“Honey.”
At the term of endearment that suddenly struck, my rolling head stopped as if it had crashed into something. Though it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, this was probably the first time it was directly addressed to me.
Taking advantage of the gap where I paused for a moment, Ruvlian pulled me closer into an embrace. Trapped in his arms in an instant, I ended up in a position straddling his thighs. Before I could even try to escape, his moving lips captured my attention.
“Why don’t you tell me that’s bullshit? Was it perhaps a secret signal you were sending me? To kiss you because you’re cute like a puppy?”
And then bullshit popped out. How could someone with such a mouth only spit out such nonsensical words? I wanted to open up his head and take a look inside.
How do his thoughts jump like that? Humanly speaking, how could telling him not to talk bullshit be a secret signal asking for a kiss? It was absurd.
“I didn’t notice all this time…… Sihyeon, should we do it all at once today?”
Having already noticed my exasperation, Ruvlian deliberately spoke with a shy smile. He gently rubbed his cheek against my shoulder, then curved his eyes a little more.
“Yees?”
As I just silently watched him wheedling and clinging in his accustomed way, parallel world Ruvlian who had been observing this tilted his head.
“Rather than what I said…… your behavior is more dog-like. No wait, are you a fox cub who knows nothing?”
“What should I do, Sihyeon? I didn’t know even that person would find me cute. I have you, so it feels disgusting.”
Before I could respond to the coldly delivered languid voice, Ruvlian struck. His gorgeous face immediately took on a troubled look, and his golden eyelashes trembled as if he’d met a molester.
……Was he really crazy? Though I knew well that Ruvlian was insane, it was a thought that came reflexively. Parallel world Ruvlian also had an absurd face as if thinking similarly to me. He was definitely different from before reversing time. If it were him back then, he would have naturally countered.
“This is really insane……”
Instead of letting out admiration like this.
“You’re really amazing. How did you bewitch me and this crazy bastard?”
The gaze that had been directed at Ruvlian moved to me. The eyes clearer than before were full of interest. He seemed to want to keep me close and study me.
He was looking at someone like a test subject. It was like that before reversing time, but even now he wasn’t particularly normal.
“Turn off your interest. It’d be troublesome if you cling to my honey like before. Because we’re getting married.”
“……You’re getting married?”
“We decided to live together forever. Unlike someone, since I’m a ‘bastard’ I’m young and in my prime. Younger is better than an old man, isn’t it?”
“Bastards are naive and prone to whining, so you get sick of them quickly. Looking at what you’re doing…… it seems like you decided on marriage on your own too. It’ll end quickly.”
At some point, the marriage talk without the party’s consent had turned into a war of nerves. Two identical people with equally narrowed eyes glared at each other. I had the illusion of sparks flying in the air.
How did the conversation change like this? Ruvlian had the talent of changing topics however he wanted whenever he opened his mouth. This time too, he must have intentionally changed the flow like this. It was closer to certainty than a guess.
“Honey, that side is denying reality, what should we do? It’s such an eyesore, I can’t let our honey’s eyes go bad.”
Just when I thought the conversation had roughly ended, he drew me in. Ruvlian made a face of genuine concern and blinked slowly. Soon he moved one of the arms wrapped around my waist to place his hand on my cheek and made me look at him.
“……What are you doing?”
“Mm, treatment? Our honey’s eyes should only see good things.”
Then he laughed softly while drawing out his words charmingly.
Round lips that seemed drawn with delicate brushstrokes, a prominent nose without a single blemish, eye shape drawing graceful arcs. Affection overflowing uncontrollably from eyes containing my favorite color. Everything harmonized together. If the word ‘handsome’ were personified, it would surely be like this.
The reason I couldn’t refute the words ‘good things’ was also because of that. How could I deny it to such a face, to such a smile? I shut my mouth tightly.
Ruvlian, who noticed my thoughts like a ghost, laughed softly and whispered ticklishly in my ear.
“How good do you think it is?”
“……”
“Is it good because it’s cute? Or is it good because it’s pretty? Or because it’s honey’s?”
He was so good at saying embarrassing words in this situation. It wasn’t just the two of us, and recalling that we’d been having a serious conversation with parallel world Ruvlian, how thick-skinned was he? It was to an impressive degree.
Parallel world Ruvlian’s eyes had long since turned cold. The eyes beneath the narrowed eye shape were terribly unsuited to the word ‘smile.’ It was amazing that he was curving his eyes with such a gaze.
“So, when are you leaving?”
“Mm? Honey, he’s trying to kick us out quickly? I was also getting sick of being here, so shall we go now?”
Surely the aftermath of reversing time was great, as parallel world Ruvlian was pushed back a bit. The moment his mouth made a small gap after running his hand through his hair once, magic was cast. Without even a gap for anyone else to interfere, the fastest I’d ever seen.
After slight dizziness, what entered my vision was a long, large sofa, a square desk piled with documents and a wooden chair, a room with an overall dark tone. I couldn’t not know it since I’d been here before. This was the Master of the Magic Tower’s room.
“Ruvlian.”
“Yees. Why?”
Ruvlian, who answered meekly, had a face saying he’d done nothing wrong. Causing trouble and pretending otherwise was no different from before.
My head hurt. I had no idea what he was thinking doing this. I removed the arm wrapped around my waist and properly looked straight at Ruvlian.
“What are you thinking?”
I knew he wasn’t someone who acted without thinking. Though there was a time he said he was going to the temple recklessly, back then he had to follow the flow of the past so I’ll let it slide.
Ruvlian, who had been staring at me intently, smiled a smile so fresh it could create the optical illusion of a flower bud blooming. Soon a voice that couldn’t be more refreshing spread through the room.
“What do you think I was doing while you were living for 14 years?”
Come to think of it, because of the sudden kisses, skinship, and parallel world Ruvlian, I hadn’t felt that something was strange. If it were Ruvlian, the moment he remembered, he’d be the type to come running immediately. Like he did before reversing time.
Moreover, since he said he’d lost his memories ‘for a while’…… I racked my brain briefly, but nothing I could be certain of came to mind. I just roughly guessed it might be related to parallel world Ruvlian.
“As soon as I remembered, I wanted to run to Sihyeon, but I held it in and researched barrier magic circles.”
“……Barrier?”
“Yes. Do you remember the reason we parted when I came to find Sihyeon?”
As if having become a kind teacher, Ruvlian asked in a gentle tone. However, inside it was like a sharply honed blade. It meant that despite his smiling face, his displeasure was severely revealed.
Searching my memories, I recalled when Ruvlian transferred schools under the name Lee Hyun. In the end, the memory led to a scene where parallel world Ruvlian appeared.
“Parallel world Ruvlian?”
When I spoke as if asking back to Ruvlian with his troublesome face, he nodded.
“That’s right. So this time I didn’t want to be interrupted.”
“……The barrier, then,”
“It’s to prevent that crazy bastard from crossing over to this world.”
It was a matter-of-fact tone. I almost unknowingly agreed and moved on at his quite nonchalant gesture. I first examined every corner of Ruvlian’s body.
Last time, just inventing one time magic and experimenting on my body, arms flying off or legs flying off was commonplace. But a barrier magic? In fact, that was also closely related to dimension travel. Since it was magic to block that movement.
My worry about Ruvlian came before the parallel world Ruvlian and Demon God problems. Having looked him over thoroughly, I was relieved at the fact that there were no wounds. Of course, he must have brought a priest and made them heal him from the side. There was no way not a single part was cut or injured while attempting it.
Then suddenly a large shadow fell. Ruvlian, who embraced me tightly as if attacking, rained kisses on my face continuously.
“What are you, mmph.”
As I tried to continue speaking, he rubbed his lips against mine while making smooch sounds. Unlike before, he looked genuinely happy so I lost my words. At what point was the button pressed? I couldn’t find that point. It seemed I wouldn’t know even after seeing him for several more years.
“Ah, really…… I like you so much.”
“……”
“How can you be this lovable? I like you so much I’m going crazy…… I thought I’d already gone crazy enough to be crazy, but I guess not.”
He brought my hand to his cheek and spoke while moving it as if rubbing. Because of that, his breath and the air from his mouth were transmitted directly to my skin. Though I was used to soft skin touching my palm, the fully relaxed eyes and flushed cheeks were erotic. My fingertips flinched slightly.
I should be asking and pressing, but that wasn’t going well. It was partly because of worry about researching magic related to worlds again, and partly because he remembered the confession.
Since there was no longer a need to hide my heart and pretend otherwise, even while reason said I shouldn’t, the heart buried deep occasionally confirmed its existence. It wasn’t being controlled well at all. It was chaos.
“I like you so much. You’re so lovable and cute. I can’t control my emotions, so rather than other words, these words pop out. Really, what should I do? I should be explaining, but I can only think that I like you.”
As if I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t control it, the earnest confession I heard settled in my ears. As if trying to cool down the heat, he kept rubbing his hot cheeks against my cold palms. However, it seemed to only get hotter because of the friction instead. Both my hands and Ruvlian’s cheeks.
I swept my face with the hand that wasn’t caught. This was really serious. I should stop liking him, but I had a premonition that would be impossible. The fluid emotion seemed like it would be fixed only when it came to Ruvlian.
Soft and ticklish, just like this.
