Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Love Confession
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"Waaah! That was so scary...! Sob..."
Shin Yuri buried her face in my chest, clinging to me tightly.
With a wail like "Hwaaang," she poured out her tears endlessly, as if emptying everything inside her.
I sat beside her, stroking her trembling, slender back to make her feel comfortable.
"It's okay."
"Hwaaaang...!"
My words that it was okay now—since I was here—seemed to be the signal she needed, and she burrowed even deeper into my arms.
Yet her flowing tears showed no sign of stopping.
And in response to her actions, I felt something swelling up inside me.
'Even after seeing that scene, she still trusts me.'
Anyone else would have been trembling in fear right away.
This meant that our relationship, built in this short time, wasn't something light to her—she trusted me enough for it.
Realizing that, I felt my empty heart being filled.
"Cry it all out. I'll stay by your side until all that anxiety flies away."
"Sob... Yuseong-ah...!"
Maybe I'd been longing for someone's trust like this for a long time.
If not, what else could explain this warmth filling my heart?
Having lived alone until now, I'd apparently craved connections with others even more.
'It feels like I'm the one being saved...'
I was the one saving and comforting her, but it seemed I was being saved too.
The subtle sense of fulfillment grew stronger the more she nestled into my arms.
As if my embrace was the safest place, she let go of everything and leaned on me.
Like that, I stayed as her pillar until she poured out all her pent-up frustration.
"Feeling better now?"
"Sniff... Yeah..."
Her tears had stopped, but with slightly swollen eyes, she remained in my arms.
She showed no sign of pulling away.
Her chest and other parts were pressed against me, but right now, it didn't seem to matter.
I looked at her face with worried eyes.
"If you're really worn out, want to go rest on the bed?"
"Mm... No. I like this right now... You're the only one I can trust anymore..."
"...Must've been really scary."
"It was so scary... So let me stay like this a little longer."
Her body still trembled with lingering fear, so I held her close while thinking about those half-crippled trash on the fourth floor.
'How can I make them regret ever being born?'
Just attempting to rape Yuri noona was enough to seal their death sentence, but feeling her shiver in my arms made me want to make them suffer as much as possible.
I wouldn't feel this burning rage subside without giving them despair so profound they'd regret their own existence.
But doing that would mean leaving her alone.
With her looking so fragile even now, I couldn't help but hesitate to move.
As I agonized between rage and the girl, Yuri noona slowly pulled away from my arms.
She spoke to me in an anxious voice.
"Yuseong-ah..."
"Yeah."
"You won't abandon me... right?"
Abandon? Who?
There's no way I'd abandon Yuri noona.
"Why would I abandon you, noona!"
"But... keeping someone useless like me around won't do you any good..."
"...Did those bastards say something?"
No way—did all that trash really tell her?
About the world's end.
To Yuri noona, who still held hope that the authorities would restore order.
And from her gradually unfolding story, I realized my suspicions were true.
To summarize the long tale...
While making dinner, she heard something break.
Then the entrance stairs grew noisy, and she heard voices.
Thinking the police had finally come, she peeked through the door viewer, but no police in sight— just five guys who looked like high schoolers, which puzzled her.
Then, sensing her presence, they smashed the door lock with a hammer they'd brought and burst in.
After that, it was predictable: they spotted her, made disgusting faces, subdued her, and when she resisted, they told her the truth—no one's coming to save you, give up—before taping her mouth shut.
Right before the rape, I showed up, took them all down, and saved her.
"In a situation like this, how could I have the nerve to stay by your side...? But at the same time, I want to stay with you. What should I do now...?"
"There's no way I'd abandon you, noona...!"
Saying that, I placed my hand on the head of Yuri noona, who looked at me with anxious eyes.
To my gesture, she even moved her head to a position easier for me to stroke.
As I petted her, she opened her mouth.
"But I know better than anyone that there's nothing I can do for you..."
"Noona..."
"...Actually, did you know too? That the military and police weren't coming. If the authorities were functioning normally... this chaos should've been quelled in a day."
"You knew...?"
"Yeah. You knew too, Yuseong... But I didn't want to let go of that slim hope. In a way, it was desperate self-delusion. That the world would return to normal..."
She knew everything.
Or more precisely, she had a near-certain prediction but desperately denied it, clinging to hope.
"But seeing even students turn that rotten... no matter how I think, I can't deny it anymore...! They restrained my limbs by force even though I said no! They trampled and mocked me like I was nothing, laughing as if there'd be no consequences...! Hic... That's when I fully realized. The world is done, and nowhere is safe anymore..."
"...But I'm here."
"Yeah, you are, Yuseong. That's why I'm so grateful. But... the more you protect me, the more confused I get..."
"Huh?"
Her words that protecting her made her more confused left me puzzled for a moment, unable to grasp the meaning.
But when her trembling eyes met mine, I understood right away.
She was going through the same conflict as me.
"This feeling of liking you and wanting to stay together... it feels like I'm just latching onto you to survive...! Now I don't even know what my own heart wants!"
"...You like me?"
"Yeah, I do. Of course, if you say it's because you protected me, I can't deny that. But my heart says it loves this man named Jin Yuseong, so what can I do...?"
"..."
"But... what if this feeling was born just to survive? What if it's an emotion to trick you into staying by my safe side? Thinking that way makes me hate myself so much...!"
Saying that, she clenched her fists as if truly disgusted with herself.
Seeing her like that, I couldn't help but feel a pang of complicated emotions.
I was the same.
No, if anything, maybe even worse.
Mine started because she was a candidate for enslavement.
But somewhere along the way, Shin Yuri had become someone I couldn't reduce to just a slave in my lonely life.
Kindness, trust, love, affection, fondness, care, concern.
Emotions that might be commonplace for others were the first I'd ever received from another person.
Even the grandma who helped me did so out of pure pity, not goodwill toward me.
So I had no right to question what composed Yuri noona's love for me.
It was enough that she felt love for me.
'Yuri noona loves me too.'
Realizing that, I found myself drawing close to her face before I knew it.
"Y-Yuseong-ah...?!"
"..."
She panicked, but I didn't stop.
This was beyond my control now.
All the emotions I'd held until now.
I released them here, pressing my lips to hers.
*Smack—*
...Soft.
Her lips were stiff from surprise, but Shin Yuri's lips were still incredibly soft and sweet.
Stunned at first by my sudden kiss, Yuri noona soon closed her eyes gently, as if giving permission.
That gesture of accepting me made my emotions surge like never before.
I moved the hand stroking her head to her back, pulling her in.
With my strength, I swiftly lifted her onto my lap, facing each other.
They say human psychology follows the environment.
Yuri noona responded in kind, wrapping her arms around my head and pressing her lips to mine.
"Churp... Chup. Smack..."
Whether her emotions had ignited too, the light peck quickly turned into a deep, intense kiss.
We tilted our faces, lips melding tightly, tongues extending.
"Hng... Chup, churp. Smooch..."
Breathing out lewd nasal sounds, she sucked on my saliva like it was delicious.
Though it happened in an instant, it felt like confirming each other's feelings, and the act gradually intensified.
'It's completely different from the kiss with Sua...'
Not just an act driven by lust, but a kiss exchanging emotions—a loving one.
It was so sweet and blissful, addictive like a drug I couldn't escape.
"Smack. Haah, churp..."
Like that, we swapped saliva and tangled tongues for a while.
The kiss that felt eternal ended when Yuri noona pulled away, breathless.
"Pahaa...! Haa... Yuseong-ah..."
"Haa... That's my answer."
A transparent thread connected our lips, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
Toward her confused eyes, I confessed my love.
"I love you too."
At that moment, tears welled up in Yuri noona's eyes again.