Chapter 90: [HEAT THINGS UP?!]

[SYSTEM MISSION – ACTIVE]

Task Name: Heating things up!

Objective: Make target [KAIRO] feel flustered and blush!

⚠︎ Failure to complete will result in punishment.

Eli’s stomach dropped.

’There’s no way that’s possible.’

His hands clenched at his sides, nails digging crescents into his palms as his brain screamed.

’No way. Absolutely not.’

This was unfair. So, so unfair.

All the missions with Caelen had been—well, maybe not easy, but at least doable.

Annoying? Yes. Embarrassing? Absolutely. But possible.

But this?

’Make Kairo blush?’

The Kairo?

The man practically carved out of stone, whose face might as well be the dictionary image for “unmovable“?

Kairo was infamous for being unreadable.

Hunters and fans alike joked about it. Some even called him Medusa, because one look into those eyes was enough to paralyze the bravest of people.

A single stare—cold, sharp, merciless—and even seasoned hunters would freeze.

And the masochists ate it up, of course. They adored the way he could level a room with silence. Worshiped it.

Now the system wanted Eli to make him blush?

’What the actual fuck! This is like asking me to punch God in the face and live!’

“…Well?”

Kairo’s voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. Smooth. Low. The kind of voice that didn’t need to rise to command attention.

“Are you just going to keep staring at me after outright yelling in my face?”

His arms crossed, broad chest rising with steady breaths, eyes narrowing with quiet steel.

And there it was.

The stare.

Eli froze. His body locked before his brain even caught up. It was like staring into the abyss, and the abyss wasn’t just staring back—it was judging.

’I can’t… I can’t do this.’

It wasn’t that Eli didn’t want to try.

After what he saw about his mom—after Lucas’s post, after that picture burned itself into his skull—he had more motivation than ever. He had to complete missions.

Every single one.

He wasn’t even scared of the punishments, just the idea of prolonging their loss of Lucien Kim scared him enough.

But this? This was asking him to climb a mountain blindfolded with broken legs.

He swallowed hard, bowing his head in surrender. His voice wobbled, but he forced it out. “I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to yell. I was just… really shocked. And today has been…” His lips pressed together, trembling.

He couldn’t decide between trying to be flirty or staying safe.

Caelen, sure, maybe a playful comment or bratty remark could fluster him. But Kairo? No amount of sly words would work.

This man looked like he’d survived a hundred wars without batting an eye.

“…hectic,” Eli finished weakly. “I wasn’t really yelling at you, per se. I just…”

Kairo’s brow furrowed, his eyes cutting deeper into him.

And Eli shivered.

Because those eyes—jet black, fathomless—were worse up close. He hadn’t noticed them properly before, not in their first meeting, not even in the second. But now?

It was like staring into a void. Haunting. If he looked too long, he was terrified he’d get pulled in and never come back.

“I don’t really care that you yelled,” Kairo said at last, voice clipped but even. It wasn’t the words—it was the tone. Like a teacher scolding a child. Firm. Almost disappointed.

Like Eli had been caught sneaking out after curfew.

“I just need you to answer the question.” Kairo leaned in slightly, not threatening, but close enough that Eli’s pulse spiked in his throat. “Why are you here? Exactly?”

Eli’s breath hitched.

Kairo’s gaze sharpened, cutting to the faint flush of his skin, the nervous twitch of his hands.

“And without a mask or anything,” Kairo continued, tone a notch heavier, “it’s as if you want to be kidnapped.”

Eli sighed, staring down at the sterile tiles beneath his shoes. His throat tightened as if a noose had wrapped around it, each word harder to push out than the last.

For some reason, Kairo’s voice—the weight in it, the scolding tone—made the walls Eli had built crack a little. It dug under his skin in a way he hated. Made him want to say something real.

And the truth was…he couldn’t fully bullshit his way out of this anyway.

What excuse could possibly work here?

The son of one of the richest men in Korenea, bare-faced, standing at the door of a public ward in a public hospital.

Not even trying to disguise himself.

He couldn’t say he was sightseeing. He couldn’t claim leisure. Not even the classic “philanthropic donation” would fly—this wasn’t the place for glossy PR charity drives.

So his shoulders slumped in surrender. His voice came out low, brittle.

“I saw a post… online.” He rubbed at his forearm, eyes flickering everywhere but Kairo’s. “It was from a kid on that site—Fund for a Cause. You know it?”

Kairo didn’t move, didn’t blink, but Eli could feel the weight of his stare carving into him.

“It was for a woman admitted here. She has a heart condition… and—”

“If it’s just a random woman,” Kairo cut in, sharp, “then why are you here?”

The air between them thickened, pressing down on Eli’s chest.

“It wasn’t just a random woman,” Eli shot back, the words trembling, his breath hitching.

He forced himself to meet those jet-black eyes, though his pulse screamed at him to look away. “…I recognized her. She’s the mother of a friend of mine. A friend who went missing.”

Kairo’s brows rose slightly, the only flicker of surprise crossing his stone-carved face. “A friend?”

Eli swallowed hard. “His name is—”

“Ah! I know you!”

The sudden voice crashed into them like shattering glass. Both Eli and Kairo whipped their heads toward the source.

’No way.’

Eli’s blood ran cold. His heart stuttered.

’That voice…’

Because standing there, holding a half-empty vending machine soda, eyes wide in raw disbelief, was a boy Eli knew better than his own reflection.

“…Lucas?” The word scraped out of his throat, breaking apart into a whisper.

It was his baby brother.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep