“Haam.”
A yawn escaped him for once. Cha Eui-sung, eyes tearing up, quietly got dressed.
“You can sleep a bit more if you’d like.”
“It’s fine. What am I supposed to do, hang around a house where the owner’s not even here?”
Moon Tae-young, already dressed to leave, was seated on a floor cushion, checking his tablet PC. When Cha Eui-sung approached, slipping on his coat, Moon Tae-young looked up and gave him a faint smile as if to rise.
“What?”
“You kind of look like a dandelion puff.”
“…The hell is that supposed to—Damn it, what’s up with my hair?”
He’d woken up, eaten someone else’s breakfast, showered in someone else’s bathroom—now this. In a rush to leave before Moon Tae-young did, he’d dried his hair in a hurry, and it had puffed up in all directions.
“You should’ve told me earlier. I almost went out looking like this.”
“That hair’s got its own charm.”
“…Want me to give you the same look?”
“Hm, I’d love to, but I’ve got work.”
Cha Eui-sung smacked him on the arm, making Moon Tae-young wrinkle his brow with a chuckle. Eui-sung poked a finger into one of his annoyingly deep dimples.
Honestly, he expected him to flinch or pull away. But Moon Tae-young didn’t even move, like he was offering his face to be touched.
Instead, he gently smoothed down Cha Eui-sung’s puffy, damp hair with his fingers, looking oddly content as he did.
Then, he brought his nose close to the wet strands. Soft lips pressed gently against Eui-sung’s ear, then pulled away.
“Smells nice.”
Dressed sharp, acting clingy first thing in the morning. He smells that hair every damn day, yet now it’s suddenly something worth mentioning? Muttering to himself, Cha Eui-sung suddenly froze, ears flushing bright red.
So he likes the scent on me. That’s what he meant.
That crazy bastard. What kind of weird shit is he spouting first thing in the morning?
Did something about last night stir new feelings or what?
Still, for something like that, the progress marker was shockingly stagnant.
[SAVIOR GAUGE]
■■■■■■■■■■
■■□□□□□□□□
58%
Goddamn it. After all the weird crap we did yesterday, how could it not even go up a single percent?
They’d tried just about every kind of questionable stunt, filled with blatant self-interest—and all it did was register as hand-holding and lip-brushing to the gauge.
Cha Eui-sung felt strangely ripped off.
“I might be back a bit late the next few days.”
“Then maybe I should come to you instead?”
“Mm… the kids are probably gonna be around for a while.”
The polite rejection somehow felt like a con. Does this guy even realize that if you strip someone and then ghost them, karma’s gonna come crashing down fast?
And if someone had to be the one getting railed, Cha Eui-sung sure as hell didn’t want it to be the Demon King bastard with a lower body like a monster. He would’ve gladly taken that spot himself.
He’d been pinned under that body, lost count of how many times he’d come, and in the end, he’d been the one moving his hips, chasing the high.
No matter how wrecked his condition was, thinking about how Moon Tae-young had shown zero signs of softening up even lying there next to him… Cha Eui-sung felt that old disease flare up again.
His pride… was wounded.
Shit, and I can’t even say anything.
He was the one who initiated things, the one who’d stared back with wide eyes when the other said they should stop. So what if his hips had been grinding a little differently—was that really worth getting all in his feelings about?
Still, it was hard not to feel bitter, staring at that unmoving gauge. Cha Eui-sung silently decided to ignore the whole getting-cared-for-all-night and breakfast part like it didn’t count.
Moon Tae-young, who’d been packing his bag, hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
“I’ve got to prep for the field day.”
“Field day?”
Even that tiny little school—more like a dollhouse than a school—was holding formal events.
“You really don’t get a break, do you?”
Come to think of it, there’d barely been a summer break. Even then, most of the kids’ guardians were working, so they’d ended up at school the whole time.
At this point, it was more of a daycare than a school.
It wasn’t really his place to comment, but watching Moon Tae-young constantly taking on new responsibilities made Cha Eui-sung feel like he was about to relive the nightmare of his Second Life.
“You’ve only got, what, a handful of students? Why even bother with a field day?”
“‘What’?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Just… Don’t you ever rest, Tae-young?”
He never thought he’d be the one saying that. And especially not to the Demon King.
He’d heard that question countless times himself, but it was the first time it held any real weight.
“The curriculum’s pretty loose, so it’s not that hard to work around.”
Figures. He’d barely had a break at all. And not that he could say it out loud, but the guy was also running dungeon operations on the side.
Whatever. As long as it didn’t get in the way of filling the damn gauge.
With a scowl on his face, Cha Eui-sung fixed his hair one last time, then shuffled his way out the door.
—They’re holding a field day…!
That damned field day news came circling back before the clock even hit 2 PM, delivered via none other than Kim Jeong-baek. And to think this guy would be the very first call on Cha Eui-sung’s new phone. What a joke.
Totally unaware that Eui-sung already knew, Kim Jeong-baek launched into a chipper breakdown of Seo-ryong’s schedule.
—Seo-ryong doesn’t have any blue clothes. Should we buy some?
“What kind of field day are they having in a place barely the size of a community center?”
—Well, they do have a playground. They can’t go big with it, obviously, but it’s just stuff like running, jump rope, tug-of-war. Oh, and apparently the tug-of-war includes the adults. Sounds like that’s the main event.
“Why are adults getting involved in a kids’ field day?”
—It’s kinda like those talent shows, y’know? The kids just play around, the guardians all share a meal. That’s the point.
“And Moon Tae-young’s the one organizing this?”
—Yup. It’s a good chance for the parents to meet the teacher. They keep getting invited regularly, so they don’t feel the need to drop by all the time. Win-win.
He runs that tiny branch school all by himself—teaching, managing, planning events, with no real vacations—and they’re calling that a win? Sure, he never looked like he was overworked, but…
Cha Eui-sung didn’t know enough about how the place functioned to even judge. He sighed briefly and rubbed his temples.
“Anyway. The fact that you’re telling me all this makes it sound like you’re really just asking me to come too.”
—Aw, c’mon… well, it’s just that Seo-ryong… Anyway, it’s not a bad thing if you go. Didn’t you say you’re trying to work on your public image?
“Well, yeah, but… Why are they even having a field day after fall’s basically over?”
—Because it was harvest season! Everyone’s been too busy until now. They’re finally catching their breath.
The guy with all the decision-making power just does whatever he wants. Cha Eui-sung sighed again but agreed to go for now.
Because like he said—his image did need some polishing. Lately, even the locals were starting to notice how often he was glued to our teacher Moon’s side.
Thanks to Park Chansol’s parents, his reputation had improved a little, but he still came off as a shady loner to most. From all the stuff he’d squeezed out of Kim Jeong-baek, it seemed there were a few folks—especially among the younger crowd—who didn’t look too kindly on whatever “friendship” they thought was happening.
Ugh, things are already so chaotic, now this too…
The to-do list kept growing:
Keep conning the Demon King,
Monitor the Association and the political scene,
Keep an eye on the Jeongchoduk situation,
File the insurance for his totaled car.
And now, thanks to that unexpected run-in with Go Yeong-won, he might even have to start checking whether the S-ranks were shifting their behavior.
He’d really wanted this life to be easy this time around, but the world never seemed to let up. Groaning from the headache, Cha Eui-sung pressed his temples and began changing clothes.
Hmm.
He froze mid-motion while picking up his pants.
No stains, no marks—looked totally clean—but there was this… faint smell that kept bothering him.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
To have his lower stomach twitching in this kind of situation—utterly absurd.
After going at it so thoroughly just last night, how was it even possible that he was already half-hard again like some standby troop on five-minute alert?
And that bastard Moon Tae-young? Guy looked perfectly fine, probably already hard at work, not a single hair out of place.
Once again, Cha Eui-sung felt his pride take a hit, though by now, it had become a regular thing. He bit his lower lip, unable to completely ignore the hazy heat that crept over him.
His head and body still carried Moon Tae-young’s scent. It hadn’t bothered him earlier, but now the mingled warmth of their shared skin made it feel almost overwhelmingly intense.
The brush of fabric against his bare skin gnawed at the edges of his mind. And when the ache of sharp canines biting into his neck came rushing back to him, Cha Eui-sung looked away with a heavy sigh.
And of course, right there in the corner of the bedroom—neatly folded—were Moon Tae-young’s clothes.
…God. He really didn’t want to be like this.
If neither his head nor his body were going to listen, how the hell was he supposed to survive in this relentless world?
***
“Boss. Do you seriously live without towels in your house?”
“I’m just not in the mood right now.”
“What… kind of mood? You need a mood to dry yourself off after a wash?”
Clicking his tongue like he’d seen it all now, Kim Jeong-baek shut the door behind him. Cha Eui-sung trudged into his place, flopping down after running a towel through his hair twice, still damp, and haphazardly swept it back.
“Seo-ryong’s not home yet. Still practicing for the field day.”
Practicing? For a field day? What was it, a variety show? Kids just needed to run around and go wild—no rehearsal required.
“When’s she coming back?”
He asked in a clipped tone, which instantly made Kim Jeong-baek raise a brow like something was off again.
Cha Eui-sung, feeling like all lust and worldly urges had been purged from his system, dropped heavily onto the colorful couch with a grim expression.
“Guess I’ll need to start tracking school events too now.”
“What now?”
“Can’t afford for it to mess up my schedule.”
“You blew off the school talent show like it was nothing, though…”
He couldn’t exactly admit it was because he had to keep crashing Moon Tae-young’s place every day, so instead, Cha Eui-sung jabbed absently at an innocent couch cushion.
“Hey, don’t pop it!”
As if Cha Eui-sung might accidentally ruin someone else’s furniture just by failing to control his strength.
Cha Eui-sung leaned back on the couch, closed his eyes, and muttered the next request like he was ordering takeout.
“Oh, and… pull up whatever you can on the Jeongchoduk Dungeon. Documents, reports—anything.”
