I endured it. I just closed my eyes and endured it. I didn’t even resist to try to stop that bastard Baek Sahyun from kissing my neck, cheeks, and forehead.
First of all, I didn’t want to carelessly push him away and incur his wrath. Secondly, since I’d already brought Baek Sahyun all the way here, I wanted to thoroughly get my money’s worth.
In other words, today’s Baek Sahyun was playing a role like a dreamcatcher for me. With him around, the nightmare-like Seo Jeongmin group would disappear like smoke, leaving only comfortable times.
“Ah…!”
Finally, Baek Sahyun lightly bit my earlobe as he passed by. Even without checking in a mirror, I could predict my entire ear would be bright red.
Goddammit. My pride was a bit hurt showing my virgin status in front of a fellow guy.
But thinking about it, I wasn’t the only virgin—Baek Sahyun was a virgin too. Displeased that only he was acting all nonchalant, I grabbed the guy trying to enter the elevator.
“Dude, here too.”
Ah, fuck. I wondered if I’d grabbed him for nothing, but with the mindset of ‘once you’ve drawn the sword, cut something,’ I presented my other ear. Then Baek Sahyun looked at me like I was crazy for a moment, then frowned all over his face.
“Are we dating?”
Then he asked back as if he didn’t understand. I was even more dumbfounded by that bastard’s attitude. Does this fucker have a split personality too?
Baek Sahyun flicked my forehead hard.
“Fuck…!”
When I burst out cursing because it felt like the skin on my forehead was peeling off, he scolded me with a “tsk.”
“Don’t act cute. I hate that stuff.”
“Crazy bastard…”
“I really hate people who go around being all lovey-dovey.”
After spouting off whatever he wanted to his heart’s content, Baek Sahyun swiftly got on the elevator. Looking at him, it seemed like he’d go up alone, so I hurriedly moved my feet too.
Sure enough, that bastard Baek Sahyun was firmly pressing the close button with his finger even before I got on.
“Childish bastard.”
When I muttered, Baek Sahyun shrugged his shoulders. Since the large hall Seo Jeongmin had rented was on the 22nd floor, the elevator went up for quite a while.
Arriving at the 22nd floor in silence, I steeled my resolve. Today at this place, I’ll restore all of Nam Heejae’s dishonor and go back. Since I brought the all-purpose shield called Baek Sahyun, I’ll be able to deflect any attacks that come.
However, the moment we entered the hall together, I could feel it. He wasn’t an all-purpose shield but a spear. The noisy venue instantly quieted down and everyone’s gazes gathered toward Baek Sahyun.
Among people each dressed in flashy formal attire, just as I was wondering if only Baek Sahyun and I had come too casually dressed, Baek Sahyun wrapped his arm around my waist.
“…What is it. Are you dating?”
When I returned the same words I’d heard earlier, he mercilessly pinched my side.
“Ugh!”
“Yes, dating. At least here.”
Having said that, Baek Sahyun moved his feet boldly while keeping our bodies pressed together. Dragged along like a puppet show, I was too flustered to continue speaking.
‘What is he trying to do?’
It was when we arrived in front of Seo Jeongmin’s group, frozen in poses holding wine glasses. I belatedly realized what Baek Sahyun meant by ‘showing off.’ I’d roughly thought about bringing Baek Sahyun around like a shield and building up my pride, but the scale was much bigger than that.
As we got closer, several guys including Seo Jeongmin covered their noses and mouths with their palms. Among them was even Lee Yunjae, who had been flesh and blood to me rather than treating me poorly, so I felt bewildered.
“Hey, you don’t mean…”
I wondered if he was suppressing opponents with pheromones like last time, and I hit the mark. Seo Jeongmin, who had turned deathly pale, dropped the wine glass he’d been gripping while trembling. Crash!
His face was already covered in cold sweat. Though less than Seo Jeongmin, the others also seemed to feel threatened and didn’t look good. Someone started dry heaving with a “urgh.”
But shouldn’t I react too in this situation? All the alphas seemed to be under attack and in an uproar, so I wondered if it was okay for me alone to be fine. That’s when it happened.
“We’re going on a date.”
Baek Sahyun spouted something absurd as if telling everyone to fuck off. This rotten bastard, I brought him to help, so why such a time-bomb statement!
Moreover, his tone sounded playful like a child showing off a new toy, which made me even more infuriated inside.
Baek Sahyun smiled brightly whether I was glaring at him while gritting my teeth or not. Toward Seo Jeongmin, who was still trembling under the threat of strong alpha pheromones, he soon recited:
“Because I like alphas.”
I opened my eyes wide. The large hall, which had already felt like thin ice, now felt like the middle of the distant Alaskan peninsula. Baek Sahyun emphasized again.
“I’m attracted to an alpha named Nam Heejae.”
He was warning about something by especially emphasizing the word ‘alpha’ with force. Probably… it was a strategy to silence those who doubted Nam Heejae’s trait.
Revealing affection for Nam Heejae while simultaneously guaranteeing his trait.
It’s a trait guaranteed by the great Baek Sahyun, and when he has this much affection, there wouldn’t be anyone who’d dare raise objections.
Baek Sahyun’s fingers lightly tapped my waist. Because it was a touch that was only plain without sexual nuance, I could look at him differently.
I definitely wasn’t moved, but goddammit. Encountering an all-purpose weapon that could suppress opponents with just a few words naturally made me feel overwhelmed.
‘Living with him, I’d never be in a situation to lose out, right? Is he a talisman?’
Even when leaving the hall less than ten minutes after arriving with him, I could therefore say goodbye with a refreshed feeling. Even on the elevator we boarded again, Baek Sahyun kept his arm wrapped around my waist.
The feeling of another’s body heat penetrating through my outer clothes was unfamiliar. Because it seemed to really be living and breathing. Because it seemed like an actual person. Then suddenly, this thought also occurred to me.
‘…Can I really call it fake?’
I felt like I could somewhat follow Baek Sahyun’s way of thinking when he showed his blood and asked if it still seemed unreal even with this.
Right. Baek Sahyun, and also Chae Eunwoo, had hot blood flowing in their veins and breathed through their respiratory systems. Just because they were novel characters didn’t mean they gave off the smell of paper, and they only gave off a paper scent after reading old books.
Regardless of the original Republic of Korea that I knew as real, <Excessively Brilliant> would be the real world from the perspective of these novel characters.
Ridiculously, the moment I recognized this fact, I changed the filter through which I viewed Baek Sahyun. Meaning I came to carefully observe the guy who had felt eccentric, heartless, and rotten.
What kind of guy is Baek Sahyun? The first curiosity rose up. How exactly had this bastard grown up, and what kind of people had he met? Despite being trash who knew deep in his bones how to use his trait to reign over others, he himself actually wanted to become a beta.
The second curiosity was this.
If his interest had moved from Chae Eunwoo to me, if it really had, then what kind of ending would I… meet? Would I live with my ankle broken, my life mortgaged like Chae Eunwoo?
Or very surprisingly, could I just flow along like water without any particular ups and downs?
Coming down to the parking lot, Baek Sahyun released the arm that had been holding me. Perhaps the talk about going on a date was only meant to threaten Seo Jeongmin’s group, as he urged me to hurry home.
“Why did you buy me clothes?”
If it was a situation that would be resolved this quickly, I could have just thrown on anything at home, so this was quite wasteful.
Disgustingly, Baek Sahyun, who personally opened the passenger door, shoved me into the car while saying:
“To show off.”
That damn showing off…
“What? Your wealth?”
“That even if I’m not wearing a suit and polished shoes like you guys, Nam Heejae is special to me.”
For a moment, I felt a strange feeling. Perhaps it was even similar to… fluttering. Because my heart dropped heavily once.
Just before pushing the car door closed, Baek Sahyun tapped my cheek with his palm, not painfully.
“Precisely, it’s because some old bachelor inside Nam Heejae seems to have become special to me, so be careful.”
“……”
“Beyond all that, I wanted to buy it for you. Originally when you have someone you want to look good for, men open their wallets, right?”
Thud, with those final words, the car door closed. While I was frozen unable to say anything, Baek Sahyun went around to the back of the car, opened the driver’s door, and got in.
“Let’s go home and rest. Today ends the trip.”
Even though it wasn’t particularly noteworthy words, my insides kept churning. Whether I was getting motion sickness or the hit-and-run trauma was flaring up…
I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned my head against the car window. Then that crazy bastard Baek Sahyun rolled down the window with a whirr and almost caused a big accident.
“You crazy bastard! This is attempted murder!”
When I screamed, shocked out of my wits, Baek Sahyun answered as if it was nothing.
“I rolled it down because there were no cars around, what. If there were, your head would’ve flown off, so how can you say that.”
Even the excuse is fucking terrible. Feeling anger instead of churning, I let out a groan. That inexplicable fluttering I felt earlier was… definitely a mistake.
As if I’d be crazy enough to feel fluttering for this psycho.
