The moment I moved my hand, there was a metallic rattle.
Seeing the handcuffs still fastened around my wrist made my {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} already shitty mood even more fucked.
I brushed aside the sweaty bangs clinging to my forehead and turned my head. A familiar back lay sprawled on the bed.
Whump!
“Argh!”
When I kicked that annoying back without warning, Hyun Dowoon toppled off the bed with a crash.
“What the hell?!”
He groaned, holding his waist as he climbed back onto the bed.
“What’s your problem this early in the morning?”
Unable to speak, I simply gave him the finger.
Hyun Dowoon ignored the gesture completely and scooted closer.
“What’s with your face now? You feeling sick or something?”
God, you're so fucking annoying.
I shoved his face away with my shoulder as he tried to get a better look, then climbed off the bed. My whole body was soaked in cold sweat from that fucked-up dream. I needed a shower—fast.
‘How the hell am I supposed to take this off?’
Pants were fine, but I couldn’t take off my top by myself because of the handcuffs.
“Need help showering?”
...What’s with this asshole and his sudden interest in me today?
I narrowed my eyes at him. He awkwardly scratched his head and pulled something out of his inventory.
“Give me your arm. I’ll cut the shirt.”
To my surprise, he was holding a pair of scissors. And they looked dangerously sharp.
‘Seriously? Why the hell are you pulling out scissors out of nowhere?’
I was going to wait for a servant, but now here was Hyun Dowoon pulling scissors like it was normal. Totally unlike him.
‘This bastard?’
I stared at him suspiciously. Dowoon quickly raised his hands in protest.
“Wait, wait! I brought them just to help you shower, okay? Before the restriction was lifted yesterday, Fath—I mean, that guy told me the items were changed. I swear!”
“......”
‘If they’re that sharp...’
They’d be perfect for wounding myself.
I needed to call Cha Sahyeon out—and fast. I reached out without hesitation.
“Hey! That’s dangerous!”
But Dowoon whipped his body around and hid the scissors.
Tch. Now he gets suspicious?
‘Should I just knock him out and take them?’
Even with both hands cuffed, I could probably handle Hyun Dowoon alone...
“...What the hell are you thinking right now?”
As I seriously considered how to wrestle the scissors away, Dowoon must’ve sensed danger—he stuffed them back into his inventory.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself, stay still. How the fuck are you so chaotic even with your hands tied?”
“.......”
As annoying as it was, it’d be smarter to accept his help now and wait for the next opportunity.
If I pushed too hard, he might never take the scissors out again.
‘I’d rather not get washed by a servant either.’
It wasn’t like my arms were completely restrained this time—I had zero intention of relying on someone else's skill to wash me.
I dropped the tension from my eyes and raised my hands.
When I looked at him, silently telling him to just cut it, Dowoon let out a small sigh.
“Don’t move.”
He pulled the scissors back out and carefully grabbed my collar.
From the edge of my sleeve up to my shoulder, the blades sliced clean through the fabric. I unbuttoned the rest and shrugged off the shirt before heading to the bathroom.
The moment I stepped inside, my reflection greeted me in the mirror.
‘That’s an item too.’
If it had been an ordinary mirror, I would’ve smashed it with my fist.
Unfortunately, it was an item with bulletproof enhancement. No amount of force would leave so much as a scratch. Same went for all the windows and glass in my room.
As I showered, I started running through other options.
‘What if I steal a knife when the servants bring breakfast?’
If I couldn’t find anything sharp enough to draw blood, I’d just have to bash my head against the wall.
Biting my tongue was out—some item had been planted in there, and I didn’t know what it’d do if triggered.
‘Yeah. Aim for the knife first.’
If that failed, I could always sweet-talk Dowoon into giving up the scissors.
‘I just want to get hurt quickly and cleanly, for fuck’s sake.’
Grumbling inwardly, I shut off the shower.
I wiped myself dry with a towel and threw on some pants before heading out. The servants were already in the middle of setting food on the table.
I froze when I saw what they’d brought.
‘Korean food...!’
There wasn’t a single knife in sight.
If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have handed over my phone and inventory to Cha Sahyeon.
‘Then again, the Association probably would’ve taken them anyway, so maybe the result’s the same.’
Right now, I had nothing. Even the laptop I was typing on belonged to Hyun Dowoon.
“Hey, Cha Seohu.”
“.......”
“Cha Seohu.”
“.......”
“Are you fucking ignoring me?”
I was checking the news on a portal site, trying to get a read on the outside world, but the repeated calls finally made me lift my head.
When our eyes met, Dowoon cleared his throat and asked,
“So... I have something I wanna ask.”
Even without hearing the question, I knew what it’d be about.
I ignored him and looked back down at the laptop. Dowoon spoke again, this time sounding a little annoyed.
“C’mon, you can at least tell me!”
“.......”
“You know how much I’ve helped you, you asshole.”
“.......”
“Cha Seohu!”
Shut the fuck up.
I opened the translation app, typed a short phrase, and pressed the text-to-speech button.
“Fuck off.”
A robotic female voice read the phrase aloud.
Dowoon stared at me in disbelief, then held his forehead.
“...Jesus. Your brand of crazy just keeps evolving. The whole world knows you’re SS-rank now. How hard is it to just answer a question or two?”
“Don’t wanna.”
“You fucker. Be real, if you were me, wouldn’t you be curious too?! A B-rank turning into an SS-rank overnight—anyone would want to know what the hell happened!”
Watching him turn red and lose his shit, I typed another line.
“If I tell you, can you promise to keep it to yourself?”
“What? I mean...”
“There’s a difference between saying my rank went up and explaining the process. So stop asking. I’m not gonna answer. 🤫 face.”
“...Don’t put fucking emojis, you lunatic.”
“🤨 raised-eyebrow face.”
“Ha...”
Dowoon gave up and rubbed his face dryly.
That was when it happened.
Clatter! Slam!
The door flung open with enough force to tear it off its hinges. A blur darted inside—moving so fast I couldn’t even see who it was.
Like a starved dog spotting food, the figure dove straight toward the bed and launched at me.
“Hyung~!”
“Guh!”
My upper body slammed into the soft mattress. My throat was being crushed—I gasped for air.
“I missed you so, so, SO much~! That fucking Father wouldn’t lift the access restriction!”
“Huff, hgh, hrrgh...!”
“You missed me too, right? Huh? Even Dowoon-hyung’s an asshole. He got to see you first~!”
“Guh...! Ngh...!”
Can’t... breathe...
My face was smashed into the blankets, completely blinded. My chest was being crushed. I felt like my ribs were about to snap. I flailed my cuffed hands desperately.
Through my fading consciousness, I heard Hyun Dowoon scream in panic.
“You fucking psycho! You’re gonna kill him!”
“Huh? What~? Hm?”
My fingertips, stretched helplessly into the air, trembled.
Finally realizing I was wheezing for air, Kwon Seoyul let go.
“Haaah, hah! Hhhk, huff, guh...”
The pressure pinning down my chest vanished, and I gulped down a flood of air.
My vision spun. My mind reeled. I couldn’t gather my thoughts at all.
“What? You weren’t saying anything, so I—hm?”
As I braced myself against the mattress and gasped, someone suddenly gripped my shoulders hard.
The world flipped—and I was pinned flat against the bed. Through my blurry sight, I saw Kwon Seoyul leaning over me.
“I kept wondering why I could still feel an item’s presence, even besides the handcuffs.”
His face twisted like he’d seen something gross, and then—without warning—he shoved his fingers into my mouth.
“......!”
You sick fuck.
I tried to bite down, but Seoyul grabbed my jaw and forced it open.
“Jeez. Stop baring your teeth and stay still.”
I struggled with everything I had, but Seoyul didn’t even flinch.
He pried my mouth wide open and brushed against the item pierced into my tongue.
“Huh...”
He let out a dry, incredulous chuckle and then felt under my tongue too, checking if it pierced all the way through.
“Father really has some fucked-up tastes. This thing keeps him from talking at all?”
He wasn’t even asking me.
From the corner of the room, Hyun Dowoon replied with an awkward grimace.
“Seems like it’s meant to paralyze his tongue. No side effects though.”
“Oh~ so it’s that kind of kink?”
Dowoon let out a long sigh at Seoyul’s half-joking tone.
“Now that you know, stop messing with him and back off.”
“Tch. I just wanted to have a long talk with hyung after all this time. Why’d they have to stick him with an item like that~”
Seoyul finally pulled his fingers out of my mouth. Then, with his other hand, he wiped away my tears.
‘Fuck. I’m gonna be sick.’
It felt like I’d eaten something rotten. My stomach turned.
I wanted to bolt into the bathroom and brush my teeth immediately, but Seoyul was leaning against my back, wiping his hands with a damp towel. I couldn’t escape.
As Seoyul hummed to himself, Dowoon eyed him warily.
“Did you come alone?”
Understanding the real meaning behind that question, Seoyul shrugged.
“I rushed over the moment the access restriction was lifted. Not sure where the others are. They’ll probably be here soon? Especially Haeil-hyung—he’s been dying to see Seohu-hyung.”
Why the hell is this bastard still sitting on top of me? Get the fuck off already.
“That’s what I’m worried about. Letting those two meet right away might be a little...”
“A little what?”
A low voice cut in from behind, freezing the air in the room.
I turned my head.
Leaning casually against the doorframe Seoyul had left open—stood Kang Haeil.
“Good morning, little brothers.”

Comments

Loading...