Chapter 28
There was no one watching now, so it did not matter if Felix grabbed his hand only to shake it off a moment later.
Felix muttered something under his breath, but his voice was too quiet for Abel to catch.
Abel took one step closer.
“What was that?”
“Insane…”
Ah. An insult.
“You can curse at me if you want, but I asked you to hold my hand again.”
Abel crooked his fingers as though asking for something that already belonged to him. In truth, even as he made the request, he had no expectation that Felix would grant it.
‘At this rate, I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t hit me again.’
But then, something Abel had thought was not merely unlikely but utterly impossible actually happened.
Abel’s eyes widened as Felix seized his hand hard enough to nearly crush it.
“Felix?”
Crack.
Abel’s hand let out a faint protest within Felix’s grip, but he paid such trivial matters no mind.
It hurt, but that could always be healed. More importantly, Felix had actually taken his hand.
“If possible, could you interlace our fingers while you’re at it—”
“Why the hell are you doing this to me?”
Felix’s voice was low and heavy, edged with the sound of grinding steel. Gritting his teeth, he yanked Abel forward by the hand.
Abel made no attempt to resist and allowed himself to be pulled closer.
The distance between them vanished in an instant, bringing Felix’s twisted expression into sharp focus. Abel stared blankly into those blue eyes, roiling with resentment and disgust directed solely at him.
“Cut the b******t about loving me,” Felix spat.
“What kind of person does this to someone they love?”
Is my love not normal?
Then what do ordinary people do for the person they love?
Blinking, Abel noticed, just as he had before, that Felix was once again tormenting his own lip with his teeth.
His lips.
Ah, now he understood.
The sort of thing ordinary people did with someone they liked.
‘I forgot something this important because I don’t have any experience.’
Having reached that realization, Abel immediately lifted his head.
Their lips met with a soft tap.
One second. Two seconds. Three.
After waiting for a moment, Abel pulled back and blinked.
Then he leaned in and kissed him again.
‘Is this supposed to feel good?’
He did not dislike it, at least.
The warmth where they touched was pleasant, and so was the sight of Felix frozen stiff in surprise.
When Abel pulled away once more, he noticed the dazed look in Felix’s eyes.
Seeing it made him want to kiss him again. Abel immediately acted on the impulse.
This time, Felix, who had been unable to move until now, gave a violent start. Even so, he still seemed incapable of breathing at all, which Abel found oddly amusing.
The corners of his lips had just begun to lift when his vision flashed and his head snapped to the side.
Smack—! Only afterward did he register the sharp sound, the stinging pain in his cheek, and the ache in his neck from having been whipped sideways.
There was no need to wonder what had happened.
Abel had been slapped.
His cheek hurt, certainly, but his neck hurt even more.
‘I got hit a few times before I came back, but this one hurts the most.’
Was it because he’s a knight?
As Abel gingerly rubbed his sore neck, he heard Felix’s trembling voice.
“What the hell was that…?”
Felix repeatedly reached out toward him, only to jerk his hand back before making contact. Abel slowly raised his eyes to look at him.
“Damn it, why would you do something like that?!”
Felix looked utterly shocked by the sight of Abel’s face.
Was he surprised by what Abel did?
Abel studied Felix, who looked beyond flustered and on the verge of panic, along with his trembling hands.
‘That’s strange.’
Felix seemed unable to decide whether he should be angry or feel guilty.
‘Didn’t I deserve that slap?’
Abel had no recollection of ever receiving permission. Nor had he and Felix come to any sort of mutual understanding.
He had simply kissed him out of nowhere.
Because, in his mind, it was something people did with the person they loved.
Perhaps Abel had been greatly encouraged by the fact that Felix had reached out to him first. That might have been why, despite knowing he should not do it, he had acted entirely on impulse.
It had been unbelievably reckless.
And yet Felix… where had all his anger gone? Now, all that remained in him was guilt.
“Fel—”
Abel had been about to ask what was wrong, but the moment he opened his mouth, blood trickled down, making him close it again.
Come to think of it, he could feel his stinging cheek swelling by the second. His mouth tasted of blood, and his lips burned.
‘Did they split open?’
He had a rough idea of what he looked like right now.
Even so, considering he had kissed Felix without permission, Abel thought the punishment had been rather mild. Felix, however, clearly did not agree.
He looked as though he could barely breathe.
‘Felix had always been soft-hearted.’
That was why, despite hating Abel so much, he had still thrown himself in harm’s way to save and protect him, sacrificing himself in the process.
Even assuming he had not followed Abel of his own will and had only come because Gregory had sent him, there was no way Gregory had ordered him to serve Abel with such devotion.
And yet, Felix had rarely allowed so much as a scratch to come to Abel.
Though he made no effort to hide his dislike, he always placed himself in danger first, and he had done everything in his power to protect Abel whenever they fell into traps.
All while knowing that Abel had nothing he could ever give him in return.
Even after realizing, through traveling together, that Abel truly could do almost nothing on his own.
Felix had still worked quite diligently to help him become more independent.
Even while criticizing Abel for being unable to prepare a meal for himself or properly wash his clothes, Felix had taught him how to hunt, how to start a fire, how to grill meat, and how to do laundry.
No matter how much he suffered, even when he himself was far more seriously injured, he could never ignore Abel’s wounds.
A foolishly kind person.
Too soft-hearted to turn a blind eye to another’s suffering.
He pretended to be strong on the outside, but inside, he was unbearably soft.
Abel had thought him foolish. He had probably thought Felix lacked conviction as well.
He could never understand why Felix lived so self-sacrificially, or why he endured everything in silence.
Even now, Abel still did not understand him.
But he had nevertheless come to love that foolish side of him.
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