CHAPTER 107……………………………………..
Kang Kwonhoo had said something similar a few times before. Something along the lines of how I was overly obsessed, not like a younger brother should be.
I’d thought it was just a joke, but after seeing the past through that hallucination, it hit a nerve.
For no reason, it felt like a thorn was stuck in my throat—rough and uncomfortable.
‘That was something Kang Kwonhoo usually said when provoking Baek Sohyeok… but why does he sound so serious today? Was he, sharp as he is, reading between the lines of Sohyeok’s intentions?’
Even so, it still didn’t feel like something he should come all the way here at dawn to say.
“Since we’re basically all the family we have left. It might look excessive to other people, but I understand. Sohyeok watched our parents get hurt and die right in front of him. He could have trauma. Or maybe… he’s just desperate not to lose the only person he has left.”
The more I tried to defend Baek Sohyeok, the longer and more detailed my explanation became.
Only afterward did it occur to me that talking this much might make me look even more suspicious. But I couldn’t take back what I’d already said.
‘It’s not like Kang Kwonhoo is going to understand everything… Am I still half-asleep? Or am I just feeling guilty, so I’m making pathetic excuses?’
But the Kang Kwonhoo I expected to laugh it off instead wore a hardened expression.
“You’re not even related by blood. Why do you think that way?”
His tone was sharper than usual. Ever since we’d grown closer, I’d gotten the impression he tried not to be so cruel to me. Had something happened today to put him in a foul mood?
“Don’t say things like that in front of Sohyeok. Family means everything to him.”
If Baek Sohyeok had suppressed his desires and treated Baek Woojin only as a brother, it was probably because he wanted to protect that fragile boundary called family.
“Yeah… what’s so important about that position that he clings to it like that?”
There was a strange sneer in Kang Kwonhoo’s voice.
“People value different things. It’s not something you can blame them for.”
Suddenly, I wondered if Baek Woojin had known what Baek Sohyeok truly felt.
If he had known… what would he have thought of him?
Questions I’d been too busy and exhausted to ask filled my mind.
No—truthfully, it was a problem I’d been avoiding because I was afraid to face it.
While I sank into thought, Kang Kwonhoo, who had been standing over me, climbed onto the bed.
“Kang Kwonhoo…?”
Earlier, he’d been oddly polite, and now he was casually climbing onto my bed. I couldn’t tell what rhythm I was supposed to follow. Was he doing this on purpose—pushing and pulling so I couldn’t adjust?
“Then what about you?”
“Huh?”
The faint smile and relaxed air he’d had when he first opened the door were gone.
“Do you really think of Baek Sohyeok as only a younger brother now?”
That question sounded… wrong.
The word now made it seem as though Baek Woojin in the past hadn’t.
I was going to answer, Sohyeok has always been more than I deserve as a brother, just to get out of the situation.
“Woojin. Answer me.”
If only his face hadn’t come so close.
All I can see are his lips.
I’d tried to forget, but the moment of CPR earlier flashed through my mind, and heat rushed to my face.
Not wanting him to notice, I hurriedly opened my mouth.
And then—
Something that should never have happened, happened.
[Status Effect ‘Inferiority Complex’ has been triggered.]
“What kind of answer do you want?”
My mind went blank at the sudden status effect.
If it was reacting to the person who possessed Baek Sohyeok’s body, that would be fine.
But if…
“You… wait.”
Even though I knew there was nowhere to retreat, I braced my hands behind me, trying to pull away.
But Kang Kwonhoo—
No.
Baek Sohyeok pretending to be Kang Kwonhoo grabbed my shoulder.
“So Kang Kwonhoo can get this close and you just let him… but the second I come near, you run away?”
His eyes burned brightly.
“Why did you pretend to be Kang Kwonhoo? Of course I’d react like this if the person I was talking to suddenly changed.”
“So you are avoiding me?”
I couldn’t honestly say that wasn’t part of it.
Instead of lying, I chose silence.
“Why can’t you be honest with me? I wish, just once, you’d opened up and talked to me. I regretted it every day. Hyung—no, Baek Woojin. Don’t even think about running away anymore.”
My breath caught.
Even if it was unconscious, there was a reason I felt more comfortable around Kang Kwonhoo than Baek Sohyeok.
There’s too much I have to hide from Sohyeok.
In front of him, I had to pretend to be “Baek Woojin.”
And every time I did, guilt rose up, making even my existence feel sinful.
Kang Kwonhoo, on the other hand, only found me interesting no matter how strangely I acted.
Even if my identity was exposed, he wouldn’t be someone who would feel disappointed or heartbroken because I wasn’t Baek Woojin.
That thought made things easier.
The gap was born from wanting to be recognized as me by those I’d grown attached to.
“I’m not trying to run away.”
For the first time, I thought that maybe when the end came, it would be better to tell Baek Sohyeok the truth.
Until now, I’d believed hiding it was the best choice for his happiness…
But maybe that was just arrogance.
Still… not now.
At least not until this massive system quest was over.
I quickly replayed what I’d said while thinking he was Kang Kwonhoo.
I’d given some hints, but nothing decisive.
“Then don’t look elsewhere. Look at me.”
He caught me drifting again and warned me.
Baek Sohyeok held my face, forcing my gaze to stay.
Thick, suffocating emotion filled the room like a wave.
Feelings he’d somehow been containing burst forth like a broken dam.
“T-That… stop.”
In the end, I was the one who couldn’t bear that weight.
If I could avoid his emotions, I wanted to.
Creeeak.
“Right. The brother Baek Sohyeok likes so much is showing he doesn’t want this. I should back off.”
The one who saved me spoke in a voice that was devilishly sweet and tempting.
At a timing so perfect it was suspicious, Kang Kwonhoo opened the door and stepped inside with arrogant confidence.
How could I ever confuse the two?
Even half-asleep, I’d been careless.
Looking back, Baek Sohyeok wasn’t even that good at acting.
There were plenty of signs I could’ve noticed, but exhaustion made me miss them.
Click.
The dark room flooded with light.
The sudden brightness made me squint, but the emotional sea that had filled the space vanished without a trace.
“I thought something was going on, so I pretended to sleep. Looks like I was right. I didn’t expect you to get your body back and immediately try to deceive your hyung, though.”
“I knew you weren’t asleep. I just forgot for a moment what a shameless person you are—listening in on guests’ conversations.”
I’d told them not to fight when they were together, and yet here they were, arguing right in front of me.
“Sohyeok pretending to be Kang Kwonhoo was wrong, but he wasn’t trying to do anything bad. Please just let it go.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t?”
Baek Sohyeok didn’t bother defending himself.
He didn’t care about earning Kang Kwonhoo’s favor, so why explain?
“Hyung. I’m not taking back what I said earlier. You said you wouldn’t run away. Remember that. Don’t change your tune later.”
Outside, dawn was slowly breaking.
Like the chaotic relationship between the three of us, the sky was streaked unevenly with color.
“When the time comes…”
The long shadow at my feet began to shrink.
Something’s wrong.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Baek Sohyeok and Kang Kwonhoo both reached for me at the same time.
Bang!
But a barrier formed around me, blocking them.
Nothing had changed except the sunrise.
I hadn’t been attacked. I didn’t remember anything.
“Hyung!”
“Woojin!”
My shadow twisted wildly and left a mark across the bed.
When it finished, a glowing magic circle—something you’d only see in a game—appeared.
This is dangerous.
I didn’t know what was happening, but instinct screamed that it was bad.
[An A+ Grade Item, the Blue Lightning Spearblade, has been summoned.]
[Skill “Spearblade Technique Lv.30” activated. A sharp spearblade opens the path before you.]
But the barrier absorbed every attack.
The last thing reflected in my vision was Baek Sohyeok swinging his sword, Kang Kwonhoo pulling back a bowstring, and the cat with its fur standing on end.
None of them could fight properly—they were too afraid of hurting me.
What the hell is happening?
The glowing magic circle finally dragged me into another space.
So… does that mean I’m being kidnapped right now?
