You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 60

Alright. So this is how you want to play it.

Karhan hadn’t shown his face to me for days. He said he would meet me if I made an appointment, so I barely managed to set a time and went to his office, but he only asked what my business was without even glancing at me. Moreover, he dismissed me, telling me to leave if I had no business. My face turned red and my hands trembled at this.

Now, any feelings of hurt had disappeared, and only anger filled my head. How could he treat me like this? He said we were friends. We’re friends! How could he embarrass me so severely between friends! I gritted my teeth and trembled. The veins on my hands bulged as I gripped the bedcover.

I familiarly returned to my bird form and stood on the bed. I pushed through the soft, sinking blanket and hid my body in the corner of the room. Let’s see who wins. I ground my beak irritably.

As I was holed up in the corner of the room, I heard a knock at the door. Hoping it might be him, I turned around to see my personal attendant’s face peeking through the slightly opened door.

“Sir Seol. It’s mealtime. Are you going to the dining room today as well?”

So it’s already that time. I was hungry. If I skipped this meal, I would surely suffer until the next mealtime. After a moment’s consideration, I spoke.

“Peck peck! Peck!”

“Pardon?”

“Ppi-yak!”

As this attendant was one of the few who knew I was a shapeshifter, I answered without hesitation. But despite my polite response, the attendant seemed not to understand and asked again. Karhan used to understand me just fine.

“Peep!”

I stretched out my neck from the corner of the room and shouted loudly. The attendant remained silent for a moment, then hesitantly opened their mouth.

“Please answer once if you want to eat in your room, twice if you want to eat in the dining room, and three times if you want to skip the meal.”

“Peck!”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll bring your meal shortly.”

Having received a sufficient answer, they closed the door immediately. I plopped down with my bottom against the corner of the room. My small body fit perfectly into the corner. Bad Karhan. I may have made a mistake, but to treat me so coldly. I was a fool for thinking we were friends.

After waiting for a while, huffing and puffing, the food arrived. It was the same amount I usually ate in human form. A large plate with a steak was placed on the floor instead of on the table.

I got up and approached the plate. There was a knife and fork beside it, but they were too large for me to handle in my bird form. After staring blankly at the steak for a moment, I lowered my head and pecked at it.

“Pee-yuk.”

I held the steak with my foot and chewed it slowly with my beak. It wasn’t easy to cut with my beak instead of a knife, but judging by the sound of it tearing bit by bit, it wasn’t impossible. I pecked at it persistently until drool was dripping, and finally, a piece came off.

“Peck peck.”

I repeated this action several times, devouring the food ravenously.

“Pee-keuk.”

There was still a lot of steak left on the plate, but for a bird’s body, this was enough to feel full. As evidence, my chest had puffed up.

Because I ate without using utensils, my feathers were covered in meat juice, but I didn’t care. I was going to become a rogue bird from now on, so such things didn’t matter. I walked towards the door with my eyes shining sharply. Then I shouted loudly.

“Peck! Pee-yak!”

Open the door! I screamed at the top of my lungs, and the door cracked open slightly. I quickly darted out through that opening. The attendant was surprised twice – once by my slipping out like a loach, and again by my body covered in steak sauce. With a somewhat troubled expression, they looked down at me and said.

“…You need to be washed.”

The attendant bent down and slowly reached out their hand. I can’t let that happen. I quickly flapped my wings. Perhaps because of the sauce thickly coating my body, it was harder than usual to take flight, but after vigorously shaking my body, I managed to rise into the air.

I became a free bird and flew away quickly. Glancing back, I saw the attendant hurriedly following. I felt sorry for them, but I, who had already become a wild delinquent in my heart, couldn’t stop myself.

The place I arrived at after flying hard with my sticky wings was in front of Karhan’s office. The attendant who always guarded the office raised an eyebrow at my appearance. But that was the only reaction; they neither blocked me nor let me in, just standing still. I stood proudly in front of them and shouted loudly.

“Pee-yak!”

Karhan!

I shouted loud enough for it to be heard inside the room. Huh, I knew it. Despite my call, the door didn’t budge at all. Let’s see how long you can hold out. While I stood waiting in front of the door for a moment, the attendant who had been chasing me arrived behind me. Ignoring that, I shouted loudly once more.

“Peck! Pee-yak!”

Open the door!

Karhan treated me well when I was in human form, but he took even better care of me when I was a bird. He seemed to favor me a bit more. Even if I got angry or hit his cheek with my wing, he would accept it all without showing any signs of displeasure. Of course, I had never tried hitting his cheek in human form, so I couldn’t compare exactly.

I shouted loudly with an angry face, but still, the door didn’t open. The attendant behind me, who had been quietly observing the situation, gently picked me up. I was lifted as easily as a doll in a claw machine. Thinking this was my last chance, I shouted loudly one more time.

“Pee-yak!”

This can’t be! You can’t do this to me! I struggled desperately while trapped in their hand. Flap flap, I flapped my wings so violently that a few feathers fell out, and shouted loudly, but the tightly closed door didn’t open. Even as I gazed longingly with desolate eyes, not even a single strand of Karhan’s hair was visible.

In the end, I was unceremoniously transported back to my room and thoroughly scrubbed clean.

🐤

Liras, who was inside the office, bent over and covered his mouth. His bright red ears were visible through his long, flowing hair.

Karhan, who had been watching this scene, raised his hand and rubbed his face. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but he too had a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

After suppressing his laughter for a long time with his head bowed, Liras cleared his throat. He had come to see Karhan to inquire about a disturbing dream he had recently, only to witness a bird crying desperately outside before being dragged away. The “peck peck” cries were so loud they penetrated the closed office door.

He wanted to laugh out loud, but held back due to the bird’s pitiful cries. It seemed there was something going on between that bird and Karhan. Raising one eyebrow, he asked.

“Did you two have a fight?”

“No.”

“Then why didn’t you open the door?”

At Liras’s question, Karhan’s slightly parted lips closed into a straight line. His sulky expression, so unlike Karhan, was captured in Liras’s mischievous green eyes.

Liras maintained his smile as he observed Karhan. His curved eyes masked his sharp gaze.

Although he pretended to visit the office casually, Liras had actually come to gather information. Perhaps because of the dream, recently reality kept overlapping with his dreams. It wasn’t serious yet, so it was fine, but a strong warning rang out in his mind that he shouldn’t take this lightly now.

Karhan, sitting across from him, sighed. Although he needed to be more alert than usual when meeting Liras alone, the amusing situation outside kept trying to draw a smile on his lips. He tried his best not to laugh. Of course, it wasn’t easy.

To compose himself, he picked up the teacup in front of him. After taking a careful sip, he opened his mouth.

“Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Ah. It’s nothing much… By any chance, is there a man you’re interested in?”

“Pardon?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Karhan uncharacteristically asked for clarification. He furrowed his brows and looked at Liras with questioning eyes, but Liras only smiled with crescent eyes without saying anything. He simply urged for an answer with his silence. Finally, after a moment’s pause, Karhan spoke.

“There isn’t.”

“Is that so? Hmm…”

At Karhan’s answer, Liras nodded and let out a nasal sound. Was it just a simple dream after all? He leaned back in his chair and looked at the teacup. The ornate chandelier was reflected in the lightly rippling surface.

The chances of a dragon’s dream having no meaning were as rare as could be. Even trivial dreams could be helpful later and often contained hidden meanings. Narrowing his eyes, he casually brought up the subject.

“Do you know a man named Doel?”

“…Why are you asking about him, Lord Liras?”

“So he exists.”

Liras’s green eyes instantly narrowed into sharp, needle-like slits. He didn’t take his predatory gaze off Karhan. A sense of elation began to creep up from deep within his heart.

The person he knew nothing about, who had only appeared in his dream, actually existed. Near Karhan, just like in the dream.

Karhan’s eyelids moved rapidly at the sight of Liras suddenly lost in thought. The Liras he knew wasn’t one to fall into deep contemplation to the point of ignoring the person in front of him. First Seol, and now Liras mentioning Doel and reacting like this – the thought flashed through his mind that there might be something hidden about him.

“Is there something about Sir Doel?”

“Sir?”

“Yes. He’s an apprentice knight of our Barthes Duchy.”

“…Are you not in any kind of relationship with him?”

“No, we are not.”

Karhan’s brow furrowed at the somehow familiar repertoire. Liras, sensing something suspicious in Karhan’s response that seemed to express distaste, asked.

“Where did you meet him? Don’t you feel any attraction? Nothing at all?”

Karhan’s eyebrow twitched at the flood of questions. Then he answered in a voice that seemed to be holding back.

“We met in the Sabon region, and I feel no attraction whatsoever. He’s just an employee, nothing more.”

“The Sabon region?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Liras’s green eyes gleamed like glass marbles. Except for the fact that Karhan had no relationship with him, reality matched the dream exactly. There were a few things that bothered him, but that was an issue he could consider after one more confirmation.

He calmly raised his hand and brushed his fine hair once. Then, lowering it slowly, he changed his sharply raised pupils to look exactly like a human’s. With a deep smile, he asked.

“I’d like to meet this human called Doel. Where is he now?”

The green eyes hidden between his narrowly curved eyelids gleamed.