Chapter 260
Chapter 260
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: 85. Expression of Affection (1)
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He slowly scanned the world with his gaze.
"This place... is a familiar space."
A flat voice echoed through the empty air.
Kalliovan was more intrigued by the space he'd arrived in after the kidnapping than by the fact of the kidnapping itself.
A heavy voice rang out.
"Kalliovan."
Focus sharpened in his dazed gaze.
No reply came.
So the regressor called him again.
"Kalliovan."
Only then did Kalliovan respond.
"...Speak, Prophet."
"Don't get cocky."
His calm expression turned toward Yoo Ji-tae.
"What do you mean?"
"Just do as you're told. Why get greedy like that?"
"What greed have I shown?"
"Kalliovan. Why do you think I'm keeping you alive, even with this power?"
"......"
"I needed a dog to herd the sheep. So I spared you as a decent sheepdog. But now you dare treat me like one of the flock? Isn't that arrogant?"
"......"
"Kalliovan Greenrain. Do I look like a prophet to you? Or just some outdated leader of the ignorant alliance? Or maybe a savior pulling off this nonsense to rescue humanity?"
Kalliovan listened to his words with composure.
Perhaps he'd simply seen him as a sharp claw and mistakenly thought it came with a handle.
"I'm asking. What do I look like to you?"
"......"
A crack formed in his expression.
To Kalliovan... he looked like a murderer.
Yoo Ji-tae smiled faintly.
A faint smile curved the murderer's lips.
"Killing you the first time was just hard. The second time... there was a sense of accomplishment."
Kalliovan's ash-gray pupils narrowed.
"What about the third?"
What does this mean?
Kalliovan hurriedly looked down at his body.
Before he knew it, white hands from the abyss beyond the cosmos had bound his form.
"The Abyss... Unbelievable. How could you wield the 「Execution Platform of the Highest Heaven」......"
Kalliovan, muttering to himself, fell silent.
His eyes widened.
He had finally realized something.
"...Are you... one who defies time?"
Yoo Ji-tae gave no answer.
As time dragged on, Kalliovan's eyes grew ever wider.
He seemed to be piecing together the clues, only to grasp the futility at the end of his deductions.
There could be no prophet among humans. Kalliovan knew that full well.
"Consider this a warning. Until the night reaches its end, live as a dog. A dog obeys its master. No eye-rolling. No climbing where it doesn't belong. Herd the sheep properly. Act out, and I'll break your legs. Bark too much, and I'll sew your muzzle shut."
Kalliovan's composure shattered.
"I said it again. Go where you're told."
"Stop when you're told to stop."
"Bark when told to bark. Crawl when told to crawl."
"Everything you built with blood, sweat, and betrayed convictions—burning to ash just for you—if you don't want to see that, do as you're told."
Each word from the regressor clamped down on Kalliovan's throat like a collar.
"Got it?"
His trembling gaze lifted toward the abyss above.
Slightly higher than even the shallowest depths.
Gazing there, Kalliovan finally understood what Yoo Ji-tae truly was.
His response carried a deep sense of futility.
"......Show some restraint."
Time passed swiftly.
It was the season when dazzling sunlight felt warm. The sky stretched high. The wind carried a crisp chill.
On the way back from Michael Billibalt Furman's ninth-day rite, Bom rode in the passenger seat today as well.
The two were driving toward the warp station.
He had already changed out of his mourning clothes.
The weather suited fall attire, so Yoo Ji-tae wore the turtleneck tee Gaeul had picked out for him last year. It clung tightly to his body. His broad shoulders. His thick ribcage and torso. His powerful wrists. And the thick, rugged lines of a physique with body fat around 7%—all laid bare.
Bom was sneaking glances at Yoo Ji-tae's body.
Her eyes flicked occasionally to his face, then to his own eyes. Yoo Ji-tae was focused on driving, so Bom could relax and steal another look downward.
Bom had changed into a plain white tee and shorts. She favored simpler outfits than the others.
He had started driving the car regularly from some point on, realizing the value in watching the world's scenery shift alongside the kids.
So the trip back always took a fair bit of time.
It was time alone together.
"Why."
"Huh?"
"What're you looking at."
"Ah......"
Bom turned her head away. A soft "Hmm, hmm......" escaped her lips.
"Hmm...... But, oppa."
"Yeah."
"I have a question."
"What."
Bom thought briefly of the ninth-day rite before speaking.
"When you meet someone, parting comes eventually, right?"
"Does it?"
"That's how everyone lives."
"Yeah. Probably."
"Someday, we'll have to part from you too, oppa."
"......"
He didn't respond.
Bom was right. Parting would come eventually.
Yoo Ji-tae knew that.
When his mind had wavered in the Apocalyptic Clock's forge. And when he'd steadied his shaken spirit through Winter upon returning.
Yoo Ji-tae had decided to change his approach to the seventh cycle.
All because of what Bom had just said.
In this inescapable cycle of existence, where parting loomed inevitably at the end, what should a human do while living day to day?
He had pondered it.
And arrived at a simple answer.
Give his all in every moment.
The end would leave regrets in some form or another, but he vowed not to regret anything from failing to give enough.
So now, he resolved to give the kids only good things. No overthinking the aftermath. No calculations. Just give purely, whatever it was.
But there was one target this mindset was veering dangerously toward. Bom.
He had to give her what she wanted, but he still wasn't sure what that was.
She seemed to crave attention. Or him. Or maybe just affection.
Yet Bom had held to a certain line until recently.
There was a difference between teasing and sincerity.
And between inside the house and out.
She'd cross lines casually in jest but never in earnest.
Outside, she'd tease freely, but once inside, she'd draw a firm boundary.
Why?
Bom's behavior remained a puzzle to Yoo Ji-tae.
As he mulled it over and focused on the road, Bom suddenly drew closer. A sidelong glance revealed her right there.
"What're you doing."
"Focus on driving."
"......"
He probably should.
Bom looked pretty today, after all. Turning his head would ruin his concentration.
As he kept his eyes on the road, fingertips brushed his cheek.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"What're you doing, I said."
"......"
"Sit properly. Buckle up."
"It's fine. I'm not a kid. And not human."
Bom stifled a giggle.
Yoo Ji-tae felt awkward. Her laughter rang too clearly in his ear.
That was only the beginning.
Bom boldly touched his cheek. Pinched his earlobe. Then caressed it ever so gently with the lightest touch.
"Hey. Cut it out."
He grew more awkward.
He'd acknowledged his romantic feelings. Ever since, whenever Bom teased him like this, his mind genuinely went blank.
But they were driving right now.
"Bom. Stop it. What if I hit someone by accident?"
"You won't."
True. If he stayed focused, there'd be no accidents. And if there were, Bom could handle it herself.
Bom was teasing him right up to that line.
"Stop."
"Mmm."
"What's with the 'mmm'."
She was stubborn, so he tried soothing her.
"Yoo Bom."
In response came more fingers. He squirmed despite himself, and she hummed with laughter.
By then, the car passed the tollgate and merged onto the highway. Bom inched cautiously closer.
Leaning in a bit more, she traced his neck.
Her fingers had purpose. Down the Adam's apple. Along the jawline. Then her index finger grazed his lips.
Growing awkward, he tilted his head aside; her arm fell short. Undeterred, she leaned further and stroked his nose.
The nose was more bearable than the lips. No real thoughts stirred.
As he held still, Bom suddenly slipped her index finger into his nostril? No—she sniffed lightly, then brought it to his lips.
"Hey, hey. That's gross."
There was nothing dirty about it, but as he shook his head, Bom clutched her stomach, stomped her feet, and held back laughter desperately.
By all rights, it should have ended there.
But like a child finally getting her hands on a long-coveted toy, Bom showed no sign of stopping.
She was enjoying the teasing so much that, despite his torment, he couldn't bring himself to make her stop.
A moment later, she lowered her hand and pressed her lips to his ear.
What now? Why so quiet?
His mind was already blank. He couldn't release the wheel. Couldn't turn toward Bom.
Pucker...
A strange sound reached him.
Pucker, smack, slurp...
Puck. Smooch. Slurp...
What the hell was this?
Soon enough, Yoo Ji-tae realized what Bom was doing.
With her lips slightly parted by his ear, she was flicking her tongue and lips to make the noises. The moment it clicked, he nearly lost his grip on reason.
"Hey, Bom. What the—"
His voice came out louder than usual, and Bom dissolved into hysterics. "Kyaa! Ahahaha!"
Her body tilted precariously. Laughing uncontrollably, she couldn't steady herself. "Ah." Her hand shot out—to Yoo Ji-tae's abdomen, propped against the seat. Her palm met the sharp lines of his four-pack abs. Startled, Bom yanked back.
That brief touch—its weight—left Yoo Ji-tae reeling.
Bom looked utterly flustered. She panted raggedly, fidgeted with her hand, then sat primly in place without a word for a good while.
Now he understood.
This was it.
The line between teasing and sincerity.
It was fine when she was doing the teasing. It was just a joke.
But when the situation veered unexpectedly out of her control—when it stopped being teasing—Bom short-circuited, just like now.
He felt awkward. If she'd been bold about it, he might not have minded. But confirming her shyness only made his face heat up.
"Um... that thing......"
"Huh? Oh."
"It's, um...... so ripped."
"Yeah, kinda."
"Can I touch it?"
"What?"
"Ah, is that weird...... I didn't mean it strange......"
"......"
Emotions long dormant had revived, taking root in his heart in the form of a child's whims.
It had been the same just recently, tormenting Birdbrain in the underground fortress. Purely childish revenge.
The same now. After years without interest in women, with those feelings reborn as romance, Yoo Ji-tae recalled Gaeul's words from some time back.
—Ajusshi's just a kid...!
Absurd.
But Gaeul wasn't wrong.
"...You wanna touch?"
"Um...... Yeah......"
"Then go ahead."
Right there while driving.
Bom sneaked a glance at his eyes, then cautiously placed her hand on his abdomen.
Yoo Ji-tae briefly tuned out the sensation in his core. No problem that way.
......
But relaxing was his mistake. Even muted, he felt Bom's touch. The texture through his shirt.
"It's so...... um...... hard."
"Yeah. Muscles, y'know."
"Mine's, um...... all soft......"
"You don't work out."
He spoke half in a daze, unsure of his own words.
"......"
Then her touch lifted. Tension eased. Comfortably, he glanced sideways.
And caught Bom—t-shirt hiked up to her underwear, fiddling with her own belly.
For a moment, time froze.
Her white abdomen. The navel below.
The slender line of her waist.
The faint outline of abs. And the slight glimpse of white underwear.
All flooded his vision in an instant.
"......?"
Bom, still toying with her belly, looked up.
Their eyes met.
Growing awkward, Yoo Ji-tae fixed his gaze on her face. More flustered than him, Bom sloooowly tugged her shirt down.
Soon, her belly was covered.
"......"
Anxiety clouded Bom's expression.
Only then did he turn back to the road.
He'd seen plenty of women's stomachs. Dragons' too. Gaeul's clothes often rode up in her fluster. Yeoreum always wore crop tops. But those never stirred anything in him.
Of all things, Bom's.
"Why look over while driving......"
Bom's shy murmur.
Her careful voice carried a hint of wetness.
"Sorry......"
Bad thoughts crept in.
Good thing they were in the car.