I Bought the Male Lead with Money

14.

“Are you really crazy?”

When Haruna first saw Yu Jin’s flushed cheeks, she let out a string of terrifying curses for quite a while.

“Is it because of that slave that Yu Jin is like this?”

Haruna’s eyes, naturally directed at Jinhyeon, turned fierce. Seeing this, Yu Jin hurriedly stopped Haruna.

“Don’t say anything. I stepped in on purpose.”

“Why? What’s the big deal? You could have just given him away, right?”

“I didn’t want to give him away.”

If he did that, Jinhyeon and Roena would try to kill the Lucid family members. It didn’t matter if others died, but Yu Jin wanted to live. Of course, he wanted to live with Keith and Haruna too. But he couldn’t say that outright, so he had to embellish it.

“I’ve always just lost things. Now that I’m an adult, I didn’t want to keep living like that.”

“No matter what!”

In the end, Haruna began to tear up. Even though she was called a steel-like person outside, she was infinitely weak in front of Yu Jin. The same went for Keith. And for Yu Jin, the twins were the only ones he could pour his affection into.

“What did the doctor say?”

“They said it’ll bruise, but if you apply the medicine regularly, it’ll heal.”

“What about the scar?”

“They said it won’t leave a mark. More importantly, can you comfort Keith a bit?”

“Why that idiot?”

Haruna pouted her lips. It seemed she was also angry at Keith for not being able to protect Yu Jin.

“Keith was quiet because I told him to. Don’t be too angry.”

“I’m upset. When I was younger, I thought that when I grew up, I would be able to protect Yu Jin better.”

Yu Jin gently patted the back of Haruna’s hand, which was trembling with tears. However, Haruna’s tears showed no sign of stopping, and the same went for Keith, who stood like a statue in the corner.

‘He really cries a lot.’

Seeing her cry, the image of the twins as children overlapped in his mind. When they were upset and cried, their green eyes would turn red, making them adorably rabbit-like, and that was still the case now. Even though they were already grown adults, they still looked cute.

‘By the way, I can’t stay like this.’

At first, he thought being the youngest son of the Lucid family was a better position than he expected. If he was a wealthy rogue, he could live freely. So even after becoming Al in his previous life, Yu Jin’s attitude didn’t change much.

Yu Jin was still complacent in reality. In fact, this position wasn’t as safe as it seemed. Just being hit by Roena was proof of that.

‘I feel terrible.’

Still, he couldn’t take revenge right away. Let alone capturing Roena and slapping her in retaliation was impossible.

‘I thought I could live comfortably this time.’

It didn’t seem like that was his fate.

‘First, let the swelling in my cheek go down a bit.’

Then he would dive into the business of the merchant guild. Haruna was still running the guild without a hitch, but that wasn’t enough.

The guild needed to grow bigger.

‘After all, the Lucid family bought their title with money.’

They became nobles because they had wealth, and to rise higher, they brought in a woman with royal blood. The current Lucid Marquis family was born from repeating that cycle.

‘Let’s aim higher.’

So that others couldn’t meddle carelessly.

For the first time, Yu Jin remembered his past life and felt greed. And on that day, Haruna stayed by Yu Jin’s side all night with Keith.

Jinhyeon was also in the same room, but Yu Jin couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The night deepened.

Even after Yu Jin’s swollen cheek had completely healed, Haruna didn’t easily leave his side. It seemed that Yu Jin’s injury had triggered her anxiety.

The only relief was that Jinhyeon didn’t cling to him as much as before.

When their eyes met, Jinhyeon smiled with his eyes. Recently, Jinhyeon had been coming and going in the training hall with Yu Jin’s permission. Originally, it was a space exclusively used by Keith, but now Jinhyeon was allowed to use it too.

Was that the reason? Sometimes when he disappeared and reappeared, his hair was wet. It seemed he had washed up after training, and every time Yu Jin saw him, his hands itched.

If you’ve washed it, you should dry your hair properly! It might be fine now while he’s young, but later, when every strand of hair becomes precious, he would regret it.

In the end, Yu Jin couldn’t hold back.

“Come here.”

Jinhyeon approached obediently.

“Haruna, bring me a towel.”

It was amusing to ask Haruna to do something with a slave right in front of him, but Yu Jin was too scared to order Jinhyeon around. Haruna brought the towel with a look that suggested she had a lot to say.

“You need to dry your hair properly.”

After receiving the towel from Haruna, Yu Jin handed it to Jinhyeon, whose expression became strange. Lately, Jinhyeon sometimes made that kind of expression, and Yu Jin didn’t understand its meaning.

Jinhyeon roughly dried his hair with the towel. It was frustrating to watch, so Yu Jin snatched the towel away.

“That’s not how you do it. Bow your head.”

Yu Jin gently rubbed and patted Jinhyeon’s hair with the towel. It wasn’t easy since Jinhyeon only bowed his head, but Yu Jin managed to do it.

Looking at Jinhyeon’s now fluffy hair, Yu Jin smiled proudly.

“Make sure to dry it well from now on.”

“……Yes.”

“By the way, have you decided what you want?”

Yu Jin already knew, but he asked again. In the meantime, Haruna had to leave for an urgent matter. She said she would call Keith back, who had gone to check the mansion’s security, so there was only a brief moment for Yu Jin to be alone with Jinhyeon. He needed to hear what Jinhyeon wanted during this time. Keith also knew that Yu Jin had agreed to fulfill Jinhyeon’s wishes, but if he knew the extent of it, he would be surprised.

‘At least one of them should feel at ease.’

Yu Jin thought that way.

“Yes, I’ve decided.”

“What is it?”

“First.”

Jinhyeon reached out and wrapped his arms around Yu Jin’s waist. Suddenly being pulled close and having their faces nearly touching felt awkward. His eyes, unable to find a place to settle, darted around.

“I want to sleep with you.”

Yu Jin doubted his ears for a moment. He asked him to say what he wanted, and he wanted to sleep with him? That couldn’t mean anything innocent; it must be a suggestion for sex.

After poking around a bit last time, did he find it to his taste? For now, let’s test the waters.

“Is that okay?”

Wasn’t Jinhyeon’s dream to rise above and make it so no one looked down on him? When Yu Jin looked at him in surprise, Jinhyeon smiled slightly and repeated his words.

“First.”

Hearing that again, Yu Jin realized.

‘This guy isn’t just going to say one wish.’

If he granted all his wishes, Yu Jin might end up completely drained and become a beggar, so he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“One, just one!”

“I don’t remember there being such a condition.”

“It just came up.”

“That’s too little. Then let’s make it three.”

Why should he decide if it’s too little or not? Yu Jin shook his head.

“No way. That’s too many.”

“I’ve reduced it from more. Is it hard to grant?”

The corners of Jinhyeon’s mouth curled up. Seeing that made Yu Jin feel a sense of foreboding that if he kept refusing, something good wouldn’t come.

‘This isn’t good.’

Three was too many for that psychopathic murderer, but Yu Jin couldn’t shake his head.

“……Then, up to three.”

“Good. Then let’s talk about one now.”

Since the number had decreased, he would stop asking to sleep together. No, originally, the Jinhyeon in the novel had been with many women.

In the original story, there were men who were captivated by him, but they all ended in friendship. So he was undoubtedly heterosexual. This would just be a temporary deviation. No, it must be a deviation!

Yu Jin desperately hoped.

Now, say it again. Yu Jin was confident he wouldn’t be surprised by whatever Jinhyeon wanted. After all, he was someone who would swallow the continent, so he would show the most composed reaction possible.

‘I can’t be seen as easy anymore.’

Thinking that, Yu Jin looked at Jinhyeon. Now he thought he needed to appear a bit stronger and puffed out his chest, but Jinhyeon smiled. However, that feeling was strange.

It wasn’t a smile of joy, nor was it mocking. Yet, it wasn’t unfamiliar. Where had he seen such a smile? While rummaging through his memories to recall, Jinhyeon raised his hand.

Seeing that, Yu Jin’s body tensed up without him realizing it. Logically, he knew that Jinhyeon had never harmed him, but his body acted separately.

Yu Jin’s body flinched, but Jinhyeon didn’t care and placed his hand on Yu Jin’s cheek. The cheek that had been hit by Roena.

Jinhyeon’s hand gently caressed Yu Jin’s cheek before slowly moving down. The moment his large hand wrapped around Yu Jin’s neck, his heart dropped to his toes.

Seeing Yu Jin flinch, Jinhyeon narrowed his eyes. Fearing that Jinhyeon would suspect him again, Yu Jin tried to relax his body.

It was strange for someone labeled a rogue to suddenly tense up at another person’s touch. Nothing particularly had happened.

In the meantime, Jinhyeon’s hand traveled down past his shoulder blades to his hips. With a sense of foreboding, Yu Jin looked at Jinhyeon, who pressed his fingertips between Yu Jin’s buttocks.

In that instant, a chilling sensation pierced through his body.

“Ugh.”

Memories of the last time resurfaced. This guy’s body reacted without any principles. Yu Jin tightly shut his eyes and fervently sang the national anthem in his mind.

Disappear, disappear! Seeing Yu Jin struggling like that, Jinhyeon let out a small laugh. Watching him smile, he seemed like a young man of his age. How nice it would be if he could just live like an ordinary young man.

While thinking that, Jinhyeon opened his mouth.

“It seems like you, my lord, are a bit, very dull.” 

Am I dull? I don’t think so.