Chapter 52: The Lunatic Who Finally Heard “I Like You” on a Yacht

“You’ll think it’s unfair. You’ll feel wronged… But Lee Chae-ya, S-ranks get a lot of benefits just for being born with power, but we also live every day wondering if today’s the day we die. My dad went that way too…”

Lee Chae instantly regretted making him bring up his deceased father. He bowed his head in apology. At the same time, a thought he’d always had began to shift. Awakeners didn’t choose to awaken, and they risked their lives fighting—so maybe those benefits were deserved.

He looked up to apologize. Haejin’s face looked lonely in the shadow, but the moment their eyes met, he smiled. That smile lightened the guilt a little.

“So? Convinced now?”

“If I said no, would you just leave?”

“No. I was planning to get slapped once and drag you on anyway. We’re leaving soon.”

The staff preparing to depart started giving looks. Feeling bad for holding things up, Lee Chae followed Haejin. When they got close to the yacht, Haejin suddenly scooped him up and set him aboard.

“We’re setting sail!”

The captain shouted. The blue sail emblazoned with “HEITA” flapped and rose. Lee Chae looked up along the sail. Sunlight poured down blindingly. The white deck and blue sail looked like a painting.

“Ah…”

Awe slipped out.

“Take your shoes off.”

“Huh?”

“Barefoot is safer here. Slippery. Come on.”

Before Lee Chae could answer, Haejin knelt and tugged his laces. Just the laces coming undone made Lee Chae’s legs feel weak.

He grabbed Haejin’s shoulders for balance. Haejin looked up with a knowing grin and removed both shoes. Socks too. The cool deck felt amazing under bare feet.

“How is it? Feels like real freedom, right?”

Lee Chae couldn’t deny it—he nodded. Haejin took off his own shoes and socks too. Watching him from the side felt weird. The touch was familiar, the playful eyes were the same, yet somehow Haejin felt different.

The moment he knelt to take off Lee Chae’s shoes, stood up smiling and asked, “Feels like freedom, right?”—it played in slow motion.

For a split second, Haejin really felt like an older brother or even a dad. Probably just imagination.

Lee Chae nodded and turned toward the sea.

The yacht cut smoothly through the waves. Hand in hand with Haejin, they wandered every corner of the boat, fully enjoying the sea breeze. Around them: blue sky, red sunlight, seagulls, waves—nothing else.

Wide open, refreshing, no people… The exact scenery he’d asked for actually existed. Lee Chae turned to look at Haejin’s side profile. Slightly lowered eye corners, red lips sparkling. The relaxed V-neck knit and occasional glimpse of collarbone kept messing with his eyes.

Is this a dream? In dreams everything is distorted or beautified…

A world he hadn’t known existed before meeting Haejin. A freedom he’d never tasted. Here, no little brother crying from hunger, no parents fighting over money, no scholarship pressure, no ever-running stopwatch. Just Cha Haejin.

While Lee Chae was lost in thought, Haejin suddenly turned and met his eyes.

“The seagull says you’re staring a hole through my face.”

“Seagulls are too busy hunting to snitch…”

“So you weren’t staring?”

“What? Can’t I look? Will you wear out?”

Haejin shoved his handsome face right up close.

“No—look. Look hotter. Wear me out completely.”

How could he say something so cringe without flinching? Lee Chae was flustered by how different they were, yet excited not knowing what he’d do next. His head was starting to feel weird.

Too embarrassed to keep staring, he tried to push Haejin’s forehead away— Haejin didn’t budge. Instead he grabbed Lee Chae’s waist. Lee Chae forgot they were in the middle of the ocean and looked around for escape. Only rolling waves and seagulls.

“Let go—you promised no skinship.”

“Why? No one’s here…”

“There are. Seagulls.”

“F*ck… now I have to watch out for seagull eyes too?”

Plop. Something landed on Haejin’s left shoulder. Lee Chae looked up—no rain, sky perfectly clear. Haejin cursed.

“F*cking piece-of-shit seagull.”

“Don’t curse—PUAHAHA!”

Lee Chae was about to scold him for swearing, then burst out laughing. The seagull that supposedly snitched had betrayed Haejin and pooped on his shoulder.

“Crazy… seagulls recognize people. You called it a piece-of-shit and got punished. Haha…”

Haejin, who Lee Chae expected to rage, just laughed with him.

“You’re happy I got pooped on?”

“I’m happy because you’re laughing.”

Haejin couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Chae’s face. It wasn’t his usual laugh. It was a full, unrestrained, genuine laugh. If possible, he wanted to bottle this moment forever.

“Ah, perfect!”

“What?”

Haejin whipped out his phone and stepped back a few paces. He frantically snapped photos of Lee Chae laughing brighter than the sunlight, surrounded by sea spray.

Normally Lee Chae would’ve yelled not to take pictures, but he was too busy dying of laughter over seagull poop to notice.

Seagull bastard, I owe you one. Without you, how would I have captured this?

Haejin took dozens of perfect shots, pocketed the phone, and stared at Lee Chae like he was enchanted. Their eyes met; Lee Chae stopped laughing.

“Why’d you stop? It was nice… I didn’t know you could smile like that.”

“I smile a lot normally…”

Haejin turned to the sea; Lee Chae stood beside him. Land was barely visible—they really were two people floating in the vast ocean.

“You don’t smile much. You were always glaring like you wanted to fight the world.”

Lee Chae understood. He’d always been studying or working until he was out of breath. Life had felt like a constant battle.

“Must’ve been tough. If you told me to live like you, I probably couldn’t have handled it.”

These weren’t words to win him over—they were sincere. He didn’t list every hardship, yet Haejin seemed to see them all. It was strange.

Like those internet survey sentences— He cared about Haejin, missed him when he wasn’t around, couldn’t focus when he was out fighting, heart dropped at the thought of him in danger— Maybe because Haejin.was the only one who saw how hard his life was.

The once childish, perverted Cha Haejin was now speaking from the heart. It felt good—and terrifying.

To Lee Chae, life had always been endless hardship. Rare moments of happiness vanished like mirages. So this dream-like Cha Haejin felt like he’d disappear any second.

Lee Chae tightly gripped Haejin’s wrist.

“If you feel bad for me, just watch from my side.”

Haejin turned in surprise.

“Don’t go anywhere—watch how much harder I can fight and cheer me on. Stop trying to give me more.”

Finally understanding Lee Chae’s true feelings, Haejin smiled so wide his eyes disappeared.

“I wouldn’t leave even if you told me to.”

“If you run because my personality sucks, I’ll really kill you.”

“Yeah. I’ll die. Want to imprint? Then I can’t run.”

“Don’t cross the line. A promise is a promise.”

“You get my hopes up then run again.”

Haejin trapped Lee Chae in his arms. Lee Chae stayed still on purpose—Haejin’s body heat and breathing felt even more vivid. The warm breath on his ear was nice, the heartbeat against his back comforting. Then suddenly his waist was grabbed and his feet left the ground.

Haejin hugged him tight and laughed.

“Won’t hug? Want to imprint?”

“You know that’s super childish.”

“Romance is supposed to be childish—that’s what makes it fun.”

“Someone who’s never dated acting like an expert…”

Laughter mixed between their words, carried away by the wind like droplets. The sun still blazed, and far away it almost sounded like whales singing.

If he could keep this moment, he could survive another stretch of harsh life. Lee Chae whispered so softly Haejin wouldn’t hear,

“Not just today… I’d like to give you all my time from now on.”

As if in answer, Haejin hugged him even tighter.