Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Yandere Fairy's Gaze is Strange
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"Hoocha!"
The sound of splashing water from the rooftop pulled my lounging body upright with surprising ease.
But why did I feel so refreshed?
All I wanted was to know if she was human or a ghost, right?
"♪♬♪~"
I found myself humming a little tune without realizing it as I shrugged on my coat.
I brushed the dust off my clothes and stepped up to the mirror.
Stubble had grown in overnight.
With quick hands, I grabbed the razor.
Whirr-!
It's just curiosity, so why was I making such a fuss?
What if she was human?
And not some crazy woman, just someone who really loved bathing?
I couldn't greet her looking all disheveled in a land of propriety like this.
Besides...
Human connections aren't taken lightly.
Especially a meeting like this—it was straight out of a movie.
Yeah.
Right now, my excitement far outweighed any fear that she might be a lunatic or a ghost.
"Hoo!!!"
I pressed my palm to my lips to check my breath, all set.
After a few deep breaths, I stepped out and placed my foot on the rooftop stairs.
Unlike the first day, I didn't crouch low and sneak up.
Today was the day for a straight-up confrontation, I figured.
Thud! Thud!
But...
As I reached the rooftop, I instinctively shrank back.
There was good reason.
Unlike yesterday, when I'd expected her back to me, today she sat facing the other way—right toward me.
'Fuck?'
Luckily, whether she was slow on the uptake or just that absorbed in her bath, she hadn't noticed me.
I carefully straightened up and craned my neck out.
Swoosh-!
Insane. Absolutely insane.
Not that she was crazy, but her looks were mind-blowing.
Skin like flawless white glass, huge eyes sparkling with starlight.
Perfectly sculpted features in gentle curves, and the cutest upturned lips, like she was loving every second of her bath.
Before I knew it, my jaw had dropped, and she spotted me standing there, dumbfounded.
"Whoa..."
A tiny gasp of admiration slipped out.
Since the divorce, I'd buried myself in work, so I had no clue what top idols looked like these days, but one thing I knew for sure:
She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in real life.
'Now what?'
My mind went blank, like a fresh sheet of white paper.
The bold confidence I'd felt before climbing the stairs wilted in the face of her untouchable beauty.
'Hoo!!'
I'd seen plenty of pretty women in my time.
Hell, I'd even gotten an autograph from a top-tier celebrity once.
But my mouth wouldn't move.
I couldn't even muster the nerve to approach.
Was I really this much of a loser?
'This is my house.'
I psyched myself up like self-hypnosis.
Whatever she was, I couldn't just let her keep using my bathtub without permission.
Rustle-!
As I tried to call out to her cautiously, I froze like a statue again.
She'd finished her bath and stood up abruptly.
Right in front of me, her S-curve figure laid bare.
Face perfect, body perfect—how was this possible?
The saying "God is fair" was total bullshit.
Swoosh-!
She swept her long straight hair back with both hands.
Her gaze turned toward the moonlight.
She stood there naked for a while, letting the water evaporate, then gathered her clothes from the clothesline and slipped them on.
'She'll catch a cold like that.'
I wanted to dash downstairs and hand her a towel.
She looked utterly satisfied, oblivious to my thoughts.
Then she tilted her head back to gaze at the moon again.
But...
What she did next dropped my jaw all over again.
It wasn't just surprise—this was knock-me-on-my-ass shock.
'No way...'
After staring endlessly at the moonlight, her body suddenly floated up—"poof"—and shot into the sky.
Thinking I'd seen a hallucination, I rubbed my eyes.
But nothing changed.
She just kept getting smaller as she ascended...
"Sh-she really was a ghost?"
The night was pitch black everywhere but the beautiful moonlight.
I just stood there, head tilted back, staring blankly as she vanished from sight.
"What's wrong!"
"N-nothing."
"Still torn up over your dad?"
"Hah... No, I'm fine."
It was the planned visit to Junseok's hometown house.
We'd had a light drink in the rooftop tub, then moved inside for round two.
But even with my friend there, my mind was elsewhere.
Think about it.
After last night—the kind of once-in-a-lifetime event I'd never imagined—could anyone stay clear-headed?
Junseok kept giving me this baffled look at my long face all day.
"You asshole, you dragged your butt all the way here, and you're gonna drink with that sourpuss expression?"
"Sorry. I'll focus now."
To lighten the mood, I raised my beer can for a toast, but Junseok scowled hard.
"If something's bothering you, spill it. Two heads are better than one."
"Bothering me...?"
"What, am I just scenery? This is what friends are for—laying it all out."
His grumbling tone was laced with genuine worry.
He wasn't my balls-to-the-wall bro like Ungseok from childhood, but we were damn close.
The quiet type who'd always had my back since college.
Anyway, I'd invited him to hang out, so I couldn't keep dragging the vibe down. I broached it carefully.
"...You believe in ghosts?"
"Ghosts? Did you see your late dad around the old house?"
"Nah, not Dad. A virgin ghost."
"V-virgin ghost?"
"Come to think of it, I'm not a hundred percent sure she's a virgin ghost."
Junseok stared in disbelief, then shook his head at my serious face.
"Never seen one, so nah, I don't."
"Oh."
"But back in the army, I had this junior who got 'chosen by the spirits.' He was always yapping about ghosts, so one day I asked if he'd ever seen a virgin ghost's face..."
"And?"
"...He said virgin ghosts are virgins for a reason."
Silence fell instantly.
Even his roundabout way, I got what the guy meant.
"So, low odds she's a virgin ghost."
"Meaning she's hot?"
"Yeah, saw her twice, and she's drop-dead gorgeous."
"What if she took a liking to you at the funeral home and followed you home?"
Made sense.
Funeral homes have all sorts of ghost stories.
That's why people sprinkle salt to ward them off before heading home.
But...
Took a liking to me?
She just bathed and whooshed off into the sky?
I cleared my throat awkwardly.
"Nah, we were in the rooftop tub earlier, soaking and cracking a beer."
"Yeah, it was nice."
"Saw her there."
"Dude, why tell me now!!! What if she latches onto me too?!"
"If that's how it works, she'd go for you first—you're prettier than me."
Junseok shook his head with his beer can in hand, chuckling like I was hopeless.
"Jeez, you maniac."
Talking it out lifted some weight off my chest.
A natural smile crept onto my face.
"Anyway, she was fucking stunning."
"That hot, and you didn't even say hi?"
"Tried, but she was so gorgeous, words just died in my throat."
"That bad?"
"You'd get it if you saw her yourself."
"Here I thought you were moping over your dad, and boom—virgin ghost talk."
Junseok trailed off, then his eyes lit up.
"Wait... tub means she was naked?"
"Yup, buck naked both times."
"Not a wet dream?"
"At my age? Come on."
"No pics or video?"
"Didn't know she was a ghost then. If she's human, I'd be in cuffs for snapping shots."
Junseok set down his empty can and picked at his nose before continuing.
"If she's really a ghost, shouldn't you call a shaman for an exorcism? What if she sticks to you like glue?"
Why did "stuck to me" sound like a win?
Divorce, then losing my only family—Dad—I'd been teetering on depression.
She'd honestly sparked some life back into me.
I waved it off with a grin.
"Won't happen."
"Why?"
"If she wanted to haunt me, why fly off into the sky?"
"What? Flew into the sky?"
"Yeah, finished bathing on our roof, dried off in the moonlight, then poof—off to fairyland."
"Tsk, maybe she got a good look at your mug, noped out, and ascended."
"Wanna die?"
We cracked up staring at each other over his joke.
Friends are gold in moments like this.
They listen earnestly even to total nonsense.
Swoosh.
Junseok paused mid-nose-pick, tilting his head.
"Fucking gorgeous, you said?"
"Yup, fucking gorgeous."
"Cleaned up and floated to the sky?"
"Told you."
How many times was he gonna ask the same shit...?
Irritated, I snapped a bit, and he grinned, jerking his chin.
"Hey... what if she's not a ghost?"
"What?"
"What if she's a fairy?"