I Bought the Male Lead with Money

9.

“Master.”

Jinhyeon, sitting on the left, picked up a small berry from a nearby salad plate and held it to Yu Jin’s mouth. After Yu Jin struggled to swallow the berry, Keith, sitting on the right, handed him a plate of nicely sliced steak.

“Yu Jin, please have some of this too.”

“Would you like more salad?”

Both Jinhyeon and Keith were smiling, but there was a strange tension between them. It felt more like watching a battlefield than a meal.

At first, it was nice when the food arrived on its own. But Jinhyeon didn’t stay at his usual table; instead, he sat at the same table, clinging tightly to Yu Jin.

That was still manageable. Yu Jin just had to deal with Jinhyeon somehow. The problem came next. Keith returned after finishing up the issue in the basement. He glared at Jinhyeon sitting at the same table, then sat down next to Yu Jin as well.

The atmosphere has been like this ever since.

Yu Jin understood Keith’s feelings. Yu Jin had never clung to anyone before, so Keith must be displeased with Jinhyeon’s sudden appearance.

Even Yu Jin would oppose if his family were to date Jinhyeon. He’s a Colosseum battle slave, and his behavior is annoying.

The problem was that Jinhyeon seemed to dislike Keith too. This was understandable as well. Who would like the person who confined them to solitary? The solitary cell Yu Jin saw earlier was so terrible that he didn’t think he could last even 5 minutes in there.

‘There were too many little friends with legs in there.’

Yu Jin hated those creatures too. Anyway, while he understood all this…

‘Can’t they fight without involving me?’

He couldn’t tell if the food was going into his mouth or his nose.

‘No, think positively.’

At least they weren’t fighting with weapons. Keith was precious to Yu Jin, so he couldn’t let him die at Jinhyeon’s hands.

‘So, let’s endure this.’

Yu Jin ignored the appetizing meat and kept eating the berries Jinhyeon kept feeding him. The small berries, resembling cherry tomatoes, were more sour. It wasn’t that Jinhyeon had done anything to them; they were naturally that way.

They were ingredients added sparingly to salads to stimulate appetite, but Yu Jin disliked them. However, since he kept accepting them, Jinhyeon seemed to think he liked them and kept offering more.

Continuously eating something he disliked made Yu Jin’s eyes water. He actually wanted to eat the steak. But it was three berries for every bite of steak.

He maintained this ratio to balance between the two. Still, he disliked vegetables. Especially vegetables with strong flavors. Unable to bear it anymore, Yu Jin timidly protested.

“I prefer something else.”

But Jinhyeon, as if he hadn’t heard anything, continued to pile on the berries. When the berries ran out, he started offering finely chopped carrots. Yu Jin felt like he had turned into a rabbit.

‘Meals are no longer enjoyable.’

He had always enjoyed eating, but now Yu Jin became gloomy. He wanted to stop eating. But judging by Jinhyeon’s behavior, it seemed he would refill the salad and keep feeding him even after it was gone.

‘What should I do?’

Yu Jin chewed on his lip. Isn’t there a good solution? As he mechanically chewed carrots and pondered, he suddenly thought of a good idea.

‘Instead of me eating, I could feed him!’

Yu Jin picked up the neglected fork and speared a particularly large carrot from the salad bowl. Judging by how he kept offering them, he must like these.

‘Alright, I can do this.’

He had planned to do this for a cute girlfriend someday, but now he had to feed a strapping young man. It was distressing, but he had no choice.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Jin pulled up the corners of his mouth to form a smile. Then he gently brought the carrot to Jinhyeon’s mouth.

“You should eat too.”

At Yu Jin’s words, Jinhyeon stopped moving. The same was true for Keith.

“Yu Jin?”

Keith’s voice trembled as he called Yu Jin’s name. Glancing over, Yu Jin saw that Keith had a gloomy expression. It was understandable for him to be shocked. After all, Yu Jin had never fed Keith like this.

Come to think of it, that was true. Yu Jin had always been on the receiving end since childhood, never doing something like this for others. The same was true for Keith and Haruna. He had given them material things many times, but never shown affectionate actions.

‘I was a bad child.’

No matter how difficult it was, if he considered them family, he should have taken care of them. Yu Jin resolved to express more affection to Keith and Haruna from now on. But first, he had to deal with the Jinhyeon situation.

Jinhyeon stared at the carrot held out in front of him for a moment, then suddenly bit it.

“It’s delicious.”

Seeing him chew it with relish, it seemed he really did like carrots. How can anyone like carrots? Although it felt strange, Yu Jin accepted that some people might like them.

As he speared another carrot with his fork, he felt an intense gaze. Lifting his head and turning his gaze, he heard Keith mutter softly.

“Carrots are delicious.”

Goodness. Keith liked carrots too. To like carrots over delicious meat. Unexpectedly, Jinhyeon and Keith might be well-matched.

Yu Jin’s fork moved towards Keith. He intended to give him a carrot too, but Jinhyeon grabbed Yu Jin’s hand and ate the second carrot as well. Then he held a carrot up to the surprised Yu Jin’s mouth.

How many carrots were in this salad anyway? He had been picking around them until now, but he should say something. He needed to tell them not to put carrots in the salad anymore.

Yu Jin reluctantly ate the carrot, and as he did, Keith’s gaze grew more intense. However, Jinhyeon’s interference was also persistent.

It was spiteful behavior rivaling Cinderella’s stepsisters. He must have experience tormenting others. Well, he is a psychopath after all.

After the meal ended, Yu Jin laid down feeling ill. He seemed to have gotten sick from eating vegetables he wasn’t used to. A doctor was immediately summoned.

“It appears you have an upset stomach. There was no problem with the food when we checked, so I’ll just prescribe some related medicine.”

“How many days do I need to take it?”

“Just take it for three days.”

Bitter medicine for three days? If it were pills, he could manage, but the liquid medicine given here was torturous. In modern times, medicines are processed to be easy to take, but in this era, processing meant at most cutting, drying, roasting, steaming, or boiling.

Yu Jin swallowed the medicine along with his tears.

After that, he was laid down in bed. As he let out a small sigh while lying down, Jinhyeon climbed onto the bed and grasped Yu Jin’s calf. His hand was so large that Yu Jin’s calf looked even thinner than his hand.

Wondering what he was up to, Yu Jin watched as Jinhyeon began to massage his calf. He seemed to have some experience with massages. Yu Jin’s leg felt refreshed.

‘He had this talent too.’

Yu Jin wanted to receive more, but giving massages is very tiring for the person doing it. Wanting to appear considerate to Jinhyeon, Yu Jin spoke up.

“You should rest too.”

So I can rest too. Yes, that’s his real intention. But Jinhyeon shook his head.

“I rested enough in solitary confinement.”

At that moment, Jinhyeon was holding Yu Jin’s ankle. Fear slowly crept up from where their skin touched. No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like Jinhyeon was questioning why he had been put in solitary confinement.

In truth, Keith had confined him arbitrarily, but Yu Jin couldn’t shift the blame to him. If he did, and Jinhyeon held a grudge against Keith, that would be troublesome too.

‘What should I do?’

Yu Jin rolled his eyes. He had no memory of ever having to soothe an angry psychopath in his life. Moreover, Keith had been watching them with a gloomy face for a while now.

To be precise, Keith wore the face of a defeated man.

‘What exactly did he lose at?’

Without realizing it, Yu Jin raised both hands and rubbed his face. An intense desire to run away reared its head.

‘No, not now.’

Suppressing the urge, he fabricated his voice.

“I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention.”

I’ll apologize. So please let go of my ankle. It seemed like Jinhyeon might twist Yu Jin’s ankle if things went wrong.

“What are you sorry for?”

The moment Jinhyeon asked, lowering his eyes, Yu Jin’s heart nearly stopped. Didn’t he just give a reason along with the apology? Does he want an even more detailed reason?

“Well, you see…”

“You see?”

Now he’s even catching his words. Yu Jin’s pupils shook incessantly.

There was an old horror game he had accidentally encountered when he was young. It involved wandering around a school at night, running away from the security guard, and it had made his heart pound. But now, Jinhyeon was making Yu Jin even more scared with just a few words.

“I…”

“I…?”

“I should have checked more closely to see if you were doing well.”

Even Keith, who would normally have scolded him for being impudent as a slave, was quiet now.

“I see. So you’re saying you made a mistake, Master?”

“That’s right?”

How did the conversation end up here? Yu Jin breathed slowly. He felt that if he breathed any louder, Jinhyeon might do something.

“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”

Jinhyeon’s fingers slowly rubbed Yu Jin’s ankle. As he did so, he whispered softly.

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

This definitely didn’t seem right. Should he shout for Keith right now? But could Keith defeat Jinhyeon? Although Jinhyeon hadn’t had any weapons since entering the mansion, anything could become a weapon in his hands.

Unfortunately, there was a decorative candlestick nearby.

‘First, I’ll knock the candlestick away, then call Keith for help.’

Keith usually carried concealed weapons, so he should be able to help. Just as Yu Jin came to this conclusion and started to move his hand to strike the candlestick, Jinhyeon spoke again.