The face reflected in the bathroom mirror was flushed. It showed no signs of calming down. Rubbing it only made things worse. A deep sigh escaped naturally.
Had there ever been a day when showering was this challenging? Already cleaned up long ago, yet water was poured and soap applied multiple times. Still unsatisfied, now standing under a barrage of cold water.
‘Why dwell on it?’
The realization that Lim Haeyul had his first kiss with Cha Jae-woo yesterday was the problem. At the moment their lips touched, he thought, “Ah, this is my first kiss.” However, yesterday’s situation was so strange and urgent that he couldn’t dwell on it for long.
Before the first kiss, he had imagined that just the touch of lips would make his heart race and leave him flustered. He believed he would be too embarrassed to even lift his head.
But none of that happened. After that, they kissed countless more times. So, there was no time to dwell on the fact that it was his first kiss.
The real issue came afterward.
Once he distanced himself from Cha Jae-woo, the events of yesterday became even more vivid. He couldn’t easily forget them. Seeing the clear bite mark on his shoulder as soon as he entered the bathroom made his memories even more vivid.
Facing the evidence, he felt like he was reliving that moment. So, he ended up squatting in a corner of the bathroom for a while.
“Haah…….”
It was a surprising event, but honestly, Cha Jae-woo was incredibly intense yesterday! The way he persistently clung to him was something else. It was so natural, like a snake slithering over a wall, that it was amazing he didn’t lose his senses. Especially since it was his first kiss! He had never experienced anything like that before!
‘But… it was good… too good.’
He buried his face in his palms, feeling defeated. Even though his first kiss was taken so abruptly, he couldn’t help but think it was okay because it was with Cha Jae-woo.
“I must be crazy.”
It was such a chilling thought that he slapped his cheeks. But if that could clear his mind, he would have done it sooner. Despite slapping himself until his cheeks were red, he found himself thinking about the kisses he shared with Cha Jae-woo again.
Indeed, Cha Jae-woo was a perfect first kiss partner. Honestly, Cha Jae-woo was…
“Aaaah!”
Overwhelmed by the vivid memories from just a few hours ago, he suddenly screamed or banged his head against the bathroom wall, trying to erase everything that came to mind.
Just reminiscing made his blood rush, and something that shouldn’t react started to react due to the increased blood flow.
“Crazy bastard. Crazy bastard…….”
He pulled his hair, standing under the cold water for a long time.
His skin turned cold, almost freezing, but he couldn’t escape. This was the only way to calm down in a house with Cha Jae-woo.
* * *
After what felt like an eternally long shower, he still hesitated for a while. He couldn’t find the courage to enter Cha Jae-woo’s room.
He knew Cha Jae-woo well enough by now. In other words, he knew that Cha Jae-woo had likely heard his struggles in the bathroom. Of course, he waited until he calmed down. He didn’t intervene. Still, it was embarrassing.
‘There’s no privacy at all.’
He pouted, swallowing his frustration.
He didn’t want everything to be known. It was truly unfair. He had no idea what Cha Jae-woo was doing in his room!
“Phew…….”
He sighed, trying to calm his frustration. It’s not like he wanted to hear every sound Cha Jae-woo made. …Or did he? He was a bit curious. His thoughts were all over the place.
He shook his head to clear his mind. He had to go since he was called.
Finally, checking his face, which had returned to its normal color, he took a deep breath as if to steel himself.
“Ah, damn it…….”
Of course, it wasn’t his will that made his face flush red again as he walked towards Cha Jae-woo’s room.
It was a mess. Wasn’t this situation serious? Sure, his heart might waver as a side effect, but his body shouldn’t react like this.
‘Or should it?’
Was it normal for the body to follow the heart’s desires? Sometimes, the body moved first, and the heart followed… but these were useless thoughts.
He shook his head to clear his mind. It didn’t help, but dwelling on it was pointless.
Seeing Cha Jae-woo now felt awkward, but it wasn’t the first time. He needed to be confident. He had to find out why Cha Jae-woo acted that way.
He forced himself to walk briskly, resisting the urge to turn back. Today, the distance to Cha Jae-woo’s room felt unusually short.
Knock, knock.
Upon reaching Cha Jae-woo’s door, he knocked without hesitation and opened it, trying to act casual. He feared that if he hesitated, he might run back to his room.
Cha Jae-woo greeted him with an expressionless face. He had also showered, his hair slightly wet and appearing even darker. Today, he looked especially…
‘No, stop it, Lim Haeyul!’
He swallowed hard and lowered his head to hide his moving Adam’s apple.
“Can I come in?” he asked, even though he was already inside.
“Sure,” Cha Jae-woo replied, not bothering to point out the oddity.
He quickly took a seat across from Cha Jae-woo.
‘Why does the chair feel so close today?’
He cleared his throat, trying to hide his nervousness. Cha Jae-woo remained silent, which he appreciated.
“So… why did you do that yesterday…?” he asked, breaking the silence since Cha Jae-woo didn’t speak first.
He felt embarrassed sitting in front of Cha Jae-woo after what happened yesterday. It would take time to get over this feeling. He needed to hear the reason and leave quickly.
“I’m not sure. I don’t remember,” Cha Jae-woo said.
He nodded, having heard this earlier.
It still felt unfair. Cha Jae-woo didn’t remember anything about last night, which was so intense for him. How shameless! This was unforgivable.
But he kept his mouth shut. He had already said enough earlier and didn’t want to relive the embarrassment.
Thankfully, Cha Jae-woo had been groggy when he woke up, or he would have seen him flustered.
“I think… I might have drunk Feleil’s blood,” Cha Jae-woo said.
‘Feleil’s blood?’
He pondered Cha Jae-woo’s words. Feleil didn’t sound like a person’s name; it was probably a monster. It rang a bell, perhaps from a book he had read.
“Feleil is a type of dragon that appears in A-rank gates or higher. Once it appears, the gate is practically S-rank,” Cha Jae-woo explained.
“Ah…”
So, Cha Jae-woo had drunk monster blood?
He recalled a rumor that drinking monster blood could increase mana. Maybe Feleil’s blood had that effect, but only for Espers, not Guides. That would explain why Cha Jae-woo, an S-rank Esper, would do such a thing. He must have done it to increase his mana.
“I see,” he said, trying to process the information.
Was it an experiment, or was Cha Jae-woo certain about the outcome? Either way, it didn’t matter. He carefully clenched his fist, trying to sense his mana. Cha Jae-woo must have wanted to see the results, which is why he called him to his room.
‘He should have told me earlier. I could have checked in my room and let him know the results right away.’
He wasn’t particularly angry that Cha Jae-woo had attempted such a thing. It was clear that his guiding was severely lacking, so it made sense that Cha Jae-woo would try something like this.
He felt a bit disappointed. If only his rank were a little higher, Cha Jae-woo wouldn’t have needed to resort to drinking something like that. There would have been no reason for him to return in such a disoriented state yesterday.
“What do you mean, ‘I see’?”
He thought it was a reasonable thing to do and that it was fine, but strangely, his mood began to sour. He only realized he was sulking when he heard Cha Jae-woo’s puzzled voice.
He quickly composed himself. There was no reason to feel upset.
“…Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else. Yeah, sure. It’s good to try many things! Let me just check my mana level.”
“Why would you check that?” Cha Jae-woo asked, furrowing his brow.
He stammered, “…Because if you did an experiment, you need to see the results?”
“What experiment?”
Cha Jae-woo’s question left him speechless. Why was he asking that? Was he surprised that he knew about it without an explanation?
It seemed like a reasonable assumption. This time, he scratched his cheek before answering, “An experiment… to increase mana?”
It sounded a bit flimsy, but the intention was correct.
However, something was off because Cha Jae-woo’s face contorted in disbelief, as if he had heard complete nonsense.
“No, that’s—”
“Ha…….”
Cha Jae-woo let out a long sigh, so deep that it conveyed his utter disbelief.
