Once we left the national highway and got onto the expressway, it felt like I had finally returned to reality.
“You said your battery died, right? Use this to charge it.”
I plugged my phone into the cable Jun handed me. After a short wait, the screen lit up with a lightning bolt indicating it was charging. When he suggested we stop by a rest area up ahead, I agreed. As soon as I saw the rest stop sign, I realized I wanted to use the bathroom.
The moment we got out of the car, I headed straight for the restroom. After finishing up and stepping out, I saw Jun standing at the sink, drying his hands. I stood beside him and washed mine as well. Then he said we should talk for a minute before leaving.
“About what?”
“Wash up and come out. I’ll be waiting in front.”
“Okay.”
The tear stains on his shirt had dried, but that didn’t erase the fact that I’d clung to him and cried earlier. Now that I thought about it, embarrassment started creeping in—but I could handle it.
After drying my hands with a paper towel and stepping outside, Jun motioned for us to sit over there and started walking ahead. As I followed him, his broad back somehow looked reassuring.
We sat alone on a quiet bench away from the crowd. The moment he sat down, Jun handed me my phone.
“Hyung, check your call history.”
“Huh? Mine? Why?”
It wasn’t charged much, but enough to check. I scrolled through the call log as he told me to, but nothing seemed unusual at first glance.
“I’m looking… what about it?”
“You use a two-number service, right?”
“Yeah. One extra line for real estate business…”
As I spoke, a chill crept into my chest. Realizing what he was implying, I slowly looked through the list again. The most recent outgoing call to “Juni” had been made from my original number. I’d only contacted ShutUp with that number—not the real-life Seomun Jun.
That means…
I slowly shifted my eyes to look at him.
Jun, sitting beside me, lit a cigarette and exhaled smoke in the opposite direction. The moment I saw my chance, I sprang up and ran. He reacted a beat too late, reaching out with the arm not holding the cigarette to grab my clothes—but I barely dodged him.
“Hyung! Don’t you dare move!”
I saw him stub out his cigarette and start sprinting full speed after me.
“Eek!!”
The thought that I’d die if he caught me made me run harder. But Jun’s stamina was ridiculous. If I kept going straight, he’d definitely catch me, so I changed direction.
I headed toward the crowded area, lowered my posture, and carefully weaved through people to hide. From a short distance away, I saw Jun catching his breath and scanning the area. Then he ran off in the opposite direction.
Maybe I could just hide and then go home on my own. If I asked the rest stop information desk, they’d probably tell me how to get to the nearest terminal. I didn’t have to ride in Jun’s car… But more than that, I was worried about my real life going forward.
Ah… why did I have to call from that number….
Regret came too late. I was crouched beside the souvenir shop when a message from Jun came in.
[Come back to the spot from earlier within 3 minutes. If you do, I’ll let it go without saying anything.]
[Really?]
[2 minutes 55 seconds.]
My legs had gone numb from crouching so long.
[My legs are numb.]
[2 minutes.]
No mercy.
Given his attitude, I wondered if he’d really forgive me—but he wasn’t the type to say one thing and mean another. I decided to trust him.
When I returned to the bench, Jun was sitting there with his legs crossed. Even though he knew I was approaching, he kept looking at his phone, checking the time. So stingy to the very end, I thought, rushing over and plopping down beside him.
He tapped his screen and stopped the timer.
Wow… he really had a timer running.
There were 20 seconds left. Barely safe.
I sat there hunched like a scolded kid, just panting. Jun lit another cigarette. Watching him, he looked like he was suppressing a lot of anger.
“Hyung.”
“……Yeah?”
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”
Of course I did. There were countless things to say. First, that I’d been hiding my identity as Gentle. Then thanking him for coming even though I told him not to yesterday. And apologizing for sending that ‘ㅗ’ (middle finger) message.
But I just fidgeted with my fingers and couldn’t speak. Jun sighed.
“I… even if I had ten mouths, I’d have nothing to say.”
“Then tell me what you want. You’re the master, aren’t you? Should I keep pretending not to know and just play the game?”
“Since we already know now, I want you to treat me like you do in real life.”
“And the link? You want the link to be just hand worship instead of sex? If that’s the case, I’ll have no choice but to ask for something else.”
While we were talking, a few people approached. Thankfully, they sat a little distance away, so they probably couldn’t hear us—but we had to lower our voices compared to before.
“Juni, calm down. I’ll match you as much as I can. I promised I would. But do we really have to do more? What we’ve been doing so far might’ve been insufficient, but it wasn’t completely ineffective.”
“Isn’t that up to you? I’ll just do whatever you tell me.”
That was a relief. At least as the master, I could protect myself. I let out a subtle sigh of relief, and he sighed in response.
“But you’re not doing anything. What’s the point like this? Do you think I’m doing this for no reason?”
“So… there’s no improvement with your imp—condition?”
“If you saw mine, you should know.”
“But… if you can’t stay fully hard, doesn’t that mean it’s impossible with me?”
Ash dropped from the cigarette hanging between Jun’s fingers. He seemed to be organizing his thoughts—his lips parted slightly, then closed again. He turned away, walked to the trash can, and threw the cigarette out. When he came back, he didn’t sit beside me. Instead, he stood crookedly in front of me.
“Then what? You’re telling me to find someone else?”
“……What choice do we have?”
“Wow. You say that so easily.”
His gaze looking down at me was cold. He didn’t look like the same person who’d warmly hugged me earlier. It felt like a clear line had been drawn between us—you are you, I am me. I kept my eyes lowered, staring only at his long legs.
“You’re with me to fix your condition, right? So if there’s no improvement, that’s why you’re saying this….”
“We haven’t gone all the way, have we? So how would you know? And do you think I’ve been living like a monk? I’ve met plenty of people.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do going forward. You say you’ll follow my orders, but I don’t know if that’s okay. Sometimes I see sides of you I don’t understand. I don’t really… know you well.”
As I spoke, Jun stepped closer. I trailed off and looked up at him. His expression shifted into something complex and unreadable. Then he bent one knee and knelt in front of me.
Naturally, he was now below my eye level, looking up at me. He took both my hands and lifted them to his lips—like he was performing some sacred ritual. In that moment, it felt like all the light in the world shone only on Seomun Jun.
His eyes curved softly as he looked up at me.
“You’re my master. Why worry about that? Do whatever you want.”
My heart dropped.
So this was why princes in fairy tales kneel on one knee to propose. Even if what Jun was doing didn’t align with my emotional wiring, my heart still stirred. For a moment, I felt like I was the most important person in his world.
It felt like I’d just been asked, Will you marry me?
Was there anyone in the world who would tell me to do whatever I wanted to them? Not even my mom had ever said that.
“……Ah, wait.”
Why was I getting so moved over this? My face grew hotter and hotter. I turned my head and took a deep breath in and out.
“Hey, Juni. Don’t look at me for a second.”
“Okay.”
Jun stood up again and returned to his seat, brushing dirt off his knee. As I fanned my face with my hand, I locked eyes with someone in the distance who’d witnessed the scene. They startled and quickly looked away. Anyone who saw what Jun just did would think he was in love.
…Does he love me?
We called it a master-servant relationship, but his actions weren’t any different from a lover’s. “Master-servant” didn’t quite define it. Calling it dating made more sense. And on top of that, even though there was no improvement in his condition, he treated me so well.
Then are we… a couple? Does that make me gay?
My mouth slowly fell open in shock.
Tap.
“Close your mouth. A bug’ll fly in.”
Kindly, Jun reached over and shut my jaw. Suddenly my throat felt dry. I cleared it, and Jun took my hand and pulled me up, saying we should grab something to drink.
I followed him, watching his back, when he turned and stepped beside me.
“What do you want to drink?”
“I feel like some kind of iced tea.”
“What should I get?”
“Same thing.”
“Sit here. I’ll be back.”
Ah! This was it!
I just had to act like a lover would. Or like a close friend—choose when he asked. I’d been too conscious of him as a stranger, as the landlord across the street, which made my behavior awkward. Plus, the pressure of not getting caught by ShutUp had made me uneasy around him.
But now that everything was out in the open, I felt relieved. I’d expected him to recklessly force the link—but it was the opposite. Society really was more peaceful when there was a clear hierarchy. That’s how the military functioned, after all.
“If this had been exposed earlier, I wouldn’t have gone through all that crap trying to transfer servers.”
I remembered eating Chitosan Extract in the guild room and linking. I’d been completely drained even after logging off. Now that wouldn’t happen. No need to transfer servers. And…
“I can just order him around to go hunt bosses, right?”
Forming a master-servant relationship with Jun had been a god-tier move. It felt like having a game partner—except I was getting carried in real life.
Even though it was past midnight, the rest stop was fairly busy. Maybe because it was the weekend—families heading out on trips filled the place.
I turned toward where Jun had gone. He was walking back holding two drinks. I went to meet him halfway and took one from his hand. Our fingers brushed awkwardly.
Since we were done here, I headed toward his car and got into the passenger seat. A beat later, Jun slid into the driver’s seat.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“I got two different kinds of iced tea. Which one do you want?”
At his words, I took a sip of the one in my hand. Sweet peach flavor. Pretty good.
“What flavor is yours?”
Jun took a sip and said lemon. When he asked, “Want this one?” I reached out and asked if I could just taste it.
As I leaned over, twisting my upper body toward him, his face suddenly came into view. Before I could even react—“Oh?”—our lips collided, and his tongue pushed inside.
His tongue filled my mouth, pressing warmly against the part that tasted, sliding over it. It swirled forcefully inside before slowly withdrawing.
As I gradually closed my parted lips, the scent of lemon lingered in my mouth.
Him running was hilarious