Chapter 20: A Sharp Turn in Affection

“W-why don’t you go wash up first.”

I couldn’t bear to look at his solidly muscled upper body for too long, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

With my back turned to Kang Taeyang, I muttered in a shaky voice.

“What, are you shy now?”

I heard Kang Taeyang chuckle.

But he didn’t tease me further.

He just coolly walked into the bathroom.

Soon after, the sound of water pouring from the showerhead came out.

I plopped down on the bench in the middle of the changing room.

The water streamed down with a steady, regular rhythm, and the sound was drowsy.

I curled my body up and slowly rubbed my cheek against my hard kneecap.

“Did you fall asleep already?”

Drip.

I flinched at the sound of a water droplet hitting the bench and lifted my head.

Apparently, I’d dozed off without realizing.

Kang Taeyang, fresh out of the shower, stood right in front of me, smiling like a gentle puppy.

His wet bangs were plastered heavily over his thick forehead.

“…That’s because you pushed me way too hard during training.”

“What did I even do? Go wash up. Let’s go eat.”

I rubbed my puffy eyes.

I walked over hesitantly, making an effort not to throw a single glance at Kang Taeyang’s still half-naked body.

As soon as the cool water poured over my skin, the built-up fatigue seemed to wash away, if only for a moment.

After drying myself off with a towel, I carefully wrapped a soft robe around my body and tied the belt tightly.

When I walked out of the shower room, Kang Taeyang, now wearing a flashy printed T-shirt that fit him perfectly, turned to look at me.

“You really bundled yourself up tight. Hey, I’m not looking.”

Kang Taeyang had styled his bangs back up into sharp points, recovering his usual intense, sharp impression.

Of course, he’d be the one to do it himself, but for some reason, imagining him pushing every strand up with wax in front of the mirror to look cool made me laugh out loud.

When our eyes met, Kang Taeyang, not even knowing why I was laughing, flashed a smile back.

“Working out makes me hungry. Let’s go.”

“Move, your muscles are heavy.”

Once I finished changing, Kang Taeyang swung his arm over my shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I grabbed his heavy arm and shoved it off, and he just shrugged nonchalantly.

Still, he didn’t seem willing to give up the teasing, so he flicked my still-damp bangs with his finger.

Thwip.

I couldn’t just take that lying down, so I waited for an opening and poked him in the side.

Kang Taeyang overacted, clutching his waist with both hands.

We left the gym side by side, trading one prank for another.

We’d stayed at the gym for quite a while, so the cafeteria inside the hospital was nearly empty, well past lunchtime.

I was starving after all that intense exercise, and deciding to eat at the hospital buffet turned out to be a good call.

Everything looked delicious, so I piled my plate high and headed back to my seat.

Being isekai’d into a game has its perks, I guess.

I grabbed some orange juice too and came back, but when I saw the plate in front of the already-seated Kang Taeyang, my eyes went wide.

It was a completely different kind of lunch compared to mine, even though we’d picked from the same buffet.

The sheer amount of food stacked on the two plates was already a lot, but they were all mostly “healthy” foods: lean meat, eggs, salad, cheese.

“Tsk, you’re exhausted because you eat like that.”

My plate, on the other hand, had banana fritters, spaghetti with meatballs, cream waffles, and the occasional salmon sushi scattered around.

Kang Taeyang stared at me before scolding.

I pretended not to hear and quietly sat down, but honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

“W-well, you eat that much and you’ll get super fat!”

“What, I’d just be a hot sexy muscular fatty.”

I tried to fire back because I felt wronged, but his comeback was impossible to refute.

It was even more annoying because he was right.

I pulled my plate a little closer to me and jabbed at a banana fritter with my fork.

But what was I supposed to do when banana fritters are just delicious…?

“Hey.”

Kang Taeyang propped his chin crookedly on the table and called out to me.

His eyes narrowed sharply.

“You’ve been avoiding calling my name since earlier, right? Or am I wrong?”

“D-did I?”

Shit… busted.

I lowered my head and tried to sneakily avoid his gaze, but my eyes were already shaking.

“You’re so bad at lying. What do you mean, wrong?”

From the start, he’d been the one to use casual speech with me, and no matter how much he was my target to conquer, I didn’t want to be the only one being polite.

Also, since we were both using casual speech, Kang Taeyang treated me as an equal, like a real friend, which made things comfortable.

“It’s not that….”

But Kang Taeyang is four years older than me….

Maybe it was because I’m just another citizen of a Confucian country.

No matter how casually Kang Taeyang acted around me, I couldn’t just blurt out “Taeyang!” so easily.

While I hesitated, the conflict must have been written all over my face.

Kang Taeyang’s lips curled up slightly, and his cheeks twitched as he tried to hold back a laugh.

“Ugh….”

Ah, fine. What’s so hard about calling him hyung?

Besides, Kang Taeyang isn’t just older than me, he’s probably way richer too.

By any measure, he’s my hyung. That’s right.

“Taeyang-hyung…?”

I bit my lip and looked up at him.

My voice lost a little confidence at the word “hyung” and trailed off vaguely.

I snuck a glance at his reaction, and his eyes were wide open.

Then, his eyes turned slightly red at the edges.

[Affection ❤️7]

Affection level rose by 2 additional points.

True to his unpredictable nature, Kang Taeyang’s affection went up at an unexpected point.

But this time, instead of being shocked, I was fully delighted and cheered inwardly.

What was a little pride, anyway?

If it raised his affection, I’d call him hyung a hundred times, a thousand times!

When I first read the article about him online, I thought the Kang Taeyang route would be hellishly difficult.

For a brief moment, I even wondered why the world was putting me through this trial.

But today, after meeting him, his affection went up smoothly and easily, and I felt relieved.

Maybe I’d been scared before I even experienced it.

I’d never really talked to Kang Taeyang much anyway, so there was no need to judge him just from what others said.

Now that we were spending time together, maybe Kang Taeyang and I got along better than I’d expected!

“By the way, can I ask you something?”

Kang Taeyang, who was busy eating, nodded instead of answering.

He’d already demolished a fair amount of the mountain of meat and vegetables.

Guess he’d been eating diligently even while messing around with me.

“Hyung, you really… still haven’t had your first love?”

At my question, Kang Taeyang’s expression twisted into something odd.

His lips twitched, trying to suppress a smile, while three wrinkles formed on his handsome forehead.

I couldn’t tell if he was amused or offended.

Maybe this was too sensitive a topic to bring up directly with him….

“What. You were acting like you didn’t care, but you even looked up my articles?”

“No, it’s not that… uh, actually, yeah.”

“Trying so hard to pretend you don’t like me is kind of cute, huh?”

Kang Taeyang’s voice went up a notch, clearly delighted.

I just let out a deep sigh.

At this point, I should give up on correcting the misunderstanding and instead try to get some information about his views on love, which was my real goal.

“I heard reporters write some pretty sensational headlines sometimes. They even make things up. I can’t just believe wrong information from those, you know? Haha. That’s why I’m asking you, hyung.”

I gave a plausible excuse while sweating bullets.

Actually, what had been floating around in my head like a ghost was the notorious rumor about him being a player who cycled through casual partners regardless of nationality or gender.

I couldn’t exactly ask him about that directly, but still, I shouldn’t judge someone just from gossip.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Kang Taeyang answered without a single moment of hesitation.

His face was serious as he wiped the tartar sauce off the corner of his mouth with a tissue.

“Huh, really?”

“Is that really that surprising? It’s not like there’s something wrong with me.”

“No, I just… I’m surprised because you’ve never experienced love, hyung.”

“There are plenty of people in the world who live fine without love.”

I found myself weirdly agreeing with that.

I wasn’t sure who I’d name as my first love, either.

The immature, puppy-love feelings I’d had as a kid during childhood playdates were hard to call love.

But in my case, it was just that my circumstances never gave me the room to meet anyone.

Kang Taeyang, who seemed to lack nothing in the world, seemed like someone who would naturally enjoy plenty of love.

“But hyung, you’re so popular. If you wanted, you could probably date anyone….”

“Well, it’s not like you have to have deep feelings just to be with someone.”

“Oh, is that so…?”

“Sometimes, if I like someone, I just go for it. Isn’t it fun to burn hot together?”

As Kang Taeyang curved his lips into a grin, his white, even teeth showed.

There was something subtly sharp and alluring about that smile.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible for the heart and body to work separately….

At that moment, for some reason, I recalled the image of Kang Taeyang pressing his lips against mine while I had “affection 0” hovering over my head.

Good thing I pushed him away.

“Hmm….”

Of course, Kang Taeyang had misunderstood and thought I was the one approaching him with impure intentions.

He was probably thinking of me as someone to toy with briefly and intensely.

Even I, a heterosexual man, felt my heart skip a beat for a second.

Just how many people could stay completely detached once they got physically close to a guy like that?

“But hyung… you have such a handsome face, a great body, uh… you’re good at soccer, and you have a fun personality too.”

“…Everything you said is a fact, but hearing it from your mouth feels kind of new?”

“So what if the other person ends up genuinely falling for you? Like, really truly loving you?”

Kang Taeyang had been listening with a gleeful expression, acknowledging that I wasn’t wrong, but his face gradually stiffened.

Then, beneath his sharply raised brows, his eyes gleamed sharply.

“That’s their problem.”

His mouth hardened into a firm line.

Kang Taeyang wore a chillingly cold expression.

“If feelings come up, they need to handle it themselves. I can’t take responsibility for that, can I?”

“Ah….”

“I always treat them cleanly. It’s not like they went in without knowing that.”

“B-but still… it’s not like they chose to fall in love on purpose. How can you cut people off like that….”

“Hey.”

His voice dropped, dark and ominous.

The good-natured, easygoing Kang Taeyang from a moment ago had completely changed.

It was as if he was suppressing something.

“You’re starting to get annoying now.”

“Hyung….”

“You approached me to seduce me and get something out of me anyway, so why the hell are you acting so innocent?”

“No, I’m not….”

“Or do you have a fetish for reforming playboys? If you want, I can play along with that concept. Just say the word.”

The moment he finished speaking, Kang Taeyang leaned in close to the table.

His thick kneecap pressed against my thigh.

Startled, I hurriedly pulled my legs back and squeezed them shut.

[Affection ❤️4]

In contrast to the subtle seduction happening underneath the table, Kang Taeyang’s affection level dropped sharply.

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