By Zephyria A thumb dug into his mouth, probing his soft flesh, tongue, and the roof of his mouth. Was he crazy? Eui-jae couldn’t stand it and bit down on the finger. At the same time as the chilling sensation of biting into soft flesh, a sweetness spread. Only then did the finger slip out.
Black blood trickled down along the round teeth marks on the finger. Oh, shit. Eui-jae covered the thumb and asked, feeling awkward.
“…Does it hurt?”
He hadn’t meant to bite hard enough to draw blood. Eui-jae ran his tongue around his mouth, trying to erase the sweetness. Meanwhile, Sa-young stared intently at Eui-jae’s hand covering the teeth marks and muttered.
“Is it real… It hurts.”
“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”
“A bad hallucination or a dream, or maybe both…”
Instead of answering, Lee Sa-young began to mutter to himself. A sudden fear struck him. He couldn’t see his expression well because his shaggy, long, curly hair covered his face.
Eui-jae reached out and swept the hair that covered his face to the side. The hair, rougher than he remembered, tangled between his fingers. Violet eyes followed the movement of his hand.
“Lee Sa-young, are you okay?”
“……”
“Do you recognize who I am?”
Surely he didn’t not recognize him because of the mask. Or maybe he’d strangle him like last time. Eui-jae fiddled with Sa-young’s face like kneading dough, turning his head this way and that as he examined him. His eyesight seemed fine, his face was the same except for being a little gaunt, and there were no scars or anything. Sa-young obediently entrusted his face to the rough touch.
He could see him and touch him this time.
‘There’s no way Student Ga-eul’s ability has developed that much in the meantime.’
Then did Lee Sa-young do something? Eui-jae asked with a suspicious look.
“You can see me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What do you mean, ‘uh-huh’? Look at you being so curt again. What did you do? Last time, I just passed right through when I touched you. And you couldn’t see me.”
“I don’t know.”
Eui-jae grabbed Sa-young’s cheeks with both hands and fixed his head in place. Sa-young, who had been closing his eyes and resting his cheek on his palm, slyly opened only one eye.
“Is it real this time…”
“What?”
“No… I don’t know yet.”
Sa-young grabbed the hand that covered his cheek as if to cover it. The thumb with the clear teeth marks brushed against the back of Eui-jae’s hand. He murmured languidly.
“Will you hit me once? Biting is good too. Hmm, strangling would be the easiest…”
Goosebumps rose all over him. It was because a nightmare was creeping back into his mind. Eui-jae hurriedly removed his hands from Sa-young’s cheeks. He also slapped away the hand that was stickily entangling with his.
“Are you really crazy!”
“Why?”
“You, you… Are you the Lee Sa-young I know? Or are you that weirdo?”
Sa-young chuckled briefly. He propped up his chin crookedly and asked back.
“Then are you, Cha Eui-jae?”
“I don’t have time for twenty questions.”
“I’m asking because I’m not sure either.”
“Sure?”
“Sure that you’re the real Cha Eui-jae.”
“……”
“I’ve seen too many other things, so it’s hard to tell. Seeing you bite makes me think it’s you.”
Sa-young tilted his head slightly. They were clearly talking in the same language, but they weren’t communicating. The conversation kept skirting around the issue. Eui-jae tried his best to follow Sa-young’s train of thought. So, he meant he’d seen some kind of hallucination of him? And he’d seen it so much that he couldn’t distinguish between hallucination and reality?
‘Shit, isn’t this at the level where I need to take him to a hospital?’
Physical wounds can be healed if treated, but there’s no answer for wounds in the mind. Eui-jae grabbed Sa-young’s shoulder firmly. When Sa-young only rolled his eyes to glance at his hand, Eui-jae bit his lip and said, emphasizing each word.
“…So.”
“……”
“You should have just come out with me when I said let’s go, you idiot!”
Thwack—!!
The sound of the hard mask and bare forehead colliding echoed clearly.
Lee Sa-young seemed to have regained some sanity only after being headbutted in the forehead. Well, that was to be expected. Only someone of the same S-class level could be fine after being headbutted by an S-class head. But this time, Eui-jae was tormented by suspicion and anxiety. Eui-jae grabbed his soft cheeks and asked again.
“Are you really okay?”
“How many times are you going to ask? I said I’m okay.”
Sa-young rubbed his head against his hand like an animal nuzzling. The lukewarm forehead and hair filled his hand. Eui-jae sighed, rubbing the reddened forehead.
“No, it’s not normal to be seeing hallucinations of me. And not being able to distinguish between hallucinations and reality.”
“…Whose fault do you think that is?”
The languidly relaxed eyes sharpened. Violet eyes spun around once and turned back to Eui-jae. Goosebumps rose on the back of his neck. It was the look he hadn’t seen in a while. A crazy look.
“So you’re just going to wear the mask?”
“…What did I do?”
“Were you happy? Coming suddenly and turning someone’s insides out before leaving.”
“Hey, who was it that started talking like an idiot… No, anyway. Would I be angry if I saw that, or not?”
“Ah… So you saw all of that? Why, you might as well say you saw me groveling like a dog.”
“I didn’t try to see it… Wait, you were crawling? Why?”
Sa-young sighed loudly as if for him to hear.
“Never mind. I didn’t know the noble hero had a voyeuristic hobby… Well, who else would cater to that kind of taste besides me… Now I know your taste, so I’ll keep it in mind for later.”
“Keep what in mind! That’s not it!”
“Ah, weren’t you telling me to cater to it? I thought…”
It was hard to come to his senses with the sarcasm that came out as naturally as breathing. He hadn’t expected a touching reunion, but he hadn’t expected this kind of bickering either. What a spiteful guy! Eui-jae pressed down hard on Sa-young’s cheeks, which he was holding, making him look like a goldfish.
“This is how you treat your Hyung, instead of being happy to see him, you’re just being sarcastic.”
“Who was it that scratched at someone who was doing a good job of keeping it in? Who was it that appeared like a hallucination and then disappeared in a flash. Without knowing how someone feels.”
“No, I’m at a loss for words after hearing that. What did I do to deserve this?”
“Ah, you don’t even know what you did. You’re so great.”
This Lee Sa-young was also one he hadn’t seen in a while. Lee Sa-young, whose insides were twisted like a pretzel. What was it this time? He hadn’t said anything particularly bad, had he? Eui-jae tried hard to recall. He’d pretended to punch him and kissed his forehead, told him to wait for Hyung instead of that shell, and said he’d come back.
‘…I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?’
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a good answer. Sa-young sneered again.
“I don’t even have to look to know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking about what I did wrong.”
“……”
He was so quick to catch on. Even though he couldn’t see his face because of the mask.
But there was no time to waste finding the answer. The time he could stay here was limited. Even if he didn’t know anything else, one thing was certain. If he disappeared again like last time, Lee Sa-young would go crazy. Beyond the point of no return.
Eui-jae released Sa-young’s cheeks, which he had been pressing down on like a goldfish, and spread his arms wide.
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Ah…”
Sa-young scoffed briefly. Now that it had come to this, there was no other choice. He had to act before this pretzel complained any more.
Eui-jae ran forward with his arms open and hugged him tightly. The body in his arms stiffened and a sweet scent wafted over him. Eui-jae stroked the back of Sa-young’s head and whispered as if brainwashing him.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to be arguing like this, okay?”
“……”
“I’m sorry. Did you hear me? I said I’m sorry.”
“…Is that what you call an apology?”
Sa-young asked, sounding dumbfounded. Eui-jae made a smacking sound and rubbed the mask against the ear that was buried between his reddened cheeks and hair. The neck that was being hugged flinched. Sa-young complained softly.
“What are you doing, really.”
“Hyung is sorry.”
“You know it’s the worst to gloss over everything with just one word of apology, right?”
“I know, I know.”
“You don’t know anything… You don’t know anything at all.”
The voice that had been full of Poison began to soften little by little. Eui-jae rubbed the cheek part of the mask against his hair and replied.
“What don’t I know? Who else knows you as well as I do.”
“You don’t know.”
“Hey, you don’t tell me. If you just tell me, I can memorize and study everything.”
“…Aren’t you an idiot?”
Sa-young muttered sullenly. This was just light grumbling. And Eui-jae didn’t miss the timing. He subtly lowered his voice and whispered.
“Do you want to touch my face?”
The body in his arms stopped and stiffened. Eui-jae whispered again.
“Should I take off the mask?”