Chapter 84: [CHEST TOUCHING]

[ADDITIONAL MISSION ASSIGNED]Mission: HOLD TARGET’S [CAELEN] CHEST.Status: ActiveDuration: 5 minutes

’Motherfucker—hell no!’ Eli’s brain practically exploded. His eyes twitched violently, the words flashing across his vision like a glowing death sentence.

He tried—tried—not to make it obvious he was staring past Caelen, but how could he hide it when the bastard was looming so close?

The S-Class hunter’s shadow swallowed him whole, molten eyes boring down with quiet, suffocating intent.

’He’s already calling me a pervert just for saying he’s handsome. And now the system wants me to grope him?! Like an actual pervert? Are you insane?!’

His fingers curled tight against his thighs, nails digging into the fabric of his trousers. Every cell in his body screamed no.

No.Nope.Absolutely not.

Eli might’ve been tasked with seducing Caelen, but this? This was a fast track to throwing himself off the tallest skyscraper in Soul.

The system, of course, didn’t care.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

> Refusal to do the task will result in punishment.

Eli’s stomach plummeted. His breath caught, memories slamming into him like a fist—the last punishment, a full night of raw, unbearable overstimulation that had left him a twitching wreck. Pleasure turned torture, every nerve fried until he thought he’d combust.

His eye twitched again.

Caelen’s voice cut through the panic, smooth and quiet, but far too amused. “Why are you so silent, hm?” He tilted his head, his gaze cutting sharper. “Your face is red. As I thought—you like this… don’t you?”

“No! I—!” Eli snapped too quickly, voice cracking in humiliation. His mind spun.

’Wait—this is it. This is my chance to call him handsome again!’

He forced the words out, breathless, clumsy. “Just because I’m a fan of you and think you’re… h-handsome doesn’t mean I like you being this close!”

’Says the idiot who’s currently debating if groping Caelen’s chest will save his ass.’

Eli wanted to cry at the irony.

But the mission’s timer was ticking down in the corner of his vision, faint but merciless. Every second burned.

“This is too much,” he muttered under his breath, half to himself, half to no one.

’I thought calling him handsome five times was bad enough—now this?’

Turns out the main mission was easier.

Caelen’s expression shifted, his smirk fading into something calculating. His arms crossed slowly, muscle shifting beneath the dark fabric of his suit jacket.

Eli’s heart lurched.

’Shit—don’t cross your arms, you’re making it worse—’

“Also,” Eli blurted, desperate to redirect the weight crushing his chest, “aren’t you the one being too forward here?”

His voice tried for strength but cracked like glass, his eyes darting away just as Caelen narrowed his own. The S-Class hunter’s gaze tightened, sharp as a blade.

“You’re… too close,” Eli finished weakly.

Silence pressed in. Then—

“I’m just testing something out,” Caelen said at last, his tone maddeningly calm, arms still folded like he was dissecting Eli with every blink.

Eli swallowed hard. “T-Testing what, exactly?”

Caelen leaned in just slightly—not forward this time, but in tone, in weight, in words that dropped like a stone into water.

“According to your file,” he said smoothly, “you lean towards the other side.”

Eli blinked. “…The other side?” His brows knit, confusion clawing at him.

Caelen’s molten gaze pinned him mercilessly. “You like men. No?”

The words detonated.

Eli choked—literally choked on nothing but air, coughing so violently his whole body jolted. Heat roared up his face, his ears, his entire skull.

His eyes watered from the force of it, but it didn’t matter—because Caelen was still standing there, watching, his arms folded, waiting for an answer.

Eli wasn’t even sure if Elione Noa Ahn was openly gay.

Maybe? Probably. He was a beauty vlogger after all, and from what Eli could recall of the scattered traces online, there’d been hints—little things about an ex-boyfriend, a casual mention, photos that spoke louder than captions.

His parents had known to.

Well, his mom knew.

And then there was the fact that Caelen had a file on him. Which meant if Elione was trying to hide it, he was doing a terrible job.

And Eli? As Lucien Kim, he’d been openly gay. No shame. No hiding.

So really, what was the point of pretending otherwise now?

He drew a shaky breath, then lifted his chin just slightly, forcing the words out. “Yes. I am. Is that… a problem?”

Caelen didn’t even blink. “Mhm. Not really.” He said it too calmly, too casually.

Then, as if he were dropping some monumental revelation, added, “But I’m already going to inform you that I am, in fact, not gay.”

The sheer weight of his tone made it sound like he’d just dropped a divine decree.

Eli just blinked at him. ’Seriously? He’s saying that like it’s the plot twist of the fucking century.’

And then it hit him—this was exactly the issue.

The system wanted him to seduce Caelen and Kairo, but it had never once considered the possibility that neither of them were gay.

Now Caelen had confirmed it.

Great. Just great.

Eli already somewhat expected this.

But…

“Why,” Eli asked slowly, disbelief dripping from his voice, “are you telling me something so obvious?”

’This is pissing me off for some reason.’

Caelen’s lips curved faintly, but it wasn’t humor—it was a blade’s edge of amusement. “In case you were hoping I’d fall for you.”

Eli’s heart stopped. His eyes flew wide as Caelen went on, far too casually, like he was commenting on the weather.

“You’re very attractive for a male, I can give you that. Your body isn’t unpleasant to look at. But I don’t see myself with a guy—”

“Hold on. What?” Eli cut in, his voice spiking, sharp with offense.

Heat crawled up his neck. He did—sort of—have a crush on Caelen, if he was honest with himself.

And yeah, his entire life mission right now, courtesy of the sadistic system, was to seduce both Caelen and Kairo if he ever wanted his real body back.

But for Caelen to just reject him like that—like Eli was some desperate fanboy—?

It pissed him off even more.

He hadn’t even tried yet!

“Am I wrong?” Caelen asked, voice smooth, calm, but threaded with that smug edge Eli loathed.

Eli’s hands balled into fists at his sides. His jaw tightened.

’You cocky, piece of—’

Every nerve screamed at him not to take the bait, not to argue—but God, he hated cocky bastards who assumed they knew everything.

His voice came out sharper than he intended, slicing through the tension between them.

“You’re very wrong.”

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