Omniscient Reader

On the night road lit by streetlights, a tall man dressed in black could be seen carrying another person on his back. Strolling through the peaceful quietness of the night, the neighborhood was rather silent even though it wasn't that late yet. However, occasionally some noises coming from stray animals could be heard around the deserted streets.

Kim Dokja's slender arms wrapped gently around Yoo Jonghyuk's strong neck, the teen was quite reluctant for troubling the latter, but at the same time, he was rather hesitant to let go. From time to time, Yoo Jonghyuk's soft raven hair would brush against his face, giving him this ticklish sensation on his cheeks.

The comfortable warmth coming from the older man's back had a very reassuring allure, allowing him to lean on it while making all worries disappear for that magical moment. However, Kim Dokja couldn't help but think about the fact that he had been carried for over an hour. He couldn't help but worry for the regressor.

"Hyung... The doctor said that it was just a sprained ankle, maybe I can walk on my own-"

"You keep hurting yourself every day. I guess this is a habit you'll take with you even in the future as well."

Yoo Jonghyuk wrinkled his brows as he subconsciously spat out some cynical commentary. Kim Dokja's body was light, too light. He didn't like how he kept smiling even though he should be crying. What are you keeping a strong farce for? Just rely on me you stubborn brat.

From afar, a silhouette could be seen standing under the streetlight, but unfortunately, the yellow light illuminating that figure was too dim to grant us enough clarity for identifying the unknown individual. As a matter of fact, the person who stood in front of Kim Dokja's home seemed to be waiting for someone.

They could only make a rough outline, but as they came closer, that person began waving her hand in a cheerful greeting.

"Dokja-hyung!"

The mysterious figure revealed itself to be no other than Kim Dokja's newly acquaintanced cousin, Kim Sunri. She began jogging her way towards them with a smile blooming on her pretty little face.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the incoming girl, Kim Dokja wore a baffled expression while Yoo Jonghyuk's face darkened. The regressor remembered very clearly what he heard that day. She doesn't have any good intentions towards his innocent companion.

The girl answered dejectedly when she heard the question. "I wanted to spend more time with Dokja-hyung, but you weren't at home..."

Yoo Jonghyuk didn't have the slightest intention to interact with the little girl in front of him. With his usual indifferent attitude, he directly walked past her without sparing a single glance back.

Kim Sunri was too focused on her mission to curry some favor with the teen that she didn't notice the man who was carrying her cousin on his back. One glance had been enough to stun her, but she recovered immediately after a short while and began chasing after them again.

"Wait! That was rude! I wanted to talk to Dokja-hyung!"

Kim Sunri wanted to stop them and so she ran past them and blocked their path by spreading her arms wide open. "Hey!"

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop many degrees further as the expression on the regressor's face turned more frosty than the frigid ice of a thousand year permafrost. Looking at the annoying antics of the yapping girl before him, Yoo Jonghyuk clicked his tongue in clear displeasure.

"So noisy."

"Wha- How dare you! Who are you to Dokja-hyung even!?" Kim Sunri was stuttering in disbelief at the simple but rude remark.

"That's none of your concern."

The situation in front of him was escalating very quickly, their small dispute was on the verge of exploding form all the gunpowder in the tense air surrounding them. Kim Dokja had to intervene as the mediator between the two arguing parties. But in all honesty, after such a tiring day, he really had no more energy and patience left to deal with her. He really just wanted to go back and sleep...

"We shouldn't fight, the ruckus is going to wake the entire neighborhood up. I'm sorry I had plans today and you had to wait in vain. Sunri, how about you come tomorrow?"

Pouting her cheeks, Kim Sunri shot a glare at the unperturbed regressor before waving goodbye at her cousin. "Fine."

The teen subconsciously let a relieved sigh escape his mouth. Just about when the regressor was about to proceed forward, the warm breath ticking his neck started the older man and subconsciously made his entire body stiff, causing him to abruptly stop on his tracks.

"Hyung?"

Although he maintained his calm coolness outside, the slight stammering in his voice betrayed him. "N- Nothing!"

***

Time passed in a blink of an eye as Kim Sunri kept visiting Kim Dokja's house for the past few days. Her presence was clearly unwelcomed by a certain someone. She was lucky for being able to use the excuse to help Kim Dokja while he was on sick leave from school because of his injury. But unfortunately for her, she was still very green in this work field and couldn't manage to get any useful information regarding the inheritance.

Even so, she tried to probe into the identity of this mysterious handsome man and the relationship he has with Kim Dokja. Although, even there, she failed. Not only her research turned out fruitless, but even all the information she got about their interactions were too ambiguous and baseless to solidify any kind of theory.

While on the other side, for the regressor, there was something else that was bothering his mind. It was very unusual for him to allow himself to get easily sidetracked so many times. If it wasn't for the system timely reminder, he would have kept pushing the matter further inside the back of his mind. The time limit for the scenario was almost up and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do.

+

[Side quest #3 - Compliments are good for the health.]

Category: Side

Difficulty: ???

Clear conditions: 85/100

Side effect: Indirect inclination towards the character 'Kim Dokja'. *Warning: Random activation.

Time-limit: 2 days

Compensation: ???

*There are additional clear conditions.

*No constellation interference allowed.

+

During these days Kim Dokja seemed quite anxious, often lowering his head to look at the screen of his phone while trying not to be too obvious while trying to steal some glances at Yoo Jonghyuk's handsome side profile. The teen's gaze was a strange mixture of seriousness and restlessness and sometimes, he would also wear a sad look on his face. In the end, it was unsure what he was thinking.

But the peaceful days always didn't last long. Tragedy may suddenly befall as dark clouds could suddenly cover the blue sky. A bad omen, a grim premonition of an unforeseen tempest.

And it sure did.

Everything was normal until a scream echoed from the living room, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the house. There was a disheveled looking Kim Sunri on the floor and standing in front of her, was the regressor wearing an ice-cold expression. And as soon as she saw Kim Dokja coming this way, Kim Sunri immediately ran over to hide behind his back while pointing her trembling finger at the scoffing man.

She was accusing him of sėxuȧŀ ȧssault.

「 Bullsh*t. 」

But to his surprise. The companion he began to trust seemed to challenge his trust again.

Kim Dokja used his body to shield the quivering girl, extending an arm to push her further back while his eyes showed a glint of distrust in them. Kim Sunri kept shaking, but she didn't hide the victorious grin spreading through her face. Her smiling face seemed to say 'See? I told you.', an expression really deserving for a beating from the crowd.

Yoo Jonghyuk's heart stilled as it slowly started to turn cold. The bitter taste he was feeling, he did not like it at all. Perhaps if he had restrained himself from speaking, no one could have heard the slight trembling in his voice.

"You... Trust her?"

Kim Sunri's sly smile immediately transformed as she wore a pitiful expression while tugging the hem of Kim Dokja's shirt. With her trembling fingers, she began wiping away the tears from her weeping face.

"He obviously does! You have never been someone important to him anyway!"

Feeling an oppressing feeling looming over his heart as if a sharp claw was clenching it within a merciless grip, the regressor breath hastened. An interceptable dull pain began afflicting his ċhėst, slowly spreading through his entire body like poison.

"Is this... What you always thought?"

Not answering the question, Kim Dokja turned his head to the side, avoiding the betrayed look in those deep dark brown eyes. It wasn't easy. It wasn't easy at all. But for his hyung, he must do it.

The pure disbelief in Yoo Jonghyuk's eyes was replaced by a look filled with mockery, leaving him with only resentment and anger.

"Yes... Yes. That's right." He started chuckling while covering his eyes with the big palm of his callous hand. His voice was filled with bitterness and sad realization.

"Why would you trust a stranger you just met a few days ago instead of a relative."

「 Companion...! 」

「 What companionship! From the very beginning, did you even consider me one?! 」

「 Or was it one-sided all along? 」

"That's right. No one would."

Why was he feeling all of this? Not even when the old Kim Dokja died he felt this many sour emotions surging out of his heart. Why was he tasting this numbing and bitter flavor on the tip of his tongue?

He hated it. He hated how his heart started crumbling. He hated how his intestines started churning inside. And no matter how much he tried, he absolutely hated how he was unable to hate him.

He really was loathing his behavior right now. Why was he still lingering here? Just go! Go away from there! Why can't he move?!

He shouldn't have grown attached to anyone in the first place. Everything was just wishful thinking from his side. He was alone. Just as it should be.

"Then forget me. Like everyone does in the end."

All the words seemed to cut and slice Kim Dokja's bleeding heart, but he deserved every bit of pain he received. All he could do is stay in silence, enduring the endless barrages of those cynical words directed at him. He hurt his precious hyung. He must not complain... He was already prepared to drown himself in the lake of sorrow alone. However, Yoo Jonghyuk next words still managed to deal a harsh blow on him.

Hearing the regressor's calm and deep voice, which didn't express any ripple of emotions, and yet unable to hide the blatant and utter disappointment oozing out from every single word he spoke. Knowing that he had let down another person dear to him, it was like seeing his entire world shatter into small pieces.

"I should have never trusted you."

"I wish we had never met."

Yoo Jonghyuk unhurriedly opened the door and what greeted him was the image of a setting sun. He raised the palm of his hand against the light seeping through his fingers as if he was half-heartedly trying to block that feeble glow from alleviating the acute numbness he felt inside of him. A ruthless gust of harsh cold winds rushed past him, but compared to the chill he felt inside, this was nothing more than a small breeze. Turning his back towards them, the familiar warmth was already no more, because it had been ruthlessly stripped away, and now the only thing left was just cold estrangement. Without turning back, he stormed outside the house with nothing but coldness in his emotionless eyes.