Chapter 186: Return (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 186: Return (1)
I used to wonder what it meant when newlyweds said they’d do it the moment their eyes met…
Now, I think I get it.
What it really meant.
Of course, we’re not newlyweds, but…
We did it twice more this morning alone.
Once before breakfast, before the heat of last night had even faded.
And then again in the bathroom, where we’d gone to wash our sticky, sweat-drenched bodies after eating.
I suppose it’s a good thing we went to bed early last night; otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the energy for all this morning activity.
I walked out of the bathroom, drying my wet hair with a towel.
On the bed, Cheon Yeo-wool was waiting for me, curled up like a cat and wearing nothing but one of my dress shirts.
“Are you going to school today?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
I thought about it for a moment.
Cheon Yeo-wool said I’m free until my treatment starts, but… it didn’t seem like there was much for me to do there. Then again, there wasn’t much to do if I stayed here, either.
“You’re going, right?”
“Of course. I’m a diligent student, after all.”
Cheon Yeo-wool answered with a giggle, still lying on the bed.
Since Yeo-wool was going… maybe I’d go too, just for the morning classes, to ease back into things.
I glanced around the room.
Dried… fluids, and clear moisture.
Looks like this place needed a proper cleaning.
I mean, we did clean. We definitely did. But after one round… and another, and another… things got out of hand.
We’ll deal with this after we get back.
I headed to the closet. And, with Cheon Yeo-wool watching, I changed my clothes without a second thought.
“Hrmm…”
Lying in bed with only her head peeking out from under the covers, Cheon Yeo-wool watched my every move before speaking. Her voice was still languid and husky.
“Want to go one more time?”
“No.”
I replied firmly.
We really couldn’t. We’d be late.
“Hmph.”
At my answer, she burrowed back under the covers as if to pout.
“You should get dressed too. We only have fifteen minutes left.”
I heard some rustling from under the covers at my words.
I didn’t press her further and left my room.
I walked through the living room, which was strewn with the messy traces of last night.
I was just putting on my shoes when I heard the bedroom door open behind me.
Cheon Yeo-wool followed me out to the entrance, as if she had no choice. She had already changed back into the clothes she wore yesterday.
The problem was, she was taking my dress shirt with her.
“I’m going to change, wait for me.”
“Okay, but that’s my shirt…”
Cheon Yeo-wool didn’t answer, instead sticking her tongue out mischievously before heading to her own room.
A moment later, she returned, neatly dressed and ready to go out.
At the front door, she opened it as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s gooo.”
We walked out into the penthouse hallway together.
It was at that very moment.
– Clack.
The door to the room right next to ours—Yohan’s room—flew open.
Yohan stood there, his eyes hollow as if he hadn’t slept in days. He was about to step into the hall… when he spotted the two of us standing side by side.
His face instantly hardened.
– SLAM!
Without a word, he slammed the door shut and retreated inside, a look of despair on his face.
“Is he not going?”
I tilted my head.
“Let him do whatever~”
Cheon Yeo-wool linked her arm with mine, looking completely uninterested, and we left.
And so, we headed for Gaon.
*
The genius girl, Yoon Chae-ha.
She barely managed to pull herself together.
“……”
Penthouses are supposed to be well soundproofed. However, for an exceptional hero like Yoon Chae-ha, a skilled mage at that, sounds sometimes leaked through when she was trying to rest.
But even that was only possible if the noise from above was ‘extremely loud.’
Because she had activated sound amplification magic.
She could tell that the occupants of the floor directly above had just had a loud, debaucherous morning and had only just left.
Yoon Chae-ha carefully got out of bed, opened her door, and went upstairs.
Late for class?
Sorry, but… that wasn’t important to Yoon Chae-ha right now.
She stopped in front of Jung Hae-in’s room.
– Shhhhrrrrrk….
As Yoon Chae-ha placed her hand on the door lock, her orange eyes glowed brightly. Dozens of magic circles bloomed from her hand like a bouquet, seeping into the cracks of the lock.
– Beep-boop.
The state-of-the-art security device opened as helplessly as a toy.
“Hoo…”
Yoon Chae-ha took a light, deep breath.
And opened the door.
Very carefully… she stepped inside.
And held her breath.
– Whoosh….
A wave of lingering heat washed over Yoon Chae-ha’s face.
The living room held the undisturbed traces of the previous night.
The clothes of two people were scattered messily on the floor.
A man’s underwear and a woman’s underwear were tangled together.
– Beep.
Yoon Chae-ha closed the front door.
Then, steadying her trembling legs, she slowly entered the room.
There, Yoon Chae-ha saw it.
The living room had been merely a preview.
The bedsheets were crumpled and damp, as if a storm had swept through.
All over the sheets, traces of dried white fluid and an unidentifiable clear liquid mingled, creating sticky stains.
The air was still thick with the dense, rich scent of a man and a woman, and the mysterious, dizzying fragrance of chestnut flowers. It was all mixed with Cheon Yeo-wool’s own scent, a combination so potent it was enough to make one’s head spin.
“Ah…”
As if possessed, Yoon Chae-ha approached the bed.
She reached out a trembling hand and touched the damp sheets, which still held the warmth of two bodies.
She closed her eyes…
…and then snapped them wide open.
Her orange eyes blazed fiercely once more.
– Fshaaaaaa!
A blood-red aura began to spread from Yoon Chae-ha’s body like a mist.
The aura… spread from the bedroom to the living room, eventually covering every inch of Jung Hae-in’s penthouse.
[Residual Echo.]
Yoon Chae-ha clenched her fists, recreating the past events that had taken place in this space.
Twisting the echoes of time engraved in the space and summoning them back to reality.
It was an insanely difficult magic, one that challenged the domain of the gods.
And then.
Cheon Yeo-wool and Jung Hae-in appeared before her eyes.
Their appearance was no different from that of ordinary people. Because it was, quite literally, a recreation of the ‘past’ itself…
They opened the door and came into the room.
– Creeak.
The two of them sat down, glancing at each other.
– Hey… Hae-in…
At last, Cheon Yeo-wool broke the silence.
Instead of answering, Jung Hae-in simply grabbed her head and covered her lips with his.
Cheon Yeo-wool’s eyes widened for a moment. Then she tried to close them.
– Open your eyes.
Jung Hae-in whispered to her.
And Yoon Chae-ha was watching it all unfold.
– Ahng….
The recreation… had only just begun.
*
The scenery at Gaon hadn’t changed much.
It had only been a little over two weeks… so I guess that was to be expected.
Feeling a bit awkward, I headed to class as usual.
The lecture hall, which I hadn’t seen in a while. The noisy chatter of the students felt both awkward and familiar.
Out of habit, I walked toward my usual seat in the back, by the window.
But Yoon Chae-ha wasn’t there.
“What the?”
Yoon Chae-ha hadn’t come to class.
Usually, if I was running late, she would be waiting for me in that back seat. She’d greet me with a bright smile, patting the seat next to her…
“Where could she be?”
It seemed Cheon Yeo-wool was wondering the same thing.
I tilted my head and sat down.
Then I turned on my Watch and sent a message.
[belief_]: Chae-ha
[belief_]: Where are you?
Is she sick? She said she was staying at her family’s home last night, so maybe she overdid it.
[belief_]: Are you sick?
[belief_]: I only have morning classes, so I can pick up some medicine on my way back
Since I was heading back after my morning classes anyway, if she was sick, I could at least bring her some medicine.
But there was no reply.
Just as I was starting to feel that something was off…
– Screech.
Someone entered through the front door.
It was Instructor Do Han-seong.
“Good morning again, students. Everyo—”
He walked in with his usual expressionless face, but his eyes met mine. He stopped dead in his tracks.
And his eyes widened.
I think this happened last time, too.
Of course, I had accomplished something far greater this time around.
“Student Jung Hae-in… No.”
He nodded, a rare smile gracing his lips.
“Hero Jung Hae-in.”
“Welcome back. We’re glad you returned safely.”
The heads of the other students, who hadn’t noticed me since I’d slipped in quietly, all turned toward me at once.
All noise in the lecture hall died down, and dozens of pairs of eyes, filled with curiosity and a mix of other emotions, fixed on me.
But the other students’ gazes weren’t what was important.
Among those gazes, I saw two young women sitting in the distance.
Kang A-rin and Yu Hana.
They were looking at me, too.
“Ah…”
A short groan escaped my lips before I could stop it.
And the look in their eyes was no different from the one Cheon Yeo-wool had last night.