# 22
Jin-ha was in a good mood.
It was because he had gotten everything he wanted. The Magic Tower had willingly agreed to teach him magic and also promised convenience and safety during his stay. However, the magic they would teach was limited to the lower-level 2nd circle. They said they could discuss higher levels later, explaining that without proper talent, one couldn’t reach the 3rd circle even with lifelong training.
In exchange for this deal, Jin-ha only needed to diligently play the role of the Master’s toy.
This was definitely a profitable arrangement. Perhaps he could get his father’s documents even before three months had passed. That is, if those young magicians studied diligently.
“How was it?” Jin-ha asked respectfully as the phonograph music ended.
“Hmm, better than I expected,” the man, who had been keeping his eyes closed, nodded slowly.
When Jin-ha visited the man’s room again, unlike yesterday, the man wasn’t just getting out of bed. His tunic had an open collar and his hair was casually swept back, but he looked much more presentable than yesterday. The man wore large jeweled earrings and a heavy, ornate necklace that looked like something an ancient king might wear, and they suited him remarkably well. Jin-ha had heard that such jewels could make the wearer look like a mannequin if worn incorrectly, but that wasn’t the case at all.
What was particularly surprising was that despite his somewhat disheveled appearance, the man’s movements were extremely elegant and beautiful. Jin-ha had to make an effort not to be captivated by the man sitting cross-legged on the sofa with his chin resting on his fingers.
“I’m honored by your praise, Master.”
Jin-ha responded with formal politeness. The man stared at him intently. Under that breathtaking gaze, Jin-ha wondered if he had done something wrong, but before he could think of any clues, the man gestured with his chin.
“Play something else.”
Jin-ha quickly took out another LP record from the box and placed it on the phonograph. This time, a passionate violin piece played. The ornate and technically challenging piece was intensely fervent from beginning to end.
The man kept his eyes closed and only twitched his fingertips during the piece, and even after it ended, he didn’t open his eyes. His fingers continued to tap on the armrest of the chair.
“……”
It was somehow an anxiety-inducing sound.
The slow tap, tap, tap, tap suddenly stopped. The man opened his eyes and spoke.
“…Lee Jin-ha Hunter.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Yesterday, I made a mistake.”
“That’s alright.”
“I tried to endure it, but I can’t.”
“…Pardon?”
What was he trying to say now?
Jin-ha stared at the man, tense with growing unease. His premonition wasn’t wrong.
“Why is your attitude like that?”
“…Have I done something wrong?”
“Why have you become so polite?”
Well…
Jin-ha barely managed to hold back a sarcastic remark. He was in the middle of a deal right now. A deal to pleasantly entertain this man called “Master.”
He shouldn’t fall for such unpleasant provocations.
“Um… I don’t understand what you mean. If you explain in detail, I’ll correct it.”
At this polite response, the man frowned again. Without another word, he extended his hand toward Jin-ha.
He must think I’m some kind of dog. Jin-ha grumbled internally but quietly approached the man. The way he felt right now, he was willing to comply with any request as long as it wasn’t something as undignified as kissing the man’s feet.
Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to have such an outrageous command in mind. He leaned his forehead on Jin-ha’s shoulder, groaned with an “Mmm,” and then muttered:
“Not good.”
“…What do you mean?”
Jin-ha slightly raised his shoulder to smell his own scent. Today he had washed with the soap provided in this annex. It was scentless soap, one that seemed to even mask a person’s natural scent. So there shouldn’t be any pheromone scent that would make this man mistake him for an omega.
“It’s not terrible, but still not good…”
“Could it be that you can still smell yesterday’s body wash?”
“There’s even an irritating smell now.”
“I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”
To Jin-ha’s careful response, the man rubbed his forehead against Jin-ha’s shoulder with an irritated sound, then suddenly raised his head.
“Legas!”
“Yes, Master.”
Legas, who had been waiting a few steps behind, answered the call and approached. The man swung his hand.
Slap—!
“Legas, who gave you permission to put pheromones on my guest’s body?”
Legas, who had been slapped on the cheek by the back of the man’s hand, froze. The violence was more humiliating than painful, and he lowered his eyes without even breathing properly.
“I was… wrong.”
“Because of you, the guest I’ve carefully brought here has become uninteresting. How will you take responsibility?”
Legas, who had been standing straight, quickly bowed his head.
“What should I…”
“The person who can answer that isn’t me.”
Jin-ha, who was pointed at, stepped back in confusion.
They had made a deal. It wasn’t particularly humiliating or coercive. He had simply intended to respond sincerely to reasonable requests for which he had been promised adequate compensation.
But suddenly, what was this situation?
“Jin-ha sir, please forgive…”
“Wait! Stop, please stop.”
As Legas looked ready to immediately kneel down, Jin-ha frantically waved his hands. Legas might be the kind of man who would willingly kneel for his idol, but Jin-ha didn’t want to receive such treatment.
Making someone kneel before him was something only truly vicious complainants would do. Jin-ha, irritation rising, asked the man roughly:
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
“Like that.”
“…Pardon?”
“I told you yesterday too. Do it like that.”
The man gestured toward Jin-ha with his chin and smiled sweetly. At that shameless expression, Jin-ha couldn’t help but distort his face and ask:
“Do you have no conscience?”
“Yes, that’s good.”
Seeing that expression, the man burst into laughter again as if pleased. He truly was a man with bizarre tastes.
“Hey! You said the exact same thing yesterday and then strangled my neck. And now you’re saying it again today? What are you trying to do next…!”
“I told you. I made a mistake yesterday, and I tried to endure it. But I can’t.”
“Stop it…! No, I’m sorry.”
Jin-ha’s reason belatedly returned as he shouted in anger. He let out a long sigh and rubbed his face. The man laughed again, clearly enjoying the sight. Jin-ha simply couldn’t follow this man’s thoughts.
And he couldn’t understand why he kept falling for this man’s antics. Usually, he was quite good at ignoring annoying people, but strangely, his reason kept flying away in front of this man.
After calming his boiling insides with deep breaths, Jin-ha let out a pained sigh.
“I apologize…”
“You’ll need to be rude in the future too, if it’s going to be interesting.”
“You’re really an exhausting person…”
“You just realized that?”
“…I really don’t understand what you want, Master.”
“You’re dull, Hunter Jin-ha.”
The way he smiled while saying this made it clear he had no intention of explaining exactly what he wanted. Jin-ha felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.
“Anyway, I’m not uncomfortable because of Legas, so please don’t take out your anger on him.”
When he spoke in a tired voice, the man readily nodded.
“Fine. Since Jin-ha Hunter says so, I’ll let this go this time, Legas.”
“Thank you.”
Is this something to be thankful for?
Watching Legas, who showed no resentment after being slapped but rather couldn’t hide his joy with sparkling eyes, Jin-ha shook his head. He was definitely a type of person Jin-ha couldn’t understand.
One fortunate thing was that Legas didn’t seem likely to hold a grudge against him over this.
“Shall we play some new music now?”
“No. One more thing before that.”
“What now?”
When Jin-ha asked with undisguised disgust, the man burst into laughter again.
I don’t get the point of the laughter. He doesn’t seem like the type who enjoys being insulted, and rather looks like he might explode if provoked wrongly, yet he laughed whenever Jin-ha unknowingly showed a disrespectful attitude.
“That smell bothers me.”
“What smell are you talking about now?”
“Legas’s pheromone smell.”
“You weren’t concerned about it until just now.”
“I was enduring it.”
The man shrugged and added:
“Once I noticed it, it became very distracting.”
“…Would it help if I go wash?”
“You’d leave me here to be bored?”
This time Jin-ha could understand the intention without asking what he was supposed to do.
Jin-ha tried to wave away the dark clouds that began to gather above his head, as if taunting him. These were the same dark clouds that had appeared when washing the body wash scent from Jin-ha’s body yesterday.
“I don’t like this.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“…Do you really smell something even though I washed this morning?”
“To completely wash away pheromones, you should have soaked in a bathtub.”
“Then perhaps you should try being bored for a while.”
When Jin-ha cut him off flatly, the man’s lips twitched. It was an attitude that openly showed his displeasure, but Jin-ha didn’t care and started packing his things. It was he who had just told Jin-ha to act “like that.” Surely he wouldn’t now ask him to be polite again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
