“I’ll have to think about it gradually.”
“…I don’t think obsession is good…”
When I stayed still, thinking he should finish quickly, Lee Hyeonseok sneered at me and spouted nonsense. His voice was full of amusement. The devil wasn’t far away. I got goosebumps. My mouth moved on its own accord once again. Even though I realized my mistake, I couldn’t even think of smoothing it over. Fortunately, Lee Hyeonseok mercifully seemed to forgive me, pretending not to hear and removing his hand from my cheek. Ridiculously, I felt gratitude.
“Mmm…”
While I was standing awkwardly, wondering how to leave this place, I heard a groan from below. It was a sound coming from Lee Juwon. It seemed he was about to regain consciousness. Looking at his cheek, swollen more than my wrist, I somehow felt sorry. He had stepped up to help me, but thinking about it, I had only been desperate for my own safety. But I thought you’d be okay…
I glanced back and forth between Lee Hyeonseok and Lee Juwon. Lee Hyeonseok didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. Rather, he seemed to be observing how I would act. Since it seemed he had no intention of causing harm for now, I cautiously checked on Lee Juwon’s condition. The dark blue bruise on his pale white face was pitiful. He must have been in considerable pain, as he frowned while intermittently letting out faint groans.
“Um…”
Seeing him about to open his eyes at any moment, I tried calling out to him once. Even while doing so, I didn’t stop glancing at Lee Hyeonseok. It was to avoid rubbing him the wrong way as much as possible. Since Lee Hyeonseok didn’t show any particular reaction, I stopped looking at him and focused properly on Lee Juwon.
“Lee Juwon…? Lee Juwon, are you coming to your senses a bit?”
I called out to him while shaking his body with more force than before. Then suddenly I worried whether I should wake him up now. If I woke him and they created their own world again, I would be the only one in trouble. I had acted too thoughtlessly at his appearance of seeming about to open his eyes.
But it felt wrong to just abandon him and leave, and while I considered carrying him to the nurse’s office, I was conscious of Lee Hyeonseok’s gaze. And if I woke him up, I didn’t know how the situation would turn out again. Either way, I could see a future where only my fate got twisted.
“Ah… mmm…”
While I was unable to do either this or that, Lee Juwon let out another groan. Even his eyelids trembled. Soon he slowly blinked his eyes open and closed. I was still confused, but Lee Juwon eventually regained consciousness.
“……”
“Are, are you okay…?”
My eyes met with Lee Juwon’s as he turned his head with a dazed face, still not seeming to be in his right mind. I asked worriedly at his confused appearance. Lee Juwon, who had been staring blankly at me, seemed to come to his senses and abruptly sat up. I looked at Lee Juwon while clutching my startled heart.
“Ugh, ah! It hurts…”
Lee Juwon touched his cheek, perhaps because the cheek he was hit on hurt from moving so suddenly. It was truly pitiful beyond words. Lee Hyeonseok looked at Lee Juwon with an unimpressed expression, while I looked at him with a worried expression. The first one Lee Juwon discovered was me.
“Huh? You…!”
Lee Juwon, who discovered me, tilted his head as if he couldn’t remember for a moment. I obediently waited until Lee Juwon recalled. Lee Juwon seemed to remember quickly and acknowledged me.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m okay… Are you okay?”
As soon as Lee Juwon finished thinking, he worried about me. For someone who got hit trying to help me, he was a really good guy. I wasn’t okay, but I answered that I was.
“That’s a relief.”
“…Thank you.”
I guess you need this level of character to be a protagonist. I was moved by the first goodwill I’d seen since coming to this novel when I suddenly felt pressure. Lee Juwon must have felt it too, as he turned around with a startled look. And then he discovered him. Lee Hyeonseok looking down at me and Lee Juwon with fierce eyes, twisted by something again.
“Huk!”
This time Lee Juwon was terrified. It was quite different from his confident appearance before fainting. Understandably so. The shock of being hit by someone who would absolutely never harm him would not be light at all. Lee Juwon even trembled slightly and stepped backward. At that sight, Lee Hyeonseok snorted. Lee Juwon’s face turned bright red, perhaps feeling embarrassed seeing Han Hyeonseok like that. But this time too, he still couldn’t say anything.
“You.”
“……”
Hyeonseok called Lee Juwon. Lee Juwon waited for his words like someone waiting for a verdict. I became tense along with him.
“Try acting up to me one more time.”
Hyeonseok warned Lee Juwon with an expressionless face and cold voice. Lee Juwon would know now too. That those words weren’t just words.
“You’ll really die.”
That Han Hyeonseok really might not let Lee Juwon off. Lee Juwon somehow looked sad. I didn’t know what this novel was about, but if it was a novel where they all lived together in the end, it meant Lee Juwon also liked Han Hyeonseok. To be suddenly cast aside like this by such a Han Hyeonseok, it was understandable to be sad. Of course, there were no signs that Lee Juwon seemed to like Han Hyeonseok, but I didn’t know what it was really like.
“…Ugh.”
Lee Juwon eventually ran out of the room. …Leaving me behind… Lee Hyeonseok didn’t stop Lee Juwon as he ran out. So Lee Juwon was able to leave this place very easily. Leaving me behind…
“Uh uh…”
I just stared blankly at Lee Juwon running out with wide eyes and a stupid face, as if I were the tragic protagonist of a drama or movie. For some reason I felt futile, but all that came out was a stupid question.
What just happened? So, I got into a quarrel because of a slip of the tongue, Lee Juwon rushed in saying he’d save me, got hit once, fainted, then got hurt and ran out alone.
I decided not to particularly resent Lee Juwon for leaving me behind. It was bitter, but Lee Juwon had no obligation to help me. I should be grateful just that he stepped up to try to help.
“For a protagonist, he’s quite heartless.”
What bullshit. Lee Hyeonseok was the terrible one, Lee Juwon did nothing wrong. He could have been like that from receiving considerable shock. At his absurd remark, I unknowingly frowned, and Lee Hyeonseok placed his hand on my furrowed brow.
“Let’s manage your expressions well too, yeah?”
Son of a bitch. There was no other son of a bitch like him. He was a guy who deserved to be treated that way even by his younger sister. I want to make him regret today someday. I want to make him read my mood, and make him crawl when told to crawl and bow when told to bow.
“Yes.”
However, I know that will never happen even if I die and come back to life. The sight of Lee Hyeonseok crawling to me is as impossible as Lee Hyeonseok confessing that he loves me. I answered like someone who only knows how to say ‘yes.’
“Because I like dogs that listen well.”
“Aren’t there many other dogs that listen well besides me?”
What a bastard with real character problems. A dog that listens well – even if it’s not me, there must be many paid professionals who listen well and have good skills. I don’t understand why he’s clinging to me like this when I have nothing to offer.
“New things are always fresh.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be better if they’re useful? You might die from frustration if I’m next to you.”
“Will you be intact before my insides burst?”
“I’ll do well.”
“You should.”
Every time he opened his mouth, it was bullshit. It seemed my insides were going to burst for the time being. I’d be fine if it was just bullshit, but unfortunately he was a man of action. In the end, I gave up and decided to obediently humor him until Lee Hyeonseok got tired of me. He must have gained interest now because we’re from the same origin, but he would surely get bored soon.
“You’re hoping I get tired of you quickly.”
“Oh come on, as if.”
Even though I tried to hide it, Lee Hyeonseok saw right through me at once, as if it was obvious. I flinched but quickly played dumb and acted nonchalant. Lee Hyeonseok sneered at me as if I was ridiculous.
“I’m really curious what you’ll manifest as.”
“Manifest?”
Lee Hyeonseok spouted bullshit that was hard to just let pass. I earnestly pondered his words to interpret what he meant. However, knowing nothing about this novel, I found it quite difficult to guess.
“You don’t know? I thought you knew the genre?”
“…Omegaverse BL novel…?”
“Right. Omegaverse BL novel.”
This time Lee Hyeonseok asked a question I could answer. Still, I answered somehow without confidence. But Lee Hyeonseok confirmed it was correct and repeated it. Peculiarly putting an accent on the word ‘omegaverse.’
However, having lived cut off from web novels, I didn’t know what omegaverse was, so I couldn’t properly grasp his meaning. During the approximately half year since I transmigrated, aside from the main characters engaging in melodrama and throwing money around, everyone had been living normally. So even if I wanted to guess, I couldn’t.
“……?”
“…You don’t know?”
As I failed to understand to the end, Lee Hyeonseok showed a more uncomfortable expression himself. I carefully nodded. When I looked at him with a face that knew nothing, he frowned. He looked like he really didn’t want to explain it to me. He seemed displeased that he knew the knowledge of ‘omegaverse.’
“Never mind, if you don’t know.”
“Please, just a bit…”
As Lee Hyeonseok tried to leave without hesitation, I, startled, grabbed his sleeve. Since I was going to get entangled anyway, it was better to be tossed around knowing something rather than being tossed around knowing nothing. When I acted weakly, clinging to him with the meaning of asking him to show some mercy, Lee Hyeonseok flinched.
“…Well, it’s nothing much. In about three months, a new gender will be discovered.”
“A new gender?”
Lee Hyeonseok let out a deep sigh once and spoke while looking elsewhere. A new gender – was he talking about types of gender?
“It’ll just become a promiscuous society.”
