Chapter 42

Arriving at the dorm, Haon sighed in relief as he saw the cait-sith still sleeping soundly, belly up. Haon asked Cha Yugeon to wait for a moment and then boiled the shrimp, dried pollack, and dried small fish.

He had read online that removing the salt was good.

The savory smell filled the house. The cait-sith, as if asking when he had gotten home, opened its eyes wide and meowed softly from under Haon’s feet.

“Eat well.”

As soon as Haon put the dish down, the cait-sith eagerly devoured the seafood. Haon felt relieved that the cait-sith wasn’t picky and headed to the living room.

“Done?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, looks like it.”

Haon responded hesitantly to Cha Yugeon’s question. There was nothing else to do. He just wasn’t mentally prepared for what would come next, which was a trap in itself.

In the midst of this, Cha Yugeon approached Haon. Haon unconsciously took a step back, trying to distance himself from Cha Yugeon.

“Don’t run away.”

“I’m not running away… Oh.”

As Haon was about to retort that his body was moving on its own, he flinched reflexively when Cha Yugeon grabbed his shoulder.

“What, you think I’ll do something? Why are you so jumpy?”

“I’m not jumpy!”

Haon snapped, but Cha Yugeon didn’t seem convinced. Haon felt truly indignant. He wasn’t being jumpy, it was… well, what was it? Nervousness? Yeah, it was nervousness. He didn’t really know how they were different, but he thought it was different anyway.

“Anyway, I’m not jumpy.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Haon’s sharp gaze met Cha Yugeon’s soulless response. Haon resentfully scanned Cha Yugeon up and down. Then, he quickly averted his gaze when he met Cha Yugeon’s eyes.

That wasn’t being jumpy either. It was more…

“Why are you avoiding eye contact?”

“Because you’re staring too much…”

“What do you mean, too much?”

“Just, you know, too much!”

Frustrated, Haon raised his voice, but when he made eye contact with Cha Yugeon again, he quickly averted his gaze. His eyes were so… It was strange. Haon felt stifled and couldn’t help but fidget. He couldn’t really say why it was uncomfortable for Cha Yugeon to look at him like that, and he couldn’t accept it either.

If Cha Yugeon was just looking innocently, then what could he do if he felt flustered for no reason? In the end, Haon couldn’t say what he wanted to say and could only mumble awkwardly.

“Let’s get started.”

“Timeout!”

Cha Yugeon said firmly as if he couldn’t wait any longer. Startled, Haon urgently shouted for a timeout. Cha Yugeon looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if asking what the problem was.

“Uh, how far are we going to go…?”

It was an embarrassing question, but he had to draw the line clearly to avoid further embarrassment. He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again and looked at Cha Yugeon. Cha Yugeon narrowed his eyes and seemed lost in thought.

“How far can we go?”

“Huh?”

“Hug? Kiss? Or more…?”

“Are you crazy?!”

Haon exclaimed in shock and hit Cha Yugeon’s neck with the back of his hand. Cha Yugeon clutched his neck and coughed. But Haon didn’t feel sorry. Or rather, he didn’t even have time to feel sorry because of the overwhelming embarrassment. Well, more accurately, he couldn’t have felt sorry because he was too embarrassed to even think about it.

“I didn’t even think about going that far!”

Complaining grumpily, Cha Yugeon muttered. Haon looked at him angrily.

Why would you bring it up if you didn’t even plan on doing it? If you had thought about it, it would have been less unfair. No, maybe not. If you had really thought about it, it would have been a big problem.

Doing that with Cha Yugeon? It was absurd.

The more he imagined it, the more Haon’s face redden. Cha Yugeon looked at Haon’s red-face without saying a word and then burst into laughter.

“What, are you imagining it?”

“Are you crazy?!”

Haon retorted sharply.

Cha Yugeon just laughed again, looking wretched, and annoying.

“Then what? Oh, you’re disappointed because I didn’t want to do it with you?”

“What nonsense! You don’t have the equipment for it anyway!”

Haon blurted out in frustration. Cha Yugeon’s face turned pale, then quickly flushed red.

“What… I was, I still have it! Just because it’s not visible doesn’t mean it’s not there! And whose fault do you think this is?!”

“If it’s not visible, it’s as good as nonexistent.”

“Ha, what kind of logic is that? By that logic, is oxygen nonexistent because it’s not visible?”

“Okay, let’s stop talking about that. Whether it’s there or not, I’m not interested.”

“You’re the one who brought it up in the first place.”

Despite Cha Yugeon’s stunned reaction, Haon paid him no mind. Or rather, he was trying his best to act as if nothing was wrong. Cha Yugeon let out a long sigh, feeling a sense of resignation as if it didn’t matter either way.

“Anyway, you need to figure out how to undo this.”

“…”

“No answer?”

“If I knew how, I would’ve done it already. But…”

Haon trailed off, hesitating with his words. What could he do now that he couldn’t use his invisibility power anymore? Haon was the one who wanted to regain his esper abilities more than anyone else. But the problem was that it wasn’t happening as he wished.

“If we can’t undo this, it’s on you.”

Seeing Haon silent with a frustrated expression, Cha Yugeon made a statement like a bolt from the blue. Startled, Haon widened his eyes and stared at Cha Yugeon.

“What do you mean, it’s on me? Why?”

“Because you caused this in the first place!”

“Who asked you to anger others so much? Especially when the person is drunk and can’t think straight?”

When people are pushed to the limit, they inevitably look for a way out. Haon wouldn’t have done such a thing in the first place if Cha Yugeon hadn’t angered him so much.

In the end, it all came down to Cha Yugeon. Haon, having vented his frustration, brazenly raised his head and glared at Cha Yugeon.

“Ugh, seriously…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever. Just tell me how far you’re willing to go.”

Cha Yugeon sighed as if trying to calm himself down. Although he could sense a hint of sarcasm, since he had already become brazen, he decided to stay that way until the end. Haon pretended to be indifferent, as if Cha Yugeon’s feelings were none of his concern.

“Hurry up and tell me.”

“What difference does it make if I tell you quickly…? Well, then, not… kissing, I guess, but hugging…?”

At his suggestion, Haon hesitated and spoke. Kissing was the first thing that came to mind, but he didn’t have the confidence to kiss Cha Yugeon.

Of course, there had been a precedent where they had kissed unintentionally, but there had been extenuating circumstances. So the best option he could come up with was hugging. Haon proposed a reasonable compromise. But Cha Yugeon had different thoughts.

“Are you kidding? You came all the way here just to hug me?”

Cha Yugeon asked incredulously. At his response, Haon lost his words. Then what did he mean by suggesting something other than hugging? Did he really consider kissing?

“Do you mean we have to kiss?”

“That’s the least we should do. It’s for training, anyway aren’t you used to this kind of thing?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“The least? How far were you thinking? no way… ”

“No way what?”

“Se- No, no way!”

Haon, who was about to say those words, hastily shook his head. How can he say those words when his face feels like it’s going to explode just thinking about it?

“Forget it, I can’t kiss you.”

“Why can’t you? You’ve been training, shouldn’t you be at least this prepared?”

“But, but…”

Haon lost his words and trailed off. Of course, he had considered kissing too. But there was a vast difference between thinking something and actually doing it. The thought of kissing Cha Yugeon made his whole body feel like it was freezing.

“Do you really hate kissing me that much?”

“It’s not that I hate it… Ah, anyway, it’s just… it’s embarrassing, and kind of awkward…”

“So, you’re saying you don’t hate it?”

“…”

Ha-on clamped his mouth shut. Honestly, it wasn’t about liking or disliking kissing Cha Yugeon. It was more about something he couldn’t accept. However, Cha Yugeon seemed to take his silence as a positive response.

“Then, we should just try it and decide.”

 “What?”

How did it come to this?!

Haon couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because Cha Yugeon’s lips had roughly captured his.