VSP 56

The hand that brushed past Sejun’s lips casually wiped away the chipotle sauce that had been left there.

That alone was ticklish enough to give him goosebumps, but then Cha Dogyeong looked at the orange sauce on his finger for a moment and flicked his tongue out to taste it.

‘……!!!!!’

Sejun screamed internally. He couldn’t even process what he had just seen.

Even Cha Dogyeong, who had done it, froze for a second like he himself wasn’t sure what he had just done.

[Lucky Love Mode again…!]

Even the system sighed. But Cha Dogyeong quickly pulled himself together.

‘Not bad.’

Then he just went on eating his sandwich like nothing happened. It was the same size as the one Sejun had been nibbling on, but he finished it in just two or three bites, leaving Sejun frozen.

“Ahhhhhh.”

So that was it. Sejun rolled on the floor, unable to handle the pounding in his chest. This was insane. Cha Dogyeong was crazy. He had to be. Even if it’s because of Lucky Love Mode, that was insane.

[I delayed the notification since you looked too shocked.]

The system confessed the truth. Around that time, a sub-mission“flirt with Cha Dogyeong” had appeared, and with Lucky Love Mode activating, Sejun had cleared it and earned the reward.

[But it’s a good thing, right? Easy mission success. Your mana is already at 170.]

His mana, now fifty higher, welcomed him.

It was something he should be glad about, but Sejun couldn’t calm down. He kept rolling and rolling on the floor.

“Haa.”

After thrashing for a long time, Sejun rubbed his flushed face with both hands. He didn’t need a mirror to know, whole body up to his neck had to be red.

He wanted to feel something like that with a woman, not with a tall guy like Cha Dogyeong. Hey, heart, why are you racing? Stop it. Does this make sense? It doesn’t make sense!

Sejun screamed inwardly. But the system, which heard it all, made a sullen face. Was he hating this, or was he liking this?

Even after front rolls and back rolls, one thing was clear: that was definitely flirting. It was thanks to Lucky Love Mode’s tricks, but anyway.

The problem was, no matter what, it was too ticklish! How could Cha Dogyeong and him be doing something like that?

[Sejun-nim, are you okay?]

The system asked at last, after watching Sejun roll until his hair was a bird’s nest.

With his face red, panting from his racing heart, Sejun asked back.

“…What about Lucky Love Mode?”

[Excuse me?]

“Lucky Love Mode. You said sometimes it feels like it has a will.”

Ah. The system seemed to finally get it. Its reluctantly replied.

[When Hunter Cha Dogyeong said ‘not bad,’ I heard something pop.]

“Ah…”

So Lucky Love Mode must have exploded, unable to hold itself back. Like a person getting a nosebleed, or like a balloon popping. Something like that.

[It would be nice if it popped and disappeared for good.]

The system grumbled, sounding irritated at Lucky Love Mode interfering with it.

That finally made Sejun laugh and stop flailing.

But then the image of Cha Dogyeong wiping the sauce from his lips came back. The firm joints of his hand brushing his cheek, wiping his lips, then those well-shaped lips licking the sauce from his finger…

[Sejun-nim, your heart rate is going up again.]

“Uh… it’s nothing.”

It was pretty cool. Sejun fanned his face with his hand.

Forget gender or anything else, it had been seductive. Doing something like that with that face should be a crime. No, it was a crime. A dirty, sly, seductive act that pinned its target in place.

Anyway, now that he was home, Sejun tried to wash up and change into pajamas like a true homebody. If only his phone, tossed carelessly on the table, hadn’t started buzzing.

He checked it right away, and the sender surprised him.

It was Choi Hangyeol.

“Choi Hangyeol: I heard they’re doing rotation again”

“Choi Hangyeol: I had fun teamed with you, hyung”

“Choi Hangyeol: I hope we end up on the same team again”

Looking at the stream of messages, it seemed he had been there when it was decided. News about the rotation was now spreading to the other S-ranks besides Sejun and Dogyeong, who had already known.

All eight S-rank hunters, including Ryu Sehyun, would rotate one by one.

Sejun frowned at the messages from Choi Hangyeol. What’s with this guy? During the Busan mission he’d acted friendlier than usual, but he wasn’t the type to contact Sejun personally like this or show him this kind of goodwill.

…Was this also the effect of the original’s work fading?

Feeling conflicted, Sejun still found his hand typing a reply naturally.

“Seo Sejjun: What are you talking about, you crazy bastard?”

Without much thought, Sejun sent his reply. The “1” disappeared right away, and then Choi Hangyeol’s answer came.

“Choi Hangyeol:Hahaha”

“Choi Hangyeol: Hyung”

“Choi Hangyeol: I like it when you’re like that”

Isn’t he really crazy?

Sejun hesitated, wondering if he should reply to this lunatic or just ignore him, when another message arrived from Choi Hangyeol.

“Choi Hangyeol: Lately I strangely like you, hyung”

“Choi Hangyeol: Let’s hang out again next time”

Strangely like you.

Those words made Sejun flinch, but he did not hesitate. He immediately sent his reply.

“Seo Sejjun: Fuck off”

Then he turned off the screen without checking further. The phone buzzed again, like more replies were coming, but Sejun did not look.

He started undressing to wash up. Then he realized these were Cha Dogyeong’s clothes, the ones too small for him that he had shoved onto Sejun. His face distorted.

Come to think of it, didn’t I just leave the clothes I wore at his house?

He had only thrown them on quickly to go to Busan anyway, but the fact he had even left his underwear there made his jaw drop.

…He must have thrown them away, right?

Please, he must have thrown them away.

As Sejun silently prayed, his pride stung again at the fact that the clothes too small for Cha Dogyeong were too big on him. At that moment, the system spoke.

[But Sejun-nim.]

“Hm? What.”

[No, nothing.]

Now you don’t seem so awkward about blushing and fluttering while flirting with Hunter Cha Dogyeong.

The system swallowed the words. Somehow it felt unwise to bring it up at that moment.

Sejun, who had looked so down because of Hoya’s injury, didn’t seem to be in such a bad mood now. There was no need to ruin it.

After all, it was thanks to Cha Dogyeong.

But the good mood the system was carefully letting him keep did not last even a full day.

“Shit.”

It was right after he got the group notification that new teams had been organized, fast as always under Ryu Sehyun’s management. Sejun checked his phone at the alert and cursed without thinking.

“Shit?”

[Wow.]

The system let out something like an amazed comment at the back-to-back swearing, while Sejun’s hands shook so much he ended up throwing the phone onto the sofa. It bounced and hit the floor, but Sejun didn’t even look.

“Ah, shit.”

The third curse came as Sejun clamped his hands over his mouth, afraid he’d start screaming otherwise.

[Yeah, that one’s too much.]

The world after the original story was openly pushing Sejun and Cha Dogyeong together. Sejun had secretly hoped maybe he would be teamed up with Cha Dogyeong.

But the team composition made it clear this wasn’t luck, it was deliberate. Like they were dumping a bomb on him from the start.

<Team 2: Seo Sejun, Lee Dohun>

The worst pairing possible.

•••

It was unfair targeting. No, there had never been targeting this bad.

From the day they had that cursed new team assignment, Sejun had lived with a weight pressing on his chest.

He felt uncomfortable when he ate, when he washed, it was hard to sleep and even hard to swallow food.

Why?

“Because the partner is Lee Dohun…”

Haaaaaa.

Sejun let out a long sigh and slid down the sofa.