Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: The Two Instructors' Curious Feelings
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It was nearly midnight, and in a quiet wine bar, two women sat drinking.
Clink!
The cheerful sound of ice dropping into a wine-filled glass echoed through the bar.
Adelia, watching blankly, tilted her head, her face flushed from the wine. Her hazy, intoxicated eyes held a peculiar charm.
“...Haaah.”
At the sound of her sigh, Kalli, who had been drinking with her, blinked.
“Is something troubling you?”
The end of the weekend.
As they faced the start of a new week, they were sharing a rare drink, but the atmosphere was entirely different from usual.
The usually composed Adelia seemed so unraveled, and Kalli found herself watching her cautiously.
A flicker of movement.
Adelia’s hazy eyes turned to Kalli.
She stared at her intently for a moment before letting out another deep sigh.
“Kalli. You know…”
“Yes… go on.”
“I was just wondering… No, never mind… It’s nothing.”
Swish. Swish.
Adelia trailed off, shaking her head, and raised her glass. Kalli spoke, a hint of confusion in her voice.
“I’m not sure what you were about to say, but please, feel free to speak your mind.”
Clink.
Adelia set her glass down just as Kalli finished, a very strange smile on her face. It was a smile Kalli had never seen before.
A smile that seemed to mix feelings of joy and unease.
“Then I’ll be… completely frank. I’m going to be honest, so I hope you’ll be honest with me in return, Kalli.”
“Yes… I will.”
As she answered, Kalli felt a sudden spark of curiosity.
Just what was Adelia about to say that would make her act so strangely…?
“Kalli. You told him, didn’t you? Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
But that thought was fleeting. At the sudden mention of his name, Kalli’s mind seemed to go blank.
“Why are you suddenly… bringing up Cadet Han Cheon-seong?”
“Kalli. I don’t like to beat around the bush. That’s why I’m asking you directly. I believe you’ve already expressed your feelings to Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
As Adelia spoke, her calm voice carried a new weight, and her eyes locked onto Kalli’s.
Her gaze was no longer hazy with intoxication but sharp and clear, filled with a powerful intensity.
...It was the look of someone who already knew the answer.
***
At Adelia’s words, Kalli flinched before forcing an awkward smile.
“Even if you ask me so suddenly… I don’t know what to say. As his instructor, I simply hold Cadet Han Cheon-seong in high regard.”
Her voice was noticeably more strained than before. Seeing Kalli avoid her gaze, Adelia let out a short laugh.
“As an instructor, you say….”
She spoke while fiddling with the cold glass.
Her pale hand against the clear glass seemed to sober her up, sharpening her drunken mind.
‘I knew it. I was right.’
The last time we drank, I’d intended to sound out her feelings, perhaps even make another proposal.
But Kalli’s frustratingly dense attitude had made me change my mind.
I decided not to share Cadet Han Cheon-seong with her… not to see him as someone we could both connect with.
—I would have him all to myself.
That had been my plan, but today, I realized so much.
“…Well, if that’s your answer, I won’t press you.”
If Kalli had admitted it and confided in me, things might have been different. But if she was going to deny it, I had no desire to discuss it further.
At least for now… I didn’t want to.
She poured more wine into her glass and downed it in one go.
“……”
As the bittersweet wine flowed down her throat, her eyes fixed on Kalli, who sat across from her, awkwardly fidgeting with her hands.
Her unnatural posture, her flustered reaction to my question written all over her face—it all made my heart stir in a peculiar way.
‘Hah.’
Her signature red hair shimmered faintly, drawing attention once more to her striking features.
She didn’t adorn herself extravagantly, had no pretense, was righteous, almost pure… All these images of Kalli surfaced, making her thoughts complicated.
Even with all that, she was, objectively, a beautiful woman. Her natural beauty and unique personality likely drew others in with a charm all their own.
‘And Cadet Han Cheon-seong was also drawn to that charm…….’
A quick glance.
She met my gaze with an awkward smile, and as I took in her expression, I set my glass down.
Clink.
Though I had emptied the glass in one gulp, I didn’t feel any more intoxicated. In fact, the more I drank, the more my mind seemed to clear.
“Instructor Adelia… I… I don’t know why you’d suddenly say such a thing, but I truly just think highly of Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
“Is that so? What a coincidence. I think so too.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Yes. I also think that Cadet Han Cheon-seong is an excellent student.”
As I echoed her words… a hollow laugh escaped my lips.
Today was a good day.
And a meaningful one.
Cadet Han Cheon-seong had realized my feelings and expressed his own to me. It wasn’t the reaction I had anticipated; he showed no hesitation or reluctance.
Contrary to my plan to lead him and slowly make him fall for me, he had taken the initiative and decided for himself. I liked that.
The boy who had always been so compliant with me suddenly looked at me with such serious eyes. Seeing him so resolute, having made up his mind, made him seem all the more charming.
His attitude was cautious, yet not entirely so. The way he clearly stated his intentions and conveyed his feelings was surprising.
‘And he said he would have me….’
The moment I heard those words, my heart filled with an immense sense of fulfillment.
The feeling that my affection had reached him. And I was so happy that he’d shown me even a little of his own. Most of all, the simple fact that he hadn’t rejected me had sent my heart soaring.
Yes….
‘I was so happy….’
But alongside that joy, a vague unease began to stir.
The true meaning of his words, the various implications they held, had struck me with full force.
Tap. Tap.
I tapped the empty glass and gently rested my chin on my hand.
My hair fell into my face, slightly obscuring my vision, but Kalli’s form remained sharp and clear.
“Honestly… I feel like I’ve been completely outplayed.”
“…Outplayed?”
“Kalli. Never mind that. Just tell me this, honestly. Did you approach him first?”
The question slipped out, but I truly… felt like I’d been beaten to the punch.
To think that a woman who didn’t even know her own heart had confessed to him before I did. I never would have imagined it.
And if that wasn’t the case, the way Cadet Han Cheon-seong acted towards me today wouldn't make sense.
Only then does it make sense.
“……”
She couldn’t even deny it now. A hollow laugh escaped me as I watched her stare blankly, her mouth slightly agape.
‘I never thought…’
I had so hoped I would be the first for him.
I had taken it for granted that I would be the one to approach him first, to teach him about women, to be the one to stir his heart.
I was confident I could, certain of how attractive he found me. I’d spent a fair amount of time with him, and I had naturally come to notice the way he looked at me.
Even if he tried to hide it, I couldn’t miss the fact that he was conscious of me as a woman.
‘But… really.’
Watching the silent Kalli, I felt like I’d been beaten to the punch.
“What is it? You won’t even tell me this? And after you promised to be honest.”
As I spoke again, a small laugh escaped.
Resting my chin on my hand, a crooked smile formed on my lips, but my heart was a tangled mess.
I wanted to get drunker, but looking at Kalli, I couldn’t seem to let myself go.
The more I looked at her, the more emotions welled up inside me, chasing away the alcohol’s haze. Resentment simmered, and yet, facing her like this, I was still amazed. It was incredible.
A woman who didn’t even properly know her own heart….
‘How on earth did she approach him?’
The possibility of him approaching Kalli to confess seemed extremely low. I’d learned from my time with him that he was far more thoughtful and considerate of others than one might expect.
And he himself felt their respective positions more keenly than anyone else.
Status and rank. Even the current situation.
He was the type to consider everything—whether it was appropriate for him to rashly approach someone. That’s why he’d always struck me as being so mature for his age.
Then, I saw Kalli’s expression slowly settle.
“…Instructor Adelia.”
“Yes, Kalli.”
“I’m only asking just in case… but do you have feelings for him?”
It was a question without a subject.
But we both knew exactly what she meant.
Surprisingly, Kalli seemed to have finally realized it—that she could no longer feign ignorance or dodge my questions.
"Yes. I do."
And I simply accepted her question and answered calmly.
That we both felt the same way.
That her feelings and mine were one and the same.
“……!”
At my unhesitating reply, Kalli’s red eyes widened in shock. Seeing her so shaken, I couldn’t help but laugh again.
"...So you were the one who approached him first?"
And when I asked again,
"That's right. I approached him first."
In her answer, Kalli’s hesitation had vanished completely.
She looked me straight in the eye, her red eyes shining. She was still surprised by my admission, but her gaze had become steady.
“I knew it. That’s what I thought. He wouldn’t have been able to.”
I said, and yet…….
Somehow, it felt unfair of her.
I only saw him once a week, while she had the chance to see him every single day.
‘She had so many more opportunities than me.’
Maybe I… had been too complacent.