# 50
“That’s a rare look of confusion on your face, Hunter Lee Jin-ha.”
He couldn’t help it. Having just been digging into Riyekan’s intimate past, he felt guilty, and he hadn’t yet decided what to say about the soul matter or how much to reveal.
Meeting Riyekan at such an early hour was unexpected.
“Riyekan…”
“Why are you meeting that thing here?”
“I just came to see the sheep and…”
“Ah, so did that thing approach you?”
Riyekan stared at his biological younger brother with cold eyes. Jin-ha hid Jeidrus, who had retreated fearfully, behind his back. His gaze trembled with confusion and bewilderment.
“Riyekan, we just met by chance.”
“By chance! Why are you talking with that thing, Hunter Lee Jin-ha and that.”
“I apologize if it made you uncomfortable. I just wanted to know about you…”
“If you wanted to know about me, you should have come to me.”
“…”
“You want to know about me, yet why are you meeting and talking with that thing?”
Riyekan interrogated with a voice that had sunk eerily. His face had turned ghostly pale, but his eyes were sharp as blades.
“Riyekan, you’re acting strange right now.”
“I’m acting strange…?”
Riyekan smiled crookedly. Though his eyes were languid as usual, his pupils were chillingly focused, making him look almost insane. Jin-ha pushed Jeidrus, who was peeking his head out to see his brother after a long time, further behind him to keep him out of Riyekan’s sight.
Somehow displeased by this, Riyekan snorted openly. He was laughing as if he’d witnessed something absurd.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“I don’t know what you mean, but Riyekan, I didn’t intend to provoke your temper.”
“Everything you’re doing right now is provoking my temper, Jin-ha.”
A growl-like voice suppressed Jin-ha and Jeidrus. He thought he just felt that way because of the atmosphere, but the next moment, Jeidrus slumped to the ground. The hand that had been holding Jin-ha’s waist slid down over his buttocks, thighs, and calves before slapping the ground with a splash.
“Ugh…”
After a gasp, the sound of scratching the dirt ground continued.
Jin-ha stood still, looking directly into Riyekan’s eyes. Right now, Riyekan was no different from a predator suddenly encountered in the wild. He had an intuition that it would be more dangerous if he broke eye contact.
“Riyekan.”
Jin-ha called his name and took one step closer to Riyekan. It was a slow, cautious movement. Riyekan frowned but didn’t refuse or avoid him further.
Drawing closer, Jin-ha grabbed Riyekan’s hand firmly.
“I just met him by chance and found out he’s your brother. So…”
“He is not my brother…!”
“I wanted to ask about you…”
“He knows nothing!”
Jin-ha nodded while rubbing the back of Riyekan’s hand, which was shouting sensitively.
“Yes. I was wrong.”
“…Damn it.”
At Jin-ha’s submissive appearance, Riyekan muttered a curse and wildly ran his free hand through his hair. He still looked pale and now even haggard. Beyond the man who had been disguising himself with sneers and sarcasm filled with anger, a weakly staggering Riyekan could be glimpsed.
Jin-ha’s heart dropped. Perhaps he shouldn’t have apologized, he thought. Not until Riyekan had fully vented his anger.
“Riyekan.”
“I don’t feel well.”
Mumbling, Riyekan turned his body and vanished like smoke.
Damn magic.
Jin-ha ignored Jeidrus calling from behind and ran toward the tower.
If only he had known this would happen…
* * *
“The Master is unwell, so you should rest today as well, Mr. Lee Jin-ha.”
“I know that’s not true.”
Jin-ha snapped at Legas, who was smiling like a picture.
Though Riyekan had disappeared saying he wasn’t feeling well, unless he had collapsed in the meantime, there was no reason he couldn’t even talk. Jin-ha clenched his fist.
“I have something to discuss.”
“Mr. Lee Jin-ha.”
“Legas, please.”
“Go back and wait for a message.”
This was the magic tower. It was a place where one couldn’t even walk the corridors normally without weaving patterns with magic. Because of this, he had always needed Legas’s guidance whenever he went to Riyekan’s room. From corridors where paths didn’t exist to the birdcage, nothing could be used without magic.
And Legas would absolutely not let him in now.
In the end, Jin-ha had no choice but to turn away.
* * *
He shouldn’t have done that.
Five days had already passed since then. During that time, Riyekan had been refusing Jin-ha’s visits with the excuse of being sick.
From the third day, even Legas became difficult to meet. Now Jin-ha had to face a cold mage at the information desk on the first floor of the Noon Moon Tower.
“I want to meet Riyekan. How…”
“The Master is not someone you can meet just because you want to.”
The mage with the cold face sharply cut off Jin-ha’s words.
Just a few days ago, this same person had greeted him kindly whenever he passed this way. After just a few days of not meeting Riyekan, their attitude had changed so drastically.
Jin-ha realized anew how special the treatment he had received had been. Until now, he had never felt uncomfortable among the arrogant alpha mages. It was all thanks to Riyekan.
“…”
He really hadn’t expected that his brief conversation with that boy would escalate this far. Even though he had been concerned about Riyekan taking medicine that wasn’t good for his body, he shouldn’t have dug into his past so freely.
If only he had just asked Riyekan directly, as he had suggested…
Jin-ha turned away, disappointed.
“This is the first time it’s ended so quickly, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Even the stone lasted two months.”
“And he was openly going around covered in the Master’s pheromones…”
“Ah, that was funny. Despite not even being an omega.”
“Because of that, everyone thought he was the Master’s lover and was cautious.”
“Thinking about it now, it’s ridiculous.”
Jin-ha stopped in his tracks.
The shock of discovering facts he hadn’t known until now heated his brain. He had thought Riyekan had simply doused him with pheromones to tease or punish him, but perhaps it was thanks to that that Jin-ha had been able to stay among so many alphas without being ignored or ridiculed.
Surely that was also why Legas had released his pheromones in front of him at first. To inform the tower’s alphas that this was a guest he was managing, so they should be careful with their behavior.
But Riyekan had covered Jin-ha with his own pheromones, amplifying the meaning even further.
“Guest, do you have any other business?”
He still wanted to talk with Riyekan.
Jin-ha moved on, ignoring the provocations of the noisy flies.
“I should tell the servants to prepare to clean the annex, don’t you think?”
At that moment, lightning struck the first floor of the Noon Moon Tower.
Crash!
Light flickered.
“Who. Gave. You. That. Authority?”
Jin-ha froze in surprise, then whirled around at the familiar voice. Amidst the crackling electricity, one man was lying on the ground spewing smoke from his mouth, while Riyekan was stomping on his chest. Judging by the rise and fall of the fallen man’s chest, he seemed to be alive, but it was uncertain how long he would remain so.
Despite their colleague dying, the other two mages merely sat on the floor trembling, unable to do anything.
“How dare you!”
“M-Master!”
Only when the fallen man coughed up blood from Riyekan’s kick did they finally call out to Riyekan with trembling voices. But that call only served to fan Riyekan’s anger.
“The same goes for you. How dare you treat what’s mine with disrespect!”
Bang!
Lightning struck the floor once more. The two mages who barely avoided electrocution by bending down knelt and bowed.
“Master, w-we were wrong. That’s not, that’s not what…”
“Go find Legas.”
The two froze, inhaling sharply at the cold command.
“Go and ask him to impose an appropriate punishment. Understand?”
“Pardon…?”
“I asked, do you understand!”
“Y-yes, understood!”
Even with their answer that was almost a scream, Riyekan didn’t hide his dissatisfaction and kicked the half-dead man in the side once more.
“Riyekan.”
“Damn it!”
“Riyekan!”
Thud, the man’s movements stopped.
Jin-ha was glad to finally meet Riyekan after five days and to be able to explain what had happened that day. Just as he was about to say something, the silent Riyekan cut him off.
“Don’t misunderstand. This is a matter of my authority.”
“What? What does that…”
And before Jin-ha could say anything more, Riyekan kicked the fallen man toward the two mages, then abruptly turned and disappeared. Watching Riyekan’s form scatter like smoke, Jin-ha was dumbfounded.
This was an unfair game of tag.
If Riyekan set his mind to it, Jin-ha could never catch him.
“Ha…”
Jin-ha laughed hollowly, feeling absurd. Looking at it now, the information desk was wrecked and burned beyond recognition. To leave the first floor in such a state and just walk away like that?
Riyekan was truly a man who did as he pleased, and there was no way to resolve the situation by being passive. Jin-ha clicked his tongue and turned toward the annex.
And the remaining mages watched that scene, holding their breath.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
