# Chapter 19
This kind of play won’t work. It could become 18+!
But if he showed his shock to that clearly twisted personality, he would obviously be teased even more. Wonyoung pretended to have a poker face and said calmly:
“Put on your clothes, Siyeon. You’ll catch a cold.”
The problem was that while Heo Wonyoung’s face might have managed to feign composure, Narae’s face couldn’t. Siyeon grinned as he looked at Wonyoung’s face, which had turned as red as a tomato, and his aimlessly shifting pupils.
“Hyung, aren’t you curious if I took off the bottom too?”
‘Damn it, I’m not curious!’
This snake was at it again. But unfortunately, his gaze wasn’t obeying his mind and was directed toward Siyeon’s lower body covered by the blanket.
“Wow, where are you looking? Hyung, you’re more of a pervert than I thought.”
“I am not!”
“Want to see? I’m big.”
“Get…”
About to say “get lost” regardless of the penalty, Wonyoung suddenly froze, his words caught in his throat. A notification window was floating before his eyes, as if mocking him.
[Rae’s status has become ‘Embarrassment’ at the thought of possibly seeing Siyeon’s junior. It will be difficult to speak easily due to trembling and anticipation.]
[Status: Embarrassed (❤´艸｀❤)]
‘Damn it, here we go again!’
Wonyoung squeezed his eyes shut, at a loss for what to do. He didn’t want to see anyone’s junior. Can it just suddenly go to an 18+ scenario like this? What will happen to my life now? At that point, Wonyoung even wondered if he could manage it safely having never done it with a man before, until he belatedly heard Siyeon’s laughter.
“Haha, hahahaha…!”
When he carefully opened his eyes, he saw Siyeon holding his stomach, laughing. And below that, his perfectly intact pants.
Instantly furious, Wonyoung hit Siyeon’s chest with all his might.
“You! Really! Don’t! Play! Around!”
“Ow, ow, that hurts. It hurts, hyung. This is all your fault to begin with. I’ve been thinking this since I first saw you, but why are you so cute?”
“Get lost!”
Despite accumulating Warning #1, Wonyoung could rank this “get lost” as the #1 phrase he had uttered in his life without regret. He sincerely wished Siyeon would get lost.
But since Siyeon wouldn’t get lost, he had to get lost himself. Wonyoung got up and came out of the bed, then tilted his head curiously at a stained shirt dripping with water.
“What’s that?”
He had never left something like that. Siyeon also got up and apologized.
“Ah, I’m sorry, hyung.”
“Sorry? Is that your shirt?”
“Yes.”
Looking back and forth between the slightly embarrassed Siyeon and the shirt with red stains, Wonyoung finally understood the situation.
“Ah, is there blood on the shirt?”
“…Well, a little.”
“It’s not your blood, right? You didn’t seem hurt anywhere.”
“…”
Siyeon didn’t answer, but judging by the situation, it seemed to be someone else’s blood. Since he hadn’t come back injured, Wonyoung was satisfied with that. At least he wouldn’t have to take care of him until his stamina hit 0.
Moreover, though it didn’t feel entirely real, this was a world inside a game. In games, whoever gets hurt, it’s all just an illusion. It might sound cold, but as long as the character to be pursued was safe, the rest wasn’t Wonyoung’s concern.
Wonyoung chuckled as he picked up the damp shirt.
“Did you wash it because of the blood?”
“I couldn’t leave your bed covered in blood, could I?”
Looking at Siyeon pouting and the shirt ruined with spreading stains, Wonyoung was once again struck by how young he still was. At times like this, he actually seemed a little cute.
‘No, what am I thinking while holding a bloody shirt?’
Of course, he quickly shook his head to clear the thought.
“I’ll wash it again. Wait and don’t play around.”
“Play around? What kind of play? Hand play?”
“Grrrr.”
Wonyoung gritted his teeth in warning, but he himself had to receive a warning from the game. That was already 2 accumulated warnings. And it wasn’t even midday yet. He felt like crying.
‘Ah, this crappy game. What do I do about these warnings?’
Lost in thought while scrubbing the laundry, he suddenly noticed a button that had been glowing in one corner.
‘What’s this?’
Though he had a bad feeling, he moved his hand toward the button.
[※Daily Mission※]
Objective: Get a character to be pursued to say “cute” to you before midnight today. (Note: Different endings with the same meaning are accepted. Not counted if forced rather than voluntary.)
Reward: Choose one from: 1. All Warnings Deletion Right (1 time), 2. Half Debt Forgiveness, 3. Choice Refresh Right (1 time).
“Huh?”
Wonyoung almost threw the laundry at the mission window. Clutching his head and trembling, he finally couldn’t hold back and shouted:
“System! System-ssi, come out! Hey!”
Naturally, the system didn’t come out. After calling for the system a couple more times, Wonyoung gave up for fear of being discovered by Siyeon, and once again carefully examined the mission window. And once more, he trembled with anger.
‘Cute’? Did it just say ‘cute’?
‘How am I supposed to do that? I haven’t been called cute since I was a baby! What, am I supposed to act cute in front of people I’ve only met once or twice? Are you crazy?’
But that crazy person was right here. Though there was no listed penalty for failure, the rewards for success were quite sweet.
All Warnings Deletion Right, Debt Forgiveness, and Choice Refresh Right.
Though initially outraged, he gradually regained his composure upon seeing those magic words. While the debt concerned him a bit, in the current situation, the Warnings Deletion Right was especially tempting.
Being labeled an “All” Warnings Deletion Right, it was probably an item that would reset the accumulated warnings once. For him, who already had 2 accumulated warnings, it was a desperately needed item.
‘Right, didn’t I decide to focus on the objective? It might be possible with Ki Siyeon. He’s good at saying flattering things.’
Wonyoung channeled all his anger toward the game and system into wringing out the laundry, and decided to try completing the mission. It could also be seen as how deeply the fear of penalties was engraved in Wonyoung’s mind.
When Wonyoung finally finished the laundry and came out, Siyeon approached him with a welcoming face as if he’d been waiting.
“Hyung!”
It somehow reminded Wonyoung of a big puppy, and he unconsciously started to pat Siyeon’s head before stopping himself. Indeed, as befitting a game character to be pursued, he was a dangerous person. He had momentarily made the cold city elite Heo Wonyoung think someone was cute.
Yet the one who needed to be cute now wasn’t him but himself.
“Hyung, why did you start to pat me and then stop? You can pat me.”
“…”
Sharp guy. Wonyoung felt considerably embarrassed and hid his hands behind his back.
“It’s not like that. When your clothes are dry, hurry and go home.”
“I don’t like prudes, but strangely, it’s okay with you, hyung.”
“Would you please be quiet?”
Siyeon giggled and poked Wonyoung’s slightly puffy cheek, earning himself a hit.
Wonyoung, who left a handprint on Siyeon’s arm, glanced at Siyeon’s clean-cut face. The youngster would try to take advantage if given a little leeway, but anyway, he needed to get Siyeon to call him cute somehow.
‘How do I get him to say it?’
Planning to stall for time, Wonyoung checked the atmosphere and tried to speak naturally.
“Well… since you’re already here, let’s eat before you go.”
“Hmm.”
“You can wear the shirt you left last time. It’s the only one that might fit you. I’ve washed it clean.”
Pretending to look for clothes, Wonyoung was busy thinking of ways to get Siyeon to call him cute. Meanwhile, Siyeon approached silently and tilted his head toward Wonyoung. When a shadow fell, Wonyoung looked up and was startled to see Siyeon right in front of his nose.
“W-what!”
Siyeon smirked and stroked his chin.
“It’s strange. You didn’t react much to seeing a blood-stained shirt.”
“…”
“Since it’s not my blood, it must be someone else’s, and you could easily imagine why it got there, right? But you’re asking me to eat and stay. Are you fearless, or… have you been deceiving me?”
The look in Siyeon’s eyes as he asked this was extremely sharp. It was the ominous kind of look that those who harm others have, which he had seen before.
Wonyoung gulped and moved his lips as if about to say something. But the next moment…
“…Rae-hyung?”
Tears dropped from Wonyoung’s eyes. He was crying with an utterly miserable expression. Siyeon froze in panic, the blood draining from his face.
“H-hyung.”
Siyeon, at a loss about the sudden tears, stepped closer to Wonyoung. But his hands were still suspended in the air, as if he didn’t know what to do.
“Hyung, why are you crying? I’m sorry. I was talking nonsense. I’m sorry. Don’t cry. Okay?”
Eventually, those large hands clumsily wiped the tears from Wonyoung’s cheeks. Wonyoung felt truly wretched.
He didn’t have to do this. He didn’t need these frustrating choices, and he was acting stupidly like Narae to avoid the crisis! Are you listening, game?
A moment ago…
[Shed tears.]
[Slap his face.]
The above two choices had appeared before Wonyoung.
‘Why are choices appearing here? Why?!’
To cry or to slap. If he didn’t want to be quietly buried by a gangster, the answer was obviously the former.
So now he was crying.
‘Damn it, why won’t it stop?’
The bigger problem was that Wonyoung’s status had become ‘Miserable ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜’. He was so miserable that tears were literally pouring down. And the more they fell, the more ashen Siyeon’s face became.
‘He’s just a child.’
Unlike earlier, Wonyoung thought as he watched Siyeon, who didn’t know what to do at the sight of a single teardrop. Ki Siyeon was still young and innocent. His world was harsh, so he had only learned how to live harshly.
“I-I’m fine, fine, hiccup.”
Of course, the next moment, Wonyoung realized his own ridiculousness as he saw himself hiccupping.
