Free Web NovelBut it was still just speculation. Before he could be sure, there was one thing he needed to confirm.
“Taeeon hyung.”
“Hm?”
“If I were in danger, what would you do?”
“...Huh?”
Taeeon looked puzzled at the question, which didn’t fit the situation.
“Obviously I’d come rescue you...?”
“Even if it’s dangerous? You might die.”
“Roi, if I can save you, my life doesn’t matter. I told you, my life is yours.”
That was the second shock after Hojin’s “I want to die” remark.
Yeonwoo’s jaw dropped again.
“Have you lost your mind...? Are you both sane?”
Yeonwoo muttered that the whole group must be crazy. This time Roi addressed Yeonwoo.
“Yeonwoo hyung.”
At Roi’s call, Yeonwoo looked at him in confusion.
“Don’t ask me. I’ll die in your place.”
“I’m not asking you to die. More importantly, hyung, do you have a life goal?”
“S-suddenly?” ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Under Roi’s steady gaze, Yeonwoo reluctantly answered.
“Well, mine is probably revenge on those blood fiends and the cultists who cursed me to fail.”
Damn it.
Now it was clear.
All this stemmed from gaslighting.
Roi glanced at Hojin, who was still crying bitterly.
What do I do...?
How on earth could he fix this?
Growing frantic, Roi began biting his nails. Then—
“Roi... sob... Roi...”
Hojin choked out his name,
“Roi?”
Taeeon asked in a bewildered voice,
“I Roi.”
And Yeonwoo as well. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
At the simultaneous calling of his name by the three gaslighting victims, Roi’s vision went white.
✧
Crash!
Roi bolted into the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the shower, dousing himself with cold water.
Shhhhh—
The shock woke his mind. At last he felt clearheaded.
Get a grip. I’m the only one who can fix this now.
As he fought the urge to pass out, a line from a movie came to him:
“Cover an issue with another issue.”
Right. He’s afraid of being discarded—so give him an even bigger assurance.
Since gaslighting caused this, he’d solve it with more gaslighting.
Resolved, Roi flung open the door. All three stared at him.
Water dripped from his hair and clothes like a drowned mouse. Yeonwoo looked so exasperated ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) he barely asked if Roi was all right.
What fresh provocation is this? he thought silently.
Ignoring Yeonwoo’s glare, Roi strode straight to Hojin.
“Kim Hojin. Look at me.”
At the younger man’s force, Hojin’s eyes widened.
Roi reached out with wet hands and cupped Hojin’s face.
They say you can read a person’s true feelings in their eyes. Roi wanted his sincerity—his love for hyung—to come through without fail.
“I’ll only say this once, so listen. When I said there’s no one but you, I meant it then and now. But that didn’t mean you’re the only one I need.”
“Ughhh.”
He ignored Yeonwoo’s gagging.
“To me, you hyung, Taeeon hyung, and Yeonwoo hyung are all precious and essential. I can’t imagine life without any one of you.”
Otherwise Wilderness would fall apart.
But no one cares about an isekai reincarnator’s backstory, so he skipped that part.
“If I had to choose first place among the people I care about, it’d be you, hyung—no question.”
Actually first place was Roze, but sometimes a little white lie is necessary.
Roi closed his eyes, then pointed at Taeeon, still covering his ears, and Yeonwoo, still gagging.
“If you and they fell into the sea, I’d save you first without hesitation. Got it?”
Yeonwoo’s brow furrowed deeply in defeat. Thankfully Taeeon hadn’t heard, and Hojin, hoping to be moved, twitched his brows in response.
Roi decided to drive the point home.
“So never have that stupid worry again. Even if you killed me, I’d never hate you.”
“...!”
【Skill ‘Gaslighting’ activated.】
“You hear me? You’re the one who mustn’t discard me.”
Roi bowed his head deeply, tears and water dripping onto his cheeks.
In that instant, all of Hojin’s negative thoughts seemed washed away.
Instead, seeing Roi crying, his heart broke.
“Roi... I’m sorry. Sniff. Don’t cry... huh? I misunderstood. I won’t do it again.”
Hojin threw himself into Roi’s arms, apologizing.
“Hyng...!”
“Roi...!”
Watching them, Yeonwoo lay back in exasperation, saying his eyes hurt too much to look.
Taeeon peeked open his eyes, saw the pair embracing, and quietly reevaluated them.
Right. They already had a history of troublemaking.
The organic villain and the trespassing villain. A villain once is a villain forever.
Blinking, Taeeon approached and asked the two.
“So... it’s all over now? You two reconciled?”
“Yes.”
“Y-yeah. Sniff.”
“Good. You two really shouldn’t fight again.”
Taeeon handed a towel to Roi, then smiled and pointed to the front door.
“Now can you two get out of my place?”
“Huh? But we said we’d watch Episode 1 together—”
“Nope. Better if you each go home. I want some peace.”
Taeeon gently shoved them toward the door and even opened it for them.
“Text me when you get home.”
“Wait—what about Yeonwoo hyung?”
“Yeonwoo has nowhere else to go. He said he’d crash here until the next shoot.”
“Eeh? Then what about me?”
“You’ve got a home. If you don’t want to go there, go to Hojin hyung’s. You two are inseparable anyway.”
“Hyung! Wait—when did you say I was your savior?!”
“Bye.”
And so the pair of cockroaches were evicted from Taeeon’s studio.
✧
Evicted, the two wandered Taeeon’s neighborhood before heading to Hojin’s home.
It was the next neighborhood over, and Roi realized he still didn’t know enough about that cult.
He couldn’t send Taeeon off without resolving this.
“Roi, change into this.”
Worried about his summer cold, Hojin insisted Roi change. Thankfully the replacement clothes looked fine.
“Hyung, shouldn’t you change too? You’re wet because of me.”
“I’m almost dry.”
“No—let’s change.”
“Okay.”
Perhaps from the fresh gaslighting, Hojin obeyed.
A moment later, Hojin returned with a tray of bread, fruit, and drinks.
“Roi, eat up. You need to grow big and strong.”
Hojin gently ruffled Roi’s hair and smiled.
“Thanks, hyung.”
Roi popped a plump Shine Muscat grape into his mouth, cheeks bulging, and looked around the room.
The tidy desk, the bed linens, the easel and paint supplies—he realized Hojin painted here too from the scent of paint in the air.
“Nice room.”
“You like it? Want it, Roi?”
“...”
Seeing Roi’s sullen face, Hojin let it go.
“Mind if I look around?”
“Go ahead. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
Roi got up and approached the desk.
He reached for a diary plastered with cat stickers, but Hojin snatched it away.
“N-no, that’s off-limits.”
“Why?”
“It’s my journal...”
Oh right, Hojin had kept a diary even in Shooting Star days.
Wasn’t Yeonwoo his roommate then?
And Yeonwoo had been sulking for a month after reading Hojin’s diary without permission.
He only forgave Yeonwoo once he’d been Hojin’s foot-wiping servant for that month.
Better not touch that.
Roi opened a drawer instead.
And found something as striking as the boyfriend T-shirt.
This is it.
In one compartment lay two business cards jumbled together.
One read “Awakening Serum,” the other “Salvation Church.”
They said you needed an invitation to enter the church.
Why Galbi couldn’t get in but Hojin could.
Perhaps these cards were the invitations.
If I ask for one, will he give it to me?
Thinking it over, Roi feigned interest in stationery and asked Hojin for some ice water.
“Hyung. Cold water, please.”
“Water? Oh, right! I’ll get it.”
Hojin hid the diary under his pillow, then hurried out.
Roi took the business cards and closed the drawer.
He still needed to gauge how brainwashed Hojin was by that cult.
He didn’t want to ask directly and risk being denied like with the diary, so he’d become a righteous thief.
No, wait—I said take anything you like, right?
After all, it wasn’t stealing.
“Here’s your water.”
“Thanks.”
Roi took the cup and returned to his seat casually.
“So, hyung, what are you doing this weekend?”
“Weekend? Saturday... oh. I’m meeting someone to trade on Tomato.”
“Tomato? What are you selling?”
“Well....”
Hojin trailed off, glancing at Roi.
“What is it?”
Hojin pressed his lips together, intent on not telling.
But Roi knew exactly how to get him talking.
He lowered his brows in mock hurt, and Hojin’s reaction came quickly.
“I have no secrets from you.”
“Well, I’m trying to get Awakener blood...”
“Blood?”
At last the word Roi wanted came from Hojin’s lips.
“Why? They say if you drink it, you’ll awaken?”
“Yeah.”
Naïve or foolish.
But since Roi himself had driven Hojin into a corner, he couldn’t be angry.
Roi, scratching his brow in exasperation, finished his ice water in one gulp.
Then he grabbed a box cutter from the pencil cup and, without hesitation, sliced his palm.
“Roi!”
A startled Hojin snatched the knife away.
But Roi clenched his fist over the empty cup, focusing on drawing blood.
Drip-drip—
It was only a shallow cut, not much blood, but enough to fill the cup sufficiently.
“If I can get blood from someone with a high rank, that’d be better. Rather than drink some stranger’s blood, drink mine. I’ll give you as much as you need.”
“I... how could you do this....”
Seeing his tears welling, it seemed the shock therapy had worked.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to drink it. Actually, don’t. Let’s stop the bleeding first. Okay? Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
—Lies, it fucking hurts.
Raising Kim Hojin is really tough.
