The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C112

$112

“Instead, unless it’s unavoidable, I plan not to go out more than twice a week so you won’t have to worry.”

The drink in Seo-heon’s glass rippled at my compromise. I took another deep breath.

“Now that we’re sharing life force, I don’t plan to use that skill, so you don’t need to worry about that either.”

Seo-heon said he would give me half of his remaining life. I had no intention of taking more of Seo-heon’s life force than that. I gathered my breath and finished what I had prepared to say.

“That’s all I have to say. Now tell me what’s troubling you.”

Seo-heon was silent for a while. I was wondering if I needed to ask more specifically, which would mean I’d have to drink another glass.

“I don’t have any problems.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked Seo-heon over from head to toe. There were no signs he was lying, but he might be hiding it well.

‘Or does he really think there’s nothing wrong with his current state?’

He wasn’t sleeping properly and his attitude towards me was ambiguous at best. No matter how oblivious he was to himself, it would be hard to say he was fine.

“You’re not sleeping at night and just watching my room window.”

“If it bothers you, I’ll try to reduce my presence so you won’t notice.”

He didn’t say he wouldn’t do it, just that he’d be stealthier. Seo-heon looked at my bowl and rang the bell. Soon after, the next dish arrived, but I ignored it. Seo-heon then scooped some food onto my plate, as if urging me to eat. After pushing some soft, bland food into my mouth, I continued the conversation.

“We agreed to talk honestly. Explain properly why you’re watching me from the study every night.”

I repeated what I had said many times before. I realized this sentence was the best way to get Seo-heon to open up.

“I can’t sleep at night. I watch you sleeping because my headache stops when I do, so don’t worry about it.”

Seo-heon didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but he answered honestly instead of lying. However, there was a troubling word in his answer.

“You have headaches at night?”

This was news to me. For someone known to be one of the toughest among hunters to have headaches…

“It’s not that severe.”

Seo-heon took a sip of his swirling drink, clearly avoiding a clear answer. I had an ominous feeling.

“Since when? Are you sure it gets better when you see me?”

“Woo-hyun, do we really have to talk about this? I feel like I’m being interrogated.”

He really looked like he didn’t want to talk about it. Seo-heon, who always managed to skillfully avoid unpleasant situations, seemed unfamiliar with this. I poured more drinks into his glass, subtly urging him to answer.

“It’s not easy for you to be honest either.”

“Apparently not.”

Seeing my firm attitude, Seo-heon seemed to judge that there was no use in evading and slowly opened his mouth.

“The headaches started after you collapsed. They got worse after I ran away.”

I was speechless. I knew he had suffered, but to think it affected him physically to this extent.

“It’s not a big deal, and it gets better when you’re around, so I didn’t bother mentioning it. It’s silly to say I become an idiot when you’re not around.”

After hesitating for a while, I emptied several glasses in succession. While I was trying harder to move on from the past, Seo-heon seemed to be standing still. And he thought that was okay.

“I won’t say I’m sorry. At the time, I thought that was the best option. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Of course. That’s why I’ve said many times that it’s nothing to worry about.”

I shook my head at his irresponsible words. If I hadn’t noticed, it would be one thing, but now that I knew the truth, I had no intention of letting it slide.

“Let’s find a solution anyway. You can’t go without sleep entirely. If having me nearby helps, why don’t we sleep in the same room?”

“You don’t need to sacrifice for me.”

“It’s hardly a sacrifice to just lie down together.”

It seemed like something even just friends would do, but he was making a fuss.

“Actually, that would be worse.”

“Why?”

“If I touch your body, my heart suddenly races and my head hurts.”

“What?”

Seo-heon gave an awkward smile at my question. Hearing that answer, I understood why Seo-heon had left in such a hurry after finishing the treatment, and why he looked pained after touching me. It wasn’t just my imagination; his condition really was worsening.

“We agreed not to hide anything, but things keep coming out.”

I said this, but the reason Seo-heon couldn’t tell was obvious. It’s not easy to confess one’s vulnerabilities to someone you like. Especially something like this.

“That’s also since I ran away, right?”

I answered somewhat bitterly, poking at the food with my chopsticks. Who knew that leaving after such an intimate encounter would lead to this result. Sexual contact, or similar stimulation, must trigger memories of that time like trauma.

“It’s all something I need to deal with myself. If you tell me to get treatment, I will, so don’t worry about it.”

“I didn’t know you were such a sensitive person.”

“Only when it comes to you.”

I had no rebuttal. I couldn’t tell him not to joke around because Seo-heon really was reacting sensitively to my affairs.

“You should have done better from the start.”

It was useless to say this now, but seeing Seo-heon so helplessly broken, the complaint automatically came out.

“Yeah. It would have been better if I had done well from the beginning.”

Seo-heon just mumbled without arguing back. Meanwhile, lots of expensive and good food kept coming, but it was hard to eat. It seemed the same for Seo-heon.

“Shall we stop eating?”

After eating a few pieces of meat, I put down my chopsticks. It felt like eating more would only make me sick.

“Let’s go home.”

***

After finishing the treatment at home, Seo-heon immediately tried to get up.

‘He wasn’t planning on getting treatment.’

But without this excuse, it would have been even harder to invite Seo-heon to bed. I quickly grabbed Seo-heon’s clothes as he was about to leave. Although I was drowsy from lying down after drinking alcohol, I forced myself to stay awake because there was something I wanted to test.

“Don’t go, come here.”

Seo-heon raised his eyebrows slightly, seemingly sensing what I was up to. Heat suddenly rose in the hand that was touching me.

“Woo-hyun, I’m really fine. I’ll get used to the fact that you’ll keep living.”

He tried to remove my hand, but when I persisted, he couldn’t put more strength into it. Despite his tense body, Seo-heon’s eyes were filled with hot desire.

“How long are you going to wait for that?”

I was glad I had drunk. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the courage. I grabbed Seo-heon’s wrist and made him lie down on the bed. As I straddled him, Seo-heon hid his trembling hands and gave a strange smile.

“I said I’d handle it myself.”

“If I was going to go back to being just friends, I wouldn’t have come back.”

My hands fumbled several times as I tried to unbutton my shirt. I pretended otherwise, but I was tense to the tips of my hair.

“Let’s cover bad memories with new ones.”

Seo-heon’s trembling hands grasped my fingers. We were both shaking, but neither of us would yield our opinion. The sight was so inappropriately funny that I burst out laughing.

“I guess we’re alike in our stubbornness.”

It was one of the few similarities we had.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself?”

“I’m doing this because I want to, so stop asking that question. If you don’t want to do it, say so now.”

Seo-heon gently unbuttoned my shirt. The buttons that had only fumbled in my hands came undone smoothly. The shirt came off quickly.

“How could I not want to do this with you?”

Seo-heon’s hand carefully stroked my stomach. My body hair stood on end wherever his fingers brushed.

“I like everything I do with you.”

Unlike his soft voice, his body’s trembling grew more intense. To think that the invincible Kang Seo-heon would suffer from trauma.

Seo-heon wrapped his arms around my neck and gently pulled. I lowered my face to match his weak force. Our lips met and our tongues intertwined.

We explored each other’s mouths slowly, very leisurely, without rushing. It was a slow movement like turning the key of a weak and precious lock, but whenever our tongues parted briefly, we hurriedly chased after each other.

“Woo-hyun, I love you.”

Seo-heon’s trembling persisted as he said this.

“If this isn’t love, I don’t know what to call love.”

His large, soft hand caressed my face. His eyes longed for me as if I were far away, even though I was right in front of him.

“Yes. I believe it too.”

Seo-heon’s tongue alternated between sucking and licking my nipple. A warmth slowly rose from my chest.

“…Stop, it tickles.”

“Does it really just tickle?”

Seo-heon persisted in his actions. He even started tormenting the other nipple with his other hand.

“Hah, are, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, so I’ll continue.”

Seo-heon’s tongue went down, further down, until it reached my pants. He skillfully took off my pants and gently stroked my genitals over my underwear. A little fluid was leaking from the tip of my slightly erect penis.

“You take yours off too. It’s embarrassing.”

Despite my request, Seo-heon remained fully clothed while taking off even my underwear.

“I’ll suck you off.”