By Any Chance, Are You Lovers?
"By any chance, are you two lovers?"
"Grrrgh."
Baek Gung-hyuk, his mana core shattered, foamed at the mouth and passed out.
Yeah, I used to be like that too. Memories of when I'd been hit by the Grim Reaper's curse came flooding back fresh as ever.
But this wasn't the time to get lost in reminiscences.
"Ugly sight. Where the hell am I supposed to put this?"
Right now, the priority was figuring out what to do with this trash.
I couldn't let my precious house's hallway get stained with this garbage's bloody froth. Maybe just shove him in the bathroom for now. He wouldn't be moving anyway, with all his limbs broken.
As I was thinking that, Yoo Seo-ah called out to me.
"J-Jinseong-ssi!"
"Yeah?"
Yoo Seo-ah looked at me with eyes trembling in anxiety, then suddenly squeezed them shut and asked,
"B-By any chance, are you in a relationship with the Dragon-in-Waiting Guild Master?"
"......"
Never thought I'd hear that question from Yoo Seo-ah.
A bit flustered, I blanked out for a second before opening my mouth to answer her.
※ The five seconds it took for Kang Jinseong to open his mouth after Yoo Seo-ah asked if he was in a relationship with Baek Ji-an.
Those five seconds felt unbearably long to Yoo Seo-ah.
'If Jinseong-ssi says yes, how should I react?'
'Once I hear that those two are indeed lovers, what face should I make?'
'If he says they've shared their hearts since 15 years ago, truly loved each other, and promised a future together—what happens to me then?'
Her chest churned with anxiety, her mouth parched dry.
Having blurted out the question about whether they were lovers, she was terrified to actually hear the answer.
But it was too late to take back her words now.
All Yoo Seo-ah could do was squeeze her eyes shut.
"Eek..."
Of course, closing her eyes didn't stop time, and the consequences of actions still came.
Clear as day, Kang Jinseong's answer rang in the ears of the tightly shut-eyed Yoo Seo-ah.
"Kuhuhu, nah, nothing like that. We're just friends, just friends."
That laughter-mixed response made Yoo Seo-ah's squeezed-shut eyes snap wide open.
"R-Really?!"
"Of course. Why would I lie? Especially not to you, Seo-ah-ssi."
"Huu, huwaa..."
At Kang Jinseong's firm denial, a sigh of relief escaped Yoo Seo-ah automatically.
Her churning chest settled back to peace, and her downturned lips twitched upward like they'd been pulled by strings.
'Hehe, hehehe. She said no. They're really just friends. What a relief... Wait, is it okay to just let this slide?'
In the wave of relief that melted away her tension, Yoo Seo-ah started to pat her chest—then froze with her hand there.
It wasn't because her large breasts got in the way.
An unresolved doubt had snagged her.
'Sure, fine for Jinseong-ssi. But the Dragon-in-Waiting Guild Master's feelings for him aren't something you feel for just a friend.'
In the Black Box footage, Baek Ji-an had been ready to abandon even her life-or-death authority to protect Kang Jinseong.
Her emotions toward him were so special that even the root of all evil, Baek Gung-hyuk, called them pathetic.
Yoo Seo-ah was convinced that Baek Ji-an's feelings for Kang Jinseong were deep, profound love.
She'd have made the same choice in her shoes.
That's why she couldn't take his "just friends" answer at face value.
"B-But... it doesn't seem like just friends... You two look awfully close. Especially the Guild Master—she seems to treasure you so much..."
"Huh? Oh, you mean because of that Black Box footage earlier? Yeah, I get why you'd think that. I said just friends, but we're closer than most friends."
Kang Jinseong chuckled softly and continued at Yoo Seo-ah's follow-up.
"We were each other's first friends. We both lost our parents, so we only had each other to lean on. Naturally, we got really close for friends. Basically like family, I guess?"
"F-Family... of course!"
"Ah, not like husband and wife or anything—don't misunderstand. Ji-an's always been clingy like that, hugging me, burying her face in my clothes to sniff, even biting me sometimes. But we're still just friends."
Kang Jinseong said it with the most serene expression.
But Yoo Seo-ah, listening, couldn't keep a calm face.
"Hugging, sniffing, b-biting... even?!"
Because the behaviors coming from his mouth weren't things friends did.
"Yeah, the hugging habit's been around since 15 years ago. The biting... not that long. About five years?"
Now it was 15 years of hugging, five years of biting.
Stuff anyone would see as lover behavior, and Kang Jinseong dismissed it all as friends.
At this point, Yoo Seo-ah suddenly felt uneasy.
'15 years of such blatant skinship, and he never noticed? Is "clueless" even enough to describe this?'
If he was that oblivious, no matter how hard she tried to show her feelings, he'd never get it.
"Th-That... maybe the Guild Master has liked you romantically since way back...?"
In the end, Yoo Seo-ah asked Kang Jinseong that question.
'Isn't that just Baek Ji-an liking you?' A question she shouldn't ask from her position of harboring feelings for him.
'He dismissed it as friends, so I could ask. Watch his reaction and decide how to proceed.'
But Yoo Seo-ah had no choice.
To figure out just how shattered his intuition was, so she could choose the right way to confess later.
Gulp.
Yoo Seo-ah swallowed dryly, watching his reaction.
Kang Jinseong blinked blankly, then answered in a flat tone.
"Ah... yeah, you could think that, but no way. Absolutely not."
"Absolutely not?!"
"Yeah. When I was a kid, I thought the same as you, Seo-ah-ssi, and confessed to her. Got shot down right away."
"...Huh?"
"Twice, even."
"Wh-What?!"
Yoo Seo-ah's eyes went wide, mouth agape at Kang Jinseong's answer.
He confessed, and she turned him down?! Spoon-ready meal, flipped over! Not once, but twice!
To the stunned Yoo Seo-ah, Kang Jinseong continued in his usual flat tone.
"The first confession was when I was an eleven-year-old brat, so whatever. But after getting rejected again at twenty... couldn't delude myself anymore."
"......"
"Her closeness is because I'm her only friend, and that special affection isn't romantic love... more like how you'd feel for a pet? Something like that. Closer than family, but no romantic feelings."
Kang Jinseong recounted being rejected so casually.
Yoo Seo-ah, listening quietly, asked very carefully,
"After something like that... how are you still such close friends?"
"Uh... well. That day at twenty when I confessed, she cried."
"She cr-cried...?"
"Yeah, bawling her eyes out, begging me to stay friends. Clinging so tight like she'd never let go, sobbing and pleading for me to stay by her side—how could I pull away?"
"...Aah."
Only after hearing Kang Jinseong's answer did Yoo Seo-ah understand their peculiar relationship.
'I get why the Guild Master rejected the confession. Probably the family. Jinseong-ssi was a hostage. She thought getting close would hurt him, so she refused. Poor thing.'
Yoo Seo-ah felt sorry for Baek Ji-an.
Rejecting the man she loved because her family might harm him—what a sad, unfair fate.
'But... she shouldn't have. Situationally, it seems like a sacrifice for Jinseong-ssi, but nothing actually got solved.'
But at the same time, she felt far more anger than pity toward Baek Ji-an.
'Reject his heart twice because you don't want to hurt him, but then cry and cling because you can't bear to lose him? What the hell. It just left everything half-assed.'
From Kang Jinseong's view, Baek Ji-an was a precious friend, but to Yoo Seo-ah, no woman had ever been this awful.
'If you're worried about hurting Jinseong-ssi, keep your distance after rejecting him. Hate to separate? And hugging, sniffing, biting? You just hurt his heart while doing whatever you wanted.'
Baek Ji-an thought it was for his sake, but in the end, she'd toyed with his feelings.
Her indecisiveness hurt not just her, but Kang Jinseong too.
'Good thing Jinseong-ssi is so amazing he took down that Baek Gung-hyuk bastard. If not... he'd have lost his first love and family-like friend overnight.'
Yoo Seo-ah imagined Kang Jinseong grieving Baek Ji-an's loss.
Just picturing it made her furious; she bit her lower lip hard.
'Dragon-in-Waiting Guild Master—no, Baek Ji-an-ssi. We've never talked, but... I don't think we can get along.'
Yoo Seo-ah shot Baek Ji-an a side-eye glare, then looked up at Kang Jinseong.
Thinking he'd been toyed with by one woman for 15 whole years made him seem so pitiful.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Uuugh..."
"Seo-ah-ssi?"
"Jinseong-ssi, huuup! I'll protect you from now onnn..."
"Uh... thanks. I always feel secure thanks to you, Seo-ah-ssi."
At Yoo Seo-ah's words, Kang Jinseong was briefly flustered, then smiled brightly.
Unaware that her "protect you" meant "from awful women like Baek Ji-an."
※ Three hours later.
"Ugh... uuut... uh?"
"Oh, you're awake."
Baek Ji-an opened her eyes in Kang Jinseong's arms—and saw it.
"......"
Yoo Seo-ah, stuck right to Kang Jinseong's back, chin on his shoulder, glaring daggers at her.
"...Ha?"