Why Song Sia Came Late at Night (3)
Song Sia snapped fully awake.
"What just happened?"
Flames laced with holy power had forced her and Lee Junwoo apart. The fire roared up between them, blazing high.
I knew his skill had improved somewhat, but…
Even so, the flames before her eyes were enough to startle Song Sia herself. She had held back a little so she wouldn't hurt him — yet the power of a pureblood vampire under a full moon was something even the famously talented second-year cadets would struggle to withstand.
And he still broke free of the curse's binding?
Ever since leaving Aegis, Lee Junwoo had been growing at a terrifying pace. As if Aegis itself had been nothing more than a set of restraints holding him down.
Right then, Junwoo spoke.
"You're asking me? Shouldn't that be my line?"
Moments ago he had worn the dazed, vacant look of someone under hypnosis. Now his eyes were sharp again — the way they always were.
A low hum filled the air as multiple mirrors of light materialized around him.
Tch. If he does that, I can't bind his body again…
There was so much she wanted to ask him. The way he had called her pitiful, said she was someone to feel sorry for — those words had set her heart racing. Perhaps Lee Junwoo was the only person in the world who truly worried about her. That had made her happier than anything… but she still hadn't properly asked him about An Yumin.
This was no time for that, though.
Junwoo's voice cut through the air.
"Do you even understand what you just tried to do to me?"
She had been about to force his blood from him. The anger on his face was genuine — raw in a way that wasn't like him at all. Song Sia flinched and took an involuntary step back.
"Th-that was…"
She considered using the pureblood power once more to restrain him, but he was already fully conscious. That ruined her original plan of letting the whole night pass like a half-remembered dream.
What do I do?
She wanted him. She wanted to make him her thrall. He had already gone so far as to call her pitiful and worry over her — so he couldn't be completely without feelings for her either.
A scene from a romance fantasy she'd once read flashed through her mind.
Right. In a crisis, better to just speak from the heart.
She had done it because she liked him. There was no other way to explain the situation. And it might even have been the truth.
After a brief silence, Song Sia spoke. The pureblood in her veins made her more honest than usual.
"I want to be with you. I need you."
That was everything she was capable of saying.
He might get angry…
But the one who had led his exile was An Yumin. All of his love and hatred would be directed at her. If he wanted an apology for the exile, Song Sia could give him one. If he would leave An Yumin behind and become her man…
Her father had drilled into her that no one of their house ever bowed their head first. But if the other person was Lee Junwoo, she could do it.
Song Sia waited for his answer with a trembling heart. But for a long moment after hearing her words, Junwoo's expression didn't so much as twitch.
He's… not even angry?
That only made her insides burn worse. If he had just gotten mad, she would have kept apologizing. The Junwoo she knew would have forgiven her eventually.
So why…
His silence made her anxious. Song Sia's emotions were usually paper-thin, but she still knew that an agitated person was far easier to deal with than a cold one.
"What are you even saying at this point. Date you? That doesn't make any sense."
Junwoo looked at her with an expression that didn't move at all.
His flat refusal made Song Sia's voice rise.
"Is that because of An Yumin?"
Junwoo answered with a look of pure disbelief.
"Why does An Yumin keep coming up?"
"Because… you liked An Yumin! I know everything — that you even developed a panic disorder over her exiling you! I overheard what the school nurse said!"
Junwoo fell silent.
No matter how little emotion Song Sia usually showed, she had watched him every day. She knew that much about his behavior, at least, had not been a lie.
So An Yumin is the problem. All of it.
But when Junwoo finally opened his mouth, he denied it outright.
"Do you really think I got a panic disorder over An Yumin alone?"
"That's…"
"It's all over now, but I gave everything I had to the rest of you too — not just her. You might not even realize that."
"……"
"And even so, the three of you still exiled me. It wasn't An Yumin's fault alone. Not a single one of you opposed it, did you?"
That was the truth. When An Yumin proposed exiling Lee Junwoo, Ha Yeeun had actively agreed. Song Sia hadn't voiced a strong opinion of her own — but she hadn't opposed it either. Raised in her family's way of thinking, she couldn't work with someone as incompetent as Junwoo, someone who was already buckling under Aegis's workload.
Only after he left Aegis had she finally recognized her own feelings for him.
So Junwoo was devastated not just by An Yumin… but by the other two of us as well?
She had never considered that. She had coldly assumed he might resent the other two for agreeing to the exile — but she had never imagined that she herself had become one of the causes of his panic.
And that truth hit Song Sia hard.
And even so… Junwoo still thought of me as pitiful?
Just moments ago, he had been under hypnosis. She had asked him what he thought of her. Absolute hypnosis powered by pureblood — he couldn't have lied. And to someone as warm-hearted as that, the three members of Aegis had done something unforgivable.
"Anyway, I have nothing more to say about that. I have nothing to do with An Yumin, and nothing to do with Aegis. Don't get the wrong idea. Stay out of my business too."
With that, Junwoo turned his back on her.
"Oh, and one more thing — I have no intention of dating anyone right now. Unlike you people, I'm just an ordinary guy. I'm busy enough attending lectures and training every day. I don't have time for romance games."
Song Sia cried out.
"Th-that can't be! What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness? I-if you want an apology, I'll apologize!"
"I don't know. I'm tired right now. I don't want to talk anymore."
With those final words, Junwoo left the warehouse.
Song Sia collapsed where she stood.
"So when he said he'd never date me even if it killed him…"
Just yesterday, she had overheard the conversation between Jeong Ungyeong and Lee Junwoo. At the time she had assumed it was leftover attachment to An Yumin. But that wasn't it. Of course dating someone who had agreed to exile him was impossible. Not only An Yumin — Song Sia herself had been a cause of his panic. She was someone who had inflicted enormous pain on him.
I have to… I have to apologize more…
That was the rational conclusion. But she already sensed that an apology alone wouldn't be enough. If he had at least gotten angry, she might have found some way to work through it. Instead, Junwoo hadn't spoken a single harsh word to her — he had simply turned around with cold indifference and walked out.
That calmness hurt her even more.
"Hic…"
A fierce headache pressed in. Normally her emotions wouldn't have stirred even a fraction — but the pureblood that had awakened through her feelings for Junwoo had also awakened emotions that should never have existed in her.
"Hic… hh…"
Tears heavy with real feeling slid down her cheeks. For once, she could feel her own emotions with absolute clarity — and her chest felt like it was being torn apart.
A crushing anxiety. The fear that her connection with Lee Junwoo might vanish completely.
It hurts… it's agony.
She needed him so badly. She wanted his blood even more. If she could receive Lee Junwoo's affection, she would do anything. One thing was certain: Song Sia could not give him up.
But right now, no method seemed capable of mending the short bond between them that had already shattered.
No. Without Lee Junwoo…
Like a legendary vampire that dies the moment it faces sunlight, she felt as though she would simply wither away. She had already learned what love felt like. Even now, the savage thirst for blood and the anemia were enough to make her collapse.
But on this late night, the only thing Song Sia could do was cry in silence.
Day three of Hell Week arrived.
The discharge ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow, which made today the last real day of Hell Week. As I moved toward the new training grounds, I briefly replayed the events of the previous night.
I got Demonic Power.
Song Sia's feelings for me had been stronger than I'd expected. If she had been ready to drink my blood while her pureblood was fully awakened, she had genuinely seen me as a romantic interest. That was why the hidden quest had unlocked.
Marionette of Black Threads
The Hidden Quest Marionette of Black Threads has been unlocked.
◈ Marionette: Song Sia
▶▶ The pure white threads connecting you and the Marionette begin to darken.
: Each time the Marionette stains the white threads black of her own will, you can absorb Demonic Power.
I had rejected Song Sia's desire to drink my blood. And yet the hidden quest had still cleared.
I closed my eyes for a moment. The image of Song Sia dangling from threads like a marionette rose in my mind — and the hand controlling those threads was mine. Proof that even after my rejection, she hadn't given up on me. The darker those feelings became, the deeper her obsession with me grew.
I could keep absorbing Demonic Power going forward. And unlike during my Aegis days, I had no need to take care of Song Sia at all. The power dynamic had completely reversed.
That Demonic Power had plenty of uses. Just as I had evolved Sacred Strike into the rare skill Goddess's Flame Sword, I could forge new skills infused with Demonic Power. Enhancing weapons and other items was possible too. The downside was that Demonic Power was single-use — but it was a resource that flowed in without any real effort on my part. One more tool for the underworld side quests still ahead of me.
"Before we begin day-three training, a brief orientation."
An instructor walked in. A familiar face — Instructor Lee Suyeon. Our eyes met for a moment, and she gave me a sly little smile.
"You've been worked hard for two days straight. You'll get worked today too — but it'll be more fun than the first two."
Thirty cadets from both classes sat on the outdoor training ground stands. Lee Suyeon, baton in hand, began her explanation.
"Today's exercise is villain-suppression training. Specifically, a scenario set in an urban district."
She was right. Tonight, under cover of this very villain-suppression drill, real villains would infiltrate the training grounds.
She pointed at the outdoor electronic board. Images of various villains flickered across the presentation, until she stopped scrolling on one particular photograph.
"We could look at any number of cases, but let's start with this villain."
Right then, a cadet suddenly shouted.
"Th-that's Horror Hall!"
A Middle Class cadet in a skintight training suit — Jeong Siu. Lee Suyeon smiled at his reaction.
"That's right. A villain you all know well. And…"
At the same time, she brought up another villain's photo alongside it.
"When you talk about Horror Hall, you really have to talk about this one too, don't you?"
I looked at the photograph and felt a jolt of alarm inside.
That's Unknown.
There it was — my own familiar figure, spread across the electronic board. The cadets staring at Unknown wore deadly serious expressions.