The Duke’s Obsession Leads to a Death Flag

“Vin, I’m back.”

As soon as I opened the door, I looked for Vin first, knowing he’d be waiting for me. Even though I had only been out for two hours, he came running toward me with a face that looked like he was about to cry at any moment.

“Did you cry?”

“No, I didn’t cry.”

When I gently rubbed the corners of his eyes, which were red and swollen, he insisted even harder that he hadn’t cried, though his lie was painfully obvious. Fine, you didn’t cry. I decided to pretend not to notice, just as he wanted.

Even though I had only been out in a car, the outing had exhausted me. I took off my outerwear and lay down on the bed. Vin, who had been following me closely, quietly lay down beside me.

“Who did you go see?”

“Se-yul.”

“Who’s that?”

“My younger brother.”

At the word “brother,” Vin frowned slightly. It meant he had never heard the term before. Turning toward him, I took his cool hand in mine and explained,

“A younger sibling is… someone who has the same parents as you but is younger.”

Strictly speaking, Se-yul and I had different parents, but there was no need to go into the complicated details of our family situation. It wasn’t important, so I simply gave Vin the dictionary definition of a younger sibling.

“Then, is this Se-yul person going to stay here permanently?”

“No, he’s only staying for a week. After that, he’ll go back to District 1. He attends a boarding school there.”

“Ah…”

Upon hearing that Se-yul would only be staying for a short time, Vin’s eyes curved into a delicate smile. Was it just my imagination, or did he seem a little happy about that? He slowly lifted our joined hands and rested his cheek against them, closing his eyes softly.

“Seo-yul hyung.”

“What?”

“I just wanted to call you.”

“You’re so random.”

Resting his forehead against my shoulder, Vin scooted closer. Maybe it was because his body temperature was lower than most people’s, but I started to shiver slightly.

Reaching out, I fumbled across the bed. I pulled up the blanket that had slipped far down and covered myself with it, but in doing so, Vin ended up completely burying himself underneath it.

“Sorry, is it too stuffy?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Vin poked his head out from under the blanket and smiled. Simply lying there wrapped in the warm blanket without doing anything, I gradually started to feel drowsy.

Dinner was still a long way off, so wouldn’t it be okay to take a short nap? The moment I had that thought, my barely resisting eyelids suddenly shut.

“Seo-yul hyung?”

Vin’s voice calling me grew distant, fading into the background. A cool sensation briefly touched my lips before disappearing just as quickly. Before I could even wonder what it was, the wave of sleep swallowed me whole.

***

“Seo-yul hyung?”

Had he fallen asleep in that short moment? Vin called out again, but there was no response. Lifting his head from where it had been resting on Seo-yul’s shoulder, Vin stared intently at his small, pale face, not even blinking.

‘So beautiful.’

Seo-yul always told him he was pretty, but to Vin, there was nothing in the world more beautiful than Seo-yul. Not the flowers blooming in the garden, not the puffy clouds drifting across the sky—nothing could compare to Seo-yul.

Carefully pulling back the blanket, Vin sat up and slowly leaned toward the unmoving Seo-yul. He brought his face close, close enough to feel the soft breaths against his skin, and then stopped.

Seo-yul carried a sweet scent. Sweeter than cocoa with marshmallows, so sweet that he often—no, constantly—felt the urge to lick him. But he held back, afraid that Seo-yul might melt away if he did.

Swallowing dryly, Vin’s trembling lips barely pressed against Seo-yul’s closed ones for the briefest moment before pulling away. It was so fleeting that even he wondered if it had really happened or if he had only imagined it.

“Ah….”

Vin’s eyes widened, and in his panic, he scrambled backward—only to fall off the bed. Thud. The dull sound echoed through the quiet room. Quickly picking himself up, the first thing he did was check on Seo-yul. Thankfully, he was still fast asleep.

“It hurts.”

Now that his heart had settled, the pain he had momentarily forgotten came rushing in. The back of his head ached the most from hitting the floor when he fell.

Afraid that Seo-yul might wake up, Vin didn’t dare groan and instead rubbed his throbbing head in silence. Just then—knock, knock—someone rapped on the door.

“Hyung?”

The unfamiliar voice from beyond the door made Vin frown. Creak, the door opened slightly, and peeking in through the small gap was, unsurprisingly, not the butler.

A boy with fluffy black hair—someone Vin vaguely recognized. He was the same boy who had gotten out of the car with Seo-yul earlier. He must be the younger brother Seo-yul had mentioned. The one named Se-yul.

‘I don’t like him.’

Vin had never been particularly clear on concepts like ‘liking’ or ‘disliking.’ Of course, that was because nothing apart from Seo-yul held any meaning to him. But when he saw Se-yul acting so close to Seo-yul, the emotion he felt was unmistakably ‘dislike.’

Even though he was the one physically closer to Seo-yul, it felt like there was something between Se-yul and Seo-yul that he could never be a part of. He couldn’t explain it, but the thought was unbearably unpleasant.

“Hyung-ah, are you in your room?”

Without waiting for permission, Se-yul stepped into the darkened room, only to halt at the sight of Vin standing beside the bed. His black eyes wavered sharply before settling on Vin’s striking red hair and eyes, and at that moment, a clear hostility flickered across his gaze.

“…Why is a Shining here?”

His voice was entirely different from the one he had used when calling for Seo-yul. Vin, however, made no effort to change his expression. He always tried to smile in front of Seo-yul, but with others, there was no need. Especially with Se-yul, whom he despised—he didn’t even want to pretend.

“Are you not going to answer me?”

“…….”

Vin remained completely silent. Se-yul clenched his fists in growing frustration. If Seo-yul weren’t asleep, he would have shouted at the top of his lungs, but instead, he could only hold his anger inside, his fingers tightening into a fist.

“Get out.”

“…Why should I?”

Vin finally spoke, his crimson eyes glinting dangerously. Se-yul flinched instinctively but quickly masked it, furrowing his brows as he glared back. He couldn’t lose. He had learned this at school—once you lose in a battle of nerves, you’re looked down upon.

Especially against a Shining. Arrogant, conceited, and condescending—just like all the others. Joshua Shining, the one he had clashed with at school, had that exact same look in his eyes. Maybe all Shining were like that.

“You should leave. Seo-yul hyung is sleeping.”

Vin was treating Se-yul like an uninvited guest. The sheer absurdity of it made Se-yul let out a scoff. The real intruder here was Vin, not him. As long as they weren’t in Sector 1, Shining were unwelcome anywhere.

Se-yul strode forward and grabbed Vin’s wrist. Vin’s face twisted into something vicious as he harshly yanked his hand away, shaking off the brief contact as if it had disgusted him. He even wiped his wrist in front of Se-yul, making it clear just how unpleasant he found the touch.

Their gazes clashed, sparks flying between them. Just as the tension reached its peak, the commotion caused Seo-yul to stir in his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he murmured Vin’s name in a sleepy voice.

“Vin-ah….”

“Yes, Seo-yul hyung.”

The murderous glint in Vin’s crimson eyes softened the instant he heard Seo-yul’s voice. Se-yul was stunned into silence at the drastic shift. It was as if he had transformed into an entirely different person.

“Did someone come in?”

“…No.”

Even though Se-yul was right there, Vin lied without hesitation. Keeping his back turned so that Seo-yul wouldn’t see, he quickly waved his hand at Se-yul, signaling for him to leave.

Who did he think he was telling to leave? Seo-yul was his brother. Even if they only met once a year now, Seo-yul was still his hyung. No one else’s.

“Hyung-ah.”

“Se-yul?”

Ignoring Vin’s gestures, Se-yul ran straight to the bed and naturally lay down beside Seo-yul. Vin’s face twisted with irritation at Se-yul’s defiance, but the moment Seo-yul’s gaze landed on him, he smiled sweetly as if nothing had happened.

“When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

See? Hyung-ah is happy to see me. Se-yul glanced at Vin, who stood frozen in place, and flashed him a bright smile. Then, as if to show off, he scooted even closer to Seo-yul. A slow-burning fire ignited in those crimson eyes, but what could he really do about it?

“Did you meet with Father?”

“Mm… I just greeted him.”

In truth, it wasn’t just a simple greeting—they had exchanged quite a few words. But Se-yul had been so tense and trembling that he barely remembered anything. To him, Father was an overwhelmingly intimidating and terrifying figure.

Sending him away to the boarding school had been justified as an ‘education’ opportunity, but he knew the real reason—Father simply didn’t want to see him. Unlike Seo-yul, he wasn’t a biological son.

Even knowing he would never be welcomed, the only reason Se-yul still wanted to return to this mansion was because of Seo-yul. The only reason he didn’t want to go back to Sector 1 was because Seo-yul was here.

“Hyung-ah, do you want to go for a walk?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, there’s still time before dinner.”

Seo-yul turned his head and checked the clock on the bedside table. There was indeed some time left before dinner. After a brief moment of consideration, he nodded. Se-yul, overjoyed, immediately jumped up and started bouncing on the bed.

“Then Vin, you should come too.”

At Seo-yul’s words, Se-yul abruptly stopped. Just moments ago, he had been thrilled, like he could float up into the sky, but now? Not at all. Of course, going out with Seo-yul was great—but having a Shining tag along?

Se-yul shot Vin a look, silently pleading, Just stay out of this. Vin, seeing this, grinned widely, the corners of his lips curling up in amusement. And, just as Se-yul feared, Vin gave the answer he least wanted to hear.

“Yes, let’s go together.”