Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Interlude - For a Yesterday Better Than Tomorrow (3)
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They say a late-blooming passion is the most intense.
Having tasted a sweet pleasure incomparable to anything else, the two of them desired each other whenever their eyes met, like a newly married couple.
When they woke in the morning and their eyes met.
When Oh-jin playfully wrapped his arms around Ha-eun’s back as she prepared a meal with her still-clumsy skills.
When Ha-eun, clad in a swimsuit, snuck into the bathroom while Oh-jin was showering first.
They spent their days in a haze of intimacy, making love all day long, to the point where they couldn't imagine how they had ever lived without being together.
‘It’s not like we have anything else to do, anyway.’
Normally, he would have focused on checking and mastering the new abilities and powers he’d gained from Heukcheon’s seventh bloom.
But now, the internal injuries that were already severe had worsened from his battle with the Living Armor, forcing him to focus on recovery.
‘Lee Woo-hyeok and Isabella took care of the report for this incident, anyway.’
Isabella had showered him with complaints for disappearing without a word.
But he had managed to smooth things over with the excuse that his internal injuries were so severe he had to get treatment immediately.
‘I need to rest for now.’
Hadn't his long-held love for Ha-eun finally come to fruition?
He wanted to spend some leisurely time with her while healing his injuries.
“Oh-jin, want to watch a movie together?”
“A movie?”
Having lived a poor and harsh life, he had rarely had the chance to watch movies.
But Ha-eun had recently ordered a new 75-inch TV, so they could watch one anytime they wanted.
“What should we watch?”
“I heard that show, Squid Game? is really good these days.”
“Isn’t that a drama, not a movie?”
He had heard about it on the news since it was a global hit.
“Oh, is it? Well, whatever, let’s watch it together!”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled as she pulled on Oh-jin’s arm.
Oh-jin chuckled and nodded.
“Heehee! Then let’s order chicken first! Chicken!”
Ha-eun lifted her smartphone with an excited expression.
After the chicken they ordered arrived, the two sat on the living room sofa and turned on the TV.
“Ah~”
Pressed so close their thighs were touching, Ha-eun opened her mouth like a baby bird waiting for its mother to feed it.
Dressed precariously in dolphin shorts that revealed her long, slender legs and a single loose white t-shirt, the sight of Ha-eun closing her eyes and opening her mouth filled his head with all sorts of wicked thoughts.
Oh-jin swallowed hard and picked up a piece of fried chicken, offering it to her.
“Hehe. It’s delicious.”
Ha-eun accepted the chicken, her lips moving as she chewed.
The way her cheeks puffed out as she ate was so adorable it couldn't be described even with hundreds of pages of writing.
“Have some more.”
Oh-jin held the chicken box right next to him and fed her pieces one by one.
After feeding her two drumsticks and a wing.
Ha-eun, who had been contentedly accepting the chicken with her arms wrapped around Oh-jin's, suddenly snapped to her senses.
“Oh-jin, you have to eat too.”
“This father is full just from watching his daughter eat.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ha-eun giggled and rummaged through the chicken pieces in the box.
“Hmm. There are no drumsticks left.”
*That’s because you ate them all, noona.*
*No, to be precise, I fed them to you.*
“Since there are no drumsticks, want to eat this instead?”
Ha-eun stretched out her long, slender, bare leg and propped it on Oh-jin’s thigh.
He could vividly feel the texture of her smooth leg.
“…It’s a bit big for a chicken leg.”
Oh-jin lightly patted her leg resting on his thigh.
*Slap, slap.*
A faint smile formed on his lips whenever he saw her right foot, which was attached so perfectly it was impossible to tell when it had been severed.
“So, you’re not going to eat it?”
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Heehee. Why not like last night, with a slurp, slurp of your tongue…”
“Ahem.”
*This noona has no filter.*
Frowning, he lightly tickled Ha-eun’s leg.
Ha-eun, who was weak to tickling, squirmed and pulled her leg away.
“It’s fine, I can just eat something other than a drumstick.”
Just as Oh-jin said that and reached for a dry piece of breast meat.
“Ah, wait a sec!”
Ha-eun shot up and trotted toward the front door.
She opened the door and came back in, swinging a plastic bag.
“I actually ordered another one~”
Ha-eun raised her nose as if to boast and placed another box of chicken on the table.
This time, it was sweet and spicy glazed chicken.
“Here, ah~”
Ha-eun picked up a piece of the glazed chicken and held it out to Oh-jin.
Oh-jin let out a soft laugh and took a bite of the drumstick she offered.
The sweet sauce, crispy coating, and tender meat created a fantastic harmony that ravaged his mouth.
‘This is damn good.’
Thinking back on how he had survived for years on nothing but calorie bars made him shudder.
“It’s good, right?”
Ha-eun beamed, sucking the sauce from her fingers.
Oh-jin took out a tissue and wiped her saliva-covered fingers as he nodded.
“It’s so good it makes me feel wronged for not being able to eat this until now.”
He didn't even have to go back years.
Just a year and a few months ago, chicken was a luxury he couldn't even dream of.
Ha-eun smiled softly and leaned her head on Oh-jin’s shoulder.
“You can eat plenty from now on.”
She tilted her head up slightly, whispering in his ear with a ticklish breath.
“Like me.”
“……”
The sweet voice flowing into his ear made Oh-jin’s expression harden.
The intense urge he felt several times a day flared up like a fire.
‘Seriously, this noona…’
They had played around like this occasionally before.
But it felt like the intensity of her teasing had skyrocketed since they started sleeping together.
Oh-jin was about to forget the chicken and everything else, reaching for her, driven by the burning impulse.
“Heehee. Let’s start the drama.”
As if to tease him, Ha-eun nimbly pressed the play button on the remote.
The drama began to play on the TV.
Oh-jin leaned back against the sofa with a look of defeat.
“Ugh… the story is kind of giving me PTSD.”
Ha-eun, who was watching the drama with her head on Oh-jin’s shoulder, frowned.
The show was about debt-ridden participants who joined a bizarre murder game and struggled desperately.
The pain and despair of ‘poverty’ vividly portrayed in the drama brought back old memories.
“It’s pretty good, though.”
“Yeah, it is.”
At first, he had wondered what could be so interesting about such a mundane story in a world where monsters roamed the streets and Awakeners were rampant.
But as expected of a globally popular drama, it was incredibly immersive and entertaining.
“The setting in that world doesn't have monsters or anything, right?”
“Probably not.”
“Watching this really makes me realize how our world has become more fictional than fiction.”
Ha-eun rested her head on Oh-jin’s lap and stretched out on the sofa.
Feeling the soft texture of her cheek, he gently stroked her hair with his hand.
“Haa… this is nice. This kind of thing.”
Lying with her head on Oh-jin’s lap, leisurely sipping a can of beer while watching a drama.
He was so happy it made him worry if he truly deserved such bliss.
“Oh-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“……”
The words came so suddenly they felt out of place.
Oh-jin’s hand, which had been stroking Ha-eun’s hair, flinched.
Ha-eun, who was rubbing her cheek against Oh-jin’s thigh, curled her lips into a smirk.
“Something hard is pressing against the back of my head.”
“Shut up.”
Ha-eun burst into giggles and turned over.
Lying on his lap, she looked up at Oh-jin.
“Aren't you watching the drama?”
“Watching you is more fun than any drama.”
“My face is quite a sight to behold.”
Whenever he looked in the mirror after a shower, he would think, ‘I’m pretty handsome, aren’t I?’
“No, I mean you look ridiculously funny.”
“What the hell?”
“Just kidding, you idiot.”
Ha-eun giggled again, then reached up and wrapped her arms around Oh-jin’s neck.
She gently pulled his head down and pressed her lips against his.
“……”
“……”
A silence fell between them.
It wasn't an unpleasant or awkward silence.
Oh-jin gently stroked the forehead of Ha-eun, who was lying with her head in his lap.
Not everything was resolved yet.
In fact, there were more unresolved issues than resolved ones.
Even though he had fixed her eyes and leg.
Countless groups threatened their peaceful life.
Heukcheon, Vega, the Regressor, the Heukseonghoe, the Snake.
Countless problems swirled in his mind, too many to even count.
‘But for now.’
He wanted to enjoy this moment to the fullest.
This precious time that another version of himself from the past—no, the future—would have yearned for so desperately.
*Don’t let it disappear.*
*Don’t let it be erased.*
*Like yesterday, like today.*
He prayed earnestly that when he opened his eyes tomorrow, she would still be sleeping beside him.
“…Should we go?”
Ha-eun asked, glancing toward the bedroom.
Without needing to say who went first, they both got up and headed to the bedroom.
In the empty living room, only the leftover chicken and the light from the TV glowed like a star in the night sky.
***
On a street cloaked in a viscous darkness.
A woman was strolling through a pier where crumpled containers lay scattered.
Platinum blonde hair cascaded down to her waist.
The woman, her slender, girlish frame wrapped in a jet-black dress, walked at a leisurely pace.
*Rustle, rustle.*
The hem of her long dress, which reached the floor, brushed against the overgrown weeds, making a sound like a snake slithering through the brush.
“This is a restricted area.”
An Awakener from the Cheonhye Guild, who was standing guard near the pier, approached her.
She stared blankly at the guild member blocking her path, then flicked her finger.
“What do you think you’re…”
*Thump.*
The Cheonhye Guild member, who had been frowning and trying to stop the approaching woman, saw his eyes glaze over as he collapsed.
The woman walked past the fallen guild members and entered the pier.
“Hmm. It’s broken, isn’t it?”
A sensual smile played on her lips as she looked down at the half-melted black armor.
“Hm?”
The woman’s eyes widened as she nudged the melted armor with the black shoe peeking out from under her dress.
“Oh my, oh my, oh dear?”
As if she couldn't understand.
The woman prodded the black armor over and over.
“Ha. Haha.”
Soon, what escaped the woman’s lips was a laugh filled with madness.
“Kyahahahahahahahahat!!!”
A maniacal laugh echoed through the dark pier.
The woman, smiling in ecstasy, trembled as if writhing in pleasure.
“I found it, I found it, I found it. I found it. I found it. I found it. I found it!”
A long red tongue, reaching down to her chest, flickered like a dancing flame.
“Ahhh—so this is where you were. My god.”
She licked her lips with her long tongue and spread her arms wide as if to embrace the black sky.