You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 126
In an instant, a servant brought in a basin filled with warm water. Only after the servant left did Karhan kneel down. Looking up at me from below, he smiled subtly while rolling up his sleeves and reaching out his hand.
With my heart fluttering wildly, I cautiously extended my feet from within my tightly wrapped blanket. His large hands gently held my foot and slowly dipped it in the water, testing if it might be too hot. My heart felt like it would leap out of my mouth, making me bite my lower lip hard.
While softly holding and pressing my foot, Karhan asked:
“Is this what you wanted to do?”
“Mm-hmm.”
My voice trembled with embarrassment. Not wanting to reveal how much I was shaking, I deliberately kept my response short. With his head bowed while washing my feet, I couldn’t see what expression he was making.
“I can do this for you anytime.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Seol, if that’s what you want.”
“Then can you do it for me every single day?”
I asked with an unknowingly bright voice, filled with joy. Perhaps because of my excited tone, I heard Karhan’s soft laughter along with the splashing water. Feeling embarrassed, I cleared my throat with ahem hem.
After finishing one foot, Karhan carefully soaked the other in water. Along with the splashing sounds, he spoke:
“Don’t worry about your head. Once the molting is over, it will grow back quickly.”
“Molting… right?”
What if it’s actually balding? When I asked with round eyes, Karhan shook his head.
“Many animals molt during this season. Bird-folk are no different.”
I see… So this is happening because I’m bird-folk. Wait a minute. Then why didn’t Asmil and Asdion tell me about this? Asdion is bird-folk, and Asmil has lived long enough to know such basic information.
I frowned deeply and lowered my head.Asdion wouldn’t have told me since he dislikes me, and Asmil probably… most likely didn’t tell me because he found it amusing. Those jerks. Did they enjoy seeing me wrapped in despair that much?
As I was letting out sharp breaths, Karhan stopped washing my feet. After maintaining silence for a moment, he spoke:
“Have you forgiven me?”
If it’s just temporary molting and not balding… then it’s not such a big deal. I slowly nodded and answered:
“…Yes.”
When I answered softly, I heard Karhan’s amused breathing by my ear. As if forgetting about washing, he remained kneeling while continuing to fiddle with my foot. His touch was strangely ticklish, making my toes wiggle. When I tried to pull back slightly, his large hands wouldn’t let go.
“I’m glad you’re no longer angry.”
Somehow Karhan’s voice sounded bitter. I swallowed hard while gripping the blanket tighter. Karhan still wouldn’t look at me, keeping his head down.
“Where did you go for those two days?”
“Um… a friend’s place…?”
“Which friend?”
Somehow it felt like Karhan was interrogating me. I hesitated slightly, lips quivering, wondering if I should tell the truth or not. Thinking I shouldn’t be too open with Karhan about everything since I need my own privacy, I pressed my lips firmly shut.
When I didn’t answer, Karhan’s hands stopped moving. There was a squeaking sound as skin shifted sideways. As a heavy silence flowed between us, Karhan asked in an even lower voice than usual:
“After waiting those two days without a word from you, do you have nothing to say?”
My hands involuntarily tightened on the blanket. I could guess what words Karhan wanted from me, but my lips wouldn’t open. I stubbornly turned my head to the side.
“No.”
“No?”
Why is he scarily repeating my words? My mouth went dry from tension. Karhan, who had been looking down at my feet, slowly raised his head. One eye narrowed as he examined my face. His expression seemed to ask if I really had nothing to say. I straightened my back firmly and met Karhan’s gaze.
As I stared back stubbornly, one corner of Karhan’s mouth curved up slightly.
“Very well. You can tell me whenever you think of something to say.”
I’m not going to say anything though…?Karhan’s tone was full of confidence that he would hear my apology. His expression also looked annoyingly smug. Feeling uneasy, I tried to pull my foot back again, but his large hands wouldn’t release me.
“L-let go…”
I unknowingly stuttered. Feeling my voice trembling finely, Karhan smiled faintly, making me blush for no reason. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and barely managed to steady my wavering gaze.
Karhan, who had been gently stroking the top of my foot with his thumb, quietly spoke:
“There was a time before when you tried to tickle me.”
He must be talking about when I went to Asmil with Doel to prepare for the three days of Atlena. With an anxious heart, I slowly nodded while watching his reaction. Contrary to my feelings, the smile on Karhan’s lips grew even deeper.
“Seol.”
“Yes…?”
“Are you very ticklish?”
Why is he suddenly asking that?Like a goldfish, I opened and closed my mouth before shaking my head. An intense intuition told me I absolutely must not let him know how ticklish I am. But making my feelings futile, the sound of my gulping echoed loudly in our quiet space.
…He heard that, didn’t he?
I glanced up at the ceiling while lightly biting my lip. Karhan, watching me from below, pressed his thumb firmly against my sole as if giving a pressure point massage. After pressing soothingly for a moment, he suddenly raised his nail and dragged it upward.
“Eep!”
The ticklish sensation made me slightly bend my knees and curl my toes. Opening my eyes that I had squeezed shut from the sudden sharp sensation, I looked at Karhan to find him wearing a positively devilish smile.
Foreseeing what was about to happen to me, I hurriedly opened my mouth:
“D-don’t—eek!”
Karhan was truly a merciless, cold-blooded human. Before I could finish speaking, his fingers displayed dazzling movements. The hand gripping my ankle was like a carnivorous plant with a will of its own. No matter how much I struggled, it wouldn’t release my ankle and instead gripped even tighter.
“Hee-eek! Hnng, ugh!”
I can’t take anymore!I reached out and grabbed Karhan’s well-groomed hair, trying hard to push him away. But it seemed ineffective as Karhan continued tickling my soles with all his might without even frowning.
I wanted to shout “Stop!” but the ticklish sensation rising from my soles sealed my mouth shut. My mouth only burst out with unseemly laughter, forgetting it was meant for speaking. Letting go of Karhan’s hair, I grabbed the blanket to cover my face and screamed:
“J-just… hic… a moment… eek!”
My breath not only caught but completely stopped. Only when I was trembling and nearly dying did Karhan finally stop. But his large hands still gripped my ankles, so I couldn’t relax.
Breathing heavily from the sweet relief, I slowly said:
“That’s not fair! I didn’t tickle your feet back then!”
My loud voice was wet with tears. I must have started crying from being unable to endure the tickling. When I sat up and frowned fiercely at Karhan, he gazed at me steadily. Despite my fierce anger, Karhan’s silver-gray eyes watched me without wavering.
“Then I should do exactly the same. To be fair.”
Perhaps hurt by my calling him unfair, he added those words. Karhan, who had been gripping my thin ankle in one hand, finally released his strength and let me go. Glancing down, I saw red marks had been left behind.
Karhan slowly rose from his seat and reached out to firmly press down on my shoulders. As the soft bed embraced my back, unease crept up from my toes. Karhan naturally climbed on top of me after laying me down, his cool silver-gray eyes gleaming.
Bending down to press his lips against my ear, he quietly spoke:
“Do you still have nothing to say to me?”
Karhan was interrogating me. Tears of fear gradually welled up. I raised my hands to push against Karhan’s shoulders, but his heavy body didn’t move even a nail’s width. His solid arms slowly moved toward my sides.
Karhan was demanding an apology for my leaving without a word and not returning for two days. Though I understood his feelings, perhaps due to my meager pride, my lips wouldn’t easily open. My mouth moved hesitantly before firmly closing. At that, the long fingers that had finally reached my sides moved brilliantly.
“Kya-ah!”
I flopped around like a fish on land. A different kind of ticklish sensation from what I felt on my soles now radiated from my ribs. The fingers rubbing intensely against my thin skin scratched hard at the protruding parts before lightly brushing the dips in between.
With the attack coming from both sides and Karhan’s solid thighs crushing my body, I had nowhere to escape. Swallowing my breath withkkeuk kkeuksounds while flailing, I finally covered my face with the blanket again. Shamefully, it felt like drool might start dripping from the corners of my mouth.
“Hua, hee… st-op, ah!”
I don’t know what’s happening on this bed. In my briefly passing vision, I caught Karhan’s cool smile. Seeing that face, I became certain that if I didn’t surrender here and now, I wouldn’t survive.
Barely parting my lips contorted from tickling, I shouted loudly:
“I-hic-‘m s-sorry!”
At last, the hands tormenting my sides stopped. I desperately exhaled my held breath. Hot breath filled the blanket covering my face. Judging by the wetness around my mouth, I must have drooled while suffering from the tickling. Covering my face with the blanket had been a genius move.
Karhan’s large hands slowly rubbed my wrists. Rising up my skin with gentle touches that didn’t hurt, he removed the blanket covering my face. The face I met wore an elegant smile. Narrowed eyes and lips curved in a refreshing line – not a single flaw to be found.
“Explain what you’re sorry for.”
“Th-that… um… not contacting you for two days?”
“And what else?”
“Um… is there something else…?”
Nervously watching for his fingers to return to my sides, I asked carefully. Finding my wariness amusing, Karhan’s body shook with quiet laughter. Then he relaxed completely and fully crushed me beneath him. I could feel his firm, hot muscles squirming.
As I lay with my arms spread helplessly, the fingers lightly holding my wrists gradually moved up to tickle my palms. His warm hands slipped between my fingers to intertwine them.
“In the future, I’d like you to at least leave a message when you go somewhere. I couldn’t sleep from worry.”
“…Alright. But in return, don’t do things I tell you not to do.”
“I’m sorry for looking without permission, but I was worried you might be ill.”
Karhan lifted his head to look at me. After staring at my face for a moment, he lowered it again to press his lips against my eyelids. The lightchusensation that pulled away was soft.
“It’s been quite a while since we last did it.”
He murmured quietly while burying his face in my neck and shoulders. When Karhan took a deep breath, I felt his ticklish breath. Without realizing it, I slightly curled my toes and tensed my thighs. Knowing what Karhan meant, my face quickly turned bright red. My ears burned.
“Is now alright?”
“Um… it’s fine, but after we wash?”
When I indicated permission, Karhan grabbed my wrist and rose from his seat. As I stood up awkwardly from embarrassment, Karhan swept me up in his arms. Suddenly lifted into the air, I flailed in surprise before reaching out to grab his firm shoulders and bury my face against them.
The bathtub was already filled with warm water, though I didn’t know when he’d prepared it. What’s this? Did he prepare this before I came here? I looked up at Karhan with suspicious eyes, but he just maintained a subtle smile without saying anything.
Still fully clothed, Karhan held me close and entered the bathtub. The warm water soaked through our clothes, making them heavy. He sat me between his thighs and reached around from behind to make me lean against his chest. Through my small wings, I could feel his warm chest rising and falling with each breath.
After binding me with his strong arms like a seatbelt, his lips lightly bit my shoulder. While squirming, Karhan slowly began undoing his pants ties. Though I wondered what I should do about this creature harboring lecherous thoughts, I wasn’t exactly thinking differently myself, so I quietly watched before relaxing my body.
It seems we might have an encounter before actually washing.
