After Learning Her True Identity
pLee Sia stepped off the bus and immediately ran home.
pㅡ벌컥!
p"Mom! I'm home!"
p"Oh? What's wrong?"
pKim Jieun startled and hurried out of the kitchen to see what had happened.
pAnd there stood Lee Sia, smiling brightly.
p"I confessed to Siwoo!"
p"What? Last time you said you'd think it over first."
p"Yeah! But Siwoo was hesitant, so I just blurted everything out!"
p"...Everything?"
p"Yeah! Everything!"
p"...Even your true identity?"
p"Yeah!"
p"So what did he say?"
p"He said he doesn't care."
p"Huh? Suddenly like that?"
p"Um... um... yeah..."
p"Haa... the world is so..."
p"Why?"
p"Even if you two have some kind of signal, suddenly saying it like that would make Siwoo flustered."
p"But he didn't seem flustered..."
p"...Siwoo's plate really is different."
p"Why? How about Dad?"
p"Dad? He was all shaky. I thought he was staring at a Chihuahua."
p"Dad?"
p"Back in college, your Dad didn't have much muscle. He was skinny, but after the army, he got taller. And he kept working hard to make money, so now he's all muscular."
p"Aha..."
p"Yeah... since it's your choice, I won't say anything. From the start, Dad and I already liked Siwoo."
p"Hehe! You're right!"
p"But even after telling him your true identity, you mustn't go wild and out of control, okay?"
p"Yeah! Of course. After all, Succubus charm doesn't work on him."
p"Exactly, so don't try to show off your strength just to catch Siwoo. You might attract unnecessary pests."
p"Ehehe, I won't. Last time I chased them away, I don't want to deal with that kind again."
p"Yeah, you know those kinds of pests are annoying, right?"
p"Yeah!"
p"And tomorrow you should talk to Siwoo properly. He must have been surprised."
p"A... yeah... okay..."
pShe headed to her room while saying that.
pKim Jieun watched her daughter, who usually had a clear head, suddenly turn fiercely possessive whenever Park Siwoo was involved. It gave her a headache.
pShe had thought everything would somehow work out, but then she realized...
p"...But last week... Siwoo said he likes me while protecting me."
pShe smiled to herself.
p"No matter, it'll become a nice memory."
pShe turned back to the house, but a nagging feeling remained that she had forgotten something important.
p※※※※※※
pI received Sia's confession, took a bath, and sat at my desk holding a pen, lost in thought.
pTo clear my mind I had sat at the desk, but...
p"I like you."
p"Actually, I'm a Succubus."
pㅡ쪽!
p"Eeeek!"
pWhen a distorted memory surfaced, I failed again.
pEven now, closing my eyes for just a moment would bring back the soft, moist feeling against my cheeks.
pBut in this situation, she was telling me to focus on studying...
pMy head was even more scrambled than when I had blurted out my feelings to Sia in front of her last week.
pIt felt like a scene from a manga, unreal.
p"How will I face Sia tomorrow...? No, she's a Succubus... what the..."
pIn my mind, Sia's confession and her Succubus identity kept mixing and messing up my thoughts.
p"If she's a Succubus, shouldn't I just be mesmerized...? Or is something else needed...?"
pBut the timing had been too sudden and I had panicked, so I never asked her.
p"So... was the dream just a dream because she's a Succubus? But there was nothing weird about it..."
pConfusion piled on confusion until my head grew even more dizzy.
p"Screw it."
pI simply lay on the bed.
pLying there, I thought things over carefully.
pIf Sia was a Succubus... would something bad happen to me...?
pThat was my biggest worry.
pAfter all, Succubi are creatures that drain a man's life force and kill him.
pBut so far Sia had never done anything like that to me.
pEven in the dreams, whenever the scenario started, I would wake up startled.
pSo... she hadn't actually harmed me.
p"Should I have asked back then...?"
pNow I regretted not asking properly then, but I had been too flustered then to make a clear judgment.
pMy conclusion after lying in bed and thinking was...
p"I'll just ask tomorrow."
pSia was Sia.
pWhether she was a Succubus or a demon, I decided to trust the Sia I had spent time with since kindergarten.
pSo the next morning, after preparing for school, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
p"...Hello?"
pI saw Sia.
pStartled, I froze.
p"......"
pShe stared at me with worried eyes.
p"Siwoo...?"
pThere had been a little mishap, but we walked together anyway.
pBecause we had left early and decided to walk to school together.
pThe weather was warming up nicely in mid-April.
pAnd soon the midterms would be over, so there was a sports festival in May... I was curious what the one at the new high school would be like.
pThe field and gym were bigger than middle school, so it would be fun.
pAnd being our first sports day as freshmen... I was really looking forward to it.
pMeanwhile, a soft touch.
pㅡ슬쩍.
p"......"
p"......!"
pSia lightly grabbed my hand.
pAt first I was surprised, but I let her hold it.
p"Ehehe..."
pShe was happy.
pWhat should I say...?
pYesterday I had worried so much about how to behave around Sia, but now that I was actually with her, all that worry vanished.
pI just acted like usual.
pWhen we arrived at school and entered the classroom...
p"......"
pEveryone in the class stared at us in silence.
pI sat down with Sia and started unpacking my bag, but the stares didn't stop.
pThen I heard some comments.
p"That's right, right?"
p"From what I saw, it's definite."
p"So now they're officially dating."
p"Which one confessed?"
p"I think Siwoo confessed because Sia looks happy."
p"No, the opposite. Sia confessed and Siwoo accepted."
pI couldn't hear everything clearly, but it sounded like they were talking about us.
pAnyway, the class began.
pDuring class I felt Sia staring at me strongly, but I ignored her as much as possible.
pAfter fourth period, lunch break came.
pFirst-years ate first, so second and third-years had to wait.
pBefore going to eat with Sia, I said I would use the restroom and left.
pWhen I came back, a group of boys were gathered around Sia.
pThey weren't from our class; they were strangers.
pI stood at the door for a moment, then suddenly heard voices from inside.
p"I like someone. I'll reject them."
p"Who? That guy who's always next to you? Honestly, I'm better than him."
pAt that, I got angry.
pPlus I remembered the scumbag from last week who had touched Sia.
pㅡ쾅!
pI kicked the door open.
pEveryone turned to look.
pI stood tall and said,
p"Let's go eat."
p"Y-yes!"
pSia quickly left the group of boys and sat next to me.
p"......"
p"......"
pThe boys glared at me, and I glared back. I roughly memorized their faces.
pWe left them behind and went to the cafeteria with Sia.
pOf course, she was glued to my arm.
pIf Sia had a dog tail, it would be wagging like a propeller, right?
pAnyway, we went to the cafeteria, but today the food was nothing special.
pSo we bought sandwiches and drinks from the vending machine and went outside to the field.
pPeople were playing soccer there, but Sia and I sat on a bench a little higher up.
pWe ate in quiet for a while.
pBut I kept feeling Sia glancing at me.
pUnable to stand it, I spoke first.
p"Because of what happened earlier?"
pSia jumped.
p"A... yeah... it's not that."
p"I know that."
p"A... really... um...?"
p"You've never been the type before, so trust me."
p"A... yeah..."
pThen a brief awkward silence fell.
p"This time, say it a little more slowly."
p"Um...?"
p"I mean about you. Yesterday I was too flustered to explain properly."
p"A...!"
pSia brightened.
pThen she said eagerly,
p"Ask me anything!"
pI thought, "This girl..."
pBut I remembered how she had watched me strangely today.
pI roughly understood why she was acting this way.
pIf an insecure girl who gets excited or deflated by one small action of mine says I might be able to kill her...
pWell... I'll just say no.
pAfter all, Sia is Sia.
pWhether Succubus or human, she's not my Alppa.
p"Then..."