Adjusting the Gangster Male Lead’s Intensity [Novel] Chapter 27

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 27

Chapter Title: A Frightening Horror Game

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"Why is hyung acting like that?"

Yi-hae Baek changed into comfortable clothes and headed to Yeol Seo's room. He greeted her warmly at first, but he soon looked puzzled at the sight of Do-gyeom Seo following behind at a distance.

"Don't worry about it. He doesn't even want to become family with me, so he probably doesn't want to get close."

She glanced back, and sure enough, Do-gyeom Seo was frowning as if deeply wronged by her words. His expression screamed that she was the one who'd told him not to follow too closely, but it wasn't her problem.

'I can get mad sometimes too. I'm not in a position where I have to watch out for that old man or Yeol anymore!'

Her shoulders puffed up a bit at the thought of having someone on her side. Yeol, oblivious to her inner monologue, tilted his head.

Then he looked back and forth between the two of them before shrugging it off and suddenly grabbing her wrist. After all, their little squabble wasn't important to him right now.

He knew Do-gyeom Seo usually went along with whatever Yi-hae Baek wanted, so he wasn't worried.

"Yeah, then I'll just ignore hyung, so come on in, noona! I've already got everything set up!"

The only thing that mattered to Yeol was his promise with Yi-hae Baek. It was the first time they'd planned to do something just the two of them!

The moment they stepped into Yeol's room, he slammed the door shut with a bang. She caught a glimpse of Do-gyeom Seo's flustered face right before it closed, but it was probably fine.

Yeol handed her a blanket for covering up, his face beaming with excitement. He'd prepared snacks and even booted up the game—he must have been waiting eagerly for this moment.

"They say this one's pretty scary. You sure you're okay? It's your first time playing a horror game, right?"

"Yeah! Dad said the scariest thing isn't ghosts like these—it's people. And anyway, this isn't real; it's just a game."

That was true enough.

Yi-hae Baek nodded as she eyed the eerie loading screen. She'd never been one to get spooked by horror stuff, even in her previous life, so she had no qualms.

She watched Yeol grab the mouse and perched on his bed, crossing her legs and draping the blanket over them while picking up a bowl of sweet spicy chicken.

'This is paradise on earth.'

Screams echoed from the computer speakers. Yi-hae Baek savored the realistic sound effects as she enjoyed the moment.

"N-Noona, this feels super realistic. If it gets scary, just say so! We can turn it off anytime. I can always play it alone later!"

Yeol's face had gone completely pale—he was so worked up he hadn't even noticed what he was saying.

Of course, the situation was nice, but she had another reason for not paying attention to him.

'He's not a strange man; he's your little brother. And what does he think he's doing, hanging around with a kid like this?'

The status window flashed noisily even as she popped a piece of sweet spicy chicken into her mouth. Do-gyeom Seo was one quiet yet noisy guy.

Should she admire his consistency or not?

The screen showed Yeol exploring an abandoned house, his face scrunched up as he frantically moved the mouse.

Suddenly, something appeared, and he screamed, clinging to Yi-hae Baek's arm.

"Noona, noona! Th-There's a g-g-ghost over there!"

"It's a horror game, so of course ghosts show up. More importantly, if you keep hugging my arm like this, I can't eat my sweet spicy chicken, Yeol."

Skinship? What skinship?

If anything, Yeol was pathetically clinging to her, snot and tears streaming down his face.

Every time a ghost popped up, he reacted so dramatically that the sweet spicy chicken slipped from her hand onto the floor. When she tried to pull her arm free to pick it up, he'd cling even harder.

"Yi-hae noona! There was a dead person just now! Corpses are walking around and talking!"

"Whoa, really?"

Yi-hae Baek gazed wistfully at the fallen sweet spicy chicken. She could smell it, but she couldn't taste it—truly a tragic fate.

"Ghost! Another ghost! It has no blood in it at all!"

"Yeah, since it's dead, that's probably normal."

Yi-hae Baek seriously wondered if he'd next ask the ghost why it had no pulse.

He hated studying, so she wasn't forcing it on him, but at this rate, maybe he was lacking common sense. Of course, she kept it to herself so as not to hurt Yeol's feelings.

"Why'd you want to play a horror game if you're this scared? Do you watch horror movies?"

She sighed and patted the back of Yeol, who was now too terrified to even look at the screen and had wrapped his arms around her neck.

He was a bit tall for his age, but still smaller than her. Maybe that's why he felt so much younger, making the physical contact not feel awkward.

"I can handle ghost stories pretty well...! Even with the red tissue and yellow tissue, I went to the bathroom alone, and O Seo-bang said I was impressive!"

"It's O Seo-bang uncle, not just O Seo-bang."

And wasn't it blue tissue, not yellow?

Yi-hae Baek was at a loss where to even start correcting him. She hadn't expected him to dive into a horror game just because he wasn't scared of some silly urban legend.

"If you're scared, I'll turn off the game, so let go for a sec? I need you to let go so I can shut it down or turn off the screen."

"No way! Don't let go of me. Can't you just hold me like this? Don't abandon me, okay?"

"I'd never abandon you over something like this, so don't worry."

'Wait, why's his creepy obsession stat shooting up all of a sudden? His affection won't budge past crap levels!'

Do-gyeom Seo's affection was still at 20, but his obsession had already hit 20 too.

Yi-hae Baek's eyes went wide just as the door—which hadn't been locked—burst open.

There stood Do-gyeom Seo, his face expressionless, just as expected.

"Hyung?"

At Yeol's puzzled voice, Do-gyeom Seo's gaze turned to the two of them. No, to be precise, his eyes had been fixed on them from the start.

His eyebrow twitched faintly. At that moment, Yeol was draped around Yi-hae Baek's neck like a koala.

"Yi-hae Baek."

"I didn't do anything. If you're gonna spout nonsense about strange men, I'm not listening."

Do-gyeom Seo clamped his mouth shut at her firm glare. Then his eyes shifted to Yeol.

Without hesitation, he grabbed his little brother's nape like he was handling a wild animal and yanked him up. Yeol, apparently used to it, quickly wrapped his arms around Do-gyeom Seo's neck as if he'd been waiting.

'He's gotten pretty heavy now, but he's still lifting him with one hand.'

It wasn't quite like picking up a small animal, but having his feet dangle in the air was impressive enough.

Do-gyeom Seo seemed to have the strength of a powerhouse despite his lean build. She'd gotten a sense of his good athleticism when he'd taught her self-defense.

"You're not a kid anymore, so I told you to cut back on the skinship with Yi-hae Baek."

Yi-hae Baek had no idea about that. When had he said something like that to Yeol without her knowing?

Yeol flinched—clearly still scared of his brother—and drooped his shoulders as he replied.

"But... the ghost was super scary just now. I got startled, hyung."

"Ghost?"

"Yeah. Noona and I were playing a horror game."

To be exact, they hadn't even gotten past the intro. Yi-hae Baek was about to correct him but exercised her right to silence for the sake of Yeol's fragile pride.

"That's what you get for messing around with stupid stuff. Just turn it off."

"Yeah!"

Yeol's eyes sparkled. His face shone with pure admiration—clearly thinking his brother feared nothing.

Yi-hae Baek stared at the scene in disbelief, then moved to clean up the spilled snacks. As Do-gyeom Seo reached for the mouse, he flinched ever so slightly.

It was such a subtle reaction that most wouldn't notice. His eyes were on the screen, where a blood-soaked ghost with a torn-open mouth had just appeared.

'Like brothers, like brothers...'

To think he'd feel a threat to his life from just a ghost on a screen.

If not for the status window, Yi-hae Baek wouldn't have noticed at all—his expression was perfectly composed.

She let out a deep sigh. It was the first time the "Baby Yakuza" label really clicked for her.