A Fragile Truce

My eyes, completely unable to hide their awkwardness, subtly avoided Lee Dohun’s gaze.

“So, you have nothing to say?”

……The dynamic was incredibly bizarre. I felt exactly like a young child getting scolded after committing a massive blunder.

There was the fact that I was standing up, looking down at Lee Dohun who was perched on the edge of the bed. Then there were my two hands, clasped together politely because of the uncomfortable atmosphere. I tried to loosen my grip, thinking my posture was excessively submissive, but whenever my eyes met his savage glare, my hands reflexively clasped together again on their own.

Clank.

The handcuffs made a distinct metallic sound, looking exceptionally prominent today. Lee Dohun deliberately shaking his hands around didn’t help matters either.

Unlock them right now.

His eyes were clearly demanding that. My lips, which had been pressed into a tight line the entire time, finally parted slowly.

“I don’t want to.”

“……What?”

Lee Dohun’s expression turned peculiar. To be precise, it looked like he had absolutely never anticipated receiving a refusal from me.

But that was short-lived. His trembling eyes drooped down as if by magic, adopting a pitiful look.

“My wrists hurt. My neck hurts too.”

“…….”

“Because I can’t see the sun, I feel like I’m suffocating and going crazy. I can’t even sleep because I’m worried about my family. So, please…….”

“……You did that last time too, and then you openly attacked me.”

When his face was expressionless, he looked like a statue carved by a master artisan, but the moment his eyes drooped like that, he exuded an incredibly melancholic aura. A strong urge to rush over and comfort him instantly welled up inside me.

But that was exactly as far as it went.

Having already fallen for his pitiful act once before, I quickly shook off those useless thoughts by wagging my head. The voice I used to counter him was quite firm.

“Tsk.”

With that single sound, his expression transformed instantly. The sorrowful face vanished without a trace, replaced by a clicking tongue and a look that seemed downright threatening.

A chill ran down the back of my neck only after I processed his blatant transformation. It felt like… my head had almost been cracked open just a second ago.

‘I am absolutely not unlocking him.’

If I let him go, nothing good will come of it. He might have recognized me as someone separate from “Baek Seohan,” but that didn’t automatically mean he was guaranteeing my safety, did it?

Yet almost as if he had read my thoughts, Lee Dohun’s expression turned murderous.

“Don’t even think about pulling any cheap tricks.”

‘……How did he know?’

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck. It was a cold sweat.

The way he stared straight at me was highly unusual. Unreadable emotions drifted within his burning pupils.

He seemed angry, yet at the same time, he didn’t. Unless I literally became Lee Dohun myself, there was no way to know what he was thinking, so I had no choice but to walk on eggshells around him.

“What is the reason.”

Hearing his question, my expression became twisted. It was a face that completely screamed, ‘Are you seriously asking because you don’t know?’

“Ah, because I hit you?”

“……If I had to specify, yes, that’s part of it.”

It was a defiant attitude that seemed unbelievable for someone who suffered nightmares about being choked by Lee Dohun at night. Setting aside my fear, it was because a clumsy amount of pride remained within me.

Looking at how I pretended not to be scared while unable to even properly hold eye contact, the corner of Lee Dohun’s mouth tilted upward. Rather than a smile, it was a smirk closely resembling a sneer, loaded with a highly pure form of malice.

“I suppose you know you did something to deserve being hit?”

Something sprouted rapidly deep inside my chest. It was spite and irritation. Even though a man with a ferocious face was holding his ground right in front of me, the thought ‘Should I just leave him locked up?’ crossed my mind for a split second.

“Let’s get one thing straight.”

I couldn’t just take this injustice lying down. I clenched my teeth but forced a smile onto my face as I opened my mouth.

‘I’ll just stick to the split personality narrative.’

The split personality setting wasn’t absent from the scenarios I had anticipated. The exact moment he misunderstood me as a literal alter ego was quite baffling, but since the opponent had already started misinterpreting things on his own, I decided to thoroughly exploit that fact.

“Putting Lee Dohun-ssi down here wasn’t my doing; it was ‘Baek Seohan’s’ doing. And since we share the same body, isn’t it only natural for me to worry about my own safety?”

“Ultimately, it means you’re terrified.”

“…….”

……Completely unable to utter a single word in retort, I stole a glance down at Lee Dohun’s arms. His solid muscles looked exceptionally resentful today.

‘How could I not be terrified?’

Look at your arms. I wanted to grab him by the collar and shake him, demanding to know if it made any sense for me not to be scared. Of course, it was nothing more than a delusion inside my head that would never happen.

“Despite being so terrified, you sure ran around outside with another bastard just fine. While keeping me locked up here.”

Was it just my imagination that each and every word felt like it was being spat out through gritted teeth? My wavering eyes carefully scanned Lee Dohun. Let’s assume it wasn’t an imagination. To me, his gleaming gaze was creepier than a scene out of a horror movie.

A wave of unfairness immediately followed. Did I run around because I wanted to? If I had actually been hanging out because I wanted to, I wouldn’t be this annoyed. I was dragged around because I was blackmailed by Jin Yeon-oh. And Jin Yeon-oh was completely…….

‘……Let’s just not think about him.’

If the fear I felt toward Lee Dohun—who was losing more of his ‘Main Shou’ traits by the day—was a fear of physical retaliation, Jin Yeon-oh was different. He was terrifying because you never knew what insane thing he would pull next. That guy was a lunatic on a completely different dimension.

Channeling that internal resentment, I let out a sly remark for no good reason.

“Ah, were you jealous?”

Though I regretted it the absolute instant the words left my mouth.

I wondered if a gaze that could literally wither a person alive looked like this. The face receiving Lee Dohun’s direct stare felt like it was genuinely burning. Even though it shouldn’t have a physical form, the heat was vividly felt. The liver that had briefly expanded to assert my survival shriveled right back down.

“That was a slip of the tongue. I’m sorry.”

The realization was fast, and the apology was even faster. The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could even think. It was a blunder committed entirely by my survival instincts, which had been thoroughly roasted by Lee Dohun and recently ground down by Jin Yeon-oh, but I was fully prepared to praise myself several times over for it.

Because Lee Dohun’s eyes, which had crossed past murderous into pure bloodlust, grew noticeably calmer. He even took a slow, deep breath as if trying to suppress his anger.

After some time passed, Lee Dohun slowly opened his mouth.

“Then let’s do this.”

The method he proposed was a ‘contract.’

“I will promise not to harm you for any reason whatsoever, so you release me from this damn basement.”

“……Fine. I’ll bring a contract.”

“No, do it right here.”

How do I know what kind of trick you’ll pull? A clear distrust could be felt in his upturned gaze and tone. Since I hadn’t done anything and didn’t possess even a microscopic shred of intention to do so, I couldn’t feel more wrongfully accused.

“I am not ‘Baek Seohan.'”

“The fact that you aren’t ‘Baek Seohan’ isn’t a reason for me to trust you.”

In the end, I rummaged through the basement without another word and found paper and a pen.

The pen danced lightly over the white paper, adding various cautionary clauses to the terms we had discussed. Although several details were attached, the majority boiled down to promising not to maliciously interfere with one another.

Though my situation—squatting down to write out a contract—was quite pitiful, my mood improved rapidly. Because what I was writing ultimately signaled the end of this uncomfortable cohabitation with Lee Dohun.

‘Once the thumbprints are on this……!’

I can finally kick Lee Dohun out.

Jin Yeon-oh’s matter was a massive headache, but at least this would excise one of the main reasons he kept backing “Baek Seohan” into a corner. Even if Jin Yeon-oh retained an interest in Lee Dohun, the sparks wouldn’t fly over to me.

“Put your thumbprint here. Right now.”

Having scrambled upstairs to personally retrieve an ink pad tucked away in a corner, I thrust it right in front of Lee Dohun. There was zero hesitation in the hands of the two people stamping their ink-stained thumbs onto the paper.

“Unlock it.”

The moment the two thumbprints were pressed down, Lee Dohun thrust his handcuffed wrists before my eyes. Swallowing hard, I reached out toward the cuffs.

Before long, the handcuffs hit the floor with a heavy metallic thud. After cleanly unlocking the shackles binding his ankles as well, I stole a quick glance at Lee Dohun. He was merely rotating his stiff wrists and ankles, showing no signs of wanting to lay a hand on me.

‘Because we wrote a contract.’

It was only natural since the thumbprints were clearly stamped, but since the memory of being attacked by him was still so vivid, I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit dazed. This situation felt profoundly awkward.

“Your name.”

The tension flowing subtly through the air snapped completely. A low voice drifted into my ears. Lee Dohun, who had been checking his wrists and ankles just a moment ago, was now looking directly at me.

“What is your name?”

It was an unexpected question. I had assumed that the moment he was freed, he would sprint right out of this dreadful basement and “Baek Seohan’s” house without looking back.