Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Episode 59. Fireworks (4)
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The song festival was incredibly popular.
When the first fireworks began adorning the sky.
It suddenly hit him why the director of the PR department had rolled up his sleeves to plan this. The crowd was impossible to count at a glance. Even after filling every seat, there were twice as many people standing behind. Easily a thousand strong.
The festival atmosphere was already boiling over. Whenever a famous song came on, the cadets would belt it out in droves. The whole area was a cacophony of noise.
Several masked performers had taken the stage. Tin can. Apple. Tiger. Snowman, and so on... But nearly thirty minutes passed, and even as the sixth masked act went up, there was still no sign of Gaeul.
"When's she going on?"
"Dunno..."
The order was at the PR department's discretion. Maybe she'd made a good impression during rehearsal, bumping her slot back a little.
[Gaeulri♥]: im so nerrvuosㅠㅠ ; ;
[Gaeulri♥]: nerrvouuusssㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: idk whats happening
[Me]: ?
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: im shaking ajusshi ㅠㅠㅠ
[Me]: its fine
[Gaeulri♥]: how is it fine ㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: im not okay ㅠㅠㅠㅠ...
Through the text, Yoo Ji-tae could picture Yoo Gaeul trembling.
[Me]: where r u
[Gaeulri♥]: waiting area ㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: oh crap i rlly messed up lol
[Me]: why
[Gaeulri♥]: i still cant get the songs vibe rightㅜ
[Gaeulri♥]: ah ㅜㅜ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅎㅎ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅋㅋㅋ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: wanna backhug or smth ; ;
Yoo Ji-tae had no idea what to reply, so he showed his watch to Yeoreum and Winter. Yeoreum immediately started a video call, but Gaeul didn't pick up.
[Gaeulri♥]: waiting area i said ㅜ
[Gaeulri♥]: like hypothetically if i mess up big time ㅎ
[Gaeulri♥]: buy me sarigomtang ㅎ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅎㅎ ; forgive me...ㅎ
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ ;;;;
[Me]: ill buy the gomguk
[Gaeulri♥]: ㅠㅠ no no no
[Gaeulri♥]: dont need it uwuㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: huuuuuwahhhㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Gaeulri♥]: oh theyre calling me upㅠ
Going up? He hurriedly tapped out a message on his watch.
[Me]: dont worry youll do great
The read receipt next to the message didn't appear.
Yet the Gaeul who took the stage sang a song so flawlessly it made his worries seem unfounded.
The festival had been going for nearly an hour, and Gaeul happened to be the very last performer, when the cadets' attention had started to wane.
As her voice flowed with the accompaniment, the rowdy surroundings fell silent in an instant.
'Oh.' 'Whoa.' 'Wow...' Gasps of admiration erupted one after another. Like glass marbles rolling on a silver tray. Gaeul sang a sorrowful song in a voice so delicate it seemed it might shatter if it rolled wrong.
Then the melody leaped. Lyrics promising a future spilled forth.
Someday, holding your hand as we climb a mountain path.
Someday, dancing in step with you.
Someday, I'll be by your side.
Far in the distant future, someday...
"Some time or other—"
Suddenly, the dramatically swelling emotion soared into the sky on that high, rich note. A voice that shook the listeners' eardrums. Something surged through their veins like a wave, spreading shivers across their bodies. A profound thrill. Everyone was swept up in the shock.
For a moment, Yoo Ji-tae felt a sensation reminiscent of hearing BY's song in his fourth regression.
Until now, whenever she sang, he'd felt her lacking compared to the fourth timeline's BY.
Had Gaeul realized something?
With her eyes closed, immersed in the song, Gaeul's mind was wholly contained within it at some point. The surroundings were dark. Looking down revealed an even darker depth. To express the song more deeply, she had to descend there.
The deeper she sank, the darker it became, making her hesitate to go further. She'd backed off countless times before, eventually giving up and floating back to the surface.
But today, she decided to dive once. It was the final day. The time she'd prepared for today. She had to immerse fully, right? Reassuring herself, Gaeul ventured into the unknown depths.
The darkness thickened. Something lurked below. Thinking of confronting it brought an inexplicable fear. Scary, scary—it hit her so hard she wanted to flee.
Yet Gaeul immersed herself. And finally, she encountered something buried in the swamp-like darkness.
Who are you?
Why are you in such pain?
What situation could make you this desperate?
The questions chasing each other led to realization upon facing the unfamiliar emotion's core. In that instant, Gaeul nearly fainted.
In the profound depths of immersion.
The Green Dragon hatchling was gazing up at her.
It was Bom.
No sooner had the song ended than her mind snapped back like shattering glass. She'd sung well just now. The audience was ecstatic, but in her daze returning to the waiting area, she didn't notice.
Soon, Gaeul flung off her mask and searched for Yoo Ji-tae.
There he was, amid the crowd, seated.
He turned his head. A questioning gaze.
Unsure how to say it, but she had to convey the surging feelings honestly.
"Ajusshi. Where's Spring unni?"
"Why're you back already? There's awards. The girls even went to buy ice cream for your slot."
"No. Forget that. Spring unni. Where is Spring unni?"
"Why Spring."
"Where is she? Just answer the question."
Her odd demeanor narrowed his eyes.
"Dunno. Looks like she hasn't come yet."
Gaeul felt her head spin.
"Why hasn't she come? The festival's happening right now."
"..."
"Ajusshi... You really don't know anything?"
Only then did Gaeul understand what Bom had meant.
—Like a widow grieving her late husband.
Bom had described evaluating her song's emotion that way. It matched what Bom had said about herself. Ultimately, the emotion Gaeul had immersed in was Bom's.
What kind of feelings was Spring unni suppressing to live like this? Realizing it, Gaeul felt something close to terror.
Gaeul clutched the fabric at her chest. Recalling that emotion made her chest tighten painfully. Her head reeled. Right now, Bom wanted something. An intense desire that made her mind reel.
Whoa, this is no joke...
Is Spring unni going crazy...?
Why?
What does she want so badly?
As questions piled up, Gaeul recalled her own longing.
When immersed in this emotion.
Gaeul.
Wanted to be with Yoo Ji-tae, even if just for a moment.
Alone.
Of course, this wasn't Gaeul's emotion.
Perhaps Bom was suppressing her desires with the unyielding mental fortitude of the Green clan.
If ordinary desire is a stream and patience a dam.
Bom stood like a mountain amid a sea of crashing desires.
To Gaeul, this felt like a tire constantly inflated with air. Without releasing some pressure, it would inevitably burst someday—a massive, immense desire.
"Listen carefully, ajusshi. Spring unni is..."
Gaeul explained her feelings from Bom's perspective.
The regressor's eyes twitched.
Gaeul had used extremely drastic words to describe Bom's state. Words unfit for Bom, who always stayed serene and grew like a roadside weed through past timelines.
He didn't ask how she knew. Yoo Ji-tae was aware of the Gold clan's traits. He'd already thought Gaeul was acting strange.
Probably, at some point, somewhere, Gaeul had immersed in Bom's emotions.
If she'd harbored such dangerous thoughts during immersion, he might have made a grave mistake recently. When she'd asked him to call her pretty on the terrace from the terrace. Should he have said she was pretty? The relationally clumsy regressor felt a headache coming on.
Thus, his footsteps quickened.
The back area of the amusement district's 'Hilton Clock Tower.'
When Yoo Ji-tae arrived, having pinpointed Bom's presence exactly.
In the distance, a head of grass-green hair caught his eye.
Approaching closer revealed the child's clothes on the grass. A white jeogori with a pale pink floral chima.
Bom was wearing hanbok.
She hugged her knees, blankly watching the fireworks painting the sky, oblivious to his approach until he stood right beside her. Finally, focus sharpened in her dazed gaze.
"Huh? Ajusshi?"
"Hi."
"Hi... When did you get here?"
Contrary to Gaeul's words, Bom appeared perfectly fine on the surface.
"Was just about to head out."
Her faintly smiling lips suggested as much. If she was as unstable as Gaeul claimed, smiling so casually didn't add up.
He felt something off. This outwardly serene Bom—could she really be on the verge of bursting?
As puzzled, he decided to converse calmly.
"Why didn't you come? Saved you a seat and everything."
"Just... wanted to be alone a bit..."
He sat beside her. Bom tidied her skirt hem so he wouldn't sit on it.
"Side gig go well?"
"Yeah. Did Gaeul sing well?"
"She did great. Would've been nice if you'd seen it together."
"Too many people nearby anyway. Hard to squeeze in."
That said, what was with the hanbok?
As he pondered briefly. He suddenly recalled casually calling the hanbok pretty that morning.
Was that why Bom was wearing it?
Thinking so, Yoo Ji-tae felt a twinge of trouble.
"Oh, does this suit me?"
Bom spread her arms wide and fussed with her jeogori.
"Looks good. What's with the hanbok."
"Borrowed it for the festival. Pretty?"
For some reason—maybe the thoughts on the way—his reflexive reply slipped out.
"Pretty."
Bom nodded with a subtle smile.
Then playfulness crept into her smile. Bom asked.
"Where's pretty?"
"Huh?"
"Here?"
She spread her arms, showing the jeogori.
"Or here?"
This time, she delicately lifted the skirt hem. The graceful dip of her waist was elegant.
Where was pretty? For a regressor, it was a realm hard to articulate.
As he racked his brain for an answer, Bom noticed and her smile grew more mischievous.
"Why no answer? You said pretty. Empty words?"
"No. It's pretty. The top. The bottom... Overall."
The words that finally emerged sounded awkward even to him. Bom, who surely knew better, stifled a chuckle—kukukuk.
"Thanks. You're a bit cuter today, ajusshi."
Come to think of it, Bom praised him so easily.
Unlike him, her compliments were specific? Curious, Yoo Ji-tae mimicked her.
"Where's cute."
"This right now."
"What?"
"This. This. Copying me."
Busted. Yoo Ji-tae shook his head. The more he spoke normally, the more he felt outmaneuvered. He hadn't rushed here for this banter. Somehow, the conversation's flow had shifted to Bom.
"Shall we go then? Fireworks are almost over."
Normally, he'd agree.
But not today.
If Gaeul was right. Bom should want to cling to this alone time.
"Nah. Let's stay a bit longer."
"Huh? Why?"
He awkwardly enunciated each word.
"We... need to talk."