One Silver Coin For a Pound of Demon

Chapter 23

Draft
____

——A, "......"

You were silent.

There are some things that Lemuel didn't tell you.

His name was Lemuel Hardy, his sister was Maria, he had a friend named Fern, and he was supposed to have a nephew named Edward or a niece named Rita. He was born in a Southern county and left home with his younger sister at the age of fourteen, he joined the army by lying about his age at seventeen and stayed there for ten years. In the 9th Infantry Division - 28th Marine Regiment - Company A - Sergeant... He told you everything about his life, except the fact that he's gay.

Lemuel had never told you about his emotional experiences, and you've never noticed anything unusual, because you're akin to a blank paper in this field. You think blankness is the norm. After all, Lemuel sounds so busy, busy with survival, busy with war, isn't it normal to have no time to experience starting a family? You don't know that love can exist independently outside of marriage and having children, and you don't know that love could be squeezed into a difficult and busy life without difficulty, like a flower blooming between the cracks of the rubble.

And in the past, Lemuel had never concealed his sexuality.

For a long time, Lemuel was a marginal person in this society. Except for his sister, no one cared about his life or death, and of course no one cared what gender he wanted to have sex with- even if someone did care, he could settle it with his fists. In the chaotic nooks where the laws of the jungle is still practiced, sexuality isn't the problem, but timidity. Lemuel will stare back at every pair of malicious eyes and retaliate against them. Those who think that the teenager and little girl were weak and could be bullied would soon know that you don't mess with the Hardy siblings, the brother is as tricky as a mad dog.

This attitude persisted, even after joining the military.

Lemuel is a thorn. He has no faith, no sense of honor, and never planned to integrate into the army. He faced the army with the mentality of a mercenary, feeling that he could always just leave, go home or die in battle. He's accustomed to the fact that nothing lasts long, and he believes that life is short- in this case, why use a short life for hiding? Lemuel was semi-openly gay, he doesn't go out and say "hey I'm gay", but he also doesn't smile when someone makes shitty gay jokes like everyone else.

He would stand up, smother the cigarette, beckon to the joker, and say, "Would you like to try the "sissy"'s¹ fist?

Lemuel is shameless and disdained hiding, he also has the capital to do so. In the army, as long as your luck isn't bad, those who are brave and skilled in battle wouldn't be buried. This bad attitude brought him some troubles, but not enough to kill him, and not enough to prevent him from getting promotions (even though it slowed down the speed of promotion). Lemuel was the superior, the men under him have to shut up and be obedient.

Few people were as uncaring about the world's eyes like him, Lemuel's boyfriend was also in the army, hiding in a cabinet. If his boyfriend wants to cover up, then Lemuel is willing to cooperate. He had always been very tolerant towards the people he loves and full of protective desire. Lemuel liked his boyfriend, but he didn't like him enough to stay for him. He guessed that after retiring, they would probably drift apart and break up peacefully. But so what? It'll happen in time, Lemuel was still dating his boyfriend and shouldn't think about the far future.

If everything goes as planned, that is.

Lemuel wandered on the edge of order. He thought that as long as he was strong enough, he wouldn't need to be afraid of guns in the open or arrows in the dark—perhaps this is true, but unfortunately, no matter how strong one person is he still can't fight against the collective and the rules. The hyena peeks at the lion in the shadows, and when the male lion encounters the trap, all the grievances erupt.