Chapter 144

"..."

As the golden eyes looking at him seemed to slowly regain their senses, Hugo gently lowered the small back of Leonardo's head that he had been supporting, slowly pulling his hand out. As his head touched the soft grass leaves, Leonardo took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly once before opening them.

Hugo, who was still firmly grasping his arm with his right hand, straightened his upper body by placing his aimless left hand next to Leonardo's head while keeping both knees on the ground. He separated their bodies that had been in unnecessarily close contact.

In that state, he caught his breath and stared down at Leonardo, furrowing his brows and asking,

"Why are you running away?"

Leonardo, who had been blankly looking up at Hugo while lying down, pulled his chin a little to confirm his situation trapped under him once again and sighed. Then, he soon relaxed his neck and flopped down, lowering his eyes and letting out a small laugh as he spoke,

"Because you're chasing me like you're going to kill me."

"...When did I ever chase you like I was going to kill you? And if you hadn't run away, none of this would have happened."

"So, it's my fault again?"

As Hugo immediately retorted, Leonardo's eyebrows twitched and his brow gradually wrinkled. At that displeased expression, Hugo opened his mouth with a sigh.

"That's not what I—."

At that moment, Leonardo, who had pulled his pelvis and legs out from between Hugo's legs by pulling his body upward while supporting the ground, kicked Hugo's abdomen hard with his right foot. Then, he quickly twisted his body and leaped upward.

Hugo, who had been hit directly in the solar plexus, couldn't finish his words and grimaced in momentary pain. Because of that, he lost his grip on Leonardo's arm, but he immediately grabbed the spiteful ankle that was still near his abdomen.

Leonardo, who had been pulled back down and sprawled on the ground, immediately tried to take off by stepping on the ground with his other foot and pushing off. Even Hugo, who had grabbed his ankle, was lifted by that tremendous force.

As he couldn't escape due to the heavy hand holding on, Leonardo seemed to think it wouldn't work and tried to kick Hugo's shoulder with his left foot again.

However, this time, Hugo accurately blocked the flying foot and grabbed both of Leonardo's legs, leaving him in a state of being unable to do anything while floating in the air. As his struggling intensified, being at a disadvantage, Hugo endured the force of the flailing legs with both arms and spoke urgently,

"You'll get hurt, Leonardo. Stay still!"

"Let go! You won't let go?"

As a rather rough tussle ensued, Hugo seemed to have no intention of giving him a chance to escape and drew out a stream of water from the ground.

At the sight before his eyes, Leonardo bit his lips hard, thinking this was unfair. It was because they had been barely using magic, trying not to seriously hurt each other under some tacit agreement.

Soon, those streams of water crawled up Leonardo's body. Then, they wrapped around his entire body tightly like ropes and forcibly pulled him down.

Seeing him unable to move an inch with his arms, legs, and torso stuck together, Hugo let out a sigh of relief and released his ankles for a very brief moment. Leonardo didn't disappoint him and immediately burst into flames all over his body, kicking off the streams of water and breaking free.

The blazing flames seemed to have magnificently regained freedom, but that sharp momentum didn't last long.

Because Hugo's arms caught him from behind in a tight embrace.

"...!"

Leonardo, who had only perceived that he couldn't move his body for a moment, could only realize that he had trapped him in his arms after feeling the thick and heavy scent wafting from him.

Leonardo gasped, startled by the solid chest touching his back and the desperate breath felt near his ear.

His body completely froze and stopped right there. The same went for his eyes and expression that had widened in surprise. Along with the sudden situation, his heartbeat also began to sound abnormally loud.

It felt like being swallowed by something huge, and at the same time, an indescribable warmth and tension mixed together and flowed through his entire body.

As the body that had been thrashing wildly until just now became as quiet as if water had been poured on it, Hugo finally let out a small sigh and whispered in his ear as if making a threat while holding him,

"Stay put."

A light breeze passed by, gently shaking their hair as if to calm the two down. Only the occasional birdsong echoing through the forest made them aware that time was passing.

After staying still like that for a while, Hugo found it a bit strange that Leonardo wasn't moving at all and peeked at his side profile from behind. Even so, he put more strength into the arms he had grabbed. He was suspicious that this little head might be plotting to run away again.

Although he wasn't small in stature, his body was slender without a large volume of muscle, so Leonardo's shoulders fit entirely in Hugo's embrace. As the thick and solid arms tightened with force, strongly squeezing his shoulders as if to crush them, a thin moan escaped from Leonardo's lips, who had been silent.

"Ah—."

Eventually, Leonardo slowly turned his head and looked at Hugo from the corner of his eye while being held. Then, he slightly furrowed his eyebrows and made the most pitiful expression possible as he spoke to him,

"Ah... it hurts."

"..."

"My... shoulder..."

The moment he heard the word "shoulder," Hugo flinched, remembering the scar on Leonardo's left shoulder, and loosened the strength in his tightly clenched arms. He had been so focused on holding him that he had forgotten the fact that he was particularly sensitive about his shoulder.

Worried that he might have hurt him, not knowing exactly how bad his shoulder was, Hugo immediately examined Leonardo's face. However, as the force restraining his body loosened, the pitiful and lovely face from a moment ago disappeared without a trace.

Leonardo, whose expression had changed in an instant, immediately pushed Hugo's chest hard and escaped from his arms in the blink of an eye.

'It's a fake, you bastard.'

Because of that, Hugo, who had let his guard down, staggered back about two steps due to the strong force and just looked at the receding gold with a dumbfounded face.

Leonardo, who had shaken off Hugo, immediately flew up and ascended to the top of a tall tree in one breath. Then, using the thick branch in front of him as a stepping stone, he tried to leap and run away.

However, the moment he stepped on the branch, he suddenly turned his head, finding it strange that he no longer felt the energy of him chasing after him from behind.

Agrizendro was not moving from the spot where he had been pushed, quietly looking up at him from below. As if looking at a place he couldn't reach.

Hugo felt a strange emptiness in his chest where Leonardo had pushed him away. He wondered if it was because his hands and kicks were so fierce, or if he had been burned by the heat he emitted while holding him tightly for that brief moment. His chest and solar plexus ached.

It was extremely cunning and spiteful of him to make him let his guard down with a face perfect for enchanting people and then mercilessly push him away. Of course, it was his own fault for being fooled, but who could withstand that?

He also thought that it might still be too early for him to respond to his waiting. He couldn't grasp exactly where this sense of futility was coming from. Hugo just stood there quietly with eyes half-filled with resignation, letting out a small sigh.

The eyebrows and forehead that had been tense gradually softened, and there was no longer any will to chase Leonardo in those eyes. He didn't look angry or resentful. However, his eyes, soaked in the setting red sun, somehow looked very sad and bitter, making it difficult to turn away.

Unable to take his eyes off his appearance, Leonardo suddenly couldn't bring himself to leave. Even though nothing was holding him back, those slightly sunken and shadowed eyes were filled with disappointment, and the pitying gaze in them grabbed his ankles and wouldn't let go.

He also seemed to look hurt. It couldn't be, but that's how it appeared.

Instead of a tense atmosphere, a strange mood flowed. The warmth and moist fog of the late afternoon pouring down added to it, making even emotions feel damp and soft.

That unidentifiable emotion was similar to yearning, compounding the confusion for both of them.

Sitting in the middle of the blazing sunset, Leonardo looked down at Hugo for a while without flying away.

As the time of their eye contact grew quite long, Hugo unconsciously extended his hand slowly again.

If he had been going to leave, he would have already run away long ago. He couldn't fully understand the capricious mind of the one who had gone up there just to look down at him, but he still wanted to hold onto the slightest hope.

Spreading his fingertips towards Leonardo, Hugo conveyed two words with eyes that looked quite sorrowful, soaked in the sunset, hoping once again that he would return to him,

"Come here."

At his voice carried by the wind, Leonardo's eyebrows twitched.

Staring at that face along with the voice, it felt like being sucked into agony again.

He had to go and lure the other guys right now, not waste time like this. Since encountering them earlier, the energy of the 1st Battalion members who had been following him for a while was not felt at all after he fell here.

Of course, he had stalled for a considerable amount of time, but he couldn't rest assured until Kenis brought Alec back and returned. When he came back, he had to hide for a bit and properly coordinate their stories. So, anyway, he had no intention of joining him right now, and he shouldn't.

That's right. He clearly shouldn't, but…

"..."

Leonardo, who had been watching him, bit his lips hard. His fine brows were heavily furrowed, and he was already letting out a small sigh.

...In fact, apart from that, he wanted that person to go through his own hardships as much as he had suffered. To be reprimanded, to feel guilty, to experience that waiting without properly understanding what it meant. He wanted their situations to be reversed like that, for him to understand his position a little.

But seeing that person's appearance, he was no longer sure if that was really what he had wanted.

Leonardo raised his head to look at the sky and rubbed his face, brushing his hair back. Then, he inhaled and let out a big sigh.

However, his suffocating heart hardly improved.

Eventually, he turned his body, which had been about to run away in the opposite direction at any moment, back towards the direction where Hugo was. Bending his knees and lowering his body, gripping the tree with his hand, he looked down at him below and thought,

'You're really a fool, Leonardo.'

Even in the midst of this, seeing the right arm that he kept extending towards him, he was concerned about whether it might hurt since it had been injured before, which made him seem no different from a fool himself.

Moreover, seeing that face, which had always been upright and neat, looking quite haggard, he was deluding himself into thinking that he might have waited for him a little, which made him seem like a definite fool.

Suddenly thinking about where to return to on this peninsula, only that person below his feet came to mind, making himself feel quite absurd.

He was still living a tiring life, and that seemed to be his nature, so even in this state, he couldn't escape from him, it seemed.

Having self-deprecated like that, Leonardo slowly straightened his bent knees and made up his mind firmly by standing on the tree branch.

The fog surrounding him cleared, and the small sounds that had been heard intermittently also ceased. So, they only saw each other in front of their eyes, and now they were too tired to pay attention to anything else and lacked the energy to do so. He attached such a reason to his decision.

He took his foot off the tree and slowly descended towards where Hugo was.

The shadow that had draped over Hugo's dark expression gradually faded, and this time, he extended both arms towards him. As if earnestly waiting for Leonardo to come down to him completely, he spread them as if to embrace him.

Their disheveled clothes and hair, which had become a mess from rolling on the ground together, quite realistically projected the two people's time together that was like being covered in dirt.

Perhaps looking a little broken like that made it easier to break down the walls.

In a world that was all red and blue, as the most dazzling light approached him, Hugo had a very brief, ecstatic delusion. A delusion that Leonardo was returning not to fulfill the purpose of subjugation, but purely because of him.

So, Hugo unconsciously gently grabbed his waist with both hands as he neared the ground. While inwardly surprised that the feeling was much thinner than he thought, he slowly lowered him until his feet touched the ground without showing it.

The distance he had put down was so close that even a single eyelash could be seen, so Leonardo took a step back. However, Hugo's hands were still holding his waist, so he couldn't go far.

Even without words, there was a lot exchanged in the profound gazes. However, wanting to make it clear with words, Leonardo opened his mouth while looking at the calmly flowing blue eyes.

"You didn't catch me."

"..."

"I let myself be caught."

The clear golden eyes still had a bit of an edge to them.

Hugo's eyelids moved slightly. His lips also parted slightly and then closed again.

Lowering his head for a moment, he saw his hands on Leonardo's waist and their feet standing close together.

A small laugh escaped from between Hugo's teeth as he quietly stared. Although what he was thinking and what he was trying to say were clearly different, the fact that he had come to him on his own was the same in the end, making him laugh somehow.

His neat lips were still drawing a thin arc. With a face that had a gentle smile lingering like that, he spoke while blinking slowly,

"Okay."

As the cold face softly crumbled, vitality returned to the neatly handsome face. Thanks to that, Leonardo, who had been looking at him with a nonchalant air, had his gaze stolen in an instant. As he had been absent-minded for a moment like that, he belatedly realized that Hugo's right hand was slowly approaching his cheek.

That touch was cautious but didn't hesitate like when it couldn't reach him before. As a result, when the large hand that had somehow quickly approached slowly cupped his cheek, Leonardo looked at him and his hand alternately with a slightly startled expression.

Looking at the rapidly moving golden eyes, Hugo calmly asked him,

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

For a moment, his eyes, which had widened at the unexpected words, fixed on Hugo. His lips twitched reflexively, but he was at a loss for words. As his hand brushed his cheek and temples right after asking that, Leonardo, whose attention was focused on that sensation, became even more blank-minded.

"..."

He really had a knack for rendering people speechless.

Leonardo, whose mind had gone numb, looked up at this man, who was much bigger than him in many ways, at a loss for words.

He had known since the time on the Imperial Road that this person was strangely soft towards him. So, he didn't find him very scary like everyone else did, and he acted more playfully in front of him, being willful and all. He had a strange belief that he wouldn't do much about it.

However, with the words he had just conveyed, Leonardo had just realized a fatal mistake he had made.

Leonardo, who didn't avoid Hugo's touch, slowly lowered his eyes while looking back on the past days. Then, he barely held onto his mind that seemed to tilt with his touch.

If holding his hand before felt clear and refreshing, now it felt very warm, unlike then, making him feel strange. He seemed to be unconsciously drawn to that warmth.

He, who was gently caressing his cheek with a soft touch, was still brushing the area of his cheek where the wound had healed and disappeared with his eyes and hand. The feeling of his long fingertips brushing past his eyelashes and tickling him was soft yet quite stimulating.

Feeling Hugo's touch like that, Leonardo eventually furrowed his brows and lowered his head.

'...It's annoying.'

His inner self still criticized and blamed himself for not being more heartless.

As the head he had been stroking suddenly turned downward, Hugo looked at him with worried eyes, pausing his hand.

Feeling the touch that had stiffened because of him, the tenderness that he couldn't push away was so spiteful. Leonardo couldn't raise his head for a while.

Seeing his heart weaken with this single action and word, it seemed that the soft one wasn't just this person…

But he was the same.