* * *

“Whatever.”

I sighed and lay down next to Baek Yigang.

By now, I knew far too well—through painful experience, no less—that there was no winning against Baek Yigang when it came to arguments.

But something felt different tonight.

Though we’d shared the same blanket countless times before, my heart wouldn’t stop pounding, and sleep was nowhere to be found.

Baek Yigang didn’t seem to be asleep yet either.

Should I try talking to him?

There was something I’d been curious about, after all.

“Were you worried I might die?”

I mustered my courage to ask, but, disappointingly, there was no answer.

Turning to look at him, I saw that his eyes had somehow already closed.

…Is he seriously asleep? Already?

“No.”

Thankfully, he wasn’t quite asleep yet.

His lips moved slightly as he spoke.

Jeez, he really had to reply so coldly after kissing me like that?

How could someone be this frustratingly blunt?

Pouting a little in dissatisfaction, I glanced at him again, only for him to speak once more.

“I was scared.”

His voice was calm, but his words carried a weight that belied his usual tone.

“Scared of losing you.”

For some reason, his words felt familiar, as if I’d heard them before.

Where had I…?

Ah. I remembered.

Before the founding festival.

The incident with the statue.

That’s when Baek Yigang had said something similar to me.

“I can’t lose you to people like that.”

“Lose me? What are you even talking about?”

“Don’t you get it? You’re more important to me than some dumb statue.”

It was the first time I’d caught a glimpse of Baek Yigang’s odd sincerity.

Back then, I hadn’t fully understood the meaning behind his words, but I had realized that he was genuinely afraid of losing me.

Now that I thought about it, my situation—being lucky enough to cheat death once already—hardly made me the best person to comfort someone about this.

Still, the words I felt I needed to say at this moment came to mind.

“I won’t die.”

I didn’t know if Baek Yigang would believe me, but it was true.

For someone like me, a soul who had possessed this body, “death” wasn’t really a concept.

Well, I guess being reset back to the beginning was kind of like dying, but not in the conventional sense.

Either way, the death he feared wasn’t something I had to worry about.

There was no reply. Instead, the sound of even breathing told me he’d fallen asleep this time for real.

Well, yeah… After spending all night taking care of me, it made sense he’d be exhausted.

Somehow, the night—where I’d narrowly escaped death—felt unusually warm.

✽ ✽ ✽

I woke up naturally, without anyone rousing me.

Maybe it was because I’d slept so deeply, but my body, stiff from the night before, felt wonderfully refreshed.

But…

“This is unusual.”

Strangely enough, Baek Yigang was still sound asleep.

Normally, the moment the sun so much as peeked over the horizon, he’d be up like clockwork, muttering about how he’d slept too long or regretting having bothered to cure his insomnia.

I reached out instinctively to shake him awake but stopped halfway.

“Hm.”

Come to think of it, when was the last time I’d had the chance to just look at Baek Yigang’s face like this?

How long had it been since I’d had a moment to properly observe it?

In truth, Baek Yigang usually woke up before me, disappearing off to his office before I could even get a good look.

Not to toot my own horn, but I had an eye for aesthetics.

Sure, call me shallow, I’d take it. It was true, after all.

Good-looking people deserved to flaunt it.

Ugly people… well, they didn’t even have that to fall back on.

It’s a harsh truth, but that’s why appearances mattered.

At least, that’s always been my philosophy.

Which is why, I have to admit, I liked Baek Yigang’s face quite a lot.

My favorite part?

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this.”

His sleeping face.

There was something deeply satisfying about seeing those sharp eyes and often cutting lips at rest.

Maybe it was the soft shadows under his full brows, but he reminded me of a sleeping prince—or princess, I suppose.

Though his personality… left a lot to be desired.

His nose, his brows, his lips…

“…!”

My gaze lingered on his lips for a moment too long, and the memory of our kiss that dawn came rushing back.

…Wait.

Why did he kiss me, anyway?

Was it relief that I hadn’t died?

But if so, he didn’t exactly seem overjoyed at the time.

He’s always been a hard one to read, but… could it have been an extension of that whole marriage proposal thing?

No way.

Absolutely not. I wouldn’t allow it.

A marriage ending?

I’d reject it with every fiber of my being.

But still… maybe I should check his “Affection Level” just to be sure?

[SYSTEM: Would you like to check the gratitude level of protagonist character ‘Hail Dirzio’?]

The system window appeared immediately, more responsive than usual.

Guess it was finally working properly.

I clicked “Yes” with satisfaction, and a familiar display popped up.

[SYSTEM: The current gratitude level of protagonist character ‘Hail Dirzio’ toward player ‘Cheong Dowoon’ is 20%.

Note: This system updates data in real time, so new values may take some time to reflect.]

“Huh? When did it increase?”

Somehow, it had risen by 5%.

That was… unexpectedly noticeable progress.

Of course, compared to Ian or Piel, it wasn’t exactly impressive.

Still, closing the gap between us was a good thing.

But why had it gone up?

I hadn’t done much for him recently aside from curing his insomnia.

Could it have been… the kiss?

No, that’s ridiculous.

“…It couldn’t really be because of that, right?”

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Baek Yigang stirring beside me until he spoke.

“Cheong Dowoon.”

His voice was groggy, but it jolted me back to reality.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

He nodded slightly before turning his gaze to the window.

For others, it was early morning, but for Baek Yigang, it was already late.

“Feels like I haven’t slept that well in a while.”

Huh. No complaints about oversleeping?

No grumbling about why I hadn’t woken him up?

I stared at him, puzzled, until he met my gaze with a half-lidded, questioning look.

“What?”

“No, it’s just…”

The system window was still open in front of me, the “20%” figure shimmering and flickering as if it might change any second.

Since Baek Yigang was involved, I had no illusions about the number going up.

Still, the thought of it possibly dropping made me panic slightly.

Without thinking, I grabbed Baek Yigang’s hand.

Startled, he looked at me with confusion.

And just then, the number shifted to 21%.

‘What…! What’s going on?! Why did the stats go up just from holding hands? What does holding hands have to do with the gratitude percentage?!’

No way, could this actually be tied to affection?

This was, without a doubt, a shortcut I had never even considered.

My mind plunged into chaos upon discovering this unexpected “bug.”

And it made sense—during my previous possession, there was never any opportunity for physical contact with the protagonist.

All I ever did was nag from the sidelines, barking orders like, ‘Do this,” “You’ll end up like that,” “This is what’s going to happen!’

Ideally, this time would’ve been no different, but somehow, I got tangled up with the mastermind, and everything went haywire.

If my target had been Ian instead of Baek Yigang, I could’ve easily just kept running my mouth and escaped from this damn book hundreds of times over.

“Hey… Yigang, you know…”

After my swirling thoughts settled, I realized there was something I wanted to confirm with Baek Yigang.

I wasn’t sure if I’d get the answer I wanted, but… here goes nothing!

As I hesitantly opened my mouth, Baek Yigang met my gaze with an annoyed look, as if to say, ‘What now?’

Even though his expression screamed leave me alone, it was still oddly touching how he always made sure to look at me when I spoke to him.

In the past, he would ignore me no matter how much I tried talking to him.

Thinking about that, this was a massive improvement.

Maybe I’m actually good at rehabilitating evil masterminds?

Anyway, considering Baek Yigang’s relatively docile behavior toward me these days, I think it’s safe to say he’s somewhat favorable toward me.

If that’s the case, I can ask this question without shame, right?

“Do you… like me?”

* * *