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“We only kissed. I got dumped not long after.”
Doun didn’t mention the unnecessary detail that he had initiated the kiss first. It would obviously just stir up trouble.
“What… That person dumped you?”
Samin stabbed his chopsticks into his rice and got angry. Like someone hearing the story of a person who suffered tremendous injustice and getting indignant together with them. Even though Doun had simply said he was dumped by his ex-lover.
“Yeah.”
“What was wrong with that person’s eyes? Dumping Lee Doun? What did that person do for a living?”
“Just a college student.”
“No, ha… Actually no, I should be grateful that person let you go so I could become your boyfriend…”
Samin took a deep breath to compose his emotions. He couldn’t get irritated while eating, and as he had said himself, what if Doun’s ex-lover hadn’t initiated the breakup first? Lee Doun might still be happily living with that person.
‘Getting irritated over old stuff is pointless since I’m hyung’s boyfriend! And I’ll probably be his boyfriend until I die!’
Thinking that way made him feel good again. Samin, who quickly regained his original demeanor, went back to eating. Today he had many things to do with Doun. They needed to research the movement skill and also go conquer the 53rd floor. He was diligently emptying his lunch box when Doun hesitantly brought up a topic from across the table.
“Speaking of which, yesterday you seemed really skilled at doing that…”
This was obviously jealousy. When Samin raised his head, Doun lowered his instead. He was embarrassed about being jealous now after rejecting Samin’s courtship with ambiguous attitudes when he had asked to date.
But he couldn’t help being curious. No matter how he thought about it, Samin’s lead yesterday was too skilled for someone without experience.
“I did have lovers, but I’m not worn out or anything. I’ve only had two lovers since becoming an adult. And I broke up with the last one a year ago.”
“No, why are you saying you’re worn out… I wasn’t asking in that sense.”
“I’m just saying it because I felt guilty myself. Still, my confession to you in the park was my first confession. Honestly, even I find it absurd when I think about that day… I had no idea I’d do it so out of the blue.”
“…”
Hearing that he was Samin’s first confession target, Doun’s cheek twitched. He felt rewarded for his petty jealousy, but on the other hand, he was worried Samin would tease him again if he showed too obviously how happy he was.
“That aside, are you the type who does everything for your lover?”
When Samin conveniently changed the topic, Doun nodded.
“…Yeah. A hyung I used to work with said so. That I become more like a pushover with the person I’m dating. I feel like that’s kind of true too. Is this what they call affection deficiency?”
“What pushover are you, hyung? You’re just affectionate.”
Samin corrected Doun’s words. In today’s world, they might call someone who easily trusts and opens their heart to people a pushover, but he didn’t think that way.
What’s wrong with a person trusting another person? The problem is with the humans who think of taking advantage of that goodwill.
“Anyway, so hyung, will you give yourself to me until I die? Are you really mine?”
When Samin put down his chopsticks and asked, Doun nodded slightly. To Doun, a lover was that kind of existence. Someone for whom it wouldn’t be wasteful to give everything he had. Samin was that kind of person.
‘I should treat Samin well from now on.’
It was when Doun was thinking that to himself. Suddenly, Samin jumped up from his chair, swept up Doun who was sitting across from him, and sprinted around the living room.
“Ahh! Our hyung is mine until death! Kyung Samin’s!”
“Hey, hey! What are you doing! Stop running! There’ll be complaints!”
“Wahhh! Lee Doun is nagging me! His lover! I love it so much!”
“…This crazy bastard…”
Doun hugged Samin’s neck tightly and couldn’t stop the laughter that burst out, giggling helplessly. He couldn’t believe that two grown adult men who had aged properly were hugging and carrying on like this.
Even though Samin was spouting nothing but childish and embarrassing words, he felt purely happy and good. When Doun’s chest heaved with laughter, Samin kissed his cheek and chattered.
“You get me too, hyung. It’s a bit awkward to say this, but our family is pretty well-off, you know? I still have a lot of inheritance left to receive, and it’s all yours. Married couples share assets, right?”
“What are you talking about, I have money too.”
“Yeah yeah. I know. Still.”
Isn’t it human nature to want to give anything to the person you love? Samin’s love wasn’t much different from Doun’s.
Even if Doun were the richest person in the world, Samin would still want to give him what he had. After sprinting around the house for a while, Samin carefully set Doun back down at the dining table.
“Let’s finish eating and then research our skills. After research, let’s go on a date too! Let’s catch both romance and career at the same time.”
Samin said that, and Doun chuckled. He had laughed so much his cheeks hurt. Watching Doun eat again, Samin thought.
‘What did we need on the training floors?’
The tower date he had only vaguely imagined—it was time to begin that prelude. Samin looked at his boyfriend with sparkling eyes.
“How about it? You like it too, right?”
His eyes that somehow sparkled even more when talking about the tower were brilliant. Doun, who was a reliable comrade he could trust his back to, his idol, and his boyfriend, smiled brightly and nodded.
“Yeah. I like it.”
Samin suddenly thought. He wanted to keep seeing that smile.
* * *
Yeoun Guild Building, Conference Room 1.
All members of Yeoun Guild’s top floor conquest team were gathered. Everyone looked strangely tired, and the reason was obvious without saying.
“I think I’m going crazy because every time I make eye contact with someone, they ask what skill it is. I can’t just spill everything either.”
Kim Chansol shook her head and drooped. Even she, who thirsted for attention and enjoyed popularity, seemed overwhelmed by the amount of interest pouring in.
“How was it when you practiced this morning? Do you think you can apply it in real combat right away?”
Samin said while handing apple juice to Doun. Each individual’s skill proficiency was slightly different. While some people like Samin specialized in skills that involved body movement, there were also types like Doun who specialized in skills that involved moving mana.
“It’s not at the level of proficiency for use on high floors. It’s more difficult than expected…”
“If I fail the landing and get tangled up with someone else’s movement, it seems like I could get seriously hurt.”
Do Hyeonwoo and Kim Chansol, who had practiced on the training floors targeting the early hours when few people were around, came to similar conclusions.
‘Leaping Steps’ couldn’t be used in actual combat yet. This matched Doun and Samin’s opinions as well.
“How much more practice do you think Doun hyung needs to get the hang of it?”
Samin asked Doun, who was sipping the apple juice he had given him, in his usual manner. Yesterday he had decided to date Doun and they had become close enough to see each other’s naked bodies, but in front of people, he maintained a similar attitude as before.
“I think I need to practice intensively for at least 2 weeks. I need to completely overhaul how I distribute mana too.”
Doun’s expression was as serious as could be. The newly acquired movement skill felt like it would make his head explode. It was because he hadn’t mastered how to use the skill skillfully as much as he thought when he entered the training floors with Samin.
To achieve optimal skill combinations using his ‘Thought Acceleration’ skill, he needed to reach a level where he could use skills skillfully. But with a skill of ambiguous proficiency mixed in, his head stuttered as if it had malfunctioned. It was a very unpleasant sensation.
“Let’s say we’ll improve proficiency through practice, but acquisition is the key issue. How does everyone feel about trying starting from the 53rd floor today?”
Everyone nodded at Choi Jiyoon’s suggestion. In yesterday’s meeting, the acquisition conditions for the movement skill ‘Leaping Steps’ had been narrowed down to two main possibilities.
Either conquer the 53rd floor in the shortest time with eight or fewer people, or break records a total of nine times from the 45th to 53rd floors.
The best acquisition condition would be conquering the 53rd floor just once, but if that wasn’t it, they would have to re-conquer nine floors. Even if they re-conquered nine floors, it was uncertain whether they could obtain the movement skill. The guild members were somewhat tense.
“Then let’s reorganize the team.”
Samin scratched his cheek and looked over the gathered guild members. There were a total of five top floor conquest team members who hadn’t acquired the movement skill. Excluding Doun and himself, who were irreplaceable personnel, they needed to add one more person.
“Me and Doun hyung plus five more makes one spot left. Who wants to come?”
At Samin’s question, Kim Chansol and Do Hyeonwoo, who were sitting, backed out.
“I’ll research the skill a bit. It would be better if I share know-how when I develop some.”
“Me too.”
“Then you two research the skill, and Siwon?”
“I should definitely go!”
“Good. Then let’s head to the 53rd floor.”
Samin pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile. Then he glanced at the area near Doun’s collarbone.
Before leaving the house this morning, when Doun said the ring seemed like it would fall off while moving, he had put the ring on the necklace he was wearing and put it on him. Imagining the token of affection hidden under the thin t-shirt made him want to move his body right away. Preferably, he wanted to destroy something.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
