* * *
Seohwa felt a slight chill down his spine and asked,
“You’re not leaving?”
“…….”
“I’m scared. What if, after seeing me in this weakened state, your hate-fueled urge to kill suddenly kicks in and you pounce on me?”
That was exactly why Kang Yigeon had either left the infirmary or closed his eyes whenever Seohwa was being treated.
But today, he wasn’t leaving.
He was just staring at him.
It wasn’t a joke—he was really scared.
What if Kang Yigeon lost control and yanked this needle out, shoving it under his fingernails?
“Does it hurt?”
Seohwa’s pupils spun.
What was the right answer here?
“No. Not at all. A wound like this doesn’t even faze me anymore.”
“…….”
“I could do 200 push-ups right now if you want me to prove it.”
“Just finish the treatment.”
Seohwa quickly continued stitching.
It was already tricky using only one arm, and his growing urgency led to mistakes.
He was careful not to let out a groan, but suddenly, Kang Yigeon moved.
Startled, Seohwa tensed, still holding the needle.
“W-what? I’m totally fine, you know. I could do 500 squats right now!”
“I’ll finish it.”
“…….”
Kang Yigeon disinfected his hands, sat in front of Seohwa, and took the needle.
Their fingers brushed in the process.
His thick, dark brows twitched slightly, but he didn’t push Seohwa away.
As Kang Yigeon stitched up his skin, Seohwa’s heart pounded.
He was an S-rank hunter, the strongest close-range combatant in the world.
If they fought right now in this cramped infirmary, Seohwa would lose—no question.
He wasn’t bad at hand-to-hand combat, but his current condition was too poor.
Still, he kept his guard up, closely watching Kang Yigeon’s face and every slight movement of his hands.
But until the very end, even when placing the final bandage, Kang Yigeon didn’t attack him.
Once finished, he immediately stepped back and leaned against the wall again.
“I won’t touch you anymore, so continue your treatment. You have a lot of injuries, don’t you?”
“…….”
The sharp, tense air deflated like a punctured balloon.
Seohwa felt as if his heart, soaked and heavy like wet cotton, had been laid out in the sun to dry, turning soft and frail.
Kang Yigeon, right now, reminded him of the man from the first timeline.
Of course, back then, he had been about 5,000 times kinder…
“Kang Yigeon, why are you acting like this these days? Why are you being nice to me?”
“I don’t recall being nice.”
“This is nice.”
“Just focus on treatment.”
“I really don’t get it. First, you block an attack for me, then you treat my wounds. And yet, during sparring, you break my arm without hesitation. That seriously hurt, by the way…”
Seohwa busied his hands, disinfecting his left ring and middle fingers, where the nails had come off.
He stapled a scratch on his ankle and secured a brace around his left side.
Not only [Puppet], but Seohwa himself had been sparring, and during a fight with Kim Tuyeon, he’d nearly suffered organ rupture.
The hunters still didn’t know healing skills didn’t work on him, so their training was particularly brutal.
“Anyway, Gaius Jung, huh. Never thought I’d end up making a binding vow with that sex-crazed bastard. He’s the only S-rank Covenant, so I had no choice, but still.”
“…….”
“They say his nickname is ‘Sex Machine.’ But honestly, guys with ‘machine’ in their nickname are rarely that good—”
As he rambled while securing his brace, Kang Yigeon suddenly approached.
Seohwa had let his guard down after what had just happened, so he didn’t react to the shadow his large body cast over him.
That lapse cost him dearly.
Kang Yigeon swiftly unwrapped the brace and pressed down on the bandaged wound with his palm.
“Ugh… What the—!”
“Does it hurt?”
“It hurts! Let go…! Ngh.”
Seohwa grabbed at Kang Yigeon’s wrist, trying to pry it off.
But the pain made it hard to exert strength, and his opponent’s sheer power made it useless anyway.
He was as immovable as a rock that had been rooted in the earth for a thousand years.
His mind raced.
He wouldn’t actually kill him, right?
He just wanted to make him suffer…
But at this rate, he might die regardless of Kang Yigeon’s intentions.
“Urgh…!”
The pressure on his wound intensified.
Seohwa curled in on himself, his back drenched in cold sweat.
His vision blurred.
Should he pull out his wand?
If he truly wanted to get free, he could.
But… was that the right move?
What if resisting only provoked him further?
“Ah… Nngh… Kang Yigeon, please, stop….”
Kang Yigeon stared down at him as Seohwa whimpered in pain.
His flushed cheeks, golden eyes brimming with tears, damp lips parting with breathy moans.
His slender throat bobbed, collarbones tinged with heat.
His chest trembled, small buds tightening in response.
His toned body shivered helplessly beneath his touch.
Watching Seohwa tremble under his palm, Kang Yigeon let the words slip without filtering them.
“In the previous timeline… were we sleeping together?”
“W-what the hell— Ahh!”
“Did we have sex?”
“Wait—ah…! Stop pressing—!”
Kang Yigeon looked down at the fingers gripping his wrist.
They were pale.
Weak.
Not an S-rank’s strength.
Seohwa wasn’t gripping tightly because he wasn’t sure if he should resist for real.
Blood seeped through the bandage.
Kang Yigeon pulled his hand away.
Seohwa gasped sharply, shoulders shaking.
His white hair, damp with sweat, caught his eye, and for a moment, Kang Yigeon felt an irrational urge to grab it.
He stepped back until his back hit the wall.
“The wound reopened. I’ll call a doctor.”
“No… Leave it. I’ll handle it… Just get out, okay?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yeah. I knew that was a useless request, but I had to try.”
Seohwa took deep, measured breaths before unwrapping the bandage.
Luckily, it didn’t need restitching.
He stole a glance at Kang Yigeon to confirm the distance between them before retrieving a fresh bandage from the first-aid kit. His hands still trembled slightly.
“Why did you attack me out of nowhere?”
“How is causing you pain something ‘out of nowhere’?”
“…Right. I guess that makes perfect sense.”
Seohwa sprayed disinfectant on his wound, wincing as the burning-cold sensation set in.
“I thought your self-restraint was improving. But if it’s actually getting worse, maybe I should change my bodyguard.”
“I’ll continue monitoring you.”
“Scary. What if you break my arm next time?”
“Happened more than once.”
“Sparring is different! At least I’m prepared then. But in everyday life, it’s too sudden.”
After securing a new bandage, Seohwa quickly put his brace back on.
Only once he’d pulled his shirt over it did he feel a small sense of security.
“From now on, stay on guard even in daily life. You never know when I might attack you.”
Seohwa’s hands hesitated as he put away the first-aid kit.
When he looked up, Kang Yigeon’s purple eyes were still fixed on his side.
Flustered, Seohwa clutched the kit against his chest.
“Good. That’s exactly how I want you—to be tense under my gaze.”
“…That means there’s going to be a next time, doesn’t it?”
Kang Yigeon nodded without hesitation.
Seohwa’s brow furrowed—but only for a moment. Then, he let out an exaggerated sigh.
“The good times are over, huh? Fine. I’ll admit it—Kang Yigeon, you were unusually mild compared to others. But the year has changed, and after spending ten months together, you should’ve attempted to kill me at least a hundred times by now. Guess things are back to normal.”
His chest felt strangely out of sync, like something wasn’t fitting together properly.
It wasn’t hard to distinguish whether this throbbing was physical pain or something else entirely.
“Alright, let’s begin. You wanted future intel on Gaius Jung? Truth is, I don’t know much about him. Like I said, I was just a fighter—I don’t know much about cults. But what I do know…”
Seohwa relayed every bit of information he had in as much detail as possible.
There wasn’t much, so it wasn’t a long conversation, but even so, his head spun.
He had to pause several times, catching his breath in between.
Once he finished, Kang Yigeon pressed a button in the infirmary, calling in the medical staff to request an IV drip.
A nurse soon arrived, handing over a set containing a fluid pack, needle, catheter, stopper, and tube before quietly leaving again.
Seohwa smirked bitterly as he opened the packaging.
“First you poison me, then you treat me.”
“……”
“I mean, thanks. No need to glare at me.”
Kang Yigeon remained silent as Seohwa rolled up his left sleeve and inserted the IV needle into his vein.
“Ah—!”
While cleaning up, he twisted his arm the wrong way.
A sharp pain shot through his left side—from his ribs to his chest, shoulder, neck, and even up to his left ear, sending a piercing shock through half his body.
As he curled in slightly, bracing against the pain, he sensed movement.
Startled, he lifted his head, only to see Kang Yigeon, who had been standing a moment ago, now seated in a chair with his legs crossed.
As soon as their eyes met, Kang Yigeon spoke as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I already told you everything I know about Gaius Jung.”
“I meant, what kind of relationship did we have?”
So much for changing the subject.
“I don’t recall us ever playing rough like this.”
“Are you saying we weren’t physically involved?”
“We were just a Guild Leader and his loyal Vice Guild Leader. Nothing more.”
“……”
* * *
