The doors opened. Unlike Taekjoo, who looked pissed, Zhenya looked like he was having the time of his life. The way Zhenya was walking right behind him on their way to the car bothered Taekjoo.
“Were you actually going to scalp him?” asked Zhenya.
“Goddammit, I can’t shake this off.”
Taekjoo ignored Zhenya and kept wiping his right hand on his pants. The blood had long been wiped away, yet he kept rubbing his hand as if it were still there. Zhenya kept babbling cheerfully, oblivious to the storm inside Taekjoo.
“That was hot. And it was also dangerous—you almost gave me a boner.”
“If it happens again, let me know right away. I’ll gladly scalp you whenever I have the chance.”
Taekjoo growled, his jaw clenched tight. He was so annoyed he grabbed Zhenya by the collar and pulled him close. The angelic face was right before Taekjoo’s eyes. The jade-colored orbs flickered over Taekjoo’s face, then down to his hands. There was something unsettling in how his eyes moved—cold, deliberate, almost reptilian.
Zhenya peeled Taekjoo’s hand off his collar, and Taekjoo glared in response. The touch lasted briefly, but it was enough for Taekjoo to tell that Zhenya’s hand was as cold as ice. Taekjoo flinched before he could stop himself. He slapped Zhenya’s hand away. Zhenya could’ve felt embarrassed at the open hostility, but he simply chuckled like nothing had happened.
“So, we’re gonna do it next, then?”
Taekjoo nodded instead of answering back. Shall we?—Zhenya asked as he walked ahead. His back looked cheerful as if he was humming and swaying. Taekjoo had to stop moving and stare at the man.
He would go stone-cold serious, then laugh it off the moment Taekjoo caught on. He presented himself as this simple, easygoing man, but he wasn’t afraid to show his true self every now and then. He was a man of destruction, a dangerous monster with the most bizarre sense of humor.
A thin line. There was a thin line between what was normal and abnormal in Zhenya’s world. Taekjoo told himself that it must be why his guard wavered when he was with Zhenya—up, down, then back again in an instant.
Taekjoo’s survival instinct—smarter than his logic—shook its head in quiet warning.