Min-jun felt his presence before he entered the room. He stood behind him, a sword at his side, leaning against the wall much like the King had hours ago. The man was pale, lithe, with several scars slashed across his face. The rest of him was covered in simple, black clothing.
“So you’ve decided to show yourself, now that I’m alone,” Min-jun said. “I should’ve expected you to be a coward, what with all your sneaking around.”
The man bared his teeth at him in a wide grin, his canines sharper than a normal person’s. His eyes glowed light yellow in the darkness. What is he?
“Lovely night, isn’t it?” the man said, his voice surprisingly mellow. “It is unfortunate that your King has left you alone on a night like this. It appears my friend has caught his eye.”
His hands were clammy now, his body reacting under that golden, predatory gaze, but Min-jun could not let his fear show. That would only excite the man further. Instead, Min-jun let himself relax on the bed. “Please, without my help, he never would’ve left.”
“How fortunate for us that you were so cooperative.” A chill ran down Min-jun’s spine, and for a brief moment, he searched for an exit, a way to escape this man, as any self-preserving prey would. Wrong move. The man approached him, slipping away from the wall. He circled around Min-jun like a cat might, taking him in from every angle.
“You do a good job of hiding it.” The man lowered himself to a squat, looking Min-jun in the eye. He propped his chin on his hand. “What a pretty face. Is the rest of you as eerily spotless as this?”
Min-jun clenched his jaw and tried to move away. It was futile, of course. Before he could even begin to rise, the man had his hands on Min-jun’s arm, pulling him down. A laugh echoed through the room. The force shook his skull, his body aching where it had hit the floor, but this position left them both vulnerable. This would have to do.
Sharp fingernails dug into his skin, as the man cupped his chin. Min-jun couldn’t help but let out a small, shameful whimper, his hands clenching on the rough fabric of the quilt below him. A knife came up, tracing a line from Min-jun’s navel to his collarbone, and up to his neck, only to rest against his cheek.
“How obedient, you are,” the man said, bringing the cold blade down to scrape the length of his cheek. Warm blood trickled down from the wound, and Min-jun flinched away. Memories of the brothel flickered across his mind. What if it scarred? He’d be ruined. What else did he have aside from his beauty?
“I suppose even you know how helpless your situation is.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Oh my, oh my.” The man put the blade to Min-jun’s throat. “How breakable, you are. Tell you what, if you behave, I’ll let you in on who hired me for this job. Wouldn’t that be a nice reward?”
“Tbe rqfjx ab vfjv wfc?”
Ktf wjc mtemxifv, oeii bo tfjga. “C rfcrf bo tewbg obg bcf rb ofjgoei.”
“Mfjgoei?” Zlc-pec rmboofv. “Lbk mjc P yf? Qtfc atf bcf ktb tjr jaajmxfv wf lr rb obbilrt?”
Qlat atja, Zlc-pec xcffv atf wjc lc atf rabwjmt, kjamtlcu tlw vbeyif bnfg klat qjlc. Kjxlcu jvnjcajuf bo atf wjc’r afwqbgjgs qjgjisrlr, Zlc-pec gfjmtfv lcrlvf atf obivr bo tlr vegewjul, tlr olcufgr ygertlcu bnfg atf rlinfg rtfjat bo atf Blcu’r vjuufg.
The man regained his senses quickly. A hand closed around Min-jun’s throat, pushing his head back against the floor. Their faces were so close now that Min-jun could smell the mint on his breath. “You are much too lively.”
. . .
When Cheol reached the outskirts of the town, he was met with a man sitting on a fallen tree, dressed all in black and wearing a beaded necklace around his neck. He had been resting, sprawled out over the tree as if it were no different from a regular bed. Slowly, he lifted his head, blinking away the sleep from his eyes.
“Oh,” he said. “You’re here.”
“You’re the one who’s been following us?” Cheol asked, looking the man up and down. He wasn’t exactly menacing, his hair matted on his head, his clothes a bit muddy from sitting in a tree for who knows how long (not that Cheol could judge. He’s sat in plenty of trees for who knows how long). Still, Cheol knew better than to trust appearances.
“Yessir,” the man said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Well, sorta. It’s complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“Anyway.” Another yawn, as the man stood up from his perch. “I’m supposed to fight you or whatever, so let’s just do that, I guess.”
“I’d prefer not to fight.” Lies. Cheol would’ve quite enjoyed witnessing this man’s Gift. Such power in such an unassuming form. “I only wish for you to stop following us.”
“Look, I don’t wanna follow you either.” The man shrugged, almost drunk in his tiredness. “But we’ve all got jobs to do.”
Cheol sighed, reaching for the hilt of his sword.
“Ooh.” Interest flickered across the man’s sleepy face for the first time since they’d met. “Nice blade.”
Ah, at least he wasn’t a complete fool. “Thank you. I had watched it be forged myself.”
“You have my respect.”
Cheol didn’t have time for small talk, however. There was something about the man’s behavior that unnerved him. As if, he was almost buying time.
With one fluid movement, Cheol unsheathed his sword, the weight familiar in his hand. He swung at the man, certain he’d land a clean strike, but right as the blade was to pass through, his opponent vanished.
“What?” he whispered. This was it. The Gift that had snared his attention, right before his eyes. What he could do with an ability like this! Passing through space unnoticed. On a battlefield, it would be deadly.
But they were not on a battlefield. No, it was just the two of them here, at the edge of the forest. Not even the slightest disturbance could escape his notice. A shift in the air, a footstep in the dirt, the weight of another presence behind him. Cheol spun around to meet the man’s blow. Again, he vanished. It took Cheol several more strikes to take note of the man’s pattern of attack. He would swing, and the man would vanish. Neither of them could land a single hit on the other.
He’s definitely buying time. Anxiety burned at the back of his mind. Min-jun. Min-jun is in trouble. You must go to him now. Quickly.
Cheol needed to finish this. Oh, but he wanted this power for himself. Ah. The things he did for love.
“So, I’m guessing there’s two of you,” Cheol said, as the man rematerialized. This time, Cheol did not attempt to strike him down. He let the earth do it for him. Roots came up to pull the man down to his knees. Too shocked to utilize his Gift again, the man left himself wide open for Cheol to run his sword through his back.
“And you,” Cheol said, “have been a very worthy distraction.”
Cheol withdrew his sword, now bloodied, letting the man fall to the ground gasping.
“I do hope you survive,” Cheol said. “You have a very unique Gift.”
As he turned, the man called after him. “It’s too late now. Hwang’s already there.”
Cheol glanced over his shoulder. “Does he have a Gift I should worry about?”
The man shook his head, tears beginning to run down his face. Yes, the pain must be quite unbearable.
“Then, he will not be as lucky as you.” Cheol left him there to fend for himself, as all of his attention returned to his consort. His mind began to conjure up horrible scenarios, and as much as he tried to stay calm, tried to stay reasonable, fear closed its fist around him, holding him there.
Please be safe. Please.
A/N: Hello! Day 4 of daily chapters. I hope you enjoyed it! And I hope the quality hasn’t dropped too much since the daily chapters started lol. I will likely edit this chapter a little bit later, but for now, I’ll leave it as it is. If you liked it, please leave a comment below. #PrayForMin-jun2021
Aaaah hurry up Cheol 🥺🥺 #PrayForMin-jun2021
Go Min Jun defend yourself and trick him into saying who sent him. Also Cheol shows off his skills
Thank you for all your hard work
That would be ideal. He might lose some of his fear if he could handle it by himself.
Go rescue min-jun!
#PrayForMin-jun2021
I guess Min-Jun and Chaol are each other’s weakness. They keep saving each other at any cost. I hope they get a chance to relax together again.