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“Some weird guys told me you’ve been kidnapped, but you look fine.”
“…”
He was cold-hearted for what he said to his brother. Doesn’t he sound like saying Kang Soo Hyun should be sorry for being fine?
I forgot about the situation and was staring blankly at Kang Yoo-hyun. It was inevitable. Kang Yoo-hyun was the main character of the novel that I was crazy about. I thought the illustrator who drew the cover was very talented, but when I faced the real thing, I changed my mind.
The illustrator, obviously, was not artistic enough. I can’t believe they drew such a handsome face like that.1 Kang Yoo-hyun’s real life appearance shocked me that much.
When he used his ability, his eyes, which were glowing blue, left Kang Soo Hyun and looked at me. I felt a tingling sensation, as if an electric current was flowing from my head to toe. I heard a warning signal in my head, but my body couldn’t move as if it had been struck by lightning.
“…Hyung.”
“…”
A suppressed voice flowed from Kang-Soo Hyun’s mouth. However, even though he was surprised to see his hyung, he did not let go of his hand that held my wrist. I alternatively looked at his hyung and himself with a troubled face.
“I met some bastards earlier.” Kang Yoo-hyun, who spoke again in a gloomy tone, scanned my body with an annoyed look.
“They wanted to kidnap you, and also make you listen to them.”
""
“…”
Damn Villain bastards. You approached Kang Yoo-hyun so poorly? I knew that from reading the novel they originally did it this way, but I exploded in frustration. Some of them had to do things they didn’t want to do in spite of struggling.
I was quietly gritting my teeth, but I kept hearing Kang-Yoo Hyun’s voice.
“I was going to ignore you, but they showed me a picture of your name tag up close.”
Oh, that’s what I took. I took Kang Soo-hyun into the alley and secretly took a picture with a silent camera app. I nodded inwardly as confirmation for my deeds.
In fact, what the villains wanted was a more candid picture. Such as, his face being a mess because he was hit, or he got tied up and stuck. Han Yi-jin in the original story beat Kang Soo-hyun pitifully so that he would do what he was told.
But I didn’t. It was because I didn’t want to go against the main character’s temper. So I compromised with a photo of the nameplate that I secretly took from the side, but he wouldn’t be offended by that, would he?
When I saw Kang Yoo-hyun, while being anxious, my eyes met his.
“That’s why I’m here to see the bastard who kidnapped you.”
“…!”
Kang Yoo-hyun’s way of speaking was extremely indifferent. He even had a leisurely attitude as if he had stopped by because he was bored.
Maybe that’s why it wasn’t realistic. I just blinked my eyes when Kang-Yoo Hyun, who was right in front of me, disappeared.
“Ugh…!”
I felt suffocated. My body recognized the situation before I could think. As it was, Kang Yoo-hyun had grabbed my neck and pushed me back.
“Han Yi-jin!” Surprised by Kang Yoo-hyun’s action, Eden shouted my name and much to my dismay, I could only curse inwardly.
Fuck! Don’t call my name!
When Kang-Soo Hyun asked me I didn’t even answer, but that Eden guy gave my name away too easily. I frowned and grabbed Kang-Yoo Hyun’s arm.
“Han Yi-jin? Who are you?”
“Kugh…”
No, I won’t reply unless you let go of my neck. I glanced at Kang Yoo Hyun with my eyes wide open, while in pain. Kang Yoo Hyun was staring at me with a bright blue light shining from his eyes.
The fact that I could not see his black pupils was proof that he was quite upset right now. I didn’t expect to run into Kang Yoo-hyun like this. I was going to coax Kang Soo-hyun well and send him back.
His grip on my neck hurts. My head was further affected by the scarce amount of oxygen, making it impossible to think normally.
“Hmm…”
Kang Yoo-hyun’s cold eyes swept across my body again. I gasped for breath while seeing the distorted expression on his face, as if he didn’t like something.
“Ugh, Han,Yi Jin…”
Even Eden, who followed as a watchdog, knelt down and barely looked up at this side. It seemed that Kang Yoo-hyun’s  ability not only affected Eden but also his younger brother’s body. But I couldn’t care less about him. It was because Kang Yoo-hyun’s presence holding my neck was so great.
Fuck, it’s not like I’m X.
My body shook like a paper doll, as if I were facing a monster. Even though we are both talented, this is a bit too much.
“Hey, what are you really?”
“Mm, kuk, what…”
I could see Kang Yoo-hyun’s frowning face  through the shaky view of being strangled. What didn’t he like so much, that he crumpled up his face and uttered swear words?
“Haa, fu…”
“Ugh….”
I really couldn’t take it any more. My throat was sore and hot. My eyes gradually looked up, unable to see forward.
“Hyung, stop it!”
Bang, there was a faint sound of hitting something. Then Kang Yoo Hyun’s hand fell off my neck. I collapsed on the spot and breathed heavily.
""
“Gasp…! Ugh, cough, huff…”
Tears flowed from my eyes and fell to the ground. There was a loud and ringing noise in my ear. And in the meantime, I could faintly hear the brothers’ quarrels.
“Move, Kang Soo-hyun.”
“I will not move.”
“Now you’re defending the bastard who abducted you?”
“…I wasn’t kidnapped.”
No, that’s a little…
I shook my head inwardly as I listened to  Kang-Soo Hyun’s faint words. Is he being nice or stupid? It’s obvious that I kidnapped him. It’s just that I didn’t use violence or threats in the process.
Kang Yoo-hyun and Kang Soo-hyun didn’t have a very good relationship. In particular, Kang Yoo-hyun was trapped in a  twisted time axis after entering the gate and wandered around other dimensions for more than 300 years.
During that time, he suffered tremendous pain. While hundreds of people who entered the gate with him went insane, only Kang Yoo-hyun managed to maintain his sanity and personality.
Still, 300 years was a long time. When he finally returned to his original timeline, Kang Yoo-hyun was almost insane. Facing his long-forgotten brother, he thought of only one line, “Oh, so that’s what happened.”
So now, rather than worrying about his younger brother, Kang Yoo-hyun was mostly angry at him, who was already barely within his boundaries, for defending the culprit. This was also mentioned in the novel.
Kang Yoo-hyun gradually regains his former goodness and peace of mind through the people around him. However, this is still the beginning of the novel when Kang Yoo-hyun’s mind is at its most unstable. It was currently impossible to have a proper conversation with him.
I had to escape. I thought so desperately, but my weak legs couldn’t move at all.
Damn it, I’m like a paper doll.
It was when I barely raised my head while swearing inside, that I heard what Kang Yoo-hyun had to say.
“If you weren’t abducted, then what?”
“So that’s…”
I could see Kang-Soo Hyun’s back blocking me. His trembling wide back  showed he was clearly struggling.
“Move aside for now. I need to find out who that bastard is…”
“Well, that person is not like that…!”
“I flirted with him in front of the school!”
“…What?”
“I flirted with him. He is….”
Kang Soo-hyun, who had been hesitant, finally spoke up while glancing at me behind him.
“Because he’s pretty.”
“…”
“…”
Kang Yoo-hyun became silent when Kang Soo-hyun said those absurd things, and I was silent too.
“Stop talking nonsense and get out of the way.”
“Hyung!”
Seeing Kang Yoo-hyun, who was annoyed and pushed his younger brother, I managed to come to my senses.
I didn’t want to die being trampled on by that crazy bastard like GodzilX. I love monster movies, but actually encountering them is extremely frightening.
The protagonist I admired so much was thus instantly turned into a monster.
I dragged my unmovable leg up to Eden. Eden was still unable to control his body, perhaps due to Kang Yoo-hyun’s skill.
“Hey, Eden.”
“Ugh.”
“Get it together!”
Perhaps because Kang-Yoo Hyun’s target was focused on me, Eden was not as affected and seemed fine. I glanced at the siblings who were bickering until Kang Yoo-hyun’s palm hit Kang Soo-Hyun’s back.
I had to run away. But I couldn’t do it alone. I looked up and locked eyes with Eden.
“Use your power when I signal you to.”
“W-what?”
“And close your eyes.”
“…?”
I frowned at the thought of using the skill. I remembered the ‘Catnip’ skill I read about carefully last night. The darn skill, whose name was already odd, was an assist skill and could amplify the stats of the target.
The problem was the added precautions due to the skill being changed to S class. I read a detailed explanation about the need for special conditions for higher ranks. And the explanation written was… spectacular.
It explained that the skill can be used only when there is a direct “contact” with the target. I couldn’t believe it and read it over and over again.
It was sexual harassment if the subject was a woman, and too disgusting if the subject was a man. I couldn’t understand why on earth there was such a condition for activating the skill. I swore all night, and when I got into a situation where I actually had to use my assistive skills, I got angry again.
“Close your eyes!”
“Huh? Oh.”
Eden closed his eyes in confusion. For a short time, I was fiercely distressed because it had to be skin contact. Anyway, we just have to touch each other, right?
Thinking briefly, I roughly placed my hand on Eden’s elbow. Then, I could feel his  cool skin in contact with my palm.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
I don’t know why I have to touch a fucking man’s bare skin.
No, this is for survival. For the sake of survival.
I repeatedly muttered this like a mantra to calm myself down, and then continued using my power. But unfortunately something was strange…
“…Hm?”
“What are you doing?”
Eden stared down at me as I grabbed his arm. What’s wrong with this? It was written that the skill would work when the synchronisation was over.
Catnip! This fucking catnip skill!
“What are you doing?”
I was startled when an eerie voice came from behind. Kang Yoo-hyun, who finally pushed Kang Soo-hyun over, approached Eden with glaring eyes.
Footnotes
Yijin said here is a pun, it means the illustrator is so talented that he was staring blankly at Yoohyun lmao.