Resurrection Chapter 72 - Did It Feel Good?

I gnashed my teeth and swung the wooden sword around, but it was no use. Heesoo hyung didn’t even move from his spot as he dodged all of my swings. While doing so, he offered some unwelcome advice.

“Your movements are unnecessarily large. It’s useless to swing if you aren’t calm.”

“It’s useless even if I swing calmly, anyway!”

Instead of answering, Heesoo hyung raised the wooden sword he had let hang and slammed it down on mine. My arm was nearly broken, and I dropped the wooden sword. Seeing this, Heesoo hyung frowned slightly.

“If you continue like this, you’ll just lose the magic sword again even if you find it.”

Infuriated as I was, I didn’t pick the wooden sword back up. I threw my arms wide open and launched myself at him.

“Uraah!”

Heesoo hyung’s eyes widened, and I practically clung to him in an embrace. Heesoo hyung tried to step back to avoid the close-quarters fight that was more like a tantrum, but his legs got tangled up.

“Ah!”

“Ugh!”

We both let out short cries at the same time and tumbled to the ground. To be precise, I flattened Heesoo hyung.

Thud!

Having fallen into Heesoo hyung’s arms, I felt no different than if I had hit the ground. I had felt it earlier, but his body was really hard. If I tapped him with my fingertips, would it make the sound of striking steel?

He was only at Lv.61 now; I couldn’t imagine what he’d be like when he reached the max level. Would he become a giant or something?

I worried about useless things as I placed my hands on his chest and lifted my head.

“Does this count as my win?”

After saying that, I was a little surprised to see Heesoo hyung’s expression. He was frowning deeply.

He looked angry, perhaps because he was displeased that I had thrown away the wooden sword and attacked him with my body in the middle of sword training, so I hurriedly made an excuse.

“No, I mean… No matter what I do, there’s no way I can beat you, hyung. I know my skills are seriously lacking, but you kept telling me to come at you, so I got provoked without realizing it…”

As I rambled on, I saw Heesoo hyung turn his head sharply to the side. But the tips of his ears were reddish. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but even the nape of his neck looked flushed, which made me wonder if our spar had been that intense.

On the outside, he seemed perfectly at ease, without even his breathing being disturbed, but was that not the case? Wondering if I had managed to push Heesoo hyung in my own way, I stared at him, and he spoke as if in pain.

“Please move.”

“Oh? Okay.”

I realized I was on top of him and quickly tried to get up and move.

Just then, Heesoo hyung, who had asked me to move, suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled. Unable to get away, I ended up back where I was and looked down at Heesoo hyung, bewildered.

Strangely, hyung himself, who had pulled me, also seemed flustered. As if he couldn’t believe his own actions, he stared at the hand holding me before lifting his eyes to meet mine.

His gaze, which seemed to rest on my eyes, subtly slid down. I realized he was staring intently at my lips. A clear longing was present in that gaze, which made me flinch.

Suddenly becoming conscious of the situation where our bodies were pressed together, the arm he was holding throbbed. Then, as if sensing my mood, Heesoo hyung let go of my arm. Instead, he covered his own face with his forearm and spoke in a tone thick with guilt.

“…I don’t know why I’m being like this.”

“Wh-what?”

I asked, bewildered, and Heesoo hyung answered with almost too much honesty.

“Your lips, Mr. Yitae, have been catching my eye since a while ago. For some reason, I keep becoming conscious of them, and it’s tormenting me.”

“Wh… what?”

Hearing Heesoo hyung confirm with his own mouth the thought I had vaguely guessed at and denied as impossible was incredibly shocking.

My whole body felt like it was on fire, but I, on the contrary, froze completely. I was worried how flinching away from him as if burned would appear to Heesoo hyung. It was because if I showed too much aversion, Heesoo hyung might get hurt and never be honest again.

I forced my body, which was trying to flee from him, to stay down. Beneath me, as I remained frozen, Heesoo hyung continued to speak from under his forearm, his face growing redder.

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing him apologize, all sorts of complicated thoughts flashed through my mind. The words ‘I’m sorry’ contained various meanings beyond a superficial apology. There was also what I heard from Min Gongchan; he must find it strange and embarrassing himself to suddenly be conscious of me, another man.

But I thought I knew why Heesoo hyung was suddenly acting like this. As long as Ulfheðinn’s spirit possessions continued, it was something that couldn’t be hidden forever.

I sighed and said.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, hyung.”

“Then whose fault is it? Is it your fault, Mr. Yitae?”

What Heesoo hyung said out of self-blame sounded strangely suggestive. It sounded as if he were asking if I had seduced him, so I quickly shook my head from side to side.

“It’s no one’s fault. It’s Ulfheðinn’s fault!”

“Pardon?”

Perhaps because it was an answer he hadn’t expected, Heesoo hyung moved the forearm that was covering his face. I felt too embarrassed to look him straight in the face, so I lowered my eyelids and said.

“I couldn’t say it because it’s embarrassing… but it’s probably because Ulfheðinn kissed me. Even if it wasn’t your intention, hyung, your body still kissed me, after all. The memory must have unconsciously remained, and that’s why.”

Ah, I was prepared for this, but it’s more embarrassing than I thought.

Shame, bashfulness, embarrassment—all sorts of emotions washed over me like a tide. I resisted the urge to stroke my reddening cheeks and looked at him again.

And I was surprised.

Heesoo hyung’s expression had hardened frighteningly.

“Ulfheðinn did that to you, Mr. Yitae?”

“Uh, uh… I-I don’t know why…”

“Don’t tell me, every time he possessed you?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it had been multiple times, so I blushed. That seemed to be a more definite answer, as Heesoo hyung shot up into a sitting position. Because of that, I, who had been sitting on his lap, was brought even closer to Heesoo hyung and, flustered, tried to move my body back. Just then, he pulled me into a sudden hug.

“Oh…!”

As I gasped in surprise, Heesoo hyung squeezed his eyes shut and said.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I didn’t say that for you to apologize. I told you not to apologize.”

“It’s still something I did, isn’t it? I want to apologize.”

“I know it wasn’t your intention, Heesoo hyung.”

“I did think Ulfheðinn was doing something to you every time he possessed me… but why on earth…?”

I could feel him shudder lightly. It was awkward to push him away, so I just patted his back a few times.

“How can we know what transcendents are thinking? If Ulfheðinn were like a normal god, he wouldn’t have forcibly descended upon you in the first place, hyung.”

Heesoo hyung said Ulfheðinn was taciturn, but from my perspective, it didn’t seem so. As I’d said before, gods were surprisingly interested in the human world. Didn’t even the Golden Emperor, who didn’t take on any other apostles besides me, commit strange acts like enjoying Dangflix or agonizing over malicious comments?

The reason Ulfheðinn was toying with me was also likely to be for his own amusement. He might be meddling because he finds it novel that a mere human, relying on one paltry skill, is talking about making Heesoo hyung reach the max level, or maybe he wants to see if his number one and only apostle will really destroy the world.

To be honest, just as not all humans were interested in saving humanity, the same went for the gods. Many gods were more focused on having fun in this new playground called Earth than on defeating the Black King. To some gods, the Black King was an enemy that posed an existential threat, but to others, he was nothing more than an amusement that made them reflect on the value of their existence.

Ulfheðinn, in particular, had appeared late. That meant the Black King wasn’t that important to him.

Perhaps even if the Black King were to smash the Earth and be released back into the universe, it wouldn’t be such a desperate problem for the gods. The ones for whom the Earth must not be destroyed were, in the end, we who live on this planet.

“Ulfheðinn’s role is sufficient just by having made you the number one and only apostle. So don’t think too deeply about what Ulfheðinn does.”

I was wary of Heesoo hyung getting swept up by Ulfheðinn. Given the berserker’s traits, spirit possession seemed easy, so if he wasn’t careful, the boundary between Heesoo hyung and Ulfheðinn could blur.

The more Heesoo hyung mulled over Ulfheðinn’s words and actions, the more likely that would become. It seemed necessary to draw a line: Ulfheðinn was Ulfheðinn, and Heesoo hyung was Heesoo hyung, no matter what.

Even though I told him not to apologize, Heesoo hyung apologized repeatedly.

“I’m sorry. I am sorry. I will never again allow a spirit possession of my own will.”

“I get it. I get it, so you can stop apologizing.”

At my words, Heesoo hyung finally lifted his head from my shoulder. But he did not release the arm he had wrapped around my side.

The distance between us was far too close, and I was fidgeting. Unlike his apologetic words, Heesoo hyung’s body was still hot. In fact, the heat seemed to have intensified. I could feel our touching bodies growing warmer, and my discomfort grew with it.

Just then, Heesoo hyung tilted his head toward me. I flinched, thinking he was going to kiss me.

My body tensed up, but Heesoo hyung did not press his lips to mine without permission like Ulfheðinn. He simply rested his forehead against mine and met my eyes from a finger’s width away.

“My apology is sincere. And yet…”

Heesoo hyung trailed off and lowered his eyelids. I could feel his gaze resting on my lips.