Chapter 21: Alcohol and Instinct

Once again, I felt my throat lock up.

I moved my lips frantically, but no words came out.

The mouth that usually ran endlessly failed me at the most crucial moment.

Unlike my flustered state, Han Jun began expressing his tender feelings.

“Hyung, I’m really glad you woke up.”

“……”

“I was scared you wouldn’t.”

He was whining in a way unlike him.

It was good that someone as quiet and reserved as him could open up to me.

I understood his heart a hundred, a thousand times over.

But in this situation, it was unbearably embarrassing.

This just made it harder to escape.

If he saw what state I was in while he was pouring out his feelings, what expression would he make?

That absolutely could not happen.

This was a matter of my pride and dignity.

I closed my eyes and started counting numbers, trying to maintain my human honor.

“…I don’t think I can live without you anymore.”

“M-me too.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. I can’t live without you either. I would’ve died long ago.”

How could I defeat monsters alone?

A small laugh escaped from behind me.

After rubbing his face against my neck a few more times, he finally let me go.

I darted away like a fish freed from a net.

That was close.

My dignity was almost damaged.

After separating from him, I dipped my face into the water.

Only when the cold seeped into my bones did the heat between my legs finally subside.

“You’ll catch a cold. Let’s get out.”

“Yeah…”

Why am I like this?

Still pondering that, I climbed out of the stream.

Even after drying off, my hands and feet were freezing, so I put on thick clothes.

Han Jun set up the tent beside the car, and I prepared dinner.

We’d been through so much, so I wanted to make a proper meal.

I would’ve loved to grill meat and throw a grand party, but the situation didn’t allow it.

So I gathered all the ingredients we had.

Simmered tuna kimchi stew, golden-browned Spam, canned corn—

I laid out a hearty spread.

To celebrate Han Jun becoming an ability user, I even brought out beer.

We chilled the cans in the stream.

By the time he finished pitching the tent, dinner was ready.

He must have been starving too, because his eyes lit up the moment he saw the food.

We sat facing each other on folding chairs.

With the LED camping lantern glowing warmly, it felt more luxurious than a fancy restaurant.

Crickets chirped in the forest.

The sound of the flowing stream mixed with the delicious smell of food.

It felt like we were finally being rewarded for all our hardship.

Even the bugs buzzing around felt like part of the camping experience.

I handed him a can of beer.

“Here. Have a drink.”

“I don’t really drink…”

“You won’t even drink at a time like this? Just have it!”

He usually avoided alcohol because it interfered with training.

But since I insisted, he reluctantly took the can.

I popped mine open and gulped it down.

A spoonful of spicy kimchi stew as a chaser made me sigh in satisfaction.

“Ahh.”

Han Jun took a sip too and muttered awkwardly.

“I might have a drinking habit.”

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s just us here.”

I was careless.

I shouldn’t have brushed off his warning so easily.

They say alcohol brings out a person’s true nature.

Jun was drunk.

His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes slightly unfocused as he swayed.

It was oddly cute.

He looked much softer than usual.

The guy who always carried himself stiffly loosened up after just one can.

Meanwhile, I was already on my third.

Watching him grin at me, I narrowed my eyes and warned him.

“If someone offers you alcohol, always refuse. Got it?”

“Okay.”

He answered obediently with unfocused eyes.

So becoming an ability user didn’t increase alcohol tolerance?

Wasn’t that a huge weakness?

Suddenly I grew worried.

What if a monster attacked while he was drunk?

What if other ability users discovered this weakness and ambushed him?

“That won’t do.”

I shook my head and drained the rest of my beer.

It felt like I was the only one who could protect him.

Why didn’t I get a power too?

If I had one, I could support him better.

As I rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought—

“What won’t do?”

Han Jun, who had been sitting across from me, was suddenly beside me.

His speed startled me for a moment.

“What else? I’m worried about you.”

“Why worry about me?”

“You drunk idiot. Stop bothering me and go sleep in the tent.”

I waved him off like shooing a fly.

“Should I?”

One corner of his lips curved mischievously.

He looked down at me arrogantly.

With alcohol, his lips looked redder, his eyes sharper.

When he was expressionless, he looked purely masculine.

When he smiled like this, he looked completely different.

I swallowed unconsciously as I met his gaze.

“Hey—!”

Suddenly, my body lifted.

He had thrown me over his shoulder.

My vision flipped upside down, and all I could manage were flustered sounds.

“What—what are you doing?”

“You said sleep.”

Before I could clarify, we were already inside the tent.

He’d even laid out the sleeping bags neatly.

He set me down on the soft down-filled one.

“Hey, we need to clean up outside.”

“Yeah.”

He only answered well.

He sat beside me, head lowered.

Was he really that drunk?

Confused, I cupped his cheeks and lifted his face.

His skin felt hot in my palms.

“Are you really drunk? You’re not going to throw up, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Then sleep.”

I tried to get up to clean up outside—

“Where are you going?”

He grabbed my arm.

“Where else?”

“Come here.”

Pulled by his strength, I fell backward into his arms.

Was this his drunken habit?

I sighed awkwardly.

The best kind of drunk is one who just sleeps.

Seems Han Jun wasn’t that type.

He buried his face in my neck and sniffed like a dog.

It tickled.

“Hyung, let’s sleep.”

“Yeah. Let’s sleep. Sleep…”

I patted his back, thinking I’d clean up once he fell asleep.

But then—

“Gasp!”

I felt his hand slip into my pants and jolted like I’d been struck by lightning.

What—what is this?!

Pinning me down, he slid his hand inside as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

If not for the sudden cool sensation, I might not have even realized.

“Y-your hand—”

I grabbed his arm to stop him.

But he didn’t budge.

When had I become this weak?

He gripped one side of my hip firmly.

“Ah!”

I gasped at the sudden touch.

Turning to face him, I tried to stay calm.

“W-where are you grabbing? You must be really drunk.”

I spoke evenly, hoping he’d regain some sense.

But seeing my pale face, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Then he whispered by my ear.

“Hyung, you’re cute.”

This crazy bastard.

My heart pounded wildly, my face burned, my head spun.

And it didn’t stop there.

Still holding me, he pressed kisses around my face.

Cheek, neck, earlobe.

Soft sounds filled the tent.

Each touch made my body tremble.

I didn’t know what to do.

What would happen tomorrow morning?

But more troubling was the way my body was heating up.

This was wrong.

I couldn’t let myself be ruled by desire.

Especially not with someone drunk.

An adult should stop this.

“S-stop. N-not anymore.”

I pushed him weakly.

His eyes curved.

“Hyung, you’re hard.”

Ah!

At his amused words, I nearly died of embarrassment.

He’d noticed.

I had forgotten he was still holding me.

“That’s just a natural reaction. It’s not my will.”

I shook my head desperately.

“Really?”

Before I could answer, his hand moved upward.

The unfamiliar grip made me flinch.

“Why did it go down?”

Then his hand began to move.

Slowly.

Firmly.

The intense sensation made my eyes close.

Was I nothing but a weak creature of desire?

Self-reproach couldn’t overcome instinct.

Telling myself it was the alcohol, I let my body relax.

My hips twitched helplessly with his movements.

Before I knew it, I was stripped bare beneath him.