Before Noah could respond, what Levi had been waiting for since the beginning of the movie finally happened! On the screen, a zombie jumped from out of nowhere!
Without further ado, Levi's arm that had been resting on the backrest behind Noah swooped in like an eagle catching a small fluffy bunny. The bunny, caught completely unprepared, ended up encircled and snatched up right into the belly–uh, the lap of the predator.
A high-pitched squeal reverberated through the empty cinema, yet the source of it wasn't the dumbfounded bunny who found himself in the arms of the wolf with his face pressed into the other's sturdy chest but the spectating fujoshi some seats away.
Levi ground his teeth at the ear-piercing interruption. Enlisting the help of this pig teammate was the worst mistake of his life!!
Since he had no way to vent the stifling fire burning in his chest on its source at the moment, Levi concentrated back on his precious darling. He held Noah's stiff form in his arms and soothingly stroked his back as if to pacify him.
As for the shaken bunny in question, a moment ago, when that zombie popped out, Noah's soul nearly leaped out of his body!
Of course, not due to the zombie, but due to the swift attack of the man next to him.
It all happened far too quickly, and before he knew it, he was blankly looking up at Levi's chin.
It took several long seconds for Noah to process what was happening, and then in a great fluster, he protested, "Brother! I'm not scare–" the rest of his sentence got muffled because Levi pressed Noah's head back into his chest.
With a face thicker than the city walls, Levi declared, "Shh, don't be scared!"
The last remnants of calm on Noah's beet-red face completely cracked and fell apart. His bunny heart restlessly jumped in his chest, and he struggled to say, "…Not scared! Really… not scared!" 'Let go, ah!' QAQ
Only to get a response of, "That's right. With me here, you've got nothing to be scared of!"
Noah felt that his three world views were on the verge of collapse. In a last-ditch effort, he desperately tried to come up with reasons for Levi's behavior other than 1) he was sick in the head, or 2) he wanted to 'eat his tofu'.
Blackie, 'Oh! I've got one! 🙋♂️ 3) All of the above.' (☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞
In the meantime, Noah struggled in Levi's embrace for a bit, but there was no force to it. True, a part of him wanted to break away from this too intimate embrace, but a bigger part didn't.
On the one hand, he was naturally thin-skinned, and his shyness was hitting him like a truck. But on the other hand, his reason told him that Levi wasn't doing anything outrageous to him. Even if Levi's behavior didn't have any other reason than just wishing to act intimately with him, the two of them were not only close brothers but had done far more embarrassing things, so a simple hug wasn't too much to ask for.
Most importantly, Levi wasn't just anyone; he was among the few people Noah really liked!
Blackie, 'Among the few? 🤔 Pray tell, besides this one person, who are the rest, hm?' (￢◡￢)
Since his heart had a soft spot for the other, Noah, naturally, didn't wish to deny Levi such a small thing as a hug, so his resistance was just a means to express, 'Brother, you probably shouldn't be doing this! I am giving you my tacit approval, but let it be known that I am definitely not 100% for it! I am at least… at least 10% against it!'
Naturally, when this half-hearted, feeble protest entered Levi's eyes, it looked like a kitten pawing at him ferociously in a show of might, yet with its claws completely retracted. Rather than scratching him and drawing blood, it only made him feel itchy all over while melting his insides into a puddle of sugary goo.
Instead of second-guessing his shameless actions, Levi affirmed that his darling also had him in his heart. What was there left to hesitate about? His precious treasure was already fully cooked and was ready to be eaten on their wedding night.
Noah's perfunctory resistance quickly died off, leaving his muddled brain free to once again ponder over this ex-brother-in-law's motives for smothering him in his chest.
Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you take it, Noah's great imagination did not disappoint! Lo and behold! In only a moment, he managed to come up with a reasonable explanation!
'Could it be…?' A strange expression appeared on Noah's face. Could it be that Levi was actually scared of zombies? And– le gasp! –would only feel secure if he had someone or something to hug for comfort?!
Blackie, （ ﾟДﾟ）'Wow… Just wow… You really opened my eyes this time! This is either true love or true absurdity! At this point, I don't know whether I should be touched or mortified…'
Feeling like he was onto something, Noah's eyes curved, and he nearly burst out in laughter then and there. How could this brother of his be so foolishly, endearingly adorable??
Underneath Levi's chin, Noah hid his eyes that were sparkling in amusement like the brightest stars in the sky, "Brother… it's ok… I know…" He definitely couldn't injure Levi's manly pride, so… "With you here, I definitely won't be scared."
The sticky-sweet sound that rolled off Noah's tongue ticked both Levi's ear and heart. It washed over Levi's body like a tide of hot honey.
Only after it had passed through did Levi realize that his own heart had been completely swept away, entrapped in honey that was stickier than tar, forever unable to be retrieved back.
"Mn," Levi's chest rumbled, his hoarse hum of bliss making Noah's insides tingle and heat up.
Encouraged by Levi's positive reaction to his comforting, Noah pretended not to be interested in the movie at all. He was only a step short of declaring, 'rest at ease, brother! You can smother me how you like! So what if I can't see the screen? I am not missing anything anyway!'
Unfortunately, now that there was no movie in front of his eyes to distract him, Noah's focus was drawn back to his too intimate position with Levi. He tried to think about something else, but then, his mind would drift towards the foreign feelings brewing within his chest.
With his every thought more flustering than the last, Noah decided he might as well shut his brain down and just focus on smelling Levi's nice cologne. Mhm! So nice to smell~
Thus, Noah tilted his head upwards from under the crook of Levi's neck and started to sniff around in what he thought was a very subtle way.
Suffice to say, Levi's upper and lower halves both disagreed with his definition of subtility. Every puff of warm air on Levi's neck blew warmth directly into his veins. Each butterfly light touch of that little nose against his flesh left a scorching trail in its wake.
Levi swallowed down hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and couldn't help but curse his own stupidity. This really wasn't the right time and place to get a boner, ah! Ai, why was he, Levi, always so insatiably greedy?! And since when had he become so dumb as to make the same mistake over and over again, never learning from it?! Repeatedly, he kept overestimating his self-control and underestimating his baby's allure!
Just look at this little temptress, staying put inside his arms very obediently; he was even taking the opportunity to tickle him with his soft little snout as if asking to be spoiled!
He was a hot-blooded man, not a Buddha!
💠 Author Note 💠 - put it here because it is too long
Alright, my cold (… uh… it was probably a cold?) has mostly passed now. I am not back to 100% yet, but my mental and physical state is good enough to slowly get back to writing. Thank you guys for your good wishes, especially you, Mixa; your message was adorable and made me all giggly inside. ❤
Also, do not worry, guys, chapters that should have been posted during this time will be posted. 😊 You won't be suffering a loss over this. :P
For you guys who are wondering how long this arc will be… uh… even if I told you, my chapter/word estimates have proven to be extremely unreliable… I think we are 80% over with the arc, but I also thought that two months ago… 😅
Honestly, from the start, SSC was supposed to be a world-hopper, but not literally a quick transmigration series because the transmigrations aren't quick. Each world is supposed to be a fully-fledged romance novel that could potentially be read stand-alone. Long and interesting enough to come back for a reread in the future, but not long enough to overstay its welcome.
Each world has a lot of potential for character development, humor, fluffiness, sugar, smut, and feels. And I want to make use of each of those settings properly. So that each lifetime, each arc, each ML, leaves a powerful impression in your mind. And by the end of which, you feel like we've come a long way.
My personal goal is to give you guys a good dose of serotonin every day for many years to come. Be it through SSC, or one of my other series that are waiting in the writing queue.
So, back to the original question, uh, yeah, we are actually really close to the end of this arc; there is not much left plot-wise. But there are many extras that I intend to write, so that might delay me from starting the next arc for quite a while. I will also need to do a lot of misc work after I'm done with the arc to prepare it for ebook and print publication, which will certainly take a lot of time too… I also intend to make a BG (boy x girl) version of my novels, SSC included, for those yet to awaken their inner fujoshi. Making a BG version of this arc should also take a considerable amount of time because it involves a lot of rewriting and editing.
So looking at it from a time perspective… we are close to the end of this arc but far from the beginning of the next. 😅
But look at the bright side. While you wait for the next world, you'll be able to get your hands on a BG version which will have a whole different flavor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In the BG version, Noah is personality-wise the same, but gender-wise, he is Leah, a she. And Aris is actually a girl crossdressing as a guy. So the tone of the novel is:
Leah, 'What good brothers?! Bro, look closely, this mommy is a girl, ok?!' QAQ
…and…
Levi, "Your sister and I are not suitable for each other." (︶^︶)ノ
Leah, "How so?" (°△°|||)??
Levi, "I'm gay." （︶‿︶）
Leah, "…" (⊙_⊙;) '…bro …wait …hold up– no, roll back!! Sure, my sis and your gay self are unsuitable, but… how is changing the bride to me any more suitable?!? Fricking hell! Don't tell me you have designs on this mommy's chrysanthemum?! Ah, ah, brother, wake up! This mommy might look like a little brother, but there is no little brother down there, ah!!!'
Blackie, 😂 'I can't wait for the wedding night surprise!'
Wedding night Levi, '…tsk. All those man on man tutorials I watched online turned out to be a waste of time!' (ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻ 'I've been learning how to use the wrong equipment! Ah, ah! What to do?? I'm not sufficiently prepared for this! What if I make a mistake somewhere and baby doesn't want to sleep with me again?' 😱
Blackie, 'Wait… this kind of thing still needs special preparation?' (ﾟдﾟ;)
Levi, 'Hmm…Since I prepared for anal so thoroughly, would it be better if I entered through the backdoor after all?' 🤔