You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 87

Asdion, having left the room, finally let out the breath he had been holding. His violently beating heart wouldn’t calm down. He roughly rubbed his face with his hand and slumped against the wall.

“Why. Why. Why on earth?”

The trembling that had spread not only through his mind but also his body simply wouldn’t subside. He already knew that Asmil didn’t want a deep relationship. He had kept that firmly in mind, hiding it well until now and maintaining even a light relationship.

But that had been shattered. He couldn’t stop his lips from moving on their own. The hatred and disgust that had been hard to bear since kidnapping that bird had gradually increased at the edges of his mind, then consumed his entire body, and finally exploded at the end.

The thought that he had ruined everything consumed his mind, making it impossible to think straight.

“I hate it. I hate humans and bird people who ruin everything.”

As Asdion slowly closed his eyes, visions appeared in his darkening sight.

He must have been about five or six years old. Asdion was handed over to humans without knowing why. The bird people pushed his back with calm faces, as if they were just sending him on a trip.

Despite feeling slightly anxious, he took the hand of the unfamiliar human as the adults told him to, and he felt the gazes of those around him watching. As he was being pulled along by the human who was hurrying his steps, he turned his head to look back, and saw them nodding with sighs of fear and relief.

As soon as they left the village, he could understand why people had looked at him that way and let out such sighs. The human leading Asdion’s hand revealed their true colors, clamping large, hard shackles on his ankles. Instantly, regardless of his will, Asdion transformed into a bird form and was immediately caged.

The young Asdion was dragged to a dark auction house without knowing why. He tried to resist out of fear, but the humans, as if they had expected this, raised their weapons and brought them down quickly. It was the beginning of a long month of abuse, saying that thinking beasts needed to be well-trained from a young age.

By the time his tears had dried up and he was filled only with thoughts that he might die soon…

‘Can I have that?’

Asdion could say with certainty that that beautiful voice had changed his world.

His closed eyelids lifted, revealing yellow eyes gleaming ominously.

Asdion, who had been sitting against the wall, walked slowly as if possessed, lifting his heels. He entered a dark room without turning on the lights and stood in front of a small drawer. His hand slowly extended to grasp the lock sealing the drawer. The feeling of the rusty metal against his skin was not pleasant.

His protruding Adam’s apple moved greatly up and down, and with a crashing sound, the lock in Asdion’s hand shattered miserably. The debris fell with a dull sound, littering the floor.

With a click, the long-closed drawer opened, revealing an object with a small magic stone embedded in it.

🐤

I came out to the garden with the servant and looked up at the high sky. Unlike my complicated feelings, the white fluffy clouds floating leisurely by seemed strangely resentful.

“Hah…”

I let out a big sigh that came from deep within. I raised both hands to cover my face and curled up. Then, once again, the voice that had been tormenting me since that day played in my head.

‘I like you. Seol, I hold you in my heart.’

I chewed on my lips. I grabbed my well-groomed hair with my hands and messed it up. Afraid that Karhan might hear, I only pretended to scream with my mouth wide open and rolled on the ground, grass leaves sticking to my clothes. After making a silent fuss for a while, I suddenly stopped as a thought struck me.

“Should I have held him back…?”

After hearing the confession, I had been voluntarily avoiding seeing Karhan. Or more accurately, I was too embarrassed to see him. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to organize my thoughts.

Karhan likes me, not Doel. No, that’s wrong! My thoughts got stuck from there. The scenario set in my mind was twisted from the premise, and I didn’t know what to do.

Why does he like me? Is it because I became that kind of friend with Karhan? We certainly did some strange things. As I recalled what had happened with Karhan, my face naturally turned red.

Whether from embarrassment or not, my heart beat foolishly. Even when I tried to calm it by clasping my hands together and beating my chest, it wouldn’t stop. Instead, it beat even harder, making my head spin. This shouldn’t be happening. I should be with Doel.

While I was covering my head with both hands, a gentle voice suddenly came from behind me.

“What are you doing here?”

I lifted my head in surprise and saw Doel standing right next to me, looking at me.

When I saw Doel’s kind brown eyes, I grabbed my head again. Have I stolen Doel’s lover? Am I the villain? I writhed in agony, frowning deeply as if crumpling a sheet of paper. I took a deep breath to calm down and looked up at Doel. I smiled, awkwardly raising the corners of my mouth.

“Hi, Doel. Um… I guess it’s break time?”

I hope that wasn’t awkward? As I glanced at Doel’s face, he tilted his head with round eyes. He seemed to sense something was off, but as I maintained a forced smile, gently creasing the corners of my eyes, Doel’s lips curved softly. He came over and plopped down next to me.

“It must have been hard for you?”

He asked quietly, meeting my gaze.

“I was really worried after you came back.”

I couldn’t sleep at all yesterday. He continued with a faint smile. Although the corners of his mouth were raised, the slight downward tilt of his eyebrows looked painful.

Seeing that face, I realized that not only Karhan but also Doel had been very worried about me. Along with feelings of guilt, gratitude and joy gently emerged, tickling my heart. The reality of having so many people worried about me filled the emptiness in my heart completely.

Unable to hide the emerging smile, I lowered my head, exhaling with a mix of joy.

Then I felt a heavy weight on my head. When I looked up, I saw a hand that had suffered much from training resting there. Doel, patting my head gently so as not to disturb it, spoke.

“So, can I ask what worries are in this little head?”

“Huh.”

I looked at Doel with round eyes. His gently curved eyes were looking at me with a bit of amusement. You knew all along. I bit my lip lightly and turned my head forward. Doel remained silent, perhaps waiting for me to speak first.

After debating whether I should confide in Doel of all people, I decided to speak as indirectly as possible and slowly opened my mouth.

“It’s nothing serious, just about a friend…”

“Mm, about a friend.”

I heard a voice tinged with laughter. I looked at Doel’s face with raised eyebrows, but his lips were drawn in a straight line as if the sound I heard was my imagination. Did I hear wrong? Feeling a bit suspicious, I tilted my head and examined him before clearing my throat and continuing.

“They received a confession, but…”

Perhaps because it was my first time giving love advice, my lips wouldn’t part easily, as if they were glued shut. Overcoming the difficulty, I slowly and haltingly continued.

“My friend… knew that the boy who confessed to them originally liked someone else, you know? But suddenly, he says he likes my friend.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“My friend is confused because they received a confession from someone unexpected. They don’t know what to do and just keep thinking about that boy all day. They say they can’t even exercise properly because they’re so preoccupied.”

All day long, my head was so full of Karhan that I couldn’t do anything else. While exercising, eating, even when I tried to clear my head by reading a picture book, the faces of the characters in it were replaced with Karhan’s.

I looked at Doel while nervously fidgeting with my fingers, and he raised his eyebrows. Doel made a humming sound and rested his chin on both hands, looking up at the sky. With a serious expression as if it were his own concern, he tapped his fingers on his chin and asked.

“What does your friend want to do?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t this why they’re worrying, because they need to give an answer?”

Could that be it? Am I worrying like this because I need to give Karhan an answer, as Doel said? If so, it would be easier. Since I’m a person who needs to return, I should reject him and wait to be with Doel… As I thought that far, my mouth clamped shut.

In my mind, I was shouting loudly that rejecting him was the right thing to do in order to return to my original world, but strangely, the words wouldn’t come out easily. Even though the answer for my sake was already decided, I couldn’t make the decision.

Why am I agonizing over this so seriously?

As my thoughts became tangled and I blankly watched the grass leaves swaying in the wind, suddenly, the reason why I couldn’t give an easy answer flashed by.

Right now, I’m accepting this world of the novel as reality. The reason I can’t give an answer carelessly is probably because I value Karhan.

As I gradually sorted out the complexity in my head, Doel, who was next to me, reached out and waved his hand in front of my eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah, I’m fine.”

I managed to pull back my mind that had wandered far and smiled, but Doel was already looking at me to an embarrassing degree. His gaze was honestly fixed on my face.

I stole my friend’s man! Feeling too sorry to say anything, I turned my gaze here and there, and Doel spoke in a voice that seemed indifferent yet concerned.

“I don’t know why you’re worrying so much, but it seems your friend’s heart is already somewhat inclined.”

Doel spoke with a raised corner of his mouth, in a tone as if he knew all about my situation. For a moment, I froze like a broken robot, unable to even ask what he meant. My lips and eyes that had been curved into a smile stopped in place, unable to return to normal.

Doel reached out and lightly pinched my cheek as he stood up. A small clicking of the tongue, hidden by the cool breeze, passed over my head.

“Think about it carefully.”

With those words, Doel turned his back and left the garden. I don’t know why his slowly receding figure looked so bitter.