101.
Although all he could hear was sound, Jinhyeon’s emotions were palpably clear. He was genuinely grieving and suffering over Yu Jin’s death. The despair seeping through every sound he made was breaking Jinhyeon down. At this rate, it seemed he might brush off Haruna’s restraints and rush back to the Duke’s family.
‘No!’
Yu Jin didn’t want Jinhyeon to do that. He had only wanted to turn Jinhyeon’s heart a little. The moment Jinhyeon rushed to the Duke’s family and started a massacre, their future together would disappear. Yu Jin tried desperately to move.
“Do you think Lord Yu Jin would be happy if you did that?”
Haruna calmly tried to dissuade Jinhyeon. She too was waiting for Yu Jin to wake up after some time. Yu Jin concentrated intensely on his fingertips.
‘Move, move!’
Perhaps his desperate efforts paid off. His stilled heart began to beat slowly again. Along with it, his limp fingers began to move. It was a minute movement, but there was no way Jinhyeon wouldn’t notice it. Jinhyeon, who had been arguing with Haruna, quickly ran over and grasped Yu Jin’s hand.
“Yu Jin?”
Yu Jin took a deep breath and coughed.
“Cough!”
At the same time, he felt pain throughout his body. It seemed to be a side effect of the drug, but it wasn’t unbearable. Yu Jin immediately moved his hand to hold Jinhyeon’s in return.
“…Don’t go.”
At those faintly uttered words, Jinhyeon’s fiercely frozen face crumbled. His lowered eyelashes trembled, and tears began to fall from his dark eyes. He slowly caressed Yu Jin’s cheek with his free hand. Warmth was gradually returning to the once cold cheek. Still not quite believing it, Jinhyeon examined Yu Jin for a long time before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
“You’re alive.”
Yu Jin slowly nodded.
From the moment Yu Jin woke up, Jinhyeon stuck close to him and refused to let go. Keith, who arrived late, frowned at this sight, but Jinhyeon paid no attention. They couldn’t continue like this indefinitely, so they needed to assess the situation first.
“Is the brainwashing gone now?”
Jinhyeon nodded at Keith’s words. He was sitting on the sofa with Yu Jin on his lap. In this position, he had Yu Jin wrap his arms around his neck while he buried his face in Yu Jin’s nape. Every time Jinhyeon breathed, it tickled, and Yu Jin had to suppress his laughter.
“Jinhyeon, this position is uncomfortable. Can’t we sit separately?”
“No.”
Jinhyeon firmly refused and tightened his arms around Yu Jin. His determination to never let go was palpable. Keith’s expression grew more severe at this sight, but there was nothing he could do immediately. Yu Jin awkwardly smiled as he looked at Keith.
“It was a strange feeling.”
Yu Jin heard Jinhyeon mumbling against his chest.
“I clearly love you, but in that moment, I believed I loved Lyunne. But that was brainwashing.”
“You probably have an idea why.”
“I do. I was too arrogant.”
Jinhyeon said this as he raised his head to meet Yu Jin’s eyes.
“…I underestimated this world too much.”
His appearance looked so pitiful that Yu Jin unconsciously patted Jinhyeon’s back.
“You’re so soft.”
Yu Jin saw Haruna sighing, but what could be done? In the end, the one who loves more always loses. Yu Jin was certain that his love for Jinhyeon was greater than Jinhyeon’s for him. After all, Jinhyeon was originally destined to create a harem, while Yu Jin was not.
“I’ll never leave you again.”
Jinhyeon spoke as if making a vow.
“And you, never die again.”
“I won’t die again.”
Yu Jin hesitated for a moment but decided to tell Jinhyeon the truth.
“Because actually, when I stopped breathing…”
“You must have done something like I did. If there’s a drug that can change people’s hearts, there must be one that can fake death.”
“…That’s right.”
“Like Romeo and Juliet?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not good for your body, is it?”
Yu Jin rolled his eyes at Jinhyeon’s words. Then his gaze met Haruna’s, who was sitting on the opposite sofa.
“It’s not a good drug. It’s a drug that fakes death, how could there be no side effects? That’s why I tried so hard to stop you, saying no, no. You should have listened.”
Yu Jin squeezed his eyes shut at the barrage of words.
“Then is the weight loss also due to side effects?”
“No, that’s not it. You’re so skinny now because some damned fool got brainwashed and caused you emotional distress. You didn’t eat anything today either.”
What are you talking about! This morning, Haruna had left some soup and insisted that Yu Jin eat it, and he had eaten about half. But it seemed both Jinhyeon and Keith had already fallen for her words.
“Then let’s eat something first.”
“I’ll prepare some food.”
They only work together at times like this. Keith immediately went out and prepared a meal. Because Yu Jin hadn’t been eating properly lately, he brought light soup and soft bread. Jinhyeon only released Yu Jin after Keith had set these on the table. As a result, Yu Jin had to empty the entire bowl of soup under the watchful eyes of all three.
‘This is strange.’
When Haruna had pushed the soup on him this morning, it had felt so unappetizing and difficult to eat, but now it went down smoothly. He even ate two fist-sized pieces of bread. After finishing the fruit pudding that came as dessert, his stomach felt full. After filling his stomach like that, drowsiness began to set in.
‘I shouldn’t sleep.’
Now that Jinhyeon had rushed here, they needed to deal with the aftermath, but Yu Jin’s eyes were blinking and closing.
“If you’re sleepy, you should sleep.”
Yu Jin firmly grasped the large hand that was patting the back of his hand.
“Sleep with me.”
Jinhyeon obediently moved as Yu Jin wanted. Seeing this, Haruna smiled slightly and pushed Keith’s back as they left the room. Keith seemed to resist being pushed for a moment, but it didn’t last long. He also knew that Yu Jin needed rest.
“Sweet dreams.”
With those words, the door closed. Yu Jin lay side by side with Jinhyeon on the bed. Drowsiness was washing over him like waves, but he didn’t want to close his eyes. What if he closed his eyes and opened them only to find all this was a dream? So as he desperately tried to keep his drooping eyes open, Jinhyeon whispered.
“Are you anxious?”
“I’m anxious.”
“Then what should I do for you?”
“Keep talking to me. Or you can sing for me.”
“I’m not good at singing, though.”
Despite saying this, Jinhyeon sang as Yu Jin wanted.
“On the stormy sea~”
A familiar song tapped at Yu Jin’s ears. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Jinhyeon singing an old children’s song.
‘He sings well.’
As expected, the protagonist is a jack of all trades. Yu Jin slowly closed his eyes while listening to the endless song. It felt like he could finally sleep peacefully now.
Lyunne bit her nails.
‘What should I do?’
Jinhyeon hadn’t returned since rushing out of the mansion. There was no news even as the sun set and night fell. Feeling like she couldn’t just stay put, Lyunne belatedly stood up and saw Grey. His face, which always wore a gentle smile, now showed no expression at all.
“Grey!”
Lyunne called out to Grey urgently.
“There’s a problem, a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Jinhyeon rushed out after hearing that Yu Jin had died! Didn’t you say it was a perfect drug? Why did the effect wear off?”
Her voice, which was loud at first, gradually decreased in volume. Lyunne also knew that this conversation shouldn’t be overheard by others. After listening to the end, Grey sighed.
“It’s because he wasn’t an ordinary person. Lady Lyunne, do you know how weak Jinhyeon was when he was in the Colosseum? Even though he was called a promising talent, he was still just a Colosseum slave. He was incomparably weaker than a knight. Yet in less than a year, he became strong enough to defeat someone who had received formal knight training.”
There was only one implication to this.
“I told you when I first gave you the drug.”
Knights, magicians, those who handle special abilities were amazing. But even among such people, there were those called geniuses who were even more extraordinary, and Jinhyeon was such a person. Brainwashing doesn’t work fully on such people. That’s why Grey had initially said to target Yu Jin instead of Jinhyeon when giving the drug. Of course, there was also the fact that more could be gained from Yu Jin.
“Why didn’t you protect him?”
At Grey’s cold words, Lyunne bit her lip hard. The shame of being scolded by Grey, who was her subordinate, worry about what was to come, numerous emotions complicated her mind.
“It can’t be helped. What’s done is done.”
Lyunne spoke firmly.
“So we need to clean up.”
Grey rubbed his forehead with his hand.
“How do you propose we clean this up?”
“Let’s kill Jinhyeon.”
Grey slowly raised his head at Lyunne’s words.
“Are you serious? Didn’t you like him?”
“I do like him. I still do. But I know that sometimes there are things you have to give up.”
Lyunne was serious now.
