Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: An Affectionate Time
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***
With a sudden squeeze.
As he felt the strength in Kalli's hands wrapped around his waist, Cheon-seong was momentarily taken aback.
‘Wait?’
Just moments ago, when he had first held her, he'd felt a subtle mix of emotions as affection swelled within him.
—How far can I go?
Honestly, Kalli was so defenseless that it felt like there was nothing I couldn't do if I set my mind to it.
We were alone in this space, and I knew she held affection for me.
And I felt affection for her, too.
So, in reality... in a delicate atmosphere like this, where neither of us was putting on the brakes, there wasn't even a 'line' to speak of.
That was why I had deliberately asked.
How much did Kalli truly care for me?
To know more clearly just how far I could go before she would stop me...
But instead of answering my whisper, she hugged me even tighter.
“…”
The faint sound of her heated breaths tickled my ear in return.
I could vividly feel the soft press of her skin against me through the thin fabric of her clothes... and my mind felt like it was floating.
“……”
Blinking blankly, I realized that even my hand, which had been stroking her back, had come to a stop.
As she held my waist and let out heated breaths, Kalli's warmth made me hesitate.
‘She won't refuse me.’
A sudden, distinct feeling washed over me.
I could feel the depth of Kalli's affection for me just from her actions, and it shook my resolve.
‘Acting like this toward me now...’
Kalli, who had told me from the start that she would only allow 'a little,' was now doing the exact opposite.
When I first embraced her, I expected Kalli to show at least a little resistance.
Or that she would feel awkward in my arms and gently push me away, pulling back from my embrace almost immediately...
But Kalli's actual reaction surpassed all of that.
She held me even tighter... and now, she wasn't trying to pull away at all.
This felt completely different from the hug she had given me last week.
*Gulp.*
I swallowed unconsciously, my heart sinking as her soft skin pressed against me.
‘This is really dangerous.’
As I became aware of the heat rising through my entire body, I felt my reason returning.
I felt like I was at a major crossroads.
A crossroads where I could cross a line that shouldn't be crossed.
“Instructor Kalli.”
I called her name softly, slowly moving my hands from her waist to her shoulders.
As I gently pushed her away, I saw Kalli reluctantly pull back at my touch.
“Ah, yes……”
Meeting her red eyes, filled with a fiery heat... my breath hitched.
*Slowly.*
I froze again as her hand reached up to caress my cheek.
Because the warmth spreading from her touch felt like it was igniting another fire within me.
“……”
Her heated gaze, fixed on my lips, felt like it was stirring my very soul.
Every single one of her affectionate actions was a signal. Unlike before, when I had calmed myself down by thinking I was just misunderstanding or jumping to conclusions, her gestures and gaze were signals with a clear meaning.
Ironically, that's how I realized it more clearly.
Our relationship wasn't something that would be ruined by my inability to control my feelings, as I had feared.
I had been gravely mistaken.
"..."
I felt my own heart begin to resonate with her blatant touch on my cheek, with the look in her eyes.
I hadn't properly considered the depth of her feelings for me. Having felt something similar in the past, I understood it all too well.
The first love I had ever felt.
That emotion had felt so special to me. I had thought I could bet my entire life on it, and I had prioritized my relationship with the one I loved far more than my own future.
...Looking back now, it was a burning, fire-like love.
I could see that very same intensity in Kalli's heated gaze as she looked at me now.
If I were to take another step closer to her.
‘Kalli would definitely…’
...throw all caution to the wind.
She would likely show me her heart with all her being, and she herself would be the first to cross the line of 'a little' that she had set.
She would easily forget our relationship as instructor and cadet, and I could instantly imagine that our relationship would not remain on that thrilling edge she spoke of, but would cross it in a single bound.
So, it wasn't that I would lose my way by falling in love with her, as I had feared...
...but rather, I was strangely certain that Kalli would be the one to try and bind me.
Because that's exactly what I had done in the past.
“...Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
Her plaintive voice, dripping with affection, spread heat through the air. As I felt my body rapidly heat up, I knew I had to hold on to my reason even tighter.
So, meeting her gaze, I acted first.
I took the hand caressing my cheek, slowly lowered it... and leaned in toward her.
*Peck.*
I gently pressed my lips not to hers, but to her cheek, then pulled away.
“…!”
Taking in the sight of Kalli blushing deeply from just a light kiss, my heart filled with affection.
And in that moment, she seemed all the more lovable to me.
So much so that I could feel my emotions for her had grown rapidly compared to before we arrived at the training hall...
But that was precisely why I had to be the one to put the brakes on our relationship.
We couldn't cross the line yet. We shouldn't.
Even as I made up my mind, a deep sense of regret washed over me.
‘If only…’
If I could live without any worries, I would have made her mine right here and now.
But I didn't have the confidence to handle the consequences of us yearning for each other just yet.
Confidence that I could set her straight when she cast everything aside to prioritize me...
“Instructor Kalli. Aren't you going to tell me exactly how far 'a little' is?”
“‘A little’...? Ah, that's...”
Kalli paused and blinked, and with a small smile, I gently raised my hand to caress her cheek.
I made no move to embrace her again, merely stroking the cheek I had just kissed.
*Flinch.*
Each time my hand touched her, Kalli would flinch, her face flushed as if it might burst, and she would avoid my gaze. An unparalleled satisfaction filled my heart.
‘It's her first time.’
Her reaction was so innocent; I could tell this was a first for her.
I am the first person she has felt such affection for, the first to share this kind of love with. That's why even the small mark I left on her just now must feel so significant.
And that made Kalli feel even more precious to me.
“If you don't tell me what 'a little' really means... I won't know where to stop.”
Even though I'd made up my mind, I couldn't help but say something that left room for more.
“Th-that's... Cadet Han Cheon-seong. Then this is it. I won't allow anything more than this... understand?”
Flustered by my words, Kalli finally drew a line, but to me, it was just amusing.
*Slowly.*
‘Even now, she isn't rejecting my hand on her cheek.’
And yet, the sight of her claiming to have drawn a line at 'a little' was nothing but cute.
She would accept it if I tried to pull her into my arms again right now...
But I forced myself to suppress that urge.
If I embraced her again now, I felt like I would cross the line.
“I will act according to the 'little' you mentioned. It's truly a shame... but that's what you said, Instructor Kalli.”
“Ah, uh... Cadet Han Cheon-seong... that's... uh, but...”
As I accepted her terms, her flustered reaction made me want to laugh again.
*Slowly.*
I slowly pulled my hand from her cheek, erasing even that small, lingering attachment.
I had to stop here.
Our relationship could develop little by little in the future, but we couldn't cross the line now.
“……”
Watching her eyes, full of heat, as they followed my retreating hand, I became certain.
Kalli was someone who would devote her everything to love, even more so than I had in the past. If I pushed just a bit further, she would cross the very line of 'a little' that she herself had drawn.
And when that moment came... I wouldn't be able to refuse her either.
Unlike now, where I was the one leaving room for ambiguity...
I was more afraid of whether I could refuse her when she showed me her immense affection.
Right now, she.
was just so incredibly lovable with that affectionate look in her eyes.
***
*Click.*
As the door clicked shut and Cheon-seong disappeared, Kalli blinked blankly.
“……”
Her lips trembled, but no words came out.
The time she had just spent with Cadet Han Cheon-seong.
It was a short time, yet it felt so long, leaving a profound and lingering impression on her heart.
*Thump.*
*Thump…!*
Her fiercely pounding heart showed no signs of calming, and before she knew it, she had raised her hand.
*Slowly.*
A heated breath escaped her as she caressed the cheek where Cadet Han Cheon-seong's lips had been.
“Haaah…”
*Thud.*
She sank weakly to the floor, her entire body devoid of strength.
Like a fool, she could only replay the last few moments. Just recalling their time together made her thoughts stutter to a halt, yet her heart swelled with joy.
She was so happy... almost unbelievably so.
“...Truly.”
She couldn't deny it any longer.
That loving someone was such a momentous thing.
“...”
She could feel a goofy, uncharacteristic smile on her face, but she couldn't bring herself to fix it. She didn't even want to.
When she was in Cadet Han Cheon-seong's arms, when she received his affection.
Every time she remembered those moments with him, her heart melted.
*Slowly.*
As she blankly caressed her cheek, a deep sense of regret rose alongside her joy.
“Did I set 'a little' too cautiously….”
In my confusion, I had said 'a little' and drawn a line.
Recalling Cadet Han Cheon-seong expressing his disappointment while still trying to respect her words, she couldn't help but feel regret.
She couldn't shake the feeling that she could have allowed a little more.
*Whoosh.*
Then she shook her head.
"Stop... Get a grip."
The moment she tried to imagine how much more she would have allowed, she lost her confidence again.
"There's still plenty of time."
She muttered and nodded to herself. It was just as she'd said.
She and Cadet Han Cheon-seong were just getting started.