# 53
“What are you doing?”
Riyekan frowned as Jin-ha reached out and caressed his hair without warning. Under normal circumstances, he should have melted at the touch, but he seemed to be responding sluggishly due to his poor condition.
Seeing Jin-ha’s confusion as his planned strategy failed to work, Riyekan irritably grabbed his shoulder.
“Ha, it seems I’ve been too lenient with Hunter Lee Jin-ha.”
Riyekan muttered as if dumbfounded, tilting his head with one corner of his mouth raised. Though his voice held a hint of laughter, it was chilling and eerie, and his face was fierce and menacing. There was a murderous aura about him, like a hungry, exhausted, and highly agitated tiger with its prey at its feet.
What would happen when a man’s patience runs out?
An indescribable heat swirled in Jin-ha’s eyes. But neither the man before him, nor even he himself, understood the meaning of that desire.
A strange silence followed.
Riyekan stared intently at Jin-ha’s fear-soaked eyes, twisted the corner of his mouth and chuckled before drawing up his magical power.
“This is my final kindness, Hunter Lee Jin-ha. Today ends here…”
No. At this rate, he would simply be thrown out. If Legas learned that he had sneaked in today, security would be tightened afterward, leaving no second chance.
Jin-ha grabbed the man’s hair and threw himself forward.
“What… ungh…!”
Jin-ha, unable to control his strength, pounced on Riyekan with his entire body. At first, Riyekan seemed to bear Jin-ha’s weight without issue, but when their lips met, he lost his strength. Staggering, Riyekan fell backward and lay on the sandy beach.
“Don’t…”
Jin-ha followed as Riyekan twisted his head to avoid him, kissing him again.
“Wai— Jin, Jin-ha…!”
“Shh…”
Though Riyekan’s hands initially tried to push Jin-ha away, they lost their strength as their lips collided again and again. Jin-ha anxiously watched as the sharp, piercing gaze—honed by anger that had been burning inside without ever erupting—gradually crumbled.
“Damn it… What are you… trying to do to me…!”
Even as Riyekan snapped during a brief pause in their kisses, he no longer turned his head away. It was only natural; unlike his body filled with confusion and fear, his soul welcomed the fragment of his own soul hidden within Jin-ha.
Despite his indignant resistance, his softened eyes made him not frightening at all. Jin-ha gazed at Riyekan’s eyes, where a small flame still burned, and gently stroked his hair.
Riyekan let out a pained moan.
“Uggh…”
“Are you calmer now?”
“What calm… ugh… mmm… ah, wait…”
“How about now?”
“I’m fi— no, not yet…”
Jin-ha lightly licked Riyekan’s tongue as he flared up. It seemed like inside Riyekan’s mind, a battle was raging between his growing docility and the anger that still surged up.
After a moment like this, Riyekan’s breathing gradually stabilized. Still, one couldn’t let their guard down, as he might suddenly become agitated again. Jin-ha whispered with their lips still pressed together.
“Now tell me what’s wrong.”
“This… damn… ugh, uhh…”
“Come on.”
“Damn it all…! Hnngh…”
“I said tell me.”
Each time Riyekan cursed, Jin-ha sucked on his lower lip. With stimulation like gentle puppy nibbles, Riyekan eventually squeezed his eyes shut.
The stimulation was so intense that he couldn’t focus on anything but breathing. As he had felt before, there was a world of difference between when Riyekan initiated or commanded versus when Jin-ha desired it himself. Riyekan panted, neither avoiding nor fully embracing the dizzying sensation that seemed to pierce his brain.
His heightened nerves melted softly, creating a feeling as if all problems had disappeared. Riyekan grabbed Jin-ha’s waist to prevent him from escaping from atop his body.
“Riyekan.”
“Mm…”
“Are you really not going to tell me why you ran away?”
Jin-ha whispered, gently stroking Riyekan’s eyes with his thumb.
Riyekan’s hazy eyes looked up at him, wavering as if pleading. It was the kind of face that might make one want to give everything away without receiving anything in return, swayed by sympathy. Jin-ha steeled his resolve.
Difficult moments passed by.
Only the sound of waves rushing in and dragging sand away broke the quiet surroundings, marking the passage of time.
As Jin-ha continued to gaze at Riyekan, who stubbornly maintained his walls even while crumbling weakly, he felt his own heart softening at the sight of those moist eyes. Strangely, he found this man pitifully unbearable. Sometimes he found him amusing, and occasionally, just sitting beside him brought peace to his heart.
Had he become too enchanted?
The moment Jin-ha unconsciously drew back, Riyekan’s urgent hands pressed firmly on his waist, pulling him closer.
“It’s complicated!”
“What?”
“…It’s a complicated story…”
Though he had reluctantly opened his mouth, his demeanor suggested he really didn’t want to talk. Seeing the regretful expression on his face, Jin-ha pressed their lips together again, this time sucking on Riyekan’s tongue.
“Mmm… you…!”
“I’m good at listening to complicated stories.”
“Ha…”
“Go on.”
As Jin-ha coaxed and urged him with their lips still connected, Riyekan finally surrendered completely.
In truth, this was the expected progression. Riyekan had anticipated that he would not be able to resist this man. That’s why he tried to coldly reject him and send him away quickly, but he never expected this tactic.
He let out a deep, pained sigh and began his story.
“Let me say this first—when my father threw me among the Omegas, nothing happened to me.”
“Seems you managed to escape well.”
“Yes. I’d rather die than be treated like a stud horse that way.”
“Stud horse?”
It wasn’t an expression one would expect between father and son. When Jin-ha asked in surprise, Riyekan smiled crookedly.
“The magical talent of the Ertolic family is passed down from firstborn to firstborn. Outside, people babble about some kind of magic that makes this possible, but it’s actually closer to a curse. There’s a certain power that flows through the bloodline, and only when specific conditions are met is a child born with strong power. What do you think was needed to make Jeidrus the heir and simultaneously continue the Ertolic family’s talent?”
“…You can’t mean he wanted a child?”
“That’s right.”
“Good heavens… what a sick bastard…”
After the reflexive curse slipped out, Jin-ha was about to apologize when Riyekan burst into giggles.
“It’s fine. That guy deserves to be called worse.”
“You’re right. No one should use their own child like that.”
It was deeply unfortunate that such a person had lived peacefully until his death less than a year ago. If he had done such things on Earth, he would have rotted in prison.
Jin-ha lowered his gaze with guilt and said:
“…I’ve touched on your wound.”
“It’s an old story, and not even worth calling a wound.”
“It would be traumatic even at your current age. Let alone when you were young.”
“…You’re right. That incident left a gash in me. I can’t forget the disgusting smell I encountered then. I hate Omegas.”
Encouraged by Jin-ha’s support, Riyekan finally revealed his disgust without hiding it. Jin-ha gently caressed Riyekan’s cheek as he exhaled tiredly.
This situation was entirely his fault. He knew that prying into others’ private matters was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself.
“My dislike for Omegas isn’t a secret. And people who know my bloodline would probably guess. But…”
Riyekan looked up at Jin-ha.
“I found it unpleasant to think that you knew about it.”
“Riyekan…”
“Damn it. Yes, I didn’t want Hunter Lee Jin-ha to know about this.”
As if dumbfounded, Riyekan let out a hollow laugh.
“That incident was a reason for me to hate my father, never something I considered shameful, but strangely, with Hunter Lee Jin-ha…”
“Stop. You don’t have to say more. It’s my fault, all my fault, Riyekan.”
The more he heard, the more he realized it was his own mistake. Jin-ha couldn’t lift his head.
“One more thing. I didn’t like seeing Hunter Lee Jin-ha with Jeidrus.”
“…Do you dislike him?”
“That’s complicated too.”
“I told you I’m good at listening.”
Though his conscience pricked him, this might be his only chance to uncover Riyekan’s true feelings.
Feeling guilty, Jin-ha pecked Riyekan’s lips repeatedly as if to compensate. With that, Riyekan, who had become sensitive and rigid, melted once again. He glared at Jin-ha, seemingly realizing he was helplessly falling victim, but his flushed, unfocused gaze wasn’t intimidating at all.
As they silently maintained eye contact, Riyekan finally sighed.
“My mother died the day I was born.”
That’s why Riyekan could only know his mother through portraits.
He had heard it was a difficult birth. By the time he was born, she was already dead.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
