Chapter 157: Quintessential A (12)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 157: Quintessential A (12)
Even on the day we all gathered, I’d sensed that everyone was sensitive about how I addressed them—whether I used their names or specific titles.
I couldn't help but be mindful of it, as I could feel them watching me even when I was just calling someone by their name.
In the midst of that, I felt a certain sense of relief because it was Hayoung. It wasn't that the others were particularly difficult, but Hayoung’s personality was exceptionally gentle and soft. Subconsciously, I had assumed that a certain level of familiarity would be okay with her.
That relaxed mindset had, at some point, morphed into the assumption that "Hayoung doesn't get jealous."
Still, I wasn't flustered or shocked when I saw her looking slightly piqued, clearly finding something unsatisfactory. If anything, I was happy to discover a side of her I hadn't considered before.
"Does it really bother you?"
When I asked with a lingering smile, she didn't answer. She simply avoided my gaze and sat still.
"Really?"
I reached out and took her hand, which was resting on the table. She flinched slightly before turning her eyes toward me. Her pupils were wavering strangely, perhaps because she’d been caught sulking.
"I expected you to call the other members by their names too, but seeing it in person..."
"Seeing it?"
"...I felt like something had been stolen from me."
I think I understood roughly what she was thinking. Until now, the members had called each other by their codenames rather than their names. Since they had only started becoming close a few months ago, they probably still felt more comfortable with codenames.
Consequently, there were very few people who called them by their actual names, and I was one of them.
"I can't exactly not call them by their names."
"I know. But feeling this way isn't something I can control."
Rationally, Hayoung knew it didn't make sense to be upset over me simply using their names. However, emotions often defy logic, and this was one of those moments.
"I thought I was the only one you spoke to with such affection in your voice."
It wasn't just the act of calling a name that upset her. Though unintentional, it seemed my voice carried a note of affection whenever I addressed my girlfriends.
It was only natural; I considered them precious to me, and above all, we were dating. It wouldn't make sense for there to be no affection when calling my own girlfriends.
But the girls likely saw it differently. Until now, the way I called their names with such warmth had belonged entirely to each of them individually, but now they had to share that same warmth with others.
And not in a way that felt particularly good.
Thinking about it, I could understand why everyone had reacted so sensitively to the name-calling on the day we all met. Still, I hoped this wouldn't lead to any fights.
Hayoung remained seated with a pout, her mood not yet restored. To these women, the way we addressed each other was one of the ways they could prove they were in a relationship with me.
If she was unhappy about me calling others by their names, then I just had to call her name even more.
I let go of her hand and stood up. Hayoung’s eyes followed me as I walked slowly behind her chair and wrapped my arms around her.
"But you're the only one I call 'honey'."
Beyond just names, we had pet names for each other. While it wasn't a unique nickname, calling her "honey" was a term of endearment in its own right.
And since she was the only one I addressed that way, I felt it could serve as a sufficient mark of her identity.
From behind, I saw a smile spread across Hayoung’s lips. Soon, she placed her hands over my arms that were holding her.
"Really?"
"Of course. I don't lie anymore."
Hayoung, who had been in a strange mood just moments ago, cheered up instantly. I held her, feeling her warmth for a while. Perhaps because I was hugging her from behind, the cozy scent from the nape of her neck stimulated my senses, and I pressed myself a little closer to her.
"Honey."
"Yeah?"
As I was quietly soaking in her warmth, she called out to me softly. I closed my eyes, feeling her presence, and answered in a low voice.
"...You're not going anywhere now, right?"
At the sudden question, I opened my eyes. I noticed the smile had vanished from Hayoung’s lips.
Had she felt something in that brief moment? No. The emotions she had felt during the month I was gone were simply surfacing now that we were alone.
"Are you scared?"
It felt as if she was terrified of the possibility of me disappearing again. When I asked gently, Hayoung nodded. Her lips trembled as she spoke.
"I was so scared during that month you were gone... wondering what I’d do if you were really gone for good."
On the day we all gathered, none of the members had shown their true state of mind. But as I met them one by one, I realized that no one had been okay.
My thought that "Hayoung will be fine" had only been limited to the idea that she wouldn't be too shaken by a polygynous relationship.
Hayoung hadn't been fine this past month either. I was learning that as I met each of them individually.
"No matter where I went in the house, it felt like you were there. If I stayed still, I thought I could hear your voice... but when I snapped out of it, you were nowhere to be found."
Hearing her trembling voice, I unwrapped my arms, moved to her side, and knelt on one knee to lower myself to her level.
My eyes met Hayoung’s as she looked down. Tears were streaming from her eyes, clear as the blue sea.
"You won't go anywhere now, right? Right? You'll stay by my side?"
One thing I had forgotten while spending time with Hayoung and getting used to her was that she was incredibly sensitive about her reason for existing.
She thought deeply about her self-worth in everything she did and every relationship she had. She felt that anything that didn't prove her value was meaningless.
To her, someone who had been filling a void in her heart by being with me, my absence must have been agonizing. Since she hadn't made any decisions about her own future yet, I must have been her everything.
I had expected everyone to have a hard time, but whenever I met them and looked into their emotions, I realized the time they endured was far more painful than I had imagined.
I moved closer and pressed my lips against Hayoung’s as she slowly lifted her head to look at me.
"Mmph!"
Startled by the sudden kiss in the middle of her sobbing, Hayoung’s body stiffened. I gently stroked her cheek with my hand and shared a deep kiss with her.
"Nnh, haah... mm."
As our tongues intertwined in a deep kiss, hot breaths escaped between our lips. When we finally pulled apart, I met Hayoung’s eyes; her face was flushed from the long-awaited intimacy.
"Honey..."
"I'm not going anywhere. I won't go anywhere ever again."
Hayoung’s lips trembled as she fought back a sudden surge of emotion. After wiping away her tears, she looked at me and spread her arms wide.
Even without words, I knew it was a signal for a hug. I embraced her without hesitation. Feeling her warmth from the front after having felt it from behind was a fresh sensation.
When I first entered the house, I was the one held by Hayoung. A moment ago, I was the one holding her. And now, we were holding each other.
The warmth felt in a hug was something I could never get used to, no matter how many times we did it. Every time, it made my heart feel warm and at peace.
Hayoung, who had stopped crying in an instant, was smiling as she held me. It suddenly occurred to me that my feeling of being "healed" by her was slightly different than I thought.
Until now, I felt that I was the one being healed by her because she put my mind at ease. But in reality, Hayoung was also being healed through me.
Once again, I felt that she needed me, and I needed her.
At the same time, I felt the others would be the same. Seeing how I felt similar emotions every time I met one of them, I could tell how much they all cherished me.
Feeling the mutual healing as we held each other, we moved to the master bedroom to sit together. We chose the bedroom not for sex, but because it was the place where we had spent the most time in this house, and thus, it made us feel more comfortable.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Hayoung gripped my hand tightly. For some reason, she looked different today—she, who usually took care of me like an older sister.
"How should I put it? You're a bit different than usual today."
When I mentioned the slight change in atmosphere, Hayoung smiled at me.
"That's because I originally thought you were younger than me. You feel different than before."
"I'm still twenty-five on Earth, so you can keep treating me like a younger brother. I actually prefer it that way."
"You prefer it?"
"Yeah."
The smiles didn't leave our faces. As we talked with our foreheads pressed together, we shared another kiss, neither of us knowing who started it first.
"I'm sure as we spend time together, you'll realize I'm actually quite immature."
"Alright. I'll do whatever you want. In exchange, you have to let me act spoiled sometimes, okay?"
"You're talking as if you ever asked for permission before acting spoiled."
We continued our conversation, kissing whenever there was a lull. I had to suppress myself, feeling like I might lose my reason and ask to have sex right then and there.
But before I could struggle with my instincts for long, Hayoung’s voice dropped an octave.
"Honey."
I immediately realized she had something to say and listened to her with a serious expression.
"...Should I join Spacetro too?"
I was momentarily speechless at the statement, which was far more shocking than I could have imagined. I stared at her with a blank gaze, unable to find the words.
Hayoung, perhaps realizing I wouldn't be able to process what she said immediately, quickly raised her voice.
"No, I'm just thinking about it for now. I'm not saying I'll join right this second. I just wanted to know what you think."
Hayoung was definitely not the type of person to say something like this as a joke or without thought. She must have had her own reasons for bringing it up.
"Can I ask why?"
What I needed to do wasn't to stare at her with a stupid, shocked face, but to listen to her reasons clearly.
"If I join Spacetro, I can be with you all the time."
She wasn't wrong. Whether Spacetro’s invasion succeeded or failed, if she belonged to Spacetro, we would never have to be apart again.
However, I couldn't help but worry about her position. She was a superhuman belonging to the Earth Defense Union, an organization hostile to Spacetro.
I was grateful she made such a decision just to be with me, but I couldn't let her throw away everything she had carried until now just for my sake.
Furthermore, the core goal of their activities—changing the public perception of Superhumans—hadn't been achieved at all.
"I'd love it if you came, but let's think about it a little more. It's not something we have to decide in a hurry."
Even if she joined Spacetro later after all our relationships were exposed, it wouldn't be a problem.
For now, being in technically hostile organizations allowed for more possibilities. It wouldn't be too late to have her join Spacetro after she had done everything she could in her current position.
"Okay. I understand."
Hayoung smiled, hearing that I was thinking about it positively, and I smiled back at her.
After meeting Hayoung, I felt tense, but I wasn't worried.
Feeling tense while thinking about what to do was unavoidable. Since some situations were less stressful than expected and others were more so, I could never let my guard down.
Still, while I hadn't been worried about what might happen, the moment to finally start worrying had arrived. It was the day I was to visit Su-ah, whose reactions were utterly unpredictable.
I stood in front of the entrance to the penthouse on the top floor of the apartment and pressed the passcode.
She had nagged me so much to just enter the code instead of ringing the doorbell when I visited that I now skipped the doorbell entirely.
The familiar sound of the door lock disengaging rang out, and the door opened. I took off my shoes at the entrance. Seeing the trash neatly sorted into bags in the corner of the foyer, I felt relieved that she had at least cleaned while she was alone. I walked through the hallway and into the living room.
A game was still running on the TV, and Su-ah was lying on the sofa, playing. I watched her familiar figure, and as I slowly approached, the game ended. Sensing a presence, Su-ah turned her head.
"O-oh, hey."
I awkwardly raised my hand and greeted her. Su-ah furrowed her brow deeply and spat out a single sentence.
"You son of a bitch."
I knew I deserved it, but the moment to actually hear the insults had finally come.