Chapter 74

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 74

Chapter Title: Preventing Oh Hana's Departure

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"...Puh! Oppa! Breathe, breathe!"

Only after Oh Hana's voice pierced through my ringing eardrums and reached my brain did I finally gasp for air. Once I came back to my senses, my vision was blurry. Even in that haze, Oh Hana's features stood out crystal clear.

"Hoo."

After letting out a long breath, my blurred vision cleared up. Oh Hana was staring at me with eyes full of worry.

"What was that all about? You looked like you'd seen a ghost. You scared me. Are you sick or something?"

Something I shouldn't have seen? Yeah, I saw it alright. Something utterly ridiculous.

"No. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine, that's why I'm asking. Whoa. Look at all that cold sweat. What the hell?"

Watching Oh Hana worry about me so consistently, even wiping my sweat, I took deep breaths one after another.

It felt like I'd had a nightmare all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by myself.

I remembered that famous superhero movie I'd seen before. Now I understood why the guy who alone foresaw the future kept making a fuss with that grim expression the whole time.

A nightmare would've been better. The quest message floating crystal clear in front of my eyes was no illusion.

From clearing all sorts of quests so far, I'd learned one thing. The quest descriptions gave fragments of clues about the future.

'Prevent Oh Hana from leaving?'

That clearly meant a situation would arise where Oh Hana might leave the one-room. Honestly, nothing weird about that on its own.

We weren't gathered in this cramped one-room to live together forever. When the time came, everyone could leave freely.

'If it's just Oh Hana leaving when her time comes.'

Did I even have the right to stop her?

"Hoo!"

"Why are you sighing like that? You sure you're okay? The sweat seems to have stopped, at least."

After a moment of thought, I looked at Oh Hana and made up my mind.

'I have to stop her. No matter what. Damn it.'

I'd already realized I had feelings for her. I wasn't enough of an idiot to laugh it off and wave goodbye when her time came.

'But why the hell would she leave?'

I knew women could be good actresses to some extent. But I'd thought Oh Hana was the type who wasn't like that. Considering that, there weren't even signs of her leaving now. So how did this quest pop up?

Whoa. No way?

'Hey. For creampies... am I the first?'

Did I cause this by asking that cringey otaku question? Seriously? That one question did it? Butterfly effect makes it possible, but isn't that too much?

"Oppa. Got it."

"Huh?"

While I was lost in endless hypotheticals, Oh Hana spoke up.

"I won't tell. I swear. Man, I didn't know a guy would agonize this much over that kind of dark history."

Huh?

"I won't tell anyone about what happened with the TA today or anything. In return, you keep quiet about the embarrassing side of me you saw today. Okay? Let's keep each other's secrets."

"Y-yeah. Sure."

I nodded like an idiot. Honestly, that wasn't the reason I'd been thinking. If Oh Hana would leave over a question like that, she'd have slipped away quietly after we first had sex.

No. Then what the hell is it?

'Should I just ask?'

I swallowed hard, thinking that.

"Oppa. Let's go down!"

I pushed the thought aside as she grabbed my hand and walked ahead. Didn't want to complicate things by asking unnecessarily.

Plus.

I still hadn't heard Oh Hana's real purpose or circumstances for living here.

*

"Hey, what're you doing there? It'll take all day to climb those stairs."

Damn it.

Oh Hana was climbing the stairs no panties ahead of me, but I had no leisure to enjoy the view from below.

My head was a jumble of quests related to Oh Hana, like an endless ouroboros of unsolvable riddles chaining tail to tail.

"Oppa. Hurry up... Eek."

"What?"

"Oh. Um."

Oh Hana cautiously pinched the back of her dress with her fingers, pressing lightly, and confessed in a tiny, creeping voice.

"...Oppa’s semen that you shot inside me almost leaked out. Whew. I blocked it with the dress for now. Safe! Gotta get home quick and toss it in the laundry!"

Hearing that, I cursed the quest.

I should've been looking at that. Shit.

*

Stress is the root of all evil—those words rang true. That was me lately.

In just a few days, insomnia hit, along with mild anxiety. I was assigning meaning to every little thing Oh Hana did, wondering if it was a sign she was leaving the one-room.

"Um, Hyunwoo!"

"......"

Whoa.

Yoon Sua's sudden voice made me turn. There she was, a cigarette tucked right between her cleavage in her bra. What the? Hallucination from stress? I'm in trouble. I've finally lost it bad enough to see illusions.

Even as an illusion, Yoon Sua's breasts were insane. That bra for such huge tits had its own charm, I guess.

No. Hold on. This feels too real?

"S-Su-a? What are you doing right now?"

"I figured you've held out well so far, Hyunwoo. So... one cigarette should be okay. And if you're gonna smoke one, might as well make it the best. I searched online, and it said guys love it when you offer like this. They even want to pay for it."

Pretty sure she searched wrong. Probably saw some hostess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trick from a lounge or something.

Still, lighting up a cig wedged in that cleavage? Pure bliss, no doubt.

Not just the filter in my mouth—the flesh-scent from between those tits would rock my brain too.

"Gulp."

Just imagining it brought back withdrawal symptoms I'd forgotten about. Made me realize I'd been tailing Oh Hana so obsessively I'd ignored them.

'Huh? But the vibe feels off. Why does Yoon Sua even have a cigarette?'

Realizing something late, I asked her.

"Just checking, but that damn girl Oh Hana—did she smoke behind my back?"

"Gasp! N-no way."

I grabbed Yoon Sua's breast.

"Ahhng."

"Sua, liars are bad people."

"Ha, haaah."

Yoon Sua's pupils trembled. Meeting her gaze, she raised the white flag in under five seconds.

"When you head out for your part-time, she bolts like lightning to smoke and comes back."

Right then, Oh Hana burst out from the bathroom fiddling with her phone, humming.

Gotcha. You're no good one, alright.

"Ah. Can't smoke, so no real satisfaction. Seriously."

Shameless.

My eyes must've gone blind lately. Her skin was all smooth and glowing right in front of me, clear sign she'd escaped withdrawal, and I missed it?

I'd been staring to figure out why she'd leave, and still missed it? My eyes must be knotholes. Or zero intuition.

"Hey, you bitch!"

Forgetting quests entirely, I channeled withdrawal rage into a hard kick to Oh Hana's ass.

"Heek!"

With a soul-leaving scream, she flopped face-down right there.

"What the hell! Oppa! You crazy? Wanna go to war? Huh?! Wanna die?! I'm Oh Hana!"

"The one who wants to die is you. You suggested we quit together all cool-like, then betray me first? Want a beating?"

"Gasp! How did you—!"

Looking utterly shocked, like she'd never get caught, Oh Hana spotted the cig in Yoon Sua's cleavage and yelled.

"Eek! You perv! Making Sua unnie do that!"

"I didn't make her!"

"Yeah."

Her calm tone hit harder somehow. Did I really seem like that kind of serious pervert?

"Kidding. Heh. Since it's out, wanna smoke one, Oppa?"

"No. Idiot!"

"Sigh. Busted, no choice. Never got caught in school, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now? I'll quit voluntarily again!"

"Quit what like it's an achievement!"

Puk!

"Kek!"

Oh Hana, barely standing, flopped back down, hand on the floor.

"Kek, urk."

Even groaning, she slyly pulled out a cig and put it in her mouth—too natural. Han Aebom, who'd approached unnoticed, snatched it and tossed it in the trash.

"You said you'd quit. I'll help."

"Waaah. I will. I swear. Waaah."

Crying like the world's saddest cat, but Han Aebom wasn't buying it. With ice-cold eyes, she confiscated every cig hidden in Oh Hana's clothes and trashed them. Looked a bit pissed too.

'Huh?'

Han Aebom glared at me briefly, then whipped her head away. What? More mad at me? Like collective responsibility for not managing Oh Hana?

Anyway.

"Phew. Sua."

"Yes."

"Was my complexion that bad?"

Yoon Sua paused, then nodded.

"...Yes."

Hearing that, I went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the bathroom, flipped on the light, and checked the mirror.

Damn. Bad.

Face screamed criminal or weirdo on the street. Eyes sharp as knives, obvious from the glare.

No wonder Yoon Sua went as far as offering a cig from her cleavage.

Shwaaah!

A few splashes didn't fix it. But my mind felt somewhat cleansed, like after washing away grime.

Staring in the mirror, I thought: For a moment, it felt like the old days. Back to brooding over negative endings without acting, wrapped in blankets in the lonely one-room, waiting for lottery wins.

Maybe slipping back was easy since I'd lived it so intensely once, without even realizing.

But the difference now? People around to point it out.

"Sua. Thanks. Snapped me out of it."

"Good. Really. Seeing my breasts perked you up, huh?"

"Uh... kinda, but not just that."

She didn't think I was a total boob-obsessed perv, right? To clear any misunderstanding, I spoke up.

"Been dealing with some worries lately. Kept it bottled up, suffering alone."

"N-not sure if I can help, but tell me anytime. I can at least listen."

"Thanks. Next chance, I will. Got a solid advisor this time."

I headed to the convenience store, thinking of that solid advisor.

And.

"Store Manager."

"Agh! Re-Reaper! It's the reaper! Gack!"

Watching the manager doze off then topple backward with his chair at the sight of me, I seriously pondered if spilling my worries to this guy was the right choice.