HRB 67

I should have at least given him banana milk before he left.

The thought occurred to Eddie only after Augustine had left the inn. It felt like his brain, which had been frozen solid like a rock, was finally starting to function properly.

“Haa.”

Eddie finally exhaled the breath he had been holding. It had been a difficult time.

At first, he was nervous that the Noble man might know Eddie from the past. But thankfully, he was a complete stranger. He was just hitting on Eddie because he resembled his past unrequited love.

Even back when he was Lee Jeong-hoon, Eddie had consistently received flirtations from others. He wasn’t objectively ugly, after all.

Perhaps because of that, he had been flirted with by men before. But he had always politely refused with a smile, and the other party usually backed off cleanly, so he didn’t have any particular memories of it.

Thanks to that, it was the first time he had ever received such blatant advances and flirtations, especially from a man he had just met, so he couldn’t manage his expression at all.

He repeated “He’s a Noble” in his mind like an engraving, and only after biting his lip until it bled was he able to barely endure it.

Even so, if Augustine hadn’t intervened before the touch on his wrist became too persistent, Eddie might have caused some kind of accident.

“Eddie.”

Eddie, who had been standing blankly in the face of the overwhelming sense of reality crashing down on him, snapped his head up at the sound of his name.

Ketron was staring intently at Eddie.

Eddie, belatedly realizing that Ketron’s expression and attitude had been unusual just now, hurriedly replied.

“Yeah?”

“Did he do anything to you?”

“Ah.”

‘Did he do anything to you?’ It was hard to answer when asked like that.

In reality, nothing that grand had happened. He had just had his wrist touched and stroked a bit, that was all. Of course, the feeling of that damp palm running over the back of his hand and caressing his wrist was unpleasant just to think about again.

The sensation gave him goosebumps, and Eddie unconsciously pressed the tips of his fingernails into the wrist that had been touched. Deep nail marks quickly appeared on his wrist.

Eddie hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully, then pretended to be nonchalant. It was already over. It wasn’t a big deal enough to tell Ketron about.

“It was nothing.”

Yes, it was nothing. It was such a minor thing that he couldn’t even claim to have been harmed.

Did he touch any sensitive areas, or grope him? It was just unpleasant. Of course, that was the biggest problem.

“I’m sorry.”

While Eddie was thinking that and trying to rationalize it as ‘nothing,’ Ketron suddenly apologized.

Why was he apologizing out of the blue when he hadn’t done anything wrong? Eddie’s eyes widened.

“Huh? What for?”

“I should have been by your side.”

Eddie didn’t fully understand Ketron’s words for a while. But as he gradually understood, his eyes sparkled and his face flushed.

The moment he understood the sincere words, a fierce emotion swirled within him.

He’s so admirable, I could die.

Eddie couldn’t help but raise his hand. His hand, which went up to Ketron’s clean cheek, grabbed the soft cheek and playfully stretched it, slightly distorting his handsome face.

Even though his handsome face was being ruined, and his face was being kneaded like dough, Ketron remained still.

It was as if the ominous look on his face when he approached, having heard that Eddie had been harassed, had never existed. He had a docile expression, letting Eddie do whatever he wanted, and it tugged at Eddie’s heart.

At first, he had refused touch and acted prickly like a wary stray cat, but now he was tame, as if he had gotten used to it, and he cared about Eddie so much that he blamed himself for not being by his side when Eddie was harmed. How could he not feel proud?

“What are you sorry for? Who in the world cares about me as much as you do?”

Ah, Gerold might feel a little sad if he heard that.

Fortunately, Gerold was away, so he wouldn’t hear it, and Eddie spoke more freely.

“I really don’t know how I’d live without you now.”

When Eddie first found Ketron, he had reached out with a vague sense of sympathy for the forgotten protagonist, but now it was difficult for Eddie to imagine not having Ketron by his side.

Well, of course, Eddie was also one of the main characters in the second part of the story, so there was no chance of them being separated.

But Eddie didn’t know. He didn’t know that Ketron, who had been calmly letting Eddie mess up his face however he wanted, would freeze like ice at those words.

But soon, after taking a rough breath, Ketron snatched the hand that Eddie had been holding his cheek with, the hand that had been harassed.

Before Eddie could even say “Huh,” a sinister voice burst from Ketron’s lips.

“Have you considered leaving me?”

“Huh?”

Eddie, not understanding the situation, made a dazed sound and stared blankly up at Ketron, who was looking down at him. Ketron then pressed his lips to Eddie’s wrist, the one he had been holding.

“……!”

Eddie flinched in surprise and tried to pull his arm away, but his wrist didn’t budge. Soft, tender lips landed on his wrist like a butterfly.

The sensation of something moist fluttering and falling on the prominent bone of his wrist was felt too vividly.

Huh.

Huh?

His brain, unable to understand the situation, questioned it, and his body froze, unable to move. Eddie, whose jaw was stiff and unable to say anything, hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Ket…! What are you doing?”

Eddie didn’t know what to do with the strange feeling that seemed to be weighing down his lower abdomen, and Ketron’s languid voice reached his ear.

The words were exhaled like a sigh.

“Eddie.”

“Let go of me…”

“If you leave me, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

So stay by my side.

At the same time as the sinister undertones of his words, Ketron’s sunken eyes met Eddie’s.

Eddie was already at a loss, with the tickling breath on his wrist every time Ketron opened his mouth, and each of the words coming from those lips was unsettling.

“What are you talking about?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“Is this where he touched you?” Ketron hadn’t even seen the man touch Eddie, but he somehow knew that Eddie’s wrist had been touched, and he opened his mouth as he fluttered his lips over Eddie’s wrist.

“I won’t be leaving anyway.”

“…….”

“Eddie, don’t leave me.”

At first glance, the words sounded like a plea.

But no. This was by no means a request.

Startled, Eddie hurriedly pulled his wrist away.

This time, Ketron didn’t deliberately hold onto his wrist.

The surroundings became quiet, as if the gentle breeze had never blown.

Eddie’s heart was pounding uncontrollably.

This guy, saying things like that as if it were a threat…

Eddie was worried that Ketron might hear the sound of his heart pounding so loudly, and he hurriedly opened his mouth without realizing it.

“Leave? What…”

How should he end the words that had started without any order? Eddie, unable to control his mouth, which was opening endlessly and honestly, had no choice but to reveal his honest feelings.

“How could I leave you?”

The question of how he could live without him was like an exclamation, and he hadn’t really been thinking of leaving Ketron’s side.

In the first place, he wouldn’t be able to leave. If he did, this ‘story’ would immediately chase after Eddie with a terrifying creaking sound.

Before that, Eddie didn’t want to leave Ketron’s side.

…But why am I making excuses for this? Eddie’s eyes clouded over with a sense of reality crashing down on him, but at those words, Ketron’s expression, which had been stern, softened slightly.

“Is that so.”

His tone was as emotionless and difficult to read as usual, as if he had never been so frighteningly aggressive.

He also had a face that was completely oblivious, as if he had never pressed his lips to someone else’s wrist.

It was then that confusion about Ketron’s actions grew in Eddie’s mind, as he unconsciously stroked the part of his wrist that Ketron had kissed.

What did it mean to passionately kiss the area that someone else had harassed, just because he was angry?

“…….”

Something that could be called the answer briefly lit up in Eddie’s mind, but it quickly faded.

There’s no way.

This couldn’t be like that… the concept of ‘disinfection~♡’ that often appears in subculture or romance stories.

Eddie belatedly looked up at Ketron’s face, which was as stern as ever, and he scrapped the ‘disinfection~♡’ theory that he had come up with in his mind.

Yeah, no way. Ketron wouldn’t do that. His protagonist wasn’t the type to do such cheesy and childish things.

That was the case in the original work, and Eddie had only confirmed that Ketron was originally that kind of character after meeting him directly in this world.

Besides, why would he do that to Eddie, and not the heroine?

…Then what was that just now?

Eddie frowned at the feeling that his lower abdomen, as well as his wrist, was still tingling. The area where his lips had touched felt strangely hot.

Ketron’s actions were one thing, but the biological reaction he felt in his body was also strange.

Why was his lower abdomen tingling? Wasn’t this a feeling he shouldn’t be feeling at a time like this? He could feel a tickling sensation, but this was far from that.

If he had been just a little slower to pull his hand away, he might have…

…….

At that moment, Eddie felt the emergency lights in the corner of his mind turn on with a buzzing sound. The red light flashed very sharply.