Chapter 239: An Unexpected Reunion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 239: An Unexpected Reunion
“You… you… you… you… YOUUUUUUUUU!”
I swallowed hard at Choi Seulgi’s scream. Now that I had my face back, I’d been thinking it was about time to go find her, but I never imagined we would meet like this.
Her face was a mask of resentment and fury. There was a flicker of recognition, a hint of gladness, but it vanished the instant I muttered her name. I heard Baek Ahyeon and Choi Eunju hastily begin to chant spells beside me, so I held up a hand toward them, signaling them not to interfere. The two, quick on the uptake, immediately fell silent. Instead of their incantations, I was met with Choi Seulgi’s voice, seething with rage.
“Kim Taesung, you piece of trash!”
“I’m sor—”
Before I could even finish saying sorry, she lunged. She moved far faster than any Green Goblin, and seeing her rush me like that, I almost believed she was genuinely trying to kill me.
I didn’t sense any killing intent, so I figured that wasn’t her goal, but she was dangerous all the same. She suddenly vanished from my sight and reappeared behind me. I swung my tail reflexively.
Knowing the power this body possessed, I instantly thought I’d made a mistake, but Choi Seulgi dodged my tail with the grace of flowing water and raised her hand.
‘What the.’
I knew she’d gotten stronger, but this was incredible growth. The hand she raised was charged with enough magic to instantly kill an ordinary person. It looked like she was about to slap me, and a chill ran down my spine. Then again, without that much power, she wouldn’t be able to harm me at all.
It was then.
CRACK!
With a loud crash, Choi Seulgi was stopped as if she’d hit a wall. I turned to see Jang Ye Ri gripping her hand. The magical backlash sent Jang Ye Ri’s hair fluttering.
“My meticulously styled hair is a mess now. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. This man is not a monster.”
She must have thought Choi Seulgi was attacking me because she mistook me for a monster. After all, the North was still clashing with werewolves. Since Jang Ye Ri was also officially known as a human, not a Green Skin, she probably hadn't informed the North about her alliance with us.
In any case, I was grateful for Jang Ye Ri’s intervention, but one look at Choi Seulgi’s face told me she was far from calm.
She had the same expression she’d worn when she saw me on a brief date with the girl from the item shop. I figured it was best to let her cool down before trying to speak. Just as I was about to break the strange silence, Jang Ye Ri spoke again, one step ahead of me.
“This may sound strange, but this man is my husband. Yes, that would be the correct term. I will explain the details in due course.”
“…”
“…”
The silence that followed was even heavier than before. While it was true that she was my mate, it wasn’t something you just blurt out to an envoy from another nation. As I stared at Jang Ye Ri with a dumbfounded expression, my eyes met Choi Seulgi’s. She was glaring at me, her eyes burning with fire.
“You… you damn bastard!”
As Choi Seulgi screamed at me, the expressions of the women around us shifted strangely. Jang Ye Ri, too, was looking at me differently. They had realized we knew each other.
Tears were welling up in Choi Seulgi’s eyes, and seeing them made my heart ache. I couldn’t deny the fact that I still cared for her deeply. The feeling of longing had faded a little with time, but I had never forgotten her.
The reason I hadn’t actively searched for her wasn’t just because I was busy, but because I was genuinely worried about whether she could accept me not as the human Kim Taesung, but as the Green Skin Kim Taesung.
There were times I felt we were already on different paths. After we parted ways, I thought a natural reunion would be better than forcing one.
But Choi Seulgi had been searching for me relentlessly.
Watching her wipe away the tears that streamed down her face, I realized that whether I was human or Green Skin never mattered to her in the first place. I had to admit I had been wrong.
“Waaah… sniff… you… you bastard… sniff… waaaah…”
Seeing her cry like a small child who had lost her mother tugged at my heartstrings. I gently pushed Jang Ye Ri aside and pulled Choi Seulgi into a soft embrace.
It felt awkward since I was so much bigger than before, but I could definitely feel the familiar sensation of holding her, and a smile naturally formed on my lips. Choi Seulgi didn’t seem to mind, as she wrapped her arms around me.
“You… you son of a bitch… you… you bastard… sob… sob…”
As she clung to me and cried, my own heart ached, and I held her even tighter. She began to beat against my body as if throwing a tantrum, and her fists were packed with so much magic that I had to subtly coat my body in my own magical energy.
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t know if she could understand why I hadn’t looked for her all this time, but she just kept nodding her head.
It was a sudden and somewhat absurd reunion, but a very welcome one.
*
It was a long time before Choi Seulgi finally calmed down. Lee Wanyong was staring as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and Baek Ahyeon was looking up at me with trembling eyes. Choi Eunju was the same. But the most flustered of them all was none other than Jang Ye Ri.
She was wearing a stunning dress and makeup, a departure from her usual attire, but her hair was slightly disheveled from her clash with Choi Seulgi. She looked incredibly displeased.
From her perspective, she must have thought today was a day just for her, so Choi Seulgi’s sudden appearance would naturally be upsetting. But we had much to discuss, so I had no choice but to ask for her understanding.
“Is it alright if we’re alone for a moment?”
It was less of a request and more of a declaration. At my words, the others looked at me, nodded, and quickly left the room. Jang Ye Ri, however, looked me straight in the eye and spoke.
“Hmph… I also have something important to tell you, so I would appreciate it if you could free up your time by this evening. It is a matter worthy of celebration, so you may look forward to it.”
“I’m sorry.”
With my apology, Jang Ye Ri also left the room. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it sounded like some kind of major announcement. Thanks to that, only Choi Seulgi and I remained in the conference room. It had been a long time, but we had spent so many years together that it felt strangely familiar. I slid closer to her and gently placed a hand on the shoulder of Choi Seulgi, who was avoiding my gaze. She immediately slapped it away.
“Don’t touch me. You bastard… you bastard…”
The way she was still seething made it clear she was angry, but she seemed to have calmed down a bit from when we first met. In the past, whenever she got mad, I would tease her like this to lighten the mood, so I reached out my hand again. She reacted instantly.
“Ah! I said don’t fucking touch me, you son of a bitch! You’re messing with my head!”
Despite her words, I shamelessly wrapped my arm around her shoulder and brushed her chest with my tail. That seemed to be the last straw, as Choi Seulgi shot up from her seat, genuinely furious.
“You clueless piece of shit! You bastard! Kim Taesung, you fucking bastard! I said don’t touch my chest! For years, all I’ve done is look for you, you son of a bitch… sniff… sniff… and you…”
Thinking about it must have brought back all her sorrow, because she grabbed my arm and started crying again. I stroked her head, and she immediately quieted down. I thought she probably understood, more or less. She likely guessed that I hadn’t come for her because I had turned into a monster, and she probably also understood why I hadn’t told her the truth back then. After being held in my arms for a long while, Choi Seulgi finally spoke.
“Kim Taesung. You came back too, right? For sure?”
“Yeah. I actually thought about telling you when we first met, but I figured you’d just think some crazy orc was spouting nonsense, so I couldn’t. I didn’t know you had come back then, either.”
“Thank god. I’m so glad… I was so worried you were really dead, but you’re alive somehow. Even if you’re not human.”
I smiled faintly at her words, and she spoke again.
“So what happened, anyway? Did you really die that day? Why did you come back as a monster? And what’s with the horns and tail… I like that your face got a bit more handsome and your body’s gotten better… but isn’t your taste a bit dark? Heh.”
It seemed her anger had finally subsided, and she was back to the old Choi Seulgi. Her coarse language and the comfortable way she spoke were a welcome sound. To be honest, I’d been struggling a bit lately, trying to maintain a gravitas that didn’t suit me. Acting like my old self, letting everything go for the first time in a while, felt incredibly liberating. When she mentioned dying, she must have been talking about what happened in the city.
“It sounds a little funny to say, but right after you died, Seulgi, I died too. And this look isn’t for style; it’s purely for convenience. I’ve been keeping tabs on how you were doing through various channels.”
“You bastard. I was worried for nothing. Really.”
She seemed pleased to hear that I had been keeping up with her news.
“By the way, do you have any idea how shocked I was when you said you already had someone?”
“Ah. Heh. You must have been on edge. Of course, I was talking about you back then. I thought it was a little strange since he was an orc I’d never seen before, but who would have guessed the Weapon Merchant was you, Kim Taesung? Speaking of which, are the Green Flower and the Fairy your girlfriends too? And that woman from before, and what about the Witch of the East, Jang Ye Ri?”
The truth was, I even had children, but it felt like too much to say right now, so I just nodded. I didn’t know how she would react, but these people had become precious to me, so I couldn’t just cast them aside.
“Well… that’s what happened. As I lived my life. A lot of things happened while living as a Green Skin… Do you hate it?”
I was a little nervous she wouldn’t be able to accept it, but Choi Seulgi let out a deep sigh before speaking again.
“Whatever. What can I do? If you think about it, in my past life, I was a bitch who took any man who came along… But you still liked me… so I guess I’ll be the one to concede in this life. If we meet in the next life, we’ll be even then.”
Since our relationship had always been a bit unconventional, it seemed she had decided to accept it. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and Choi Seulgi laughed at the sight.
“What? Were you worried?”
“A little…?”
“Idiot. Heh… Want me to tell you some good news?”
Choi Seulgi grinned and spoke, so I turned my head toward her, curious. Instead of telling me right away, she brought her lips close to my ear and whispered quietly. Her voice was so sweet it sent a shiver down my spine.
“I’m still a virgin.”
It was a tiny voice. When our eyes met, Choi Seulgi immediately pressed her lips against mine.