“So you’re only going to kiss?”
The corners of Raon’s mouth twitched upward as he gently stroked the back of Jaehwi’s head soothingly. He could feel the strength entering Jaehwi’s body, which had been leaning against him with relaxed muscles. At Jaehwi’s long sigh that flowed out instead of an answer, Raon’s upper body finally shook.
“Are you laughing? You’re laughing right now?”
“Then. Should I cry?”
“Like there’s no tomorrow?”
Raon cupped both of Jaehwi’s cheeks with his hands as he straightened his body and looked down at him with an expression of disbelief, then raised his heels.
“My condition has fully returned, and though it’s not as much as when I was receiving guiding training, a lot of my energy has come back.”
With their lips barely touching, Raon whispered softly. Jaehwi’s words burrowed into Raon’s chest. Did we have a tomorrow? They had talked about the illusion dungeon they would face in the near future, and discussed finding a solution as much as possible before that.
It hadn’t been just an hour or two since they regressed—several days had already passed. No danger had approached them, Raon’s energy had gradually returned, and most importantly, Bbobbo and the Golem weren’t by their side. People were completely unaware that the same time was repeating, and Bbobbo and the Golem had disappeared without a trace.
Moreover, as Raon’s energy gradually returned, Jaehwi’s condition improved. The cracks in his skin disappeared, and the serious burn marks and scars gradually faded—all these situations were indicating that they had escaped the illusion dungeon.
That’s why they had made quite a few contingency plans. They knew most of the dungeons that would occur in the future, and clearly remembered the dungeon where they met Bbobbo and the Golem. Jaehwi’s ability would influence dungeon breakthrough, but Raon’s support seemed necessary above all.
Since the reason for regression seemed to lie with the two of them, they should figure that out, and if Raon really had a taming ability, going through as many dungeons as possible from now on and taming dungeon masters was also a method. Because the more allies inside a dungeon, the more advantageous it would be.
They had many conversations about this future, but they never mentioned anything related to their feelings for each other that were buried at the very bottom.
Was it reasonable that they suppressed and couldn’t even express each other’s hearts, afraid that if they spoke about it, variables might occur, afraid that their days together might be the last? They liked embracing each other like this, liked kissing. When even their heartbeats felt in sync with their chests pressed together, how long should they just stare like at a persimmon they couldn’t eat?
Since there’s no tomorrow, they should focus on today. That’s right.
“Hwi-ya.”
“……”
“There is no tomorrow. There’s only today.”
Watching a red energy settle in his black eyes, Raon slowly tilted his head and brought his lips to the hot lips, avoiding his high nose.
“If we get trapped in the illusion dungeon, don’t save me. It seems I need to die for us to regress. Then we can meet again at the same time. And let’s love each other again. Then. Even if we die it’s not really dying, and even if we part it’s not really parting, and we’ll be together continuously.”
Since Jaehwi didn’t budge even with their lips pressed together, Raon spoke without removing his lips and hugged his neck even tighter.
“Kang Raon.”
Just hearing his name in Jaehwi’s low baritone voice made Raon sigh lowly at the thrill flowing through his entire body.
“Raon-ah.”
When he stayed still, his name flowed from his lips once again.
“You know I can’t do that.”
At Jaehwi’s speech that was full of hesitation and therefore slower than usual, Raon clicked his tongue and playfully kissed his lips dozens of times quickly and briefly.
“Stop thinking about my death. How about thinking about how to kill me in bed?”
Still not avoiding the deep, dark eyes gazing at him, Raon winked when a short “Ah” burst from his mouth. Why would someone suddenly grab a person’s waist and lift them up? Suddenly lifted into the air, Raon urgently grabbed his shoulders.
“If you say things like this in a restaurant parking lot, what am I supposed to do! Did you go around learning methods to drive people crazy?”
“It’ll probably take about 20 minutes to get home.”
Even when he covered a distance that normally took 20 minutes in just 10 minutes.
Even when Jaehwi, who had parked haphazardly in front of the house, pulled him out of the driver’s seat as if dragging him out.
Even when he didn’t carry him but slung him over his shoulder and strode into the bedroom in one go with his long legs.
Raon bit his lips tightly and couldn’t even breathe properly.
He hadn’t fanned the flames of a burning house but had shouldered an oil drum himself and jumped in, so the responsibility was his to bear.
* * *
Jay slowly inhaled and exhaled as he saw Jaehwi passing through the living room in comfortable clothes as if it were his own home. It was because he saw not only the hair that still had moisture as if he had just showered, but also the marks clearly remaining on his back that wasn’t covered by anything.
Usually at 8 o’clock, he would go to work at the hotel or house where Raon was staying, and the start of his daily routine was helping with his preparations to go to work or waiting for him to finish preparing and taking him to the company. But today, all those routines were completely thrown off.
It started with a phone call on the way to work.
A scandal. He couldn’t say anything while he stopped the car on the shoulder and checked the news uploading in real-time. Paparazzi following celebrities or popular Espers and Guides were common. And there were others who drew people’s attention. Third-generation chaebols with brilliant appearances and outstanding abilities were also enough to stimulate people’s curiosity.
There was chaos from the morning with news of Raon’s romance, who had no significant scandals until now. They said the main family was responding quickly after hearing the news, but words were being added as people encountered interesting gossip during their commute to work.
Photos were posted in chronological order: appearing at a famous restaurant with a man they’d never seen before, hurriedly leaving in the middle of a meal, next kissing in the parking lot and casually touching each other, even lifting each other up, putting on quite a show, then hurriedly getting in the car and leaving. If it had just been news of a third-generation chaebol’s romance, it might have been buried as one of many gossips, but what gave power to this article spreading was one comment.
—The man accompanying him is Nox.
The anonymous comment contained the word “Nox,” which was currently receiving everyone’s attention. Below it, someone else using the power of anonymity wrote that they were affiliated with NCSC and the companion was indeed Nox. When someone affiliated with MK Center added that they had seen him at the center and it was definitely Nox. Literally, chaos broke out.
Most of the content was related to his face, which had always been hidden behind black clothing and a mask. With linked content, Nox, MK Center, and Kang Raon went up and down. Moreover, since the most likely place for Nox to contract with currently was MK Center, and the team leader of that MK Center was Kang Raon, it was literally a situation where the grill was properly set up.
When he came to Raon’s house to handle this tremendous news as quickly as possible, a man with traces that could solve questions about what happened last night was calmly drinking cold water.
“Young Master.”
“He just fell asleep not long ago, so let him sleep more. There’s nothing particularly urgent today, and if it’s really urgent, you can turn it into remote work.”
Jay stared at Jaehwi, who cut him off cleanly as soon as he opened his mouth. The atmosphere between the two had been strange while spending time together for the past few days. But since it didn’t seem like something he should intervene in, he had stayed quiet. Jay’s head was dizzy, having been scolded by Madam about what he had been doing until things got to this point, and what would happen to Raon’s arranged meeting scheduled for next month.
“It’s urgent, so you need to go to the main house right now.”
“What’s the matter?”
At Jaehwi’s informal speech, who was ten years younger than him, Jay hardened his expression. Then, saying he would talk directly with the Young Master, he headed toward the bedroom but urgently stopped at a small fireball lodging itself in front of his feet.
“The Young Master you serve so well. He just fell asleep and is tired. If it’s urgent, tell me. I’ll convey it.”
“Check the internet.”
Just because the other side was being unreasonable didn’t mean he could act the same way, so he tried to head to the bedroom avoiding the carpet that had burned black in a circle, but his feet wouldn’t lift as if stuck to the ground. Jaehwi’s eyebrows moved slightly as he held a mobile phone in one hand and checked something.
“Fuck. I wondered what kind of bastard was lurking around, turns out he was a son of a bitch who eats warm meals and does useless shit. So. Because of this, that great family is summoning him?”
The moment their eyes met as Jaehwi casually used profanity, Jay unconsciously lowered his eyes that had been looking at him.
