Being Spoiled (2)
Being Spoiled (2)
When people have too much time on their hands, idle thoughts tend to creep in.
It wasn't an absolute rule, but it was true for Lee Ha-yul.
Back when he was alone.
Whenever he ate his fill and lay on a soft bed, hazy memories of a childhood long past would drift up.
At those times, pain would rise from legs he didn't even have. The empty darkness and loneliness of his room would feel unbearably melancholic.
He judged that Baek A-rin was in a similar state.
So, to keep those idle thoughts from surfacing, he figured he just needed to keep her so busy that she had no room to feel unnecessary guilt.
"Uh, uhh..."
Baek A-rin's eyes were spinning in circles.
"Wh-what is this?"
"It's me."
"It's me."
"I can see that... Oh, he speaks now."
When the bewildered Baek A-rin asked, Lee Ha-yul, who had been nuzzling his head into her hand, answered.
"One is the body, and one is the soul. One is a hu... man body. The other is a fairy's soul, active as a spirit body."
"...Why did you hesitate at the 'human' part?"
"Because I'm not even sure myself..."
His words only added to the confusion. A layer of bewilderment coated Baek A-rin's face, and the murky, dark emotions faded a little more.
Yet even so, both her hands were busy moving, cradling and holding Lee Ha-yul close.
Just as he had hoped.
With a soft smile, Lee Ha-yul buried his face in the chest swaying right before his nose.
A pure white dress. His nose dipped into the cleavage of the open neckline.
His face was enveloped by the fullness of her chest. As he inhaled in that state, the warm scent of her skin, heated from within her cleavage, filled his nose.
As always, it carried a sweet and savory milky fragrance.
Feeling the saliva pooling in his mouth, Lee Ha-yul hugged Baek A-rin's waist tight and burrowed in even deeper.
"Haaah..."
Baek A-rin's waist trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut.
His breath, indulging in the depths of her cleavage, made fireworks pop inside her head.
She had never nursed him, but she had offered her bosom plenty of times before. It was practically a regular occurrence. She had felt his breath burrowing into her chest back then, too.
'Ah, ah-eek, eek? H-heuk...?'
This was different from those times.
The sensations that surfaced as the curse was lifted were far too intense.
Her body squirmed at the breath tickling her skin.
She was mortified that he could smell that... embarrassing inner scent of her chest, a shame she had never felt before that made her head boil over.
Her hands, which had been wandering in the air, finally wrapped around Lee Ha-yul's head.
'I-I haven't washed.'
Of course, her body was perfectly clean.
Magic wasn't just for show.
In the first place, a superhuman of Baek A-rin's caliber hardly produced any waste. But the fact that she hadn't left her bed for days lingered uncomfortably in her mind...
'What if I smell weird? What if he says I smell and—'
"Sniff, sniff."
"Ah-haht...?!"
A completely uncharacteristic moan burst from Baek A-rin's lips, the very same lips that had been so worried.
It was because of the sudden puff of air that brushed the underside of her breast.
The moment that touch hesitated for just a split second, the other Lee Ha-yul, who had been enjoying the caress, shoved his nose directly against the underside of her breast.
"H-Ha-yul...?!"
"Smell..."
"S-smell..."
Baek A-rin's body froze rigid at the small murmur. Her eyes flickered like candles before a storm.
"D-do I... smell?"
"Mmm... Smells good..."
Hugging her waist tightly, Lee Ha-yul focused his attention on the nose pressed to the underside of her breast.
"Ah..."
Her frozen face thawed smoothly with relief.
...And then, the shame came rushing right back as she realized the situation—having her scent inhaled from the underside and the valley of her breasts—was still very much ongoing.
"H-heu... I-it tickles..."
But she didn't push Lee Ha-yul away.
With trembling hands, Baek A-rin embraced Lee Ha-yul like a precious treasure, cradling him with utmost care.
Lee Ha-yul had risked his life to save her.
He had deliberately stepped onto a disadvantageous battlefield against a powerful Outer-realm Tower Master.
Baek A-rin, who held the memories of that time, understood this perfectly.
It was a fight they could have won just by destroying her body.
But he had fought while suppressing the Tower Master, who fought without regard for her body, meticulously separating and burning away the Tower Master who had seeped into her.
If he had just given up on Baek A-rin alone, he could have easily defeated a mere incarnation.
Because he didn't give up on Baek A-rin alone, he entered a battle at a profound disadvantage.
'...Why...'
She had approached him wanting exactly that.
She got closer to Lee Ha-yul. She acted so that he couldn't abandon her, so that he would grow affectionate toward her.
Thanks to that, Baek A-rin was saved.
But now that she had regained her full emotions alongside Ha-yul, all those actions felt sinful.
She, who had approached him with such base motives, was now doing this with Lee Ha-yul—
"Kiss!"
Her thoughts, which had been falling into a pit, were cut short. Lee Ha-yul, who had been rubbing his face against her chest, popped his head up.
"A kiss... please."
"Give me a kiss..."
The other Lee Ha-yul, who had been smelling the underside of her breast, also lifted his head and propped his chin on her full chest.
A kiss... meaning a peck on the lips. Baek A-rin's cheeks heated up, and then she froze solid for a moment again.
The first kiss she'd received before.
That memory wasn't sweet. It was a gesture Lee Ha-yul left as if it were his last, when Baek A-rin had stabbed him and he was dying.
"Th-that—"
"Kiss me...!"
"Hurry up...!"
"Oh, ah, alright. I get it, so calm down... Good boy...?"
They didn't give her any time to agonize.
Faced with Lee Ha-yul's stubborn, unreasonable tantrum, Baek A-rin couldn't even hesitate and hurriedly nodded her head.
A moment too late, she realized her mistake, but seeing his eyes sparkling with anticipation like stars, she couldn't even conceive the word 'refusal'.
"Ugh..."
As Baek A-rin's gaze shifted left and right, the Lee Ha-yul on her left—from her perspective—bobbed his body up.
Baek A-rin tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned down very, very slowly.
- Smooch...
Their lips met as they held each other's gaze.
In that single moment, a myriad of sensations crashed over her.
The moistness of their overlapping lips and the beautiful face filling her vision. The body heat and scent shared through their mingled breaths.
The presence of the person in her arms and the one holding her.
'Ah...'
An abstract affection.
It poured in without the slightest filter.
There was nothing left to block him anymore. Baek A-rin's eyes trembled faintly at the tidal wave of stimulating sensations and emotions.
For her, who had just regained her full emotions, it was a dizzyingly overwhelming stimulus.
But it wasn't burdensome.
She was drenched in the contradiction of something both stimulating and tender, her body and heart warmed gently.
The painful memory from before was buried in an instant. In its place, the present memory flooded in like water.
"Pwah... uuh, heeheehee..."
"Ah..."
How much time had passed?
The lips that had been pressed gently together slowly parted.
It hadn't been long. Far too brief a moment to savor and enjoy this warmth.
"Kiss..."
"Ah, this side too... yes, mm..."
The moment Baek A-rin let out a wistful sigh, the other Lee Ha-yul, who had been fidgeting beside her, leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
"Again..."
"Wait... mm, I understand... slowly..."
Whenever one Lee Ha-yul pulled away, the other Lee Ha-yul moved in. They took turns kissing her so relentlessly that she barely had time to breathe, but if anything, Baek A-rin happily pulled both of them into her arms.
"Hoho..."
"...!"
With each sweet, pecking kiss from Lee Ha-yul, a soft laugh escaped Baek A-rin. Her gently curving eyes radiated maternal affection.
The Lee Ha-yul who had been kissing her opened his eyes wide. Then he beamed like a sunflower.
'A-rin smiled again...!'
A smile with not a trace of guilt. It was affection that Baek A-rin was fully feeling and radiating, unclouded by any mask or curse.
Elated, Lee Ha-yul craved even more love.
He wanted to be doted on more. He wanted to receive more affection. And to do that, he had to be someone worthy of being loved.
That wish drew out his unique ability.
All-Rounder.
The unique ability of his body surged forth.
Fwoosh! In an instant, the flaring Innate Talent caught Baek A-rin's attention just as she was about to turn away.
"Smack."
Another kiss followed right after. At the adorable sight of Lee Ha-yul fussing so much he even stirred up his Innate Talent, a chuckle escaped her.
"......."
Just then, Baek A-rin turned her head at the gaze she felt boring into her cheek.
She saw Lee Ha-yul frozen mid-motion, having stopped just short of kissing her.
Lee Ha-yul (Body) and Lee Ha-yul (Soul).
There was no need to distinguish between the two.
Fundamentally, Lee Ha-yul was the soul, but the body was also, in the end, Lee Ha-yul.
To put it simply, the left hand and the right hand.
There was no reason for them to be separate, and they were never individual entities to begin with.
In any normal line of thinking, when the left hand holds money, the right hand doesn't get jealous.
"H-hrngh..."
"Ah."
Lee Ha-yul's cheek puffed up to its limit, jealous of his own body.
.
.
.
"I made the porridge with a lot of effort..."
"Please try this one too."
Two spoonfuls were held out right in front of her.
As if they'd done it on purpose, the types of porridge were different. After a brief moment of deliberation, Baek A-rin took the left spoon into her mouth.
"Mmm..."
A soft moan escaped Baek A-rin at the flavor seeping across her tongue.
It was only porridge, yet it was so delicious.
Her revived sense of taste felt the flavors even more deeply and richly. After swallowing the seafood porridge (with added Aruprut), Baek A-rin gave a slight shiver.
"Hrngh..."
The problem was that the Lee Ha-yul whose turn had been skipped was now sulking again.
"Hehehe..."
The Lee Ha-yul who had fed Baek A-rin the porridge laughed happily.
And then promptly sulked in exactly the same way.
The soul sulked, jealous of the body.
Yet at the same time, the other Lee Ha-yul's cheek puffed up too, the very one who had stolen the kiss.
In the end, since that body was also Lee Ha-yul, he sulked the same way and got happy the same way.
Meaning, Baek A-rin was hit with an identical wave of mischievous acting spoiled.
An endless chain of jealousy from which there was absolutely no escape.
For Baek A-rin, it was a bit unfair, but without a single complaint she indulged Lee Ha-yul's whining.
- Squeeze...
"Nn... ngh..."
Her breast was crushed in his grasping grip. Soft flesh pushed out between fingers full of playful spite.
- Knead, knead...
The expression of the Lee Ha-yul kneading her breast over her clothes and underwear instantly relaxed.
"Hehe... baby, do you like it...?"
"I like it..."
When Baek A-rin, smiling silently, asked this as she kissed him on the cheek, Lee Ha-yul—his attention elsewhere—feigned a sulk and kept kneading her breast.
"Does our baby like it too?"
"Mm... I like it..."
She hadn't forgotten to soothe the Lee Ha-yul lying on her other side and fondling her breast.
A kiss planted on his cheek promptly quelled the jealousy that had nearly spiraled into another round.
Outside the window, it was gradually growing dark.
From morning until sunset. Baek A-rin had spent the whole time embracing Lee Ha-yul's acting spoiled.
Not once did the thought that this was tiring cross her mind.
How could anyone call such happy, fulfilling time by such a name?
"Baby, isn't it about time to go nini~?"
Baek A-rin asked, gently stroking his cheek. Indeed, Lee Ha-yul's eyes were gradually closing.
"Yes... ah..."
Lee Ha-yul, who had been nodding obediently, suddenly opened his mouth, then pulled a book out from Subspace.
"What's this...?"
Baek A-rin tilted her head as she took the book. It wasn't particularly thick. Her eyes blinked as she checked the title.
"...Pfft..."
Soon, a small laugh escaped between her lips.
"This is a children's book."
A large, bold title and an infantile illustrated cover.
A giggling Baek A-rin turned her head. Even in the darkness, she could tell that the face of the Lee Ha-yul who had handed her the children's book was flushed.
"Just... to set the mood, sort of..."
"Ahaha, what kind of mood can you set with a children's book?"
The muttering Lee Ha-yul clung tightly to Baek A-rin and buried his face. The Lee Ha-yul on the other side did the same.
Looking at Lee Ha-yul burrowing into her arms, a gentle smile graced Baek A-rin's lips.
"...Really, you only ever do the most adorable things."
Her tension and guilt had eased considerably. Thanks to that, Baek A-rin had seen through the real reason Lee Ha-yul had fussed all day: it was for her sake.
To lighten her guilt.
How could he be so lovable?
Affection settled into Baek A-rin's smile. She deliberately didn't dwell on the guilt. She knew Lee Ha-yul wanted affection, not guilt.
A giggling Baek A-rin laid both Lee Ha-yuls on either side of her and opened the children's book.
It was a fairly famous children's story.
Baek A-rin also knew its title and basic plot.
"Now, then... the first part is..."
- Grumble...
Just as she was about to read the first paragraph, she stopped at the sounds that cut in from both sides.
"...I'm hungry."
Baek A-rin blinked and turned her head to the side. In the darkness, Lee Ha-yul, a hand placed on his stomach, was staring intently at her.
"Hungry..."
She turned her head the other way. Same thing. A hungry-looking Lee Ha-yul was gazing at her.
...Her gaze, drifting downward, landed on the breast a restless hand was still fidgeting with.
It made perfect sense. Lee Ha-yul, who normally ate more than five meals a day, hadn't eaten properly since that morning.
"...Ah."
Sensing what was coming, Baek A-rin let out a small sigh of realization.