An Unexpected Confession at Dawn
When I'm alone at the convenience store in the early morning hours, all sorts of thoughts tend to run through my head. After I finish inventory and the handful of customers who trickle in around one or two a.m. have left, the rest of the shift feels like free time. Even if I'm just staring at my phone, the minutes crawl by. Actual trouble—drunk customers throwing a fit, the kind of scenes you see in videos—happens maybe once a month. I might just be lucky, but the only “problem customers” I've ever dealt with are the ones who leave trash on the tables or spill ramen broth and bolt.
Four a.m. The deadest, quietest hour. I'd finished mopping and decided to sit behind the counter for a short break. My favorite romance novel had just dropped its latest chapter, so I opened it with a flutter of excitement and began savoring every sentence.
Princess Ariel approached Duke Sherky and began to question him.
“Why did you do it? What was that—holding another woman’s hand?”
The duke was cornered. He tried to explain, but the princess’s expression had already hardened into irreversible fury.
“I’m sorry, Ariel… but dancing with her was a political necessity.”
……
“Believe me, it really—”
Thud—
It happened in an instant. Blood poured from the duke’s abdomen. The princess, her face twisted in profound sorrow, sheathed her sword and leaned close to the groaning man’s ear, whispering softly.
“……Sherky.”
…Huh?
Wait, did she actually stab him? That tsundere princess who barely spoke most of the time?
My head flooded with questions. So the jealousy and obsession that came with being a tsundere… wasn’t the usual over-the-top drama I’d expected?
The duchess desperately tried to stop the bleeding, then offered a faint smile.
A priest was already waiting at the villa to treat Ariel. All that remained was for her to use magic to move the collapsed duke.
“Your Grace… let’s be together. Forever.”
“……Ugh, Ariel…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… but I can’t hold back anymore, Your Grace…”
Ariel’s dark pupils reflected the moonlight and gleamed blood-red. She kissed the duke slowly, then began binding his entire body with chains. Beneath his feet, a subspace magic circle appeared.
“……Stop… let me go…”
“Together… forever—”
This is the final updated chapter.
“……What?”
I scrolled up and down in a daze. No way. This was the latest chapter?
I tapped the like button first, then opened the comment section. As expected, the reactions were less about liking or disliking it and more pure shock. After all, the novel How the Fallen Princess Survives in the North had been tagged as a soft, pure romance with zero yandere or obsession elements. Sure, switching from mild flavor to something intense wasn’t entirely bad, but the problem was that this story had already run for nearly a hundred chapters. It felt like going to your usual sundae-gukbap restaurant and being served tteokbokki instead.
Of course, movies pull these twists all the time, but for a long-running webnovel… it was genuinely jarring.
Yeah. No wonder I kept getting chills or déjà vu in certain spots.
“Still, I can’t resist reading the comments.”
“Huh? What buildup?”
“……Whoa?!”
A woman suddenly appeared right in front of me. Startled, I dropped the phone I’d been holding in one hand. I reached out with the other, but it was already spinning through the air toward the outside of the counter. The woman snatched it mid-flight, glanced at the case for a second, then smiled with her eyes and held it out to me.
“……Ah, thank you…”
I took the phone in a daze and stared at the woman before me. A hat pulled low, black mask, white top that faintly showed the curve of her chest, black leggings. She looked slightly sweaty, as if she’d been jogging. She gracefully passed the counter and headed toward the drink shelves.
…She looks familiar.
This is a buy-one-get-one-free promotional item.
I scanned the two ion drinks she’d placed on the counter.
“That’ll be 2,200 won.”
“……”
“Payment received.”
“It’s me, sunbae.”
“……?”
Her mask slipped down slightly, revealing her face. It was Yoo Soyeon.
“Oh, what the— Junior. How did you know I worked here?”
“……W-well, that’s…”
“Yeah?”
“I happened to see you while passing by…”
“……Oh, really?”
“Yes… I was surprised too…”
“……”
Something felt off. Still, it wasn’t impossible. Yoo Soyeon handed me one of the ion drinks and suggested we step outside for a moment.
“……I’m on shift. Who’s going to watch the store?”
“Come on, just say you’re going to the bathroom… How about it?”
“……”
“……C-could we talk for just ten minutes? I really want to speak with you, even a little…”
“Fine, whatever.”
Could be constipation. Any customers who showed up would probably understand. I put up the “Back in a moment” sign, locked the door, and followed her to a park bench right next to the store. We sat and started chatting about nothing in particular—how the new semester was going, stories about professors, lecture content, the usual pointless talk.
But more than the content, the conversation itself felt good.
“More girls I know? Why would I?”
“Why not? Sunbae Jinwoo… you’re really handsome, you know?”
“……Me? If you keep flattering me like that I might start believing it.”
“It’s true, though?”
“……Huh?”
“Yeah, it is. When you smile your expression gets so bright… I like it.”
“……”
Tap. Yoo Soyeon silently kicked a pebble. The silence stretched a little too long, and she seemed desperate to keep the conversation going before I could leave.
…So.
I didn’t want to misunderstand, but… I decided to check.
“……Junior.”
“Yes?”
“Soyeon. Do you… like me?”
“……”
Yoo Soyeon’s face froze. It was as if someone had hit pause. She didn’t even blink, but her body trembled faintly. I scratched my head, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere with an excuse.
“……No, I’m pretty dense about this stuff. I thought maybe I was imagining it…”
“……Sunbae Jinwoo.”
“Yeah?”
“I like you.”
“……”
“I like you, I like you… I’ve liked you for so long. I really, really like you, sunbae… I was trying to make you like me slowly, but I’ve never done anything like this before… I’m such an idiot…”
“W-wait, calm down.”
The sudden, breathless confession caught me off guard. I buried my face in one hand. I’d asked directly because I hated beating around the bush, but I never expected her to actually say it. Yoo Soyeon’s hand was shaking violently, like she had a tremor. She must have gathered enormous courage to speak.
“……What about you, sunbae…?”
“……”
“D-do you like me?”
Her eyes were desperate. The sincerity in them was so thick it felt like her life was on the line. Flustered, I stammered.
“……P-probably…?”
“……Ah…”
What do I do? Should I accept? When would I ever get to date someone this pretty? She says she likes me this much.
“……You like me… you like me…”
My mind spun for a brief moment. After organizing my thoughts, I tried to speak clearly to Yoo Soyeon, who was babbling and waving her hands around.
“We’re dating now, right…? We’re a couple now…?”
“……Uh, what? No—that’s not—”
“……It’s not? What isn’t?”
“Hey, w-wait—”
That was when it happened. Yoo Soyeon must have sensed something terrifying in my hesitant words. She grabbed my sleeve with a vacant look and began begging me with desperate eyes.
“P-please…”
What the hell? Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
“S-stop…!!”
I gently pushed away her hand that was clutching my sleeve. Only then did she seem to snap out of it. She stood frozen, then looked at me with hollow eyes full of abandonment.
…This kid. Her mental state must be bad… something must have happened to her.
“……Exams are coming up soon. After midterms… I’ll give you an answer. Yeah. I’ll think about it slowly while I study.”
“……Ah, I’m sorry… I’m sorry… This isn’t… this isn’t what I meant…”
She finally seemed to realize how aggressive she’d been. She waved her hands, desperately trying to deny her own actions.
“……D-don’t hate me… I-I’m not usually like this…”
“……”
“I really wasn’t this kind of person before… Hic, ugh… I didn’t want to change like this either…”
“……Junior.”
“……Hic……”
At my low, serious tone, Yoo Soyeon’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“I don’t know what I meant to you in the past, or what happened. But… I can tell you have deep scars.”
“……”
“It’s all right. Can you give me a little time, Soyeon?”
“……Ah—”
No. If I cry any more here, I’ll only look like a crazy person.
Yoo Soyeon forcibly shoved the memories from thousands of years ago back down and slowly nodded. Only then did Kim Jinwoo seem relieved; his expression became noticeably lighter.
After a long time had passed and she had calmed down enough to stand, a single convenience store wet wipe lay on the bench where she had been sitting.