Chapter 62 – A Kiss of Reconciliation

“Haa… Haa…”

Yoo Hayeon let out a coarse breath.

She was putting her lips over mine, intent on getting back the time Ban Hana and I had spent together.

I spoke in a small voice.

“…Don’t you think this much is enough?”

“No. You cheated on me, so I have to get back double the amount of time.”

Revenge should be paid back in double.

Hayeon tied me up to recover twice the amount of time that Hana had stolen from her, and blocked my mouth for a long time.

By the time my mouth was dry, she made it moist again.

With my hands tied up, I couldn’t do anything and just accept her lips.

Such action was repeated in this bright room.

Hayeon muttered like a paranoid patient.

“Not yet. It’s not enough. In order to make you clean, I have to…do…more…”

She was going to cover up other people’s traces on me.

I mustered up my courage to her who was muttering frightening things and said, “Hayeon. I wasn’t lying.”

“You’re still saying that? Do you have to lie that much to feel good? What are you, Pinocchio?”

“No. My nose doesn’t stretch…”

“That was just talk!!”

Hayeon didn’t believe my words at all.

Is it because I lied too much?

Big fat liar.

So this was how you felt.

It was the moment I empathized with the boy who cried out when the wolf appeared.

“I’m seriously going to die if I don’t kiss a girl. You’ll regret it a year later after I die, you know?”

“…Lies. Your body is just unwell.”

“Ugh, so frustrating…”

The credibility I had built for decades had already hit near rock bottom.

I have no choice but to say it.

The side effects of my ability that I’d been hiding from Hayeon.

She remembered that I, without my magic core, had an enhancement type ability which created mana one-time to strengthen my body. 

Whether it be with my lifespan or memory, she had no clue that I was paying a price.

“Yoo Hayeon. Do you know what my ability is?”

“…? Of course, I do. You envelop your body with mana and strengthen it.”

She tilted her head while climbing on top of my body.

It was a look that read, “Why is he asking something obvious?”

“What if that’s not the case?”

“What are you trying to say, Sijoon?”

“What if there’s a price to using the ability?”

“…”

After saying this much, Hayeon seemed to understand what I was getting at.

I paid a price for using my ability. And that was with my lifespan.

If she finds out about this, it’ll be a huge problem…

For persuasion purposes, I told the story of my past.

“How my body weakened was not due to a car accident. It was because of my ability.”

I had unofficially subdued hundreds of hordes of A-Rank monsters.

When I was little, I unknowingly used my lifespan and turned them into dust.

When I told Hayeon that, she was making an expression which read, “What nonsense are you on about?”

“Han Sijoon.”

“What.”

“It’s hard even for me to face 10 A-Rank monsters, how could you possibly do that? Don’t spout nonsense.”

“…Already?”

Even though she was just a First Year, Hayeon was saying 10 A-rank monsters were difficult for her.

It was likely that in the Second Year, Lee Seolha would not be at the top of the class. 

I sent my condolences to her bank account and explained, “What if there’s a witness?”

“Witness?”

“The president, who we saw last time, was with me then.”

The president was someone with a first-hand account of that incident.

No matter how much Hayeon mistrusted me, it was a different matter if I brought the president’s name up. Even she couldn’t disregard the reputation of a former S-Rank Hero.

“…”

At my words, Hayeon stared fixedly into my eyes.

It was one of her own ways to process and discern whether what I was saying was a lie or not.

The Scale, Libra.

I used my ability to properly persuade her.

“Han Sijoon, your magic, no, wait…”

Hayeon put her ear to my chest.

In that area, the Golem’s core filled in for the magic core.

It was only then that she realized a magic core had formed in me.

Increase my strength just enough to untie these ropes.

–Consume 20% of mana to boost the user’s strength for one minute. Do you consent?

I consent.

Upon agreeing to the contract, my body was full of strength.

I applied strength to my arm and immediately unbound my arms which had been tied up by Hayeon.

“Now you believe me, right? My ability.”

“…”

Without saying a word, Hayeon blankly stared at me, who was untying the rope.

Then she blinked and mumbled.

“You…”

“Me?”

“You stupid bastard!! Who would use their lifespan for something like this?!”

“It hurts… Hayeon, I said it hurts!”

She had clenched her fist and punched me all over the place.

Since my body was small, it made me think how others could view this as a scene of domestic abuse if they saw us.

On the inside, I vented at the injustice.

I don’t remember either, it’s unfair…

The past where I got rid of the monsters was a past which I couldn’t remember.

Due to that, my lifespan had been reduced, and it was extremely unfair that I was getting hit by Hayeon.

 ***

“So, that mutt named Fenrille entered you and said he’d extend your life if you hooked up with girls?”

I nodded vigorously at Hayeon’s furious voice.

“Those words, are you telling me to believe…”

“It’s up to you whether you believe it or not. Though, if you don’t, I guess I’ll die in a year.”

She flinched at what I said.

If she didn’t believe me and I actually died in a year, I wondered how Hayeon would live her life.

From my assumption, she could potentially commit an act even more evil than the Black Dawn.

That was my guess.

Keeping up with the momentum, I said to her boldly, “So for me to live, I have to kiss with two more people.”

Having gotten out of bed, I took a drink of water as I told her that. 

Even though I gulped down the water, I still got the feeling of Hayeon’s saliva in my mouth.

Since she heard the explanation of my specific circumstances, she replied to me, half in doubt.

“You… You have to kiss two more girls? I don’t like that. Sijoon is mine…”

“Why am I yours?”

“…Are you not?”

 Of course not.

Hayeon seemed to take for granted that she owned me.

I said to her, who was expressing her anxiety as she bit her nails, “Hayeon. I wasn’t cheating, I was making moves for the sake of my survival.”

“…That’s not true though. You wanna die?”

I got caught.

If I had kissed for survival in the first place, I didn’t need to do it again.

Whether Hayeon was aware of that fact or not, my argument did not work.

Her eyes widened as if a great thought popped up in her head.

“Sijoon. I have a good idea.”

“What is it?”

“Just live together with me for a year, don’t separate from me for a second, and then let’s die.”

“Say something that makes sense…”

“I hate a world without you there, but I hate you kissing other girls even more.”

Hayeon said as she embraced me tightly so that I couldn’t move.

As if she’d never let me go.

Within her, there seemed to be a fight between her reason, which wanted to save me, and her feeling, which wanted to tie me up.

I loosened her hold on my arm.

“If I die, we can’t get married. Are you really fine with that?”

“No, I’m not. You must marry me. You must, even if you’re dead.”

“Hayeon. You can’t get married if I die.”

“I’m just saying.”

She said that then turned her head to face me.

In any case, it appeared she believed me.

In her situation, the fact that I had to kiss another girl was not desirable.

“Bastard crazy for women… You always keep thinking about stuff like that, isn’t it why something like this happened?!”

“What are you saying? I don’t want to do this either? I have no choice.”

 
“Excuse-making trash. Die. Just die.”

If you keep this up, I’m really going to die.

I wanted to threaten her like that, but I decided to hold back since if it was Hayeon, she would actually go through with imprisoning me for a year.

Ultimately, Hayeon asked me as if she had no choice, “Then, what are you going to do about the other two? Are you going to ask girls passing by for their numbers and go hunting?”

“No, that’s not it…”

The other two women.

First, with the time that I didn’t have much left, I just needed to get Lee Seolha’s lips. 

As for the last one…

Hm…

The candidate was Na Yoona.

But, if I kissed her, I would automatically enter Na Yoona’s route and commence hard mode.

Then what about Ms. Shin Sihwa…

A forbidden relationship between teacher and student.

However, Ms. Sihwa was only interested in other people’s relationships, she didn’t seem to particularly care about her own.

I should probably give up.

That thought crossed my mind. 

If not, then Han Yoowol.

But if I kissed her, wouldn’t I die from her sucking my blood dry?

There were many candidates, but they were all in the grey area.

As I brooded over it, Hayeon spoke as if she had a good idea.

“Then, I’ll find a girl outside and kidn…”

“No. The one I’m kissing should have romantic feelings for me.”

“…What the? You didn’t say that. Just don’t kiss. Live for a year and die. I’ll die with you.”

“It sounds like you’ll jinx it so don’t wanna.”

It was a bit much to stick to me even in death.

Having recently understood my own existence, I was not the type who could settle down in one place.

“Haa… Han Sijoon, you garbage scum…”

After she sighed like that, she looked at me with her sparkling obsidian-like eyes.

“How did I end up liking you? It’s so frustrating…”

“I know.”

“What do you mean, ‘I know’? Do you want to be tied up there again?”

“Sorry.”

I never want to experience being tied to a bed while being kissed indefinitely ever again.

It’d be nice if it were the other way around, but it was far from my taste.

“Han Sijoon. I’m going to trust you one last time. Promise me one thing.”

“What promise?”

“Just say yes. You have no right to refuse.”

“…Alright.”

I had a lot of sins piled up, so I was forced to behave the way Hayeon instructed.

Rather, it was a miracle to even be alive like this.

“Promise me. If you ever kiss another woman, you have to tell me no matter what.”

“Okay.”

“Swear by it on mana. I’m not going to trust your tongue anymore.”

By swearing on mana, I’d be bound to a contract-like relationship.

If I kissed Hana and met up with Hayeon, I would automatically tell her, ”I kissed Hana yesterday.”

Hayeon held back the rage boiling inside her and said, “Sijoon. Answer.”

“…Okay, I swear.”

Without any other means, I was forced to swear to her on mana. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to take one step outside of her dorm room.

It was a contract for the sake of survival.

”Yoo Hayeon and Han Sijoon swear on mana that if Han Sijoon gives a kiss, he would relay that fact to Yoo Hayeon when they meet.”

“I swear.”

When I swore on it, mana escaped from Hayeon’s and my body.

The leaked mana encircled the air as it transformed into an unidentifiable character shape.

Then the character formed into a contract and dispersed into the air.

Swearing on mana meant signing a single contract.

This was how I received Hayeon’s consent. 

I said to her playfully, “But are you really not going to trust my tongue?”

“…Die idiot.”

With that, Hayeon stuck her tongue at mine.

A kiss of reconciliation.

It was something that happened between couples when they fought, and it meant that Hayeon was willing to forgive me to a certain extent.