Jisung was dumbfounded.
'A short stay? Your evil intentions are as clear as day!'
Jisung was so scared that his face almost paled. Looking away, he said uncomfortably, "But mom is still waiting for me to go home with her. She'll worry if she doesn't see me for a single day, sorry."
Hyunjin paused, but unexpectedly did not press him further. He smiled with a hint of regret, saying, "Really? Then I won't force you."
Jisung hadn't expected Hyunjin to listen to him so easily. The worry he'd been carrying in his heart eased a little, and he couldn't wait to go home. His face flushed red as he said, "I-I'll go back first then. My mom must be feeling anxious."
He said this and turned to go.
He hurried back to Nayeon's palace, only to find Nayeon there alone. Not a trace of his mother could be seen anywhere. He couldn't help but pause for a moment, asking, "Auntie Nayeon, where's my mom?"
Nayeon looked at Jisung and said lovingly," Oh, your mom? She went home first, so you can live at the palace without any worries for a few days."
Jisung almost blacked out.
Just now, he'd told Hyunjin that his mom wouldn't agree. As a result, he was immediately given a vicious slap in the face. He hadn't even gone around for 20 minutes before he was abandoned by his mother upon his return.
This was too much.
Seeing how shocked Jisung appeared, Nayeon's heart was full of affection. At this moment, she saw Hyunjin stroll in from behind. Her face was firm as she said, "I promised Jihyo just now, so you must take good care of Sung. If he suffers so much as one grievance, I won't let you off. Do you understand?"
Hyunjin said slowly and solemnly, "Rest assured. I will most certainly take good care of him."
Nayeon stared fixedly at him. Although Hyunjin's sudden enlightenment made her very happy, he was a repeat offender, after all. She still couldn't feel completely at ease, because Jisung had been hurt. She carefully added a warning, "I'll go check on you regularly."
Hyunjin looked resigned and said, "Not a problem."
Only after that could Nayeon feel at ease. She said to Jisung with a smile, "You can live freely here as if it's your own home. If anyone dares to give you trouble, come tell your auntie and I'll definitely help you."
Hyunjin glanced at the boy who had been shocked pitifully. He looked like a kitten who had been abandoned by his mother and suddenly taken away from home into a strange new environment. The boy appeared so lost and pitiful and adorable that he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from lifting. He wanted nothing more than to just hold him in his arms right that instant.
He didn't want to hear his mother continue to fuss about, so he took Jisung's hand and led him out again.
Jisung's hand was gripped tightly by Hyunjin's powerful palm. The man's palm was so hot and so powerful that he had no way of resisting. He almost choked up, 'How did I get myself into staying at the palace? Help!'
Looking around, he saw that he'd returned to that room he'd fled from earlier. He raised his eyes to meet Hyunjin's deep ones. Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he tried to give his final resistance, and said in a low voice, "Hyung, you should go attend to your work first. Don't worry about me."
As a result, Hyunjin suddenly stepped forward.
Jisung jumped in fright and retreated a step. Behind him was the window ledge. The gauze window curtain to the side blew gently in the wind. He saw that Hyunjin's line of sight was slowly darkening as if some emotion was brewing deep inside. His legs began to tremble.
This person's expression was way more terrifying than the scariest wild beasts. He himself was just like a prey animal being targeted.
No, this can't go on.
A strong sense of danger made Jisung summon up all his courage and turn to escape. However, in the next second, his chin had been gripped by a strong hand, and a cool kiss fell on his lips.
Jisung's eyes suddenly opened wide. His body trembled slightly, and he forgot to move for a second.
Hyunjin held the boy's chin with one hand, and held his shoulder with the other, effectively trapping him under his own body. He continued kissing lightly. Those soft lips he had long thirsted for had finally been touched.
He gazed into the youth's eyes from up close and saw a pair of clear eyes with slightly dilated pupils.
They looked so confused, vulnerable, and pitiful.
This boy was the one he'd longed for countless years and two lifetimes. This face had shown up in numerous dreams of his, but once he reached out, he'd find that it was just an illusion. One-touch and it all dissipated into the air.
The youth would never come back.
When he finally realised that he had fallen in love with the boy, regret and pain had already tormented him for many years.
But at this moment, he'd finally touched his beloved boy again. The feeling under his touch was warm. It was as if he could feel the blood flow under the boy's skin, and detect the youth's slightest trembles through his palm.
It was so real.
The boy was in front of him now, alive and well. He could talk, he could breathe, and he could display happiness, sorrow, anger, and joy.
Pain, regret, judgement, all kinds of emotions surged up in Hyunjin's eyes. Those emotions that had been suppressed in the bottom of his heart for countless years could finally flood out at this moment.
He didn't want to be patient and endure any more. He didn't want to give him room to escape again.
He needed to get closer to him and obtain him first.
The depths of Hyunjin's eyes continued to deepen. His fingers exerted a little more strength and forced the boy's mouth to open. His sharp eyes stared fixedly at the youth's beautiful sparkly eyes, as he went to deepen the kiss without hesitation.
Jisung was kissed and let out a faint whimper. The man before him was incredibly strong and scary at the moment, like a wolf in sheep's skin. There was absolutely no room left for resistance. His hands were secured in a lock that was as firm as steel, so he could only submit.
He felt the man's unbridled and ravaging kiss and couldn't help trembling slightly. He instinctively wanted to escape, but his reason stopped him in the end.
He'd forgotten to put up a struggle at first and didn't dare to struggle afterwards.
Hyunjin appeared to like him very much, but even if the man doted on him even more, Jisung would never forget this one truth. He was not the original 'Jisung.' He didn't love this man and had never really sacrificed anything for his sake. He hadn't paid the price for this love.
He'd deceived this terrifying king of a nation with his position as an outsider and set up a hoax to swindle the man's deep affections.
But that wasn't his intention.
He'd never wanted Hyunjin to love him. However,...
In the end, when things had gotten to a place out of his control like this, he had no other path to walk on besides continuing to play his character role.
Jisung endured the intense fear inside of him and forced himself to open his mouth to accept the other party. He felt difficulty breathing, fear, terror, unease. He was being kissed by a man. A man with a human appearance who was more terrifying than the monsters that appeared in legends, at that. He seemed gentle, but in fact, one little move and he could crush a little liar easily.
He felt as small and powerless as a worm. Even though he had been carefully following the plot, and desperately trying to complete the task, fate kept throwing one cruel trick at him after another.
The tears in Jisung's eyes welled up involuntarily. He felt extremely wronged in his heart. 'Who told you to like me? Why do you have to like me?'
'I've already tried really hard to be disliked by everyone. I just want to go home after finishing the plot.'
Hyunjin felt the youth's body tremble in his arms, but unexpectedly, he hadn't avoided him this time. He slowly loosened his grip on the boy's chin, gently brushed across his cheek with his fingertips, and felt the sweetness of the boy's lips. He couldn't help but deepen the kiss.
Ever since his rebirth, he'd been trying hard to restrain himself, telling himself not to scare the boy, and to take it slowly.
So he'd always been letting the boy run away.
Until this moment when he was finally able to kiss his beloved.
Hyunjin held Jisung extremely gently. Staring at the boy's flushed cheeks and moist eyes, he looked just like a small whimpering kitten. He kept like this for a long time before he was able to reluctantly raise his head back up and let go of the boy.
In the end, he couldn't bear to let Jisung feel fearful, so he stopped at this point and didn't continue.
He felt that the youth was always so shy and evasive when he approached. Sometimes that gave him the impression that the boy didn't really want to be closer to him.
But how could that be possible? The boy loved him so much and had chased him for so many years. He had even given his life for him in the end. If that wasn't love, how else could it be explained?
Jisung didn't have any reason to deceive him either.
In the end, Hyunjin believed that the boy was just too shy.
He had never tried to really understand him before. That's why as soon as he was reborn, the first thing he did was collect every piece of information related to Jisung and grasp each move. Whenever he went out with his friends, Hyunjin would hear about each word the boy had said about him. Every time he saw this, he'd be in an extremely happy mood the whole day.
Regardless if he was there in person, the boy appeared to love him deeply inside and out.
And because Jisung loved him so deeply, he even rejected all his other suitors. Last life, he didn't know any of this. He'd only discovered in this life that the youth had never had any other men or women. The boy's body and heart were completely reserved for him.
When Hyunjin first heard this he could hardly believe his ears. He understood all too well the extravagance and depravity of imperial nobles. Although he'd always known that the boy liked him, he wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he had his share of fun. After all, that kind of amusement was just going with the spirit of the party. Hyunjin had truly never seen someone so devoted to a single person.
He thought he'd long understood the boy's love for him, but every time he dug a little deeper, he'd find that he had underestimated those feelings.
Jisung appeared to be a domineering rich kid, but he was more devoted than anyone. He loved him so much that he could refuse all other invitations.
That was hard to believe, but it was the truth.
This seemed to explain the boy's bashfulness. He was a blank canvas and knew nothing. Even this kiss was his first kiss.
The boy only knew that he liked him. He was just stupidly in love with him but didn't know what to do with his beloved person. That's why he felt at a loss and subconsciously avoided him in response to his sudden approaches.
Hyunjin thought of this and gradually put away his doubts. Instead, he held onto Jisung even more lovingly.
There were still many things for him to teach the boy, but he had the patience to approach him slowly. Such a unique treasure could only be possessed by him. He would gradually discover the boy himself.
Jisung's existence was a gift to him from the heavens. He had to cherish him well.
Hyunjin lovingly wiped Jisung's tearful eyes and comforted him gently: "Don't be nervous. It's normal for lovers to kiss. You only need to get used to it."
With much difficulty, Jisung had finally ended that terrible kiss. He thought that he was free now, so when he heard those words, he got so scared he almost blacked out. He had to get used to this?
Hyunjin looked at the boy who seemed like he was about to cry at any time now. He stared at his red and swollen lips and let out a resigned low laugh.
He pinched Jisung's nose a little and joked, "It seems that we have to practice more. Otherwise, you'll be afraid of even a little kiss. How can we do other things in the future then?"
When he said the last few words, his tone suddenly dropped and became meaningful.
Almost all of Jisung's hair stood up on end, and he looked dumbly back at Hyunjin.
He was scared silly.
Looking at the boy's dumb expression, Hyunjin finally couldn't keep in his happy mood and gave a loud laugh. However, he knew that haste makes waste. He had probably gone as far as appropriate today, so he smiled faintly at Jisung, "You'll be living here then. I still have something to do, but I'll come back to accompany you in the evening."
Jisung watched dumbfounded as Hyunjin left. After making sure the man wouldn't be back for a while, he sat on the bed, and covered his mouth, looking like he had nothing left to live for.
According to what Hyunjin had said, he not only wanted to practise kissing with him but go even further and do other things.
'Help!'
Jisung thumped down and thrashed the bed with his hands. He really wanted to just die like this. His face was burning. The second run was in a mode too hard for him. It was obviously in hell mode.