Cute, so I like it
"...Mm."
I was the one who'd asked for the kiss, but as his face drew closer, my heart started pounding like crazy. We spend at least twenty out of twenty-four hours together on a normal day, so was it because we'd been apart a bit more on this trip? Whatever the reason for my nerves, Baek Sion's face kept inching toward mine without a care.
In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut, and after a brief moment, something soft and plush brushed my lips—just a fleeting touch before it was gone.
"...Mm..."
...Was a bird kiss always this embarrassing? Or had listening to all those stories about Roha unnie and Aisaka Itsuki supercharged my romance cells or something...
Baek Sion pulled away quickly and lay back down straight, while I, still feeling that sensation lingering on my lips, mindlessly touched them with my fingers before snapping back to reality.
...Come to think of it, a bird kiss won't get the medicine in. Back to the dilemma of a lifetime.
Should I ask for another kiss? Knowing his personality, he'd probably do it if I asked once more, but even then, I doubted it'd go beyond another peck.
Maybe I should just kiss him myself? After endless agonizing, I propped myself up on one hand and slowly sat up.
"...Not sleeping?"
Baek Sion tilted his head slightly. At this point, moving slowly would only double the embarrassment, so I swiftly straddled him in one go.
"......"
"...Just once more."
Thankfully, he didn't toss me off. I leaned down and gently nipped his lips.
"...Haa..."
This was something I'd learned from countless kisses with Baek Sion. Lip-to-lip contact rarely involves tongues, but if you lightly bite and tug the lower lip, they tend to part more easily. Specifically, it was a move he often used when delving into my mouth while I tried to keep it closed—so yeah, I'd picked it up naturally. You really learn best from experience.
"Yeah... chuup..."
The sound of our soft tongues tangling in each other's mouths felt a little lewd, somehow. Especially for me, with my whole body practically an erogenous zone, even just having my tongue licked or sucked made it hard to stay still. I gripped my fading focus tightly to keep my mind from going hazy.
"...Haa, mmph..."
After a quick breath, I shoved the tiny mana clump I'd hidden in my cheek—like a squirrel with a nut—straight into his mouth.
"Mmph..."
It wasn't exactly solid, but Baek Sion clearly noticed the foreign something entering, his eyes widening in slight surprise. That was it, though. Lying down as he was, he couldn't exactly pull his head back.
As I nudged the medicine forward bit by bit with my tongue, I could tell the moment he swallowed it.
The stuff worked pretty fast, so I could've stopped kissing right then without issue. But honestly? The kiss felt too good, so I didn't pull away.
Peeking with half-lidded eyes, Baek Sion's expression hadn't changed a bit. The drug didn't turn you into a different person—it just locked you onto your most dominant thought, making you brutally honest about it.
And right now, I could feel something firm pressing lightly against my butt. Once the effects kicked in fully, he'd probably flip me over instead.
"...What'd you feed me?"
I watched him, half-expecting that question, but he just asked it with a puzzled look—no pouncing or anything. No grabbing my chest, either.
Caught off guard myself, I blurted out from my perch on top of him.
"...No thoughts at all...?"
No way the drug didn't work on him? Sure, as an assassin, he'd have insane resistance to poisons and curses, but this wasn't harmful—his body shouldn't reject it...
But his response made me doubt my own ears.
He answered in his usual tone, unchanged.
"...What, you're pretty?"
"...Huh?"
I thought I'd misheard and asked again, so he cutely cocked his head and tweaked his reply.
"...Or cute...?"
"Wha—huh...? N-No, wait a sec...!"
Straddling his lower abdomen, the embarrassment exploded even worse than during the kiss. I slapped a hand over my face to hide.
But the hand Baek Sion finally moved didn't touch anywhere else—it just gently pulled my arm down.
In full panic mode, barely knowing what I was saying, I desperately clamped my other hand over his mouth to stop the words.
"...Why—why say that? What the hell...?"
Then it hit me: I couldn't hear his answer like this. Cautiously, I lifted my hand.
And there he was, same old expression, replying casually.
"I wanna see your face. You're the one I like..."
"Kyaaah!? S-Stop... seriously, stooop...!"
I grabbed the pillow beside us and slammed it over his face, then—unable to hold back—piled on another pillow and the blanket too.
"...Haaa... haa..."
Even seeing him squirm slightly under the sudden pillow-blanket assault didn't calm my heart. I tried deep breaths, but it wasn't enough.
No way this was honest Baek Sion mode...? Don't get me wrong—I like him a ton too, and we've swapped "I like you"s when sleepy or tipsy, so it wasn't new.
But hearing it in his fully conscious state? Unbearable. And if I left him be, he'd probably go beyond "like" to... that other word.
I really didn't want my first "I love you" to come via magic, so I quickly placed a hand over his heart to dispel the spell.
"...Phew..."
Feeling the mana flow back eased a sigh out of me naturally. But then I realized—this wasn't a situation for any relief.
"......"
Baek Sion slowly shoved aside the blanket, pillows, and extras.
Too startled earlier to climb off, I tried now, but his hands were faster—gripping my waist firmly to hold me in place.
His fingers were slender from piano-playing, but his hands weren't small; spread wide, they nearly enveloped me, the pressure intense.
"Eek!..."
"...Hey."
His expression was oddly complex—layers of slight embarrassment, annoyance, and more.
I couldn't respond, so he flipped us over in a flash, claiming the top position.
"...C'mon, just once... forgive me..."
This wasn't joking around—if anything lewd happened now, I'd lose it for real. The moment he said he liked me, my body went into heat against my will. Even eye contact felt like it'd drive me mad, so I averted my gaze and squeezed out the words.
As Yoo Seol-ah came in for the second kiss and slipped me the drug, I clocked it right away.
But my guess that I could shake it off myself? Way off.
Was Yoo Seol-ah getting better with her succubus mana? It was like the anesthesia shot during surgery—no sense of it even taking effect. By the time my mind cleared, the brief memory had replayed.
Honestly, her cute little goodnight-kiss demand in that shy whisper had dominated my head, so under the drug, I'd just spouted stuff like that nonstop.
Thinking back to when Nagi ate it, it seemed to hone in on whatever thought was strongest at the moment you ingested it, forcing total honesty.
Recalling it now heated my face, but seeing Yoo Seol-ah way more flustered than me drew a natural chuckle.
She'd planned this and drugged me herself, yet she was taking the bigger hit. Classic Yoo Seol-ah.
"...Hey."
"...C'mon, just once... forgive me..."
I'd already forgiven her once today. She looked so desperate and cute, though—shivering before we'd even started anything.
Even now, just pinning her from above, she had her arms locked over her face, refusing eye contact like her life depended on it.
After the double whammy today, I figured a light scolding was in order, so I'd switched positions. But spotting her ears redder than ever softened the urge to punish physically.
Not that I planned to let her off easy.
I grabbed both her arms and nudged them aside.
"...Eek!?"
She twisted her head to dodge my gaze anyway. But avoiding eyes like that naturally exposed one ear fully.
...Yoo Seol-ah's ears were one of her weakest spots.
I leaned in quick, planting a short kiss on the flushed lobe before slipping my tongue inside just a bit.
"No, really, can't... eek, haa...!?"
Her reaction was way more intense than usual—I knew it instantly. Probably from those drugged words echoing in her head.
Of course, no amount of cuteness erased the mischief, so swallowing my own embarrassment, I decided to tease her properly.
She was trembling from her waist down, untouched elsewhere. I pulled back briefly, then whispered right by her ear.
"Cute, so I like it."
"Hic!?... Cra—mmph♡!?... Ah, eek♡!..."
The words barely left my lips before I teased the inside of her ear again, and sure enough, her hips bucked faintly as speech failed her.
...Couldn't tell if it was the ear pleasure or my words, but she was more wrecked than ever—I could tell right away.
And me? Less embarrassed than expected. Guess the drug's effects hadn't fully worn off yet.