101 – White…and soft…
Noah’s gaze fell upon Julianna.
[Suddenly, is it reasonable for so much blood to be flowing? No matter how strong the stimulation is—…Ugh!]
Noah pressed his hand against Julianna’s mouth, his face turning bright red. After some time, Noah managed to calm down, and Julianna was able to speak.
[Ahem, anyway! This guy is definitely hiding something else! Whether it’s an illness or a wound…! Ah! By the way, look here.]
Julianna pointed at Lian’s upper body, causing Noah’s face to flush red. Unable to find his focus, his gaze wandered, and Julianna clicked her tongue.
[Why are you acting like you’ve never seen a man’s body before?]
As Julianna said, Noah had seen a man’s body before. Living as a crossdresser, he unintentionally saw men casually taking off their shirts next to him.
“How is this similar to that time?!”
Noah couldn’t understand why he was so shaken, even as he spoke. He worried about Lian, feeling restless, and his face remained flushed. Julianna watched Noah’s reaction and smiled like a cat, then quickly composed herself and spoke.
“You’re too embarrassed to look properly, aren’t you?”
Julianna pointed her index finger near Lian’s collarbone and spoke.
“All the scars that were there are gone. Completely.”
“..!”
Noah, who had been diligently rolling his eyes, turned his gaze towards Lian’s upper body. Just as she said, there were no visible scars, only the sight of his s*xy muscles.
“How is this possible…?”
“You never heard about the scars, did you?”
“No, I didn’t…”
Julianna murmured softly and spoke.
Sigh, I didn’t expect there would still be something hidden.
Juliana’s sigh and lament pierced Noah’s heart like an arrow. No matter how much she tried to protect him, Lian always hid her own wounds.
Noah let out a sigh of relief, as if his head was sinking slightly. He no longer wanted to be trapped in despair like in the past.
“If she’s hiding something, I’ll find out.”
Why is Lian keeping things about herself a secret?
Noah believed that the reason behind it was “trust” and “faith.” If Lian thought of him as someone she could rely on, she would have willingly shared her own scars and pain.
However, it doesn’t mean that Lian doesn’t trust Noah. Her trust and faith are different from those formed in an equal relationship.
“It’s like the trust and faith a parent has for their child… only that.”
Just like how parents don’t want to burden their children with their own hardships, wanting to show only the good things. Lian also doesn’t reveal her wounds to others.
Noah looked at Lian’s peacefully sleeping face and made a silent promise.
“I’ll protect her this time.”
While Noah was firm in his determination,
Knock, knock!
The door opened with a creaking sound. Noah immediately recognized who it was.
“Hyung, are you here…?”
As siblings, Nero entered the room without hesitation. But upon seeing the scene before him, he was at a loss for words.
Noah, who was about to say something to Nero, froze like he was under a spell at the sight of Nero’s stunned expression.
“Nero, what’s the matter…”
“I’m sorry.”
“What…?”
Bang!
Before Noah could react, Nero forcefully closed the door and left. Noah stood there, raising his hand awkwardly, looking towards the door. Juliana, with a sinister expression, covered her mouth and chuckled.
Noah still couldn’t comprehend the situation and could only stare at the door with a blank expression. Then, Nero’s voice came from outside the door.
“Lily! Not your brother, but your sister finally seduced Lian-hyung!”
“What, wha, what…?!”
Noah turned his head abruptly, startled, and looked towards Lian. It was only then that he realized his own appearance, standing on the disheveled bed, having taken off his shirt because he couldn’t leave the blood-soaked clothes as they were, while Lian lay on the bed, hastily putting on clothes. Noah realized too late that this could easily be misunderstood.
“Wa, wait! Nero, just a moment!”
Noah’s face turned bright red as he stumbled down from the bed.
Thud!
“Ouch…!”
Rushing down, he tumbled on the floor. Noah groaned softly as he ran towards the door and opened it, but Nero was already gone.
He wanted to chase after Nero and hold him back, but he couldn’t leave Lian in that state. Noah turned his head quickly and looked at Juliana as he spoke.
“Juliana! I’ll bring Lily, so please take care of Lian!”
Juliana quickly understood that his words included ‘messing with Nero’ as well.
“Nero!!”
Thump.
Noah rushed out of the room, and Juliana, who was left alone, waved her hand lightly before turning to look at Lian.
“Oh well… It seems it’ll take a while before I can see my grandson and granddaughter.”
Juliana pursed her lips, but faithfully stayed by Lian’s side, just as Noah had asked.
“Where am I?”
I was floating in a strangely white and pink world.
“That…?”
At the end of my gaze was a large fruit that seemed like something out of a fairy tale… a peach.
“It’s so pretty.”
Lost in a daze, my thoughts flowed freely. The white and pink peach floated by like it was bobbing in water.
“Huh…?”
Those peaches, one by one, started multiplying. It felt like a peach river swimming past me. Naturally, my hand touched the peach.
“So soft…”
I tilted my head in awe at the squishy texture, like a squash that children play with.
“Isn’t this a peach?”
I muttered absentmindedly as I examined the peach. Yeah, that wasn’t a peach but…
…I woke up from my dream.
***
“Ah.”
With a short gasp, Lian’s eyes flickered open. Lian recalled the scene from the dream they had just seen with a vacant expression. It was like heaven in hell.
“I thought I was suffocating…”
The peaches that filled the surroundings suddenly started rushing towards Lian like waves, as if trying to suffocate them.
“I lived because it was soft.”
If the peach had been firm, I would have crushed it. As I thought about that, blinking absentmindedly, I gradually became aware of my surroundings.
“Where is this…?”
Lian slowly began to grope for his last memories.
“Surely… I came to Noah’s room at Lily’s request to keep Noah from leaving, and…”
Feeling his way through the darkness like a blind man, Lian suddenly sat up straight, simultaneously covering his mouth with his hand. More precisely, he covered his nose.
If he had been a little late, blood would have gushed out again. Lian shook his eyes restlessly with a reddened face.
“Oppa! Don’t move suddenly!”
Lily, who had arrived in the room and was examining Lian’s complexion, grabbed Lian’s arm with a startled expression. Seeing Lian covering his mouth as if trying to stop something, she paled and spoke.
“Oh, oppa, are you okay? Do you feel like vomiting blood again?”
“…?”
Lian, who was in a state of confusion due to “that memory,” regained his composure at Lily’s words. When he glanced up, he saw Nero and Noah looking at him with worried eyes.
“What happened?”
Lian’s gaze briefly touched Nero, whose cheeks were swollen. It looked as if he had just finished a fight, even his hair was disheveled.
He wanted to ask Nero what had happened, but he couldn’t easily find the words. It was because Noah was standing next to Nero.
“Ugh… I, I can’t look him in the eye.”
Clearly, the comedy filter was applied properly, emitting denser steam than usual, blocking Lian’s view. The problem was that Lian and Noah were too close.
What Lian wouldn’t have seen originally was now in his line of sight, and he panicked.
For Lian, who had lived in a comedy world where the laws of the world censored themselves, it was a very stimulating event.
What should I say to turn this around? Lian, for the first time, found himself in a state where he couldn’t even speak because Noah was recognized as a “woman.” He had been the man who received the love of a unicorn.
“What was that just now? It felt like I heard something really unpleasant.”
Lian felt a strange sense of unease, as if she had been insulted, and lifted her head only to be brought back to her senses by Lily’s cautious touch.
From Noble mtl dot com
While Lian was lost in thought, the air became heavy. Thanks to diverting her thoughts elsewhere, she no longer felt like she was going to burst out laughing, so she raised her hands to show that she was fine.
“Hey guys, I-“
“Is it really painful?”
“Cough…!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Noah came closer, filling her field of vision. Thanks to Noah’s cross-dressing, she didn’t burst out laughing, but she choked on her saliva.
“Cough, cough!”
“Oppa!”
“Lian…!!”
“Hyung!”
As Lian coughed as if she was about to cough up blood, pale voices poured in from all directions. Her flushed face looked as if it had been flushed due to coughing.
Lian lowered her head and raised one hand, speaking in a suppressed voice.
“I’m, I’m fine. Really, truly… Cough, cough…!”
Lian couldn’t bring herself to look at Noah with a straight face, so she covered her mouth with one hand and couldn’t lift her head.
Lian couldn’t even imagine how she would appear to others in that state.