Vol 4 Chapter 41

"Because I like you, that's why."

"..."

For a moment, Kapros felt the strength in his eyes unconsciously fade as he looked at Kran questioningly. He could see lips grinning under the hood.

Although it was clearly the same expression as usual, there was a subtle atmosphere as if something had been turned inside out, one layer different from just before, creating a heaviness that made it impossible to speak. While Kapros was trying to remember where he had felt this sensation before, along with a sense of déjà vu, Kran quickly released his embracing arms and stepped back several paces. He was now standing on the blue-glowing warp portal magic circle.

"Kap. I just said something, didn't I? That's exactly the face."

While looking at Kapros's frowning expression as if trying to memorize it, Kran quickly asked Un-o, who had been staring at him expressionlessly from the side.

"High schooler. Your destination?"

"What did you just say?"

"I'm asking what your destination is."

"...Tolang would be faster."

"I'm heading to Torelit. Then let's go right now. I really enjoyed traveling with you too."

"I didn't really..."

"Oh, you enjoyed it? Hahaha, you kid. Acting shy."

After quickly finishing the conversation, Kran turned back to Kapros.

"Kap! What I just said is a riddle I'm giving you. I won't listen to you until you solve it, and if you don't like that, you just need to think of the answer quickly."

"Kran!"

"Got it? I'll only trust you!"

[ Warp! ]

Fwoosh!

Before Kapros could ask what nonsense he was talking about, Kran and Un-o's bodies were enveloped in light and disappearing.

'That guy...!'

And with Kran's inaudible final words as he burst into cheerful laughter, along with Un-o's slight bow, the two completely vanished from that place as if they had never been there.

***

"Sigh..."

After getting up from the capsule, taking a clean shower, and coming out while rubbing his hair with a towel, Kapros felt the slightly cool air in the house. His whole body felt languid and he felt like he could fall asleep at any moment, but since he had strangely found it difficult to fall asleep after suffering from insomnia before, it was clear that if he lay down now, he would waste several more hours. It would be better to do something else during that time.

"Computer, check missed messages."

[ Missed messages... There is 1 text message. ]

"Open it."

[ 1 text message. 15:34:07. Sender is 'Jung Min-hoo'. ]

Pop!

[ Mu-heon, it's me. The riddle I told you when we parted is real, so I really hope you think about it carefully.

I'm really sad that we won't be able to meet in the game anymore.

Is it okay if I text you often? Don't block my number.

The weather is so cold these days, be careful not to catch a cold.

- From the coolest Jung Min-hoo in the world - ]

After saying something serious, what was with that name at the end?

Swallowing a hollow laugh, Kapros closed the message window. How long had he been sitting on the sofa with a towel on his head, relaxed? In the house where not even the ticking of a clock could be heard without a single analog clock hung, listening only to his own regular breathing as the only living being, the situation suddenly felt particularly awkward.

When sitting alone in a quiet place like this, it hadn't bothered him before, but lately it sometimes felt strange. That feeling was especially strong when trying to sleep in bed, and even now, as he unconsciously looked towards the room with the bed while sitting on the sofa, the feeling seemed to wash over him like a tidal wave. Kapros closed his eyes to block his vision, but that didn't make it easily disappear.

'Even if I try not to think about it, I can't help what keeps coming to mind.'

In fact, he knew somewhat why he was feeling this way. When he closed his eyes in the bedroom, at some point he would feel a dry and hot sensation on his lips as if being firmly pressed. When he would startle and open his eyes, he would find no one there, over and over.

It was crystal clear when this had started.

"Let me touch you."

"..."

That heated voice was still ringing in his ears. Reflexively rubbing slightly below his lips, Kapros recalled that time once again.

Even at the moment when the invading tongue hotly wrapped around and intertwined with his own, Kapros remained in a state neither fully closing nor opening his eyes. After a long while, with a strange wet sound, as the lips sucking on his lower lip separated, the hot and damp hand that had been wrapped around his neck also pulled away, brushing against his tensed neck. In that moment, his body involuntarily shivered as if cold. Though the lips had separated, the other arm wrapped around his waist remained pressed against him.

Unlike Kapros, Je-hwan slowly opened his tightly closed eyes and smiled languidly when their gazes met. The smile that appeared on that expressionless face resembled an expression of ecstasy.

"Hah..."

After letting out a sigh, when Kapros pushed against the shoulder pressed against him, Je-hwan stepped back without resistance. Feeling an itching sensation in his neck and chest, he rubbed them with his arm, and what came off was what had flowed from his mouth earlier...

"..."

As his mind snapped to attention, he stared intently at it, feeling Je-hwan's gaze.

"Mu-heon."

Kapros thought the voice had become much lower, but he couldn't answer. The desperate look from earlier had disappeared somewhere, and Je-hwan's expression was completely relaxed.

"You didn't avoid it."

Yes, he hadn't avoided it or pushed him away. Seeing the joyful expression made him feel strange in return, and just as he was about to turn his head away, he heard a murmur that sounded like a sigh.

"Is this a dream?"

Since there had never been anyone around him who viewed another man as someone to like, and he had never experienced it himself, he couldn't make any judgment about the current situation.

"It's not a dream. Definitely."

Perhaps reading the weariness in Kapros's faint answer, Je-hwan seemed to recall the forgotten matter of the hospital, and as Kapros lay down with a pillow behind him, Je-hwan knelt beside him.