Chapter 160
Chapter 160
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: The Yandere Fairy's Gaze is Strange
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Look here. See how my bed covers are all messed up? I really slept here 'alone'."
Chairman Seo Geonchang had come to my house with Junseok.
I had no idea why I needed to explain last night's situation.
But what was even more absurd was Yerim's reaction.
"...Grandpa, I don't remember..."
Ha...
Fuck, shouldn't she say she remembers even if she doesn't in a situation like this?
Chairman Seo Geonchang, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, stared at me steadily in response to Yerim's words.
"Couldn't you have slept in the small room with Yerim, seen Junseok on the intercom screen, and made up an alibi?"
"...Pardon?"
"Or maybe you two coordinated your stories."
"Th-then Yerim wouldn't say she doesn't remember."
"Yerim can't lie, so she might just be fumbling around vaguely?"
I placed both hands on my hips and gaped.
"A-are you saying I'm good at lying? Yerim drank a lot yesterday, so I escorted her all the way to the bed."
"...What?"
I regretted saying that.
My face twisted in an 'oh shit' expression as I pulled myself together.
"And then I went straight back to my bedroom and slept."
"If Yerim was unconscious, who knows what you might have done?"
"If you're suspicious, we can all go to the hospital together and get checked out."
"I'm just kidding."
"...Pardon?"
I blinked in utter bewilderment, and there was Chairman Seo Geonchang, sitting down in a chair with a bright smile.
I'd wondered who Yerim's incoherent ramblings from last night reminded me of—it had to be this senile old man.
"Don't they serve even a cup of tea to guests here? Yerim, come sit next to Grandpa."
I glanced at Junseok.
As expected, he looked like he was about to die of guilt.
He'd left me alone with Yerim yesterday, and today he'd brought his grandfather?
'You're dead later.'
I mouthed the words at him as I headed to the living room.
I quickly prepared two teacups and a teapot filled with boiling water, placing them on a tray.
"Here you go."
I set the tray down and poured the tea as politely as possible.
A subtle aroma rose from the leaves, and hot steam spread like a light mist over the table.
'I haven't even sobered up yet, and this is driving me insane.'
I sat silently in the chair opposite, hands on my knees, took a deep breath, and looked up.
Swoosh.
Before my eyes unfolded the still-baffling morning scene.
The real power behind Yeoksan Group, which dominated Korea, and his heir were gathered in this rural house...
How cinematic was this?
And on top of that.
Yerim sat there in an awkward posture, her face still not fully sober.
Her hair was disheveled, eyelids half-closed.
Then, the moment our eyes met, she widened hers, startled, and bowed her head sharply.
Chairman Seo Geonchang, watching from the side, let out a light chuckle.
"Yerim turns twenty-eight this year."
He knew we were the same age—why bring up her age all of a sudden?
I leaned forward slightly and spoke.
"Yes, of course I know."
"A girl like that..."
Chairman Seo Geonchang lifted his teacup, sniffed it delicately, and continued.
"...told me for the first time she'd stayed out overnight alone with a man, so I got worried and came myself."
A faint laugh mixed into the end of his words.
It carried a subtle resonance—not heavy, not light.
'She'd never stayed out overnight alone with a man even once...?'
I froze for a moment, unable to react.
I turned to Junseok, who stood rigidly against the wall like a statue.
'For real?'
I blinked with that expression, and Junseok instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head deeply.
That was his answer.
'Does that mean she's never even dated?'
I muttered inwardly and looked back at Yerim in disbelief.
She still kept her head bowed, unable to lift her face.
Even her breathing seemed cautious.
"...There was nothing for Grandpa to worry about."
"Something could happen between you two after last night, no?"
"Absolutely not."
"Absolutely? Do you believe in 'absolutes' in life?"
I'd said it to reassure him, but Chairman Seo Geonchang latched onto my words.
I straightened my back and lifted the corners of my mouth as casually as possible.
"It means Yerim and I are that close as friends."
"Friends often turn into lovers, and lovers into spouses."
"Haha... Grandpa might have forgotten, but I'm divorced."
"So?"
"It means I'm not stupid enough to go after Yerim."
No family would want their one and only granddaughter marrying a divorcee.
I smiled faintly to reassure him, but Chairman Seo Geonchang tilted his head.
"So... you won't even start because you know I'd obviously oppose your relationship?"
"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying Yerim and I are only friends, so no need to worry."
"What if I said I approve of you dating Yerim?"
I carefully set my cup down on the table at Chairman Seo Geonchang's sudden jab.
"That's a meaningless hypothetical. As I said earlier, Yerim and I are nothing like that."
"Then why did you let her sleep over at your house?"
"Junseok vanished without a word all of a sudden. That's how we ended up alone."
"Couldn't you have called a designated driver? I hear those services are pretty good these days."
I wanted to say I'd tried to call one but she refused, but that would just put Yerim in an awkward spot.
I decided to take the fall myself.
"...The designated driver fee from here to Seoul is expensive."
"Wh-what?"
"And in this dangerous world, would you send Yerim alone with a driver all that way?"
"The fee... might be pricey... but being cautious isn't bad..."
For the first time, Chairman Seo Geonchang looked flustered, shocked.
Gaining confidence, I adjusted my posture.
"Junseok and I are really close friends. Even after my divorce cut off contact, he came to my father's funeral."
"What's your point?"
"I don't want things to get awkward between us."
"Don't you think dating Yerim would strain things with Junseok?"
"Yerim and Junseok aren't that close anyway."
I shrugged both shoulders with a soft chuckle.
Better to play it off as a joke than keep things too serious.
"You don't see Yerim as a woman, do you?"
"...Yeah, something like that."
Honestly, it was a lie.
What man would turn down a woman like Yerim?
And being divorced hadn't tanked my self-esteem.
It was just that joining the Yeoksan Group family felt suffocating.
Sure, it'd mean financial freedom, but it'd be no different from a lion caged in a zoo.
'Freedom over money.'
Chairman Seo Geonchang, who had been staring at me, cleared his throat softly and rose quietly from his chair.
There was no anger on his face, but his blank expression left a deeper ripple.
"Got it. I was being too nosy. Yerim, let's go."
A brief aftertaste lingered in his words, draping the living room in an odd silence.
Tension released all at once; my shoulders slumped as I let out a tiny breath.
'Is this ridiculous situation finally over?'
The moment I exhaled in short relief, I noticed Yerim still seated, head bowed, not moving an inch.
Her hair cascaded forward, hiding her eyes, hands neatly folded on her knees.
It looked calm on the surface, but her fingertips trembled faintly.
'What's that...?'
I tilted my head, and then her shoulders twitched ever so slightly.
No one but me would notice.
But that tremble was growing.
Swoosh.
Yerim slowly raised her head and met my eyes.
The emotion on her face wasn't mere embarrassment or fluster.
With eyes brimming with displeasure, grievance, and an inexplicable fighting spirit, she glared at me sharply once more.
A short but clear exchange of emotions.
'Did I say something wrong?'
A chill ran down my spine unbidden.
Her expression felt like it was about to cause an accident.
"Y-Yerim."
I hurriedly held out my palms, but she shot up from her chair faster.
She yelled loudly at Chairman Seo Geonchang's back as he headed toward the entrance.
"Grandpa! Truth is, we did it last night!"
Chairman Seo Geonchang halted at Yerim's deranged shout and slowly turned his head.
Silence.
It felt like the world had stopped.
'...!?'
All the air froze solid in an instant.
It took seconds to even process what I'd just heard.
'Did it...? What? With who?'
My brain belatedly pieced the sentence together.
We...
Last night...
Did it...?
'Fuck, are you crazy?'