Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 350
Chapter Title: Starlight (2)
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A high-rise apartment near Hapjeong Station.
Originally a place of just over 700 square feet, expansion work had transformed it into a spacious home of over 1,700 square feet. The door to Oh-jin House swung open for the first time in months.
“I’m hoooome!”
Ha-eun threw her arms up, kicked off her shoes, and practically flew inside.
“Hnngh~ Haaah. The familiar smell of this sofa.”
Sprawled on her stomach on the living room sofa, Ha-eun hugged a cushion (the one Oh-jin usually used) like a body pillow, wriggling happily.
Oh-jin watched her dramatics with a small chuckle.
He wasn’t as ecstatic as Ha-eun, but his spirits were high as well.
“It feels good to be home.”
Is this what it feels like to come home after being stationed overseas for months?
The events in the Demon Realm flashed through his mind like a panorama, a smile spreading across his lips.
“Let’s unpack tomorrow and get some rest today.”
Setting down the dimensional expansion backpack that had been nothing short of a carry for this trip, he took off his gear and placed it in a corner of the living room.
A wave of fatigue washed over him, the relief of being home making his body feel like it was melting.
“I think I need to step out for a bit.”
“Where to?”
“Roberto contacted me earlier. There are a few urgent matters that need to be dealt with.”
“Ah.”
Given that the Colagrande family ran dozens of businesses, the work must have piled up in her absence.
“Still, you don’t have to work the moment you get back, do you?”
“I’ll only handle the most urgent things and come back. Let’s have dinner together.”
Isabella came closer and gently kissed Oh-jin on the cheek.
“Mm.”
This made him feel like some kind of kept man, lazing around while his wife brought home the bacon.
“I’ll see you this evening then, Oh-jin.”
“Yeah. Oh, Ha-eun and I will get dinner ready, so take your time.”
“…With her?”
Isabella looked down at Ha-eun, who was still rolling around on the sofa, her eyes full of doubt.
Ha-eun, still hugging the cushion, turned over.
“I can cook, you know.”
“Anyone *can* cook.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“No.”
At the blunt reply, Ha-eun curled up like a shrimp with a dejected look on her face.
“…So mean.”
“Haha, I’m just kidding. I’ll look forward to dinner, then.”
Isabella gave the crestfallen Ha-eun a pat on the shoulder before heading out.
Only Ha-eun and Oh-jin remained in the living room.
Ha-eun patted the spot next to her on the sofa, gesturing for Oh-jin to sit.
As soon as he sat, she naturally placed her two slender legs on his thighs and lay back down.
“It’s been a while since it was just the two of us.”
“It has.”
Oh-jin leaned back against the sofa and began to gently massage Ha-eun’s legs on his lap.
Ha-eun shivered with a look of pure bliss, as if she were melting.
“Haaah. Right there, right there. A little harder.”
“Could you please refrain from saying things that could be easily misunderstood?”
Anyone overhearing this would think they were doing something other than a massage.
“Hmm? Misunderstood how?”
Ha-eun tilted her head, then her eyes lit up in understanding, a deep smile gracing her lips.
She gently rubbed Oh-jin’s thigh with her heel, her gaze turning heated.
“Then we can just make it so it’s not a misunderstanding, can’t we?”
“…Let’s just rest today.”
“Aish, tsk. Then get your hands off me, you jerk.”
*Get my hands off what?*
He shot her a look of disbelief, and Ha-eun turned her back with a prim expression.
Oh-jin chuckled and picked up a nearby remote.
“Should I turn on the TV?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Facing away from him, Ha-eun stared silently at the blank screen before speaking cautiously.
“…Oh-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“Um… you told us about Cheonma before.”
“……”
On the way back to Earth after things had concluded in Niflheim.
Oh-jin had revealed all the facts he had been hiding from Ha-eun and Isabella.
About Black Heaven, about the Regressor, about Cheonma’s identity and purpose, and so on.
*They were both pretty shocked.*
Though not as much as Vega.
Both Ha-eun and Isabella had glared at him, their expressions angry, as if asking why he had hidden such things.
He had barely been able to speak with the two women for several days on the way back, but thankfully, they had forgiven him before they returned to Earth.
*The situation was a little different from Vega’s.*
Unlike Vega, whom he had deceived about everything, Ha-eun and Isabella already knew a certain amount about his identity.
Thanks to that, or perhaps because of it, the shock they received was likely less severe than Vega’s.
Especially in Ha-eun’s case, since she already knew he possessed Black Heaven and was pretending to be a Regressor.
“So, you’re saying there are two of you right now?”
Ha-eun turned back around, looking up at Oh-jin from her lying position on the sofa.
Oh-jin gave a quiet nod in response.
“That’s right.”
The Oh-jin of the past life and the Oh-jin of the present.
Though the lives they had lived and their methods were different.
It was a fact that two Oh-jins existed simultaneously in the same timeline.
“Hmm. Two Oh-jins…”
Ha-eun wiggled her legs on his thighs, her voice trailing off.
Then, as if a great idea had struck her, her eyes sparkled and she snapped her fingers.
“Should we share?”
*Share what, you crazy woman?*
“Look at you, getting all serious right away. It was a joke, you idiot.”
Ha-eun burst out laughing, poking Oh-jin’s side with her toes.
“…What do you think?”
“Hm? About what?”
“About there being another me.”
“Oh, that?”
Ha-eun rested her head on her clasped hands and hummed thoughtfully.
“To be honest, even if there is another you, it doesn’t feel real. I’ve never seen him or spoken to him.”
“That’s true.”
If the roles were reversed and someone told him that the Ha-eun from his past life was alive now, he’d probably only think, ‘Ah, is that so?’ and nothing more.
“Well, I’ll admit I felt a bit sorry for him when I heard the story…”
Ha-eun slowly sat up on the sofa and gently rested her head on Oh-jin’s shoulder.
A pleasant scent tickled his nose.
With a faint smile, Ha-eun wrapped her arms around his.
“But I’ll stay with you, Oh-jin.”
She knew from what Oh-jin had told her that Cheonma had endured terrible pain and countless sacrifices for her sake.
Honestly, she did feel a pang of sympathy.
But.
The current ‘Oh-jin’ was already too deeply rooted in her heart for her to choose the other man out of mere pity.
“…But Cheonma would be devoted to you and only you.”
“Hmm. Now that you mention it, that does make you seem a little despicable.”
Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed as she pinched Oh-jin’s side.
“The Oh-jin from the past life is happy with just me, but a certain someone seems like he won’t be satisfied until he has three wives and four concubines.”
“That’s…”
Honestly, he had no excuse for that part.
As Oh-jin hung his head with a dejected expression, Ha-eun burst into a fit of giggles.
She moved the hand that was pinching his side to gently rub his stomach as she continued.
“Still, I prefer a man like you who takes responsibility for all his precious people, rather than a guy who wouldn’t care if everyone else died as long as he had me.”
“…Ha-eun.”
“Aigoo. My cute Oh-jin, were you scared I might leave you?”
Ha-eun cupped his cheeks, playfully stretching them out.
“We promised, didn’t we? That we’d always be together from now on.”
“……”
The rigid line of Oh-jin’s lips softened at Ha-eun’s beaming smile.
However.
“…So, what are you going to do about Vega?”
At Ha-eun’s subsequent question, Oh-jin’s expression hardened once more.
Vega.
The thought of her made his chest feel tight, as if a storm cloud had gathered within.
“I have to go see her. To the Sanctuary.”
He had heard she’d sealed the temple doors shut, but he couldn’t just sit around and wait for her to come out.
“Well, I’m sure Vega will understand. She likes you too, you know.”
“…You knew?”
“I mean, how could I not? She makes it so obvious.”
It didn’t take a woman’s intuition or anything; one look at the way Vega gazed at Oh-jin was enough to know she harbored feelings for him.
“Haaah. I never thought you’d end up seducing a Constellation of all things.”
Ha-eun pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
She climbed onto Oh-jin’s lap, pushing him down onto the sofa.
“Wait, Ha-eun!”
“This won’t do, my Oh-jin. The more I think about it, the more despicable you seem. You need to be punished.”
She was going to let him rest for a bit since he said he was tired.
But the more they talked, the angrier she got, and she couldn't stay still.
“Until I’m not angry anymore… you know what to do, right?”
“Kngh.”
He had brought this upon himself, so how could he refuse?
Oh-jin swallowed hard and pulled the woman on top of him closer, his hands gripping her waist tightly.
* * *
“Hoo.”
The next day.
Arriving at the Sanctuary, Oh-jin let out a deep sigh.
His steps toward the temple felt as heavy as lead.
*How am I supposed to apologize?*
The thought of the betrayal Vega must have felt weighed on his chest like a stone.
“…First, I have to see her.”
Standing here worrying about it wouldn’t solve anything.
Oh-jin ascended the Sanctuary, following the path that stretched out like the Milky Way.
Vega’s temple was located on the highest level of the Sanctuary.
Of the three branching paths, he walked up the one leading to the Temple of Vega.
“……”
Just as Allen had said, the temple doors were shut tight.
Oh-jin stood before them, biting his lip.
With a clenched fist, he knocked carefully on the temple door.
“…Vega.”
No answer.
*Knock, knock.*
He knocked again, a little harder this time.
“Vega, I need to talk to you.”
*Vwooom.*
He saw the tightly sealed temple doors begin to open slightly.
A sigh of relief escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
*BAAAM!*
“Keuk!”
A powerful impact sent Oh-jin’s body flying backward like a cannonball.
The shock was so intense it felt like his organs had been scrambled.
Oh-jin clutched his stomach where the excruciating pain was radiating from and lifted his head.
“…Lyark?”
“……”
The one who had opened the temple door was a wolf with a silver mane.
Lyark looked down at Oh-jin with ice-cold eyes and spoke.
“After using Lady Vega for your own convenience all this time, how dare you shamelessly ask for the door to be opened.”
His frigid voice was thick with condensed fury.
Oh-jin staggered to his feet and said.
“…I have something I want to say to Vega.”
“Something you want to say?”
Lyark scoffed and approached the fallen Oh-jin.
“Lady Vega has said she has nothing more to discuss with you.”
“……”
“Get lost.”
Instead of answering, Oh-jin took a step toward the temple.
“Right… I knew you’d react this way.”
Lyark twisted his lips into a vicious snarl, baring his white teeth.
“If you truly wish to see Lady Vega.”
*Crack, crunch!*
With the sickening sound of shifting bones, Lyark’s body transformed into that of a werewolf.
“You’ll have to go through me, brat.”
The beast’s eyes, glistening with killing intent, were fixed on Oh-jin.