The Reason the Main Character of That Book Became a Seme 68

Chapter 68

…What is this?

Looking down at his palm, Yeonwoo stood in the way of the rushing Chahun. As a piece of ice grazed Yeonwoo’s cheek and embedded itself in the front door, ice walls rose up and surrounded Do Minyoung.

“What the hell did that bastard do to you?”

Yeonwoo couldn’t answer Chahun’s fierce question. With his hand covering his mouth, Yeonwoo coughed up another gush of blood, causing the ice walls to gradually thicken and begin pressing in on Minyoung.

“Hey. Was it Lee Sangwon or Jung Yeonghwan?”

Chahun, who was holding Yeonwoo, kicked the ice wall imprisoning Minyoung. Minyoung, pale with shock, shook his head. At that sight, Chahun jerked his chin, and ice vines sprouting from the wall began to wrap around Minyoung’s neck.

“Chahun, wait a moment.”

“Hyung, please be quiet.”

Chahun gritted his teeth as he looked down at Yeonwoo’s blood-stained lips. Pushing Yeonwoo behind him, Chahun swung his hand, causing the ice wall to shatter and sending Minyoung crashing against the front door. Ice pillars fell on top of him one after another, caging Minyoung like a prison.

“You wait there.”

After spitting out these words, Chahun turned around and cupped Yeonwoo’s cheeks. After checking his condition, Chahun slipped his hands under Yeonwoo’s knees and lifted him up. He quickly ran to his room, took out a potion he had stored, and tilted it to Yeonwoo’s lips. While Yeonwoo drank the potion, Chahun wet a towel and wiped Yeonwoo’s hands and mouth.

“If you’re going to say you’re fine again, just keep your mouth shut.”

Chahun stopped Yeonwoo before he could even open his mouth. He silently looked down at his own hands, stained with blood. His eyes had long since turned red. Deliberately ignoring the sound of his wildly beating heart, Chahun embraced Yeonwoo.

Pressing his cheek against Yeonwoo’s to check his temperature, Chahun placed his hand over Yeonwoo’s heart to feel his heartbeat. Even though Yeonwoo was clearly alive and moving before him, anxiety still gripped his heart. Chahun looked down at Yeonwoo with damp eyes. How could he protect hyung from getting hurt?

Unlike the training grounds, no one could enter this place without Chahun’s permission. The same applied to leaving. Maybe they could just stay like this forever, meeting no one else, just the two of them…

“Kang Chahun!”

Chahun blinked, startled by the pain in his cheeks. Yeonwoo, who had pinched both of Chahun’s cheeks, pushed him away with his foot. Yeonwoo grabbed the wrist of the dazed Chahun and shoved it aside. Then he rolled away, escaping from Chahun’s embrace.

“You’re not going berserk again, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

Chahun, who responded that he was fine, calmed his mana core that was raging, demanding that he surrender the Guide. As he quietly steadied his breathing, he could sense Minyoung struggling within the ice prison. Who the hell is that guy? Chahun’s face turned grim. He wondered if they would stop if he sent one of them back covered in blood just like hyung.

First, so that hyung couldn’t see…

Chahun made the ice pillars thicker, blocking the view. After placing a chunk of ice on top, Chahun reached out toward Yeonwoo, but Yeonwoo walked toward the door without even giving him a glance. He hadn’t expected him to come into his arms obediently, but he hadn’t expected such blatant disregard either.

Clicking his tongue, Chahun lifted Yeonwoo and placed him on the bed.

“Sit and rest a bit. How can someone who just coughed up blood be walking around like that?”

“No, really, I’m fine.”

Chahun couldn’t help but sigh at Yeonwoo’s words. He had said he was fine in the virtual dungeon too. At this rate, it seemed like Yeonwoo would just say “it’s fine” and go along with it even if Chahun carelessly attempted to imprint on him. While he wanted to imprint with Yeonwoo, he didn’t want to do it that way. I wish hyung wanted me too. As Chahun swallowed dryly, Yeonwoo grabbed him and gestured outside.

“So, let Guide Do Minyoung go.”

At those words, Chahun raised his eyebrows. As expected of an awakened one, his hearing was good too. When Chahun showed no sign of releasing him, Yeonwoo stretched out his arm and placed his hand on Chahun’s cheek. As Guiding flowed in, Chahun’s eyes closed languidly. With the Guiding enveloping his entire body, Chahun’s greed erupted. He positioned Yeonwoo’s arm to wrap around his neck and embraced Yeonwoo’s waist. Chahun’s nose bridge pressed against Yeonwoo’s nape. With the increased contact, an even larger amount of Guiding flowed through his body.

“That’s enough. Enough.”

Yeonwoo pulled at Chahun’s clothes to pry him off, then tapped Chahun’s cheeks, which had turned a deep shade of red.

“Get a grip. This happened by mistake while I was learning. Will you let me go out and apologize?”

Chahun, who had been looking down at Yeonwoo’s lips, was weakly pushed away by Yeonwoo’s foot. Yeonwoo immediately slipped out of the bed and grabbed the frozen doorknob, turning back to look at Chahun.

“I’ll open it if you hold my hand.”

Yeonwoo openly mocked those words and used his ability to leave the room.

* * *

Once outside, Yeonwoo held a tissue and used his ability. Watching the tissue floating in the air, Yeonwoo looked down at his bracelet and asked, Is this the right way to do it?

[That’s how you sort the mana. Got it? Don’t just pour out any kind of mana like you did earlier!]

At the dragon’s voice, Yeonwoo nodded with a complicated expression.

[You and that human obtain mana differently. That human can get infinite mana from nature, so it might be fine if his mana core is emptied, but not you. You should have left some. I told you, all these problems would be solved if you made a contract with me, right? Just ask me! I have higher mana compatibility than that human!]

Ignoring the nagging voice as always, Yeonwoo approached Minyoung. Well, no being would have higher mana compatibility than a dragon.

“Are you okay?”

Minyoung nodded and reached out to touch the back of Yeonwoo’s hand. Although the incoming Guiding felt uncomfortable, Yeonwoo forced himself to raise the corners of his lips.

“Is Esper Han Yeonwoo alright?”

Minyoung asked, pointing at Yeonwoo’s palm.

“Earlier, that was…”

His upturned eyes were full of curiosity. When Yeonwoo asked if he had seen it, Minyoung nodded without hesitation. Closing his eyes, Yeonwoo once again imagined scooping up water. Not crudely scooping it all up like before, but imagining lifting small amounts with a tiny teaspoon. Then, not his mana core but his heart began to race madly. Carefully opening his eyes, Yeonwoo looked at his fingertips.

A different kind of mana from what he had been using so far was swirling at his fingertips. Looking at it, he let out a laugh that sounded almost like a sigh. It actually works. After dispersing the mana before Chahun could attach himself like an octopus’s suction cup, Yeonwoo looked at Minyoung with drooping eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, but could you keep this a secret?”

At Yeonwoo’s request, Minyoung readily nodded. The one with widened eyes at the willing response was Yeonwoo. Having promised to keep it a secret, Minyoung looked around and whispered softly.

“In return, could you ask Esper Han Yeonhwa when my matching Esper will appear? It doesn’t have to be a specific answer.”

Pointing at his dark circles, Minyoung pleaded with a tearful face. He lamented that working with a matching Esper would be better than being worn out like this. And then he made a zipping motion across his lips, promising never to tell. Yeonwoo said nothing, merely raising his lips.

At that sight, Minyoung smiled broadly. He didn’t need a definite answer. Just placing Yeonhwa’s brother in his debt was satisfying enough. As Minyoung stood up, Yeonwoo erased his smile and bowed his head.

“I apologize for earlier. It seems Esper Kang Chahun misunderstood due to something else.”

“I was the one who made a mistake first, so it’s fine. I came prepared for that much. Besides, that’s how all Espers are. When they’re blinded by Guiding, they can’t see anything else.”

You understand, right? As Minyoung sent that look, he covered his mouth with an expression of sudden realization. He seemed to have momentarily forgotten that the person in front of him was also an Esper. Yeonwoo smiled reassuringly and saw off Minyoung, who turned to leave without even taking off his shoes.

“Just a moment.”

Chahun approached and held out a potion bottle the size of his pinky. Minyoung accepted it with a puzzled expression.

“It’s a healing potion. This time I controlled it, so you only got frostbite, but next time will be different.”

At Chahun’s warning, Minyoung turned pale and hurriedly left the entrance. Warmth touched Yeonwoo’s shoulder.

“He was sent by the Center Director. Just now he was trying to imprint on me—”

“What?”

Yeonwoo, startled, opened Chahun’s palm. Chahun grabbed Yeonwoo’s hand, which was searching for imprint marks, and led him to the sofa with their fingers intertwined.

“He only tried. If you hadn’t calmed me down yesterday, that person would have attempted to imprint on me.”

Chahun placed their interlocked hands on his stomach as he slid onto the sofa.

“So I thought he had done something to you…”

Chahun trailed off, then slumped down and lay his body toward Yeonwoo.

The heavy weight immediately made Yeonwoo sigh. Does he need to see his own size in a mirror to restrain himself? While looking for a mirror, Yeonwoo glanced disapprovingly but not unkindly at Chahun, who had lightly rested his head on his knee. Chahun pulled Yeonwoo’s hand over and played with it before carefully asking.

“Can one person have two different abilities? How’s your original ability, hyung?”

“It seems fine…”

Yeonwoo answered with a sigh, looking down at his hand. I don’t know what’s going on. As he looked down at his bracelet, Yeonwoo shifted his gaze to the pile of documents on the table. Chahun, who was watching where Yeonwoo was looking, picked up the documents and handed them over.

“You can look at them.”

He thought they seemed familiar, and indeed, they were temporary contracts from the Round Guild. The ones underneath appeared to be contracts sent from the Muyeong Guild. Contracts that some people desire their whole lives—Yeonhwa was using them as scrap paper, while Chahun was neglecting them. Out of pure curiosity, as Yeonwoo was comparing Yeonhwa’s and Chahun’s annual salaries, he frowned at a contract laid on the floor. Lotus? Why would the Lotus Guild propose a contract to Chahun?

Just as Yeonwoo was about to turn the contract over in confusion, Chahun suddenly sat up and embraced Yeonwoo at the same moment a loud bang shook the wall. Yeonwoo, staggering from the strong vibration, grabbed Chahun and was looking for a safe place when a microphone sound echoed with “Ah, ah.”

[I’ll give you ten seconds from now.]

At the familiar voice, Yeonwoo jumped up and looked at the entrance.

[If there’s even a single scratch on my brother’s body, you’re dead. Eight seconds left, seven, six—]

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus