episode_0246

Kim Yijun muttered that with genuine feeling, watching Lee Hyunjin, neatly dressed in a tailcoat, from a distance.

“That guy is getting married…? At such a young age, and to Cheon Soyul, of all people?”

He let out a short, hollow laugh. Confirming that the person in front of him had turned away, he signed the guestbook.

After handing over the envelope containing the congratulatory money, Kim Yijun pondered for a moment.

‘What do I do now?’

In truth, Kim Yijun hadn’t had much experience stepping foot into a wedding hall like this. Given his age, his last clear memory was a blurry one of attending someone’s wedding with the Sword Saint a long, long time ago.

He wasn’t entirely without secondhand knowledge, so he considered stopping by the bride’s waiting room.

“Hmm…”

Frankly, Kim Yijun wasn’t that close to Cheon Soyul. Should he call her ‘Classmate 1,’ with whom he merely exchanged greetings?

Of course, their acquaintance was enough to offer congratulations, but it felt a bit awkward to seek her out first.

Kim Yijun, feeling unnecessarily awkward, scratched his cheek and looked around.

He was looking for someone he could converse with for a bit.

“Oh.”

Fortunately, he spotted someone. A mysteriously beautiful woman with deep navy hair and red eyes.

It was Kanzaki Rie, the vice class president of Class 2-A.

In the ranking matches, she was the student he least wanted to face, but perhaps because of that, she was also a classmate he had talked to often.

“Kanzaki.”

“…?”

Kim Yijun lightly waved his hand and approached Kanzaki.

Her attire was neat, but her makeup felt quite elaborate.

She was already a beautiful girl, but now she exuded a strong sense of maturity.

Kim Yijun let out a small gasp of admiration and held a gentle smile on his lips.

“Is this the first time we’ve seen each other outside the Academy? Not in uniform, it suits you quite well.”

“…Oh my.”

Kanzaki subtly covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled with her eyes. She leisurely shrugged at Kim Yijun’s compliment.

“As you well know, I am quite beautiful, aren’t I? In fact, women like me look good in anything.”

“Uh, um…”

“Anyway, you consistently avoided me inside the Academy, but it seems you’ve gained courage meeting me outside, Yijun.”

Before he could even string together a response to her rather awkward nonsense, Kanzaki refreshingly changed the subject, and Kim Yijun fell silent.

And he certainly wouldn’t have bothered talking to her if they were inside the Academy.

However, given the occasion – a classmate’s wedding – he thought there wouldn’t be any issues.

“…You don’t seem to be in a good mood?”

“Hmph.”

Kim Yijun had to shiver slightly from the chilling aura, the source of which he couldn’t pinpoint.

Of course, that chill emanated from Kanzaki’s icy demeanor.

With the reason hard to guess, Kim Yijun was simply bewildered.

He gently stepped back, thinking he’d spoken unnecessarily, but…

*Snatch!*

“Oh, why are you trying to run away again?”

“…”

“Now that we’re here, how about we chat a bit? That’s why you spoke to me, isn’t it, Yijun?”

Kanzaki snatched Kim Yijun’s wrist and gave a radiant smile.

Even so, her eyes didn’t look entirely safe.

Kim Yijun, forced to stay put, sighed in resignation and opened his mouth.

“Well… Is there something you want to talk about?”

“You’re the one who started the conversation, Yijun.”

“It’s because your expression clearly shows it, Kanzaki Rie.”

Kanzaki silently curved her lips upward. Indeed, she had many things she wanted to say but had been holding back.

“You’re right… I’m complicated in many ways, but first, I just want to ask one thing.”

“…What is it? Speak.”

“Those two.”

“?”

Kanzaki then let go of Kim Yijun’s arm and indicated one direction with her eyes.

First, Lee Hyunjin, who was greeting guests at the entrance, and…

Then, the bride’s waiting room, where it was impossible not to know who was inside, even though he couldn’t see it directly.

Kanzaki gestured with her hand and nodded with her eyes towards each, speaking with a twisted expression.

“Do they match, or not?”

“…”

“Oh, and by the way… You’d better choose your answer carefully. Depending on your response, the form of nightmares you’ll experience in every ranking match in your third year will change.”

Kim Yijun reflexively pressed his forehead. He belatedly realized he had been caught by a rather troublesome woman.

Although he was dense in such matters, he wasn’t without common sense.

Naturally, he could tell what emotions Kanzaki Rie’s crimson eyes held.

Kim Yijun let out a snicker, as if amused by the absurdity, and shot back at Kanzaki.

“You, do you like that guy?”

“…”

Of course, it was a question directed at Lee Hyunjin.

Kanzaki’s lips gently closed.

He didn’t hear a direct answer, but seeing the gradual reddening of her face, it wasn’t difficult to deduce the truth.

Kim Yijun let out a chuckle, finding out a rather interesting fact.

“How regrettable. That guy will be off-limits now…”

“…”

“Considering you’ve come all this way, you’re not entirely unwilling to congratulate this marriage, are you? If so, then don’t complain unnecessarily and just give up—”

“No.”

Kanzaki abruptly cut off Kim Yijun’s voice. In a flash, she wore a cold sneer, and Kim Yijun flinched.

Because her voice was imbued with an overly sticky jealousy, too strong to be mere grumbling.

“Just you wait. Of course, I’m not entirely against cheering on Hyunjin and Soyul as a spectator, but…”

“No, then what…?”

“But I have no intention of giving up. I don’t know if you know this, but that man has already regularly spilled his seeds inside me, you see?”

“…? What? Done what?”

“How could I give up? I’m sorry to Soyul, but if it comes down to it, I’ll even use my succubus powers to get pregnant first—”

*Grab!*

Kanzaki was passionately spewing out her words, but even those words couldn’t continue to the end.

Just before that, a small, cute hand gripped her shoulder.

Kanzaki, stiffening with a jolt, turned around with bewildered eyes.

“…What did you just say, Kanzaki?”

“…”

She discovered a short, tiny creature looking up at her, grinding her teeth.

Its appearance was like that of a squirrel, yet difficult to ignore.

*A tight grip!*

…Kanzaki swallowed dryly against Baek Ayun, with her gray hair, who was exerting a grip that left no choice.

“That’s not it, Ayun.”

“It seems I heard something I shouldn’t have. Would you like to say that again?”

“No, that is…”

“I’ll just tell you one thing.”

Baek Ayun had no intention of giving Kanzaki a chance to offer an excuse.

Her two eyes blazed like fire as she spoke clearly and distinctly.

“I’m second. If you cut in line, I’ll crush you, you succubus bitch…”

“…”

Kanzaki immediately whimpered and had to shut her mouth. Because if she showed any other reaction, she truly didn’t know what might happen.

“Hoo, hoo…”

She humbly clasped her hands in front of her and shrunk her neck, while Baek Ayun, composing her breath alone, forced a smile.

“…Ha, huff. I’m sorry, my words got a bit rough just now. But I don’t doubt that you understood what I said.”

“Yes, ye-es…”

“I want to get along well with you, Kanzaki. You know what I mean, right? As long as we follow the order, there’s no need for us to fight among ourselves.”

“Of, of course. I understand completely.”

Kanzaki Rie had no intention of backing down or giving up.

However, when faced with a power that truly could crush her, she had no choice but to meekly utter lies, even if they were false.

It was around the time she silently shed tears and succumbed to the external pressure of ‘fist.’

[Ah, ahh.]

The voice of an Awakener, perhaps the most famous in this country, which must have been familiar to Cheongsong Academy students, resounded.

[The wedding ceremony for groom Lee Hyunjin and bride Cheon Soyul will begin shortly. Guests, please take your seats inside the hall.]

Yang Chan-ho’s voice, amplified through the speakers, quickly cut off.

Kim Yijun, who had been silent like a folding screen for a while, blinked his eyes.

“It seems it’s about to start.”

“…”

“Why don’t you two stop that now and go inside? After all, today is the day to bless those two.”

“…Yes, well.”

“Ahem…”

Kanzaki and Baek Ayun didn’t deny his words. Their reactions were different, but their cheeks, flushed with awkwardness for no reason, were identical.

Kim Yijun let out a snicker and lightly patted both their shoulders one after the other.

“Alright then. Let’s go in.”

Kim Yijun, inwardly marveling anew at Lee Hyunjin’s ability to seemingly charm not just two ‘flowers in both hands’ but a full three people, was surprised anew.

But he had no idea.

The fact that this number, merely three…

…was just the beginning.