Chapter 34 Park Ha-rin (3)
Park Ha-rin (3)
Episode 34
The moment those words left my mouth, I knew I'd made a terrible mistake.
“Shut up. Inverted nipples.”
Silence.
Park Ha-rin stared at me, her smile undisturbed. Somehow, that was worse than anger.
I knew that smile. Usually, someone was about to regret ever provoking her.
“Well,” I muttered, “that got a reaction.”
“Si-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“Choose your next words carefully.”
I should have apologized. Begged for mercy. At the very least, I should have stopped talking.
Instead, my mouth apparently received orders from a different brain.
“It's just that—”
Thump!
Her fist connected with my chin before I could finish.
Stars burst across my vision.
“Your sister is being very patient,” Ha-rin informed me with terrifying composure. “And your sister has never needed to be patient with anyone. You are receiving special treatment. Appreciate it.”
“Right. Special treatment. Very grateful.”
“Good boy.”
She smiled brightly. I felt an overwhelming urge to make out my will.
Silver hair, golden eyes, impossible strength, and a temper that could turn small talk into a boss encounter—that was Park Ha-rin. There was no talking my way out of this.
And I'd arrived without a weapon.
Worse still, I'd brought my mouth.
“Now,” she said sweetly, “you were about to say something nice, weren't you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Go on.”
“You have very… striking eyes.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And your hair is beautiful.”
“I know.”
“And your ability to threaten people without raising your voice is truly world-class.”
Her smile twitched.
Apparently, that wasn't the compliment she'd wanted.
Her fingers closed around my collar. Every survival instinct I possessed screamed a warning.
“Si-hyun,” she whispered, “do you know how worried I was about you?”
For an instant, the humor left her face.
I understood. That was the problem. Her concern was never just concern; it was enormous and suffocating, affection wrapped so tightly around fear that I could hardly tell them apart.
“I know,” I said, more quietly.
“Then why do you keep making me afraid?”
Because if I obeyed you completely, everyone else would live in fear, I thought.
What I said was, “I'm sorry.”
For one glorious second, apologizing seemed to work.
Then she tilted her head.
“Sorry enough to promise you'll never leave me?”
Ah. The boss had entered its second phase.
“Can we start with something easier? Like promising to clean my room?”
“No.”
“Take out the rubbish?”
“No.”
“Conquer a demon king?”
“Si-hyun.”
“Right. Not negotiating.”
I quietly shifted the power of [Optimal Progression] into my left arm.
Those cuffs had already withstood more punishment than most legendary equipment. I drew on my ability again, directing its force into the weakest point of the metal.
Crack!
The metal snapped apart.
I drove my fist toward her chin. One opening—that was all I needed to get off the bed and reach the door.
But her golden eyes had tracked me from the start.
[Protagonist Synchronization Rate: 155%]
“Oh, come on!”
At the worst possible moment, my arm veered off course. Whatever instincts I had inherited from this body's original owner apparently disagreed with my entirely reasonable plan to escape.
What should have been a punch became a useless flail.
Ha-rin caught my wrist.
“Really?” she asked.
“I can explain.”
“Please do.”
“The skill malfunctioned.”
“Of course it did.”
“And the system is clearly conspiring against me.”
“Of course it is.”
“You don't sound convinced.”
She gave me the look adults reserve for children who insist a broken vase fell over on its own.
“Si-hyun. You could simply ask me to let you go.”
“Would you?”
“No.”
I stared at her.
She laughed.
What a reunion. Ten out of ten. Never doing that again.
Ha-rin leaned closer. For the briefest instant, her composure slipped.
“Si-hyun,” she said, “there's something I've never done before.”
Coming from a woman who'd already demonstrated an alarming talent for violence, that was not reassuring.
“Should I be worried?”
“Probably.”
A message appeared before my eyes.
[Park Ha-rin's Number of Kisses: 0]
I blinked.
Of all the statistics the system could have shown me, it chose that one?
Ha-rin blushed. For the first time since entering the room, she seemed genuinely unsure of herself, though she tried to disguise it with an imperious stare.
“Don't laugh,” she warned.
“I wasn't going to.”
“You were thinking about it.”
“That's not a crime.”
“It could become one.”
I pressed my lips together.
She hesitated before leaning closer. What followed was brief, awkward, and so unexpected that my brain failed to offer a single useful thought.
Ha-rin pulled back first.
The intimidating, untouchable woman from moments ago looked almost shy.
Almost.
“Only look at me,” she said softly.
My stomach sank.
There was a familiar edge beneath her words.
“Ha-rin…”
“You're mine, Si-hyun. You understand that, don't you?”
Her words tumbled over one another. The system picked up the same thought repeating behind her eyes until the pressure of it felt unbearable.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
I swallowed.
“Ha-rin, listen to me.”
She didn't seem to hear.
She tightened her grip on my hand. She looked ready to laugh, cry, or declare war on the world—possibly all three.
“No one gets to take you away,” she said. “Not anyone.”
It was impossible to mistake that for a joke.
It struck me that not every terrifying opponent could be beaten with brute force.
Sometimes, you had to distract them.
Sometimes you had to change the subject.
And sometimes, apparently, you had to make a fool of yourself.
“B-Big sis!” I blurted.
Ha-rin blinked.
“...Yes?”
“I, uh… need you to take care of me!”
A terrible silence followed.
The ice in her eyes began to melt.
“Oh?”
A mischievous smile appeared.
“So you finally remember you have an older sister?”
“Hard to forget, considering the restraints.”
“You really should learn when to stop talking.”
“People have been telling me that all my life.”
She laughed, and for once it almost sounded normal.
Almost.
“Then be good,” she said, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “I might forgive you.”
I gave her the most innocent look I could manage.
Meanwhile, I was making three emergency plans at once.
The system offered no assistance whatsoever.
Ha-rin studied me, then smiled with the unmistakable promise of trouble.
“Actually,” she said, “I think my little brother deserves a punishment.”
Wonderful.
Phase three, then. Wonderful.