Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: "49. Stone Skipping (2)"
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Every time I breathed out, Dahye stroked my back, and every time I breathed in, her fragrance wafted over me.
Embarrassing.
Here we were, buck naked—what the hell was I even doing...
I'd meant to scold Dahye and give her a good smack on the back.
But I just couldn't bring myself to pull away.
Her warmth and soft touch were so intoxicatingly sweet that before I knew it, I had pulled her into my arms.
Desperately searching for the sound of her heartbeat beneath her supple skin.
[What must be going through Dahye's mind as she stands before me like this?]
Ever since she came to live in our house, I'd been repeating that question to myself endlessly.
I wished it was something simple—like she needed a cheap place to stay, or wanted to game on my good computer, or just craved some human warmth and clung to me for that.
I wished this hug we were sharing right now was just as trivial.
If that were the case, I'd gladly play the fool and let her borrow my body forever.
But no, that couldn't be it.
Dahye wasn't some idiot girl like that.
[I love you.]
Her voice turned my entire body inside out.
Just those three little words glitched through me, casually slipping past the walls around my heart and shattering the graphics right in front of my eyes.
She'd always stolen my moods without permission, and now she was saying she was stealing my heart too?
When she'd stolen my moods before, it made me so happy I could cry.
But now that she'd stolen my heart, it hurt.
Part of me wanted to claim her right then and there, to possess everything about her.
I wanted this warmth and sensation to be mine forever.
I love you too.
I wanted to say it.
But I couldn't.
Ever since I realized I loved Dahye, I'd been desperately hiding my feelings.
She didn't know anything yet—if I got greedy, wouldn't I ruin her bright future?
That's the excuse I'd hidden behind with all my worries.
But now I realized it was just that—an excuse.
The real reason I couldn't confess... it wasn't some noble moral code.
It was simply because I was a pathetic coward who couldn't believe how spineless he was.
I'm scared.
At 29 years old, I'm still alone.
I'd never given my heart to anyone, and no one had ever given theirs to me.
Not even my blood family.
Even the girl I'd loved for two years left me.
[I'm disappointed. That's too much. I'm let down.]
The last words from everyone I'd loved were always filled with stuff like that.
I always disappointed them, and in the end, I was left alone.
But I'd thought it was fine.
I could live well on my own.
I didn't need love or anything.
I wasn't lonely anyway.
The reason I could act so tough was...
Because when I came home after a long day, there was always someone waiting for me.
Kim Pokttal.
Even if I ended up alone, Pokttal would always wait for me.
Even if the world ended, she'd be by my side.
So I was confident I could be happy even alone.
But if I responded to Dahye's "I love you" with my own "I love you too" right now...
Could I keep living if I lost her someday?
[I'm disappointed. That's too much. I'm let down.]
If Dahye spat those words at me and left.
If our relationship became worse than strangers.
Could I survive that?
I had no confidence.
"Dahye..."
"It's okay."
Before I could even finish,
her hand pulled my head closer.
My mouth buried into her soft skin, short-circuiting and glitching out.
Her eyes looking down at me seemed endlessly happy.
Did she know?
How pathetic the loser right in front of her was.
And yet, this brave girl, just like always, grabbed my hand and charged headlong into the maze.
"It's okay, Seonghyeon. I only said it because I was worried it might make you uncomfortable. So... for now, let's just stay like this... and sleep."
Dahye wrapped one arm around my head.
And patted my back with the other.
At that comfort, I clenched my fist around the dice again and clung to her bosom like a spoiled child.
Dahye pulled the blanket up over our heads.
Now, in the darkness, there was only the two of us.
I could feel her breath.
Her hot body heat too.
Without any cue, we clung to each other desperately.
As if even the slightest separation would kill us.
Sweat flowed, and our damp skin stuck together.
I wished we could melt like this and become one forever.
[I can't roll it... I don't want this to end...]
I remembered yesterday, when the chicken, monkey, and dinosaur hugged Dahye and cried.
Pathetic—they were crying just because the game was ending.
I'd mocked them as losers.
But I guess I was scared of the game ending too.
Having been comforted, I squeezed out tears without even trying.
A loser who couldn't even say "I love you" back, couldn't push her away, and now was bawling like a baby.
Tsk tsk.
Even I'd lose affection for someone like me.
"♬~ ♪~"
Dahye patted my back and started humming a tune.
Lucid Town's BGM again.
The village where the exiled princess, having lost everything, sank into an eternal dream.
Did Dahye like this song?
Listening to her hum,
I pictured the princess smiling happily in her endlessly looping dream.
I wanted to be like her too—think of nothing and just pray this moment lasted forever.
But I couldn't.
Because I'm an adult.
Someday, I'd have to wake from the dream myself and roll the dice.
Could I do it?
I didn't know.
For now, with the dice gripped tight in my hand,
I'd just fall asleep.
In my dream, Dahye's voice echoed.
[I love you.]
The coward that I am finally conveyed my feelings, if only in the dream.
[I love you so damn much.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I dreamed I was drowning.
Struggling up to the surface with my last breath, I opened my eyes to find myself in Dahye's embrace.
"Pwah! Ugh...! Haa!"
Damn, that was close to death for real.
If I'd died like that, it would've been a tragedy.
Kwon Seonghyeon, 29, suffocated in a bosom.
Way too pitiful.
Or maybe a happy ending?
My room had great lighting, so sunlight poured onto the bed in the mornings.
Which meant Dahye's figure was now starkly visible.
Her upper body, not a stitch on, shivering slightly.
The blanket was nowhere in sight,
Ah, so she'd been using me as a heater.
I pulled the blanket from the floor and draped it over her, then myself.
Dahye's furrowed brows smoothed out again.
Three weeks since we met, and she was still shockingly beautiful.
I'd always fixed her clothes when she stripped like this, but...
Today, strangely, my resolve was weakening.
Maybe because of the comfort.
Like a spoiled kid, I dove back into her arms.
"Mm... Seonghyeon... you're awake?"
"Sleep more. It's only 6 a.m."
"What...? Why are you hugging me today?"
"Dunno. Just feel like it."
"Hehe, see? I told you skin-to-skin is the bes~t..."
She could've been hurt by my lame reaction yesterday,
but Dahye squeezed her eyes shut and nuzzled happily into my shoulder.
So warm.
"Uwa~ Slept forever... It's already Monday. Sunday vanished."
"Yeah. What're you gonna do while I'm at work?"
"Hm... Draw some pictures. Aka's gonna teach me Photoshop tomorrow, so I gotta warm up~."
"Nice. You staying in?"
"Hm... Maybe a quick walk? Kinda lazy though."
"Get some sun."
"Hehe, got it. I'll come out to greet you when you get home."
"You'll wait for me?"
"Huh? Of course. I do every day."
True. Nothing changed from yesterday.
Dahye was still beautiful, and she'd wait for me like always.
Grateful for that normalcy, I gazed at her...
"Yup!"
"Ack!"
Dahye climbed on top and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"First time you asked for a hug! Gotta do it right!"
"Aren't you embarrassed stark naked?"
"Hm... Seonghyeon. That's my line."
"I'm not. What's there to see on a guy's junk?"
"Not that... this."
"..."
Ah. Calling it out at this timing.
Truth be told, I'd been excited the whole time with Dahye,
and now she pointed at my junior, face flushing.
"So put some clothes on."
"No way~ Skin-to-skin is best... You get up at 8, so let's stay like this for two hours."
Not embarrassed squishing someone else's junior?
I dunno anymore...
I patted Dahye's butt stacked on top of me.
She wiggled happily, so she must like it.
Being like this with Dahye made yesterday feel like a dream.
Her "I love you" and my cowardice seemed like they never happened—we were still pathetically rolling around in the room.
But something had definitely changed.
I could see it clearly in Dahye's eyes now.
The words she kept repeating—"I love you"—were plain in her gaze.
And I needed to prepare.
A response to give that look in her eyes.
"Screw it. Taking a sick day today!"
"Whoa. You can do that?"
"Never done it before, so yeah! Park Dahye! Hang out with me today!"
"Hell yeah!"
For now, I'd irresponsibly bask in the time she'd given me.
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