How to Survive as a Supporting Male Lead

Iann threw his blue dart. It burst with a crisp snap.

Of course, Iann won the game. He was ten years old, while Kallian was only eight, and besides, Iann had played darts in other places many times before.

Kallian, trying to hide how humiliated he felt, panted a little. It wasn’t just losing the game that stung. Iann’s prize was a stuffed toy much bigger than his own.

“Wow. You really suck at this.”

“I told you it was my first time.”

“Getting excited, are you? Watch how you speak, you’re talking informally.”

“Why do you care if I use informal speech?”

“Typical tough guy. He loses a game and gets fired up.”

“No—”

“Loses the game, then won’t shut up.”

Kallian glared at Iann, too worked up to even speak. Iann, looking down at him like it was the most amusing thing, finally checked the time on his watch. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Ah, crap! We’ve been here way too long!”

“Time?”

“Hey! Just take this! It’s too big, and if I take it with me, I’ll get caught!”

“What?”

“Just give me yours. It’s a keepsake for the darts game, at least.”

In a flash, Iann swapped his giant stuffed toy with Kallian’s smaller one.

“Alright then—bye!”

Iann snapped his fingers. And just like that, Kallian found himself back in his small, grey room.

What the hell had just happened? Before he could even sort out the situation, he could feel the soft, fuzzy bulk of the stuffed toy pressed to his chest.

“Ha.”

It was Iann’s prize. The big, fluffy toy, right there in his arms.

* * *

“I stole a stuffed toy from you? I don’t even like stuffed toys.”

“…You did give me yours in exchange.”

“Pfft. Really?”

Iann dug back into his memory for the unusually persistent Kallian. Something faint started to bubble up, only to be driven away by the pop of Derrick bursting another balloon beside them.

“I don’t remember.”

Iann’s indifferent answer stung. For Kallian, it was a precious memory. But for Iann, it was just another forgotten moment. Kallian, determined to pull out another piece of their shared past.

“When you were twelve, do you remember how we always snuck out of the banquet hall?”

It wasn’t just when they were twelve. It had started then, but it became a habit.

Usually it was when Kallian had suffered through endless petty torment from the other noble children. Compared to the beatings he’d taken in the alleys as a child, the harassment of the nobles was nothing.

But there were days when it was too much. Days when the Duke and Duchess didn’t let him sleep for days, or when they left hidden injuries on him and then forced him to act perfect at those banquets.

On those days, Iann would always pick a fight. He’d push Kallian until he had no choice but to leave the banquet with him. They’d fight in the training grounds or the gardens, fists and feet until there were marks that couldn’t be hidden.

After that, Kallian would finally get a few days of rest. Those visible wounds were enough to get the hidden ones treated, too. After three fights, Kallian finally realized, lying in his bed, that Iann had done it all for him.

But now, at twenty-seven, Iann didn’t even remember.

“No idea.”

“Do you remember sneaking into the ducal estate when you were eighteen?”

That was when Kallian, at sixteen, had become increasingly threatening, and had been locked away in the estate for more than half a year. Of course, he hadn’t seen Iann once during that time.

Then suddenly, Iann showed up in the mansion. Technically, he’d broken in and had gotten caught. The Duke and Duchess had been completely stunned by the outrageous intrusion. They screamed and raged, but they couldn’t do anything to the eighteen-year-old who was already a Tower Master and was considered a rising star.

Iann had just grinned sheepishly in front of them and then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, had walked out of there with Kallian in tow. He’d then spent hours showing Kallian his collection of treasures and bragging about his rare eels. Kallian never understood why he’d done it, but that day, he’d seen the sun for the first time in what felt like forever. It had been blindingly bright.

Now, under the same bright sky, with Iann throwing darts and acting so surprised, Kallian felt something catch in his throat.

“That was the first time, at eighteen?”

Kallian had no words.