"How are you feeling, Mister Shin Se-in?"
After hearing that question from someone who looked familiar, Hyun-woo glanced behind him and then beside the bed, checking if someone else was there but there was no one.
Just him.
"Mister Shin Se-in? Uh, are you, by chance, talking to me?" Hyun-woo even pointed at himself as he slowly dragged himself off the bed and stood up, utterly confused.
Even though he wasn't exactly scared, his body was reacting strangely like an animal being cornered, or prey sensing a predator. Goosebumps rose along his arms with nausea twisting in his stomach for reasons he couldn't remember.
Or maybe it's just the body he possessed that carried some kind of trauma.
'Yeah… this must be because of the original owner of this body,' Hyun-woo thought as he slid down, ending up seated on the floor at the foot of the bed. 'I get it but then why can't I stop trembling?'
"Yes, who else is hospitalized here but you?"
"Uh… I don't know, but I think you have the wrong person." Hyun-woo let out an awkward laugh.
Do-hyun heard it then. The uneven, rushing heartbeat beneath the surface that's too fast letting him know that the guy wasn't comfortable.
And so, his gaze sharpened slightly.
"Hm. What are you doing, Mister Shin?"
"Uh… sitting?" Hyun-woo answered awkwardly again while lifting his head just as the familiar man stepped closer and looked down at him with a gaunt expression.
"Do you not remember me?"
While staring at him, Hyun-woo tried to recall who the man in front of him was. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. It was the same man who had saved him from certain death.
"Oh…"
"Hm. Do you remember now?"
"Right… you're the one who didn't even break a sweat killing that terrifying mantis…" Hyun-woo tried to sound excited, but his voice didn't cooperate. Goosebumps still prickled along his skin, and the discomfort hadn't faded.
As he spoke, the man crouched down.
Behind him, his three comrades exchanged looks, clearly surprised seeing their captain who hated wasting time on small talk, yet here he was, crouching in front of a stranger.
"Who is that?" the vice-captain whispered.
"I have no idea, sir," Sung-hoon replied with a shrug.
"Hm… it's strange seeing Captain act like that."
"I know, right…"
While the two guild members whispered, Rin-ah watched their captain closely. The moment he turned his head toward them, they all flinched since they were basically heard by their captain anyway.
Seeing that the Hyun-woo wouldn't let his guard down and hearing his heartbeat spiked again, Do-Hyun thought that he needed to do something to make the stranger feel less uncomfortable.
"You guys wait outside," the captain said.
He then lifted Hyun-woo by the arms.
"H-hey, put me down…" Hyun-woo protested weakly while flailing as his hands pressed against the captain's chest. He was placed back onto the bed gently, which only made the three widen their eyes and glance at each other in confusion.
"Didn't you hear me?" the captain said coldly. "Go. Wait. Outside."
At the emphasis in his voice and the sharp glare that followed, the three didn't hesitate so they quickly scurried out and sat on the bench outside the room with the vice-captain pouting the most.
When the doors clicked shut, the room fell completely silent. With his Omnisense, Do-hyun could hear nothing but the stranger's frantic heartbeat.
"Hmm… Mister Shin Se-in…"
Hyun-woo flinched, eyes widening as he noticed the man settling onto the bed beside him. Every movement made him more uncomfortable with his palms sweating and chest pounding so loudly he could almost hear it himself.
"Oh, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself first, did I? You must be confused. Mister Shin Se-in, I am the Captain of the Crimson Aegis guild, Seo Do-hyun."
Do-hyun smiled and now stretched out his hand while tilting his head as he stared at Hyun-woo.
"Uh…I'm telling you, I'm not Shin Se-in! My name is Choi Hyun-woo!" Hyun-woo flailed his arms in front of him like he was warding something off while leaning back instinctively.
"How bold of you… to lie right to my face, Mister Shin," Do-hyun said with a faint smirk on his gaunt face.
"I'm telling the truth! Really… wait," Hyun-woo froze when he realized that he actually heard those names before.
'Seo Do-hyun… Crimson Aegis… these names… where have I heard them?' Hyun-woo wrinkled his forehead, put his hand on his chin, and turned his head while thinking. He didn't even notice Do-hyun's hand still out for a shake. While Do-hyun's neck and hand veins stuck out from being so annoyed, realizing that he had been completely ignored.
With the realization hitting him like a bolt of lightning, Hyun-woo jolted upright while practically bouncing on the spot as he faced the man in front of him.
His eyes went wide, and for a second, he looked like he'd just seen a ghost or maybe an angel. He couldn't help scanning Seo Do-hyun from head to toe with his gaze lingering just a moment too long, like a mix of awe and awkward pride spreading across his face.
"S-seo Do-hyun?" he stammered, voice cracking slightly as he gaped.
His heart was hammering so fast, so erratic that Do-hyun, with his Omnisense could feel it like a drum echoing in his chest.
And yet, beneath the shock and beneath the faint twinge of fear that belonged to the body he now inhabited, Hyun-woo couldn't stop himself from grinning like a giddy fool.
He was secretly thrilled.
After all, he had basically created this man. He had imagined every sharp line, piercing gaze and every detail of this godlike beauty.
'Oh my gosh. This is… what I birthed from my own imagination? My… my own imagination is that insane? I, oh no, I can't believe I made something this beautiful… Am I that creative?'
His mouth opened wide and, in his distraction, he didn't notice that he'd taken a small step back.
One foot slid slightly on the floor while catching Do-hyun's attention immediately making the captain's sharp gaze flicked down to Hyun-woo's feet while lingering there with just the barest hint of curiosity or maybe mild suspicion.
"Uh… n-nice to meet you. I… I am your father…" Hyun-woo blurted out all of a sudden because he was panicking and had no better words.
Hearing that, Do-hyun raised a brow and tilted his head, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and disbelief.
"Father? Really? That's the best line he could come up with?" he thought along with the corners of his lips twitching like he was holding back a laugh.
"Oh no, I mean…" Hyun-woo stammered while completely at a loss for words.
Before he could think of anything else, Do-hyun's hand shot out and grabbed him by the hip, effortlessly pulling him forward so that he ended up sitting squarely on Do-hyun's lap.
"Uh, uh, Seo D-Do-Hyun… what are you doing?!" Hyun-woo flailed while his arms are waving like he could push the situation away, though it was hopeless.
Do-hyun didn't even flinch.
He simply leaned closer while nuzzling against Hyun-woo's chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And in that brief contact, he felt something… oddly refreshing.
A strange calm that made him pause, just a little to soak it in, something he hadn't realized he'd been craving.
Meanwhile, Hyun-woo's brain short-circuited somewhere between fear, panic, embarrassment, and the realization that he had absolutely no idea how to escape this.
"Mister Shin Se-in…" Do-hyun lifted his head while tilting it so close that just a few more inches and their lips would meet.
'He keeps calling me Mister Shin Se-in… I already told him I'm no-, wait. Could it be that this body's name is Shin Se-in? Right, how did I not realize that before?' Hyun-woo's thoughts raced.
'But… how does an extra character even have a name? I didn't even name him! And… this body's past… wow, that explains a lot, I guess. Oh no… is this body gay too? Like me… ahem…'
Even as he tried to focus on the logic of it all, Hyun-woo flinched involuntarily at the slightest touch with fear and trembling coursed through him. 'Damn it. This body is way more sensitive too than I expected. Please, dear Do-hyun, don't notice… Or it'll be a humiliation as your father!'
"Oh… looking at you up close, you have quite the eye bags and your eyes are red. Mister Shin, did you cry? Is something hurting?" Do-hyun's voice was gentle, almost teasing, and Hyun-woo could feel his warm breath brush his face.
'Oh no… now that he's asking… only a faint ache lingers… under my ass! Wait…could it be that, that memory happened just recently? Damn it, and who were those bastards!'
"Uh… oh, nothing," Hyun-woo stammered while trying to sound casual while his hands fidgeted in Do-hyun's shoulders. "Maybe I just… passed out back then. I mean, who wouldn't, if they saw something so… terrifying?"
"Hmm, that's good…" Do-hyun murmured, and before Hyun-woo could react, he was casually lifted by the armpit again, dangling like a bag of laundry.
"S-stop lifting me like that! I'm n-not a child!" Hyun-woo squirmed while trying to sound annoyed but his body betrayed him.
His muscles tensed, his knees wobbled, and every fiber of him screamed to obey even as he tried to push back. It was as if this body had learned to follow orders instinctively.
"Yes, yes… but before that, there's something I need to tell you, Mister Shin Se-in… or Mister Choi Hyun-woo… whatever your real name is."
Do-hyun gently set Hyun-woo back onto the bed while saying that. He then leaned closer with one knee brushing against Hyun-woo's, spreading just slightly as if to claim space.
"Mister Shin… or Mister Choi, I want you to sleep with me."
"Huh?!"
Wait… did he just say what I think he said?!