Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: We Need to Talk (2)
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-The professor said... it seems like she's been thinking about dying since way back.
-Sorry for telling you this story. But I thought you had to know.
There were so many stories she'd been keeping bottled up inside.
-Even back at the academy, she'd been planning to take down Flower, assuming she'd die in the process.
Why on earth?
I'd known for a while that Lee Se-young had this almost blindly devoted love for me.
I'd tried to return that affection as best I could.
-Telling you to find another woman was because she thought you'd need someone by your side when she died.
Someone who'd lived her whole life alone, without a single ally.
-She really only had you.
She's so capable, yet impossible to pin down.
We each have our own thoughts and seemingly solid plans.
It's just that those plans turned out to be poison instead of medicine.
"......Why all of a sudden?"
Se-young's face stiffened rigidly.
Her businesslike demeanor made it seem like she was dealing with a stranger on a transaction.
"Why did you do it?"
Lee Se-young must have harbored these thoughts ever since she switched jobs.
Die for me?
After knowing each other such a short time, throw away your life? No way in hell.
There were a lot of things I didn't understand, but this part I had to grasp intuitively and smartly on my own.
None of the people around me have lived ordinary lives, after all.
"...I have no idea what you're talking about. Dude, you're acting weird."
"Don't play dumb."
My voice cracked as I put force into my throat.
Se-young's face hardened further at my raised tone.
"It was suspicious from the moment you suddenly switched jobs. I had a hunch deep down, but I didn't realize it was this serious."
"......Who told you?"
"I didn't hear it from anyone. I just probed a bit."
A near-admission slipped from Se-young's lips.
Only then did I relax my voice and shrug.
Her complexion turned deathly pale.
"Teacher."
"Yeah."
"Why are you suddenly like this?"
"Hey... the way you're talking, it's like I'm dying or something? It's just intel gathering... that got a little rough."
Die.
She's going to die, that's why.
If the outcome was good, would I be acting like this?
No matter what she did, I'd welcome it with open arms.
If it could be resolved without her dying, I'd treat her like a queen for life.
*My wife is the best,* and all that.
But that's not the case here.
"......Si-heon?"
Perhaps noticing my hardened expression, Se-young's face went completely white.
I said nothing.
I just stared at her steadily.
"Hey, I just... there are so many people gunning for you. Switching jobs was just... you know."
Her frantic sentences trailed off. Her breathing grew ragged.
"...I know there's risk involved. But that's how all jobs are, right? You did the same. Yeah? You get it?"
The silence stretched on.
Se-young fidgeted restlessly, her hands unable to stay still anywhere.
Fidgeting, clenching, unclenching.
She kept glancing at me before cautiously asking,
"......Are you mad?"
"Come here."
Speaking seriously, Se-young silently rose from her seat and sat beside me, her earlier prickliness gone.
Sweat trickled down her cheek.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"......"
The best way to resolve conflict is through dialogue.
Pridefully trying to handle it alone often backfires without even recovering the principal.
"Teacher."
"What."
"We like each other, right?"
"......That's why you're suddenly acting like this. Hey, don't make it cringey."
"Just say it straight."
"I like... I like you."
It was a word I'd subtly avoided until now.
I'd realized it first when Lee Se-young died.
The invisible line between us. The subtle distance she'd maintained.
First, I tear down that line.
"How do you think you'd feel if I died, teacher?"
"Why bring that up now... It'd be tough."
"Then why are you doing this, knowing that?"
I tap her head lightly with one hand.
It was a habit from patting her when she was a naive kid, now ingrained.
Would she dislike it?
Glancing over, her cheeks were faintly flushed.
*'Just keep going, whatever.'*
Feeling the strands of hair between my fingers, I pulled her into a hug. A soft grassy scent filled my nose.
"You're way more important than Flower. Please, don't even think like that."
"Well, I told you I won't die."
"I~ know, that's why I'm saying it. If you die, teacher, then I'll die too."
"Hey! You really..."
I didn't think this conversation alone would change the future.
Lee Se-young is stubborn as a mule; bending her will isn't easy.
But I could leave some wiggle room.
Even in this brief exchange lasting less than a few minutes.
"Gathering women so that even if you die, it'll be fine... What kind of nonsense is that? Even B-movies don't go that far, you know?"
"......Did Azalea tell you?"
I'd heard it, but Azalea at this point hadn't said anything yet.
I couldn't help suspecting, but... sorry, Azalea, take the hit.
"It's nice being loved by you, teacher. But sometimes you overdo it."
"When did I ever say I love you? Don't get delusions of grandeur..."
"You don't love me then?"
"Ugh."
Se-young grimaced uncomfortably.
"Seriously, what's with you? After days apart... What, did you turn into an old man?"
Eh... old man?
That hit hard.
No, I don't want to say sappy stuff like this either.
It'd be great if we could just click and understand each other cleanly. But because we're hiding things, this mess happens.
Do I have to spell out that I dream of you dying every time I sleep?
Or that I wake up puking and drenched in cold sweat every night?
She wouldn't believe either anyway. In the end, I have to hold on tight.
"Fine, I love you! Happy now? Happy? At my age, confessing love to my student! There, my heart's at ease, fuck!"
"Kukuku."
Pressing her relentlessly, Se-young half-exploded.
First love confession? Her face was strawberry red.
The crown of her head I was stroking felt like a hot pack, warm and toasty.
"Seriously, damn... Lee Si-heon, you bastard."
Hearing her curse after so long felt nostalgic.
Back when we first met at the academy, calling each other bastards while hanging out together.
A transactional relationship sealed with a single Tree Pill.
But as time passed, it naturally deepened. Now she's trying to die in my place.
...People are truly unknowable.
Well, on second thought, isn't it human nature to die saving a stranger by getting hit by a car?
Logic can't comprehend it.
Locking eyes with Se-young right beside me, her flustered look seemed so pretty.
Then the pale face of her corpse flashed in my mind.
As headache narrowed my eyes, Se-young squeezed hers shut and pursed her lips.
"......"
I hadn't planned to kiss her.
But with her lips puckered out like a duck, refusing would earn me a "bastard" label, so I brought my face close.
"Mm..."
Soft upper lip.
I engulfed it, wrapping both her shoulders.
Se-young hugged me back, gripping my back like pinching.
I flicked my tongue. Licking her lips, her sealed mouth opened, tangling with her welcoming tongue.
Se-young's tongue had a cat-like rough-yet-smooth texture.
A deep, mature woman's fragrance wafted like tea leaves in the mouth.
Saliva mixed in as I tilted my head.
"...Haa, heup."
In the lit hotel room.
A man and woman embraced, ignoring the scattered empty bottles.
Alcohol-scented moans popped out sharply.
"Heup... Ahng... Ang."
The kiss continued.
Without even touching bodies, my pent-up desire from over three months ignited.
I thrust my tongue out with full force.
Deep to her throat.
Se-young's dazed eyes rolled up briefly then down.
Her rough breaths tickled.
Her hands pitifully clutching my clothes.
I parted our lips, pulling my tongue back.
"Heok... Heok."
Panting with tongue lolling like a dog, Se-young seemed dissatisfied, weakly pulling my waist with limp arms.
As if she couldn't live without me.
Like she'd forgotten calling me a rapist bastard the day before.
But first, words needed saying.
"So. You still going ahead with that crazy plan?"
"......"
Moisture seeped onto my crossed thighs.
A light pat upward, and her lower body twitched.
Wet stockings on her skin.
"..."
Se-young kept her mouth shut to the end.
Eyes full of resolve. Strong enough to applaud.
-Swish swish.
"Hngt... Eut."
If not for her unconsciously twisting waist.
She wasn't even aware of the instinctive motion.
"Answer."
"......You sneaky bastard. Really... Ignoring it won't kill you. I really only have you."
"Why only me?"
"I don't know... Seriously."
Politicians, chaebols. Those surrounded by sly foxes.
Even elites raised with rigorous training have emotions.
I knew it, and Lee Se-young was one of them.
The rougher the environment, the more they'd give their all—guts and gall—to someone they open up to.
Politicians exploit that for scandals all the time.
News of politicians' idiotic behaviors often stem from there.
Lee Se-young, seen as a family pawn from the start and self-made, must have insane mental fatigue.
"Fine. So you schemed because you like me. Jealous? If you're jealous......you shouldn't have raped me back then."
"Even without that, we'd have ended up like this eventually. Right?"
"...That's a bit over the top."
"Is it?"
Her eyes glistened.
Ready to burst with a light scratch. I gently soothed Se-young.
"Anyway, if you die, it's all pointless. Just stay by my side. That's it."
"I've already committed."
"Then change it from now on."
"Seriously......you jerk."
I spoke shamelessly.
"Your answer?"
Se-young bowed her head deeply.
A defeated voice emerged.
"Got it."
One of the futures I had to prevent... not fully resolved, but we've reached the point of discussion.
Like glimpsing one of Tree Stranger's hundreds of thousands of futures.
"......But that damn Azalea sold me out? She should've told you back then, seriously."
Se-young buried herself in my arms, muttering venomously.
......Sorry, Azalea.
You saved our teacher.
Lee Se-young, trembling in my tight embrace, lifted her head.
"So."
"Yeah?"
Her sharp eyes fixed on me.
"You ending it here?"
Her body burning hot.
I smiled awkwardly.
"Haha..."
I desperately wanted to lie down and rest... but my lust was just as strong.
Forgetting shame, Se-young stripped off her top, clawing at my body.
"Ack!"
The familiar sensation after so long.
*****
The night passed in a flash.
I didn't sleep, as usual, and felt fine. King Muryeong's vigor seemed even stronger; my sapling stood firm all day.
Lee Se-young sleeping peacefully in my arms.
I covered her with the blanket, ruffling her messy hair.
The training retreat schedule was long shattered.
I'll just spend time meeting the people I need to.
"Hwaaaam."
We went at it hard. Tissue clumps littered the hotel floor.
Rubbing her eyes, she looked down into view.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【 (Hello) ‘World Tree of Purity’ cheerfully greets you. 】 "...?"
The original wife had returned overnight.