Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: A Man with Many Sins (2)
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10:30 AM. In front of a VGC building in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
"......"
Kang Hye-eun, dressed neatly and glancing around the meeting spot.
Her outfit consisted of a dress blending white and sky blue perfectly, paired with a cashmere jacket. The clothes themselves were quite stylish, but what truly stood out was the model wearing them.
She had inherited her mother's stunning beauty, evident at a glance. Standing tall at 175 cm—exceptionally so for a woman—with prominent breasts and a stylish figure sculpted by large and small muscles perfectly placed across her body.
A beauty like her standing alone, waiting for someone, naturally drew quite a few stares.
'Even so, I came out a bit too early...'
She paid no mind to the gazes of others, simply waiting patiently for someone else.
She had arrived a full hour early for their appointment, so it was only natural that such a thought crossed her mind after about thirty minutes.
In truth, since it was a date with her childhood friend who lived next door, meeting near home and heading out together had been an option. But even though that idea occurred to her, Hye-eun had deliberately chosen to meet at the designated spot.
Because to her, that felt a little more like a proper date.
'...If we meet near home and go together, it just feels like hanging out as childhood friends.'
From a very young age, they had been close childhood friends, and there had been a time when Hye-eun saw Sung Tae-kyung as nothing more than her best friend.
But after going through her immature middle school years, her feelings gradually became honest. In high school, her affection fully awakened amid anger over what happened to her childhood friend. And recently, sharing acts more fitting for lovers had deepened her love even further. Now, Hye-eun's feelings for him had grown enormously.
If she hadn't hesitated, they could easily have become a couple by now, but Hye-eun was unaware of that.
Because Hye-eun had kept putting off confessing her true feelings, delaying it day by day, and because of Tae-kyung's secret awakening ability that he hadn't revealed, the once-promising connection between the two who had harbored good feelings for each other was already too late to evolve into a romantic relationship.
'...Lately, Tae-kyung has seemed a bit off, so I should ask him about that today too.'
Their close childhood friendship from way back had suddenly seen him distance himself for a time, then act normally again, only to close off emotionally at one point.
And recently, after suddenly becoming intimate like a long-term couple, he had drawn a line saying they weren't lovers. Hye-eun's heart, which she thought had finally reached its goal, was now burning with anxiety.
So today's date was not just about seeing the face of the person she loved after a while, but more importantly, to clearly define their current strange relationship.
To confirm whether Tae-kyung truly wanted to be her boyfriend, or if all the feelings she had for him until now had been mere delusion.
...But the person in question still hadn't shown up, even as the appointed time approached, leaving her to wait alone.
"Tae-kyung's a bit late..."
Unlike his usual habit of arriving leisurely twenty minutes early, her childhood friend was late today, making Hye-eun feel a bit uneasy with the unfamiliarity.
"There's still some time left..."
She hesitated to send a message asking where he was, worried it might make her seem like a nagging girlfriend prying about his lateness.
As Hye-eun wavered, her smartphone clock ticked over to the appointed time of 11:00 AM.
"Hmm..."
He hadn't appeared even as the time arrived, let alone shown any sign, heightening her anxiety further.
...It was the first time. He had never failed to show up even after the appointed time.
"Maybe he's waiting somewhere else...?"
They had agreed to meet in front of the VGC building, so she had waited at the main entrance where they always met during school days. But perhaps he had mistaken the spot and was at the back entrance—zero percent chance it wasn't possible.
With that faint hope, Hye-eun walked to the back entrance, but her childhood friend was nowhere to be seen there either.
"...Or maybe he's already inside the theater?"
The Tae-kyung she knew would never be late for an appointment or ghost her without a word.
Clinging to that last possibility, Hye-eun headed inside the building. Only after failing to find him even at the ticket counter did she coldly conclude the truth.
That her childhood friend, Sung Tae-kyung, had been late to a promise with her for the first time in his life.
"Ah, there's still about twenty minutes until the movie starts."
Even though it was now ten minutes past the original time, Hye-eun tried to judge calmly.
The appointment had been set generously from the start, so a delay of one to twenty minutes wouldn't ruin the date. Factoring in the previews before the main film, they still had about thirty minutes of leeway.
Thinking he must be on his way now, Hye-eun sent a KakaoTalk message to her childhood friend.
"Where are you at?"
A short, restrained message, careful not to sound angry about the no-contact lateness or pushy.
But as five minutes passed after sending with no read receipt, let alone a reply from Tae-kyung, impatience began to build.
"The movie's about to start soon..."
Any further delay would make it irreparable, so as a last resort, Hye-eun called him. But instead of his voice, she got the automated response.
"The person you're calling is not answering. After the beep, please leave a message in the voicemail..."
"Why are you so late, Tae-kyung...?"
The movie they planned to watch had already started, and the appointed time had long passed, but she didn't give up, continuing to send calls, texts, and KakaoTalk messages.
The movie itself wasn't that important. What mattered was the date itself—the act of spending time together with him.
Back in school, she had often chosen horror movies on purpose when meeting him, hoping he'd get scared and cling to her. In reality, it was just Tae-kyung watching unfazed while she, terrified but too proud to admit it as a girl, held back.
"......"
In her confused emotions, the movie had started unnoticed, and over thirty minutes had slipped by meaninglessly.
An hour past the appointed time. And over two hours since Hye-eun had begun waiting for Tae-kyung at the spot.
"Tae-kyung... pick up the phone..."
Calls still unanswered, texts with no reply. Even the KakaoTalk messages where the "1" hadn't disappeared.
Finally, two hours after the appointed time, one possibility dawned on Hye-eun.
"No way... did he stand me up...?"
As the possibility she'd tried to ignore surfaced, her eyes were already growing misty.
"If something came up and you couldn't make it... at least tell me ahead of time..."
In a corner of the front garden of the building—the original waiting spot—Hye-eun quietly wiped away tears away from prying eyes.
More than the date ending in vain after such high hopes, or waiting over three hours, what hurt was Tae-kyung's failure to even send a single message until now.
He could have made one call.
He could have sent one text.
Why leave her waiting endlessly without a call or text? Why hadn't even the "read" mark appeared on KakaoTalk? As her grief reached that point...
"...No way?"
Another possibility, one where Tae-kyung couldn't possibly show up, cautiously bloomed in Hye-eun's mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Doesn't everyone have those moments sometimes?
The instant you wake up, a feeling of 'I'm screwed' flashes through your mind.
Especially when you wake naturally by your body clock, not an alarm or timer—the anxiety hits harder, making your heart race. Naturally, I felt something similar when I woke up.
"...This is bad."
I didn't need to check the clock to know I'd missed the appointment; the view outside was midday, far from morning.
First thing, I grabbed my smartphone by the bed. Unlocking the screen, an exclamation escaped my lips involuntarily.
"...Holy shit."
The 11:00 AM appointment was long past; it was now blinking 3:00 PM.
For a split second, I wished it were 3:00 AM instead, but the stack of missed calls and texts wouldn't let me escape reality.
Missed Calls: 9
Unread Texts: 22
Almost all from the same person, no doubt. My first worry was Hye-eun, who must have waited hours at the spot without warning.
"Haa... Of all days..."
I'd planned today's date to mend things with Hye-eun after our distance. This would only worsen the emotional rift instead of improving it. I had to salvage it somehow, starting now.
If she thought I'd stood her up and gone home, I'd have to rush to her place and apologize immediately...
"...Huh?"
But as I berated myself and tried to get out of bed, extreme fatigue hit—no strength in my body—and I tumbled to the floor.
-Thud crash!
After the noisy fall, I realized my body felt unusually drained. Checking, I figured out why I'd missed all three alarms.
The recovery spell had forcibly erased my fatigue, masking the early cold symptoms. By the time it wore off, the cold had fully set in.
My rush to become a B-rank hunter had blinded me to the symptoms. The spell heals physical damage but not viral illnesses.
"...Haa, can't stay like this."
Hye-eun might still be waiting like an idiot while I'm like this. Even if she'd gone home tired of waiting, I had to go out.
Gathering my wits, I reached for the dropped phone and struggled to stand—but
-Thud crash crash!!!
Trying to use the desk, my limp body betrayed me again, sending me sprawling.
-Splash!!
At the same time, cold water jolted me fully awake. Apparently, I'd knocked over the washbasin on the desk.
'...Washbasin...?'
...Wait, why is this here right now?
As unease struck, something fell from my forehead to the floor. Only then did I realize a wet towel had been cooling it until now.
"What the hell is this..."
-Thump thump thump thump!
Still piecing together what happened while I slept, urgent footsteps climbed the stairs beyond the door, soon flinging my room door open.
"Tae-kyung! Are you okay?!"
"Kang... Hye-eun...?"
Why are you coming out of there...?