Chapter 135

The moment the two collided, a sharp thwack echoed through the air. “Ugh!” “Ack!” Shouts of pain rang out simultaneously as they collapsed to the ground, stacked like a sandwich.

Blaine and Aslan, who had been too stunned by the sudden turn of events to react, finally snapped out of it. “Hyung, are you okay?!” “Hey, you alright?!” they shouted, rushing to Theo’s side.

Theo knit his brows and clutched his mouth, pushing away Daize’s heavy shoulder as he struggled to sit up. Daize, who had been shoved back without resistance, was also covering his mouth. Both groaned in pain, their voices muffled behind their hands as they spoke at the same time.

“Ah, our teeth crashed…”

“Ugh, my teeth hit…”

Their sentences trailed off into an abrupt, heavy silence. As the moment stretched on like an eternity, Theo’s face twisted in horror, while Blaine and Aslan turned pale.

Theo and Daize were barely a span apart. Just as their shock-filled gazes met and locked, Blaine and Aslan intervened with terrifying intensity. Blaine lunged forward and pulled Theo’s head into a tight embrace, while Aslan grabbed Daize by the scruff of the neck and hurled him backward.

“What the hell… is this…?”

Aslan muttered blankly, watching Daize tumble away. He turned back to Theo. Theo’s face was buried in Blaine’s chest, hidden from view, but Blaine’s expression was clear. He was glaring at Daize with a look that mixed pure shock with deep resentment.

Daize, who had fallen back thanks to Aslan, rubbed the back of his head as if he’d bumped it while getting up. He squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing a groan, and looked at Aslan to protest—but the words died in his throat.

He was pinned under the weight of Blaine’s resentful gaze and Aslan’s burning fury. Flustered, Daize’s mouth bobbed like a goldfish as he instinctively looked toward Theo, who was still tucked in Blaine’s arms.

In that instant, a fierce protectiveness flared in Blaine’s and Aslan’s eyes. Blaine gritted his teeth and pulled Theo even deeper into his embrace, while Aslan stepped in to completely block Daize’s line of sight.

When Theo was entirely hidden from him, Daize made a dissatisfied face. Why were they making such a fuss and blocking him? He opened his mouth to complain, but just then, Theo—trapped in Blaine’s arms—began desperately pushing Blaine away.

“Hy-Hyung?”

A startled Blaine let go, and Theo immediately flipped over onto all fours, retching loudly. It looked like he was about to throw up.

Horrified, Blaine and Aslan patted Theo’s back and stroked his shoulders, frantically asking if he was okay. Daize could only stare blankly at Theo, looking completely shell-shocked.

Theo continued to retch as if trying to purge something that wouldn’t come up. His face turned ghostly pale, and muttering that he felt deathly ill, he slumped over right there on the street. Blaine, wailing as if he were at a funeral, scooped Theo up and sprinted into the Guild House. Aslan followed close behind in a panic.

All that remained was a devastated Daize and the twins, who had watched the entire scene from the second-floor balcony of the Guild House.

The Guild House erupted in confusion as Blaine burst through the door, sobbing and carrying a limp Theo up to the second floor. When Aslan came charging in right after them, the rest of the guild members followed suit, racing upstairs.

Blaine kicked open the door to the nearest room and laid Theo down. Theo kept his hand over his mouth, seemingly fighting back more waves of nausea. Seeing this, Aslan shouted that he’d go get some cold water and ran back down to the first floor. Meanwhile, a swarm of guild members crowded into the room, peppering them with questions.

The cramped room turned into a chaotic den. Father, arriving a step late, pushed through the crowd to see what was happening. Upon seeing Theo looking pale and half-dead, she jumped in surprise.

“What happened?! Why is Theo like this?!”

Theo couldn’t answer because he was still covering his mouth, and Blaine was too busy sobbing while clutching Theo’s hand to say a word.

As everyone looked back and forth between the two in confusion, Holanghee’s voice suddenly rang out from the hallway.

“Wait, what kind of antidote are you asking me to make?!”

Everyone turned to look at Holanghee. The twins were hanging off her arms, looking incredibly urgent for some unknown reason.

“Anything! I told you to make the most effective one!”

“Father Unnie will pay for it!”

Father looked bewildered at the sudden mention of her name.

“No, the money isn’t the issue. Why on earth does Theo need an antidote?”

At the mention of an antidote, everyone realized the situation might be more serious than they thought and turned back to Theo. However, Theo himself looked just as confused as the rest of them.

Sensing something was off, they looked back at the twins and Holanghee. The twins beat their chests in frustration and pointed at Theo, screaming.

“He kissed Daize!”

“What if he catches some weird disease?!”

Everything came to a dead stop. To a man, they all stared at Theo with faces that asked, ‘What did they just say?’ Theo, still pale and clutching his mouth, slowly lowered his hand and spoke with a face full of pure irritation.

“It wasn’t a kiss, dammit…. It was a collision of teeth.”

Despite his pathetic excuse, Blaine’s sobbing only seemed to grow louder.

In the heavy silence that followed, the sound of urgent footsteps echoed on the stairs, and Aslan appeared holding a cup of cold water. He tilted his head, confused by the sudden stillness, but pushed through the crowd to hand the water to Theo.

Theo used the water to soothe his nauseous, churning stomach. He let out a long sigh, only to lock eyes with Daize, who was peeking through the doorway. Theo’s face instantly hardened. Daize pursed his lips and averted his gaze, his face flushing a deep red.

At that unexpected reaction, Theo’s face filled with pure horror.

‘Why is that crazy bastard blushing?!’

The nausea he had finally managed to soothe felt like it was churning all over again.

Once his stomach settled somewhat, Theo pushed himself up from the bed. It wasn’t pleasant being surrounded by a noisy crowd and becoming the center of gossip; all he wanted was to go home and rest.

Theo reached out and shook the shoulder of Blaine, who was hunched over the bedside, clutching Theo’s hand and weeping. When Blaine lifted his tear-stained face, Theo pulled him up, telling him it was time to go home.

Ironically, Blaine was the one on the verge of collapse. He had cried far too much. In the end, Theo had no choice but to carry Blaine on his back for the trek home.

Father, Noquia, and Holanghee followed them out of the Guild House, seeing them off with promises to call if anything happened.

Staggering under Blaine’s weight, Theo finally made it inside their front door. The moment he set him down, Blaine slumped over. If Theo hadn’t caught him quickly, Blaine would have sprawled right onto the floor.

Theo hurriedly laid Blaine down on the living room sofa and brought him some cold water. Blaine thanked him and drank it, but his own queasy stomach refused to settle. If anything, the nausea intensified every time he remembered the image of a blushing Daize.

“Hyung, if you’re feeling that bad, should we go to the room? You should probably sleep early….”

Theo shook his head.

“No, I’ll just stay here. I think I’ll feel even worse if I’m alone.”

Blaine nodded at Theo’s blunt admission that he didn’t want to be alone and took a seat beside him. Feeling the sofa dip beside him, Theo closed his eyes and sank into the backrest, leaning his head naturally against Blaine’s shoulder.

“Everything felt so great until this morning…”

“For me, too…”

“Now it’s completely ruined.”

“Yeah…”

Theo pressed the back of his hand against his mouth and took a deep breath as another wave of nausea hit.

“Are you okay? Should I get you some more water?”

“…Yeah, put some ice in it too.”

Blaine nodded. He gently lifted Theo’s head to rest it against the sofa back, hurried to fetch some ice water, and then sat back down, tapping his shoulder as an invitation for Theo to lean back.

Theo let out a small, tired laugh and leaned against Blaine’s shoulder again. Blaine smiled, looking satisfied.

While being close was nice, sitting there in silence started to feel a bit awkward. Thinking of something to refresh the mood, Theo pulled up a system window.

“Want to watch a movie?”

“…Pardon?”

“We can’t just sit here blankly forever. And I don’t want to go into the bedroom yet….”

“I’m fine with anything.”

At Blaine’s positive response, Theo nodded and enlarged the display screen, beginning to scroll through potential titles.

Choosing a movie wasn’t difficult. There were plenty of films Theo had seen that Blaine hadn’t. With a sudden spark of excitement, Theo began recommending the movies he had enjoyed most.

“But Hyung, you said you’ve already seen these. Is it okay to watch them again?”

“It’s been a long time for some of them, so rewatching is fine. You have to revisit the classics every once in a while.”

Blaine nodded in understanding. Theo selected their first movie and suggested they go make some snacks like soda and popcorn.

Having deactivated their Customization and changed into comfortable clothes, the two stood before the cooking tools to whip up some simple finger foods. With their arms full of snacks, they settled in to watch.

The first movie led to a second, and the list seemed endless. Since Blaine hadn’t seen many, there was a vast library to explore.

As the long yet short night passed and the eastern sky began to brighten, Theo eventually fell asleep sitting on the sofa. Blaine, who had been focused on the film, felt a heavy weight shift against him. He looked down to find that Theo had drifted off. Carefully, Blaine moved so that the sleeping Theo could lie down with his head resting in Blaine’s lap.

Blaine watched him for a moment, terrified he might wake him, but once he confirmed Theo was sound asleep, he turned his attention back to the screen.

In the movie they were currently watching, the male lead frequently kissed the palm of the female lead’s hand. Blaine had wondered why he kept doing that, but the meaning was revealed at the very end.

A kiss on the palm is a way of expressing feelings of jealousy and resentment. That was why the hero had kissed her palm whenever he saw her getting along with someone else or when he felt hurt by her.

Blaine stared blankly at the screen before looking down at Theo, who was sleeping in his lap. He slowly reached out and took Theo’s hand. After watching him for a long time while holding his hand, Blaine pulled it closer and pressed a kiss to the center of his palm.

Accident or not, it was a gesture of jealousy over the fact that Theo’s lips had met Daize’s.