Chapter 55: The Lunatic Who Got Exactly What He Asked For

“Close your eyes.”

Haejin obeyed instantly, bending down to match height. Lee Chae stepped closer, lightly brushed their lips together, then pulled away to check the energy flow. The rise and fall of Haejin’s chest perfectly mirrored the upward curve of his energy.

It actually works.

The fact that a top-tier esper’s energy surged from a single kiss by a mere D-rank was nothing short of miraculous. All those years of thinking his ability was useless in real combat suddenly felt compensated.

The joy of that discovery made him lean in for another kiss— only for Haejin to grab the back of his head and devour his lips like he was starving.

Lee Chae clung to Haejin’s arms, feeling like he was being sucked in by some massive force.

Haa, haa… Every time their lips parted, he gulped for air.

His mind went white, bright flashes alternating with darkness. When he opened his eyes, Haejin was staring down at him with a strange expression. From the kiss? Or the look in his eyes? Blood rushed through Lee Chae’s body.

Haejin pressed their lips together once more, then whispered,

“Tomorrow I’m deployed again. Thanks to someone, I’m answering headquarters calls very diligently these days.”

“No one complained. You’re doing great.”

“And when I get back… you know what day it is, right?”

His eyes sparkled with anticipation— the day grades and evaluation scores came out.

“You seem confident. Bring the report cards first.”

“Got it. Just wait.”

Lee Chae squeezed Haejin’s hand in encouragement, then turned toward home. The surge of male hormones made walking difficult.

The next day, attacks came without pause. Haejin had demanded headquarters declare a state of emergency, but they kept repeating “too early.” Only espers were dying.

Legion members were exhausted from nonstop combat. Less than a day after returning, another attack— Jae-hyung tearfully said goodbye to Yong-yong.

“I’m off to fight!”

“Okay!”

Only Jae-hyung’s heart was heavy; Yong-yong didn’t even glance away from his cartoon. Infuriated by the indifference, Jae-hyung raised his voice.

“I said I’m going to fight! Might not be back for days!”

“I heard you! Why repeat? My ears hurt. Don’t yell.”

One-sided love had never been this one-sided. Exhausted from endless battles, Jae-hyung reached his limit and marched over to scold him properly— only to freeze the moment Yong-yong looked up with those huge eyes.

He’s so cute… maybe it’s okay if he’s a little cold.

They say pretty people have bad personalities anyway.

He didn’t ignore me—he just answered short. Do I really need to yell and make him sad?

In the end, Jae-hyung couldn’t even get angry and turned away.

“Be careful with fire when you grill meat… oh right, you’re a dragon, you’re fine. Eat properly, pretend you’re not home if someone knocks, don’t go outside… but just in case, answer if I call. You can do that, right?”

“Got it! Come back safe, good human.”

His eyes were still glued to the TV, but he’d given a longer goodbye and even called him “good human.” That was enough. Jae-hyung beamed and left.

Haejin, waiting outside, clicked his tongue.

“That one’s worse than me.”

Jin-woo agreed.

“No contest. At least yours is mutual. His is pure one-sided—makes it more pitiful.”

Jae-hyung glared.

“It’s NOT one-sided! He just told me to come back safe and called me good human. Yong-yong likes me a lot.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Calling you good human is basically a confession!”

Jin-woo and Haejin teased as they walked ahead. Jae-hyung grumbled behind them.

“Stop teasing. You want me drained before the fight? I told you—scouts can fall into illusions. If that happens, everyone’s lives are in danger!”

“Yes, yes, Esper-nim.”

They kept poking fun. But Jae-hyung couldn’t really retort. He knew the jokes were their way of relieving tension before another life-or-death battle.

When will these damn fights ever end?

He swallowed the useless thought and hurried after them.

Hearing Haejin was slightly injured, Lee Chae left a message at the cleanup crew that he couldn’t come in and ran to Legion.

Only to find Haejin with his leg propped on a pillow, casually waving his report card, looking smug as hell. Obviously he’d hit the target scores.

Lee Chae had thought he was seriously hurt—he was only scratched, the liar. Maybe he even faked the grades?

Suspicious, he snatched the paper.

[Overall GPA: 4.3]

He flipped to the esper evaluation.

[S-rank Cha Haejin – 9.1]

Faced with undeniable proof, Lee Chae clutched his forehead. His plan had worked perfectly—he should be happy, but thinking about what came next made his head spin.

“See? Perfect timing—I even got injured on the day we move forward.”

“You call that something to brag about right now…”

“You’re going to heal me anyway, what’s there to worry about?”

Just then the door burst open—baby Yong-yong leaped into Lee Chae’s arms with a kyuuu.

“Kyuuuu…”

Lee Chae caught him with a huge smile. The dragon’s belly was nicely rounded—he’d been eating well. His green eyes sparkled with joy at seeing Lee Chae after so long.

“Did you behave, Yong-yong?”

“Kyuu…”

“Why baby form, not human?”

The tiny dragon pointed at the door. Jae-hyung stood there.

“Yong-yong-ah, I told you—stay away from Haejin hyung or you might die. Come here.”

Yong-yong turned his head sharply. Jae-hyung wouldn’t hurt him no matter how annoying he was… right? Lee Chae looked confused.

“Be nice. He must’ve been so annoyed he turned baby.”

“No! It’s a huge misunderstanding!”

“Then why is he like this?”

Poof! The dragon in Lee Chae’s arms turned back into the big guy.

“C-collateral! That bad human… tried to bathe me.”

“Bathe?”

“Yeah. I can do it myself, but he insists on doing it for me. Bad human.”

Lee Chae and Haejin both glared at Jae-hyung. Jae-hyung turned red and flailed.

“No! It’s a total misunderstanding! I just wanted to bond as guys…”

Haejin hurled a pillow at him.

“You pervert—nothing better to do than touch an innocent kid? That’s sexual harassment.”

“S-sexual harassment…”

“I always told you—forcing anything on guides or civilians is wrong. Tricking is even more pathetic. At least beg once nicely. What the hell are you doing?”

Yong-yong gave Haejin a big thumbs-up.

“Keep that up and you’re banned from Yong-yong.”

“What? No approaching? That’s too much…”

Yong-yong stepped in for Jae-hyung.

“Captain human, no. Can’t ban. I get lonely and bored without Jae-hyung.”

“…”

Apparently to dragons who live in packs, Jae-hyung was better than nothing—even if annoying. Misunderstanding completely, Jae-hyung teared up and hugged Yong-yong tight.

“I knew it… it wasn’t one-sided. Yong-yong likes me too…”

Haejin looked dumbfounded.

“I don’t think that’s what he meant…”

Jae-hyung ignored him and peppered Yong-yong’s cheeks with kisses.

“I’ll always be by your side. Never leave you. You can bathe alone—I’ll wait outside with a towel.”

“Ugh! Spit… gross. Go away!”

“Okay, okay, whatever Yong-yong wants. Want meat?”

Jae-hyung held out his hand; Yong-yong took it without a word and followed him out. Lee Chae and Haejin stared blankly at the closed door.

“…Did something just pass by?”

“Yeah… what the hell are those two?”

Haejin sneakily grabbed Lee Chae’s hand. Lee Chae flinched and pulled away on reflex. He felt bad for being too harsh—planned to let Haejin hold it again if he tried—but Haejin did nothing more. Feeling guilty, Lee Chae mumbled,

“You surprised me grabbing suddenly…”

Haejin looked at him with an unreadable face. When he was quiet like this, Lee Chae had no idea what he was thinking.

“So you like me to ask first?”

“Huh?”

Haejin shot up from the bed. He’d said his leg was injured, yet he stood perfectly fine—Lee Chae’s lips jutted out in annoyance at being tricked again.

Haejin loomed like a predator sizing up prey. Heart pounding, Lee Chae instinctively stepped back. But the moment passed—he realized he’d been fooled once more and pouted harder.

Haejin leaned in close.

“I kept the promise perfectly, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Grades and evaluation both came out today. Timing is perfect.”

He waved the papers again, eyes gleaming.

“So… reward time?”

Lee Chae swallowed. He’d known this day would come, but now that the scores were in, he had no excuse.

He glanced at the bed, then at Haejin. Haejin’s gaze followed—then he smirked like he’d won the lottery.

“…You said anything up to a certain point is okay, right?”

Lee Chae nodded, face burning.

Haejin leaned closer, whispering hot against his ear.

“Then let’s go all the way tonight.”

“…!”

The End… for now.