GOL Ch 2

“…D, dog.”

“What?”

“A, a dog we raise at my parents’ house. He’s ten years old this year. He’s a, a mixed breed, and he was licking me in my sleep, so I thought he was, was Woong…”

Terrified, I blurted it out, and immediately regretted it.

I just told the obsessive, psychotic top that I mistook him for a mutt from the countryside!

I hastily added,

“Our Minwoong is a, a mixed breed, but his mother is a Jindo dog! So, so he’s not, not completely a mutt…”

Actually, that was a lie. Our Woong is 100% pure mixed breed.

Now that I’d told a lie that could be easily exposed with a single photo, that crazy bastard might cut out my tongue.

I dropped to my knees.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“It was a lie!”

“What was a lie?”

Joo Seunghyuk lifted my chin. He then bent his knees, meeting my gaze.

“So, it’s a person after all, not a dog?”

“…”

I gulped. He looked like he could kill someone with just his eyes.

“I hate liars the most in the world.”

The moment I heard his low voice, all the blood in my body ran cold.

‘I hate liars the most in the world.’

These were the words Joo Seunghyuk uttered before killing Lee Yeonsoo in the original story.

So, it was a death flag after all. Despite all my efforts, I couldn’t change the original story.

Tears streamed down my face.

“Lee Yeonsoo.”

Even the way he softly called my name after the final warning was identical to the original story.

Resigned to my fate, I confessed the truth.

“O, our Minwoong is, is, totally a mutt.”

“What?”

“He’s not a Jindo. I, I’m sorry.”

“Pfft.”

As I tearfully apologized, I suddenly heard laughter.

What? Why is he laughing?

The question arose, but I didn’t have the courage to raise my head and check.

Then Joo Seunghyuk lifted my chin again. Unlike before, his eyes were soft.

“Hyung, if he’s a mutt, just say he’s a mutt. Why are you crying?”

“Huh?”

I was bewildered.

Why was Joo Seunghyuk calling me ‘hyung’?

Joo Seunghyuk had graduated high school early, making him a year younger than me. But even as classmates at the Academy, we had no personal relationship, so we weren’t close enough to use such informal terms.

More importantly, hadn’t he been speaking down to me just ten seconds ago?

But unlike my bewilderment, Joo Seunghyuk continued speaking with a bright smile.

“Hyung suddenly started crying and apologizing, so I misunderstood.”

“W, what misunderstanding?”

“I thought you were messing around with someone else besides me.”

“What? M, messing around?”

I was a good student. I never missed a top grade in the language section in my past life, and it was the same in this life.

Yet, I couldn’t understand what Joo Seunghyuk was saying.

As I stood there dumbfounded, he smirked and caressed my cheek.

“It would piss me off if it wasn’t your first time, but it was mine.”

“What? If it was your first time, then could it be…?”

This time, I could understand the meaning of his words a little more clearly.

Joo Seunghyuk was naked, and so was I. We had slept in the same bed, and Joo Seunghyuk had licked my earlobe as soon as he woke up.

Upon hearing the words “first time,” the signals I had been desperately ignoring coalesced into a single form.

“Did we…sleep together…?”

“…Don’t you remember?”

Joo Seunghyuk’s eyes, which had softened momentarily, flashed coldly again.

He looked as if he would kill me instantly if I said I didn’t remember.

Looking into his cold, black eyes, the hope that Joo Seunghyuk might have been joking vanished like smoke.

༺♛༻

Last night was the freshman welcoming party.

It was a long-standing event hosted by the student council, where both Guide and Esper students gathered, along with alumni of the Academy of Abilities.

Honestly, I didn’t want to attend.

This year was when the main bottom, ‘Kim Jun,’ entered the academy. In other words, it was the time the original story began.

Furthermore, the freshman welcoming party was the fateful place where the main top and main bottom had their first encounter.

Frankly, I was curious about what the main bottom looked like, but my personal safety came before idle curiosity.

So, I intended to stay quietly in my dorm and do nothing.

However, without my knowledge, I was chosen as the student representative for the welcoming party, forcing me to drag my feet there.

I planned to give the welcoming speech to the freshmen and return, but as soon as I stepped down from the podium, I was caught by the seniors.

And as I kept drinking, pressured by people who insisted I have “just one more drink,” I eventually blacked out.

That was it. I had no memory of exchanging greetings with Joo Seunghyuk, let alone sleeping with him.

What should I do…

Yesterday was the fateful day when the main top and main bottom were supposed to meet for the first time.

But why was that obsessive, psychotic top sleeping in my bed, the mere villainous sub-bottom’s? Why did he spend the night with me?

It was absurd and frustrating. And above all, terrifying.

What should I do? What can I do?

But I couldn’t lie and say I remembered when I had no memory of it.

Because Joo Seunghyuk hated lies. I absolutely did not want to do anything that the obsessive, psychotic top disliked.

As I trembled, trying to recall last night’s events, he wrapped a blanket around me, opened the refrigerator, and took out a 500mL bottle of water.

The way he acted as if my room were his own was frightening.

“Drink this.”

He handed me the water.

“Thank you.”

“Hyung, speak comfortably. We agreed to drop the formalities, right?”

I knew that Lee Yeonsoo in the original story had been brutally killed for speaking informally to Joo Seunghyuk despite being a year older. How could I possibly drop the formalities?

Carefully, I spoke while gauging Joo Seunghyuk’s reaction.

“Honestly, I don’t remember last night…”

“I’d be very disappointed if you didn’t remember.”

“…”

Joo Seunghyuk’s voice dropped ominously. A chill far colder than when he asked about Minwoong ran through the air.

“It was my first time, you know.”

I barely managed to suppress the words “You?” from bursting out.

Having read the original story, I knew full well how promiscuous Joo Seunghyuk was.

“I, I see…”

But I couldn’t call him out on his lie. If I did, he might try to kill me, questioning how I knew about his private life.

Without a thought about his own lie, of course.

“Don’t you remember that either?”

Joo Seunghyuk widened his eyes.

He wore an innocent expression as if hurt, but the underlying intensity in his gaze was fierce, creating a dissonance like a black panther pretending to be a kitten.

“Ah, th, that is…”

“Or are you pretending not to remember because you don’t want to take responsibility?”

“Responsibility?”

“I told you I’m a virgin, didn’t I?”

“What?”

“I said I’m a virgin, so it has to be with someone I’m going to marry. You said you’d take responsibility, didn’t you?”

“…”

Joo Seunghyuk a virgin? Even Minwoong would laugh at that.

But that wasn’t the important part…

“D, did I say that?”

“You did.”

His words were clipped, and the coldness he had momentarily concealed burst forth.

“I said no, that we shouldn’t do this, but you kissed me first.”

“Th, that’s impossible…”

“How can you be so sure? You said you don’t remember.”

Just as he said, I didn’t remember last night.

Even if I tried to deduce what happened based on the original story, it would be nothing more than conjecture.

In this situation, Joo Seunghyuk’s words had to be the truth.

He was the only one who knew what happened last night.

“That, I…”

“Do you have someone else? Were you lying when you said it was your first time?”

His voice dripped with malice. Startled, I shook my head vehemently.

“N, no! It was my first time! It was my first time too!”

“That’s a relief. I didn’t want to start things off bloody.”

“Huh?”

“I wouldn’t mind, but you wouldn’t like it, would you?”

“…”

If I had said I had someone else, would you have killed me?

Unable to voice the thought that bloomed in my mind, I froze. Joo Seunghyuk, as if oblivious, smiled innocently.

“I’m glad I was your first, hyung.”

༺♛༻

I was able to escape from Joo Seunghyuk’s embrace under the pretense of class.

It was a relief that I had a lecture first thing in the morning.

The Korean Academy of Abilities, also known as the “KAA,” where I currently attended, was Korea’s top educational institution for ability users.

Originally under the Ministry of National Defense, it had been transferred to the newly established “Ministry of Abilities” twenty years ago, a government branch dedicated to Espers and Guides.

At that time, in line with globalization efforts, there was an attempt to change the official name to “Korean Academy of Abilities,” but it was abandoned due to unfavorable public opinion, and the name “Academy of Abilities” remained to this day.

However, the change in affiliation brought many internal changes.

While everything had been military-style before, much had changed, and now it resembled a regular university, except for a few regulations like wearing uniforms during training.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I looked for Jihee noona.

She was an A-rank Guide and had been next to me at the freshman welcoming party. So she would know what happened last night.

“Jihee noona!”

“Lee Yeonsoo, are you okay?”

But before I could ask, her concern came pouring out.

“Huh?”

“Why would you accept every drink they offered? You should have known when to stop!”

“I didn’t want to ruin the mood…”

“Ugh, next time, ignore them, whether they’re alumni or seniors. They’re such pains.”

Noona clicked her tongue in disgust.

Due to the strict hierarchy at the KAA, there was a culture of not refusing drinks offered by seniors, but yesterday had been particularly bad.

It was the first time I had drunk enough to black out.

“It’s a good thing Joo Seunghyuk helped you.”

“J, Joo Seunghyuk?”

Joo Seunghyuk’s name came out of her mouth first.

“Yeah. You were so drunk, you clung to Joo Seunghyuk.”

“…”

The moment I heard Jihee noona’s words, a fleeting memory of hugging Joo Seunghyuk’s neck surfaced.

I thought Joo Seunghyuk was lying when he said I had seduced him. I assumed he made it up because he knew I didn’t remember.

But did I really throw myself at him?!

My mind went blank.