Becoming comrades with the protagonist of your favorite novel?
That’s a reward.
Solving incidents with the protagonist of your favorite novel.
That’s also a reward.
But the protagonist of your favorite novel using your thighs to masturbate…
There was no way that could be a reward.
“Ash.”
At the hand shaking my shoulder, I slowly lifted my eyelids that were so swollen they barely opened. The face soaked in desire had disappeared and Kiss, who had returned to his cold face, came into view. I tried to spit out something like a curse, but my throat was so swollen that words wouldn’t come out properly. Unlike me who couldn’t even open my eyes properly, the moment I saw his beautiful face that somehow looked much more refreshed than the day before, fury surged up.
“Even if it hurts, stay still for a moment.”
“…”
“Your nose bone might be broken.”
My face burned as the memory I’d barely pushed away floated back to the surface. I was simply amazed at how he could so shamelessly face me after doing such a thing. Kiss, who had been carefully touching the bridge of my nose as I trembled from anger, smiled brightly as if relieved.
“It’s not broken, it seems only the inner mucous membrane burst a little.”
Not a trace of sexual frustration could be seen on his brightly smiling face. That was natural. My thighs, my butt, everything was sticky with something whose identity I could guess. Kiss, who had been rummaging through the soup bowl placed on his knee without being deterred by my expression full of hatred, held out a spoon.
“I got some food while you were asleep, want to eat?”
A delicious smell pierced my nose. Since I hadn’t been able to eat properly after falling into the Void, I unconsciously opened my mouth saying “ah.” And at that moment, the spoon that should naturally have entered my mouth poked my nostril. Kiss, who had been smiling slightly, spoke in a voice as if he was dying of amusement.
“Oops, my mistake.”
“…”
“Your nostril was swollen so I thought it was your mouth.”
I finally acknowledged it. That this bastard Kiss was a devil wearing an angel’s mask. That the evil hidden inside that beautiful appearance was almost at a disaster level. Kiss, who had been watching me convulse with my eyes rolled back in indignation, wiped the soup on my nose with his thumb after propping up my chin and said.
“Weren’t you prepared for at least that much when you opened the door in the first place?”
“Who, cough… who would be prepared for that kind of…”
An ominous thought flashed through my throat that was more stinging than usual. I asked in a trembling voice.
“…N-no way, right?”
“What?”
“Shoving your dick into a sleeping person’s mouth or something…”
“Then you should have endured without passing out.”
Rather than explaining, Kiss, who was actually reproaching me, shoved the spoon into my mouth again. The sad part was that even in this situation, the soup Kiss was feeding me was delicious. Why do I have such strong survival instincts? Why do I feel this soup Kiss is feeding me is delicious even after suffering such humiliation? Kiss, who had been staring at me eating well even while shedding tears from the injustice, muttered as if finding it fascinating.
“I fed you enough semen to fill you up, so why are you hungry?”
“Urgh…”
At the meaningful words, I ended up vomiting out all the soup I’d barely swallowed. Kiss’s laughter passed over my head like wind as I gasped for breath while lying face down. In the original work, he seemed much kinder to Ash than this, so I couldn’t understand what emotional change made him act so meanly.
“Kiss-nim is mean.”
I snapped in a choked voice while holding my stinging throat. Kiss, who had been listening indifferently, tilted his head while propping up his chin as if telling me to say more. As if he’d been waiting, he threw out a question.
“You’re doing this because you hate me, right?”
“No.”
“…”
“I realized yesterday, I don’t hate you. Ash.”
I became serious along with Kiss’s suddenly serious expression. Kiss, who had been intently staring at the scab formed on my lips, reached out and caressed my lower lip.
“I…”
“…”
“I think I want to torment you enough to make you want to die.”
“That’s the same thing!”
Kiss, who had been silent, got up. And he put on the robe that had been hanging at the head of the bed.
“The snow has stopped, but the inn is still full of monsters. I’ll go deal with those monsters, so stay in the room.”
“…You will come back, right?”
“After I did that to you, you still want me to come back?”
“Well, pride doesn’t feed me…”
I picked up the soup bowl that only had a little left. My stomach felt bad, but I had to eat somehow to survive. After scraping clean even the last spoonful and putting down the bowl, I said.
“You picked the wrong person. My only strong point is cockroach-like survival ability.”
“…”
“No matter how much you torment me, I won’t die. I don’t expect anything from Kiss-nim in the first place. So I’m not disappointed either.”
Kiss, who had been silently looking at me, turned around without answering and left the room. It seemed he’d lost interest at the reaction different from his expectations. Regardless, I yawned widely from fatigue that wouldn’t go away and muttered.
“Should I sleep some more…”
I was squirming to get back under the blanket when I stopped. It was because of my appearance reflected in the mirror above the fireplace. I don’t know how many times he’d chewed on me during the brief time I passed out, but my entire nape was mottled with congestion. I muttered in a fed-up voice.
“Scary, was he really sexually frustrated.”
* * *
Bang, bang.
Just as I was comfortably catching up on missed sleep for a moment, I opened my eyes wide at the sound of someone roughly pounding on the door. There was no way a monster would politely knock on the door, so it was probably Kiss who had returned. With the thought that he could just ask me to open it instead of pounding on the door so hard, I irritably opened the door.
“What is it?”
A dumbfounded voice came out unconsciously from my flustered heart. It wasn’t Kiss standing in front of the door. For some reason, it was Deus holding a large whole cake in both hands. Deus, who had been silently looking down at me rubbing my eyes thinking it was a dream, said with a shy smile.
“Happy birthday.”
Silence flowed. I raised one eyebrow and asked back.
“Whose birthday is it? My birthday is still far away.”
“Actually I wanted to come visit but didn’t have a good excuse.”
Still an extraordinary thought process. I glared at Deus, who had become strangely friendly, with suspicious eyes. Deus, whose eyes met mine, flinched and turned his gaze elsewhere.
“Why are you suddenly reading my mood?”
“…”
“Hurry up and talk.”
Deus, who had been keeping silent, opened his mouth with a face full of complaints.
“It’s upsetting that only you two are playing without me. If you’re going to do naughty things anyway, include me too. It would have been more fun with three people.”
“It’s not like a board game. No, why didn’t you attack us in the first place when you knew we were here?”
“I was busy making a birthday cake…”
So why are you making a cake when it’s not even my birthday? Toward me who had fallen into confusion, Deus shyly held out the cake. On top of the dark red cake sprinkled with nails and thumbtacks, the sentence ‘Happy Birthday, David!’ was scrawled in white chocolate pen. Not only was it not my birthday, I definitely wasn’t David either. But I couldn’t refuse Deus who was looking at me with an expression full of anticipation, so I reluctantly accepted the cake.
“Thanks.”
“I… it’s my first time celebrating someone’s birthday.”
“…”
“But by any chance, is there such a thing as a deathbed party? I want to do that for you too.”
I pushed away Deus’s face with my elbow as he naturally tried to embrace my waist. I put down the psychopath cake that seemed like it would punch holes in my esophagus if I took one bite and sighed.
“Come in for now, let’s talk before Kiss comes.”
Kiss and I had opposing goals. Kiss’s goal was to eliminate Deus’s existence itself, and my goal was to protect Deus. At first, my head hurt over how to solve this problem, but I thought it was important to first ask the person in question’s opinion.
“Kiss is planning to eliminate you, I’m the opposite.”
“…”
“Which would you prefer?”
Deus, who naturally sat next to me, grabbed my arm and sat me between his legs. And he leaned his body against my back and rubbed his face against my nape.
“He’s made such a mess of your pretty neck that was fine if left alone…”
A voice tinged with regret pierced my ears. Deus, who had been caressing the congestion remaining on my nape with his fingertips, spoke as if he knew.
“Ash wants to get out of here, right?”
“…”
“You know too, but this world won’t disappear unless I die. But actually it doesn’t matter if I die. I’ve already tried everything worth doing in the Void anyway, and I’ve passed the age of fearing death.”
It was a peaceful attitude as if talking about someone else’s story. Deus, who had been lightly scratching the skin with his nails as if trying to remove the congestion, added in a sunken voice.
“However, if I have to die anyway…”
The hand that had been scratching the congestion grabbed my chin and turned it. Deus, whose eyes met mine, smiled faintly.
“I want to die by your hand.”
It was a murder-for-hire request like a love confession.
