Chapter 754
Chapter 754
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 754
Chapter Title: Let's End It Here (7)
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Even though it had been such an exhausting and emotionally draining day, Sharon wasn't granted a peaceful sleep.
It was only natural.
The moment she dozed off even briefly, Si-woo appeared in her dreams.
In stark contrast to the happy memories filled streets of Sinchon, there was the image of herself hurling harsh words at him.
The sight of him grabbing her wrist, pleading for just one chance to explain himself properly, was seared into her mind.
"Hng... Hnng..."
She would wake up and sob for a long while, then collapse into sleep from sheer exhaustion, only for Si-woo's dream to appear again like magic.
After repeating this about five times, Sharon gave up on sleep entirely.
Instead, she decided to kill time with the beers stocked in the fridge.
Why didn't heartbroken characters in dramas or movies ever drink? Maybe borrowing alcohol's power would make this painful night a little less agonizing.
-Tsssh!
"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."
Sharon stood at the kitchen island, chugging straight beer without any snacks.
The crisp slide down her throat and the sharp barley scent poking at her nose.
"Feeling a bit better...?"
The sensation of the tightness in her chest easing definitely seemed to help somewhat.
At least it was far better than tossing and turning in bed, weeping endlessly.
She downed one can in a flash and cracked open the next.
"Sniff..."
Truth be told, the beer she drank in this officetel had its own story.
It was the drink they favored most when watching movies with Si-woo.
They'd buy cheap imported four-packs for ten thousand won from the convenience store right downstairs and enjoy them with popcorn or squid snacks—that was how Sharon and Si-woo used to watch movies.
"Was my memory always this good...?"
Memories flashed by: pressing cold beer cans to each other's necks playfully, or mimicking toast scenes from the movies for no reason.
Sniffling endlessly, she emptied the four cans she'd pulled out before she knew it.
"This isn't helping at all..."
But even as the tipsy buzz hit, her mood didn't improve one bit.
If anything, the raw pain of the breakup only sharpened, stabbing at her heart.
"Then why bother drinking...?"
Sharon concluded that the "drink after a breakup" trope in movies and dramas was just product placement.
No more booze would serve any purpose.
Now steeped in ultra-depressing gloom upon gloom, Sharon rubbed her swollen red eyes and stood to put the useless canned beer back in the fridge.
That's when it happened.
-Beep beep beep beep beep
-Bzzzt!
The sound of someone punching in the door lock code echoed.
Followed by the warning chime for an incorrect entry.
Sharon froze on her way to the fridge.
Her alcohol-slowed thoughts bubbled up like beer foam with every wild possibility.
What was that?
Wrong apartment, accidental press?
Or maybe some administrative mix-up, and someone connected to the Gemernai family—the original occupants—was coming?
Or... could it be Si-woo?
"No way..."
Sharon tried to deny her own thoughts.
She was sad and hurting, but she'd finally armored her heart with resignation and letting go.
She didn't have the strength yet to handle the despair if this false hope burst like a bubble.
"It can't be..."
There was no way.
She'd declared the breakup, steeled her resolve, and unleashed cruel words on him.
Si-woo always put Sharon's feelings first.
Even if he wanted to hold on, she'd believed he'd respect her wishes and pushed him away.
So there was no chance he'd come back after just one day.
Maybe she'd drunk too fast.
This had to be her imagination from being too wasted, or she was still dreaming.
-Beep beep beep beep beep
Yet her heart raced faster at the repeated dialing sounds.
Sharon held her breath, staring at the front door.
-Click!
"......"
"Ah..."
Her beloved partner, who occupied a place in every happy memory she'd longed to see again.
It was Shin Si-woo.
He stepped in through the door, just like when he'd slip out to the rooftop for a quick smoke while Sharon waited.
Yes, right.
This has to be a dream.
After inheriting, it was an incomplete succession, then the experiment failed and she was buried in debt right away.
For ten years chasing homunculi, she never made decent money, and every investment went bust.
Sharon's luck was always subtly rotten.
No way a stroke of fortune like this would unfold just for her.
But the cold droplets on the beer can in her hand.
Si-woo's presence, too vivid for illusion or dream.
They screamed that this was reality.
This was too much.
Her eyes were puffy from all the crying, no makeup at all, hair a total mess.
Just a nightshirt and shorts for clothes.
She wanted Si-woo to see her pretty side only.
Amid the frantic stray thoughts like escapism.
"Ah, um, Sharon... This isn't me trying to come in."
"Why are you here? I said we're done."
Sharon spoke in a cold voice.
Nothing would change like this.
Nothing ever did.
To Si-woo, she was just baggage, and even if he miraculously showed up chasing old memories, nothing would be different.
So Sharon mustered her final courage.
The courage to part from Si-woo.
If she could coldly brush him off this once, she could really end it.
Si-woo's face, hesitating to speak, stiffened at Sharon's icy tone.
"Why make that face? It makes me seem like the bad guy."
Seeing his shocked, abandoned-puppy expression made her want to rush into his arms without a second thought.
Sharon bit her tongue until it nearly bled and turned away.
"I'm sorry. For worrying you every day, dragging in other people each time."
"Stop! I don't want to hear it. I'm hurting too!"
The beer can slipped weakly from Sharon's hand and rolled across the floor.
"Go home... I don't want to be here with you."
Saying words opposite to her heart was truly grueling.
Sharon couldn't hold back and turned her back.
She wouldn't look until she heard the door close.
Then.
A firm grip seized Sharon's wrist.
Just the slightest touch of skin, and goosebumps erupted over her body.
Because it was the warmth she'd craved so desperately.
Afraid she'd drown in the happiness flooding her to the tips of her hair, Sharon roughly yanked her hand free.
"Let... go!"
But Si-woo didn't release her.
He gripped her wrist tighter and pulled her straight into his embrace.
"No. I can't."
"Let go!"
"Let go right now!"
"I said I can't!"
The two engaged in a K-drama-style tussle.
But there was no way Sharon could break free from Si-woo's firm hold.
Truth be told, Si-woo wasn't the type to bulldoze like this.
Until Sharon first snapped sharply at him, it felt like the breath was caught in his throat.
But now he was certain.
"You think after over a year living together, I wouldn't know?"
"...What?"
"You're lying."
It wasn't just wishful thinking.
He was sure.
When Sharon lied, she had a habit of pressing her thumbnail hard into her index finger until it hurt.
Si-woo caught the body language the moment she said, "Go home... I don't want to be here with you."
In other words, both "go home" and "don't want to be here with you" were lies.
"Let's talk properly again. I'll apologize a hundred, a thousand times. Whatever needs fixing, I'll fix it."
"No, I said no... Even if I say anything, it's pointless..."
"I need you, Sharon."
His unwavering, straight gaze pierced her.
And those words she'd longed to hear burrowed into her heart.
That she was needed.
The words she wanted most.
"Ugh... Uuugh..."
Tears streamed down.
Her throat burned hot, like gulping steaming tea in one go.
All the pent-up resentment, longing, yearning, love, inferiority, and self-loathing that tormented Sharon daily.
The sticky emotions she'd forcibly swallowed surged back at once.
"I'm... nothing anyway, and you... no matter how much I beg, you'll do dangerous stuff again... Everyone's so amazing, but I'm nothing. I really have nothing... I'm pathetic...!"
Incoherent ramblings she barely registered spilled out in every direction, riding her sobbing breaths.
"Always racking up debt. Leaning on you from start to finish, can't do a thing even knowing you're in danger...! And resenting Ms. Amelia and Duchess Eloa, just jealous... I'm so pathetic...!"
To anyone else, this wouldn't fully explain why Sharon had uttered breakup words.
But Si-woo understood why she'd said it.
No need for logical explanations.
Like a red thread connecting hearts, they understood each other.
Wasn't that what lovers were?
"I don't care."
Si-woo grabbed Sharon's shoulders, hugging her tight so she'd never slip away.
"You're enough just as you are."
Those words were enough to shatter Sharon's shallow bravado.
Looking up at him through tear-soaked eyes, she asked with trembling lips.
"I'm... not strong like others... I'll just be a burden to you."
"You're a witch. We'll live together forever. Take it slow."
"I have no money. Research costs a fortune every day... Can't even invest."
"I'll earn it. It's not like you're borrowing to research."
"I'm not that pretty, or cute..."
"You're gorgeous, super cute. Your hair's like a fairy's. Your eyes sparkle."
Sharon spoiled herself freely to Si-woo, who held her fragile heart.
And Si-woo piled on the cringey vows and praises he'd never say normally.
Yes.
This was the power of reconciliation.
Right now, the two were utterly immersed in their own world, deadly serious.
Sharon curled up like a shy squirrel, twirling her hair.
"Really...?"
"Of course. Even when you worked at the convenience store, I fell at first sight. Still do every time."
"Uwuu... Liar. Si-woo's a liar."
"No, really, you're cute."
Each affirming word from Si-woo exploded fireworks of joy in her chest.
It was embarrassingly thrilling, but she wanted to hear more.
"...Am I gwrokey cute, Shawonny?"
Thus, Sharon wheedled in a cutesy nasal voice, wriggling as she sought confirmation— that's when she finally noticed the scene behind Si-woo's broad shoulders.
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
From the moment Si-woo opened the door and entered, the depth of field had shallowed, all focus on him.
So Odil, Odet, Amelia, and Eloa had blurred into the background until now.
They'd been watching with stunned expressions, then quietly closed the door and left the reconciling couple alone upon eye contact.