episode_0028
by fnovelpiaI had a dream.
Sitting in an empty theater, it was a dream of watching childhood memories as a movie.
The title of the movie was….
When I was five years old.
“Yu, Yoochan…! Yoochanaaa…!”
Mother clung to me on the day she lay in bed and wept bitterly.
She had never appeared in my dreams before.
Facing her sorrowful figure made me feel strange.
“Mom….”
Meanwhile, lying on the bed with only underwear on, I was drenched in sweat and the sticky heat that covered my body.
Come to think of it, when I was very young, I seemed to have suffered greatly from some unknown illness for a while.
“I’m too hot….”
“Ahh…! Yoochaaaan…!”
It was a moment when my mother, unable to do anything, wailed loudly.
As the angle shifted, illuminating the bedroom door, a familiar face appeared as the door swung open.
“Yoochan!!!”
A tall figure with broad shoulders and a face that seemed to have been through some distress with women.
Kim Inchan. He used to be my mother’s boyfriend, the ‘uncle’.
“Mr. Inchan…!”
“Sorry for being late! How’s Yoochan?”
“I, I don’t know. His fever just keeps rising…! W-what should we do about our Yoochan…! Sob….”
“Darn it…! I should have come sooner…!”
The man who seemed to have rushed here embraced my weeping mother and checked my body frantically.
“The fever is too severe… Medication won’t work now.”
“T-then what should we do?”
He didn’t answer, but instead took my hand with a helpless expression…
At that moment.
Tremors. I began to convulse on the bed, seemingly due to the high fever.
My mother clutched my legs, screaming at the sight.
And the man who had been watching over me with shocked eyes…
“It’s not going to work.”
With a determined look, he suddenly started rummaging through the luggage he had brought.
From within, he pulled out something unexpected.
A flat, black stone-like object embedded with a beautiful yellow gem.
It was the ‘gem’ that he had promised to give me when I grew up.
“…I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere before.”
The man with a determined face forcefully pulled my mother away from me, who was having a seizure.
“Yoonjung, there’s no time! Go outside!”
“No, I can’t! We have to protect Yoochan!!”
Of course, my mother, who had lost her reason, tried not to let go of me.
“Kim Yoonjung!!!”
“!”
The man grabbed the startled mother and, suppressing his sorrow, said,
“I will save Yoochan. Please, go outside and wait for me.”
“……!”
My mother, in a frantic state, looked back and forth between me and the “jewel” in the man’s hand.
Then, as if realizing something, she looked at me lying on the bed.
“Really…. really…?”
Soon, she ran out of the room, moved by the man’s determined face nodding.
“…Yoochan….”
Left alone in the room, the man muttered,
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
He turned his eyes and approached the bed, where I was having a seizure, attempting to say something but giving up, and then, with an apology, came close to the bed.
Then, gathering strength in the hand holding the ‘jewel’ and shedding tears, he…
“Huh!”
Startled, I woke up from my dream and sat up, instinctively grabbing my chest.
“What… What kind of dream did I have?”
I couldn’t remember well, but it was a very grim dream.
Even when I tried hard to recall, nothing came to mind, as if everything had been splattered like paint.
My heart just thumped uncomfortably.
“…Phew….”
Wiping the cold sweat off my forehead while calming my pounding heart, at that moment,
“Huh?”
I suddenly realized that something was strange.
“Why am I… lying on the bed?”
I was definitely lying on the sofa. But now, I found myself on the bed.
Marienne’s bed.
“!”
Startled once again, I turned my head and looked beside me.
Sure enough, Marienne was sound asleep next to me.
“Unbelievable!”
Guessing that she had moved me to the bed, I quickly got out of the bed and checked to see if anything was exposed…
“No, wait.”
Suddenly, I realized that this was an opportunity.
Marianne was asleep, and now was the chance to use her phone.
‘…Don’t wake up…!’
Quietly. Quietly. I turned to the other side of the bed and reached out towards the phone charging at the head of the bed.
‘It’s almost there…!’
Just as I was about to carefully grab the phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Ahh!!!”
Startled by the sudden voice, I bumped my hip and fell.
Marianne had woken up in the meantime.
“Darn.”
In the end, it was a failure.
Realizing that starving myself wasn’t the solution, I quietly had breakfast.
Marianne led me to the second-floor terrace, which offered a clear view of the garden and the city.
Was this consideration for someone like me who had been indoors all the time?
I was so grateful that tears welled up in my eyes.
“Is this guy… not going out today?”
Seated at the tea table, Marianne seemed to be leisurely enjoying the clear weather while reading a book, seemingly without any plans.
If this guy isn’t home, I could try anything.
“What should I do?”
As I pondered for a moment, I casually glanced at her schedule.
“You’re not going out today?”
To which she casually replied while flipping through the pages of her book.
“I canceled all my plans. I want to be with you for a while.”
I lost my words as I watched Marianne reading her book without even looking at me.
Wasn’t she busy day by day?
She canceled all her plans just to be with me.
Her selfless nature remained unchanged.
“No, she might be doing this to keep an eye on me.”
Based on my experience so far, Marianne’s way of thinking far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
I thought there must be some ulterior motive behind canceling her plans, and I squinted at her, staring her down…
She briefly met my gaze.
With a faint smile, her eyes were dripping with sweetness.
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, the strange cries from the previous night came to mind, and I instinctively averted my gaze.
Recollections of the time we spent together during our relationship flooded back unexpectedly.
“Do you want me to go out?”
Mayeon-seo put a bookmark in the book she was reading and closed it.
I didn’t intend to continue the conversation like this.
Thinking that it’s no use being fussy, I gave a suitable answer.
“…I was just asking.”
Then Mayeon-seo chuckled and pulled something out of her pocket.
“You’re secretly doing this again?”
“That, that is…”
It was the ‘letter’ I sent yesterday.
“No wonder it was resolved so well.”
It seemed like there was no denying Mayeon-seo’s cunningness.
“I think the attempt was good. Actually, I couldn’t have imagined this method.”
Mayeon-seo marveled at the letter as if it were really amusing.
I couldn’t smile at all.
‘I’m stupid for having expectations.’
While she gazed at the letter with a faint smile, she suddenly created a small magic circle on the table.
Soon, a familiar-looking summon appeared from within.
It was the lizard monster she first awakened and summoned.
“I should say hello, right? You’re my senior.”
The lizard, who was tilting its head on the table, looked at me and then struck a dignified pose, sticking out its tongue sharply.
It felt as if it was asking me to greet it.
“…Should I?”
In response to my cold reaction, Mayeon-seo chuckled and handed the letter to the lizard.
The lizard promptly bit into the letter and swiftly burned it up.
The letter I had written with care turned to ashes in an instant.
“Damn…”
It made me feel melancholic, as if it were my life.
“Yoo-chan.”
She discarded the letter and gently stroked the lizard on her palm.
“I’ll say it again, the only way for you to leave here is by making me like you again.”
She spoke affectionately, uttering nonsensical words.
“We are already inseparable. Since we’re going to be together, it’s better to get along, isn’t it?”
Her coaxing tone momentarily sparked a sense of rebellion.
“Why are we inseparable?”
I wanted to see her composed attitude crumble even for a moment.
“Rather than living suffocated next to you for the rest of my life, I’d rather die.”
She quietly sent the lizard back and then subtly provoked me.
“Go ahead.”
“…What?”
“If you can die, try dying.”
“You think I can’t do it?”
“You’d probably do it and survive. But… did I not even consider that?”
Mayeonseo calmly spat out crazy words with a composed face.
“Try dying somewhere. You might not be able to die, though.”
But that’s why it was credible.
If she wanted, she could easily play with me however she pleased.
She could forcibly exert violence, compel love, or force a relationship.
But.
Apart from confinement, she didn’t impose any particular restrictions.
Did she just leave me alone, knowing what I might do?
From the start, I was in a state where I wasn’t even free to die.
“…Terrifying woman….”
For a while, as we stared at each other, ready for a fight, I realized that my opponent was unreasonable and quietly averted my gaze.
“This won’t work. That won’t work. I can’t even die as I please.”
Literally, I was only free in movement; in reality, I was being coerced into love.
I couldn’t understand the meaning of such love at all.
“…Do you really think I would love you like this?”
“I don’t know.”
“What, what did you say?”
“I just feel good when you’re by my side.”
Still obstinate, she threw out an expression of affection without hesitation, blocking my words.
Then, while lightly touching the cooling teacup, she suddenly threw a question at me.
“Yuchan, do you know how I became S-rank?”
“How would I know that?”
I know.
The reason why Ma Yeonseo, who was a C-rank awakened, suddenly became S-rank was due to a higher-ranked summon she accidentally summoned through a chance encounter.
Even if I tried not to know, I couldn’t help but know because of all the fuss in the news.
…It must have been like that.
“On the day we broke up, I jumped off the apartment rooftop.”
“…What?”
An entirely unexpected story unfolded.
“I died there once. Luckily, I survived.”
“What…?”
“How painful do you think it is to fall from the 30th floor of a building straight to the ground?”
…!
“Flesh torn apart, bones shattered. I probably would’ve died from shock if I hadn’t awakened, right?”
“D-Don’t lie. That I would…”
“…Lie?”
Swoosh. She met my gaze.
In her calm declaration of death, there was not a hint of falsehood in her eyes.
It was all true.
I really broke up with her and jumped off the rooftop.
“W-Why on earth…”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“Anyway, after dying once and coming back to life, I was able to make a contract with ‘The Hand of Sigil.’ Isn’t it amazing? If I had died there, you wouldn’t have been summoned here.”
With what seemed like an all too familiar smile, Mayeonseo quietly sipped her tea.
“……”
Watching her, my mind became incredibly confused.
Her unhesitating way of jumping off, and the guilt that squeezed my throat at the thought that she did it because of me.
If Mayeonseo had died there…
Thud.
Just imagining it was dizzying.
“…No. Kang Yoo-chan. Pull yourself together. I’m Han Ryeowon’s boyfriend now. We promised to get married!”
For a moment, feeling sympathy for Mayeonseo, I quickly regained my composure and resolved to focus on Han Ryeowon, who had been left alone.
It’s been three days since I was summoned here.
It’s time for Han Ryeowon to realize that I’m gone.
How anxious and restless that delicate child must be…
Just imagining made my heart ache.
“Yes. I need to pull myself together now.”
Now is the time to steel my resolve more than ever.
Ultimately, Mayeonseo became an S-class Awakener and lived just as well as anyone else, and I carved out a new life for myself.
Now, let’s leave the past behind and go our separate ways.
Even if I have regrets about being harsh to her.
“…Yeonsoo. No matter what, I can’t like you.”
I said, trying to kill my emotions as much as possible.
“I already have a girlfriend I promised to marry. We’ve been living together for quite some time. We’re even planning to buy a house soon.”
Mayeonseo listened silently without batting an eye.
“I don’t know why I was suddenly summoned to you… As you can see, I won’t be of much help to you. Really. So, if you truly like me. Please stop now… Let me go.”
Saying this to her, who had experienced death, made my heart ache with guilt.
I felt dizzy as if I were saying something I shouldn’t.
But…
“I must not become weak.”
I had already grown up and become a man for a woman.
Now, I also have responsibilities.
“I see.”
Mayeonseo unexpectedly responded plainly and averted her gaze.
Then she hesitated and began to speak softly.
“Unfortunately, I can’t let you go. As I said earlier, just having you by my side makes me feel good. It’s like a buff… should I say?”
“You…”
Thinking that she had simply manipulated my sincerity, I frowned slightly.
However.
“It’s not just words. My power has actually increased since you appeared. Maybe magic is influenced by emotions.”
She hadn’t just manipulated my sincerity.
“As you know, my body is quite important. There are dozens of people attached to this house alone, and there are countless staff working for me.”
She presented herself not as an ex-girlfriend, but as ‘S-class Awakener, Mayeonseo.’
“Naturally, I have to earn a lot of money to feed those people. I have to become stronger, which means everyone lives.”
Comparing the life of one person, Kang Yoo-chan, to the lives of dozens or hundreds was an extremely efficient logic.
“But how can I let you go? To release the summoning contract, one of us has to die. If I die, everyone dies. If you die? What about that girlfriend of yours?”
I couldn’t find a way to refute her.
From the moment I was summoned in front of her, it was checkmate.
“This… This is just absurd…”
Feeling an indescribable sense of oppression for the first time in a long time, I expressed my unfairness to her.
“So… so, should I just live like this? Receiving cuteness like your pet for the rest of my life? Without my own life?”
As I said this, Mayeonseo pulled her clothes as if to show her chest.
“If you don’t want to live like a dog, then become my master.”
If you don’t want to be dominated, dominate yourself.
She came forward with such confidence in her demeanor.
I was speechless because it was so unbelievable.
“…Crazy woman….”
“I know. I’m crazy.”
She smiled proudly, feeling good about herself.
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