Chapter 60: The Stage 2 Course
Chapter 60: The Stage 2 Course
After devouring two servings of cheese pork cutlet for lunch in Bella’s Room 102, Dowon went out to the motel parking lot after the meal and basked in the sunlight with Bella.
He hadn’t seen sunlight for about ten days since becoming a blood demon, but it felt like he was seeing it for the first time in years.
The painful memories of thirst and hunger that had gnawed at his mind during those hellish ten days were now a little blurred.
He felt full, and with warm sunlight pouring down, drowsiness made his eyelids droop.
Bella was already dozing off.
Right now, Dowon’s body was getting energy through food. Since food satisfied his thirst and hunger, he was in a state where he didn’t need to drink human blood.
It was his third day since coming to this motel.
Now that his body and mind had stabilized, he finally felt like he could actually think.
He had to avenge his uncle…
Even though he was young, the final moments of his uncle—his only blood relative—were lodged deep in Dowon’s chest, causing him pain. But when he thought he had to take revenge on Chae Seorin, who had been warmer than the mother he’d never even seen, that also made his chest ache.
After overcoming the sleepiness weighing down on him while sunning himself under the parking wall, Dowon steeled himself.
Until now, he’d been sloppily living in the same room as his enemy, but he felt it was time to set things straight. Dowon filled his softened heart with rough, vicious emotions.
He vowed to tear everything he saw to pieces.
After that, he didn’t care whether he lived or died.
When he clenched his hand, his small forearm and fist wriggled and transformed like a monster.
No one taught him, but Dowon instinctively realized how to use his power. It was the same principle as how no one has to teach a person how to breathe, eat, or relieve themselves after being born.
Dowon rose from the chair and swung his fist—swollen up to the size of his upper body—at the head of Bella, who was dozing next to him.
Thud—crash!
Dowon lost his balance and toppled sideways.
Bella, who had been dozing, cracked one eye open, glanced at Dowon, then closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.
Unable to understand what had just happened, Dowon once again extended his claws and slashed at Bella. But the claws that shot out like blades naturally changed trajectory in front of Bella and missed.
This time he was braced, so he didn’t lose his balance and fall.
No matter how many times he swung and swung again, none of Dowon’s attacks worked. Panicking at the incomprehensible situation, the boy blood demon went into Motel Room 103.
The employee sitting at the counter, practicing smiling while looking in a mirror, flinched in shock when he saw Dowon with both hands hugely swollen.
Chae Seorin was sitting by the window in Room 103, looking up at the sky.
Throwing the door open roughly, Dowon bared his claws and lunged at Seorin like a beast.
But again, the attack missed, and Dowon only slashed at empty air. Chae Seorin looked at him expressionlessly, then turned her head and looked back out at the sky beyond the window.
“What did you do to me, you witch!”
Dowon howled, tears of frustration spilling out.
Then Seorin looked at Dowon and spoke.
She was still inhumanly beautiful—mysterious, even.
“Yeah, seriously. What did I do? I’m curious too.”
Dowon, who had been sniffling and fuming for a long time, felt the anger and resentment he’d forced up cooling down uselessly.
But he absolutely couldn’t accept living with this woman like this.
“I’m leaving tonight! I’m going back to where I lived with my uncle!”
At Dowon’s words, Seorin said, “I don’t care what you do, but if you leave this motel, you’ll probably become a body that can’t eat food or see sunlight again. I’m pretty sure that’s what will happen.”
Dowon flinched at Seorin’s words, then his face crumpled.
To feel that hellish thirst and hunger again…
He hated it even just imagining it.
But it also made no sense to keep living like this with the woman who killed his uncle.
“For now, stay here until you find a way. If it’s uncomfortable being in the same room as me, I’ll get you another room.”
Dowon thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“I’ll stay here. You told me to come for revenge whenever I wanted! I’ll take my revenge for sure!”
He said it while thinking he’d only get a chance to take revenge if he stayed close to her.
“Okay. Then do whatever’s comfortable for you.”
After saying that, Seorin turned her head again and stared at the sky.
Dowon came up beside her, wondering what she was even looking at, but there was nothing special in the sky.
Bored, Dowon turned on the computer in the motel room.
It was a machine with far better specs than the old crappy computer his uncle had bought him long ago.
Before becoming a blood demon, Dowon used to play games whenever he had free time, and he logged in for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Playing his longtime favorite game after so long made Dowon feel like he’d returned to before all of this happened, and his heart relaxed.
A grade-school kid in front of a PC was about the same whether human or blood demon.
Bang bang bang!
I woke up to pounding on the door and checked the clock—it was five.
There was still a full hour until six, my wake-up time on days off…
Today was the day I had to go to that restaurant—whatever it was, “Mu-suri” or “Mo-sori”—because of Bella’s wish, and spend a fortune.
I pulled the blanket over my head and closed my eyes.
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
Persistent Bella.
She’d leave eventually.
But Bella yanked the door open and strode right into my rooftop room—my private space.
Annoyed, I sprang up and yelled, “You said seven! Why are you making a scene already!”
“It’s seven, so you have to start getting ready now! We have to leave at six! Hurry up, wash up, put this on, and come out!”
Bella tossed a suit at me and left.
That woman really didn’t know me at all.
People think I’m normal, but I’m actually an esper.
I have the ability to wash up in one minute with telekinesis.
So if we’re leaving at six, it’s more than enough to get up around 5:55 and get ready.
Lying under the blanket, I lifted the suit Bella threw with telekinesis.
It was flashy and looked pretty high-end.
Thanks.
I’ll wear this when I’m working from now on.
On my days off, my outfit is tracksuit by default.
I’m getting dragged somewhere I don’t want to go and I even have to pay for it—there’s no chance I’m dressing up the way Bella wants.
I got up at 5:55, washed in one minute, and went down to the counter at exactly 5:57. Bella, wearing a revealing dress only actresses would wear, was glaring at me.
Behind her were Cheolmin hyung, whose face was glowing again today; Chae Seorin, peeling a Scotch candy at the counter and popping it into her mouth; and Lauren, looking at her phone.
“Why aren’t you dressed!” Bella snapped.
“Too much work. Just go!” I said while picking at my ear with a finger.
“Anyway, what’s the second wish! You said you’d tell me today. Say it now. Let’s get it all over with!”
“I was going to make my second wish for you to wear the suit I gave you, but you said you have to be frugal to live well! So I decided to save it and use it later when I need it!”
Damn.
I shouldn’t have said that…
Every problem always starts with what comes out of my mouth.
Dragging my slippers, I greeted Chanhyeok hyung at the front desk.
“Hyung, I’m going to go eat with Bella!”
“Haha! Bella, have Chan buy you something delicious! I’ll keep working hard!”
Chanhyeok hyung—who always looked obviously sad when we went out without him during shifts—didn’t seem especially upset today, probably because Cheolmin hyung, Seorin, and Lauren were there.
That guy seems like he gets lonely easily.
“Au-nim, have a good trip. We’ll handle dinner ourselves today. We’re going to make do with delivery in the office!”
“Okay. I’ll be back.”
As I was about to leave, Bella—wearing a dress and heels—tried to link arms with me.
I didn’t fall for that crafty move and went out to the parking lot first.
A taxi Bella had called was waiting there.
It was rush hour, so downtown was jammed, and we sat in silence for nearly an hour.
Bella looked angry that I hadn’t worn the clothes she gave me.
She’s the one getting a meal out of me—what does she have to be mad about?
I was annoyed too, so I just closed my eyes and casually tightened up my lower-body muscles with telekinesis.
“Welcome! What name is the reservation under?”
True to its reputation as the best restaurant in the country, it was luxurious. The staff’s attitude was elegant and refined.
As someone in the service industry, I felt like I should learn that kind of demeanor.
The employee seemed slightly flustered by my outfit, but once he heard Bella’s name, he guided us to our seats.
“But is the rest of your party arriving late?” the employee asked as he led us to a large four-person table.
I tilted my head, confused.
“It’s just the two of us. Two. No one else is coming.”
“But the reservation is for four.”
Then Bella said, “That’s right—four. It’s two people, but please serve four portions. We eat a lot.”
She said it with a soft smile at the corner of her lips, and it felt like my head had just been struck with a hammer.
Even two portions would make my hands shake, and now it was going to be double the expense I expected.
She eats a lot, sure, but this is still not it.
“Thanks, Chan. For granting my wish! I really wanted to come here.”
I stared blankly at Bella’s sly mouth as she spoke softly with a happy smile.
She’s doing this on purpose to annoy me, right?
My insides boiled.
But the food was truly delicious.
If you ignore the price, it was the best food I’ve tasted in my life. If someone told me to pick a place without any limit on cost, I would choose here without hesitation. But if I have to pay for it myself, I refuse.
It was my mistake to think “three wishes” lightly and agree so easily.
I should’ve set limits in advance…
I’m the type who prides myself on being cool-headed and wise, but sometimes I regret a stupid decision only after it’s too late.
Come to think of it, most of those cases seem to happen when I’m tangled up with Bella.
Wait.
What if the remaining two wishes are things I can’t possibly grant?
More money than this—
For example, a wish that makes me spend tens of billions, or telling me to spy for Russia…
That would be a real problem.
The few hundred thousand won for today’s meal hurts, but I can manage it. Those kinds of wishes, I can’t grant.
In the taxi back, I decided I had to talk to Bella about this.
“Bella. I’ve been thinking about it.”
“What.”
Even after eating three portions of a course where one serving costs tens of thousands, Bella still sounded cold, like she hadn’t gotten over being offended earlier.
“The two remaining wishes. I have to put restrictions on them.”
Bella turned to look at my face for a moment, then continued, “I swear I won’t make you do spy work. And I won’t make money-spending wishes from now on. Okay?”
“……”
What?
My eyes widened and my mind went blank.
Is Bella an esper too?
The kind who can read minds?
Otherwise, there’s no way to explain this.
“Your thoughts are written all over your face! You’re so stingy and narrow-minded, seriously.”
My face always hides my true feelings behind a faint smile—how could my inner thoughts show? What is she talking about?
Anyway, as long as it’s not those two, it’s fine.
Anything else—honestly, even if she asked me to pluck a star, I feel like I could do it.
“No money-spending wishes! No cooperating with Russia! If it’s not those two, I’ll do anything!”
When I said it with a relieved smile, Bella looked at my face and smiled back.