Chapter 210

Do Yehyun, surprisingly, didn’t really look shy or embarrassed. Sitting on the bed with only his pants on, Do Yehyun’s eyes tracked my movements, and I glanced at him in the mirror.

They’d faded some, but there were still marks here and there—around his waist, his chest, near his collarbone.

“Guess I can’t walk around with my clothes off for a while.”

“Ah.”

I said it like a joke—judging by how fast they were disappearing, the marks would probably be completely gone by tomorrow. At that, Do Yehyun lowered his hand and lightly rubbed over the marks.

“Because of these?”

“Yeah.”

“...They’ll probably go away fast.”

“You could get rid of them right now. You can self-heal.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why are you so clear about what you want.”

After answering firmly, Do Yehyun slowly moved his hand away and leaned back with one hand braced on the bed. When I turned and met his eyes, he shut his mouth, then asked something else.

“Do you normally... do it like this?”

“No.”

“Then how?”

“I normally don’t have sex much.”

“.......”

I thought it was funny what kinds of things he was curious about. I buttoned my windbreaker all the way up to my throat and tipped my chin.

“You looked used to it.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Are you usually rough?”

“Was I rough? I think I was pretty sweet.”

I’d checked in on him properly, loosened him up after, and even used the cheap motel condoms—felt like I’d treated him reasonably well. Of course, there was the small problem that I’d triggered this whole situation in the first place.

Do Yehyun pressed his lips together obediently at what I said. I could see his red lips—slightly swollen compared to yesterday—move faintly.

I thought for a moment about what he was going to say, then spoke first.

“Maybe I was kind of rough.”

“.......”

“Maybe because I thought you were sturdy.”

He really was, too. Out of habit, I opened Do Yehyun’s Status Window and checked the clear, unchanged text again.

‘Normally, it’d be normal for marks like that not to even show.’

Do Yehyun just stared at me blankly without any answer or reaction, so I tipped my chin once more.

“Did you not like it?”

“No.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Between the two....”

After cutting himself off for a moment, Do Yehyun blinked and asked,

“Which one is more special treatment?”

That’s hilarious. Between treating him roughly and treating him sweetly, which one was more special treatment? The attitude of wanting special treatment so openly was funny in itself. Same with how he wasn’t embarrassed at all, and didn’t hesitate over his words.

I stared at Do Yehyun, then answered shortly.

“Both.”

***

We left the motel, settled the parking fee, and got back into the car. There was the small problem that I hadn’t even properly taken a parking ticket and had basically left the car sitting there for two weeks like I’d abandoned it.

“Fuck, if it was gonna be like this, I should’ve bought a monthly pass.”

“...Are you trying to save on parking fees?”

“I live saving money, originally.”

“Liar.”

“I’m serious and you still don’t believe me.”

Who knew where the guy who used to watch over the place with me because he wanted to save on utilities had gone.

Do Yehyun laughed like he’d heard something funny, then obediently buckled his seat belt.

“You’re going to contact the Haeseong guild master, right.”

“Yeah. But I bet they’ll contact me first.”

Since they’d probably seen the interesting data with their own eyes, with Im Haekyung’s personality there was no way they wouldn’t reach out directly.

“What are you going to say?”

“I’ll say I don’t know what’s going on either.”

“...Still, the Haeseong guild master will think it’s because you merged with a beast in that Dungeon, right?”

“Who knows. They’re crazy quick on the uptake.”

They already knew I’d used an ice skill before, so there was a high chance they’d already finished reasoning it out to something close to the right answer.

“You said you’d say you don’t know what’s going on.”

“I’m just denying it for now.”

Even if they’d reasoned it out to something close to the right answer, whether that was actually the right answer was a separate issue, so it was better to play dumb as much as I could.

Do Yehyun nodded quietly, then turned his gaze out the window.

When we were almost home, Do Yehyun asked something else.

“Are you going to tell Seowon hyung?”

“Who knows.”

“...You’re not going to tell him?”

I frowned slightly.

‘His reaction’s gonna be brutal.’

Of course I had to tell him. I could already predict the rough outline of his reaction, and my head started to throb.

“I’ll tell him, I guess.”

“.......”

“There’s probably a lot he’ll have to handle too. He’s smart.”

“Hyung.”

Do Yehyun suddenly called me. It felt new for him to say “hyung” when he’d always been calling me “hyungnim, hyungnim.” I liked it a lot better this way, though.

“Seowon hyung....”

“Yeah.”

“He likes you.”

At this point I was starting to suspect the two of them were just not saying it only when I was in front of them.

‘Why are they saying the same shit....’

When I let out a short empty laugh, Do Yehyun asked calmly,

“You already know, right.”

“I know.”

“So I didn’t like it when you and Seowon hyung went on a work trip together.”

“So that’s why you asked to come with us?”

“No.... That was just because I was worried about you.”

“What about now?”

“I’m still worried.”

Listening to him made little bits of laughter keep slipping out.

‘Something about him’s gotten more casual. Is he crossing the line?’

I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not. It was clear his attitude had changed a little, but I still couldn’t be sure whether the Dungeon was the trigger.

“You’re honest.”

“...I don’t lie, originally. Not to you, hyung....”

“But you don’t have to say everything. You’re weirdly proactive.”

“Do you not like it?”

“No. I like people saying what they want to say.”

When I said it like it was nothing, Do Yehyun flinched for a second.

“...Still, it’s not like I ask everything.”

“You pick and choose?”

“Things I think you’d really hate... I don’t ask.”

“Something I’d hate?”

Do Yehyun nodded and kept fidgeting with the fingers he had neatly folded on his lap. While we were stopped at a light, I watched his hand for a moment, then tapped the steering wheel with my finger.

“Yeah.”

Well, on Do Yehyun’s side, he probably had a lot of questions he wanted to ask.

Tapping the wheel, I thought for a moment.

Sex? It was impulsive, but it wasn’t something that serious. In the first place, having sex with Joo Seowon was also an extension of impulse.

The way the two of them acted was different, though.

After sex, Joo Seowon had decided to stay out of sight for a while and ran off. Since he didn’t bring it up at all, it meant he was uncomfortable with it to some extent.

‘Do Yehyun doesn’t seem like that.’

Separate from the fact that sex itself had been hard on him, maybe because we’d been in a Dungeon that stimulated desire until just yesterday, Do Yehyun was being pretty honest. That in itself wasn’t something I hated, but if it went further than this, that would be a problem.

Affection was like that—when it burned hot, it also cooled off easily.

‘But I need both of them.’

If I stepped wrong on the line and one of them went off the rails, from there [N O V E L I G H T] the situation would turn fucking awful. Both of them were quiet by default, but they were also the kind of guys where you didn’t know when they’d slam on the gas.

“Hyung.”

“I like ‘hyung’ better than ‘hyungnim.’”

“.......”

I answered offhand as I started the car. I ignored the gaze sticking to my side at an appropriate level.

When we got home and I parked like I always did, I opened my mouth.

“Yehyun.”

“Yes.”

“Do you like me?”

It was a question I already knew the answer to. Just like I expected, Do Yehyun answered like it was obvious.

“I do.”

“Without conditions?”

“.......”

“Ah, no. You do have them.”

I tilted my head and met Do Yehyun’s eyes. If we’re talking about attachment... was it heavier on this side than Joo Seowon?

Do Yehyun was easier to explain, at least. Either way, I was the one who’d saved him when his life was at its most fucking awful, and I was the one who’d made him at least capable of functioning like a person. From his home to his clothes to his equipment, there wasn’t a single part my hand hadn’t touched—so of course it was hard not to be dependent.

I looked over Do Yehyun’s face slowly.

His double eyelids were deep, his eyelashes dense. Overall, his lines were soft—his nose and jaw weren’t sharp—and his lips were slightly full, so his face gave off a strong pretty-boy feeling.

‘Did he get more handsome than before?’

Maybe as he built up his body, the fully pretty-boy vibe had faded a bit. Since I saw him almost every day, it didn’t hit me that clearly.

Even while I stared at his face like I was trying to bore a hole through it, Do Yehyun didn’t avoid my eyes. Of course, there was no way to know what he was thinking while looking at me. I could predict it to some degree, though.

I brushed Do Yehyun’s hair back and slowly rubbed his eyebrow with my thumb. I could see his eye twitching.

I lowered the hand that had been touching his eyebrow, brushed his cheek, gently caught and released his chin, then brought my hand to his neck. Sure enough, there were faint goosebumps on his reddened neck.

He was the kind of guy where you could see everything clearly—his expression and his physical reaction.

After letting the silence sit for a moment, I started slowly.

“Then I’ll change the question....”

“.......”

“When do you like it the most, what I do?”

“...I like everything.”

“You say you don’t sometimes, though. I heard it a few times yesterday and today.”

“.......”

For Do Yehyun, who still couldn’t find the thread of an answer, I kindly added an explanation.

“If you tell me, I’ll do it.”

“...Why?”

“Because I think we need to balance things.”

“.......”

“If I’m going to keep doing what you don’t like, shouldn’t I also do what you like?”

Every time I rubbed his neck with my thumb, I felt a faint vibration like his body was trembling. Keeping my eyes on that spot, I continued.

“I can’t just rely on your affection... but either way, you like me, so I should try using that a bit.”

“Using....”

“Don’t get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

The answer came back right away.

“I... sometimes I like you so much, hyung, that I think I want to do anything you ask.”

“.......”

“Even when you asked me to kill someone for you... I was scared I’d say okay too easily.”

For someone saying he was scared, his voice was way too indifferent.

“Doesn’t sound like you were scared.”

“I was scared.”

“Not now?”

“It’s been a while since I wasn’t.”

That “a while” sounded like something I could pin down pretty exactly, and it made me laugh.

“So.”

“.......”

“Then you’re saying you’ll do what I like, but you’re not taking the opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”

“You could ask me to kiss you. You like kissing.”

When I chuckled softly, Do Yehyun licked his lower lip with his tongue.

“I....”

“Or something else. You seem to like blowjobs—want me to do that for you?”

This time, his eyes widened without a single word.

Of course, the one Do Yehyun happily rushed in as was usually the one doing it, but I raised my eyebrows like I meant it seriously, even though I had no intention of doing it.

“Why....”

Do Yehyun, who’d been talking just fine until now, couldn’t find words and pressed his lips shut again. I slowly dropped my hand and said lightly,

“Tell me when it comes to mind.”

“.......”

With that, I got out of the car.

The more clearly I could see Do Yehyun’s affection, the more intensely I wanted to test it. I wanted to find his limit. Even knowing that the moment I found out, there wouldn’t be a single thing in it that would benefit me.