Chapter 364
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 364
Chapter Title: Interlude – The End of the Vacation
Like someone who'd found an oasis in the desert, Oh-jin's eyes welled up, but he soon cleared his throat with a cough and shook his head.
“No, still... it's a vacation. Not going anywhere at all is...”
Hadn't he just sworn a few minutes ago that he wouldn't disappoint Ha-eun?
He couldn't ruin his precious vacation with Ha-eun just because he was tired.
“Forget it, you punk. Your face is all gaunt. Go where?”
Ha-eun chuckled and gently stroked Oh-jin's head.
Moving closer to Oh-jin, Ha-eun rested her head on his shoulder.
“Besides, I like lazing around at home like this the most.”
Going somewhere with a nice atmosphere or eating something delicious was great, but...
Just sitting on the sofa, doing nothing, and idly wasting time had its own charm.
“A staycation, I guess? Yeah, it’s something like that.”
“This is a house, not a hotel.”
“Well, compared to the place we used to live, isn't this a hotel?”
“Well... I guess you're right.”
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh, recalling the tiny, moldy studio apartment.
Thinking back now, it felt like so much time had passed that he could barely remember it.
But just a few years ago, he had lived with Ha-eun in that tiny, cramped room.
...
The days of desperately struggling, taking care of Ha-eun who had lost an eye and a leg.
Comparing then and now, he was struck by how much his life had changed.
“Oh-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“...Are you happy now?”
Her voice trembled with a hint of anxiety.
Oh-jin gently pulled Ha-eun, who was leaning on his shoulder, closer by the waist and nodded.
“Yeah.”
More than I could ever be.
Infinitely.
So happy that every night, I worry I might be in a long dream.
He was happy.
“Really?”
At his unhesitating reply, a soft smile spread across Ha-eun's lips.
Heave-ho.
Ha-eun lifted her head from Oh-jin's shoulder and sat up.
She pushed against Oh-jin's chest, who was sitting on the sofa, and spread his legs apart.
“Scoot back a bit, you.”
“What are you doing?”
“Since we're relaxing at home, I'm gonna take the premium seat.”
Before he could ask what she meant by 'premium seat,' Ha-eun quickly sat down between his legs, leaning her back against him.
Now in a position where he was hugging Ha-eun from behind, Oh-jin frowned at the back of her head, which completely filled his vision.
“This is super uncomfortable.”
“It's fine, because I'm comfortable.”
“No, this kind of thing only looks good if I'm tall or you're short. What is this?”
Oh-jin was slightly taller than the average adult male, while Ha-eun was taller than most models.
When she wore heels, she was even taller than him.
With someone as tall as Ha-eun squeezing between his legs and leaning against him like a backrest, the position was incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.
“Alright, now just put your hands on my waist.”
Wrapping Oh-jin's arms around her waist like a seatbelt, Ha-eun leaned against her backrest (Oh-jin) with a look of pure comfort.
“Ahh, so soft and comfy. Perfect.”
Unlike Ha-eun, who murmured in a drowsy voice as if soaking in a hot spring, Oh-jin was having the most uncomfortable time of his life, his face buried in her auburn hair.
“Ahem.”
Despite his obstructed view, there was the feeling of Ha-eun's back against his chest, and the touch of her skin transmitted through the arm wrapped around her waist.
Especially since Ha-eun was wearing a very revealing outfit of dolphin shorts and a crop top, the sensation of their skin touching was all the more vivid.
“Oh my~? It’s not just soft and comfy, is it?”
“Shut up.”
How could he maintain his composure in this situation?
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and tickled Ha-eun's side.
“Kyaa! S-Stop it, you punk!”
He could feel Ha-eun thrashing about, her legs kicking wildly.
“Haa, haa. You son of a... ”
Breathing heavily with tears in her eyes, Ha-eun slapped Oh-jin's thigh.
“How dare you lay a hand on me, you cheeky brat?”
“You started it.”
“Still, you!”
Their huffing and bickering was brief.
Once she had calmed down, Ha-eun pulled Oh-jin's arms back around her waist and grinned.
“This is nice too.”
“Yeah, it is.”
A feeling of happiness so intense it felt like he was melting spread through him.
Ha-eun gently placed her hand over Oh-jin's arm on her waist and began to speak.
“...Oh-jin.”
“Hm?”
After hesitating for a moment, her lips parting and closing, Ha-eun spoke cautiously.
“This time... what memory did you lose?”
A heavy silence fell.
Ha-eun's anxious gaze was fixed on Oh-jin.
Oh-jin gently took her trembling hand and bit his lip.
“I don't know.”
“...You don't know?”
“Yeah.”
Because the memories carved out by Heukcheon left no sense of wrongness, it was hard for him to figure out what had disappeared.
“You remember that you and I are dating, right?”
“Of course I do.”
If he had forgotten that, he wouldn't have done something as crazy as splitting his vacation into three parts to meet a different lover each day.
Ha-eun nodded and continued.
“The place where I got my eye fixed?”
“The Yongsan Auction House.”
“Hmm. What about my leg?”
“With the elixir I got after fighting Deneb's Apostles.”
The memories of that day remained clear in his mind, not swallowed by Heukcheon's dark clouds.
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Ha-eun crossed her legs, rested her chin on her hand, and fell into thought.
After a moment of thought, Ha-eun snapped her fingers as if she'd remembered something.
“What about our first time... after you lost your memories before?”
“I remember.”
“Too bad.”
What do you mean, 'too bad'?
“Still, it seems like you remember most of the important stuff.”
“That's why I'm saying I don't know what memory disappeared.”
A deep sigh escaped Oh-jin's lips.
If a major memory had vanished, like when he'd forgotten he and Ha-eun were lovers, he would at least have felt a sense of wrongness. But this time, he had no idea what was gone, and it was frustrating.
'Just what memory...'
Even going back through his memories to when he first met Ha-eun, there were no gaps obvious enough to feel out of place.
To disappear without even knowing what memory was lost.
It brought a suffocating fear to Oh-jin.
What if all his memories disappeared like this?
Without feeling any sense of wrongness, without even realizing the blank spaces.
One by one.
Like sinking into a swamp.
The very existence of 'Oh-jin' being erased—
“Jeez, you punk. Did you shit your pants or something? Why the serious face?”
Ha-eun flicked Oh-jin's forehead as he was lost in thought, biting his lip.
*Thwack!*
A sharp sound echoed as a stinging pain spread across his forehead.
“...What was that for?”
As Oh-jin rubbed his forehead and glared, Ha-eun cackled and shrugged.
“Well, since nothing feels off while we're talking, it must not have been a very important memory. No need to get so serious about it, right?”
“That's...”
“Listen, brat, I can't even remember what I ate yesterday.”
“Isn't that dementia at this point?”
“Wanna die?”
Ha-eun pulled Oh-jin's cheek hard, a fierce look on her face.
A quiet, dry laugh escaped Oh-jin's lips.
Her words were rough, but he knew it was her way of trying to comfort him.
“Speaking of which, I've really forgotten a lot of old memories. That... where did we first meet again?”
“On the orphanage rooftop.”
“Ah, right!”
Ha-eun clapped her hands and nodded.
Recalling the old memory, Ha-eun tilted her head and asked.
“But what did we talk about back then?”
“That...”
He traced back his memories.
The memory of when he first met Ha-eun.
The memory of the boy's shabby secret base on the rooftop, and the girl who entered it.
-Let's see... If it's a secret base, you don't just let anyone in, right?
-I wouldn't even let my mom and dad in. Never.
He couldn't remember the girl's face, but...
He still remembered the words she'd said with a bright smile.
-Even if Mom and Dad can't come in, I can, right?
Yes.
She had stepped into his secret base, making such an unreasonable demand.
-Hehe. Now that I'm in here, you have to call me Nunna from now on, okay?
He remembered.
He recalled.
Something he wouldn't trade for anything.
A memory that shone as brilliantly as the stars in the night sky.
'Thank goodness.'
A smile spread across Oh-jin's lips, relieved that the memory devoured by Heukcheon wasn't the one of their first meeting.
Oh-jin turned to Ha-eun and spoke quietly.
“Hmm, I don't really remember either.”
Ha-eun didn't remember.
No, precisely because Ha-eun didn't remember.
He wanted to keep the memory of their first meeting buried solely within himself.
“See, you punk? You don't remember well either.”
Having failed to recall the memory of their first meeting, Ha-eun let out a small groan and patted Oh-jin's shoulder.
“Well, what's so important about old memories? What matters is now.”
“...Yeah.”
“It's fine, so cheer up, you brat.”
Oh-jin gave a faint smile at Ha-eun's words and nodded.
He tightened his arms around Ha-eun and buried his face in the nape of her neck.
'Ah.'
He could feel Ha-eun's shoulders trembling slightly.
She was acting like nothing was wrong.
Acting like it was no big deal.
'Of course she can't be.'
In truth, she must know it too.
That losing past memories wasn't something that could be brushed aside with a simple 'it's fine'.
And yet, Ha-eun smiled brightly for his sake.
Because she knew that he would be just as tormented as she was.
“...Nunna.”
“Hm?”
He continued in a low voice.
“Thank you.”
“H-Huh? What's there to be thankful for?”
“Just, for everything.”
Just being able to hold Ha-eun from behind like this.
He felt that he didn't care what happened to the memories swallowed by Heukcheon.
“Ughhh.”
Her face flushed bright red in Oh-jin's embrace, Ha-eun let out a groan before turning around to straddle his lap.
“I can't take it anymore.”
“Can't take what?”
Their faces so close their noses could touch, Oh-jin cleared his throat needlessly and turned his head away.
It had been hard enough to maintain his composure when he was hugging her from behind, but facing each other like this was even more difficult to endure.
Sitting on Oh-jin's lap and looking down at him, Ha-eun gave a sensual smile and licked her lips like a predator that had caught its prey.
“I was going to let you rest today... but is this little vixen trying to seduce me?”
“No.”
Seduce her? What was he doing to seduce her?
“Khahaha! Your mouth says no, but your body is honest!”
“W-Wait. Ahh! My shirt's ripping! It's ripping, Nunna!”
*Pop! Pop!*
The sound of buttons popping off his shirt and scattering across the floor signaled the end of their three-day vacation.