Kwon Jae-jin stuck out his tongue, filthy and coated in semen. Then, with all his strength, he bit down hard on it. Thanks to his healing factor, he could recover from just about anything, so he knew this wouldn't kill him.
Kwon Jae-jin simply wanted to make one thing clear to Seo Ui-woo— perfectly clear.
'Who's the one in need now?'
Kwon Jae-jin's tongue, which he had bitten hard, hung torn and ragged.
As he spat out the blood that filled his mouth, sure enough, Seo Ui-woo's expression subtly shifted.
"Why… Why are you doing this all of a sudden? You always said you hated getting hurt, didn't you?"
Bright red blood seeped into the pristine white sheets, leaving a vivid stain.
Seo Ui-woo blinked, his eyes clouded with confusion. Jae-jin's actions had clearly caught him off guard. It wasn't that he found a severed tongue shocking — what startled him was how Kwon Jae-jin, who had always seemed weak, complaining about pain and agreeing to guide out of fear of being killed, had suddenly changed so drastically.
Seo Ui-woo pulled a healing factor from his chest pocket and injected it into Jae-jin's vein. Kwon Jae-jin blinked his fading eyes a few times before collapsing onto the bed, his head buried in the mattress.
The pain from biting down on his tongue with all his strength was far beyond what he had imagined.
It hurt.
Kwon Jae-jin grimaced deeply, his shoulders shaking as he coughed violently. With each cough, droplets of blood sprayed out like mist.
He forced open his eyelids, which were crusty and dry. It was a pristine white bed, bathed in the morning sunlight.
When he tried to get up sluggishly, he was hindered by an arm firmly wrapped around his waist. Seo Ui-woo was sound asleep, holding Jae-jin tightly.
"..."
After blinking a few times, Jae-jin found a more comfortable position and wriggled his way into Seo Ui-woo's chest. He felt a sense of calm from the familiar and comforting warmth, settling into his embrace. Staying like that for a while, drowsiness swept over him, and he muttered vaguely.
"...Ui-woo, get me some water..."
Kwon Jae-jin froze.
From the base of his tongue to the very tip, it felt numb, aching with a dull throb.
He instinctively tried to move his tongue again, only to realize it was swollen, making his speech a bit slurred.
Suddenly, he came to his senses.
'Ah.'
For a moment, he had thought everything was just a dream.
That he hadn't died, that there was no regression, and that he was still together with Seo Ui-woo, who remembered him just as he had four years ago.
'Hah… right…'
Kwon Jae-jin stifled a bitter laugh inwardly.
As he sorted out the jumbled memories in his head, he recalled the last moment when he had bitten his tongue to injure himself. During the second timeline, he had tried to comply with the guiding process but ultimately failed, unable to endure.
'Okay… I understand.'
Training Seo Ui-woo was going to be more difficult than he had imagined.
'I suppose I shouldn't indulge Seo Ui-woo too much. Got it.'
Honestly, up until that point, Kwon Jae-jin had thought that if he just willingly became Seo Ui-woo's guide, all the problems would be solved. He thought that as long as he didn't refuse the guiding, didn't try to escape, and avoided conflicts with Seo Eu, things would go smoothly.
'I was too optimistic…'
The creature named Seo Ui-woo seemed to require an appropriate mix of both the carrot and the stick.
The moment Jae-jin had generously given him the guiding he desired, he ended up biting his tongue in a desperate state. It was frustrating, to say the least.
'So, I have to provide the guiding, but not let myself be overpowered or underestimated by Seo Ui-woo.'
With a sigh, Kwon Jae-jin closed his eyes again.
How on earth was he supposed to strike the right balance?
If he acted out and fought like an animal, three years would be wasted.
If he allowed Seo Ui-woo to do whatever he wanted, thinking "Let him have his fun," Kwon Jae-jin himself would be the one suffering.
No matter how much he feared the future death awaiting him four years later, he couldn't endure Seo Ui-woo crossing the line every time. For the future, he needed to fix Seo Ui-woo's habits.
'In the end, I need to find the right balance between carrot and stick… but how? Damn it…'
For now, he needed to drink some cold water to clear his head.
All he could think about at the moment was how parched his throat felt.
Jae-jin let out a light sigh and tapped Seo Ui-woo's elbow.
"Seo Ui-woo, could you move your arm?"
"Mmm…"
Seo Ui-woo mumbled something incomprehensible in his sleep, only to hold Jae-jin tighter. His grip around Jae-jin's waist was almost suffocating.
How strong he was, even in his sleep.
He desperately wanted water, but with no way to move, he had no choice but to wait. Jae-jin gave up trying to get up and slumped back onto the bed.
Luckily, Seo Ui-woo seemed to have cleaned up everything — the blood and other mess Jae-jin had thrown up were completely gone, and the sheets were fresh. His face, which had been stained with blood, and his dirty mouth were also cleaned. His whole body felt clean like he had been thoroughly bathed.
Jae-jin stared blankly up at the glass ceiling before lowering his gaze back to Seo Ui-woo.
If he were the first iteration of Kwon Jae-jin, he might have felt his head burning with hatred, distrust, shame, and humiliation toward Seo Ui-woo. But the second version of Kwon Jae-jin didn't.
At that moment, and perhaps out of nowhere, he wondered whether everything was just a dream. If he went back to sleep, would it all vanish?
'Seo Ui-woo… It's nice that you can be so carefree. All you need is the guiding, after all.'
In front of him, he saw Seo Ui-woo's curly hair, tousled like a swallow's nest.
The transparent black ends of his hair shimmered in the morning sunlight with rainbow hues. From a different angle, the color seemed to change.
Kwon Jae-jin lazily ran his fingers through Seo Ui-woo's hair. He brushed it along the left parting, then threaded his fingers through the roots to create a new parting in the opposite direction.
This was his way of distinguishing between the two timelines.
He wouldn't get confused again.
He wouldn't mistake it for a dream anymore.
With the direction of the parting alone, he could instantly tell which Seo Ui-woo was in front of him.
He wasn't sure what significance there was in distinguishing between the Seo Ui-woo of the first and second timelines, but he didn't want to think about it too deeply.
At the moment, he didn't have the energy for it. There must have been a hidden exhaustion building up, as his entire body felt stiff and fatigued.
"Mmm… are you awake?"
Around that time, Seo Ui-woo sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked slightly smiling, perhaps enjoying the sensation of Jae-jin stroking his hair. Kwon Jae-jin grabbed Seo Ui-woo's cheek, pinching it hard, and gestured with his chin for him to move his arm away.
Whether he didn't understand or was just pretending not to, Seo Ui-woo still didn't let go. Instead, he snuggled closer, burying his face in Jae-jin's neck and letting out a wide yawn.
"Can you move, Seo Ui-woo?"
"Yes, sure."
"You're heavy."
"Yes."
Unmoving.
He responded obediently but didn't budge an inch.
"Let's… sleep a bit more. I've always wanted to sleep in late…"
Seo Ui-woo, his words slurred with sleep, rubbed his nose against Jae-jin's collarbone.
For someone who had suffered from chronic insomnia due to a lack of guiding, this must have been the first time he had slept so deeply.
Realizing that, Jae-jin gave up trying to push Seo Ui-woo away and resigned himself to his embrace.
Instead of getting up himself, he figured he could use this brat to do it.
"If you're going to keep lazing around, at least get me some water before you do."
"Oh, you asked for water earlier, didn't you?"
"…Did you hear that?"
"Yes. You said, 'Ui-woo, get me water…' like that, right?"
"…"
Kwon Jae-jin squinted his eyes, pretending to look away.
Did he hear that too?
He thought Seo Ui-woo had been fast asleep, but it seemed he had just been pretending.
When Jae-jin gave no response, Seo Ui-woo simply shrugged his shoulders. Soon after, a glass of water floated in the air and flew toward them. Even though it was filled to the brim, not a single drop spilled, and it stopped in front of Jae-jin as if by magic.
This mansion had been built to precisely measure the range of Seo Ui-woo's abilities, which meant he could use his powers anywhere inside. Despite already living in a very convenient house, he had such a handy ability.
'No wonder this kid's spoiled.'
Without needing to reach out, the glass was tilted toward Jae-jin's lips through telekinesis. Like a baby bird receiving food, Jae-jin drank the water as it came to him, gulping it down. The empty glass then flew back to the kitchen.
"The tablet and the card, too."
"You want me to bring them?"
"Yes. I feel like wasting some money."
A black tablet and a black card flew over, landing in Jae-jin's hand. He turned on the screen and accessed the internet, searching for any luxury brand that came to mind. The official homepage of brand Y appeared. Entering the main page, he began adding every visible item to his cart without hesitation.
Watches. Watches. Shoes. Watches. Perfume. Bags. Pet supplies.
A red dog collar cost 2.8 million won. The dog bowl next to it was 1.5 million won. He added both and paid in full with the black card before moving on to brand J's luxury site.
Sweater. Trench coat. Bag. Belt. Swim trunks. Hat. Wallet.
Again, he threw everything he saw into the cart and paid in full, not even bothering to check the price this time.
After hopping from site to site, buying a 70-million-won Ducati Panigale V4 SP bike, he felt significantly better. Even looking at Seo Ui-woo's face, peacefully sleeping and breathing softly beside him, didn't make him angry anymore.