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Bermuda Chapter 155
🕑 Added 2024-06-18 08:42:41 +0000 UTCChapter 155
Hugo blinked slowly. He had heard the answer he wanted to hear, but contrary to his expectations, his mouth tasted bitter.
Honestly, he thought his heart would feel much more at ease when he heard him say he would stay by his side, when he heard him say he trusted him. But it was a big miscalculation.
His answer was his own choice, but it sounded like a fall where he had no choice but to be driven to the edge of a cliff and be forced to choose due to the situation he was in. Ironically so.
"So you too, keep your promise."
As Leonardo spoke lightly as if throwing the words while curling up the corners of his mouth, Hugo's lips slightly opened and then closed again. Soon, he nodded slowly while appropriately brushing off unnecessary words and answered,
"...I'll keep that in mind."
The color of the blue eyes answering like that was very deep. With those words, silence flowed for a while.
It was a fact he was well aware of, but strangely, Hugo felt conflicted. Hearing the words that drove the point home made him feel even less refreshed than before. Perhaps he had really been misunderstanding.
Leonardo had said before that he had no intention of resolving this relationship, but Hugo had thought that he could break through the distorted relationship and rebuild trust.
Also, if, as he said, the only thing he could hold onto and rely on was that one oath he had made to him, who was driven into a corner, he thought that resolving this relationship was absolutely necessary, even if it was to make him a little more comfortable.
However, pondering his words again, Leonardo's emotional wounds seemed to be much deeper than expected. He was merely accompanying him to escape from this place, and in the meantime, trying to resolve the relationship might have been just his own greed.
Then, in the end, did they just have to go with the flow like this until the subjugation was over?
Without making any effort, just like this…
"But."
A brief opening flowed out between Leonardo's lips, which he thought had been tightly closed. Hugo's gaze, which had been lowered due to the complexity, quickly followed his voice.
His lips moved as if he had more to say, but this time, it seemed like words that were not easy to utter, as his gaze only turned to a distant place.
He also meaninglessly fiddled with the back of his neck. Knowing that action came out when he was embarrassed or thinking hard, Hugo waited silently with eyes filled with curiosity.
Before long, the words that came with a fake cough were quite pleasant to hear, as if they were a reward for him.
"It's... It's not because of you that I didn't come back right away."
Unlike a little while ago when he spoke confidently, his voice and tone faltered subtly. His expression was not visible as he had turned his head, but the long eyelashes adorning his beautiful side profile trembled finely, drawing attention.
"I just wandered around a bit... and went for a walk before coming back, a walk."
The small murmur dispersing into the air tickled his ears as it whispered. Hugo's eyes, which had been concentrating, narrowed.
Leonardo, who had finished speaking, unknowingly closed his eyes tightly and opened them.
'Damn, what am I saying now?'
A walk? Even he thought it was an absurd excuse. It seemed like Agrizendro's dumbfounded inner thoughts could be heard all the way here.
He had blurted out anything to clear up his misunderstanding that he hadn't returned because of him, but to think that what he had finally uttered was a walk. It seemed like even a passing dog would laugh.
It wasn't long before he realized that the reason he was spewing such nonsense was because he wanted to comfort him.
Leonardo, who had been biting his lips, roughly ruffled the back of his head. Then, he barely opened his mouth.
"It's true that I dislike you... but not to the point of hating you... despising you. If it had been to that extent, I would have already been gone from here. There were so many opportunities to escape."
It was a small voice with unclear endings, but it sounded very clear as he was close. Hugo's eyelids, which had been motionless, moved a little.
After a brief silence, Leonardo, who had been speaking while avoiding his eyes, glanced at the other person who showed no reaction. While looking at his shadowed eyes staring at him, he soon recited as if enchanted,
"Just... know that."
Hugo silently took in his appearance.
Seeing the guy who acted as if drawing a line and then awkwardly conveyed a few words while trying to hide his embarrassment, it felt as if he was holding a leeway in his hand and shaking it in front of him, as if telling him not to give up.
It also seemed like he was wagging his tail. It felt somehow dazed and ticklish. As he repeated his words like that, what came out was a small chuckle.
He dislikes him but doesn't hate him. He wondered if there was a big difference between the two, but hearing it from that mouth, it felt like there was a clear difference. And he was saying it with great difficulty, so he just laughed.
Leonardo, who had been watching Hugo being enchanted by a pleasant chuckle, became unnecessarily embarrassed and frowned with a displeased face. As if he might take back his words, Hugo quickly decided to hold onto it.
"Thank you, Leonardo."
At the sudden expression of gratitude, the listening eyebrows rose again.
"Thank you for letting yourself be caught by me and giving me room for improvement."
Soon after, a look of absurdity briefly passed over Leonardo's face. It was true that he had given him leeway, but he didn't expect him to point it out and say it so blatantly like this.
As he remained silent with his face burning, Hugo wrapped his arm around his back and shoulders and tilted his head a little to bring his face closer. Then, he asked in a low voice while intently making eye contact,
"I can misunderstand like that, right?"
When he had first leaned in, he was clearly fine, but when the other person suddenly came in, his breath got stuck in his throat due to the strong scent wafting from him. Leonardo, who had become a little perplexed, slightly pulled his head back. He turned his gaze elsewhere, wanting to gloss over it.
"Well... think whatever you want."
It was sly of him to deliberately try to confirm it. A low chuckle lingered in his ears.
While being aware of the gaze brushing his cheek and deliberately staring into the void, Leonardo made a displeased expression, unsure if this was the right thing to do. A large hand leisurely caressed his forearm and shoulder with an affectionate touch. Like handling a caught fish.
He didn't particularly reject it, so he didn't push it away.
He wanted to speak a bit calmly, but he was displeased with his own appearance that relatively became like a child in front of him. He also didn't like how he treated him like a child. But on the other hand, he also thought it was really amazing that he could constantly say he was sorry and grateful to him like that.
...He knew that this person was trying to be good to him. He also knew that he wasn't a bad person. Rather, he was an unusually upright and kind person.
An incompetent and immature adult? This person called himself that, but honestly, he couldn't agree. At least among the people he had seen, this person was the only one who could say that much.
In the end, Leonardo decided to think in a way that would make his heart feel a little more at ease. To relieve the lump in his throat, and that there was no reason to push him away when he was trying to approach him right now. He decided to put an end to his complicated feelings, even if it was only for the short time remaining.
Even then, and now. It was just that the situation surrounding this person and him was not good.
Just as he had done his best back then, this person had also done his best.
Leonardo, who had been looking down and staring at the small gap between him and himself that was not much left, became aware of the distance that had become so close that not even a fist could fit.
When he raised his head, in the middle of the noble and handsome face, the gentle blue eyes looked at him straight as if they would listen to whatever he said.
As he faced the jewel-like eyes, contrary to his dizzy heart, his furrowed brows gradually smoothed out. His long, long thoughts were also slowly being organized.
Leonardo lightly placed his hand on the back of Hugo's hand that was wrapped around his shoulder.
He slowly stroked the back of his hand along the protruding veins and joints, slipped between his fingers, and grasped one long, straight index finger. At a distance close enough to feel each other's breath, his gaze only stared into his eyes.
Seeing his intermittently trembling eyelashes, Hugo erased the smile on his lips. Without realizing it, strength entered the hand that was wrapped around his shoulder due to the sensation that brushed the back of his hand and between his fingers. In the meantime, he was feeling for the first time in his life that he was vulnerable to visual stimulation. Seeing the lovely lips and eyes that drew his gaze, he suddenly thought that this distance was quite dangerous.
Before their relationship became strained, this guy would sometimes play tricks on him, so he had accepted this as part of that, but there was no playfulness in the brilliant golden eyes visible between the slender eyes, so he was a bit confused.
So half of him was curious about his intention, and the other half was just captivated by his gaze and couldn't take his eyes off. At that moment, a chilling sensation suddenly brushed behind Hugo's back.
At the same time, Leonardo's gaze, which had been facing him, also instantly shifted to the side. To be precise, it seemed like he was looking at something behind him, Hugo thought.
'Fire?'
The strongest fire was right in front of him, causing confusion in his perception, but the sensation that had brushed past in an instant was definitely fire. And quite powerful at that.
Hugo immediately lowered his arm from Leonardo's shoulder and tried to turn his head to check behind him. It seemed like there was another presence here besides him and Leonardo.
However, before he could even turn halfway, his vision instantly returned to its original position. It was because two hands that felt warm to the point of being hot suddenly grabbed his face and forced him to look back.
"...?"
Hugo, whose gaze was fixed against his will, had his brain freeze for a moment. His eyes were wide open, unlike usual.
In front of him, he saw Leonardo, who had reached out both hands to him.
His act, which was suddenly provocative to the point of being aggressive, gave Hugo quite a bit of bewilderment. However, the wide-open eyelids and held breath visible in front of his eyes seemed to show that Leonardo himself was quite surprised by his own actions. It was clear that both of them were quite perplexed.
In the common sense of the Duke, there had never been a single person who could grab his face like this without permission, so Hugo's mind was filled with confusion. Rather than being unpleasant, it was literally chaos.
In the meantime, the part where Leonardo's hands touched felt so hot and stimulating as if burned by fire, making the strange energy he had felt a moment ago become blurred.
Leonardo, who was even more surprised than Hugo while looking at his face, blinked his greatly expanded eyes a few times and soon lowered his hands that had been cupping his cheeks. Words that couldn't form a sentence stumbled out between his lips that he had barely pulled away.
"Uh, that's... I mean."
Hugo, who had been looking at the hands that had slipped down, stared at the golden eyes that were trembling greatly, wondering what on earth he was going to say. However, the words that came out next were quite brazen, unlike what he saw.
"You... You're the only one who always touches my face... It's unfair."
The lips that were bitten tightly and the eyes that glanced at him created a sense of incongruity, unlike the shameless remark. Whether it was intentional or not, he approached even more provocatively than a moment ago, so Hugo, who had been staring at him intently, barely grasped his blurred judgment.
Eventually, he narrowed his eyes and answered rather softly, albeit doubtfully.
"...If you had told me, I would have let you touch me."
As if it was an unexpected answer, Leonardo's eyes trembled and widened a bit more. Judging by his slowly moving Adam's apple, he seemed to be even more flustered.
An awkward silence lingered as the two blankly stared at each other. In the meantime, various senses were quite busy exploring each other.
Leonardo, whose lips had unknowingly parted slightly, soon came to his senses and managed his expression. Then, he quickly scanned over Hugo's shoulder.
Soon after, he straightened his gaze and grabbed the large hand that had been caressing his shoulder earlier, intertwining his fingers between his long fingers. Then, as he got up from his sitting position, he urged Hugo as if rushing him.
"I'm sleepy now. Let's go inside."
Hugo made a puzzled expression at his appearance that seemed to be begging him to hurry. However, as the tightly intertwined hand didn't seem to want to let him go, he ended up getting up from his seat as well.
"Oh, okay."
Although there was a sense of suddenness, his body moved naturally like flowing water, drawn by the skinship that had suddenly come in. In fact, it was a rare occurrence for him to be pulled like this by someone, so he felt quite dazed, but he didn't particularly show it.
Before going down the hill, Hugo turned his head halfway and glanced back. There were only angular rocks lined up, and nothing particularly noticeable could be seen. There were no traces or signs of anything.
The chilling energy he had felt for a moment was also bound to be gone.
'...What was that?'
Hugo, who had been scanning the surroundings with suspicious eyes, turned his head back to the front with narrowed brows.
Then, he intently stared at the side profile of Leonardo, who was half leading the way while tightly holding his hand and arm.
Comments
Monmon
You know, if this is what Leonardo considers "dislike" for a person, I wonder what his version of "liking" someone is. I'm sorry but even the closest of homies aren't holding and crassessing eachothers hands/ staring affectionately in eachothers eyes and taking up eachothers personal space to THIS extent. Yall need to wake up and smell your blatant homosexuality for the good of the world and all of its inhabitants
Jesse Gibson
Leo’s comrade? Stealthin and watching over him? Something else?
