~Chapter 29~
Yushen made a pretty funny face at my bold move. He looked totally lost, like he still hadn’t figured out what was happening.
He finally pulled himself together and put on a serious face.
“…What do you think you’re doing right now?”
But his voice was trembling so much it didn’t sound serious at all.
Instead, he just looked like a scared little animal.
“What do you mean? I told you, I’m going to check for myself.”
“…I don’t know what you mean by ‘check.’”
“Did you already forget our conversation just now?”
He must have been more rattled than I thought if he already forgot what we just talked about.
I calmed myself down and acted cool in front of him.
“Move.”
“No.”
I tilted my head and leaned in closer. Yushen turned his head away and even bit his lower lip a little.
Strangely, I found myself licking my lips like a hungry animal looking at its prey, then gave a small, self-mocking laugh.
‘…Who am I even doing this to?’
Honestly, he’s good-looking enough to make anyone’s heart flutter, but he’s Yushen, after all!
I pulled myself together and stared at him clearly.
When I deliberately let my gaze linger over his face and body, I noticed his Adam’s apple bob as if he swallowed.
‘Did he just swallow? He says he doesn’t like me, but…?’
The way he was acting and the way his body reacted were totally different.
Even his ears were turning red.
The situation was turning out to be more interesting than I expected.
“You know you’ve done a lot of suspicious things, right?”
“Like what…?”
“For example, you’ve stripped your shirt off in front of me.”
“T-that was for treatment—!”
“And you suddenly hugged me out of nowhere.”
“Because you were in danger—!”
He swallowed hard.
I didn’t want to hear any more excuses, so I leaned in until we were almost nose to nose.
We were so close I could feel his breath on my skin.
Yushen squeezed his eyes shut, a totally embarrassed expression on his face.
‘Come on, what did I even do?’
I’m not even the bold type, but he makes me act so daring.
Anyway, I wasn’t planning to stop here. I’d already crossed the point of no return.
I let go of the armrest and reached out to cup his cheeks. He flinched noticeably.
“Ha.”
I snorted, then turned his face toward me so he had to look at me.
But his eyes were still shut, so I couldn’t see those pretty violet eyes.
“Why won’t you look me in the eye?”
“…”
“If you really don’t like me, shouldn’t you be able to look at me at this distance without any problem?”
“…”
So he’s going to stay silent, huh?
That’s even better for me.
“Okay. So you’re so embarrassed that you want me to check for you, right?”
Honestly, I expected him to move away.
Because of his trauma, he usually hates touching people.
But he was just sitting there. Maybe with me, it was okay, or maybe he just wasn’t thinking about it.
When I thought about it, I’d already touched his bare skin twice—both times to treat his wounds—but he never really seemed to mind.
‘Does he only hate being touched on his hands? Is that why he wears gloves?’
But then again, he never showed any other skin around me…
Whatever. I’ll ask him or Aydin about it later.
I shrugged, then moved one hand from his cheek down to his chest, just above his heart.
Even with just a light touch, I could feel his body heat and his wildly pounding heart.
Just then, Yushen’s eyes flew open, and he grabbed my wrist that was touching his heart.
He frowned and raised his voice sharply.
“Letitia!”
His breathing was rough, and his neck was so red I could see a blue vein pop up.
At first, he looked angry, but if he was really mad, he’d have pushed me away.
But he didn’t.
He just gritted his teeth and struggled to catch his breath.
But all I could think about was the name he just shouted.
‘…He called me by my name for the first time.’
Up until now, he always called me “you” or “Miss Montrose.”
But now, for the first time, he used my name.
That meant something to me, even if no one else noticed.
It meant Yushen finally saw me as someone other than Leana.
“You just—”
“Don’t do this. It’s too much.”
But it didn’t seem like Yushen even realized he’d called me Letitia.
He was too busy trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.
He rubbed his brow with his free hand and muttered low,
“Doing something like this is just…”
His cheeks were slightly pink.
With that face, saying things only a hopeless romantic would say—wasn’t that cheating?
I almost wanted to stop, but seeing his face made my wicked side want to keep going.
“So you don’t like me touching you, but you’re okay with all the rumors?”
“No, that’s not what I meant—”
Yushen didn’t even finish his sentence, just clenched his teeth.
‘Why stop in the middle? If it’s not what you meant, then what did you mean?’
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to find the right words or if he’d given up on talking.
Fine, I’ll just ask directly.
“If that’s not what you meant, then what?”
“Stop changing the subject.”
Oh, he just noticed?
Even Winter loved to tease Yushen in the original novel—now I see why.
Yushen looked at me with exasperation.
“…Do you realize you’re a woman?”
“Huh? My mentor said no one in Luche sees me as a woman.”
“…”
“I’m not making it up. If you don’t believe me, ask Tayla yourself.”
I used Tayla’s words as proof, even though Yushen probably meant something different by “woman” than Tayla did.
Oh well, let him be frustrated.
I grinned, and Yushen must have figured me out because he let out a deep sigh and then looked resigned.
“…Fine, just move.”
“I’m not done checking yet.”
“If you keep this up, I won’t just sit here.”
Oh? Is that a threat now?
Too bad—I’m not scared. What’s he going to do if he doesn’t sit still?
“If you stop sitting still, that’s even better for me.”
No matter what I said, he went serious.
“Miss Montrose.”
He called me by my official title, the name everyone in Luche used.
Guess he was trying to use his authority as Captain now.
“Move.”
I just blinked instead of answering.
Yushen said nothing, just kept staring at me.
He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.
All the fluster was gone from his gaze; he just looked calm.
He spoke in a quiet, clear voice.
“Fine.”
…Huh? Fine what? I didn’t ask for anything.
I tilted my head, confused.
Suddenly, Yushen’s whole demeanor changed. He went from panicked to completely serious.
“Let’s do it.”
I had no idea what he meant by that and didn’t want to know.
But now, a nervous feeling crept over me.
“…Do what?”
“What you said you wanted to do.”
Yushen looked at me like I was silly for not knowing.
…Wait, what? That’s not what I meant!
Suddenly I felt flustered.
‘Did this soft tofu just figure out how to get rid of me? Is that even possible with his personality?’
I forced a fake smile and started backing away, my eyes darting around the room.
I slowly sidestepped the low table behind me.
I just hoped Yushen would stay put and not move.
But, unfortunately, he stood up from the couch.
Now, instead of nervous, he looked totally confident. The whole mood of the room shifted in an instant.
I realized too late that I was no longer in control.
‘…I underestimated him.’
The only option I had left was to get out of here as fast as possible.
Before Yushen and I could get any closer, I twisted my body and tried to escape.
Just as I was about to run,
“Trying to run away now?”
I felt a strong pull from behind, and my world flipped upside down.
