I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

58.

“Sleep a bit more. Your head must still hurt a lot.”

Sehun sat beside him and gently stroked his head. The weight that had been pressing down on his body was gone, making him feel a little relieved.

“…Okay.”

He replied in a small voice and closed his eyes. Already feeling unwell from the hangover, the successive shocks had drained all the energy from his body.

Whether to persuade Sehun or to escape, he needed strength first. Knowing that neither option was possible in his current state, he decided to recover his energy first.

Chu.

A ticklish touch brushed against his eyes and disappeared. He clenched his fists under the blanket. To return the relationship that had changed overnight back to normal, he needed to stay sharp.

After a while, he heard footsteps moving away and the sound of the door closing. Jian opened his eyes slightly to check the situation, inwardly sighing. As the tension eased a bit, realizing he was truly alone in the room, a headache hit him all at once.

Ngh, he involuntarily groaned. When he raised his arm to his forehead, it felt cool as if a wet towel had been placed there.

Jian desperately hoped that when he woke up after sleeping, all of this would be a dream. He wished he could laugh it off as a terrible nightmare.

* * *

His wishful thinking remained just that – a wish. Clutching his throbbing head, what was he thinking when he opened his eyes to see the still unfamiliar sight?

The contents of the novel he had read long ago stormed through his mind like a tempest. His stomach churned at the numerous things Sehun had done to Hyunsu in the story.

He had wanted to die just from a kiss, but if things progressed beyond that, he wasn’t sure if he could maintain his sanity.

As he hugged the blanket and sighed repeatedly in his hopeless state, Sehun appeared. He was holding a tray with steam rising from it.

Unlike before, Sehun was now fully dressed. When Jian hugged the blanket like a lifeline and looked wary, Sehun smiled slightly, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

Saliva involuntarily gathered in his mouth at the delicious smell wafting from the tray.

Seeming to notice his gaze, Sehun stirred the soup full of solid ingredients with a spoon and then scooped up some broth. After blowing on it to cool it down, he opened his mouth.

“Hyung, say ah-“

He wanted to eat, but he didn’t want to eat. Just as Jian was Sehun’s weakest point, the same was true for Sehun.

Even if it meant starving, he had to persuade Sehun to resolve this situation. Saliva pooled in his mouth, but he steadfastly averted his gaze.

“I don’t want to force-feed you. Your stomach is still upset, right? This is made with bean sprouts and dried pollack. After you eat the soup, I’ll extend the chain length a bit.”

Jian’s ears perked up at the calm persuasion. Just imagining the taste made his resolve waver shamelessly.

Moreover, the extension of the chain length. The chains, so short that it was difficult to even raise his body alone, were already greatly intimidating Jian psychologically.

“If you don’t eat, I won’t eat either. It’s okay if we starve together. Should we bet on who collapses first?”

Listening quietly, it seemed the child had no end to his nonsense. When did he act so selfishly as to kidnap and confine his hyung, and now why is he talking about starving?

Frustrated, Jian’s grip on the blanket tightened. Sehun waited patiently for Jian to answer.

The steam rising from the soup had subsided. A silence that seemed to sting his insides with every breath lingered.

“…I’ll just taste it for now.”

In the end, it was Jian who raised the white flag first. Come to think of it, he had never won against Sehun.

Even when Sehun had caused major trouble, if the child showed a sincerely remorseful attitude, Jian’s heart would quickly soften, and he would open his arms.

The current situation was incomparable to anything he had experienced before, but in a broader sense, it was similar. Sehun had caused big trouble and was seeking his forgiveness.

Thanks to Sehun adjusting the length of the iron chains, Jian was able to lean his back against the bed’s headboard. He soothed his aching stomach by swallowing the soup fed to him one sip at a time.

While Sehun went out to clear away the empty bowl, Jian rubbed his face with his palms. By now, the cafe must be in chaos.

Whether it was Hyunsu or Hyunwoo, they would quickly notice his absence, but he couldn’t understand what Sehun was thinking. The intelligence network of the Dark Net Guild led by Hyunwoo was among the best in South Korea.

Knowing that he wasn’t the type to disappear without any contact, they would soon start tracking him.

‘Come to think of it, why couldn’t Hyunwoo hyung find Hyunsu in the original story?’

Goosebumps rose on his arms at the sudden thought. Hyunsu was Hyunwoo’s only brother. Surely, as soon as he learned that Hyunsu had been kidnapped, he would have mobilized all his resources to search for him.

Yet, Hyunsu had been confined for quite a long time. If Sehun hadn’t been forced to bring Hyunsu out of the secret room later, he might have been imprisoned for life.

If even Hyunwoo, his only trusted support, couldn’t find him, then he too would have to endure confinement.

Anxiety seeped into his eyes as he stared at the closed door. His body flinched at even the slightest sound from outside the door.

He bit his lips nervously, afraid that Sehun might enter shirtless again. However, even after a long time, the door remained quiet.

After straining his ears towards the door and sensing no presence, Jian pushed aside the blanket and examined the handcuffs and shackles binding his wrists and ankles.

The restraints, about two finger-joints wide, showed no visible seams as if made of a single piece. Usually, there would at least be a keyhole, but the surface was smooth. He also checked the inside of the crevices, but there were no grooves.

Clink, clink.

When he pulled with force, the iron chains connected to the handcuffs made a loud noise. The chains were so thick that it seemed impossible to break them with ordinary strength.

However, the thickness of the bed headboard where the chains were connected was slightly thinner than the chains. He moved closer to the headboard, grasped the bars, and tried to shake them.

But in his weakened state, tearing out something that looked like iron bars was nearly impossible.

After several attempts, he finally collapsed exhausted onto the bed. It was pitiful to be tied up without even wearing underwear.

He had occasionally imagined scenarios where things went wrong. Like Sehun becoming violent after awakening his abilities, or becoming obsessed with Hyunsu after realizing his feelings for him.

He had run simulations on how to resolve such situations if they occurred. But nowhere in those scenarios was there a case where he was confined instead of Hyunsu.

He bit his lip, then squeezed his eyes shut as the sensation of kissing Sehun came back to him. Although he occasionally gave and received kisses on Sehun’s cheeks, this was on a completely different level.

Something that should never happen between brothers had occurred. It wasn’t particularly shocking because it was his first kiss. Even if he had many kissing experiences, he wouldn’t have been able to come to his senses.

Every time the strange sensation of their tongues mingling resurfaced, he wanted to dig his nails into his skin and scratch hard.

Jian leaned his feverish forehead against the bed headboard and took deep breaths. He felt lost, thinking that no words would get through to Sehun when he came back in, even though he needed to persuade him well.

How long had he been lost in his thoughts? At the sound of soft approaching footsteps, Jian wrapped himself tightly in the blanket. Thankfully, the extended chain length allowed him to curl up.

“Hyung.”

The face entering with a smile was as radiant as ever. Jian held his breath and watched Sehun approach.

If it had been someone other than Sehun who kidnapped him, he would have attempted to escape even if it meant strangling them with the iron chains, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm Sehun, which made him feel frustrated.

“Don’t you need to use the bathroom?”

As if being considerate of Jian’s wariness, Sehun pulled up a chair instead of sitting on the bed. Looking at him checking if there was any discomfort, he seemed as kind as a hotel staff.

The problem was that Sehun didn’t seem to have any intention of removing the restraints.

At the mention of the bathroom, Jian suddenly felt the urge to go. He looked around the room. Besides the door Sehun had just entered through, there was another door on the left. Could that possibly be the bathroom?

“I want to go.”

“I thought so. Just a moment.”

Sehun grabbed the iron chain connected to his ankle. When Jian shook his head at the gesture pointing to the blanket, Sehun smiled as if he had no choice and stretched out his arm.

The ankle hidden under the blanket was easily grasped. Surprised, Jian tried to move his foot, but there was a click sound. Soon, the restraints and iron chain were dragged out from under the blanket.

“I’ll remove this foot too.”

Thinking he might be able to learn the secret of the shackles, Jian didn’t refuse this time and extended his leg out from under the blanket. When Sehun’s hand touched it, a blue light flickered on the dark shackles, and they opened to the sides as if by magic.

“Does it recognize fingerprints?”

He had seen restraining artifacts before but had never used them himself. Moreover, the item he was currently wearing was something he had never seen before.

Wondering if this was why there was no keyhole, he asked, and Sehun gave a short hum.

“Hmm. Rather than that, it’s more like biometric recognition. Only the person who put them on can remove them. Pretty convenient, right?”

It might be convenient from the perspective of the person doing the restraining, but for the person on the receiving end, it was maddening. It meant that only Sehun could remove these restraints.