Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Kim Ji-woo (4)
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“...”
Morning broke.
Kim Ji-woo was the first to slide off the bed like liquid and collapse underneath it.
Her expression was blank. Utterly blank. Her face was so drained that not a trace of emotion or hint of feeling could be seen.
It happened in an instant. Thud! She straightened her posture into a polite seiza, placing her hands firmly on her knees.
Lee Hyun-jin, who had belatedly come to his senses with tousled hair and blinking eyes, witnessed the scene.
He froze for a moment, his face twisting into something subtle, before breaking the heavy silence with his first words.
“...Sis?”
“Hic...!”
Then Kim Ji-woo slapped her hands over her face. The only part left exposed was the tips of her reddened ears.
Before the flustered Lee Hyun-jin could say anything, Kim Ji-woo bowed her head deeply.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Hyun-jin! Lately, I've been so pent up with... urges...! I ended up seducing a kid into doing something unforgivable...! Can you forgive me?!”
“...Pardon? No, wait. Calm down first.”
“No, you're right. Even asking for forgiveness is shameless. D-don't worry! I won't cling to you just because we slept together once! I won't interfere with you and that So-yul girl at all, so rest easy...!”
No matter what Lee Hyun-jin tried to say, Kim Ji-woo wouldn't listen. Whether she didn't want to or simply couldn't spare the mental space to.
Probably the latter, he thought, pressing a hand to his forehead. Why is this sister suddenly accelerating like this first thing in the morning?
And how did she know Cheon So-yul's name? He'd never mentioned it directly. Lee Hyun-jin frowned briefly.
Ah.
...Then it hit him. Come to think of it, yeah. It was incredibly rude, but last night while entwined with Kim Ji-woo, he'd thought of Cheon So-yul a few times.
Don't misunderstand. It wasn't a comparison. Just that they were different in nature—purely carnal pleasure, that sort of fleeting thought.
Somehow, he'd dodged the blade again. You can't control every passing thought, but still, this was a bit much?
“Ahem.”
Telepath in front of him, and he had the guts for that. What kind of manners were thinking of another woman mid-act? Lee Hyun-jin scolded himself.
Meanwhile, Kim Ji-woo kept mumbling to herself with her head buried deep.
Tuning in roughly, he caught keywords like “twenty years old,” “minor until last year,” “step-rape(?).” Lee Hyun-jin's expression turned bewildered.
It sounded like a joke, but her panicked face was that of someone truly in meltdown. This was awkward as hell.
What do I do, what should I do? What the hell have I done...!
Kim Ji-woo was dead serious. She didn't actually think she'd get arrested, of course, but guilt stemming from her own conscience and morals was another matter entirely.
She was tormented. She admitted her lust had built up too much, but that didn't excuse it.
She remembered it had been consensual. Still, separate from that, she was now purely wracked with sin.
Her face ashen, she squeezed her eyes shut. A pathetic adult ruled by lust. She couldn't bear to look at the kid in front of her.
...If you ask why feel guilty now after enjoying yourself fully, I have no rebuttal, but ugh...!
That was it. When ruled by desire, she'd crushed reason with force, but now that it was sated, things had changed.
Put negatively, it was rude to regret after the fact despite having gone all the way... but.
I'm trash! Uwheek!
At least in this moment of near-panic, Kim Ji-woo couldn't even think that far. Her head was filled only with the fact that she'd taken a twenty-year-old guy on her whim.
Finally accepting her Sin she plopped down fully. And made a heartbreakingly pitiful expression that naturally evoked sympathy.
She lifted her head. Sniffling nonstop, she met Lee Hyun-jin's eyes. The saddest puppy-dog eyes in the world.
Lee Hyun-jin flinched involuntarily.
“Hyun-jin...”
“...Yeah.”
“Last night, well, um. You know...”
Kim Ji-woo trailed off, fumbling. From her fidgeting hands, Lee Hyun-jin intuited what she was about to say.
So he struck first.
“If you say let's pretend it never happened or forget about it, I'd be a little hurt. I believe you won't say that, Ji-woo sis.”
“...”
Kim Ji-woo flinched hard.
Lee Hyun-jin's eyes cooled sharply. Her reaction was too obvious.
“...Sis.”
“N-no, Hyun-jin. S-sis didn't think that, okay? Really! Believe me!”
She appealed desperately for trust. Of course, her wavering expression and eyes that couldn't meet his straight-on told no lies.
Lee Hyun-jin sighed knowingly, and just then, Kim Ji-woo's face drained of color.
He reached out toward Kim Ji-woo, who was plastered to the floor under the bed on her knees.
Before she could shrink back, his simple gesture: a gentle pat on the head.
“...?”
Kim Ji-woo floated a question mark. Staring up blankly, she saw Lee Hyun-jin wasn't wearing an unpleasant look.
He just gazed down at this pitiful woman in every way with sympathetic eyes, stroking her hair.
“Hyun-jin, uh, Hyun-jin?”
“Yeah.”
“...I-I'm older, though...? Shouldn't I be the one doing this to you...?”
Unable to stop her lips twitching, Kim Ji-woo botched her pronunciation and let her voice pitch up oddly at the end.
Her face beet red, eyes rolling. Lee Hyun-jin openly chuckled. Pfft.
The more he saw, the more she seemed younger than older sister material. Like looking at a little sister with a big head. Age gap notwithstanding.
Lee Hyun-jin sat on the bed's edge and said,
“We're both adults, and though we drank, we weren't that drunk. You followed me to the motel fully sober—what's with all the self-blame? I wanted it too.”
“...Hngh.”
“Besides, I'm an adult too. Even if it was a drunken mistake, I wouldn't pin all the blame on you.”
Pulling his hand away from stroking her, Lee Hyun-jin briefly thought her hair was incredibly soft—then quickly erased the notion lest telepathy catch it. He cleared his throat.
Anyway, he was about to tell her to stop needless worrying and get up.
They had to check out before 11.
“...You're right.”
Suddenly, Kim Ji-woo gulped and spoke up.
Lee Hyun-jin blinked.
“Sis?”
“Adult, yeah. You are, Hyun-jin.”
“...Pardon?”
Only then did Lee Hyun-jin notice. Kim Ji-woo's gaze wasn't on his face.
Rather, downward. Right at her eye level in that position, her fidgety eyes fixed there.
Ah. Lee Hyun-jin swallowed a groan.
Of all times, now?
“...”
“...”
A brief silence fell. Awkward as hell for Lee Hyun-jin, but Kim Ji-woo wore a faintly flushed expression, lost in thought.
And just like that, impulsive action followed.
“...?! Sis?”
She reached out, and Lee Hyun-jin reflexively jerked his waist. His slight frown probably from the sudden stimulation.
Of course, Kim Ji-woo ignored his reaction and kept moving her wrist.
She slyly looked up at the flustered, helpless Lee Hyun-jin.
And confirmed he wasn't actively refusing.
She licked her upper lip once.
“I-I'll give you a morning greeting.”
“...No, wait...!”
Lee Hyun-jin's instinctive stop didn't hold. His outstretched hand to her head twitched short and fell.
An hour passed like that.
“Hoo...”
Standing at the room door, Lee Hyun-jin let out a sigh loaded with complex meanings.
Kim Ji-woo had gone into the bathroom saying she'd wash up and follow due to some circumstance(?).
Staying longer to hear the shower would test his self-control.
Quick decision: he left the room.
Click. Double-checking the heavy door lock, Lee Hyun-jin turned.
So, what now? Head to Mount Sobaek first?
As he pondered at the elevator,
“Hey.”
The voice came from behind. He'd sensed the presence, but not expecting to be addressed, Lee Hyun-jin turned curiously.
First to catch his eye: rare red hair.
Dyed or not, people avoided such vivid shades, and it looked too natural anyway.
Likewise, her fiery red eyes didn't seem mere colored lenses.
Sometimes you saw people like that—no, Awakeners. Physical traits changed post-awakening based on abilities or magic.
His own master, Ice Empress Seol Ha-yeon, had silver hair unseen in Korea.
Conclusion: the girl before him was an Awakener, likely fire-element related.
Age around his, but...
The key: she'd used the room next to his and Kim Ji-woo's last night.
And now checking out, same as him.
As he opened his mouth to ask why she'd stopped him,
“Couldn't you have kept it down?”
The girl frowned unpleasantly and spoke first.
Lee Hyun-jin blanked momentarily.
“...Pardon?”
“The soundproofing here's awful. I heard everything from you two—your passionate lovemaking. It was awkward for me.”
“...”
“Whatever, we won't meet again. But since we bumped into each other, I had to say something. Ruined my sleep.”
Lee Hyun-jin clamped his mouth shut reflexively. At a loss for words.
Handling sudden complaints wasn't easy.
“...Well.”
Still, he'd disturbed the next room all night, motel purpose aside—so an apology was in order.
Lee Hyun-jin bowed without hesitation.
“Sorry. We were a nuisance all night.”
“...”
The red-haired girl flinched at the prompt, sincere apology.
Perhaps unprepared for such immediacy, she looked flustered.
“...W-well. No. Thinking about it, I was sharp too. Motels are for that, right? I was sensitive from lack of sleep.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seeing her oddly embarrassed stirred playfulness in Lee Hyun-jin. He wanted to ask what “that” was, but she wasn't close like Cheon So-yul.
Might end up at the station.
So he cut it short. Glancing as the elevator neared, he turned to end it.
“...But.”
She spoke again. He stopped reluctantly, turning back with an awkward smile.
The girl twirled her hair around a finger, tossing out a casual line.
“...Felt good? That.”
“?”
“S-sex, I mean.”
“??”
Lee Hyun-jin felt himself blank out for a second.
Unexpected questions deliver unexpected shocks.
“...Ah.”
As he blinked dazedly, the elevator arrived. Soon embarrassed too, she moved first.
Ding!
She mashed the close button, and as the doors stirred, she glanced at his lower half and muttered softly.
“...That deep, huh.”
Last words that instantly deleted any lingering thoughts from Lee Hyun-jin's mind—like hopping on if he didn't want to wait.
Through the closing gap, the final sight: her hand measuring length-wise on her abdomen.
“...What.”
And her outfit.
The emblem on her shoulder.
Clunk.
The elevator closed.
Lee Hyun-jin fell silent.
...Blue Pine Academy jackets had pine tree emblems. Busan's Red Tiger Academy had fierce tiger ones.
The Awakener girl's jacket clearly bore a Fierce Tiger.