episode_0132

132.

Early evening on a weekend at Yoo Seolhyun’s residence.

– Ring, ring.

The phone rang softly, spreading throughout the quiet room where Yoo Seolhyun was taking a rest.

She glanced over at her phone, which showed an unfamiliar number calling.

An unfamiliar number…

Who could it be?

And at this hour, calling her personal phone.

“….”

Yoo Seolhyun hesitated for a moment before reaching out for her phone.

It could be work-related, even though it seemed unlikely.

“Hello.”

The call was answered, but the other person remained silent for a moment.

Yoo Seolhyun furrowed her brows, about to speak again when the other person finally spoke. But to her surprise, the voice that reached her ears was one she never expected.

“Hey, Yoo Seolhyun, long time no see.”

A slightly familiar voice of a young man.

It was a voice she recognized, one that was quite familiar to her.

But also a voice she could never hear again.

Because he was already dead.

In front of Yoo Seolhyun.

Very clearly.

“Actually, through a relic, I managed to come back…”

“You crazy people. Playing pranks again.”

Yoo Seolhyun gritted her teeth a few times before angrily ending the call.

She didn’t hear what the man said about the relic before she hung up.

She was infuriated by those who mocked his death.

“Annoying people. Just stop it, seriously.”

Yoo Seolhyun muttered to herself as she blocked the young man’s number and angrily threw her phone.

“Ugh, seriously.”

Lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling endlessly, Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t get the voice of Lee Jinhyuk out of her head.

His voice made her cough up blood and remember his weak, dying figure.

Her mind was in turmoil.

So annoying, really.

“I thought I was starting to forget.”

Yoo Seolhyun murmured weakly before letting out a deep sigh.

“Anyway, those people…”

Since Lee Jinhyuk’s death, there had been people who occasionally tried voice phishing, imitating his voice, mannerisms, and appearance to trap her.

They claimed he was actually alive, needed help, and spouted nonsense to try to deceive her.

Yoo Seolhyun had many enemies, subtly within the clan and even at the academy.

“Sigh…”

She sighed once again.

It had been quiet for a while, but now it’s starting up again.

His voice, after so long, stirred up unsettled feelings in her heart.

His death was shocking, but they had only known each other for a few months, so why was she feeling so uneasy?

It had been quite some time, yet just hearing his voice again made her emotions complicated.

She wasn’t usually so sensitive.

“….Phew.”

Gently closing his eyes, Yoo Seol-hyun’s final image and his strained last words began to linger in his mind.

“Soyeon… I… I have a request… for Soyeon.”

His final plea to Jin So-yeon.

In the end, Lee Jin-hyuk only thought of Jin So-yeon until his very last moment.

Half of it was because of Jin So-yeon that he ended up dying, yet he comforted her not to blame herself till the end and entrusted Yoo Seol-hyun with everything until the end.

Is she really that precious?

Jin So-yeon, that woman?

More than his own life?

“….”

Come to think of it, he had asked not to torment Jin So-yeon in exchange for revealing the strategy to conquer Yeongdeung Mountain.

Looking back now, it seems like Lee Jin-hyuk hardly fulfilled his request.

Of course, he didn’t specifically torment Jin So-yeon, but he did say harsh words to her before she went missing.

That could also be considered a form of torment.

“I couldn’t fulfill his request…”

Was it really that he couldn’t fulfill it?

In fact, it wasn’t that he couldn’t fulfill it, but that he didn’t want to because Jin So-yeon didn’t appeal to him.

It made him feel uncomfortable and awkward.

It’s a well-known fact that he didn’t like Jin So-yeon from the beginning.

But now, thinking back, why did he feel so uncomfortable with her and why did he provoke her by calling her a man-hater?

He knows that Jin So-yeon is not a bad person.

She has a very altruistic personality and is popular with people of all ages.

Her abilities are also remarkable, and she is considered one of the strongest in the Academy since the Ranking Battle.

Given Yoo Seol-hyun’s fondness for talent, there was no need for him to be so hostile towards Jin So-yeon.

Yet, despite all this, the reason why Yoo Seol-hyun thinks of Jin So-yeon so negatively is still…

“You must have had a hard time too, Yoo Seol-hyun.”

“It’s a one-way street, just like you.”

“Hah.”

At the unexpected words of Yi Si-woon, she let out a faint chuckle.

At that time, she only sneered at his words of a one-way street, but now that the situation had turned out like this, she couldn’t just keep denying it.

Isn’t it obvious why she’s so concerned about everything related to Lee Jin-hyuk?

In fact, she suspected that Yoo Seol-hyun also had these feelings.

She just didn’t want to admit it like a fool.

It wasn’t because of anything special between them, or his looks, or his family background, that she harbored these feelings. It was just that she didn’t want to admit it and her pride was hurt.

But it’s ridiculous that she’s still doing this even though Lee Jin-hyuk is dead.

Shouldn’t she start admitting these feelings now?

“I can’t believe it myself.”

Yoo Seol-hyun burst into a sudden hollow laugh.

“Cuckoo, I’m really foolish…”

For a moment, she let out a hollow laugh mixed with various emotions.

She always realized her feelings too late. And then regretted it. Whether it was her mother’s time or Lee Jin-hyuk’s time.

She always pretended to be indifferent, okay, not okay, not interested, but look. She always realized and regretted after losing.

She thought she had changed a bit after her mother passed away.

But in the end, she hadn’t grown up since she was a child.

Not at all.

“Smart.”

Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard on the door.

A familiar presence was felt outside the door.

It seems to be a servant from the mansion.

“May I come in for a moment, miss?”

“Yes.”

In response, the servant opened the door and entered.

“What is it?”

“Oh, that.”

The servant looked at Yoo Seol-hyun and quietly raised his guard.

“Someone who claims to be the lady’s friend is requesting a meeting…”

“What? A friend?”

Did Yoo Seol-hyun have anyone she could call a friend?

There were a few people she could consider friends, but if they were planning to visit, they would have already contacted her.

It was extremely rude to suddenly show up at this hour.

“Who is it?”

“Oh, it’s a person named Lee Jin-hyuk.”

“…What?”

Lee Jin-hyuk?

Did he just mention Lee Jin-hyuk?

What is this? Could it be the person who called earlier? He wouldn’t have come all the way to the mansion, would he?

“Lee Jin-hyuk? Did he really say that?”

“Yes. He said he has urgent business with you.”

“Hah.”

Yoo Seol-hyun let out a sarcastic laugh.

It was unbelievable.

Truly.

“What will you do, my lady?”

“…He said he wants to meet me, right? Then I should meet him as he wishes.”

Mentioning the name of a deceased person and trying to meet Yoo Seol-hyun at this hour, what could be the reason?

Honestly, she wasn’t very curious.

She couldn’t understand what kind of trickery was at play, and she didn’t even know who it was, but daring to impersonate Lee Jin-hyuk and come all the way to her mansion like this.

Did they think Yoo Seol-hyun was easy to deal with?

This was clearly crossing a line and disrespecting Yoo Seol-hyun. Her character was not so forgiving as to tolerate such behavior.

Initially, Yoo Seol-hyun was a character who played the role of a villain in the conventional route.

Meeting Lee Jin-hyuk and resolving various matters did not lead her to become a villain, but her nature had not completely disappeared.

Yoo Seol-hyun raised her guard with a cold voice.

“Alright, then please guide that guy to the reception room.”

“Understood.”

“And tell the security team in my mansion to be armed and wait outside the reception room until I send a signal separately.”

“Oh, yes?”

“Are you going to make me repeat myself?”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry.”

“If you understood, then move, quickly.”

“Yes.”

The startled servant quickly moved at her sudden command.

She watched the servant’s back for a moment and then took out a spear hanging on one side of the room.

The sharp spear blade gleamed faintly.

Yoo Seol-hyun, armed in case of any unforeseen circumstances, finally walked towards the reception room.

On the way to the reception room, Yoo Seol-hyun thought.

What if, what if he really is alive?

If he didn’t die and somehow came back to life…

“…What a foolish thought, Yoo Seol-hyun.”

Ha. Seriously.

Why am I thinking like this again?

Yoo Seol-hyun shook her head to get rid of the useless thoughts.

How many times had she experienced such nonsense?

Originally, a dead person cannot come back to life.

Such abilities, artifacts, she had never heard of them.

Even if he were alive, if he had any intention of coming back, he would have done so long ago. After all these months, what…

“I’ve even seen the coffin lid closing, and yet I’m having these thoughts again, I really had a lingering personality.”

Yoo Seol-hyun bit her lower lip tightly.

And soon, she reached the front of the reception room.

In the distance, the armed security team was approaching.

“My lady, why are you carrying a spear? Is something wrong?”

“…I’m sorry, but please wait a moment until I send a signal.”

“Yes, understood.”

The security team members did not ask any more unnecessary questions.

They simply followed their employer’s orders.

“Phew.”

Yoo Seol-hyun took a brief breath and slowly grasped the doorknob of the reception room.

For some reason, she felt a slight tension.

Is there someone pretending to be him on the other side of this door?

I wonder what kind of audacity it takes to do something like that.

– Suddenly.

“I don’t know who it is, but to come this far….”

In an instant.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Yoo Seol-hyun’s words were cut off.

“Sorry for coming so late.”

But that was to be expected.

“But I have something I really want to ask.”

Lee Jin-hyuk casually sat down, leisurely nibbling on the snacks arranged in the reception room.