The Main Character is Obsessed With a Foreign Substance – Chapter 4-27

“That’s why you haven’t tried it yet. Because you can’t be certain. You could have published the novel without telling me.”

“…!”

The reason she was telling Suhwan as if there was a solution must be because even Heeyoung couldn’t be completely certain. Suhwan continued to look down at Heeyoung with a calm gaze.

“I’ll find a way, so please stay out of it. I’m asking you.”

“But…”

Heeyoung’s eyes wavered anxiously.

“But if something happens to you… then I…”

In truth, Heeyoung didn’t particularly want to go back to where she originally lived. That place only held painful memories for her. Even writing was a kind of escape from reality.

She was just worried about Suhwan. Writing a new novel was solely for that reason. She felt obligated to fix the current chaotic situation. If something were to happen to Suhwan, she didn’t think she could forgive herself.

“It’s okay.”

“……”

“I’ll be fine, Author.”

Suhwan looked at Heeyoung with a gentle smile. Heeyoung couldn’t say anything to that smile. She could only watch as Suhwan approached the door.

Click, creak.

The door opened slowly. Suhwan stared ahead tensely. Soon, a familiar face appeared.

“Hyung.”

“……”

Seunghyun, who had been gloomy and dejected, bloomed into a bright smile as the door opened. Seeing that radiant face, Suhwan unconsciously thought of someone else. The Seunghyun from the other world. The seventeen-year-old Seunghyun and the twenty-year-old Seunghyun. They had the same face, but they were somehow different. Having regained his memories, Suhwan couldn’t help but compare the two.

The two Seunghyuns were distinctly different individuals. They had to be. They were characters from different novels, only sharing the same name. The Seunghyun from that world, perhaps because he had suffered all kinds of malicious rumors from a young age, had a somewhat sharp and irritable atmosphere about him. His body was painfully thin, and he was rather taciturn. Suhwan had never seen him speak with anyone else. He was like someone with social phobia.

Compared to him, the Seunghyun here was a bit better. Of course, if the novel had progressed according to its original story, he would have been much more unfortunate than the Seunghyun from the other world, but that didn’t happen because Suhwan had manifested. The Seunghyun in front of Suhwan was taller than the seventeen-year-old Seunghyun, and perhaps because he had manifested as an omega, he was more beautiful. Looking into his bright brown eyes, Suhwan was desperately trying to find traces of the other Seunghyun.

Was he in there? As Heeyoung said, had the current Seunghyun gone mad due to the influence of losing himself? Suhwan looked at Seunghyun with complex emotions.

“Thank you for coming out.”

“……”

“Let’s go home now. Okay?”

Strong arms embraced Suhwan’s waist. Suhwan’s body stiffened. Seunghyun keenly noticed the change.

A mistake. If he had known Suhwan would dislike it so much and try to run away, he wouldn’t have done it. Seunghyun felt the need to modify his plan a bit. Now that Suhwan had noticed the bracelet too, there wouldn’t be a second chance. Seunghyun tightened his grip around Suhwan. As he did so, he noticed someone fidgeting behind Suhwan.

“…Kwon Heeyoung.”

“…!”

When their eyes met, Heeyoung flinched. Seunghyun’s eyes, which had appeared gentle, instantly became soaked with madness.

He had already noticed Heeyoung observing him like a hawk at school. Moreover, she had asked about Suhwan’s well-being when no one else was curious, and eventually had even brought Suhwan into this cramped studio. Fierce anger swept over Seunghyun.

“You.”

“S-Seunghyun.”

Suhwan grabbed Seunghyun in panic as he tried to approach Heeyoung. Seunghyun’s angry gaze turned to Suhwan.

He couldn’t cause any more trouble for Heeyoung. Suhwan spoke in an urgent tone.

“Yes, let’s go home. Okay?”

“……”

“Heeyoung just… I forced her to help me because I asked. And there’s nothing between us.”

He blurted out anything to calm Seunghyun down. Seunghyun, who had been quietly watching Suhwan, glanced at Heeyoung. Then, turning his gaze away, he pulled Suhwan’s arm.

“Let’s go now.”

“Okay.”

Suhwan followed Seunghyun without resistance. As he did so, he glanced back. Heeyoung was looking at him with worried eyes.

“Suhwan.”

Seunghyun frowned at the small voice filled with affection and slammed the door shut. He was astounded at how close they seemed to have become, calling each other by name. Moreover, Suhwan looking at the closed door with moist eyes made his mood even more unpleasant.

“You said there’s nothing between you and Kwon Heeyoung.”

“Ah.”

Suhwan, who had been staring blankly at the closed door, finally turned his head. Looking at Seunghyun, who was barely containing his anger, he nodded.

“That’s right.”

And as if reaffirming, he said:

“There’s nothing between us.”

It had to be that way. Suhwan had rejected the proposal of Heeyoung, the original author. Perhaps, as she said, if another novel’s world appeared, everything would return to normal, but Suhwan didn’t do that. Because he didn’t know what would happen to the current Seunghyun.

Even now, the image of the boy he had once liked kept popping up in his mind. But what mattered to Suhwan now was not anyone else, but Seunghyun who stood before him. He couldn’t leave him behind.

“Let’s go back, to my place.”

He said this while firmly holding Seunghyun’s hand.

On the way home, he worried about the security guards Hwalyeon had sent belatedly, but whatever Seunghyun had said to them, they remained quiet even after seeing Suhwan.

Suhwan lowered his head, avoiding their gaze. Seunghyun’s hand, which he was holding, felt hot. He used to simply enjoy the warmth directed solely at him, but now he wasn’t so sure. Everything was a mess.

“…!”

With the sound of the door closing shut, he suddenly realized they had arrived home. As soon as the door closed, Seunghyun grabbed Suhwan’s shoulders forcefully.

“Hyung.”

“…”

“I know I did wrong. I did something you don’t like. I know that.”

Seunghyun’s head throbbed again as he recalled the scene in the empty room. Only then did he realize he was making a mistake. He shouldn’t have been forcefully confining him like that.

But wrong was wrong, and he simply couldn’t bear that Suhwan had run away from him to be with someone else. And of all people, it had to be Kwon Heeyoung. Since she had been someone who bothered him from before, he just couldn’t calm down.

“You said there was nothing between you and Kwon Heeyoung.”

“There isn’t, why are you… And Heeyoung is a beta anyway.”

Suhwan startled himself with those words. How long had he been manifested in this world that he was already so accustomed to the omegaverse setting? Drawing a line with a beta because he was an alpha. Even though he had regained his memories, the memories of the other world were becoming hazy, as if they were from a past life.

Was this some kind of trick to keep him anchored to this world? Although he had no intention of leaving Seunghyun behind, it didn’t make him feel any better. Seunghyun stared intently at Suhwan’s darkened face.

“That’s right. Kwon Heeyoung is a beta.”

“Yes, so… Ugh.”

“But you seduce other alphas too, so I wonder if being a beta would stop you.”

“What…?”

Could he be talking about Ju Geonyul? Suhwan’s face turned pale. He still couldn’t understand why Ju Geonyul had acted that way toward him. To him, Jin Suhwan should have been just a disposable pawn, a doll to be used. But the lust he had displayed was so vivid that there was no room for doubt.

“I never seduced anyone.”

He felt wronged. He hadn’t done anything, yet he was being vaguely accused because the other party got excited on their own.

He frowned, but Seunghyun, still gripping his shoulders, spoke in a sad voice.

“I’m scared. Afraid that you’ll leave me anytime. That you’ll abandon me. You’re all I have.”

“That’s…”

“Stay by my side. Don’t leave. Please.”

“…!”

Why had he only realized it now? The things Seunghyun said, the way he acted, were different from the alien Jin Suhwan. Instead, they were exactly like the Seunghyun from the other world. These were the words and actions he used to make when he was anxious or agitated. The current Seunghyun was just speaking more dramatically and was more restless.

You were there all along. You exist in there too. Suhwan reached out with this realization.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus