Turning Crisis into Opportunity #2
The way she spoke was pitiful. “Jihyeok… pleeease let gooo…”
Her cheeks were squeezed so tightly that her words came out slurred. Yuria’s face was a perfect blend of terror and unmistakable arousal at my domineering attitude. Time to push her even harder.
“You’re the one who teamed up with Yoo Seunghyeon to approach me, aren’t you? What exactly is your connection to him? If you weren’t plotting to rip me off, none of this makes any sense.”
“Th-that’s not it… I’m not…”
Yuria grabbed my arm with both hands and struggled desperately to pull it away. Her grip, which had started out weaker than an ordinary woman’s, was gradually growing stronger. She wasn’t doing it on purpose—her cheeks were starting to hurt, so her body was instinctively resisting.
The moment I felt her strength begin to overpower me, I shoved her face back and yanked my hand free.
“Aah!”
She let out a short scream and stumbled back several steps, clutching her reddened cheeks. Her glare was venomous at first, but the moment she saw the fury on my face, her eyes dropped submissively to the ground.
“I… it’s a misunderstanding… Jihyeok…”
Her entire demeanor had turned timid. So getting angry had been the right move after all. A small but successful bit of conditioning. Honestly, I’d been nervous when I first grabbed her face, but it had paid off.
I strode toward her with purpose. Yuria matched my pace by backing away until her legs hit the bench and she collapsed onto it with a soft thud.
“Jihyeok… please listen to me… I listened to you, didn’t I…?”
“You’re saying you listened to me after suddenly blowing up like that? After you arbitrarily decided who I was and judged me without a second thought?”
The moment I switched back to polite speech, Yuria let out a tiny sigh of relief.
“I’m truly sorry about that… F-for now, please sit down! I’ll tell you everything…”
“No need.”
“…Pardon?”
“Let’s end things here.”
“End… things…?”
Her voice began to tremble. If you’re that anxious, you should have crawled on your own instead of trying to challenge me.
“You don’t trust me. That’s why I’m saying we should stop. I’m telling you we’re done seeing each other.”
I turned around without hesitation, ready to leave the park. But Yuria shot up and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. Her grip was frighteningly strong. It was hard to shake off. Damn it, she’s going to dislocate my shoulder.
“Jihyeok! I… I was wrong!”
“Let go.”
“No…! I won’t! Just listen to what I have to say first. Please? I’m begging you…! I’ll explain everything…”
With no other choice, I turned back around. I didn’t forget to wear an expression that still carried lingering attachment. When Yuria saw my face, relief washed over her and she spoke quickly.
“Should we get some coffee? I can go buy some right now. Or we can go together. There’s a café nearby…”
“Just sit down.”
“Ah, yes!”
The previously rambling Yuria immediately sat back on the bench. She pressed her knees together, placed both hands neatly on top of them, and tilted them slightly to the side—an extremely demure posture. I sat beside her and leaned back against the bench.
“Haa…”
When I let out a heavy sigh, Yuria glanced at me nervously.
“Um… Jihyeok…”
“I’m going to stay like this for a while, so be quiet.”
“Y-yes… I’m sorry…”
Yuria obediently lowered her head. It was good that I had regained control of the situation, but that damn Yoo Seunghyeon had nearly ruined everything. Not to mention my Aether was gone, which only made me angrier… Should I take it out on her a bit more? No. I’d stop here for today and vent to my heart’s content during tomorrow’s date.
I pressed my fingers firmly against my temple, then turned to look at her.
“Explain.”
“Th-that… you won’t leave in the middle, right?”
“Just explain already.”
“Yes… So what happened was…”
Yuria spent a long time recounting her conversation with Yoo Seunghyeon in meticulous detail. She even revealed that he was the reincarnation of Aaron. I hadn’t expected her to go that far. It was surprising. It meant she liked and trusted me that much. The thought of being able to corrupt her Aether soon filled me with fresh anticipation.
“…So when I thought you had deliberately turned Seunghyeon into a fool, I got angry… but the real fool was me. No matter how much of a reincarnation of Aaron he is, I shouldn’t have blindly believed only his words and doubted you…”
I stared at Yuria’s face in silence. My expression was neither gentle nor angry—just blank. She fidgeted restlessly, shifting her hips as if she couldn’t stand the tension. After testing her nerves for a moment, I finally spoke.
“There’s more, isn’t there? The real reason you got angry.”
“……”
“You said you’d explain everything. Are you lying to me again?”
“No! It’s just… the truth is…”
After a long hesitation, Yuria squeezed her eyes shut.
“I thought you were toying with Seunghyeon… so I assumed you were going to toy with me too… and that made me angry…”
I’m still toying with both of you right now.
I chuckled inwardly and said, “I see.”
“When you tried to leave me earlier… my heart sank. It seems I really like you a lot, Jihyeok.”
“If he’s the reincarnation of the Knight Commander, shouldn’t you be going to Yoo Seunghyeon instead of me?”
“Seunghyeon doesn’t even know he was Aaron. And I felt Aaron’s presence from you… Ah! But that doesn’t mean I don’t like you for who you are! Not at all!”
She waved her hands frantically, adding the clarification in a rush. I thought for a moment before asking another question.
“From your perspective, Yuria, Yoo Seunghyeon is someone you can’t give up on?”
“…Yes.”
“So while dating me, you plan to keep seeing him as well?”
“Y-you’re also seeing Sehwa while seeing me… I don’t think that’s wrong…”
Bold. I liked that even more. I was already looking forward to the thrilling sensation of knowing I held a higher place in her heart than a love that crossed galaxies.
Without a word, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She came willingly. She even rested her head on my shoulder. When I turned and kissed the top of her head, she adjusted her posture with clear satisfaction.
“Still, I’m happy.”
“About what…?”
“I’m happy that you felt Aaron’s presence from me, and I’m happy that you like me for who I am.”
“…Mmm…”
She let out a soft breath through her nose and reached out to wrap her arms around my waist. She certainly knew how to act cute. But she was getting ahead of herself.
When I removed her hands, she looked visibly flustered.
“Jihyeok…”
“I’m not done being angry yet.”
“I-I know… From now on, I’ll listen to what you say too…”
Tsk, that’s not it. You should only listen to me. Don’t listen to anyone else.
“You cleared your schedule for tomorrow, right?”
“Yes…”
“I was thinking about canceling…”
I deliberately trailed off. Yuria’s eyes darted around anxiously. She really was nervous. I continued.
“I’ll let it slide this time.”
Yuria placed a hand over her chest, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
“Th-thank you… Where are we going?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“But… I need to know so I can choose what to wear… You told me to dress up nicely for you…”
“I said you don’t need to know. Just get ready and come out when I tell you to.”
“…Understood…”
She lowered her gaze and fidgeted with her fingers. I had now heard her honest inner thoughts and widened the gap between master and servant even further. Especially the part about her invoking Aaron—if she had reached that point already, the results would be spectacular. We hadn’t been seeing each other long, yet we had already come this far. It was proof that my relentless pressure had worked perfectly.
“Let’s get up now.”
At my words, Yuria shook her head frantically, looking startled.
“Already…? N-no, I don’t want to.”
“Do you really think I’ll do whatever you want just because you say no? Do you believe throwing tantrums will get you everything?”
“Then what am I supposed to do!?”
The moment she raised her voice in frustration, Yuria’s face turned deathly pale. Realizing she had lost her temper again, she quickly checked my reaction.
“Jihyeok…”
“This is ridiculous. Were you always this stubborn? I thought you were mature, but I’m truly disappointed.”
My curt tone drained all color from her face until she looked like a sheet of paper.
“I-I’m sorry… My emotions have been all over the place today…”
“Don’t make excuses.”
“I’m sorry… Please forgive me… I won’t do it again…”
“Do you promise?”
“Yes! Yes! I promise! I’ll never get angry at you again!”
The moment she sensed forgiveness was possible, Yuria’s face brightened and her voice rose with eagerness. Earlier it had seemed like she was weighing whether to listen to me or get angry… Heh heh… If she had taken even half a step back and calmly assessed the situation, she would have realized there was no need to lower herself this much. But right now, her emotions were far ahead of her reason. And that was exactly what I had orchestrated—timing my strikes perfectly when her erratic emotions peaked.
Too easy. Way too easy.
I held out my hand toward her and said shortly, “Hand.”
Yuria quickly grabbed it. But she didn’t interlace our fingers. She clearly wanted to, but was holding back in case it made me angry. Her expression made that obvious.
I smiled softly and used my free hand to scratch gently under her chin, as if praising a dog. At first Yuria was startled by the touch, but soon she closed her eyes in clear pleasure.
“Be fully ready and waiting in front of your house tomorrow at ten in the morning.”
This is a special reward for listening well. My tone carried that exact nuance—hinting that if she continued to obey, I would give her satisfying rewards in the future.
“I understand…”
“Let’s go back.”
“…..”
After hesitating for a moment, Yuria finally stood up. She never once let go of my hand. That’s right. You have to listen if you want your reward, don’t you?
I smiled brightly and left the park with Yuria. After we parted ways, I received a text before I even reached home.
Transformed into Kim Taegon on my way home, I burst into loud laughter. The content of the message made it clear she had firmly chosen her path. She would still meet Yoo Seunghyeon, but her heart would lean more toward me. Oh, and her body too. It was a shame that “like” didn’t yet mean “love,” but that would change tomorrow.
I sent a short reply.
Immediately after, an emoticon of a cute chibi character shedding tears arrived. She must have wanted to hear that I liked her too. By the way, when did she buy that? It was ridiculous.
A little later, an angry emoticon arrived as well. Fine, I get it. I’ll give you the answer you want.
Moments later, three separate emoticons holding big red hearts flooded in. When it came to texting, she was definitely cuter than Sehwa. I’d give her that much credit.
Snickering to myself, I used Kim Taegon’s phone to make a call.
“Yes, Dad?”
“Sorry, honey. Looks like I won’t be able to come home tonight.”
“Why not?”
“A sudden business trip came up. It’ll probably take about two days.”
“Really? That’s too bad… Okay.”
There wasn’t a single trace of disappointment in her voice. The temperature difference compared to how she acted with her new fling was staggering. This is why all fathers in the world end up heartbroken. Raising children is pointless. Ah, but I wasn’t the one who raised her.