scarlet as rose

part 2

they met

two days after his transmigration, cale side eyeing the dark alleyways, where cale get beaten up into pulp by choi han. it's a good thing cale henituse from [the birth of hero] wasn't dead anyway. but cale have no intention to get beaten up by the protagonist.

so he make a plan.

from billos tea shop, cale sipping his tea with worry. from the window, he can see some black haired man trying go in to henituse territory.

it's choi han. the protagonist.

cale swallowed the tea bitterly. ah, somehow he lose his appetite. but her reddish brown eyes still staring at choi han.

then, it looks like somehow choi han feels cale gaze as the protagonist reciprocated, stared at cale with intense gaze.

'fuck, how vicious!' cale thought. 'as expected from protagonist who's gonna beat me up'.

cale flinched and drop his tea. scowling, he return to focused with a book he was reading. then not for long, the tea shop which placed in rear city surrounded by the dark alleyways. its night, cale must execute his plan now.

he walk to choi han place, slightly aware of stares directed at him. he frowned and take a look. it's some thugs, who turn away immediately after looking at his face. probably scared the drunk-looking yet gorgeous man will make a scene.

there's two kittens in his legs. kittens from yesterday.

"meow!"

two cats were meowing as they lay curled up underneath the city wall. cale started to smile. he found the right spot. the moment choi han jumps over the wall, a baby kitten is body slammed by the alpha cat of the neighborhood and gets sent tumbling to the city wall. choi han quickly twists his body to avoid landing on the kitten. this was a world where coincidences played a big role.

choi han twists his ankle after unexpectedly twisting his body to avoid hurting the kitten. he had run like crazy to reach western city after killing tens of people for the first time and burying the corpses of the villagers. his body had reached its limit making him unable to land properly after making such a movement.

cale gazed at the kitten that was curled up and shaking, as well as the other kitten that seemed to be its sibling licking the shaking kitten. he then turned his gaze. he turned to look at one of the alleys that was close to where was standing.  he could see him.

from choi han perspective, he can see someone approaching. choi han doesn't react, until the kitten that he almost hurt meowing. trying to get attention to some... man?

choi han not sure. this world is not like korean, maybe indeed there's a person who look like... that.

like... a doll?

choi han have seen a doll before. before harris village. before forest of darkness. in korea. pretty, they're with pale skin as a snow and rosy red lips. even their body is so slim that choi han cannot figure out what gender they is.

but choi han also know for certain that doll doesn't breath and reeks of the smell of alcohol.

this person also looked at him. their gorgeous face flushed. maybe due their alcohol.

"have you eaten?"

oh, the voice. it's beautiful, but clearly a man.

so, choi han followed the man after a few conversations. naturally, he limping due his injured ankle. but somehow his gaze cannot undirected where the red haired man. heading to whatever the red haired man walk, choi han noticed some awestruck and whispers about the physical appearance of the red haired beauty.

so, choi han impression before is completely normal, that man has flattering beauty.

but for some reason, none of them dare to approach the red hair. choi han understand, there is some guards who looks like 'patrolling' here.

then choi han stopped at the big mansion. so... this red haired man was a noble with reputable family. if choi han might guess, this one is from henituse. they the one who manage this territory. even the soldiers here looks... scared? scared of the red haired. at least they still greets him with utmost respect.

then choi han meets the servants of the young master. they're dangerous.

this pretty man looks weak, so weak that choi han could break him in a half easily with snaps of his fingers.

how could he defenselessly walks around ordering persons who obviously stronger than him?

ron and his son, vicross. choi han decide they're dangerous and can't be trusted.

cale goes to his room and ordering hans to bring the meal to his chambers. since cale connected the three of them, cale didn't want to deal with anything else for today.

vicross and ron should be able to tell choi han's strength. in the novel, vicross originally swears his loyalty to choi han because of his strength, so he should pledge his loyalty after figuring out choi han's strength this time too. of course, cale had some other plans in the case that vicross was unable to determine choi han's strength.

cale goes to bathroom in his chambers. he already have a plan tomorrow to get that power. 'indestructible shield', at least that ancient power will keep him alive for the terror and wars that would happen eventually in the novel [the birth of hero]. its a decent power after all.

—

bonus scene :

cale henituse feels deeply annoyed.

why the hell his new body is so weak? distance the man eating tree from the bakery was far, but not far enough to make an 18 years old body flushed in red and sweat just because an errand. even his lungs feels like it been burned.

well, it's the third errand, cale basically bought thrice of the usual bread to achieve his goal.

— "oh pretty boy, it was so, so good!"

that voice was ... obnoxious.

— "soft texture of bread! i especially liked the third bag of bread you brought. i guess even food develops as time goes by. there was no such thing as bread back in my days! the wheat itself must grow on a really fertile land! yes, not all wheat is the same."

after hearing the spirit chat on and on for a couple of minutes, evaluating all of the different types of breads that cale had brought, cale nodded his head and tried to cut the voice off.

however, cale decided to wait a little longer after hearing the spirit mention the ancient times. for someone like him who needed ancient powers, it was important to listen to stories about the ancient times. however, the story soon ended, and the spirit went back to talking about food and other useless things. cale quickly cut it off.

— "then pretty boy, i will protect you from now on!"

— "you look weak, a pretty one without power is a crime!"

— "pretty boy—!"

fuck, even the glutton pitying him.

and who is pretty boy? cale is a man. a grown adult man inside, he cringes at the nickname.

and the 'indestructible shiled' will want more food in the future.

— "hey, pretty boy, why don't you try me first?"

haaa..., cale tired with with the bullshit of the nickname.

—

author note:

part 2 comeee!! if you had any suggestions i'm open to any of that. cale is the prettiest indeed, so i plan to make next chapter is about the camp before rescuing raon.
xoxo i'm kinda excited. ^^