Chapter 65
“Don’t think useless thoughts and just stay put here.”
“Then, are you really… planning to do it outside? I’m not shameless like you, so absolutely not.”
Actually, shamelessness aside, that would be a crime. A crime. Even if this world was sexually liberal, that was unacceptable to him.
“Yoon Seo Won.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I told you to listen.”
“I don’t know about other things, but I can’t compromise on this.”
“I clearly warned you not to act on your own. Don’t wander around alone.”
“It’s not like I’m going to do anything strange. I’m not saying I’ll search for hunters with you either. I won’t go far, so don’t be so sensitive.”
Baek Rak seemed irritated as he roughly ran his hand through his hair.
“I told you not to.”
“I said I don’t want to? I can’t compromise on this either.”
“Yoon Seo Won.”
“I said no. It’s useless no matter how much you…”
“You!”
Seo Won, who had been saying “no” like a parrot, was startled.
Baek Rak was shouting?
When Seo Won looked at him with surprised eyes, Baek Rak narrowed his brow and began glaring with sharp eyes. Though he hadn’t expected such a reaction, Seo Won decided not to miss this opportunity. With the mindset of ‘let’s clash once and for all,’ he widened his eyes defiantly.
“What about me.”
“Yoon Seo Won.”
“What. Why do you keep calling me?”
“Do you think this situation is a joke?”
“If I thought it was a joke, I couldn’t have come this far.”
“Then is it so difficult to stay put?”
“Yeah, it’s difficult for me. When have you ever seen me staying still?”
Perhaps from recalling the past, or because he was fighting back without backing down, Baek Rak seemed at a loss for words.
“You said it’s not dangerous here. Then you can keep looking for hunters and I can move around on my own. What’s the problem?”
“…Staying put here and wandering around are different.”
“How are they different?”
“Don’t you remember when I said people are the most dangerous?”
“By that logic, you’d be dangerous too.”
“Yoon Seo Won.”
Baek Rak’s atmosphere sank even deeper. Pointing out Baek Rak himself as a dangerous element seemed to have fueled his anger. After saving him several times, it would be annoying for even Seo Won to hear such words.
Still, it couldn’t be helped. Since they couldn’t fight by trading blows, he had to clash like this. To hear Baek Rak’s true feelings, making his emotions intense was the best approach.
“What, so what.”
He deliberately spat out words curtly to provoke him further.
“……”
But was his firepower weak? Strangely, Baek Rak, who seemed like he would pounce, turned his head away first. Had he gotten tired of dealing with this? Calming his emotions this quickly was cheating.
Seo Won decided to pour more oil on the fire before it went out.
“If you have nothing more to say, let’s split up as soon as morning comes. You handle your business, I’ll handle mine. If we meet back here before nightfall…”
“Do whatever you want.”
“…What?”
“I said do whatever you want.”
Baek Rak, who said that, stood up from his seat. Wait, this wasn’t part of the plan?
Feeling like he would leave somewhere at any moment, he urgently grabbed Baek Rak’s sleeve.
“Why are you getting up? Where are you going?”
“Do whatever you want. I’ll do whatever I want too.”
“What? That’s different from what you said earlier.”
However, Baek Rak didn’t respond and pulled at the sleeve that was being held. As Baek Rak tried to slip out of his grasp, Seo Won jumped up from his seat. He grabbed Baek Rak’s hand firmly with both hands and shook his head frantically.
“No, don’t go.”
“Let go of this.”
“I don’t want to.”
He absolutely couldn’t let him go like this.
Making up with Baek Rak was the ultimate goal, not hoping things would go wrong. He only wanted to pour out everything that needed to be said and return to how things were before, but he didn’t know why this path was so treacherous.
“You can’t just leave like this.”
“I said I’d do what you want, so why.”
“When did I ever want something like this?”
“You said let’s each go around on our own. Didn’t you want to wander around freely?”
“That’s not… Hey! Wait! Baek Rak!”
He barely managed to grab hold of Baek Rak’s hand as he tried to escape. He could feel an even colder gaze piercing his face than before.
What an extreme guy with no middle ground at all!
“Let’s talk. Don’t just try to leave like this.”
“Let go.”
“Wait, just wait a moment.”
Baek Rak turned his body and harshly swatted away Seo Won’s hand. When Seo Won tried to grab him again, he avoided it as if he didn’t want to be touched. He showed no will to have a conversation at all.
Seo Won calmed his burning insides and continued to hold onto Baek Rak.
“I’m sorry for deliberately provoking you. You kept hiding things, so I did it on purpose. This isn’t how we should be. Let’s lay everything out and talk, okay?”
“I told you to let go.”
“Are you really going to be like this?”
“You’re the one who shouldn’t be like this. Let go, right now.”
“Baek Rak!”
Despite Seo Won’s desperate plea, Baek Rak stubbornly refused to have a conversation. In the end, it was Seo Won, not Baek Rak, who exploded.
“Why the hell are you acting like this!”
Seo Won shouted, bursting with the resentment that had built up inside him. Only then did Baek Rak’s movement stop.
“If you’re angry at me, then be angry, at least! Don’t ignore people!”
“……”
“Is having a conversation that difficult? Am I making an unreasonable request?”
Baek Rak, who had been turned away, twisted his body back around. Their eyes met.
“I know you’ve had a hard time because of me, so I tried to understand as much as possible, but this isn’t right. Are you planning to not see me at all once I awaken?”
Baek Rak’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Whether he did or not, Seo Won continued to pour out what was inside him.
“If you had no intention of being close, you should have kept acting like a bastard! You shouldn’t have given me even a shred of hope!”
“……”
“But you didn’t! You played pranks on me and teased me! And then how can you turn your back in an instant?”
“Stop it, Yoon Seo Won.”
“Stop what? At least let me hear the reason. Why exactly are you doing this! What happened in the past that makes you treat me like this?”
“It’s not because of that, so mind your own business.”
“It’s not? Then is it because of some other reason? At least tell me that. So I can understand.”
Baek Rak chuckled as if something about his words was funny.
“Do I need to make you understand?”
“What?”
“Like you said, I have no intention of seeing you after you awaken, so don’t waste your energy on pointless things…”
“You crazy bastard!”
He couldn’t listen to Baek Rak’s words anymore. How could he spout such words unless he was insane?
Seo Won grabbed Baek Rak by the collar.
“What? You have no intention of seeing me? You’ll cut ties after I awaken? And you tell me not to bring up the past?”
“……”
“Then why did you kiss me? What was everything you did with me until now!”
His head felt like it was boiling. Even back then, he had expected Baek Rak’s attitude to change like flipping a palm. That’s why he thought the shock wouldn’t be too great even if it happened.
But when his attitude actually changed, and he finally heard words about the end, it felt like his insides would turn upside down.
Seo Won gritted his teeth and glared at Baek Rak.
“This is ridiculous, really…”
Until he was attacked by the Alpha, Baek Rak hadn’t been like this. He kept his distance, but he didn’t push him away to this extent.
He always stared at him persistently. Observing every expression and action was his job. When he said he wanted to kiss, he was so aggressive that you’d wonder if he had this fiery side, and sometimes he acted affectionately, making people feel ticklish.
But now he was denying all of that.
“Am I… that easy to you?”
“……”
“Because you can easily cast me off anytime, you do whatever you want?”
The strength gradually left the hand gripping Baek Rak’s collar. Though he tried to force strength into it, wondering if it had any meaning, he let it flow as it would.
Finally, his hand dropped down with a thud. Seo Won looked at Baek Rak, who was silently staring at him, and took a step back. Today especially, Baek Rak felt incredibly distant. Even more than when he had first drawn lines and turned away from him.
Baek Rak’s lips, which had been speaking just fine until now, were pressed tightly shut.
Was he replacing affirmation with silence? Or was he silent because it wasn’t worth answering?
It would be nice if he could at least say yes or no. Then he wouldn’t have felt this miserable.
Seo Won ran his dry, rough hand down his face lengthily. He felt no sensation at his fingertips. Both hands were already pale white.
“Let me ask one last time.”
“……”
“What you said about having no intention of seeing me once I awaken, is that sincere?”
Soon, Seo Won took another step back.
The farther he got from Baek Rak, the faster his heartbeat became. He thought that if he went to a place where he couldn’t see him like this, his heart might jump out of his mouth. Even so, he couldn’t help but step back. If he stayed close, his heart might stop.
“If you say yes, I won’t bother you anymore.”
“……”
“I won’t ask anything. I’ll stay put obediently as you want, so tell me. Is that really what you want?”
He slowly raised his head that had been lowered. He had been avoiding looking because he didn’t know what expression Baek Rak would make, but now he couldn’t avoid it. Sometimes eyes and expressions speak instead of words.
Baek Rak still had no answer.
‘So you’re telling me to figure it out myself after all…’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
