VSP 28

“Seo Sejun.”

“No…”

“Open your mouth.”

He wanted to say something in his defense, but Sejun knew this was the one and only last chance to save his hair, and he couldn’t let it slip.

His wide eyes turned toward the timer of the sub-mission. By some twist of fate, right then the time left dropped a whole day, changing to 0 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. Sejun squeezed his eyes shut.

There was no way he could pull off flirting with Cha Dogyeong in the next 24 hours. He had no confidence he could recreate this atmosphere again.

In the end, when Dogyeong’s lips came down on his own, Sejun could only part his lips with a wretched expression.

Dogyeong’s tongue slipped inside smoothly, never one to miss such a chance.

Even so, he kept telling himself he wasn’t turned on by Sejun, he was only curious because the partner was new.

Otherwise, there was no reason to kiss him.

<More! More! More!>

[…ah, this is annoying.]

Only the system knew that Lucky Love Mode was buzzing with excitement, expressing its intense will while the two of them each wrestled with their own tangled thoughts.

•••

Cha Dogyeong had always thought of himself as a fairly straightforward man.

He wasn’t really that different in reality. He didn’t avoid kisses or sex, but he wasn’t promiscuous either.

He usually had a girlfriend rather than not, so for some reason he had a reputation as a reckless Casanova, but in truth, he was… plain.

No clinging, no obsession. He liked things clean. Sex was one thing, but he didn’t even enjoy kissing that much.

That was how it had always been.

“Mmph, nngh…”

Sejun let out muffled groans as Dogyeong naturally pulled him closer mid-kiss, half in his arms.

Maybe it was because he really had no experience with kissing like he said, but he didn’t even know how to breathe properly, and when their eyes met during the kiss, he flinched and shut his eyes like a startled kid. For his age, it looked absurdly innocent.

And somehow that innocence made Dogyeong hard. He admitted it.

Seo Sejun turned him on. He had never believed he could be aroused by a man, never imagined he’d be turned on by Sejun of all people. But lately, Sejun did turn him on.

His two palms, not knowing where to go and unwilling to embrace him out of pride, just resting lightly on Dogyeong’s solid chest, were ridiculous. What even was this?

He admitted it. Lately Sejun was new to him. A bit arousing, sometimes ridiculous, but… that ridiculousness was, a little…

Just a little cute.

And that small tongue, stumbling stiffly to keep up with him, made him want to tease him more.

“Mmph…”

Groaning as he struggled to follow the movements, Sejun made Dogyeong chuckle without realizing it. What a funny guy.

“Mmmpf!”

Then suddenly Sejun jerked, trembling, his eyes flying open. The tongue he had been chasing so clumsily shoved Dogyeong’s away all at once.

Thrown out of Sejun’s mouth, Dogyeong frowned. This was the first time anyone had ended a kiss with him like that.

“What?”

He didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. Sejun, seeing his scowl, looked even more incredulous.

“Haah, haah, why the hell are you grabbing my ass, you lunatic?!”

“What?”

Ah.

Dogyeong frowned, not understanding at first, then realized and his eyes widened.

His hands were gripping Sejun’s ass, kneading it without him even noticing. Not especially soft, not particularly fleshy, but somehow pleasant to touch. He even judged it felt good in his hands.

And even after realizing it, he didn’t move his hands away. Seo Sejun’s ass was nicer to hold than expected. Maybe this was why kids liked those touch-and-feel toys.

Sejun, ignoring his own protest, stared in disbelief at Dogyeong kneading away, then let out a sigh.

“Let go, let go!”

He pushed Dogyeong back. Dogyeong could easily have overpowered him, but instead, he let himself be shoved away.

“You were the one begging for a kiss, why are you acting up now?”

Even while backing off, his words were far from meek.

Sejun’s face flushed bright red.

He wanted to say, “When did I beg for a kiss,” but since he had, he had no comeback.

“I don’t need it anymore!”

What he meant was that the sub-mission had cleared, though Dogyeong had no way of knowing that.

Sejun jumped to his feet.

“I’m going home now!”

Just moments ago they had been embracing and tangling their tongues, but now he spoke about leaving with a determined voice.

When he left, the only thing he carried was the groceries he had bought at the mart, so his back as he walked straight for the door was full of determination. He really meant to leave.

He had contacted out of nowhere, eaten out of nowhere, begged for a kiss out of nowhere, and then left right after kissing. How was Dogyeong supposed to understand this whole chain of events?

“Hmm.” Stroking his chin, Dogyeong narrowed his eyes at Sejun’s retreating back.

“You could stay the night.”

Sejun’s body went rigid. Even he understood that it didn’t just mean sleep and nothing else.

Of course, Dogyeong had no real thought of doing anything to Sejun that night. He liked women.

Even if he did get curious about men, there was nothing soft on Seo Sejun to make him lick his lips over.

But seeing Sejun’s ears go red at his words was worth watching.

Sejun said nothing, just slammed the door shut and left.

“Hm.”

The moment Sejun was gone, Dogyeong leaned back against the sofa, still wearing the same faint smile.

It looked like Seo Sejun liked him.

Why else would he come all the way here begging to eat together, cook him a careful meal, stall for time with excuses about coffee, then beg for a kiss?

Until now, Seo Sejun had only ever made it clear how much he hated him, never once shown any sign of liking him. But wasn’t that how people were?

It was surprising, and also funny. He had no thought of accepting it, but since it was at least amusing, he figured he might just leave it alone.

It was a grand mistake, but there was no one to correct it.

If Sejun knew, he would have been dumbfounded and furious, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he had no way of reading Dogyeong’s mind. He was too busy stomping out of the house fuming to know.

The misunderstanding deepened, and so did the night.

•••

Anyway, Sejun managed to complete that day’s sub-mission.

[Seo Sejun (S-rank Hunter)]

Ability: Summoner

Alias: Pet Hunter

Stats

Health: 95/95

Mana: 150/150

Attack: 80

Defense: 60

Agility: 70

Intelligence: 100

Luck: 30

Skills

Summoning, Spirit Summon, Contract with Summoned Beasts, Combat Tactics, Quick Evasion

Passive

[Summoning Dependence]

His mana, only 120 before, had risen to 150 through successive sub-mission successes. It still didn’t reach the average A-rank hunter’s level, but gaining 30 was nothing to scoff at.

Sejun checked his stat window several times a day with a satisfied face, then scowled every time Dogyeong’s voice saying “You could stay the night” came to mind.

Begging for a kiss, actually kissing, having his ass groped, all of it infuriated him.

The system clicked its tongue several times, watching Sejun kick his blanket before bed for days.

[Anyway, you kept your hair, so it turned out well, right?]

“I have to do that crap again in 3 weeks, that’s the problem!”

The sub-mission gave him another week of rest. But after that, there would be another sub-mission. And it probably would be “flirt with Cha Dogyeong” again.

Sejun had painfully realized that no half-hearted stunt would fulfill the cursed sub-mission’s “flirt” requirement.

He despaired.

He had no idea what he would have to do with Cha Dogyeong, how far it would have to go.

The fear of losing his hair weighed on him, yet when he thought of the mana reward, he still felt pleased.