I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Episode 80

Episode 80

The next destination was a bit far from where they were staying. However, among the places he had come out to saying the night view was pretty, it was the one Seung-hyun liked the most, so he had purposely come all the way here.

“A night view and a city enjoyed on a boat, isn’t it romantic?”

“It is.”

The snowy night canal would surely be beautiful. Seung-hyun headed to where they could get on the boat with anticipation. Actually, it was his first time getting on a boat too.

‘I’ve never even experienced riding a duck boat, but to think I’d get to ride something like this.’

Actually, he might not be interested in the scenery at all and his only purpose might be to ride the boat. The moment he stepped onto the boat, he felt strange from the rocking sensation.

Jae-young smiled slightly at his excited atmosphere that showed even though he tried to hide it. Is it that good?

‘At this rate, I wonder if he’ll even notice things like the scenery.’

There were too many people to dream of an intimate time for just the two of them, and it wasn’t easy to set the mood in the noisy situation with the voices of excited people.

It felt like noise with a mix of languages he could understand and those he couldn’t, but the two didn’t notice it for their own reasons.

One was excited, and the other was having fun watching the excited face.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

Seung-hyun, who had been engrossed in sightseeing for a long time, belatedly remembered Jae-young’s existence and turned his head.

This time too, their eyes met properly. Thinking that their eyes kept meeting every time he looked, Seung-hyun smiled a little sheepishly.

“Yes. It’s pretty.”

Jae-young smiled prettily without any embarrassment. At that moment, the light reflected on the river helped him see Jae-young’s face properly.

It was unclear whether the pretty thing was the night canal and cityscape, or if he was referring to something else. Seung-hyun shifted his gaze.

Seeing from the canal, the city with gas lamps lit created a cozy atmosphere combined with the fallen snow. It felt a bit nauseous, but it was also nice to feel like cruising on the water.

However, what caught Seung-hyun’s attention the most at this moment… was probably someone whose gaze was fixed on him as if he had no interest in the passing scenery.

“If we’ve come all this way, we should look at things we can’t see anywhere else. Why are you looking at something you can see every day?”

Seung-hyun spoke without looking at Jae-young. He felt strange from the blatant gaze that he couldn’t ignore.

“I’m looking at something I can’t see every day.”

At the nonchalant tone, Seung-hyun slightly turned his head to look, but his gaze was still directed only at Seung-hyun. What was he referring to that he couldn’t see every day?

“Is it boring?”

“No. It’s nice.”

It was impossible to know what Jae-young was thinking as he gave an answer that didn’t match his actions at all. But judging by his expression, he seemed satisfied with this situation.

“…”

His gaze kept wanting to stay on that smiling face reflected in the light, so Seung-hyun tried hard to turn his eyes elsewhere. But it didn’t go as he wished.

‘It’s a face I’ve seen so much that I’m sick of it.’

Was it not only the cityscape that looked more beautiful in the cold winter air, fallen snow, and soft light?

When the boat first departed, it was quite fun, but from the middle, he couldn’t even remember what he had seen. That’s how much Seung-hyun had become conscious of Jae-young.

On the way back to the hotel, Seung-hyun, who belatedly recalled the bet, glanced at Jae-young. Although it seemed like all he had looked at all day was himself, he had a quite satisfied face.

“Today was fun.”

Jae-young, who noticed his gaze, spoke. It wasn’t difficult to know what Seung-hyun was thinking.

“It was a bit of a busy day, but still good.”

“…Really?”

“Why would I lie about this?”

Jae-young said with a smile. He had suggested the bet wanting to spend a leisurely day and to spend a day as he wished.

“…”

Seeing Seung-hyun taking the bet seriously, he felt like he shouldn’t spend tomorrow half-heartedly.

‘I’m also curious about what he’ll say for his wish.’

“I’m tired from running around so hard. I want to hurry back and rest.”

Jae-young said, lightly resting his head on the car window. Seung-hyun was just as tired. If they only counted the time they spent going around, it wasn’t that long, but perhaps because of yesterday, he quickly got tired.

“A night like yesterday would be nice too… but today, we should sleep obediently for tomorrow.”

“What are you…!”

Seung-hyun was startled by the words that clearly showed what they implied and glanced at the driver. Even though he knew there was no way he could understand, he felt embarrassed for no reason.

“You’re making the driver look at us strangely because of what you said.”

“That’s…!”

It wasn’t pleasant that the person who had startled him was making a nonchalant face and speaking nonsense. Seung-hyun turned his head, thinking he wouldn’t continue the conversation.

Seung-hyun kept forgetting that he shouldn’t get involved and ended up being entangled with him. Watching such Seung-hyun was Jae-young’s small pleasure.

“…!!”

Jae-young slowly approached Seung-hyun and rested his head on his shoulder. Seung-hyun flinched his shoulder in surprise, but didn’t shake off the lightly placed head.

“…What are you doing?”

“I’m too tired.”

There wasn’t a hint of fatigue on his face that had his eyes closed with a pleasant expression. At the obvious trick, Seung-hyun hesitated whether to shake it off or not, and then slowly lowered his arm.

Whether it was because it was bothersome or because that weight didn’t bother him as much as he thought… The exact reason was unknown, but… it didn’t seem bad to leave it like this.

“How long will it take to arrive?”

He just threw a sarcastic remark without moving his body much.

“I know, right? Why am I so tired today of all days?”

“For someone who’s tired, your face is glowing though.”

“It’s your imagination. Imagination.”

Jae-young, who told an insincere lie, looked out the window. Seeing a slightly familiar street, it seemed like they had almost arrived.

It wasn’t a complete lie that he was tired, but now, even if he had to go around the same road, he wanted to stay in the car like this.

If he got out of the car, he could touch Seung-hyun in a more comfortable position, and he could talk leisurely in a wide space while facing each other.

“What imagination…”

He liked the current atmosphere. As if the time when they had raised their voices and suffered together didn’t exist, this moment of having a nonsensical conversation and exchanging sarcastic remarks that couldn’t hurt each other at all.

‘It would be nice if he was thinking the same thing.’

Jae-young thought so and closed his eyes again. Even the air that had become a bit stuffy due to the heater felt only cozy that night.

***

“We only started moving after lunch yesterday too, so we should do the same today to be fair.”

At Seung-hyun’s words that the bet should be fair, the two left the hotel only after having lunch.

“…Do you have a plan?”

“Hmm… shall we walk a bit first? To aid digestion too.”

It seemed like he had no plan at all, but his expression was calm without any urgency. Seung-hyun threw a distrustful glance.

“The walking path is well-made too. And the weather is just right and nice, isn’t it?”

Of course, Jae-young was only calm. Seung-hyun blew out a breath, haa, with a dissatisfied face. The breath that rose up as if denying Jae-young’s words was clear.

“The sunlight is nice, isn’t it? The sunlight.”

Jae-young fixed Seung-hyun’s scarf again and looked at the sky. As he said, the weather was cold but the sky was sunny.

“Isn’t it nice to walk the streets that we only looked down at?”

Since today was the day to spend according to his plan, Seung-hyun didn’t complain further and followed him.

The place located in the suburbs was quiet. Although the snow was mostly cleared on the roads or paths where many people walked, there were places where the snow was less cleared here and there.

Seung-hyun walked along such a path. The feeling of stepping on snow was unfamiliar. It was the first time he had walked leisurely like this.

The streets on snowy days were always slippery and messed up with footprints that he didn’t even want to step on. It was interesting that the same street felt different when the situation changed.

‘I thought what’s the point of walking without a destination… It’s not as bad as I thought.’

“I heard snow is pretty garbage. You’re just like a kid.”

“…Nevermind.”

But soon, Seung-hyun stopped walking while stepping on the snow at Jae-young’s playful words and came down to the clean street.

“Why are you coming down? Just keep walking.”

“I don’t want to be made fun of.”

“I’m not making fun of you…”

It was something he unknowingly said because it was cute to see a tall adult man walking while leaving footprints in the snow. Jae-young looked back at the footprints Seung-hyun had left with a regretful face.

Although the footprints were quite large to be called cute, the traces made by firmly pressing down to leave clear shoe sole marks seemed to show Seung-hyun’s personality.

Should I take a picture of it? No, would it seem like I’m making more fun of him then? Jae-young looked at those footprints for a moment, thinking.

‘I’ll definitely get scolded.’

In the end, Jae-young couldn’t take out the cell phone in his pocket and straightened his back. Then, thinking why Seung-hyun was so quiet, the moment he raised his head, Jae-young was startled by something flying towards his eyes and closed his eyes.