Your blood boils in anger as you glare at the male NPCs in front of you. While the younger one is averting his eyes, devoid of any emotion, the older one dares to look at you as if what he said wasn't ridiculous at all. You sneer, sitting down on your bed, your chin raises so that your eyes can meet with Helios's brown ones, and you rest your right leg on your left leg.

Unbeknownst to you, it creates the illusion of a cold, ferocious master in front of them. Essen glances secretly at you, the tips of his ears red yet his face remains passive, while Helios frowns further, not liking your posture.

That person would never sit like this. He is reminded of his first love who he doesn't even know if she exists or not.

"Do you know what you're talking about, Helios?" You ask, restraining yourself from stabbing the shit out of him like how he did to you days ago.

"Of course I know, and I wouldn't change my mind even if you force me," it seems he is firm with his decision. "I want you to make Essen your love interest."

"Fucー!" Colorful profanities are at the tip of your tongue but you manage to hold yourself in, burying your face in your palms.

Your hands quiver at how much bad memory this discussion brings. It reminds you of the previous game, in which all you want is to spend time with Hayun only, but others just had to get in the way, claiming that they are in love with you.

Well, guess what? You don't care!

You did nothing for them. All you did was follow Hayun's instructions only, successfully saving them from their bad ends, but they had to use previous-game Hayun's kindness to be one of your love interests.

Were you that cheap in their eyes? A thing that can be passed around?

You exhale shakily, pulling your hands away as you glance up at Helios. "I don't understand you."

The man freezes at your hatred-filled eyes, his heart throbs in pain, but he manages to keep a poker face.

"Since you're so adamant to make me treat Hayun right. To love only Hayun. To just... ignore others and prioritize Hayun. I thought you would be the last one to do this kind of thing to me. That's why I accept making you my love interest, so you could stop other bugs from approaching me," you laugh bitterly. "But you fooled me. You fooled me, Helios."

Others might call you ungrateful for refusing to create a harem that can easily be formed, or they might think that you're stupid for taking this game too seriously by having only one NPC, but when you're attracted to only one person, others would look like a bunch of potatoes in your eyes.

ーwhere's the pleasure in having countless men when all your heart desires are only that one person?

"Am I... that bad?" Essen, who has been silent all this time, finally speaks. "Or is it because I have a darker complexion? Do you prefer whiter skin?"

"Don't put words in my mouth!" You snarl. "I just don't like you, so don't bother trying."

Essen flinches when you raise your voice.

『30% ー> 29%』

『53% ー> 55%』

You stare at the two love bars in disbelief. You can understand why Essen's love meter lowers down but why the hell Helios's love meter raises? You turn to the red-hair who's clenching his fists, and you wonder, rather than anger, is he trying to stop himself from smiling?

What the fuck?

You lower your head in confusion. Is Helios the tsundere type or something? Saying "please make Essen your love interest," but his heart is actually screaming "don't you dare!" Is he perhaps testing you right now?

Nonetheless, you don't like it.

"I've had enough," you sigh, waving your hands for them to go away. "Hayun has become my love interest so I do not need you anymore. Helios, I'm breaking up with you."

Helios seems to have expected this answer from you because without saying anything, the man drags his little brother away. Of course, the younger one tries to resist only to fail when the older one tightened his grip on him.

You frown, expecting them to take out a knife or something but they just leave? You shake your head. Seriously, you can never understand what's in Helios's mind.

Far away in the hallway after leaving your room, the younger NPC looks at the back of his older brother's in both grief and anger. Essen grabs ahold of Helios's wrist, stopping him from walking further away from him. The latter turns to look at the former, his expression devoid of any emotions.

"You know it would turn out that way, right?" Essen asks, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"I told you," he admits. "(Y/n) belongs to Hayun."

With that, he jerks away from his little brother. His eyes are cold as if the person in front of him isn't his family member, but an idiotic fangirl that doesn't know when to stop bothering him. Helios walks away, his footsteps are as heavy as his heart at this moment.

The man can hear Essen following him and couldn't help but curse in his heart.

The two are silent until he hears Essen's voice from behind.

"Do you... resent me?"

"..."

"You got the chance to be with (Y/n) but you lose it because of me..."

"..."

"Iー I'm sorry, okay?"

"..."

"It doesn't matter, big brother! We can always apologize to her, and if she doesn't accept it, why don't we kill her and each of us keep half of her body?"

Helios sighs, knowing that Essen is probably feeling guilty towards him due to the sibling bond they have, but that doesn't matter. Helios would rather let you be with Hayun rather than other NPCs.

At that, his heart squeezes painfully.

Helios frowns, hand on his chest as he assures himself that things would get better. After all, if he could successfully avoid you for three days, he will eventually forget about you.

"Hayun!"

Taken aback by the sudden embrace you give him, the said NPC blinks blankly before returning your hug, his left-hand wraps around your waist while his right-hand strokes the back of your head. The two of you stay like that for a while, swinging left and right as if it was a dance.

"What's wrong?"

"I miss you," you whine, snuggling closer to his chest as you hate the fact that players like you have no sense of smell in this game.

Looks like I need to ask big brother to make a few adjustments, you noted it down in your head.

"(Y/n)."

You don't answer, merely humming as you look up to see him staring at your hair which he has brought to his lips. You know how much Helios likes long hair because it reminds him of his "first love," that's why you make it long, but now that he's no longer your love interest, you wonder if you should just cut it. Long hair is a hassle, and it's not like there's anyone out there willing to care for your hairーunless Hayun too loves long hair.

You watch as he plays with your hair, looking at it so seriously as he strokes it with his fingertips, even you feel quite shy all of a sudden by his action.

"You didn't take care of your hair today?'

Your smile freezes.

"Usually, it looks healthy and you would tie it in a ponytail, so how did it become so rough?"

You pout. It's not that rough, Hayun's clearly exaggerating!

He pokes your cheek with a smile. "Shall I cut it?"

So that was his intention all along! You nod helplessly, knowing that you can never say "no," to this face. Hayun eagerly lets go of you and goes to fetch a scissor. You sit obediently on the chair in his room, letting him cut it short.

"Lovely," he compliments after done with your hair before kneeling in front of you.

You blink in confusion but immediately understood when he takes out a nail clipper. You watch his smiling face as he clips your nails. You find it a pity though, Helios truly likes your long nails and he often paints them with the same color as Hayun's eyes. The man designs your nails so beautifully that you are quite upset that Hayun cuts them short.

At that moment, you see Hayun glancing up at you, but if he sees the frown on your face, how upset you are, he doesn't show it as he proceeds to destroy Helios's hard work.

"Next," he grabs one of your legs.

You sit there, letting Hayun do whatever he wants until finally, when he's done with your nails, the man gets up to wash his hands, and when he comes back, you see that he brings a collar, but different than the one Helios put on youーwhich is a simple black design with nothing attached to itーthis collar has a freaking bell on it, but one without the noise.

"Hayー"

"Hush," that shuts you up. "Didn't you tell me that you would do anything I say?"

You nod.

"Then wear this," he gently replaces the collar. "Look, isn't this prettier than the one before?"

"It is," you answer reluctantly. "But Hayun, why do you have this? It's not like you keep a pet or anything."

Hayun seems to be taken aback by your question. He mulls it over before looking at you blankly.

"Huh. For some reason, I can't seem to remember."

You sigh, knowing that this must have belonged to one of his previous lovers. You sulk, feeling sour all of a sudden.

"I don't want to wear this," you say. "Let's buy a new one. A matching collar for couples."

"... You want me to also wear one?" He didn't expect this sort of reaction.

"Obviously!" You hug his waist, burying your face in his stomach. "You're mine as much as I am yours!"

It was unfortunate that you didn't raise your head. Had you done so, you would have seen how flustered Hayun is. His aim is actually to hear your rejection, telling him how you're not a pet and he doesn't have any right to put a collar with a bell on you, but you are so accomodating that he doubts that there's anything he can do to get you mad.

He couldn't remember much about the girl in his past. All he remembers is his feeling of love for her and how she betrayed him by sharing him with her friends.

The 'him' in his memory didn't mind it at all; as long as she's happy, as long as she continues to keep 'him' by her sideーbut she left. That bitch left 'him'. Even though Hayun isn't sure whether she is real or just an illusion created by the developers, the male NPC can't forgive her.

'I' pour all my heart to you and you left? Who do you think you are? And what rights do you have to cheat me like that? He sneers.

That's why a dead lover is better than a living one. It's the idea that they can't leave, can't defy, and certainly can't take advantage that he loves the dead.

Hayun's eyes land on your neck, wondering how it feels to see you struggling to breathe as he suffocates you, but the idea doesn't turn him on as much as he thought. Not enough, he muses. She isn't enough.

Hayun's love for you doesn't reach the point that he wants to kill you yet.

reader: *watching hayun kneeling to clip her nails* ah, he looks more handsome from this angle. I wonder what he's thinking right now with such a serious face.

hayun: *in his mind* I should make a collection from her nails and hair. got to do it secretly lest she freaks out :)