“Scotilino?”
Before dinner time. Jay was taking a walk in the garden during his free time. The garden was his favorite place in this school, so he often walked there when he had time. If he had close friends, the location might have been different, but sadly, he had no close friends.
Then, in a corner of the garden, in a shaded spot where people rarely came, he discovered Ivan crouched and lying down.
At first, he thought he’d seen wrong. But the sickly man sunken in the shadows was Ivan, the very Ivan Jay knew all too well. As if death had cast itself over his face, Jay was gripped with fear and ran over, shouting loudly.
“Scotilino! Are you okay? What are you doing here?”
“Ugh……”
Even though Jay’s loud voice should have been noisy, Ivan let out a groan without regaining consciousness.
Ivan’s body was cold as ice, as if he’d been left in the dark corner for a long time. Though it was warm weather with spring breezes blowing, the dim places were quite chilly, and Connubium’s uniform wasn’t thick enough to maintain body temperature on the cold ground.
Jay urgently tried to lift him up from where he’d collapsed. However, the moment Jay’s hand touched his body, Ivan’s eyes flashed open.
“Get…… away!”
His hazy eyes clearly didn’t recognize who Jay was. Whoever it had been, Ivan would have treated them the same.
But sadly, Ivan had no strength in his body at all, so pushing Jay away was impossible. Rather, that fragile appearance made worry bloom even more in Jay’s heart.
“Are you okay? Let’s go to the infirmary quickly. Last time too, you were swaying in the garden……”
Worry he couldn’t hide seeped into his trailing words. But Ivan, far from answering, shook his head trying to secure his vision. He desperately blinked his eyes and rubbed them with his limp hands. His eyes widened with bloodshot veins, looking fierce.
Ivan saw the one holding him. The man with black hair and gentle eyes was also a person he knew well. Ivan naturally frowned.
“Come on! Grab my arm and get up. I don’t have the strength to carry you.”
Ivan pushed away Jay who was embracing him with all his might. Because he was struggling to survive, his strength was much stronger than before. However, it wasn’t enough to push Jay away. No matter how much strength he scraped together, Ivan’s power, weaker than usual, was about the same.
Nevertheless, Jay was pushed away. No, it was closer to letting himself be pushed away. It was because Ivan’s rejection was so intense. His turquoise eyes were building a wall toward Jay more firmly than anything else.
Ivan pushed Jay away with all his might, and with that recoil, his barely raised body fell face-first to the ground. Rustling like an injured beast, he eventually stood up by himself.
“Excessive, meddling.”
“But……”
Jay couldn’t contain his worry and reached out his hand. At that moment, he heard signs of people from beyond the path. In that instant, Jay closed his hand. It was a reflexive reaction. It was because he’d started being cautious after Vittorio’s incident.
At that sight, Ivan snorted and moved his swaying body.
“Hypocrite.”
Though it was a small voice like a whisper, because it was quiet, there was no difficulty hearing it. At the sharp words that stabbed into his lungs, Jay drew in a breath. Guilt stabbed his chest and a dull pain spread out.
Jay slowly rubbed his chest area and watched Ivan’s retreating figure. The more he looked, the more painful it was, but he couldn’t turn his eyes away. If he turned away from even this, he felt he would truly become a cowardly hypocrite. He widened his blurring eyes until they were bloodshot.
“……Haha.”
But Jay knew well. If he had truly been upright, he wouldn’t have taken any hit no matter what Ivan said. He was proving himself to be a hypocrite.
The acts he could commit against absurdity amounted to nothing more than a small sandwich. Until now, it had been only that much. That was the weight of the goodwill he possessed. It was truly light.
Jay couldn’t move from that spot for a long while, as if nailed down. If Belly hadn’t licked his cheek when he returned to the map room, he might have been late for dinner. In the map room he barely returned to, Ivan wasn’t there like at lunchtime, and Jin was smiling her picture-perfect smile as always.
* * *
“It would be fun to tame a kid like that.”
Dark night. A cheerful voice rang out in the room. It was an impression gained from observing Jay all day. Belly, who had been carefully massaging my body, asked in a curious voice.
“Master, what do you mean by taming?”
“Well…… Ahhh……”
I was about to answer when I let out a languid sigh at Belly’s refreshing massage. Belly’s touch was increasingly excellent, unrivaled as days went by. When I melted under his touch, it truly was nothing short of paradise.
I belatedly collected my mind that had melted like butter on a hot pan and answered Belly’s question.
“Well, that, I mean Ivan. Ivan Scotilino.”
“Yes.”
“It’s fun when characters like that open their hearts and such.”
Wounded characters like Ivan are a regular staple of novels.
Personally, I feel that flawed gems with stories are more beautiful than completely perfect ones. Similarly, wounded characters felt brilliant to me and approached me more attractively than anything else.
“Huh? The type who’s cold to others but warm to their person, those types are popular. Whether they become affectionate or yandere. The taste of watching that is savory. Tsundere is pretty good too.”
At that moment, the strength in Belly’s hands kneading my body intensified sharply. At the sudden pain, I couldn’t hold back and let out a scream.
“Ack! It hurts! It hurts! Belly-ya, hyung hurts!”
“Ah, ah…… Sorry, I’m sorry, Master.”
Belly, whose eyes welled up with tears, quickly got down from the bed and knelt. That expression was full of apology. Just looking at that, I could tell how sorry he was.
But I was momentarily captivated by his guilt-ridden face. The face of a beauty holding tears was pretty enough to make me forget the situation. Moreover, that beauty was my precious Belly. I couldn’t get angry even if I wanted to.
I smiled faintly and patted the spot next to me. Belly immediately understood my gesture and climbed up so quickly it made his large frame seem meaningless.
“Why are you so sorry? You can put some strength in your hands. Come on, hand.”
When I held out my hand to Belly, he obediently placed his hand on top of it. It was a careful touch that even felt shy. It wouldn’t have been strange if a flower ring was on it.
His hand was so big that even though mine wasn’t small, it was covered at once when he held it. It was like a pot lid. At the reassuringly large appearance, I felt a sense of fullness and smiled broadly while interlacing my fingers with his hand and shaking it.
“You’ve really grown a lot.”
“Ma, Master.”
“When I first picked you up, you were much smaller than this……”
My gaze traveled up from Belly’s hand along his arm. From the gaze filled with longing for the past, different emotions flowed out each time I scanned his body. Body temperature rose high as if heating my stomach. My heart beat faster and faster, and I swallowed my saliva automatically.
“Master?”
“Ah, ah.”
Belly had now grown attractive enough for anyone to covet. He was enchanting enough for everyone passing by to turn and look.
His gray hair sparkled and shone when it caught the light, and his eyes shining with affection were green and full of vitality. He was truly a sparkling appearance befitting a protagonist character.
A lowly extra like me had no choice but to be helplessly drawn in. Like a moth drawn to flames. Even knowing my whole body would burn up, I had no choice but to jump in. Though foolish, that was surely the appearance befitting an extra like me.
“I just…… thought you’ve grown up well.”
Belly showed me an eye smile while looking at me. The sight of his sharply rising eye corners folding gently was nothing short of lovely. His long eyelashes fluttered like butterflies, and that sight caused a storm in my heart.
“Belly is Master’s.”
He didn’t stop with those words and stuck close to my body, taking me into his embrace. The thumping sound of his heartbeat rang in my ears. Each other’s heartbeats rang together as if resonating. That sound brought me peace.
“Belly grew for Master.”
A gentle voice rang in my ear. Leaning in that embrace made my heart very comfortable. As if his body had become my body. I didn’t think anything about the differences or positions between me and Belly.
“Master……”
But the feeling of being wrapped in soft silk soon changed to being uncomfortably draped in coarse ramie cloth. I felt like a beggar who had forcibly squeezed into clothes that didn’t fit.
Belly’s body was so warm and sweet, but it was too much for me. The sleepiness that had rushed in quickly fled as if someone had slapped me on the cheek. I pushed Belly away with a hardened complexion.
“Master? What’s wrong?”
“No…… Just. You’ve grown a lot, now.”
I should stop this.
Though it was a statement changing my attitude like flipping a palm, I had to say it. However, the words I had to spit out just rolled around emptily in my mouth.
At my face that had hardened coldly, Belly looked at me as if bewildered. I avoided that gaze and got up shakily, walking away from the spot like a corpse. His gaze stuck hotly to my back.
“Now this kind of thing……”
I laboriously opened my mouth to spit out the words again. However, before those words could even conclude, a heavy weight fiercely charged and covered me. Thud! The sound of tumbling to the floor rang out loudly. Belly’s body had collided with me and we’d fallen tangled together.
“Ugh…… Be, Belly-ya?”
“Don’t say it.”
