[Gilmaved] Act3: Hav'ilah's Daughter

chapter three
(Hav'ilah's Daughter)

The clear flowing river and it's taste so sweet; the heat of the sun making the parched land and her tongue thirst. It was a vision of joy in the drought she had always known. She looked into the crystal waters and saw her reflection; green eyes, dark hair, tanned skin; a goddess of the oasis she was bathing on. She was naked and her skin glimmered like gold under the sun. The light was blinding her. She looked away and from afar she saw the silhouette of a man.

The man was walking towards her direction. A flush of fever washed her face red as she fumbled to find her robe on the small patch of grass. But the man was already by the river side. He was also naked and he was not ashamed. He smiled at her before he took a drink from the river.

She stopped fumbling and stared. He smiled and asked her: What is this place called?

Havi'lah. The word fell from her lips. He then asked for her name. She thought long and hard. Her name. Her name.

Her name was Galia.


Howon slowly opened his eyes to a dimly lit room and reality crept in. It was the green-eyed beauty again that haunted his dreamscape. He saw through her eyes and spoke through her lips. In his dreams, he was not himself. He wondered if he hated his life that much to create an alternate reality in his dreams where he was this young woman instead of the trash that he was today.

Where am I? A usual question that was often given a usual answer that he was in a patron's bed after the usual romp. But tonight he was not. The last thing he remembered was taking a blank cheque and stepping out of Mistress Hwang's condominium. He also remembered being hit by a bat. After that was a black out.

Loan sharks, he thought. He had a lot of debts and they were not getting paid on time. Cocaine prices were getting higher and as an addict, he had no choice but to multiply the people he owes money to. He could have paid them with the blank cheque but without checking his pocket, he knew that it was no longer there. This wasn’t the first time this happened to him.

At least he was still alive. He consoled himself. It was not like he didn’t have more patrons to milk out from. He didn’t really like laying himself out to these cougars and gay men unless they were really asking for it, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. He made a mental list of all the possible lays that would give the highest pay-out.

The door creaked open and light from outside blinded his eyes. As soon as he readjusted his sight, he saw a figure come through the door. It was a man and he knew him.

“Dongwoo,” he muttered before wincing in pain upon the realization that his face and whole body was still bruised and swollen from what the loan shark goons did to him. He couldn’t lift a finger without sending waves of pain coursing through his arm.

Dongwoo sat on a chair beside him and wiped his face with a wet towel. He glanced to his side and saw his clothes neatly folded and that the carpet was stained with his blood. This wasn’t the first time that Dongwoo was going to sponge bath him.

“How long have I been here?” he asked as Dongwoo gently slid the towel on his arm.

“Four nights, five days. I found you bleeding on the side walk. I couldn’t just leave you for dead. Turn to your side, I need to clean the other arm,” he whispered as he helped Howon turn to his side and sponge him down with the wet towel.

“Shit. InGuk would be looking for me,” Howon exhaled loudly and threw his head back on the pillow. It hurt.

“No. I told him you’re safe. You’re fired from the club though. That girl… the girl from last week. She called the cops on the club, saying that they were doing illegal things." Dongwoo put down the towel.

"Mistress Hwang...Fuck."

"I'm sorry."

"No. I mean, it's not your fault. You… you saved my life. I guess I have to thank you for that." Howon dragged his aching body up, eyes glued at his personal savior. He knew the drill. There was no such thing as free lunch. His body was already begging to be buried in a cemetery as is, a little gratitude wouldn’t damage him any more. He laid his palm on Dongwoo's thigh. For a moment, he stayed just like that and Dongwoo sat there still, staring at the bruises on his face.

Howon inched forward as his hand crept up Dongwoo's thigh. This was his idea of gratitude.

He was a businessman; a businessman who sells happiness by the hour, by the minute, by the second. He sells the imitation of love.

He leans in for a kiss.

"No." Dongwoo gently pushed him back to his bed, putting his arm back to his side as if telling Howon to keep his hands to himself.

"You don't want me?" Howon gave out a chuckle that almost sounded amused. It was a first for him. No one has ever rejected him. No one, since he never made a move or told anything to Inguk. But club patrons? They melt at his sight, swoon at his touch. They want him like candy and if they don’t, he knew how to make them.

“You don’t roll that way, huh? Ok.” Howon lifted up his shirt while his backbones cracked and he inwardly winced. He hung the shirt by the head board and splayed himself on the bed.

“You can top… take control. Whatever makes you…Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Howon said as he ran a hand over his bare chest. Ache bit through his rib cage. Seduction was harder when you have mortal pains to deal with. The way it hurts, about a rib or two could be broken. He shrugged. I almost died, couldn’t get any worse. This person took care of him. He deserves his gratitude.

Dongwoo sighed and shook his head. He stood up and sat at the edge of the bed, looking at Howon with a straight face. He slid his arms around Howon’s back and lifted his body forward slowly to meet his gaze. He bit his lower lip and sighed once more. Howon opened his mouth as if to speak but his caregiver pressed a spot on his nape that sent him instantly to sleep. Dongwoo covered him with a blanket.

“Good night.”