/
I reflexively stood in front of Seo Dawon, trying to hide him from Han Kiseok. Of course, considering our physical differences, I couldn’t overshadow the Mage’s body; after staring at Seo Dawon for a moment, Han Kiseok was able to tear his eyes away to turn to me.
“Why are you
 Did you follow me?” I asked.
“Who’s that behind you?” However, Han Kiseok ignored my question and said what he wanted to say. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he recognized the Mage. If he noticed that a dead person appeared before him, he wouldn’t be so perfunctorily shocked.
However, I was still nervous because the Mage’s face wasn’t one that you could forget after seeing. Even if we were to deny the Mage’s identity now, someday in the future, Han Kiseok may search up Seo Dawon’s pictures later. Therefore, I aimed to get out of this situation without saying much. I wanted to keep him from seeing the Mage’s face as much as possible.
However, before I could open my mouth, I felt a hair-rising touch on the back of my neck. Seo Dawon reached out from behind, sweeping past my nape and cheek, hugged my shoulders, and pulled me into his embrace. Han Kiseok’s eyes followed Seo Dawon’s pale hand; it felt like his gaze alighted my skin.
“That’s something I should ask you instead
” Seo Dawon answered with ease. I couldn’t see the Mage’s expression, but I knew from the touch at the back of my head that the Mage was half-burying his face in my hair.
I wasn’t certain, but
 it felt like Seo Dawon was chuckling as he embraced me. It felt like his words took an amused lilt at the end of his sentences. Though
 it didn’t seem like the Mage was laughing because he was having fun or anything.
In any case, all I could see was Han Kiseok’s expression; the man’s brows made deep furrows in the middle of his forehead.
“Who are you.” Han Kiseok pressed at Seo Dawon with an expression I had never seen on him. It was as if he was willing to call upon his skills; his irises were filling with various colors–a characteristic specific to Mages.
I wondered if he would attack Seo Dawon, but I imagined that, at that rate, he would die. Therefore, I rushed to stop him. “Wait a minute, this is
”
“You want my name? Or are you asking about mine and Lee-kyung’s relationship?” Seo Dawon said.
“

”
“It’s the latter, right?” Seo Dawon was faster than me.
Han Kiseok did not deny those words, but he shot a glare at the Mage.
I pulled at Seo Dawon’s arm, trying to telepathically convey to the Mage, ‘How are you going to fix this?’ However, Seo Dawon ignored my signal and calmly uttered something horribly astonishing. “Lee-kyung-ie is my owner, of course.”
“W
What?”
“
What did you say?”
I looked up at the Mage in surprise; he was grinning, as I had expected. He was still shameless even when I made eye contact with him.
I tried to ask Seo Dawon silently, ‘Just what on earth are you saying?!’ However, the Mage simply responded with a light kiss–a suck–on the lips. Frozen by the surprising contact, I didn’t push him away until he languidly licked at my lips.
“
What
do you mean?” Of course Han Kiseok was shocked. I only returned to my senses after hearing Han Kiseok’s question and turned my stiff neck towards him. However, everything I wanted to say seemed to vanish; my lips could only attempt to silently mouth excuses.
Meanwhile, Seo Dawon, composed as always, began to weave a lie. “It’s exactly as you imagine.”
“

”
“I guess you didn’t know about Lee-kyung-ie’s ‘tastes’?”
I didn’t know why the word ‘tastes’ sounded so lewd. Because of that, I was momentarily stunned. Though I tried to belatedly protest
 Seo Dawon’s gaze overpowered me.
Only then did I realize that Seo Dawon was in a fouler mood than I had previously thought. He looked incredibly angry, even though his eyes were still smiling–his expression was even scarier due to that dissonance.
‘W-What is it
 Is he mad at me instead of Han Kiseok?’
I was bewildered, but I felt like I couldn’t pipe up in this situation. Eventually, though I felt like something was wrong, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
Han Kiseok looked at me as if trying to gauge, from my expression, the validity of Seo Dawon’s words. I sneakily avoided his gaze while also trying to read Kiseok’s expression–who looked at me like I was some stranger.
“
Is that the truth?” He asked.
“

”
“You said you weren’t seeing anyone in particular.” Somehow, his tone sounded so melancholic.
Once again,  Seo Dawon intercepted this question. He smiled and began to spout more ridiculous bullshit, “Lee-kyung-ie has many men. I’m just one of them.”
“What?”
“W-What are you
?!”
“It’s not so difficult for Lee-kyung to see many men at once, so
”
“

”
“So, Lee-kyung-ie doesn’t have anyone he’s dating in particular?” With that said, Seo Dawon looked down at me with a mischievous expression. I suddenly understood what the Mage was trying to say.
He was simply explaining our relationship while excluding the terms 'servant” and “master”. He was simply being vague and chose words that could be misunderstood!
In the necromancer’s contract, the participants were defined as ‘master’ and ‘servant,’ so it wasn’t wrong of Seo Dawon to call me his ‘owner.’
However, Han Kiseok knew nothing of the Necromancer contract. He would never be able to understand our contractual relationship; his misunderstandings would only be amplified by this vague language.
There was no doubt that Seo Dawon was deliberately fanning the flames of delusion. Moreover, he shamelessly sent me a silent signal to join him in crafting this illusion.
I was frustrated since I couldn’t understand why we needed to deceive Han Kiseok. Of course! *The ** great* * Seo Dawon probably has a plan that a clumsy person like me ** could never ** guess
!*  1
‘Fine, It’s all fine, but
 Was this the only way to do things?! You’re murdering my social reputation!’
I sent a silent appeal with desperate eyes, but Seo Dawon simply snorted. There were no signs of him backing down.
Eventually, I angrily clenched my fists and had no choice but to answer Han Kiseok. “
Y
Yeah.”
Seo Dawon stroked my hair, as if he were telling me I did well; at that moment, I wanted to bite the Mage’s fingers off. I finaly keenly understood why Lackey grinded its teeth every time the skeleton saw the Mage.
Han Kiseok paled at my agreement; he looked shocked. He looked at me with trembling eyes, “You’re saying what that guy is saying
is the truth?”
“
..Yeah.”
“I mean
 My ‘tastes’ are
 really
” My words trailed off; I couldn’t blurt out this bullshit any more. My throat choked, and I couldn’t say more. However, at the Mage’s urging, I was forced to nod my head. Han Kiseok looked me up and down, as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard.
“Lee-kyung-ie is a little kinky” Seo Dawon continued.
“

”
“He needs to see blood to get ‘release’
” Until the very end, Seo Dawon made me out to be an incurable pervert. After seeing Han Kiseok’s hands start to shake, I didn’t want to open my eyes anymore. So, with closed eyes, I forcefully pinched Seo Dawon’s arm. However, as expected, the Mage did not budge.
“By the way, Lee-kyung-ah. Are you bringing this guy into the fold too?”
“

”
“I don’t want our business to become even messier
 I bet Kim Sangyoon won’t like it either.” The Mage took another step further and made a show of having a loud conversation in front of Han Kiseok.
I couldn’t endure and wanted to scream; Seo Dawon, though, cleverly pressed on my neck. Only suffocated groans left my throat. Because of that, Han Kiseok gaze colored with disgust; I couldn’t even make excuses.
“I don’t think there’s anything else I want to hear. I’ll take my leave.” Eventually, Han Kiseok turned his back on us; it felt as if I could see cold air left behind in his wake. I stared vacantly at his departing back, mouth open.
I pointed at the Mage. “Are you crazy?”
Seo Dawon covered his mouth with one hand and chuckled. Then, suddenly, he stopped laughing and dragged me closer by my chin. With downcast eyes, he whispered, “Then you shouldn’t have left him room for hope.”
TL: Dang, Seo Dawon, I know you were chugging vinegar and immensely disliked Han Kiseok, but you should know by know all of Han Kiseok’s overtures went completely over Lee-kyung’s head. Lee-kyung’s starting to sass Seo Dawon a little more now too. Only in his heart
but one day I hope he’ll just outright sass the Mage.
Also, thanks for being patient you guys! I know you waited a while–the vacation was great <3 I hiked so much (and in the rain so I got sick haha). As always I have schedule up on the discord.
Footnotes
The sarcasm is too real and warranted haha