I stared at Cha Sahyeon in silence for a long time before speaking.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mm?”
At the cold words that followed a bitter scoff, Cha Sahyeon blinked blankly.
“Did I say something funny?”
“......”
I pressed my forehead with a tired sigh.
“Don’t act all fake if you want something. Just say it. It’s easier for me too.”
“I really don’t want anything...”
He remained stubborn to the end.
I narrowed my brows and leaned against the wall. Under my sharp gaze, Cha Sahyeon hesitated, then cautiously opened his mouth.
“I don’t want anything... but I do have one question.”
Of course.
I let out a small snort and tilted my head slightly to tell him to go ahead. After opening and closing his mouth several times, Cha Sahyeon finally struggled to ask—
“Slut...”
“What?”
“Slut... is it true?”
What the hell is he talking about all of a sudden?
As I stood there dumbfounded, Cha Sahyeon began rattling on in a rush.
“I know it’s not about a fuck buddy. Because I’ve always been next to you. You even said it wasn’t true. I believe you. But, but... you never denied the slut part, and the person who said it was so sure of it and kept calling you that, like...”
“Wait, wait.”
Now my head really hurt.
Sure, I knew damn well there was a 22-year-old in that body, but seeing a kid who looked like an elementary schooler spitting out words like "slut" and "fuck buddy" gave me an instant migraine.
‘No, technically speaking, calling him 22 might be off, right?’
He also had memories from when he was the Catastrophe. I had no idea how much of that he remembered, but still.
Anyway, I couldn’t take another second of him saying crap like “slut” in that tiny kid voice.
“Why the hell are you even curious about that?”
Cha Sahyeon avoided my eyes with a sulky look. He looked pretty upset that I’d answered his brave question with another question.
“Do you even know what those words mean?”
Well now, he’s actually glaring at me.
“Of course I do. I’m not stupid.”
So he at least knows the basic meaning?
‘Don’t tell me he’s got actual experience?’
Didn’t seem likely.
There wasn’t a woman alive crazy enough to sleep with a walking time bomb like the Catastrophe. Same went for men.
“Hyun Dowoon overreacted. That bastard’s holed up in his room all day staring at a screen. He’s kind of a prude. I’m not slut-level or anything.”
I offered a decent enough excuse, and Cha Sahyeon turned back to look at me. His green eyes shimmered under his long lashes.
“Is that so?”
He seemed convinced by my firm answer and bobbed his round head up and down.
So that’s settled, huh? Thank god he’s gullible. I let out a small breath of relief at how easily that wrapped up—until he dropped the next bomb.
“You’ve only done it with women, right? How many?”
“......”
“Hm? How many total?”
That voice of his, full of anticipation, stabbed at my conscience. I looked up at the ceiling and seriously debated it.
How many should I say? What was a reasonable number?
I tried to recall my friends' experiences, but unfortunately, the only ones who came to mind were perverts like Kwon Seoyul—who was practically addicted to sex—or Kang Haeil, who thought of it like a workout. Or someone like Hyun Dowoon, who hadn’t done it at all.
‘Goddamn it.’
The longer I hesitated, the more suspicious it would seem. Weighing between sounding like a manwhore and a virgin, I finally spat out an answer.
“About... 20?”
“......”
Cha Sahyeon’s face froze like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him. I saw his shoulders tremble and quickly corrected myself.
“Ah, I counted wrong! Fifteen!”
“......”
Even after shaving off five whole people, his frosty expression didn’t budge.
At this point, even I was dumbfounded. I mean, fifteen? That’s not that bad, right? That’s totally within normal range for an adult.
His gaze toward me turned outright disdainful. It reminded me of the way I looked at Kwon Seoyul whenever he acted like a degenerate. What the hell. This is bullshit.
“You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. Fifteen doesn’t make you a slut, okay? Adults date, and it just happens. As long as it’s consensual and safe—”
“Don’t care.”
Cha Sahyeon cut off my desperate attempt to defend myself with a raised brow.
“You asked if I wanted anything, right?”
“...Hey, you said you didn’t.”
“Now I do.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Ignoring my muttered complaint, Cha Sahyeon continued.
“Don’t do it anymore.”
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
“Don’t have sex with anyone ever again. That’s my condition. Doesn’t matter if it’s a woman or a man—just no one.”
This little bastard was trying to make me celibate for life.
“You want me to stay abstinent forever? Be realistic.”
“What’s the problem? Just don’t do it.”
He crossed his legs and lifted his chin. It would’ve been arrogant if it weren’t so ridiculous coming from a kid’s body.
“You’ve already done it with twenty people. Isn’t it time to stop? Lots of people live happily without sex.”
“It was fifteen... Ugh. Fine, fine.”
I could tell this was about to devolve into another endless argument. I let out a short sigh and accepted the deal.
Honestly, I didn’t care enough to agree to that kind of irrational demand. But if a simple “okay” would get Cha Sahyeon to cooperate and wrap up this conversation, it was worth it.
Not like I had the time or luxury to be rolling around in bed with someone anyway. I’d even quit smoking because of him. There was no way I could leave him alone and sneak off for sex.
Even before regression, I hadn’t done anything once I joined the Circle Guild, so this kind of dry spell wasn’t new.
‘If I’m that desperate, I’ll sneak off and lie about it later.’
I shrugged nonchalantly.
“Fine. I won’t. I’m too busy for that shit anyway.”
“You mean it? Really?”
“If you don’t believe me, drop it. Your condition was for me to stay abstinent, but whether or not you trust that is up to you. It’s not like I can prove it.”
Cha Sahyeon blinked, considering, then eventually nodded without arguing.
“Promise me you’ll keep your word, hyung.”
Maybe because I’d accepted his request without a fight, he looked genuinely satisfied. I, on the other hand, felt drained.
Sigh...
I’m twenty-six. Even if you count my regression time, I’m barely twenty-seven. And here I am, stuck staying celibate in the prime of my life because of the goddamn Catastrophe.
Just as I predicted, Hyun Dowoon checked the phone for a day and gave it back the very next morning. He confirmed it was clean—no tracking apps or chips installed.
I tossed the activated phone into my inventory and pulled the curtain back. Outside, the sky was painted red with sunset.
Night would fall soon. Considering the travel distance, I’d have to leave as soon as it got dark if I wanted to make it before the match started.
I’d warned Kwon Seoyul and Hyun Dowoon that I was tired and would kill them if they woke me up, so unless they wanted to get their hair ripped out, they wouldn’t come looking for me. Cha Sahyeon would stay behind and make some noise to make it seem like I was still in my room.
“I’ll attach a shadow to you. Take it with you.”
Cha Sahyeon, now that I was fully transformed into Cover, sent a black bird flying toward me. Its wings flapped hard as it dove into my shadow at my feet.
“I’m heading into a fight. What’s the point of bringing this?”
I already «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» knew how the shadow worked from that time in the snowy mountains.
It blocked enemy attacks and could teleport Cha Sahyeon to my location—an absolutely busted skill.
But for my upcoming ranked match against Kwon Taehyuk, it was totally unnecessary.
“What if someone ambushes you before you even get to the stadium?”
“I’m going S-rank the moment you drop me off on the roof, so it doesn’t matter.”
“If you refuse the shadow, I won’t help you anymore.”
“You little—”
I felt my blood pressure spike at his pouty threat. I swallowed my irritation and mustered every ounce of patience.
“You messing with me? We made a deal yesterday. You’re really gonna start throwing tantrums again?”
“This is about your safety.”
“What if the shadow pops out in the middle of the match? Who’s gonna handle that?”
“Hmm.”
Cha Sahyeon scrunched his brows and sighed like he had no choice.
“I’m not trying to be a burden... Fine. Just as long as it doesn’t interfere with the match, right?”
He reached into my shadow and pulled the bird back out. Then he whispered softly to it. The bird let out a creaking cry as if it understood.
“I gave it an order not to reveal itself until you call. If things get dangerous, just say the name—and the shadow will appear.”
“Hmm.”
That wasn’t bad at all. No—honestly, it was great. It was like having a personal bodyguard I could summon anytime.
“So I just call your name? Like, Cha Sahyeon?”
“No, not my name...”
Suddenly, his cheeks turned red. He hesitated, clearly embarrassed, then answered shyly.
“Call me ‘kiddo.’”
That one simple word carried a quiet warmth.

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