Chapter 271
Chapter 271
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 271
Chapter Title: Greed and Love (3)
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Her hot breath tickled his lips.
Amidst the soft sensation that stole his reason, Oh-jin furrowed his brow slightly.
“What did you just say?”
That I would set Ha-eun aside and make her my ‘first’?
His memory was blank, as if shrouded by dark storm clouds.
What on earth happened in that Ferris wheel for him to have made such an absurd promise?
“You said it yourself, didn't you, Oh-jin? Just because the memory is gone doesn't mean it didn't happen.”
Isabella continued, her eyes glistening with fiery desire.
“You definitely told me… that I was more precious to you than Ha-eun.”
“……”
Me?
I said Isabella was more precious than Ha-eun?
“Of course, you did say that didn't mean you could break up with Ha-eun and date me. I decided to respect your opinion on that matter.”
The more Isabella spoke, the more tangled his thoughts became.
What Isabella was saying now was as if…
“Instead, you told me that I would always be your ‘first’.”
Right.
Didn't that sound like he had stronger feelings for Isabella than for Ha-eun?
No, it wasn't just that it sounded that way. Those were words that couldn't have been said unless he truly had stronger romantic feelings for Isabella.
‘Did I… really say that?’
Could it be that other memories, not just the ones from the Ferris wheel, had disappeared too?
Of course, it wasn't that he had no feelings for her.
It was an incredibly selfish thought, but there had been times he'd wanted both Ha-eun and Isabella.
But to think he had prioritized Isabella, pushing Ha-eun, his current girlfriend, to the side.
Based on the memories he had left, it was a choice he simply couldn't comprehend.
“So, Oh-jin.”
Isabella gazed at Oh-jin with moist, teary eyes.
Her soft touch slithered down Oh-jin's cheek like a snake, groping his chest.
A sweet temptation that threatened to shatter his reason.
“Please, love me more.”
Swallowing the words ‘more than her,’ Isabella exhaled a hot breath.
Her chest throbbed with guilt.
The fact that she was whispering such lies to him, a man who had paid the terrible price of memory loss to protect her.
The fact that, far from healing his wounds, she was greedily sucking the blood that seeped from them like a leech.
It sliced through her heart like a sharp mandoline.
‘You piece of trash.’
Self-loathing boiled within her.
To think this dirty, vile lie was her repayment for his goodwill, kindness, and sacrifice.
Just as her sister had said, she was a greedy, covetous person.
One who couldn't live without taking what belonged to others.
‘It's not too late.’
She could just burst out laughing and say it was a joke, that there was no way Oh-jin would have made such a promise.
Then she wouldn't have to see Oh-jin's expression, twisted with the dissonance of his lost memories.
But.
“…Surely not.”
But, but, but.
“You aren't going to break your promise now, are you, Oh-jin…?”
Desire is the most effective medicine for wounds festering with guilt.
The pain in her lacerated heart was soon overwhelmed by boiling desire, transforming into an almost ticklish pleasure.
“…Isabella.”
“But I… I gave you my everything, Oh-jin.”
“W-Wait a minute. What do you mean, you gave me everything?”
“……”
A transparent tear trickled down Isabella's cheek.
She clasped her hands over her heart and continued in a sorrowful voice.
“You… you took my first time.”
“…What?”
His thoughts ground to a halt.
Did that mean he had slept with Isabella behind Ha-eun's back?
“W-Wait. When exactly?”
The memories that were presumed to be completely gone were from inside the Ferris wheel.
To be precise, the memories of his date with her at the amusement park that day.
He wouldn't have had his first time with her outdoors during a date at an amusement park, so what she was talking about must be ‘another’ memory.
“I see… you've forgotten that memory as well.”
Isabella looked at Oh-jin with sad eyes.
Without answering Oh-jin's question of ‘when’, Isabella bit her lip tightly.
“I kept believing in your promise to love me more…”
“……”
“Have you… forgotten everything?”
Isabella's head dropped as if she were collapsing.
Oh-jin watched her, feeling as though his heart was burning to a crisp.
Of course, Isabella could be lying to him right now.
But, as he had experienced with Ha-eun.
He couldn't feel any sense of wrongness about the memories lost to Gaecheon.
Just as he had accepted the fact that he and Ha-eun weren't a couple as if it were ‘natural’.
It meant that his feelings for Isabella now might be completely different from what they were before he used Gaecheon.
If that was the case.
If everything Isabella was saying was true.
What in the world was he supposed to do?
“You don't have to think so hard about it.”
Had she noticed Oh-jin's agitation?
Isabella's eyes shone as she caressed his cheek.
“No matter how jealous I get, I'm not ignorant of how important you and Ha-eun are to each other.”
She whispered in a voice as sweet as melting honey.
“Just love me a little more, just a tiny bit more than Ha-eun… cherish me, and that will be enough for me.”
The corners of Isabella's lips crept up slightly.
The thought, *It worked,* flashed through her mind.
Knowing Oh-jin's personality, it would be difficult for him to refuse her offer, especially after they had supposedly slept together.
Of course, her body bore no trace of her virginity being broken.
That was something she could easily create herself.
The pain of tearing flesh was nothing compared to what she stood to gain afterward.
Isabella waited for his answer, her eyes burning with passion.
After a moment of deliberation, Oh-jin finally spoke in a low voice.
“…I'm sorry.”
Oh-jin chewed on his lip and shook his head.
It wasn't that he had no feelings for her.
The relationship with Isabella, born from chasing Lee Shin-hyeok's memories, had become a precious bond he didn't want to lose.
But if his greed meant he had to push Ha-eun aside.
If it meant hurting her.
“The most precious person to me is Ha-eun.”
Even if it meant ruining his relationship with Isabella.
He had to prioritize Ha-eun.
“I don't know what my feelings were before I lost my memories.”
He continued, bowing his head like a sinner.
“But at least for now… I don't want to hurt her because of my own selfishness.”
“…Oh-jin.”
“As for… taking your first time, I'll take responsibility for it somehow.”
Though he had no idea what he could possibly do to take responsibility.
“…I'm sorry.”
“……”
Isabella looked at Oh-jin with trembling eyes.
“Hah.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Isabella shook her head as if she couldn't win.
“I suppose it can't be helped. Then I'll be satisfied with being second…”
“No.”
Oh-jin shook his head.
It wasn't something to say right after promising to take responsibility, but he didn't want to just let it slide with a 'if not first, then second is fine' kind of deal.
“That would be no different from insulting your feelings.”
For Ha-eun's sake, and for Isabella's sake.
It was right to abandon the selfish desire of not wanting to lose either of them.
If he didn't cut it off cleanly this time, things like this would just keep happening.
‘I don't know how many more times I'll have to use Gaecheon in the future.’
Memories hold emotions.
If his emotions were to get jumbled up every time a memory disappeared.
A messy relationship like this was bound to end in disaster.
“Let's keep some distance from now on. Until we can both sort out our feelings.”
At a time when he needed to prepare to go to the Demon Realm, distancing himself from Isabella, a key player in his party, was a critical blow.
But he didn't want to jump into a life-or-death battlefield carrying an unresolved emotional bomb.
To think he'd be in the position of telling a woman he'd supposedly slept with that they needed to sort out their feelings—even if it was unavoidable.
Oh-jin looked at Isabella, bracing himself to be slapped across the face.
However, contrary to Oh-jin's expectation, the emotion that surfaced in her eyes was not anger.
“…Huh?”
Her eyes widened.
Looking as pale as if she'd just seen a scene from a horror movie, Isabella rose from the bed.
Isabella got off the bed, stumbling precariously as if she might fall.
She trembled, muttering as if she had lost her mind.
“Th-This… isn't right. Th-This isn't supposed to happen.”
Her blue pupils, which had sparkled beautifully even in the darkness, constricted.
She stared at Oh-jin with lifeless eyes and staggered backward.
“Y-You said you didn't want to lose either of us. Th-Then why?”
“…Isabella?”
“N-No. Th-This wasn't what I meant to happen. I, I just…”
*Crack.*
Isabella curled into a ball, neurotically biting her fingernails.
Blood seeped out from under her broken nail.
“Somehow. I have to do something…”
Isabella's head shot up, and she quickly turned around.
*Slam!*
Before Oh-jin could stop her, Isabella kicked the door open and ran out as if fleeing.
“What in the…”
Oh-jin stared at the wide-open hospital room door, dumbfounded.
Did his words about sorting out their feelings really shock her that much?
“…Hah.”
Oh-jin let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face.
Wasn't there a saying that you can know the depths of the water but not the depths of a person's heart?
It was hard to understand why Isabella was reacting like someone who had lost her soul.
‘I have one guess, though.’
As his thoughts continued, Oh-jin frowned and shook his head.
The memories lost due to the aftereffects of Gaecheon were too significant to make any rash judgments.
And it was a guess that could deeply wound Isabella if he was wrong.
“For now… I'll have to talk to her more.”
To think something like this would happen when he had a mountain of problems to solve, like the Heavenly Demon and the kings of the Demon Realm.
Oh-jin frowned as if his head was starting to ache.
*Step, step.*
Just then, footsteps echoed from the hallway beyond the wide-open door.
‘Isabella?’
Oh-jin quickly got out of bed and put on his slippers.
“Hello, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Contrary to Oh-jin's expectation, the person who entered the room was not Isabella.
A handsome young man with impressively cold eyes.
One of Deneb's 12 Apostles and a member of the 'Chilseong'.
Mugokseong, Allen Oscar, walked into the hospital room.
“I heard you were attacked by the 'Serpent', but I'm relieved to see you aren't seriously injured.”
Allen offered Oh-jin the fruit basket he was holding and gave a faint smile.