Ch.11940. Soso’s Confession (1)

I felt Soso’s soft lips.

A kiss that began casually. But the two of us already knew each other’s lips well, and what lay beyond them.

Our tongues naturally intertwined. There had been times when kisses with Soso lasted quite long, but this time I pushed her away faster than usual.

“A kiss right after waking up? Were you that desperate to kiss me?”

I spoke to Soso in a playful tone, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Then, as if the kiss had awakened her, Soso’s dreamy eyes regained their vitality as she blushed and said:

“I… I don’t know! It’s just…”

But Soso fell silent. I didn’t say anything special either. It was the deep hours of dawn. And for a young man and woman under the same blanket…

It would have been stranger if there wasn’t an awkward atmosphere. I spoke casually, trying to break the silence.

“But I told you not to come into my room. Why are you here?”

“W-well, you fainted again, so…”

Perhaps Soso also felt the earlier silence was awkward. She briefly explained what happened after I passed out.

“The Dead Arms executives were all killed by Lee Seon-woo, who turned them into offerings. So with Lee Seon-woo captured, the uprising is completely over. Guild Master Pyo and the Union hunters were busy moving around yesterday.”

It seemed that during the day I was unconscious, Pyo Seong-hun had taken care of the situation in Busan in place of Soso and me.

And Soso apparently brought me to this hotel after I collapsed and continued to nurse me.

“Why did you bother nursing me? You could have just admitted me to a hospital.”

“The awakened-only hospitals in Busan don’t have facilities as good as Seoul’s. They wouldn’t have been able to easily calm your distorted qi and blood. So I directly applied acupressure to your…”

Our eyes met.

“But… something still seems strange. Minsu, are you really okay?”

Soso’s expression was serious. I instantly realized:

‘Has Soso vaguely noticed something about my condition?’

When I remained silent, Soso continued.

“I already knew from Little Grandfather that your qi and blood would continue to boil as an aftereffect of your injuries. But now it’s not just distorted qi—your innate true energy is leaking to the point that…”

“No. I used some rather extreme spells to catch Lee Seon-woo, so there’s just a temporary, minor leakage of source mana. Look, I’m completely fine now, aren’t I?”

I grabbed her wrist and quickly placed it on my chest. I could feel Soso infusing mana into her hand that was touching my chest.

“You’re right that you seem fine now. But still…”

Soso’s expression softened a bit. Probably because Soso, not being a doctor, couldn’t definitively judge my condition.

Right after receiving acupressure like now, my mana load calms down somewhat.

And thanks to Hong-ok desperately hiding the leakage of my source mana in front of Soso.

Soso might suspect to some extent that my body isn’t normal, but even after examining my mana load, she wouldn’t have reached the extreme conclusion that I’m terminally ill.

‘Now that the business in Busan is over, I need to make sure Soso doesn’t touch my body anymore.’

Right now, the leakage of source mana is temporarily blocked. But if I use resonance compression again or use items from my inventory, that source mana will leak out.

And an awakened person whose source mana has completely leaked out cannot survive. The very occurrence of source mana leakage is extremely rare to begin with.

That’s why Soso’s worried expression hadn’t completely disappeared. She seemed to have something more she wanted to say to me.

But Soso ultimately didn’t say it—that I should quit being a hunter immediately. She already knew I would never listen to that.

‘I’m fortunate that Hong-ok is helping me.’

Normally, someone whose source mana has started leaking wouldn’t even be able to engage in combat using mana like I just did.

They wouldn’t be able to endure the aftereffects accompanied by extreme pain like the burning sensation I’m experiencing.

Simply put, I was pretending to be fine in front of Soso as much as possible. I was acting.

‘It’s too early. Soso mustn’t know that I’m terminally ill.’

Now I’ll have the opportunity to approach the Red Lake in earnest. And Soso is an S-rank hunter who directly cut down S-rank villain Lee Seon-woo.

I absolutely cannot disturb Soso, who will be central to the story going forward. So, trying to appear as calm as possible, I joked with her.

“By the way, how long are you planning to stay in my room? It’s dangerous for a woman to enter a man’s room alone this late at night. You should go back to your hotel.”

Soso stared at me blankly at those words.

“I don’t plan to.”

At that moment, I was at a loss for words.

***

Hiding my flustered feelings, I said to Soso:

“What are you talking about? I’d understand if we were camping during a mission, but why would you stay in my room…”

“You slept with Arin at your apartment, but I’m not allowed?”

I glanced at Soso’s eyes. She wore a playful expression, but her eyes somehow looked urgent.

“Arin was… that was for nursing. I’ve told you many times we’re just senior and junior.”

“Hmm. Why are you so flustered?”

“I’m not flustered!”

“Well, whatever. Anyway, are you going to send a woman out alone this late at night? It’s dangerous outside.”

There was no way anyone could endanger Soso, but it seemed she had absolutely no intention of leaving this room.

“Sigh. Fine. Stay the night. It is getting late.”

I said that and turned my back to Soso. We were still under the same blanket. I didn’t have confidence in maintaining my composure if I kept facing her.

At that moment, Soso placed her hand on my back.

“I’m glad. At least I can be with you tonight.”

As I was trying to think about what that meant, Soso continued.

“When we return to Seoul, we won’t be able to stay together like we have these past three months. Right?”

She wasn’t wrong. When we return to Seoul, and as we focus on dealing with the Red Lake…

Yuri and Arin will join us on missions again. Since Soso and I aren’t dating, naturally we’ll spend less time together like we do now.

“I want… to have you all to myself like this.”

She pressed her body close against my back. I felt a soft sensation. And through the dawn stillness, I could hear Soso’s breathing. When she parted her lips again, her voice was moist.

“Remember when I said I had something to tell you after this mission was over?”

Instead of answering, I nodded. Soso spoke in a low voice.

“I’ll say it again. Just like when I confessed before. I love you. I don’t want to lose you to anyone.”

Soso embraced me from behind.

“So I want to know your feelings too. Whether we’re still just friends. Or… if there’s even a small possibility for me.”

Her voice trembled.

“Even though I pretended our kisses were rewards… you wouldn’t kiss a woman you had no feelings for, would you?”

Those words pierced my heart like a dagger.

At that moment, remnants of that endless, repeating dream I had earlier seemed to flash through my mind again.

‘Ugh. My head…’

I felt a temporary headache, but I forced myself not to show it, afraid Soso would worry.

And in that dream, Soso looking at me with a wistful face. From that scene in the dream set in Muguk. The scene where I spent the night with Soso flashed through my mind.

That scene, vivid as if it were not a dream but a memory from reality. In that dream, Soso and I whispered words of love and intertwined our bodies all night.

Although the setting was completely different—a hotel in Busan—it felt like that moment from the dream was overlapping with the present.

When I remained silent, Soso embraced me more tightly.

“I want to know. Your true feelings.”

I sensed it. This was no longer a time when I could escape Soso’s embrace with silly excuses.

I firmly held Soso’s hands that were embracing my chest and said:

“I like you too.”

***

At those words, Soso’s body trembled.

Though she had urged me to answer, she seemed very surprised to hear those words from my mouth, as if she hadn’t expected it. I could feel her shock as she embraced me.

“D-don’t lie… You’re not just saying that because… you’re afraid I’ll get angry? Afraid of the Blood Demon…”

“I’m not that pathetic.”

After saying that and falling silent, Soso spoke again.

“I… I want to see your face. I can’t… can’t believe it.”

I obediently turned around. Our eyes met. Soso wore the most embarrassed expression I had ever seen on her.

And tears were welling up in her eyes. Unable to say anything, Soso just fell into my arms.

As if unable to control her emotions, Soso’s body kept trembling. As I patted her back, I reflected on what I had just said.

‘I said… I like Soso.’

I couldn’t deny those words. It wasn’t a cowardly wordplay like saying I liked her as a person or as a friend.

I liked Soso romantically. Her jet-black long hair and alluring figure. Her strangely innocent yet beautiful face.

Soso had enough charm to easily captivate any man. Being a man myself, I couldn’t deny that my heart had been swayed by her charm.

‘But it’s not just that.’

Rather, the headache just now, and the dream. The Soso I saw in that dream… thinking about her gave me an indescribable, achingly nostalgic feeling that made my chest cold.

And that dream, I now know, was the one that repeated endlessly at the end of that deep unconsciousness during that year I lost consciousness.

However, I also knew that Soso wasn’t the only subject of that nostalgia. Yuri, Arin, and even Hong-ok appeared in that long dream.

In each moment of that dream, my connections with them flashed by.

‘No, now is not the time for such thoughts.’

I had honestly expressed my feelings. So I needed to have a clear conversation with Soso, who was now in my arms.

Just as I had drawn a clear line with Yuri, who had tried to awaken the Snow Woman to imprison me again, even though I had developed feelings for Soso beyond friendship…

I needed her to know that I couldn’t be her boyfriend. Soso seemed to want to confirm this fact with me again.

After lightly kissing my lips, Soso looked at me and asked:

“So are we dating now?”