As Uijae's tongue brushed against the bite mark, Sayoung's finger twitched slightly, but his hand remained in place, motionless. Uijae loosened his grip on Sayoung's wrist, yet Sayoung's hand stayed exactly where it was, frozen.
Sayoung stared at Uijae in a daze, but only for a mont. Soon, he dropped his gaze to the floor. Uijae wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“As much as you waited for , keeping that empty promise… No, even more than that.”
“……”
“I’m going to make it up to you.”
“……”
“Even if you don’t want it.”
Blood welled up around the bite mark on Sayoung’s left ring finger, resembling a crimson ring. Uijae added sternly,
“If you ever say again that I’m not responsible, or that I shouldn’t care, I won’t let it slide.”
“……”
“Lee Sayoung, look at . Do you understand?”
Sayoung, who had been staring at the floor as if counting the patterns in the tiles, slowly lifted his head. At that mont, Uijae’s mouth fell open, surprise overtaking him.
“You…”
Sayoung’s face…
“……”
It was flushed a soft, rosy red. He looked embarrassed!
The eye contact didn’t last long. Sayoung averted his gaze, his eyes shifting to the side, and he even covered his mouth with the back of his hand. The expression was so unlike him—delicate, shy even—that Uijae was stunned.
It wasn’t the best comparison, but only one ca to mind: like a bashful bride.
Uijae froze in place.
‘…Why?’
The shock hit him like a hamr, leaving his entire body trembling. This was not the reaction Uijae had expected at all. He had braced himself for a heated argunt, for an endless back-and-forth. He didn’t expect… this.
‘Why is this happening?’
His usually sharp intuition, which had saved his life nurous tis, was completely off when it ca to Lee Sayoung. At this point, Uijae felt a little cheated. Who gets shy after having their finger bitten? Shouldn’t he be angry?
Then, the blood dripping from the bite on Sayoung’s finger reminded Uijae that this wasn’t the ti for internal complaints. If this really was the house from the destroyed world where Uijae lived, there should be a first-aid kit sowhere. He bit the inside of his cheek and turned his head.
“…Let’s treat that first.”
“……”
Sayoung quietly nodded. For soone who usually had so much to say and could be so sarcastic, his lips were firmly sealed. Moving like a creaky puppet, Uijae added,
“And, um… take off that apron, too.”
Leaving Sayoung standing there, Uijae escaped into the nearest room and slamd the door behind him. Luckily, the first-aid kit was sitting right on top of the drawer. Of course—it wouldn’t be useful if it were hard to find in an ergency.
Inside were essential dical supplies, a familiar-looking purple antidote, and so rare potions, all neatly arranged. Everything except for the bandages seed brand new.
‘…This organization isn’t my doing.’
Had this version of Lee Sayoung arranged everything so neatly? Uijae grabbed the first-aid kit and, finding an excuse in his slow pace, glanced around the room.
A bed that seed far too large for one person dominated the center of the room. Two lamps on either side of the bed seed strange, and the mismatched items on the small drawers beneath them felt even stranger.
On the left drawer sat a device from the Awakener Managent Bureau, and on the right, a pair of glasses.
‘Glasses?’
Uijae cautiously picked up the glasses and held them to his eyes. The lenses were so strong that just putting them near his face made him dizzy.
This world’s Lee Sayoung must have vision problems as a side effect of the poison. Co to think of it, the Lee Sayoung he knew had worn glasses once before, after that spaceship incident at Incheon Harbor.
An odd, unsettling feeling poked at Uijae’s mind.
‘…Could it be?’
Uijae froze, glasses in hand.
‘Do we… sleep in the sa bed?’
? With Lee Sayoung?
Uijae’s face went pale. If he thought about it any further, sothing irreversible might happen.
‘No, that mory I got shoved into my head didn’t ntion anything like that!’
But even so, the evidence was right in front of him, enough to convict him on the spot.
‘…No, it can’t be. It’s not like that.’
Having successfully convinced himself, Uijae swung the door open and headed back to the living room. Sayoung, who was still standing there, looked up at him. The apron was now draped over his arm, and thankfully, his face had returned to its usual pale color.
Walking past Sayoung, Uijae made his way to the sofa and said,
“Sit down. Let’s clean that up and put a bandage on.”
Sayoung nodded slightly and sat down, offering his hand. Uijae sprayed disinfectant on a gauze pad and gently wiped the bite mark. Luckily, the bleeding wasn’t too bad. As Uijae worked, Sayoung spoke up.
“…You’re better at this than I thought.”
Uijae, snipping off a piece of gauze with small scissors, replied flatly,
“What, did you think I’d just dump the disinfectant all over?”
“Mm. I was prepared for that, yeah.”
“What kind of person do you think I am? I’ve done this plenty of tis.”
“…I see.”
Sensing so tension, Uijae added defensively,
“There weren’t any healers around back then, so I had no choice.”
“But there were probably dical professionals, right?”
“When you close a rift, there are so many injured people and bodies. If you can move, you have to treat yourself.”
“……”
Though Sayoung’s expression showed so disapproval, he didn’t press the matter further. Uijae finished applying a dressing to the wound and took his hands away.
“All done.”
“Mm.”
Sayoung flexed his fingers and shrugged.
“It’s the first ti I’ve had a wound on my hand. It’s… different.”
“……”
“And to think it happened because soone bit .”
Uijae’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. Sayoung covered his mouth, laughing quietly.
“I almost thought you were a dog.”
“You little—”
Uijae glared. Earlier, when Sayoung had been shy, it had been sowhat endearing. But now that he had regained his usual deanor, he was deliberately pushing all the wrong buttons. Sayoung, with a casual stretch of his hand, lazily murmured,
“Well, at least… you’re lucky I don’t have poison in this body.”
“…You don’t?”
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? Our souls ca here. Our bodies are still in the real world.”
Sayoung tugged at the loose neckline of his shirt with his thumb and forefinger.
“That’s why I felt sluggish and heavy when I woke up.”
“……”
“And besides, you’re fine, right? I guess this body hasn’t awakened yet.”
“How many tis do I have to tell you that your poison doesn’t affect —”
“Sure, sure.”
Uijae had thought he had finally cleared up that misunderstanding! The Basilisk’s poison hadn’t done anything—it was just blood! Feeling like he had sohow beco a vampire, Uijae clenched his fists.
“When we get out of here, I’m going to bite you again. Then we’ll see.”
“…Heh.”
Sayoung responded with a drawn-out chuckle, clearly amused.
“Alright. Actually… this?”
He wiggled the bandaged finger.
“I kind of liked it.”
With that, Sayoung stood up and strolled casually into the kitchen. Uijae sighed, putting away the contents of the first-aid kit. After a brief clattering of dishes, Sayoung poked his head out of the kitchen.
“Oh, and by the way.”
“Hm?”
“You said, ‘Any questions so far?’ earlier.”
‘Any questions so far?’
Sayoung smirked.
“You know, there’s more to this story, right? I get why you’re here, but why am *I* here?”
‘Sh*t.’
“We should finish that conversation while we eat, don’t you think?”
Sayoung’s mory was annoyingly sharp.
“Co on, let’s eat. We can talk while we fill our stomachs.”
---
They sat at the table, which held a half-rolled, lukewarm olet and so over-toasted bread. Sayoung, now confident he wasn’t carrying any poison, had started moving around more energetically, pulling out apricot jam, strawberry jam, and cream cheese from the fridge. It wasn’t a perfect al, but it would do the job. Neither of them were particularly picky eaters.
Uijae watched Sayoung as he chewed on the olet, his brow slightly furrowed. This was his chance, while Sayoung was busy eating. As he spread cream cheese on his toast, Uijae began,
“About earlier, when I was getting a grasp on the situation… the system offered to give what I needed most.”
Sayoung nodded, continuing to chew as Uijae’s voice lowered.
“…So, I accepted the offer.”
“I see…”
Sayoung’s eyes sharpened. Uijae could tell from his look that he was ready to snap. Quickly averting his gaze, Uijae pursed his lips. Swallowing the olet, Say
oung set down his fork and let out a long sigh.
“You just believed the system’s words, didn’t even question the cost?”
“I an…”
“Seriously…”
Sayoung paused, choosing his words carefully before saying,
“Be careful out there. Don’t get scamd.”
“I’ve never been scamd in my life.”
“Sure, sure. So, what happened?”
“Well… then you showed up.”
“And?”
“And…”
Uijae trailed off, avoiding eye contact, as he focused intently on spreading cream cheese on his toast.
Apparently, the thing Uijae needed most… was Lee Sayoung. Why that was the case, he had no idea.
He stuffed the toast into his mouth. Then, from across the table, a low voice reached him.
“So, I’m the thing you needed most, huh.”
“……”
“Well, well…”
“……”
“That’s… nice to hear.”
The rustling of clothing followed shortly after.
“Out of everything I’ve heard today, that might be my favorite line.”
Sothing warm brushed against Uijae’s foot. He paused mid-bite. The sensation on the top of his foot… it felt like a…
‘Foot?’
Uijae cautiously glanced over at Sayoung, who was sitting across from him. He was resting his chin in both hands, staring straight at Uijae. His bandaged finger playfully tapped his cheek. As their eyes t, Sayoung’s eyes narrowed with a mischievous smile.
anwhile, the foot that had brushed Uijae’s now began to gently stroke his ankle. The unexpected touch made Uijae’s toes curl. Hurriedly swallowing his toast, Uijae blurted out,
“…Hey.”
“Mm?”
Sayoung tilted his head ever so slightly, smiling angelically.
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