Chapter 15: The Pawn’s Awakening

Yet In-tae found himself unable to focus on anything. His neck felt as though it were burning hot.

It was as if eyes were fixed on the back of his head, observing every angle of where Jung Ban-ri touched him. The hard sensation must have been the whip; the soft touch, Ban-ri’s hand.

A fierce, itching desire surged within him once more. Never in his life had he experienced such an intense craving.

In-tae tensed his entire body, digging his toes into the floor, determined to resist.

‘No, this can’t happen. Not with Jung Ban-ri. He’s a man, like me. He’s the son of the person who saved my mother and me. And above all… he’s a monster.’

‘Really? When he’s so kind?’

“Shhh, focus.”

Jung Ban-ri whispered, his thumb idly tracing circles near In-tae’s neck, almost as if massaging him. Occasionally, a hard fingernail brushed against his skin.

With each subtle movement, the long whip draped across his back swayed. The moment it grazed his spine, In-tae shot upright.

‘B-Ban-ri.’

He stammered, his gaze instinctively darting to the chess piece on the desk. It was the proof the butler had given him, the evidence that Jung Ban-ri was a monster.

A stark warning that such feelings were utterly forbidden.

“Hey, would you mind trying to hold this for a moment?”

Mindlessly, In-tae picked up the piece and placed it before Jung Ban-ri. He had expected Jung Ban-ri to remove his hand from In-tae to pick it up, but that was a miscalculation.

Displaying a strong resolve to keep In-tae focused on studying, Jung Ban-ri left his hand on In-tae’s neck and reached for the piece with his other, free hand. With the elegance of a chess player, he lifted it using his thumb and forefinger.

“Not like that. Hold it in your palm and clench your fist around it.”

Jung Ban-ri complied with In-tae’s request.

“Does it… hurt you, perhaps?”

“Not really.”

“Try to clench it tightly.”

To indicate he should clench harder, In-tae pressed down on Jung Ban-ri’s fingernails, which were loosely gripping the piece.

“…And now?”

“Am I supposed to be in pain?”

“No! No, it’s not like that. I was just wondering if… it hurt you. It’s quite sharp, you see. And your skin is much, much softer than mine…”

‘…Just like the hand currently resting on my neck. If that hand were to touch me elsewhere, how incredibly soft would it feel?’

In-tae instinctively brushed away Ban-ri’s hand. It was simply too much, an overwhelming stimulus.

Even after removing it, he still felt its phantom touch, causing him to scratch furiously at his skin.

“No, it’s nothing. If it doesn’t hurt, that’s all that matters.”

“Were you unable to focus because you were thinking about this?”

“…Just various things. I tend to have a lot of distracting thoughts when I study. I’ll really focus now.”

‘No more distractions, I truly mean it now.’ In-tae firmly resolved, fixing his wide, determined eyes on the textbook. Just then, a grating metallic sound scraped against his ears.

It was a dangerous sound. Some sounds were inherently sharp.

In-tae looked back at Jung Ban-ri. Having set aside the whip, Jung Ban-ri now held the chess piece in one hand and a cutter in the other.

It was an old, worn knife that had been in In-tae’s pencil case for ages, as he didn’t own a pencil sharpener.

“Oh? Be careful.”

Before In-tae could stop him, the cutter moved. With a harsh, tearing *shhhk*, a piece of wood fell away.

The queen piece, symbolizing royalty, had a pointed crown, and one of its protrusions had been sliced off. Jung Ban-ri then began to mercilessly carve away at the remaining parts.

“…Ban-ri?”

The sight of him, engrossed in something without answering, was unsettling. In-tae had never seen him like this, not even when he was studying.

While working with a knife certainly required intense focus due to the danger, this was entirely too unfamiliar.

“Jung Ban-ri.”

When In-tae called out again, Jung Ban-ri’s eyes flashed up. In that fleeting moment, Jung Ban-ri’s face appeared as if sculpted from clay: beautiful, pale, and utterly devoid of emotion.

“It’s done.”

Yet, a bright, innocent smile soon bloomed upon it. It was a smile that captivated In-tae’s entire chest, powerful enough to erase all his previous impressions.

“Here.”

Ban-ri’s fist abruptly appeared before In-tae’s chest. The moment Jung Ban-ri began to unfurl his long fingers one by one, In-tae instinctively cupped his palm beneath to catch whatever would fall.

It was the chess piece, its edges all meticulously cut away, leaving it blunt. Even its paint had been completely stripped, making it look, at first glance, like nothing more than a small piece of wood.

“Now it should be fine.”

Jung Ban-ri’s hand closed over In-tae’s loosely clenched fist.

“No matter how tightly you clench it…”

Jung Ban-ri’s grip tightened. In-tae’s hand, too, clenched until his fist was as small as it could possibly get.

Yet, for Jung Ban-ri, that was apparently not enough. His long fingers intertwined over In-tae’s fist, digging between the bones of his knuckles.

It was damp and hot. His hand, and then his entire body, felt the heat.

“Uh, uh… I suppose so.”

In-tae mumbled a vague reply, attempting to pull his captured hand away. But Jung Ban-ri’s hand smoothly crawled up his knuckles, seizing his wrist.

“But In-tae.”

“Huh?”

“Why did you lie to me?”

Though his grip wasn’t forceful, Jung Ban-ri’s encircling fingers were firm. It felt less like a squeeze and more like steel handcuffs, impossible to escape.

“…What? What did I… Ugh!”

A faint sensation settled in his groin, causing his body to spring upward. Had Jung Ban-ri not braced the back of his chair, In-tae would have toppled over.

In a daze, he looked down between his legs. While they had been discussing clenching the chess piece, their hands had descended to his lower abdomen.

Jung Ban-ri had extended a long index finger, pointing at the bulge in In-tae’s crotch. The tip of his neat fingernail barely touched the front of In-tae’s clothes.

The thin summer fabric offered no resistance to even that slight stimulation.

“It wasn’t because of the chess piece… you couldn’t focus because of *this*, could you?”

If it had been a teasing tone, In-tae might have brushed it off as a joke. But Jung Ban-ri’s soft, calm voice made it difficult to find a retort.

It felt as though he already knew all the answers.

“Uh, well, this is… I’ve been feeling quite healthy and energetic lately, so, uh…”

“……”

“…I’m sorry.”

Cutting straight to the chase, In-tae offered a timid apology. Jung Ban-ri would likely interpret it as an apology for wasting tutoring time, but In-tae, in his heart, included his continuous use of Jung Ban-ri as a sexual fantasy.

“It’s alright.”

Jung Ban-ri lowered his voice as well.

“We can just take care of it now.”

In-tae’s crotch swelled further, yet the finger did not withdraw even slightly. The stimulation intensified, sending a tingling, electric current through his fingertips and toes.

The chess piece dropped, rolling across the floor.

***

‘Remember this. How you appear in the eyes of a monster. Only then will you avoid being exploited.’

The butler’s words echoed, and the mutilated chess piece shimmered before In-tae’s eyes like a phantom. After it fell to the floor, where had it gone?

A cleaning assistant or someone else must have found and discarded it. He hadn’t thought of it then, nor had he recalled it until this very moment.

To Jung Ban-ri, people were merely such chess pieces. Not only did they hold no inherent meaning for him, but they were tools he could effortlessly manipulate for his own ends if needed.

Even if they were to disappear afterward, he wouldn’t feel the slightest regret.

To Jung Ban-ri, In-tae himself—and his emotions—were just like that.

It felt as though he had been struck in the head. His chest seethed with betrayal.

It wasn’t that In-tae hadn’t known how Jung Ban-ri viewed humans when he stayed by his side. Despite that, he had yearned for Jung Ban-ri’s touch.

Since Jung Ban-ri was devoid of emotion anyway, In-tae had wanted to get closer to him, even if it meant engaging in emotionless s*x.

Moreover, Jung Ban-ri had always allowed In-tae to remain by his side. Even if it was a rational decision rather than affectionate sentiment, he had always told In-tae to stay close.

Perhaps that’s why In-tae had been mistaken, believing he was the most comfortable presence for Jung Ban-ri.

He thought that even though Jung Ban-ri disliked physical contact, his willingness to be intimate with In-tae might stem from In-tae being the least ‘unpleasant,’ or perhaps even the ‘best’ option for him.

Just like the chess piece Jung Ban-ri had carved to fit In-tae’s grip.

In reality, In-tae had merely been a pawn, placed by chance through a childhood encounter, lucky enough to be closest to Jung Ban-ri’s hand, the one most frequently used.

“…In-tae, what are you thinking about?”

A low voice drew near. While In-tae was lost in the lingering afterimage of the wooden piece on his retina, his shirt collar was tugged.

“That I might be fooled again.”

Startled from his reverie, In-tae instinctively swung his arm. *Thwack*, a considerably loud sound echoed as their firm arms collided.

“…Ouch.”

Jung Ban-ri, having been struck defenselessly, clutched the injured spot and let out a small whimper of pain.

“Hey, student! I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t just, uh, resort to violence like that, can you?”

The astonished taxi driver interjected. In-tae was surprised himself, as he hadn’t intended to hit him so hard.

He knew he should explain or apologize for that part. However, words wouldn’t come. His mind was muddled, and his emotions were a mess.

“Just apologize quickly, and, uh, talk it out. With words.”

It was a calm, composed voice that quelled the taxi driver’s exasperation.

“It’s fine. It’s nothing.”

‘It’s nothing.’ Those were ordinary, trivial words. Yet, In-tae’s mood sank into even greater despair. No matter what he did, even striking Jung Ban-ri like this, it was ‘nothing’ to him.

After finishing his conversation with the driver, Jung Ban-ri faced In-tae. An emotionally flushed face met an impassive one in a silent stare.

After a brief pause, it was Jung Ban-ri who spoke first.

“That you might be fooled again, you say… By me?”

The rephrased question wasn’t accusatory. It was likely a genuine inquiry about words that had come out of nowhere.

Yet, in that moment, it felt as though Jung Ban-ri was feigning ignorance, causing In-tae’s words to lash out.

“You used me.”

Jung Ban-ri tilted his head ever so slightly.

“Impossible.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t.”

In-tae retorted once more. Jung Ban-ri replied in a calm tone, yet each word was enunciated with clear emphasis.

“In-tae, what on earth would I use you for—”

“……”

“Where would I use you?”

*Pfft*, the taxi driver, who had been eavesdropping, let out a short burst of laughter. In-tae’s face instantly flushed crimson.

‘This bastard.’

“Did you think I wouldn’t know you acted like that towards me just to get out of the MT?”

As Jung Ban-ri hesitated, In-tae pressed him even more fiercely.