncle, bristling.

"So are there actually minors here?"

"No. ...And what if there were? Just wait patiently for a while and collect them after they're fully grown. Kids grow up in the blink of an eye."

"Uncle, that's not the issue... So who is he? That person."

Grumbling that his uncle must already know who it is anyway, he asked sulkily.

His uncle quietly watched his nephew whose face was bright red even while turning his head away stubbornly, then smirked with his head tilted.

"...Innocent kid. From what I heard from Jae-ui your love life was quite complicated, but how can you still have such fresh reactions. I hear there was even a knife fight between two men over you."

"Brother told you about that too?"

Tae-ui frowned and clicked his tongue.

That had happened. It was a young man he had just slept with a few times thinking he was cute, but he had an extremely picky and fierce personality.

However, they weren't dating. The young man himself had said so too. Said they were just occasional bedmates when they felt like it.

So Tae-ui had believed that without doubt, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Though Tae-ui himself couldn't understand why, he was quite popular in that type of club. So after a while another person approached him. And--trouble broke out.

This person also had quite a personality, and a truly bloody commotion erupted.

Thanks to that, even Tae-ui was called to the police station as a witness for questioning, and during that process rumors somehow spread quietly even to his school where he was a military cadet at the time. It was a series of ordeals after that.

"So, who is he?"

When Tae-ui muttered more gruffly, his uncle grinned for a while at whatever he was thinking then shrugged and opened his mouth.

"You'll probably meet him again soon. Since he's the Support Staff in charge of member welfare and internal life."

"--You mean Shin Lu, that...? Do Support Staff live on this floor too?"

"Mm. Everyone except members stays on this floor. Even outside guests stay on this floor. Though when people from other branches come for joint training they stay on your floor."

"Ah..."

Tae-ui muttered as if dazed.

I see. Didn't think of Support Staff. Right, come to think of it, he didn't have much muscle and no scars or marks could be seen. With that body he couldn't be a member, and couldn't be an instructor who had gone through harsh times either. Then naturally Support Staff was all that was left, why didn't I think of it.

While scratching his nape and thinking, Tae-ui suddenly recalled that smooth soft skin without blemishes and blushed again. His uncle's gaze watching him felt prickly so he quickly shook his head trying to clear his mind but it was no use.

"To think I'd see even this side of you after living so long. Indeed you live and learn."

His uncle spoke in a tone of wonder - though clearly tinged with amusement - while shaking his head.

Tae-ui looked at his uncle with displeasure then suddenly remembered why he had come here.

"But really, isn't this too much, Uncle? I was just planning to carefully preserve my life and return after half a year, but hearing about it, this is completely a survival game."

"Hm?"

"I hear people die in droves during joint training. Countless people get injured too. No matter what, dragging your nephew into certain death is too much."

Though he hadn't heard it quite that severely, when he grumbled somewhat exaggerating, his uncle gave comfort that sounded like just proper excuses.

"Though there might be cases of minor injuries or at worst going to the hospital, deaths are quite rare. Don't worry."

"Yes.... But you know too, Uncle. That I can't handle serious injuries."

"Ah yes, I know. If you get seriously injured I'll personally take you straight to a hospital with the best facilities, so don't be so angry. I didn't bring you here to kill you."

His uncle still spoke with a light tone while smiling. Tae-ui could only sigh.

As he said, he would pull strings everywhere if Tae-ui got hurt. That was closer to a sense of duty about what must be done rather than affection for a nephew, but he had never once dealt carelessly with such matters.

So Tae-ui didn't worry about such things either. He just wanted to complain a bit seeing signs of difficult times ahead everywhere.

And Tae-ui really would be in trouble if he got injured beyond a certain degree.

Though of course anyone would be troubled by serious injuries, Tae-ui's constitution made surgery difficult. Regardless of his own will, his body was quite fussy, with rejection reactions to foreign substances much higher than average. Previously when he was badly injured while clearing landmines and immediately taken to the hospital, they had to do major surgery again after severe rejection reactions to the metal pins inserted to connect broken and shattered bones.

"Well then, I should go before it gets later. You must be tired too Uncle, get some rest."

"This book, didn't you take it out to read? I'll lend it so take it and read it."

When Tae-ui stood up, his uncle picked up the book he had taken out and put on the desk and held it out.

Tae-ui stared at that book blankly for a moment. Though well preserved, the passage of time couldn't be stopped and it had yellowed. When the number 3500 dollars floated through his mind, he was afraid to even touch it.

"No... I'll come here to read it instead. It's too precious a book for me to borrow."

"Really? I don't mind either way but if that's more comfortable for you that's fine too. When you get your room key from Shin Lu, ask for a spare key to my room too. I'll let him know. So you're going to get your keys and rules right now?"

At his uncle's words, Tae-ui paused.

Certainly after leaving this room he had planned to go to the office for keys and such. And planned to catch whoever was on duty and ask them to call the Support Staff in charge.

But now, that Support Staff in charge would be in the bathroom. Even if called, who knows if the message would get through properly, and even if it did, it would end up troubling that person.

What to do, seeing Tae-ui looking somewhat troubled with a red face, his uncle opened his mouth as if understanding what he was thinking:

"Shin Lu would have already finished bathing and be doing overtime work in his room. His blood pressure is low so he doesn't soak in the bath long, plus he's a bit of a workaholic. Since he'll be working anyway, you calling won't be a bother."

When his eyes met his uncle's watching him with a subtle smile, Tae-ui bristled for no reason and glared at his uncle sulkily, but could only sigh at his uncle's composure acting as if nothing had happened.

Right, he was strongly drawn to that Support Staff. Though without recognizing it as liking him yet, he wanted to see him again and know more about him. So what.

Tae-ui's face became a bit shameless. Being attracted to someone wasn't something to hide.

His uncle seemed to notice this change in Tae-ui's manner and made a slightly regretful face but seemed to change his mind and smiled calmly.

"Coming to like someone is a wonderful thing. To love and be loved. That is the foundation of the world."

".... Uncle, you really do sometimes say things that make the listener embarrassed."

Tae-ui muttered while looking at his uncle with a face that wasn't displeased but wasn't particularly pleased either. And with his uncle's laughter behind him, he left that room.