VSP 79

Why the hell… Sejun’s face flushed bright red belatedly. He snatched it away immediately.

“Hey, you…! You crazy bastard, seriously!”

“Go wash up.”

Though Sejun raged with his face burning hot, Cha Dogyeong seemed unbothered, pushing Sejun’s back and telling him to go wash up.

Huh? Sejun found himself heading straight for the bathroom.

Click. As the door closed, Sejun stood blankly in front of the bathroom door for a long while, the situation suddenly settled as if he were definitely sleeping over.

“Ah… I’m going crazy.”

Sejun staggered and sat down roughly on the bathtub in front of him.

He did have his own little confidence boost. He knew Cha Dogyeong wouldn’t refuse his invitation to hang out, so he’d casually decided he’d just go out and clear the sub-mission.

He’d naively thought that, as always, some light physical contact and enjoying a slightly flirty atmosphere would naturally lead to clearing a sub-mission.

But today, as if to snap him out of complacency after clearing five sub-missions already, the stimulation felt overwhelmingly intense.

Cha Dogyeong’s nearly naked body flashed through Sejun’s mind. And it was drenched, water dripping off him. It was a reflex, impossible to suppress.

Normally, no matter how perfect the physique, seeing a man’s body shouldn’t have caused such panic. Yet, in that moment of carelessness, when he unexpectedly saw Cha Dogyeong’s half-naked body, Sejun panicked far more than necessary.

Why?

Sejun questioned himself.

It’s a man’s body. A guy’s body. And it wasn’t even completely naked; everything that needed covering was covered. So what was so shocking about it that he panicked, couldn’t speak properly, and stammered?

[Sejun-nim, your blood pressure is rising too rapidly. You might get a nosebleed.]

As Sejun agonized over ‘Why on earth did I do that?’, the system, quietly monitoring his condition, chimed in.

Sejun flinched, glancing at the mirror in the bathroom, he saw his own face, flushed bright red as if he were dead drunk.

His eyes were wide with shock, his cheeks flushed, and his lips were dry from biting them.

“It’s from being angry! I’m just angry!”

Thump, thump, thump. The sound of his heart pounding violently echoed in his ears. He insisted it was from anger, but he knew better than anyone that this trembling wasn’t rage.

But Sejun couldn’t possibly admit to the flustered confusion and inexplicable nervousness he’d felt the moment he faced Dogyeong, nor the relentless pounding that hadn’t stopped since.

[I’ll just say your blood pressure spiked…]

“Anyway!”

Sejun got angry at the system for no reason. He absolutely couldn’t admit it, absolutely not!

The fact that his heart raced at the sight of a guy’s naked body? Absolutely not!

Having completely forgotten his past of doing all sorts of things with that guy, he stared at his own drawers, which he’d snatched from Cha Dogyeong’s hands and clutched tightly ever since.

Surely he didn’t wash them himself? Hoping desperately that wasn’t the case, Sejun carelessly tossed the underwear aside, quickly stripped, and stepped under the shower.

His body felt warm under the pouring cold water.

•••

The next morning.

The two of them soothed their stomachs with the coffee they’d ordered the previous day but ended up falling asleep before drinking, along with the cookies Sejun had ordered, and were now hurriedly getting ready to go out early in the morning.

It wasn’t that he wanted to disappear quickly. Sejun had probably gotten used to it by now; he hardly felt uncomfortable or wanted to escape quickly just because he was with Cha Dogyeong.

Of course, last night had been a bit awkward when he suddenly asked him to stay over and forgotten underwear made an appearance, but anyway, he hadn’t disliked it.

No, actually, being together felt a little… nice? No, comfortable?

“Ugh, such a pain.”

Unlike Sejun, Cha Dogyeong was grumbling while properly getting ready to go out.

This was precisely why the two parted ways early in the morning without even sharing a proper meal together. Cha Dogyeong’s sudden outing.

It wasn’t that some special official schedule had suddenly popped up; it just happened.

An A-rank dungeon.

Since Team 2, Ryu Sehyun and Seo Sejun, had completed their run just yesterday, if a new A-rank dungeon appeared, Team 3 should be next. Cha Dogyeong was on that Team 3.

The announced A-rank dungeon was expected to fully open around 9:30 AM, so the two didn’t have time to properly eat breakfast together or spend more time together.

Since the homeowner was leaving and they weren’t living together, there was no reason for Sejun to stay alone at Cha Dogyeong’s house, so Sejun ended up leaving early too.

Leaving this early was rare, and Sejun always struggled with waking up early, but preparing together with Cha Dogyeong wasn’t so bad.

The sight of them both hurriedly gulping down coffee because they were in a rush, or sharing cookies and evaluating their taste amidst the chaos, was trivial and even funny, but it was quite nice. Whether Cha Dogyeong thought so too was another matter.

“Sejun-hyung, this. ”

Just before stepping outside, Cha Dogyeong pressed something into Sejun’s hand. It was that very doll he’d spent a fortune pulling out of the claw machine.

KuXmi. The wickedly grinning face wasn’t unfamiliar, he often saw that design in his own car. What felt strange was someone giving this to him as a gift.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Sejun protested weakly, but Cha Dogyeong wasn’t buying it.

“Then why do you think I picked it out?”

“……”

Right. Why would Cha Dogyeong, of all people, specifically pick out a doll he liked? It wasn’t like he lived a life particularly connected to dolls, even if it wasn’t this specific character.

Recalling Cha Dogyeong’s starkly bare apartment, Sejun quickly reached a conclusion. Whatever the case, he had to take this.

He hesitated briefly, but then quietly reached out and grabbed the end of the doll Cha Dogyeong was waving. It was soft and squishy.

“…Thanks.”

Though his voice was small, he didn’t forget to express his gratitude. Feeling embarrassed, he couldn’t quite bring himself to meet Cha Dogyeong’s eyes.

Of course, the doll itself was innocent. Even though he’d grumbled at Cha Dogyeong, Sejun liked that cute doll. There was no place for it in the car, so he’d decorate his room with it. Where exactly? He’d put it by his bedside. 

His face naturally broke into a smile as he thought this.

“…….”

Dogyeong’s eyes widened slightly as he watched him. Without realizing it, his own lips parted slightly.

I want to kiss him.

And this thought surfaced. As natural as breathing.

Of course, it was an unconscious thought, but Dogyeong was genuinely flustered and unconsciously covered his mouth with his hand.

Are you crazy, Cha Dogyeong? What the hell were you just thinking?

He was genuinely flustered by his own thoughts.

Dogyeong had never once thought about kissing anyone like this, out of the blue.

Especially not Seo Sejun?

But Dogyeong, who had been momentarily flustered by that fact, soon regained his composure.

It could happen.

The problem was how naturally that thought had come to him. It had been quite some time since Cha Dogyeong had admitted to being ‘a little’ attracted to Seo Sejun.

He was even getting along quite well with the Seo Sejun of late, as if to say, “When did I ever growl at you like that?” He hadn’t consciously tried to acknowledge it, but until just before this summer, the two had been like oil and water, constantly pushing each other away, never mixing.

And yet, somehow.

They had grown comfortable together, and they’d even kissed several times, unintentionally.

Perhaps even now, Seo Sejun wouldn’t refuse if Cha Dogyeong tried to kiss him.

But wasn’t that a bit strange?

…If someone asked what the difference was between feeling a little aroused and wanting to kiss, he’d be at a loss for words, but it was different nonetheless.

“Cha Dogyeong?”

“Ah.”

Sejun stared at Dogyeong, who had been lost in thought for quite a while, looking confused.

Dogyeong smiled, liking the sight of Sejun clutching the doll he’d given him like a talisman, probably because he didn’t carry a bag or anything else, being the type who just had his car.

“Oh, thanks a lot.”

“Seriously.”

Sejun laughed, though he said it with an exasperated tone. On the way to the underground parking lot, the two exchanged trivial small talk before parting ways, each getting into their own car and heading to their respective destinations.

Dogyeong happened to be in a spot where he could see the passenger seat of Sejun’s car. Without much thought, he glanced over and saw Sejun doing exactly what he had done when he brought the doll – placing it in the passenger seat. Unable to help himself, Dogyeong laughed out loud.

“Haha.”

When he’d been the spectacle, he’d secretly wondered why he was doing this. But seeing the recipient genuinely delighted like that, he suddenly felt it didn’t matter at all.

Dogyeong started his car and glanced at his phone to check the address. Seeing the information accompanying the location, he suddenly froze, his expression blank as if he’d forgotten he’d been laughing.

Simultaneous Attack Hunter: Lee Dohun

Tap tap. Dogyeong’s hand tapped the steering wheel absentmindedly. The tapping rhythm, like a prelude, foreshadowed the discordant notes about to begin.