Chapter 48: The Lunatic Who Was Asked to Become a Model Student for Skinship

“You did it for me back then… I’m hurting now too…”

Instead of the wrist Lee Chae had hidden, Haejin placed his hand on the knee right in front of him. Stroke, stroke… He slid a few fingers up the thigh, watching for reactions, slowly creeping higher.

Lee Chae’s mouth fell open; he couldn’t even twitch. It was just a light touch—was it really that shocking? The thought that electric tingles were racing across that thigh made Haejin’s heart pound.

Finally regaining his senses, Lee Chae spoke.

“That was an emergency.”

“This is an emergency too…”

“…”

“I’m dying, Chae-ya. Haa…”

The injury just happened to be on his chest. Haejin let his imagination run wild: to do contact guiding on the chest, every button would have to come undone, those pretty hands sliding all over, like this, like that… haa…

“You really must be hurting.”

Lee Chae stepped closer and placed a hand on the shirt. Haejin swallowed his breath. Buttons began to come undone—one by one. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

Am I dreaming?

But the hand on his chest was burning hot, and Lee Chae’s face drawing nearer was crystal clear. One, two, three… finally the last button. Haejin lifted his upper body to make it easier to take the shirt off— Lee Chae suddenly pressed down on his shoulders.

“Lie still.”

“Weren’t you going to take it off?”

“N-No! Just stay like this. I’m kinda in a hurry too?”

“…!”

What is happening right now…

Good deeds really do get rewarded. All those times he held back were paying off. Stroke, stroke… Lee Chae’s hand roamed over his chest, and it finally started feeling real.

“Close your eyes. It’s embarrassing.”

Haejin shut them tight, heart about to explode with anticipation. How intense would this contact guiding be?

A moment later, a warm touch landed on his chest.

“Hnngh…”

It was soft, moist, warm… But weirdly, the electric jolt from earlier was missing. Lee Chae was touching him, yet that was all?

Suspicious, Haejin snapped his eyes open.

“AAAAAHHH!”

He screamed loud enough to bring the whole Legion down. Where Lee Chae should have been sat Jin-woo, grinning like a devil.

“The hell are you?!”

“What do you mean? Substitute guide.”

“Why the f*ck are you substituting? Where’s Lee Chae?!”

He sat up—Lee Chae was outside the door, sticking his tongue out and laughing. Jin-woo immediately scolded,

“Idiot. If you’re going to scheme, do it in moderation. You think Lee Chae wouldn’t notice? The second he walked in here he teamed up with me.”

“And you just went along with it? Traitor.”

“I’m saying this as your friend: with that brain you’ll never get anywhere with Japchae, so give up. I’m pretty sure he has zero intention of doing that stuff with you.”

The bastard poked exactly where it hurt and laughed. No wonder his love life was a mess with a friend like this.

“Says the guy who’s gonna end up in a dress at Quickel’s wedding.”

Haejin hurled the worst insult he could think of and stormed out. No reason to stay in a room without Lee Chae.

Desperate for a cigarette, he stepped onto the balcony— Lee Chae was leaning on the railing, staring at the sky.

Haejin opened his mouth to say, No matter how much I love you, letting Jin-woo touch my chest is unforgivable— But the moment he saw Lee Chae looking like a painting, the words vanished.

Lee Chae suddenly whipped his head around.

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“Do you want contact guiding that badly?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know? You’re not just teasing me?”

Haejin sighed deeply. He wasn’t even asking for imprinting—just one more contact guiding like before. Was that really so hateful?

Lee Chae’s lips glistened under the streetlight.

So annoyingly pretty. If he were even a little less beautiful… I could’ve played hard-to-get at least a hundred times…

He shook his head. No—a hundred rejections would be too much. And anyway, Jung Lee Chae being less pretty was impossible.

“You don’t get it—I’m only treated like trash by you. If it were anyone else, I would never have tolerated today.”

Lee Chae turned only his head, then finally spoke.

“I’m not treating you like trash. I wish I could.”

Silence fell. They gazed at the night sky together. The earth could crumble, but the sky stayed black, and the stars sparkled beautifully. Look at Lee Chae, look at the stars—repeat until his neck stiffened.

“Hyung.”

“I’m right next to you—why do you keep calling me?”

Lee Chae sighed with a complicated expression, like he had something hard to say.

“I hate when people who don’t know you talk shit about you.”

Suddenly? Haejin narrowed his eyes, wondering what sweet trap this was.

“You take on all the hardest fights alone, you’re kinder to civilians than anyone, yet people call you a spoiled thug—it stresses me out every time I hear it.”

Lee Chae pouted, scrunching his nose—angry yet adorable.

“I don’t care what others think of me, but you’re different. I think I’d care.”

He blinked up at Haejin.

“Look at you right now—understanding people who think differently. You’re more mature than they realize.”

Only for Jung Lee Chae, but he didn’t correct him.

Maybe it was the eye contact, the sweet words, or the night air— Every syllable made Haejin’s heart race.

“So… is there anything you want from me? Because there’s something I want from you.”

“What is it?”

“I asked first, so you go.”

Words flew out before thought.

“Marriage!”

“Not something centuries away—something we can do right now. Opportunities like this don’t come often.”

Holy shit—Jung Lee Chae was asking what he wanted. A miracle he couldn’t have dreamed of weeks ago. Haejin felt this was his once-in-a-lifetime chance and examined his heart.

Should I say imprinting? Too fast. Should I ask him to never leave and just stay in my room?

The more he thought, the more he imagined Lee Chae freaking out and running.

He didn’t want to disappoint the guy who thought he was understanding, yet he couldn’t miss this chance.

He tried his best to sound reasonable.

“I want to raise the level of skinship… with imprinting as the eventual premise.”

Lee Chae’s eyes shot up. Too much? Haejin hurriedly corrected,

“Not saying imprint right now—just… move things forward a bit. You never know what’ll happen, so deeper guiding normally would help in emergencies.”

Even as he spoke, he had no idea if this would work. He was already preparing for disappointment when Lee Chae opened his mouth.

“…Okay.”

“Huh? Okay?”

“If it’s not imprinting right now and just moving forward… I’m okay with that too.”

Haejin blinked several times, unable to believe how easily it came out. He asked three times if he was serious before finally relaxing.

Opportunities must be seized. Pretending to be normal worked, huh?

He updated his mental “Lee Chae” file and immediately fired back.

“Your turn. I’ll do anything—no matter how hard—as long as it’s not breaking up.”

Lee Chae hesitated, cleared his throat a few times. What on earth was he about to say?

Haejin waited patiently.

“4.0 or higher out of 4.5 GPA.”

…Is he insane?

“And at least 9 out of 10 on the headquarters esper evaluation.”

Are those scores humanly possible?

“What the hell does that have to do with anything? There’s a reason you’re saying this.”

“I told you—I hate when people think you’re a personality-broken esper. I’m pissed they call Legion a thug group. You do all the hardest fights—why should you be treated like that?”

Lee Chae’s voice was thick with anger. That fury was insanely sexy; Haejin couldn’t even retort against the impossible demands.

From his expression and words, he could feel it— Just how much Lee Chae liked him and Legion.

Haejin stepped closer, lightly grabbing Lee Chae’s shoulders. Lee Chae’s lips parted as if to speak, then closed, then opened again. Already enchanted, and now the lips too—what was he supposed to do?

Lee Chae leaned against the railing with a sly smile. He was gorgeous just standing still, but striking model poses was scattering Haejin’s brain.

Haejin almost yelled, “I’ll do it!”

Of course, even without skinship or contact guiding, if Jung Lee Chae asked him to act mature and proper, he would.

The problem was those scores were practically impossible.

He stayed silent, thinking— Lee Chae asked again,

“So, will you do it? Or not?”