Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 069
Chapter Title: Acting Spoiled (1)
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The two moved to Ahn Su-ho's room. They unfolded the table leaning against the wall and sat facing each other, at which point Ji Ye-won placed a half-empty bottle of liquor she'd left from the next room on top.
"Planning to drink more?"
"Just... I feel like it'll take more alcohol for the words to come out."
At those words, Ahn Su-ho looked at Ji Ye-won with an uneasy expression. His face clearly showed he was deep in thought—what on earth could be troubling him? Recalling what had happened in the next room just moments ago, Ahn Su-ho roughly guessed what she wanted to say.
He'd asked Kang Ha-neul if she had someone she liked. Then, after she fell asleep, she'd said there was something she needed to talk about and suggested changing locations. And that this was something she couldn't bring up without alcohol.
Even someone utterly oblivious would pick up on it by now. Besides, Ahn Su-ho was reasonably perceptive, so figuring out her intentions was no big deal.
"You really hold your liquor well."
Still, Ahn Su-ho didn't show it. He simply waited silently for Ji Ye-won to speak first, pouring her a glass.
In the quiet room, Ahn Su-ho gazed calmly at Ji Ye-won. She, staring down at her own glass, soon lifted her head and met his eyes. Her gaze was filled with obvious hesitation.
Her heart had already tilted toward confessing her feelings to Ahn Su-ho. The only issue was how to broach the subject. Rather than blurting it out, she wanted to let it flow naturally, confessing when their emotions peaked.
'Ah.'
Then, a thought flashed through her mind.
Come to think of it, there was something she had to tell Ahn Su-ho.
Wasn't that the whole reason she'd arranged to meet him today in the first place?
Right. Even if she ended up confessing her feelings, she should start with what absolutely needed to be said first.
With that resolve, Ji Ye-won opened her mouth in a soft, settled voice.
"Min Chae-ryeong assigned me a mission."
"What?"
Ahn Su-ho furrowed his brow at the completely unexpected opener. His mind blanked for a moment, and he asked back with a puzzled look.
"What do you mean?"
"I explained it before, right? The deal I made with that team leader to get released from the safehouse."
Min Chae-ryeong had freed her—a criminal—from what was essentially protective custody disguised as confinement. She'd even prepared a new identity to fool others. And she was actively helping search for Ji Ye-won's friend, Kim Min-ah.
But as Ji Ye-won said, it wasn't unconditional kindness—it was a transaction. In exchange for Min Chae-ryeong's help, Ji Ye-won had offered first, all the information she had on the Dawn Corps; second, her own exceptional skills as their infiltration agent; and finally, the microchip implanted in her neck, giving them control over her life and death.
In short, Ji Ye-won was Min Chae-ryeong's subordinate. Not a legitimate one like Ahn Su-ho or Chae So-yeon, but one who lurked in the shadows, handling shadowy work.
"...What kind of mission?"
Min Chae-ryeong assigning work to someone like Ji Ye-won—it couldn't be anything normal. Unease crept onto Ahn Su-ho's face.
"Nothing big. Just tailing and surveilling someone? Suits my talents, anyway. I was in charge of intel for the Dawn Corps, after all."
"Who’s the target?"
"Obviously a secret... but I can tell you. Some research institute director in Yongin. Name's Na Ju-yong, I think?"
At those words, Ahn Su-ho's expression paled.
Na Ju-yong.
The mad scientist from the original story. The villain who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Dawn Corps, driving the mid-to-late plot.
And the mastermind behind Kang Ha-neul's kidnapping last time.
'Why?'
His name coming up left Ahn Su-ho flustered.
'Why assign her a mission like that...'
If it was just monitoring Na Ju-yong's movements, they had plenty of other subordinates. Why her, of all people?
In truth, this was Min Chae-ryeong's way of testing Ahn Su-ho. Her wariness of him had reached its peak. He'd exceeded her expectations with his intel in the Kang Ha-neul incident and his combat prowess in the double dungeon crisis.
So Min Chae-ryeong tested him. For some reason, she assigned the surveillance of Na Ju-yong—the man behind the Kang Ha-neul incident—to Ji Ye-won, whom he seemed to cherish, just to see how he'd react.
Ahn Su-ho roughly guessed her intentions. She was deliberately provoking him, using Ji Ye-won for the task on purpose.
"...Do you have to take this job?"
"I do. That was the deal."
"Na Ju-yong isn't just any researcher. He's a criminal tied to all sorts of illegal shit. He orchestrated Kang Ha-neul's kidnapping last time. Tailing a guy like that could put you in danger."
"It's a job she gave a criminal like me on purpose. Of course it's dangerous."
"Then drop it."
Ji Ye-won's eyebrow twitched at his worried plea.
"If you say you can't do it, Min Chae-ryeong won't force you."
The microchip Min Chae-ryeong implanted in Ji Ye-won's neck was purely to prevent escape. The bomb inside wouldn't detonate unless someone tried to remove it—at least, according to Min Chae-ryeong.
So at minimum, she couldn't be forced into peril using the neck bomb as an excuse.
"I know."
Ahn Su-ho spoke with that implication, and Ji Ye-won understood.
"But if I refuse, she won't help me anymore. I need her to find Min-ah. So I have no choice but to take this."
"... ."
"Anyway, it's just surveillance. Not infiltration or anything—just watching from afar. No way it'd threaten my life."
"You don't know that."
'If Min Chae-ryeong's goal is to test me...'
This was definitely dangerous. Maybe even life-threatening.
Drop it.
That's what he wanted to say. But Ahn Su-ho couldn't. He knew how important rescuing Kim Min-ah was to Ji Ye-won.
He bit his lip in frustration. His expression twisted with complex emotions.
"Worried about me?"
"Of course I'm worried."
"Why?"
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him in that instant.
"Why do you worry about me so much?"
A question she'd once asked him.
Putting it into words again, Ji Ye-won probed gently.
"I told you before, right? I'm not an academy student anymore. So a guard like you has no reason to worry about me. Right?"
"It's not about that."
Until recently, she would've been right. His concern for her safety stemmed solely from her being an academy student. Her death would've triggered penalties from his guard skill.
But now it was different.
Now, he genuinely worried about Ji Ye-won.
Even expelled from the academy, the penalties remained. And as a major character, her death would surely bring some drawback. But it wasn't calculated reasoning like that.
He was simply worried.
Pure worry and concern from his emotions.
Over the past two months spent bickering with her. Not a short time together at all. Every moment, the human emotions she'd shown.
Laughing at funny things, crying at sad ones, joyful at happy news, sorrowful at tragedies, delighted in fun, bored in dullness, angry at irritations, frustrated at annoyances.
Her reactions to his every word and action—so vividly human, impossible to see as fabricated.
The longest time he'd spent facing anyone in this world since possessing it—Ahn Su-ho could no longer dismiss her as a mere novel character.
"...If it's not that, then what is it?"
Ji Ye-won asked with a subtle expectation. Ahn Su-ho knew what she was hoping for.
"It's just..."
But confronting that emotion scared him. More precisely, he felt guilty toward himself for being unable to reciprocate it. Ji Ye-won loved Ahn Su-ho, but he hadn't yet defined his own feelings clearly.
Spouting the answer she wanted with words alone would just deceive her emotions.
Thinking that, he hesitated to respond.
"Ahn Su-ho. What am I to you? What do you think of me?"
Ji Ye-won rose slightly and sat beside him. Her eyes, half-lidded from the alcohol flushing her cheeks, gazed up at him moistly.
'What is Ji Ye-won to me...'
What kind of existence? Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
"You know."
But the next instant, her words melted those thoughts away like spring snow.
Ji Ye-won, seated beside Ahn Su-ho, hugged her knees and leaned her flushed cheek—red from alcohol or shyness—against his shoulder. Ash-gray hair cascaded down her tilted head.
A dizzying shampoo scent tickled his nose.
Tension built in the awkward silence. Ji Ye-won, lips parting as she stared at him, shifted her gaze to the table—specifically, the clear liquor in her glass.
-Clink!
Ji Ye-won picked up her glass and downed it without hesitation. The harsh liquor burned down her throat, warming her chest.
That sip became a handful of courage.
Gently pushing her hesitant back, just like his.
That handful of courage.
"I..."
Clutching that handful of courage to her chest.
Ji Ye-won took a step toward Ahn Su-ho.
"I like you."
A plain, straightforward sentence. No metaphors, no implications, no hints, no hiding, no pretense.
Ahn Su-ho forgot what to say. No—he had too much to say. Countless words rose in his throat. But none escaped his lips. They merely swirled endlessly in his mouth.
Seeing him like that—happy yet somehow pitiful—Ji Ye-won gently asked.
"Do you know why I like you?"
"...Because I saved you?"
She burst into a wide grin at his halting response.
"Watched too many movies? How does saving someone's life once make them fall in love?"
That sip of fiery courage had also stripped away her restraint. In this moment, Ji Ye-won let every thought spill out unfiltered. Seeing Ahn Su-ho embarrassed by her reply, she just smiled freely, relieved.
"Listen. You might not think so yourself, but you're way better than you realize. Doesn't anyone around you say that?"
"...Not at all."
Ahn Su-ho shook his head slightly.
"Really?"
But Ji Ye-won was satisfied with his answer.
"Then I'm the first. The first to discover what an amazing guy you are."
She beamed as if she'd accomplished something grand.
That unfeigned smile. That innocently pure expression so unlike her.
-Thump.
Ahn Su-ho's heart pounded hard once.
"So now, answer my question."
Ji Ye-won took a deep breath and asked Ahn Su-ho.
"What do you think of me? Do you... "
Like me?
That's what she meant to ask, but at the very last moment, her courage from that sip ran out.
"Think of me as precious?"
What slipped out was a somewhat ambiguous question. The result of her alcohol-fueled bravery fading and fear rearing its head again.
Even if he didn't like her romantically, he'd surely think of her as precious.
A careless question born from that complacent thought.
"Yeah."
Ahn Su-ho answered the careless question carelessly.
"Ji Ye-won. You're precious to me."
The vague question got a vague answer—one that could be interpreted as acknowledgment or affection, depending on the listener.
Yet even to that vagueness, Ji Ye-won smiled brightly.
'...Yeah, this is enough for now.'
As the tension squeezing her chest eased, a single tear streamed from her eye. The moment Ahn Su-ho reached out to wipe it, she suddenly hugged him tight.
"Ji Ye-won?"
"Thank you."
She buried her face in his chest and said it.
"...You're the first person in my life besides Min-ah to call me precious."
She'd thought Ahn Su-ho would say it. Her instincts hadn't been wrong.
Gazing down at Ji Ye-won burying her face deeper, the flustered Ahn Su-ho soon gently placed his hand on her back. Like soothing a crying child, he slowly stroked it.
'...Warm.'
Her expression melted blissfully at the pleasant sensation. How long had it been since she'd let herself melt into someone's embrace like this? Just as Kim Min-ah was the only one who'd valued her, she was the only one who'd ever held her. Realizing that, a shadow fell over her relaxed face.
"What's wrong?"
Sensing it, Ahn Su-ho asked, and she murmured softly.
"I feel sorry."
Sorry to Min-ah, who'd betrayed the Dawn Corps with her but, unlike her, got caught and was suffering—or possibly dead.
Sorry that the one person who'd valued her was in pain, while she sought happiness alone.
She shouldn't be happy thinking of Min-ah. She shouldn't chase happiness until she found her. She'd thought that dozens of times a day.
Yet here she was, in his arms. Leaning on him. So sorry to Min-ah.
Her trembling confession poured out desperately, and Ahn Su-ho stroked her hair.
"It's okay."
Stroking gently, he slowly comforted her in a calm voice.
Her capture by the Dawn Corps wasn't your fault.
Her misfortune doesn't mean you should deny your own happiness.
She probably wants you to be happy too.
If your heart still won't rest, we'll definitely rescue her.
I'll help you.
So for now, lean on me freely, without worry.
Cliché comfort, but sincere, it touched her heart. Especially his final words—lean on me freely—filled her with indescribable security.
-Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart raced wildly.
Ji Ye-won still had her face buried in Ahn Su-ho's chest. A faint soap scent tickled her nose. Turning her head slightly to press her cheek against it, she felt his unexpectedly firm chest.
Suddenly lifting her head, her eyes met his gazing down.
-Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Their hearts pounded. Neither could tell whose it was.
In the rising tension, Ji Ye-won asked softly.
"...Can I lean a little more?"
Ahn Su-ho nodded silently.
Then.
-Squeeze.
Ji Ye-won wrapped her arms around his neck. Their closely pressed bodies mingled warm breaths heavy with sharp alcohol.
As if swallowing that breath, Ji Ye-won parted her lips slightly and pressed them to his without warning.
"Ah."
Their lips parted before even a second passed. Ji Ye-won pulled back, her cheeks flushing apple-red. Despite initiating, she seemed more flustered than Ahn Su-ho.
'...My first kiss.'
In her daze, her impulsive first kiss tasted bitterly of whiskey. Licking the lingering flavor on her lips, she gently pressed her forehead to his chest.
"Ji Ye-won. You..."
At Ahn Su-ho's flustered words, Ji Ye-won checked his reaction, savoring her first kiss's aftertaste, worried her sudden move hadn't upset him.
"Did you hate it?"
She asked boldly. Flustered by her audacity, Ahn Su-ho soon shook his head gently.
"...No, I didn't hate it."
"Good. Relieved."
She smiled at his answer. Indescribable emotions welled in her chest—joy, satisfaction, yet also anxiety. Worry that this happy moment was just an alcohol-induced mirage.
"Hey. Can I act spoiled to you just for today?"
So Ji Ye-won clung tighter, trying to grasp the mirage.
"Act spoiled?"
"Yeah. Just for today, I want to forget everything without worry."
About Kim Min-ah. About the Dawn Corps. About Min Chae-ryeong. All those tangled issues.
She wanted to forget all the complicated circumstances, just for today. Help her forget.
Gazing up at him from his embrace, breathless with excitement, Ji Ye-won pleaded. He could've pushed her away anytime if he wanted—yet he didn't.
His attitude gave her a spark of courage.
The tiny courage to cross that line with him.
"So......"
"............Wanna do it? With me?"
Ahn Su-ho's expression stiffened at her cautious proposal.
Of course it was sudden. Of course it'd fluster him. Of course it'd shock him.
Ji Ye-won knew her suggestion was impulsive and rash. She knew, yet said it anyway. Having confessed, before the alcohol wore off, she wanted to cross that line with him. Otherwise, she'd be too anxious.
Anxious.
Yes, this sudden proposal stemmed purely from her anxiety.
Ji Ye-won wasn't oblivious. She could tell Ahn Su-ho was flustered and conflicted by her confession. That's why she hadn't pressed if he loved her—instead asking ambiguously if she was precious, fearing rejection.
The vague question got a vague answer. So even without verbal certainty, she wanted physical assurance. That might ease her mind a bit.
...She knew this burdened him.
Confessing love was worlds apart from sharing bodies. Plus, she'd soon leave his side for Min Chae-ryeong's mission. If she died on it? He'd suffer even more from crossing that line tonight. The weight of her love poured out today would turn to regret and guilt crushing his shoulders. Ahn Su-ho would. He was that kind of man.
That's why it was acting spoiled.
An impulsive decision from heightened emotions, a desperate craving for long-denied affection. Purely selfish, ignoring his feelings, just because she wanted it.
Selfish.
Spoiled.
"...Just think of it lightly."
Even if he rejected her confession come morning.
"Two young drunk people alone in a room—it's not weird if bodies overlap."
Even if he blamed the alcohol and claimed no memory. Even if he dismissed tonight as a drunken mishap.
"We're both wasted, so we won't remember tomorrow anyway."
Even then, she wanted to etch a trace indelibly in his mind, his body.
"Yeah. Even if we don't remember, it's fine. Maybe better not to."
Even if rejected, she wanted his embrace just for today. Reciprocation for this affection, just for today.
"No memory means no regrets."
That was her selfish decision. Impulsive spoiling for her own satisfaction.
Knowing that, she spouted these insincere words. To ease his burden even a little. If taking her confession seriously was too much, treat it as one night's spoiling, one night's fling. If he did, she'd forget tonight cleanly too.
"So just for today. Will you indulge my spoiling?"
A desperate plea.
Thrown with equal hope and guilt, Ahn Su-ho pondered briefly.
"...No way we wouldn't remember."
He answered calmly soon after. His hands gently supported her back and nape.
"How could I forget something this intense?"
As their lips softly met again, relief bloomed on Ji Ye-won's face.