Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Liar (3)
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‘Princess? I’ve come to save you.’
The words Jin Seohyun had once tossed out to him as a joke.
The situation was the same as back then, but their positions were completely reversed.
This time, it was Jin Seohyun who was in danger, and Han Yujin who was extending his hand.
The palm of the hand he’d once clasped.
It felt a little colder than before.
“...”
There was no reply to his joke.
Jin Seohyun simply looked up at him without moving a muscle.
Unlike him, she couldn’t pierce through the darkness.
She was probably just facing the direction of his voice.
Feeling a bit embarrassed anyway,
he lowered his gaze.
He could see all of Jin Seohyun.
Her clothes were torn and ragged in places.
You’ve been through a lot too, huh.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, his expression hardened a little.
“You okay?”
“Y-yeah...”
Han Yujin didn’t notice the tremor in Jin Seohyun’s voice.
Or rather, he couldn’t afford to pay attention.
Through the gaps in her torn clothes, he glimpsed a deep wound.
“Your side. That wound looks pretty bad.”
“Oh.”
As if realizing her mistake, Jin Seohyun suddenly stopped her flustered movements.
Jin Seohyun instinctively glanced down too, then winced.
“I’ve got it sealed with a force field, so it’s fine. But Uncle, can you actually see in this?”
She must have stopped the bleeding with her ability.
He rummaged through his pouch and answered lightly.
“I’ve got a potion that brightens night vision... Hey, no spares even if you give me those puppy eyes.”
Jin Seohyun’s sparkling eyes drooped in an instant.
She’d looked pretty desperate too. What could he do if there weren’t any?
He hadn’t pulled it out for that anyway.
“Let’s treat you first.”
A liquid sloshed inside the glass vial in Han Yujin’s hand.
An Intermediate Recovery Potion, though its contents were half used.
He’d wanted to save it for Jin Seohyun, but he’d had no choice but to drink some himself.
Still, he’d managed to conserve half of it.
Flinch.
Maybe she couldn’t predict it since she couldn’t see.
As Han Yujin’s finger brushed her side, Jin Seohyun let out a strange noise.
“Ah, Uncle... you perv...?”
Ignoring the nonsense, he lifted her outer garment.
Han Yujin let out an involuntary groan.
Reddened, mangled muscle and white fat layers. It was forcibly held together by the force field, but a chunk of flesh had been outright torn away—a gruesome sight.
Clink!
The vial’s cork rolled across the floor.
“This might hurt. Drop the force field.”
The transparent barrier blocking his hand soon vanished, and bleeding resumed.
Without hesitation, Han Yujin tilted the vial.
Red liquid splashed onto the wound.
“———!”
Jin Seohyun’s body arched. She couldn’t even scream.
Muscles spasming out of control.
A transparent tear streaked across her face.
Han Yujin poured the potion in without holding back.
This was the right call for Jin Seohyun’s sake.
Doling it out in half-measures would only prolong the pain.
Jin Seohyun’s nails dug into his forearm, but Han Yujin pinned her thrashing body down with brute force, unmoving.
The only sounds filling the darkness were sizzling flesh and ragged breaths.
Fresh tissue soon welled up in the wound.
Jin Seohyun’s convulsions gradually subsided, then stopped completely.
Huff, huff. Only her chest rose and fell quietly in rhythm with her breathing.
“...You okay?”
Jin Seohyun turned her head with effort.
In the pitch black, she pinpointed Han Yujin’s face exactly.
With watery eyes, she barely lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Uncle... stealing’s... bad...”
Her parched voice delivered a feeble joke.
Her all-too-composed attitude drew a hollow chuckle from him.
“Cut the crazy talk. Where am I gonna steal something like this? I made it myself.”
Heh heh. A low laugh followed.
Then, realizing what her hands were doing, she yanked them away in a fluster.
Blood beaded on his forearm where her nails had been.
“Ah, s-sorry. Does it hurt?”
“Just pressed. No need to apologize.”
He acted like it was no big deal.
Jin Seohyun couldn’t see the depth of the scratches anyway.
Since Han Yujin said it like it was truly nothing—not just being considerate—she hesitated but had no choice but to believe him.
The girl smiled again.
Han Yujin’s eyes fell on her chapped lips.
Come to think of it, of course they were. She’d been trapped here for nearly a day; water wouldn’t have been plentiful.
He pulled a canteen from his pouch and held it out.
“Thirsty? Water.”
Jin Seohyun’s eyes went wide.
Without refusing, she gulped it down gratefully.
You should’ve said something sooner.
“Ha... I really thought I was done for...”
Finally, her face looked refreshed.
He’d treated her serious injury, and her condition seemed mostly recovered.
Time to move, then.
Han Yujin stood and turned.
Ignoring her puzzled gaze, he offered his back to Jin Seohyun.
“Hop on.”
“I’m good. I can walk.”
“Like you can walk when you can’t even see ahead.”
“You can just hold my hand and lead me.”
“Don’t be stubborn. I know you don’t have the energy to walk.”
“Just give me a minute. I don’t want to burden you more here.”
Her voice lost its playfulness, turning serious.
The eyes looking at him showed no sign of yielding.
Her pride wouldn’t let her become dead weight.
But he glimpsed another emotion too, so
Han Yujin sighed.
“No need to push yourself.”
“What? I’m totally fin—”
“You hate the dark.”
Like a dagger to the heart, Jin Seohyun’s words cut off unnaturally.
A brief silence.
Jin Seohyun asked.
“...How did you know?”
“Back in the gate together, you didn’t want to go into the warehouse.”
The warehouse in the ‘Forgotten Palace.’
Jin Seohyun had made a face like she dreaded the pitch-black interior.
But when Han Yujin was in danger, she’d gone in, then reached out to him when he fell.
The hand they clasped—he’d noticed then.
“Your hand was shaking.”
Jin Seohyun bowed her head silently.
Was it something he shouldn’t have brought up?
He couldn’t see her expression.
The silence stretched longer this time, and
Han Yujin spoke again.
“So, it’s fine to hop on.”
This time, she didn’t refuse.
A warm, damp weight settled on his back.
*
Crunch, crunch.
In the pitch-black darkness, there were two figures.
Rhythmic footsteps, faint warmth enveloping her skin, and someone’s scent.
All Han Yujin’s, and all that Jin Seohyun could sense in her world.
Nothing else existed.
So... could it be said that Jin Seohyun’s world was filled with Han Yujin?
Jin Seohyun buried her face softly against his back.
Warmth, intensifying scent.
Her world grew a little clearer.
How did Han Yujin interpret her actions?
He probably thought she was scared.
Breaking the silence, she spoke.
“Today has to be... the most eventful day ever. Can you even imagine what happened after you disappeared?”
Requesting backup, forming a rescue team, searching the gate, linking up, and pushing forward.
With Jin Seohyun staying silent, Han Yujin rambled on as he pleased.
His actions seemed to show he cared about her.
But listening, they were so clumsy it almost made her laugh.
He’d forget details mid-story and skip ahead, or later circle back to something from ages ago out of nowhere.
This guy has zero talent as a storyteller.
Jin Seohyun listened quietly, giggling inwardly.
“...So then I asked Hunter Nam Soyul for help. Told her I’d go myself, just cause a glitch in the gate. She was worried but agreed right away.”
That part left her a bit dumbfounded, so
Jin Seohyun broke her silence.
Soyul unnie didn’t even chew him out for that? Impressive.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah... Huh? What, what is it?”
“How did you know Soyul unnie could use her ability like that?”
The muscles in his back tensed rigidly for a moment, then relaxed.
Jin Seohyun felt the subtle stiffness against her cheek.
“Hm, I’d heard of a similar situation before. Wasn’t certain, just hoping it’d work—and lucked out.”
Jin Seohyun spoke plainly.
“Uncle, you know that?”
“...What?”
“You’re really bad at lying.”
He froze. As Han Yujin halted,
Jin Seohyun’s body slid down a bit on his back.
“...No idea what you mean.”
As if it were a simple slip-up,
Han Yujin readjusted her thigh,
then shrugged his shoulders to pull her clinging back up tight.
Crunch, crunch.
Han Yujin resumed walking.
Jin Seohyun opened her mouth, then hesitated.
Once upon a time, that’s where Jin Seohyun would have stopped.
Because she thought of Han Yujin as a friend.
Too unfamiliar to take one step closer, too intimate to step back.
We weren’t close enough to share secrets.
But,
‘Princess? I’ve come to save you.’
‘You hate the dark.’
You came closer on your own.
So Jin Seohyun took one step forward.
“You knew from the start.”
He’d used a detection ability, so why hadn’t she sensed any mana?
A counselor, yet rescued from the heart of a criminal organization?
Just an E-rank, so how could his ability affect her?
“You’re a liar, Uncle.”
Like pierced by a dagger, Han Yujin swallowed hard.
His arms holding her trembled slightly, so
Jin Seohyun hugged him tightly.
“I don’t know anything about you.”
Name: Han Yujin. Age: two years older than her.
And?
Nothing.
What life he’d lived, his hobbies, his daily routine, what thoughts guided him.
She knew none of it.
So why had she grown close to this man full of lies, whom she knew nothing about?
What came to mind was the day Jin Seohyun first met Han Yujin.
There’d been something she absolutely wanted to ask him then.
‘Why did you help me?’
She’d thought he wanted something in return.
Or at least empty words to win her favor.
‘I’ve always dreamed of building my own fan club someday.’
No.
What came back was the most honest confession.
‘I didn’t want to see you die.’
And his childish, foolish desire.
That’s why she liked it.
That’s why she wanted to know what kind of person he was.
Crunch, crunch.
In the pitch-black darkness, footsteps echoed.
Their owner said to Jin Seohyun.
“...Sorry.”
An apology for what?
Betraying her trust? Not telling her anything?
She’d felt hurt, disappointed.
But that voice laced with guilt melted her heart away.
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
Jin Seohyun shook her head.
Wanting to know had just been the trigger, after all.
Jin Seohyun still didn’t know Han Yujin.
At the same time, now she did.
He wasn’t hiding things out of malice.
He valued her enough to risk his life.
So what did the rest matter?
“It’s okay...”
Before she knew it, the trigger didn’t matter anymore.
What mattered was this moment.
In the pitch-black darkness, there were two figures.
Rhythmic footsteps, faint warmth enveloping her skin, and someone’s scent.
That was enough.