Chapter 454
Chapter 454
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 454
Chapter Title: Travel (3)
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Amelia had booked a hotel on Jeju Island, but there was no way they could make it all the way there at this hour.
So Si-woo quietly canceled Amelia's reservation and booked a new one at a nearby hotel.
The one silver lining was that, even at this late hour, finding a place to stay wasn't too difficult.
If it had been Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or the last day of December before New Year's or New Year's Day itself, all these hotels would have been packed to the brim with people.
It was just that awkwardly in-between date of December 27th.
He managed to snag a five-star hotel just a ten-minute walk from the station.
With the Jemernai Count family completely cutting off financial support, it was a pretty hefty sum.
Still, he had some money left over from what Takasho had forced on him during his host gig, plus the bounty shares from his time living with Sharon. It looked like money worries wouldn't be a big issue during the trip.
The cold night air of the city blew in, brushing against the Han River.
People with their coat collars turned up hurried along in small steps, hailing taxis.
Even on streets still decked out with Christmas decorations, festive carols drifted through the air.
"……."
And Amelia was trailing behind Si-woo like a puppy on its first walk outside.
She didn't seem aware of it herself, but her mouth had been hanging open non-stop for quite a while now.
She'd chase passing cars with her eyes, and Si-woo had to yank her back when she tried to cross without understanding the traffic lights.
"We're almost there."
"Got it."
Amelia, who had been staring at a massive electronic billboard playing ads like it was one of the world's wonders, finally closed her mouth after thirty minutes and nodded at Si-woo's words.
The way she desperately tried to act like nothing surprised her, staying all cool and composed—it was kinda cute.
Thanks to that, he could set aside his worries about how to treat her, at least for a bit.
After all the twists and turns, they did a late-night check-in at the swanky hotel lobby.
As a side note, with a beauty like Amelia—an obvious foreigner, no less—wandering the streets, she was bound to draw eyes. So Si-woo had grabbed Park Young's talisman beforehand.
But even that had its limits. A little hiccup happened anyway.
The female staffer handling check-in had stared at Amelia's face, totally entranced, for ages.
Well, back when things were at their worst between Amelia and Si-woo, even while inwardly cursing her out with every insult under the sun, he'd never stooped to trash-talking her looks. So it made sense, in a way.
Finally, they tapped the card key in the elevator and hit the floor button.
He'd booked the best room available through the app—a high-floor Han River-view suite. But now that check-in was done, the whole thing felt kinda weird.
Amelia. Hotel.
Separate, they were perfectly normal words.
Put together as "Amelia and hotel," though, and it caused massive cognitive dissonance.
It reminded him of that time staying over at Sophia's villa in Border Town.
A strange mix of tension, unfamiliarity, and awkwardness hung in the air.
As the elevator rose, Amelia hunched her shoulders at the sensation and gripped her suitcase handle tight.
If Odil and Odet had taken everything in the present world as "amazing fun stuff!" on their first time out, Amelia seemed to process it all as "What the heck is this?!"
And they were standing even closer now than before.
Putting a hand on her shoulder to reassure her should be fine, right?
Just as Si-woo leaned down to gently pat the hunched-over Amelia—
-Ding!
The elevator arrived, revealing a hallway lined with mirrors on both sides.
"I'll show you the way."
"Okay."
Amelia's voice was noticeably softer and smaller than before.
She looked downright intimidated now.
And no wonder—Amelia was basically a country bumpkin at heart.
On top of that, thanks to her teacher's lessons and experiences, she saw the present world as an "extremely unpleasant place."
Overreacting to brand-new sights by hunching up like that wasn't all that strange.
It was wondrous and shocking, but she calmed her racing heart and followed behind Si-woo.
Once check-in was done, getting into the room was a breeze. Just swipe the card key.
"Here it is."
Amelia, who had been intently watching Si-woo's door-opening motions for any magical effects, unpacked a bit and glanced around the room. She couldn't hide her dismay.
The room itself was impeccably clean.
The fresh linens smelled faintly of disinfectant, and even the sofa—which gave off nouveau riche vibes—was spotless, without a single frayed thread.
A spacious twin suite with separate living and bedroom areas, a five-star high-floor Han River view, no less.
"……."
But disappointment crept across Amelia's face.
She realized something had gone wrong.
When she'd seen the massive hotel towering over sixty stories—something nonexistent in Gehenna—and the lobby decked with a Christmas tree, she'd smugly assumed her booking had been a success.
She'd even felt a spark of pride amid the panic from all the modern novelties.
But now that the lid was off, her rare burst of initiative had been a total flop.
Who would've thought a behemoth like that hotel hid a room as cramped as a matchbox...
The ceilings were low, and now that she looked, the red carpet screamed cheap.
The humidity wasn't regulated right, leaving it too dry, and it was way too small for two people.
Even counting the second floor, it was smaller than a cabin.
She'd stuck her nose in where it didn't belong, and now she'd bungled everything.
At this rate, she was no different from the old days when she'd just been a burden to him.
"……."
But Si-woo, who'd been busily checking out the room, had no way of reading Amelia's inner turmoil.
"Amelia."
"Yes."
Si-woo, who'd been pacing by the floor-to-ceiling window on one side, called out to her.
Amelia mumbled back, feeling unnecessarily cowed.
"Wanna take a look here?"
At Si-woo's gesture, Amelia hurried over to the window with quick steps.
Meanwhile, Si-woo headed off somewhere for a moment.
He plugged in the card key and turned off the lights they'd entered with...
"It's the night view. Back home, people pay top dollar for houses just to see this."
Towering buildings—even bigger iron bridges—and lights sparkling from every corner filled Amelia's vision brilliantly.
Her eyes went wide, shaking off the self-recrimination and disappointment.
The scene before her was something utterly impossible in Gehenna—a true city that never slept.
"...It's beautiful."
The words slipped out from the heart as Amelia pressed her hand to the glass, tracing from the dizzyingly distant ground up to the lights across the river, one by one.
"This is Si-woo's hometown..."
Strictly speaking, the apartment he'd lived in as a kid had been demolished for redevelopment, but he was still a Seoul native through and through, so it wasn't wrong.
And seeing Amelia gape in awe like that—cuter than expected—he quietly watched her.
2.
Even if it was a twin suite, the two of them sharing a hotel room.
Sipping mini-bar wine while admiring the romantic night view as an appetizer naturally leads to crooning love songs.
Flushed cheeks catch the eye, gazes meet, lovers draw closer for a kiss.
Then straight to the bed right next door... That's the classic progression.
But what had happened between Amelia and Si-woo?
"Good night."
"You too... Sleep well, Si-woo."
Surprisingly, nothing.
Si-woo, who kept fairly regular sleep hours, turning in wasn't all that odd. But even Amelia, who barely slept, somehow ended up laying her head on a pillow in separate beds.
Both had chosen to retreat to dreamland amid the suffocating awkwardness and tension.
"Haa... yawn."
Si-woo masked a deep sigh from his chest as a yawn.
He still couldn't gauge the distance between them at all.
Back when he'd learned about Amelia's past and realized all she'd suffered for his sake.
If he could go back to those overwhelming emotion-filled days, things might've been different.
Midst clinking wine glasses with barely any talk, he might've pinned her against the wall for a wine-flavored kiss.
But now, he had no clue where to even start.
Like the happy days when he'd lost his memories and been with Amelia?
Or like when she was the associate professor and he the caretaker?
Dousing the flames that had been heating up replaced bold action and impulse with nothing but maddening uncertainty.
Amelia venturing out into the present world instead of holing up in the cabin.
Wanting to see his hometown—it was an undeniable green light, yet the whole situation felt utterly bewildering.
Even Cowherd and Weaver Girl probably would've spent a day moping on the Bridge of Magpies if they'd met like this...
Lost in such thoughts, one or two hours slipped by, and Si-woo drifted off to sleep before he knew it.
Once his breathing slowed, Amelia finally turned over quietly.
She glanced at Si-woo, then silently sat up.
Confirming he was asleep again, she got out of bed and perched on the edge of his, hip pressed to the mattress.
"Si-woo..."
It was just too hard.
Love, that is.
Especially having to love while burdened by guilt—it was incredibly tough for Amelia.
While wandering the present world hoping for Si-woo's forgiveness, she'd dreamed of nestling in his arms and falling asleep.
Dreamed of the happy days they'd spent together.
And she knew that dream was closer than ever.
He'd understood her shortcomings and forgiven her.
He was the first person to give her the courage to step forward, when she'd only ever backed away out of fear of losing him someday or getting hurt.
And yet.
Even this close, she was too much of a fool to do anything.
She took Si-woo's hand.
His left hand, the one she'd hurt.
He said the nerves still weren't connecting right, so he had no sensation in it.
Gripping that thick, sturdy hand—nothing like her own—sent a dull ache stabbing through her chest.
And that wasn't all.
She'd excused it away as "I wasn't honest back then," but she'd done so many awful things to him that no amount of self-justification could cover it.
Clutching his precious hand tight, Amelia pressed his knuckles to her cheek.
"...I'm scared."
The worries Si-woo had voiced weren't his alone.
Like, "What if that kiss back then was just emotions running high from our reunion after so long, and now the feelings have cooled?"
Si-woo had definitely forgiven Amelia.
And she'd forgiven him for the things he'd said were his faults.
But conflict and fights don't always mean breaking up, just as forgiveness and reconciliation don't always mean love.
Their relationship might just be that—they'd forgiven, been forgiven, and nothing more.
On top of which, Si-woo already had a lover by his side.
"Si-woo's such a kind person..."
He'd empathized with her pain and forgiven her, agreed to this trip when she'd mustered the courage to ask.
But maybe that was as far as it went.
That hesitation kept Amelia from acting rashly.
Truth be told, she wanted to ask for so much more.
"Brush my hair back."
"……."
"Hold my hand, look me in the eyes, and smile."
"……."
"Hug me like you'll never let go again."
"……."
Amelia leaned down toward the face of the quietly sleeping Si-woo.
She stopped just before her lips met his.
"Kiss me."
"……."
No response, as expected.
Amelia clutched Si-woo's hand tight and rubbed her cheek against it.
Even so, she'd never run away alone again.
Even if it took a hundred years, a thousand—she'd keep trying until he turned back to her, waiting all the while.
Amelia savored the warmth at his fingertips for a long, long time.
And so, the first night of exploration drew to a close.