Chapter 358
Chapter 358
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 358
Chapter Title: A Vacation in Three Parts (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After that sweet yet savage dinner.
Oh-jin and Isabella headed to the Seoul Tower observatory.
The night view of Seoul unfolded beyond the window.
A brilliant sea of light filled the streets, as if the night sky had been turned upside down.
“It's beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is.”
What else was there to say?
To be honest, a city's night view was much the same whether in Seoul or Italy, leaving little room for any impression other than its beauty.
Oh-jin and Isabella sat on a nearby bench, silently gazing down at the nightscape through the large window.
They didn't exchange any words, but it didn't feel particularly awkward.
If anything, the quiet silence felt pleasant.
Sitting on the bench, the warmth from their gently held hands created a cozy, languid sense of happiness that words couldn't express.
“…Oh-jin.”
Breaking the quiet silence, Isabella spoke.
She turned to Oh-jin with a warm smile like a spring breeze.
“I had so much fun today.”
“…Today?”
The memories that came to mind were of Isabella ravenously devouring him with blood-red eyes, and of her shooting daggers at him over an iced Americano and a Hawaiian pizza.
“Was it… really fun?”
If he had to judge the date's success, wouldn't it be closer to a massive failure?
“Ah, just forget about what happened earlier.”
Isabella pouted and lightly pinched Oh-jin's side.
“Well… it wasn't the smooth date I'd expected, but I still enjoyed it.”
It was an ordinary day.
No, it was a day full of mistakes and regrets.
And that's precisely why this moment, holding hands with Oh-jin, felt all the more precious.
Nothing special, nothing unusual.
An utterly ordinary life.
“Before I met you, Oh-jin, I couldn't have imagined this even in my dreams.”
From her days as the heir of the Colagrande family to her time as an Executor of the Black Star Guild.
Her life until now had been far from ordinary.
Days plagued by a crushing pressure that felt like it would shatter her entire body and a vampiric impulse that seemed to dry up her very soul.
A life that felt like an eternal walk through a vast, arid desert.
“It's all… thanks to you, Oh-jin.”
In that barren life, an oasis named Oh-jin had appeared.
It quenched the parched earth, allowing vibrant flowers to bloom.
“Thanks to meeting you, Oh-jin, I was saved.”
Like a prince on a white horse from a fairy tale.
He had effortlessly solved all the problems that had been tearing her life apart.
“That's why, in a way, I'm also scared.”
“Scared?”
“Because I've only ever received so much from you.”
Isabella turned to Oh-jin with a faint smile.
He could feel her clasped hand trembling slightly.
“I'm envious of Ha-eun.”
“…Why bring up my sister all of a sudden?”
“Because you and she were irreplaceable to each other.”
Unlike herself, who had only ever received.
Ha-eun had been Oh-jin's 'purpose in life'.
“That's not—”
“You said the Oh-jin from your past life didn't know me, right?”
“Well… that's true.”
The Heavenly Demon didn't know about Isabella.
In the past life, she had succumbed to her vampiric impulse and become the Blood Witch.
“That makes me think that, to you, I might have been someone whose existence didn't matter in the first place.”
Just as Isabella had been a worthless existence to the Oh-jin of the past, not even worth remembering.
She wondered if she was, in fact, just as useless to the current Oh-jin.
No, it was a fact that she had actually been a hindrance to his life.
The reason Oh-jin had refused the Heavenly Demon's offer wasn't just to save Vega, but also to protect her, as she would disappear along with the Heavenly Demon's Black Heaven.
“If you hadn't met me, Oh-jin… maybe your life would have been at least a little easier.”
The fear that she might be a burden to Oh-jin gnawed at her like a moth.
That's why she envied Ha-eun.
Because in both the past and present life, she was an irreplaceable purpose for Oh-jin.
“That's not true.”
Even when Oh-jin denied it firmly, the expression on Isabella's face didn't soften.
“How can you say that when I've only ever caused you trouble?”
Just look at today.
To satisfy the desires boiling up from her vampirism, Oh-jin had been overworked for a full eight hours.
Even if it was to reach the 11th Star.
She had placed yet another burden on him, a man who repeated grueling training akin to asceticism every day.
‘This makes me….’
A literal leech, wasn't it.
A creature that lives by sucking the lifeblood of others.
A pest that provides no benefit, only exploits.
The thought that she had become such a pest to Oh-jin was unbearably terrifying.
Gulp.
A dry swallow went down Isabella's throat.
A sudden thirst tickled her throat.
“I-Is there anything you need? Anything you could ask of me….”
Isabella gripped Oh-jin's arm tightly and pressed herself closer.
Oh-jin watched her anxious, trembling eyes—as if she were being chased—with a bitter expression.
It wasn't hard to figure out what she was feeling right now.
‘My sister said the same thing once.’
A sense of debt that weighed down her entire body.
She must be feeling a thirst that dried up her throat, knowing she had nothing to give back to the benefactor who saved her life.
The timing was a bit sudden, but it was likely that emotions that had been building up for a while had just exploded.
Given the nature of their relationship, this sense of debt was almost inevitable.
‘One side provides an endless supply of blood, and the other is in the position of drinking it.’
As long as the act of vampirism existed, their relationship was akin to that of a predator and prey.
The problem, however, was that romantic feelings existed between the predator and prey.
In this case, the predator, the one in the position of exploiting, was bound to feel a sense of debt instead.
It was like the feeling a jobless husband who doesn't earn a penny might have watching his wife work herself to the bone.
It would be a different story if Isabella had the personality to brazenly ignore such a feeling of debt.
But for her, with her gentle heart, a one-sided relationship where one person had to sacrifice was nothing short of soul-crushing agony.
“I… I'll do anything. Anything you want, Oh-jin.”
Isabella looked at Oh-jin with feverish eyes.
He didn't know how the heartwarming date review—that today had been good despite some ups and downs—had turned into this.
From Oh-jin's perspective, there was only one thing he could, and had to, say.
“Then I want to touch your brea—”
No. Not that, fuck.
Ahem.
Oh-jin swallowed a dry cough and continued.
“Bella, there's one thing you're mistaken about.”
“…Mistaken?”
“The Heavenly Demon and I are different.”
If the Heavenly Demon's sole purpose in life was Ha-eun.
“My sister is precious, of course, but you and Vega are just as precious to me.”
To the point where the thought of replacing any of you is impossible.
The two women were already too deeply rooted in his life.
“So, don't ever say again that my life would have been easier if I hadn't met you.”
His relationship with Isabella wasn't about convenience or inconvenience.
There was no need to measure who gave and received more.
Her existence alone.
Was an unparalleled happiness for him.
“…Oh-jin.”
Isabella gently bit her lip and looked at Oh-jin.
Squeeze.
Hugging Oh-jin's arm, Isabella leaned her head on his shoulder and began to sob, her shoulders shaking.
“Look over there.”
“Did they have a fight?”
“Tsk, tsk. This is why couples are the worst.”
Seeing Isabella sobbing, he heard people around them whispering.
Although they had hidden their faces with an illusion, they couldn't completely conceal their actions.
“Let's head down.”
Oh-jin led the sniffling Isabella down from the tower.
The cool night air tickled their cheeks.
Oh-jin took Isabella to a nearby park, wiped the tears from her eyes with his hand, and asked.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Sniff… Yes, I've calmed down a bit.”
Isabella nodded and gave a sheepish smile.
“I guess my emotions got the better of me. I'm sorry for the trouble.”
“It's fine.”
Her long-pent-up emotions must have finally erupted.
‘She's surprisingly fragile in these moments.’
Isabella always exuded the aura of a composed queen.
But the person hidden inside was no different from a delicate young girl.
“…By the way, Oh-jin.”
Having wiped her tears, Isabella opened her eyes coyly and clung to Oh-jin.
“Hm?”
“What was it you said you wanted to touch earlier?”
“……”
Correction.
She was not a woman pure enough to be called a 'young girl'.
“Hmm. Let's see, the time is… still 9 PM.”
It was still too early to end the day.
“I've booked a nice hotel nearby… Shall we go?”
Isabella gave him a suggestive look.
Oh-jin shook his head, his face pale.
“No. We did plenty earlier…”
“I wasn't in my right mind then.”
That was less an act of confirming a couple's love and more like a starving beast tearing into its prey.
“You haven't forgotten what you said about me being just as precious as your sister, have you?”
“……”
Seeing Isabella stick out her tongue and smile cutely, Oh-jin let out a deep sigh.
At the sight of Oh-jin nodding, a wide smile bloomed on Isabella's lips.
“We're supposed to switch with Vega at 7 AM… so we still have 10 hours left!”
“…What about sleep?”
Aren't you going to sleep?
“It's fine to pull an all-nighter for one day!”
Isabella's eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky.
Faced with that gaze, gleaming with a desire so pure it was almost innocent, Oh-jin could only shut his mouth.
‘You called this a vacation!’
You said you'd let me rest…!
“Now, let's go, Oh-jin.”
Oh-jin was dragged to the hotel by Isabella.
* * *
And the next morning.
[It is I!]
With a sound effect like a fanfare, Vega appeared with her arms raised high.
[Did you enjoy your day off yester— Hmm?]
Vega tilted her head, looking at Oh-jin splayed out on the bed like a dried squid.
[What in the world happened yesterday?]
“…I don't even know.”
Oh-jin turned to Vega with hollow eyes framed by dark circles.
For some reason, he felt even more exhausted than when he was engrossed in training.
Still, he couldn't just lie sprawled on the bed and neglect his time with Vega.
“So, where do you want to go today?”
Oh-jin asked, groggily pushing himself up from the bed.
Vega placed her hands on her hips and exclaimed.
[The Sanctuary!]
“……”
Why there of all places?