BMD 144

“……”

When Hugo saw that the Gold Eyes looking at him seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness, he slowly removed his hand from the small head he had been supporting and gently lowered it. Leonardo took a breath as he felt his head touch the soft grass, then squeezed his eyes shut once before opening them.

Hugo, still gripping his arm tightly with his right hand, placed his left hand next to Leonardo’s head with his knees on the ground and straightened his upper body. He dropped his body, which had been more closely attached than necessary.

In that state, he took a breath and then looked down at Leonardo with a narrowed brow and asked.

“Why are you running away?”

Leonardo, who was lying down and looking up at Hugo, pulled his chin in slightly to reconfirm his situation under him and sighed. Then he relaxed the strength in his neck and lay flat on his back, then let out a burst of laughter with his eyes lowered.

“Because you’re chasing me like you’re going to kill me.”

“…When did I ever chase you like I was going to kill you? And this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t run away.”

“So, it’s my fault again?”

Leonardo’s eyebrows twitched as Hugo immediately retorted, and his brow slowly furrowed. Hugo, realizing that he was displeased, opened his mouth.

“That’s not—.”

At that moment, Leonardo, who was pushing his body upward by pressing on the ground and pulling his pelvis and legs out from between Hugo’s legs, kicked Hugo’s abdomen hard with his right foot. Then he quickly twisted his body and leaped upward.

Hugo, who was hit directly in the solar plexus, couldn’t finish his sentence and frowned in momentary pain. Because of that, he let go of Leonardo’s arm that he had been holding, but he immediately twisted and grabbed the hateful ankle that was still in his abdomen.

Leonardo, who was dragged back down and fell face down on the ground, immediately pushed off the ground with his other foot and tried to kick off and fly away. Hugo, who was holding his ankle, was dragged up by the tremendous force.

Unable to escape because of the heavy hand holding him, Leonardo must have thought it wouldn’t work, so he turned his body again and tried to kick Hugo’s shoulder with his left foot.

However, this time Hugo accurately blocked the flying foot and grabbed his left leg as well, so Leonardo was suddenly left floating in the air, unable to do anything. As his struggles in the disadvantageous position intensified, Hugo desperately said, enduring the force of the struggling legs with both arms.

“You’ll get hurt, Leonardo. Stay still!”

“Let go of this! Won’t you let go?”

As the rather rough struggle continued, Hugo had no intention of giving him any more room to escape, so he drew water from the ground.

Leonardo, seeing the scene in front of him, thought this was cheating and bit his lip tightly. This was because they had hardly used magic under some tacit agreement to avoid getting seriously hurt.

Soon, the streams of water crawled up Leonardo’s body. Then, like ropes, they wrapped around his entire body and forcibly dragged him down.

Hugo, relieved to see him unable to move with his arms, legs, and torso attached in a straight line, released his ankle for a very brief moment, and Leonardo, not disappointing him, burst out of the water streams by igniting flames all over his body.

The flames that blazed so fiercely seemed to have regained their freedom splendidly, but their scathing momentum didn’t last long.

This was because Hugo’s two arms snatched him and hugged him tightly from behind.

“……!”

Leonardo, who had only realized that he couldn’t move his body for a moment, was able to recognize that he was being held in his arms only after smelling the thick and heavy fragrance that wafted over him.

Leonardo gasped, startled by the solid chest that touched his back and the desperate breath that he felt near his ear.

His body completely froze and stopped. His eyes and expression, which had been widened in surprise, were the same. In the sudden situation, the sound of his heart also began to beat abnormally loudly.

It felt like he was being swallowed by something huge, but at the same time, an indescribable sense of comfort and tension flowed through his entire body.

Hugo, seeing that the body that had been rampaging until just now had become calm as if water had been poured on it, finally let out a soft sigh and whispered in his ear as if threatening him while hugging him.

“Stay still.”

A light breeze gently shook their hair as if trying to calm the two down. Only the occasional chirping of birds echoing in the forest made them aware that time was passing.

Hugo, who had been still in that state for a while, felt that Leonardo, who wasn’t moving at all, was a little strange, so he glanced at his profile from behind. Even so, he tightened his grip on his arms even more. This was because he suspected that this small head was planning to escape again.

Although he wasn’t short, Leonardo’s shoulders fit entirely in Hugo’s arms because he didn’t have a large muscle mass and had a slender build. As the thick and solid arms tightened strongly, as if they would crush his shoulders, a thin groan escaped from Leonardo’s silent mouth.

“Ah—.”

Soon, Leonardo slowly turned his head while still being held and glanced at Hugo. Then he frowned slightly and made the most pitiful expression he could and said to him.

“Ah… it hurts.”

“……”

The moment he heard the word ‘shoulder’, Hugo, reminded of the scar on Leonardo’s left shoulder, flinched and loosened his tightly clasped arms. He had been so focused on holding him that he had forgotten that he was particularly sensitive about his shoulder.

Not knowing exactly how bad his shoulder was, Hugo was worried that he might have hurt him, so he immediately looked at Leonardo’s face. However, as the force that had been restraining his body loosened, the pitiful and lovely face from before disappeared without a trace.

Leonardo, whose expression changed in an instant, soon pushed Hugo’s chest hard and slipped out of his arms in the blink of an eye.

‘It’s a fake, you bastard.’

Because of that, Hugo, who had been off guard, staggered back a couple of steps due to the strong force, and just stared at the receding golden light with a dazed face.

Leonardo, who had shaken off Hugo, immediately flew up and climbed up to the top of a tall tree in one breath. Then, using the thick branch in front of him as a stepping stone, he tried to leap away and escape.

But the moment he stepped on the branch, he felt strange because he didn’t feel the energy chasing him from behind anymore, so he suddenly turned his head.

Agrizendro was not moving from the spot where he had been pushed, and was just looking up at him from below. As if looking at a place he couldn’t reach.

Hugo felt somehow empty in his chest where Leonardo had pushed him. Whether it was because his hands and kicks were so fierce, or because he had been burned by the heat he was emitting while he was holding him tightly for a moment. His chest and solar plexus throbbed.

It was very cunning and resentful of him to make him off guard with a face that was perfect for bewitching people and then mercilessly pushing him away. Of course, it was his fault for being deceived, but who could stand up to that?

He also wondered if it was still too early for him to respond to his waiting. He couldn’t figure out exactly where this emptiness was coming from. Hugo let out a soft sigh and just stood there with half-resigned eyes.

The eyebrows and forehead, which had been full of strength, gradually softened, and his eyes no longer showed any will to chase Leonardo. He didn’t look angry or resentful. But his eyes, which were soaked in the setting red sun, looked somehow very sad and bitter, making it impossible to easily turn away.

Leonardo, unable to take his eyes off his figure, suddenly couldn’t take his feet off the ground. There was nothing holding him back, but his eyes, which were more sunken and shaded than usual, were full of heartache, and even contained a look of regret, grabbing his ankle and not letting him go.

He also seemed to be feeling sorry. It couldn’t be, but that’s how it looked.

A strange atmosphere flowed instead of the tense tension. The warmth of the late afternoon and the moist fog that poured down on it added to it, and even the emotions seemed to be soaked and softened.

The emotion, whose identity was unknown, was similar to affection, which added to the confusion of the two.

Leonardo, sitting in the middle of the blazing sunset, stared down at Hugo for a long time without flying away.

As the time they spent making eye contact lengthened, Hugo unknowingly reached out his hand again slowly.

If he was going to leave, he would have run away a long time ago. He couldn’t fully understand the fickle heart that was bothering to climb up there and look down at him, but he still wanted to hold on to a sliver of hope.

Hugo, who had spread out the tips of his outstretched hand towards Leonardo, once again wished that he would return to him, and uttered just one word with eyes that were soaked in the sunset and looked rather mournful.

“Come here.”

Leonardo’s eyebrows twitched at his voice carried on the wind.

As he stared at that face along with that voice, he felt like he was being sucked back into agony again.

This wasn’t the time for this, he had to go lure the other guys right away. After they had met earlier, the energy of the 1st Battalion members who had been following him for a while was no longer felt at all after he had fallen here.

Of course, he had managed to buy some time, but he couldn’t rest assured until Kenneth had taken Alec and returned. When he returned, he had to hide for a while and adjust his words in advance. So, in any case, he had no intention of joining them right now, and he shouldn’t.

That’s right. He definitely shouldn’t have….

“……”

Leonardo, who was watching him, bit his lip tightly. His beautiful brow was furrowed, and he was already letting out a small sigh.

…Actually, apart from that, he wanted that person to suffer as much as he had suffered. To be blamed a little, to feel guilty, and to feel that waiting that he didn’t really know what it meant. So that the situation would be reversed, and he would understand his position.

But looking at that person’s appearance, he wasn’t sure if that was really what he wanted anymore.

Leonardo looked up at the sky and swept his hair back with a dry wash. Then he took a breath and let out a big sigh.

But his frustrated heart didn’t get better easily.

Soon, he turned his body, which had been facing the opposite direction as if he was about to run away at any moment, back towards Hugo. He lowered his body by bending his knees and grabbed the tree with his hands, looking down at him below and thinking.

‘You’re really an idiot, Leonardo.’

Even in this situation, he was worried that the right arm that was still reaching out to him had been injured, so it seemed that he and the idiot weren’t that different.

Besides, seeing that he was deluding himself into thinking that he had waited for him a little because that face, which had always been neat and tidy, had become noticeably haggard, it seemed that he was definitely an idiot.

Suddenly, when he thought about the place to return to on this peninsula, he was dumbfounded that the only person he could think of was that person under his feet.

He was still living a very tiring life and it was his nature, so he couldn’t escape from him even in this state.

Leonardo, who had self-deprecatingly said that, slowly straightened his bent knees and solidified his heart by standing on the branch.

The surrounding fog cleared and the small sounds that had been heard occasionally stopped. So he could only see each other in front of him, and now he was too tired to care about or afford anything else. He deliberately attached that reason to his decision.

He took his feet off the tree and slowly went down towards where Hugo was.

The shadow that had been cast over Hugo’s dark expression gradually disappeared, and this time he stretched out both arms towards him. As if he was earnestly waiting for Leonardo to come down to him completely, he spread them out as if he would embrace him with a full arm.

The clothes that had been rolled around on the dirt floor together and the hair that had been messed up a lot realistically reflected the two people’s dirty time that had passed.

Perhaps the slightly broken appearance broke down the walls more easily.

As the most dazzling light in the world, which was all red and blotchy, approached him, Hugo had a fleeting illusion at that sight. Not that Leonardo was returning to fulfill the purpose of subjugation, but that he was really returning because of him, such an illusion.

So, Hugo unknowingly reached out and gently grabbed his waist, which was close to the ground, with both hands. The feeling was much thinner than he had expected, surprising him inwardly, but he didn’t show it and slowly lowered him until his feet touched the ground.

The distance after he set him down was so close that he could see every single eyelash, so Leonardo took a step back. However, Hugo’s hands were still holding his waist, so he couldn’t go far.

Though there were no words, much passed between their deep gazes. But to make it clear with words, Leonardo opened his mouth, looking into his calmly flowing blue eyes.

“It’s not that you caught me.”

“……”

“I let you catch me.”

His clear Gold Eyes were still a little sharp.

Hugo’s eyelids flickered slightly as he faced him. His lips also parted slightly before closing again.

He lowered his head for a moment, looking down at his hands on Leonardo’s waist and their feet standing close to each other.

A small laugh escaped from Hugo’s lips as he stared silently. What he was thinking and what he was trying to say were clearly different, but the fact that he had come to him of his own accord was ultimately the same, so he couldn’t help but laugh.

The neat lips that lifted his head again were still faintly curved. With such a calm smile on his face, he slowly blinked his eyes and said.

“Okay.”

As the coldness of his face softened, his neat and handsome face came to life. Leonardo, who had been trying to look indifferent, was momentarily captivated. He was so distracted that he belatedly realized that Hugo’s right hand was slowly approaching his cheek.

The touch was cautious, but it was not as hesitant as when he couldn’t reach it before. As the large hand slowly wrapped around his cheek, Leonardo, slightly surprised, stiffened and looked back and forth between him and his hand.

Watching the busy Gold Eyes darting around, Hugo calmly asked him.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

At the unexpected words, his eyes widened and fixed on Hugo. His lips reflexively twitched, but he was speechless. Immediately after asking, his hand brushed his cheek and the corners of his eyes, and Leonardo’s mind went blank as he focused on the sensation.

“……”

He really had a knack for making people speechless.

Leonardo, his head spinning, looked up at this man, who was much taller than him in many ways, without a word.

He had known since he was in the Zodiac that this man was strangely soft on him. That’s why he didn’t find him scary at all, and he acted more playful and willful in front of him. He had a strange belief that he wouldn’t do anything drastic.

However, with the words he had just spoken, Leonardo had just realized one fatal error he had made.

Leonardo, who did not avoid Hugo’s touch, looked back on the past and lowered his eyes slightly. Then, he barely managed to hold on to his mind, which seemed to be tilting with his touch.

When he had held his hand before, it had felt clear and cool, but now it was very warm, which made him feel strange. He felt like he was being drawn to the warmth without realizing it.

With a gentle touch, he slowly stroked his cheek, still running his eyes and hands over the area of the scar on his cheek that had now healed and disappeared. The feeling of the tips of his long fingers brushing against his eyelashes was soft yet quite stimulating.

Leonardo, who had been quietly feeling Hugo’s touch, eventually frowned and lowered his head.

‘…Annoying.’

He still blamed and reproached himself for not being able to be harsher on the inside.

As the head he was stroking suddenly turned downwards, Hugo paused his hand and looked at him with worried eyes.

He could feel the touch that had stiffened because of him, and he resented the kindness that he couldn’t push away. Leonardo couldn’t raise his head for a while.

Seeing how his heart softened with just one action, one word, it seemed that it wasn’t just this person who was soft…

It seemed that he was the same.