“Did you make the samgyetang we had yesterday too?”

“Then who else would’ve made it?”

Joo Seunghyuk smiled as he gently smoothed down my hair.

Yeah. Thinking about it, it was obvious. Unless we were still in the basement, ever since returning from Aquilus, it had just been the two of us in this house. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

I hadn’t left this room, so the only person who could’ve cooked was Joo Seunghyuk. But the dishes had all been so good, so well-made, that it hadn’t even occurred to me he could be the one behind them.

Besides, the original Seunghyuk was not someone who did things like cooking. That’s why I couldn’t even imagine him doing it.

This Seunghyuk... he really is a completely different person from the one in the original.

That fact hit me again, all of a sudden.

“Thank you. It was so delicious, I thought it must’ve been made by a professional chef.”

I squeezed Seunghyuk’s hand and finally offered him a delayed thank-you. His ears flushed red. I guess he was embarrassed by the compliment.

“No need to thank me. They’re just basic ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) dishes. I should be making you something even better...”

“Basic? It was the best food I’ve ever had in my life! When did you start cooking?”

“Since middle school. Because of someone messing around with my food, I started making it myself.”

“Messing around?”

Did someone do something to Seunghyuk’s food?

“It’s nothing. Just, food made by others never really suited my taste. Hyung, if you’re done eating, do you want to take a shower?”

“Yeah.”

Seunghyuk naturally reached out to help me take off my pajamas.

“No, I’ll do it myself from now on.”

At this rate, I might go another whole day without lifting a finger.

“There are a lot of buttons. It’s hard to take off.”

Do I look like a toddler?

It was absurd, but Seunghyuk’s expression was completely serious.

“Classes start tomorrow. You should start doing things on your own.”

“I can keep doing it for you.”

Seunghyuk smiled, his eyes crinkling sweetly. It seemed like he didn’t find taking care of me bothersome at all.

But I was the one having a hard time. At this rate, I really might forget how to unbutton clothes altogether.

“Haha. Ah, I should go wash up. Don’t follow me this time.”

“Are you sure you can shower by yourself?”

His eyes were filled with concern. This bastard—does he seriously think I’m a child?

“Yeah. I’m fine now. I’ll wash up alone, so don’t come in.”

“...Okay.”

After firmly telling him not to come in, I went into the bathroom. Seunghyuk looked displeased, but he didn’t follow me. He actually listened to me surprisingly well.

I unbuttoned my pajamas and undressed. When I turned on the shower, warm water enveloped my body. The marks left during rut had faded significantly. Seunghyuk seemed to worry every time he saw the bruises, so I was glad they were disappearing.

I pressed the pump on the shampoo bottle I liked most among the many available.

Come to think of it, I’ve been using Seunghyuk’s stuff like it’s mine. The bathroom, too... and his credit card, even.

Before I realized it, the line between me and Seunghyuk was starting to blur.

All the things I’d feared ever since getting entangled with him had become reality—but surprisingly, I felt fine. Rather, I felt peaceful and safe in his arms.

When I finished showering and came out, I saw pajamas laid out on the bed.

‘Where did Seunghyuk go?’

For now, I changed into the sky-blue pajamas he’d left and headed out to the living room. But Seunghyuk wasn’t there.

‘Did he go out?’

The house was so big that I couldn’t tell whether he was in another room or had actually gone outside.

I reached for my phone to call him—just as the front door opened and Seunghyuk walked in.

“You went out?”

“Yeah. The verification on the ring is done.”

“Ring?”

He opened the wooden box in his hand. Inside was the ring we obtained from the Linked Gate.

He’d said he sent it to a facility to verify its abilities. It must’ve been completed today.

“Did they confirm what it can do?”

“Yeah. It has a storage ability.”

“So it’s the same as this ring, then.”

I pointed to the one on my ring finger. Since both were from the Linked Gate, I assumed they had the same function.

“It’s similar, but a little different. This one’s more specialized toward storing living things.”

“Living things?”

“Yeah. Monsters, familiars... even people.”

...You can trap a person inside a ring? What kind of ability is that—one practically tailor-made for a confinement-obsessed control freak?

If I ever get kidnapped again, it might not be a basement or a deserted island next time—it might be that ring.

“It really feels like a couple ring, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah...”

As expected from treasures from a Linked Gate, the design and function formed a matching set.

“Should we use it as our couple ring?”

“Huh?”

“What do you think?”

His eyes stared straight into mine.

Seunghyuk knew I didn’t truly love him yet. And now he was giving me a choice. He was asking if I was willing to become his real partner.

“...Second semester.”

The words slipped out impulsively.

“Second semester?”

“If your feelings haven’t changed by then...”

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the second semester. It’s also when the story of Swamp of the Guide officially begins.

“You really think my feelings are going to change?”

He held my hand tightly. As if to say he’d never be the one to let go.

“...I’m scared.”

“What are you scared of?”

To be honest, I wasn’t worried about the original novel anymore.

Too much had changed already. Seunghyuk had been obsessed with me for seven years now. Sure, I’d still been locked up the moment summer break started—just like the novel—but the situation was different.

He didn’t force himself on me or try to break me.

In fact, he gave me everything I wanted.

Even the forced plot of the original wasn’t scary anymore. We already changed the future where Do Hyeokjin was murdered. If we tried, we could change other things too.

I didn’t think Seunghyuk would suddenly try to kill me or fall for Kim Jun just because it was the second semester.

But I was still afraid.

“If your feelings change, I’ll just be discarded.”

In this relationship, Seunghyuk held all the power.

“You can hold on to me, but I can’t hold on to you.”

If Seunghyuk left, all I could do was watch him walk away.

That’s what scared me.

It wasn’t the idea of not being able to escape his arms that frightened me—it was the thought of being left behind once he let me go.

Yeah. That’s what I was afraid of.

Only after saying it out loud did I finally understand my true feelings.

Ever since the night I spent with Seunghyuk, I’d been scared of him. But not once did I seriously think of leaving him.

But when I watched that movie where an Alpha abandoned a Beta, a strange discomfort and anxiety bubbled up. And the moment I heard Seunghyuk might be getting married off for political reasons, I made up my mind to run.

Same on the island. When I saw the fairytale book, the fear that Seunghyuk might leave me gripped me—and I decided to flee.

I was scared of Seunghyuk. I trembled at the thought he might kill me.

But more than anything else, the most terrifying thing was the idea that he could abandon me—and if that ever happened, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

I was scared of being left alone—so I tried to leave first.

“I would never leave you, hyung.”

“Everyone says that in the beginning. Then they change.”

I didn’t even want to feel the tiniest bit of insecurity.

‘What if Seunghyuk’s feelings change? What if he leaves me? What if, by some fluke, the original’s forced plot activates and he falls for someone else—could I handle it?’

I didn’t want to be plagued by thoughts like that every day. I didn’t want to tremble in fear at something that might never happen.

If, once the second semester starts, Seunghyuk’s feelings still haven’t changed—then I want to accept his heart after confirming there’s no such thing as plot-forced affection.

But to Seunghyuk, asking him to wait until the second semester probably sounded ridiculous. So I thought it would be fair if he got angry.

Instead, Seunghyuk quietly held both of my hands.

“I thought I’d shown you just how much I want you, but... I guess it wasn’t enough.”

“......”

“Then I’ll keep trying. Until you can believe in me.”

Seunghyuk handed me the box containing the ring.

“Take it.”

“But the couple ring... after the second semester—”

“Just keep it for now.”

He pressed the box into my hand.

“Hold on to it. And when you’re ready to believe in me, give it back.”

“...Okay. I will.”

I clutched the box tightly and nodded.

***

Second semester begins today.

In the end, I decided to keep living at Seunghyuk’s house rather than moving into the dorms.

It wasn’t because he forced me. It was just... I ended up half-recovering, half-recuperating until the day before classes started, and the right moment to bring up returning to the dorms never came. Honestly, I didn’t even really want to go back.

I was fine with how things were.

I wanted the time I spent with Seunghyuk to continue.

“Seunghyuk, this is my class schedule.”

“Okay.”

On the day of course registration, I’d been completely knocked out from rut cycle side effects. There was no way I could get up early and click through registration like a normal person. So when Seunghyuk offered to do it for me, I just told him which classes I wanted and left it to him. The Guide Department and Esper Department had different registration days anyway, so I figured it would be fine.

But then...

“And this is your schedule.”

“Okay.”

I glanced back and forth between my schedule and Seunghyuk’s.

The courses were different, but the times were almost identical—like we were twins or something.

Since I’m his assigned Guide, our practical sessions overlapping made sense. But even our lecture times matched?

The first and last classes of the day, even the free periods between them, were nearly identical.

He must’ve built his schedule around mine.

This damn obsessive maniac...