Chapter 34
“Nooo, I was trying to end things nicely, but he kept hanging on and refusing to let go. Honestly, there was nothing else I could do.”
“……Mm, right.”
“And I wasn’t even planning to hit him that hard, but as you know, I’ve hardly ever hit anyone outside situations like ranking matches, right?”
Seo Ahyeon hurried into the bathroom, washed the blood from her fist, and came back out.
Seeing my indescribably subtle expression, she awkwardly began offering excuses.
“I was only trying to hit him hard enough to shock him into coming to his senses. But then, well, I failed to control my strength. Ahem. In other words, it was an accident.”
“Yeah, I understand, so you can stop making excuses now.”
“……For someone who says he understands, you look like you have an awful lot to say, Han Taeyang.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
I waved my hands with an awkward expression, trying to dispel Seo Ahyeon’s suspicions.
Seo Ahyeon’s eyes, fixed intently on me, were still narrowed, but well.
There wasn’t anything more I could say to her about it.
It wasn’t as though I had a lot to say to her, as Seo Ahyeon suspected.
If anything, the opposite was true.
I was closer to being at a loss for words.
‘……Even so, I never expected her to come back after actually punching him in the jaw.’
And for good reason—was Seo Ahyeon ever someone with such a timid disposition?
I knew that better than anyone, having pushed her patience to its limits countless times over the past year.
No matter how angry she got, unless she was in a sparring arena, the most she could do was grab someone by the collar.
A girl who lacked even the courage to hurt anyone emotionally, whoever they might be.
That had been my assessment of Seo Ahyeon until now, and it was probably an accurate one.
In fact, Seo Ahyeon had been the fool who just sat there dazed in the rain, even after Kim Minjun slapped her.
It was precisely because watching her like that had been so frustrating that I had broken my principles and intervened.
Well, to be honest, it wasn’t as though I disliked this unexpected turn of events.
‘No, I thought she’d at most come back after slapping him.’
I couldn’t quite erase my complicated feelings, and scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
It was true that I had pushed her from behind. It was also true, of course, that I had hoped for something like this to happen.
To have Seo Ahyeon properly return, even once, all the humiliation Kim Minjun had inflicted on her.
In the end, my wish had come true. And in rather spectacular fashion, at that.
The only part that had gone beyond my expectations was, as I said, that I had never imagined she would simply drive her fist into his face.
Judging by what Seo Ahyeon had said, she had at least split open the inside of his mouth.
That was far beyond the realistic upper limit of physical harm I had expected Seo Ahyeon to inflict—in other words, even if someone had given her a little encouragement, it exceeded what I had thought she could do.
‘Hmm.’
Even so, I soon changed my mind.
In any case, wasn’t it better that things had turned out well?
Seo Ahyeon wouldn’t have to see Kim Minjun again from now on, and I planned to stay nearby and look after her so that, if possible, that would remain the case.
It should be fine for her to give him one satisfying parting blow, considering how much she had held back for a year.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I let out a small chuckle at Seo Ahyeon, who had pouted, slightly disheartened by my silence.
“Why are you looking so gloomy, then? Anyone watching would think I’d scolded you.”
“……I didn’t do anything……”
Seo Ahyeon openly telegraphed her slight sulk as she glared at me half-liddedly.
I deepened the smile on my lips and naturally pulled her close by the shoulder.
I sat down on the sofa with Seo Ahyeon’s small body nestled in my arms with a soft ‘plop.’
Though her expression was sulky, Seo Ahyeon didn’t resist my embrace in the slightest─.
Pat-pat-
“……Whyy.”
Soon, my rough yet affectionate hand thoroughly stroked her black hair.
Seo Ahyeon complained in a somewhat sullen voice, apparently displeased that her hair was getting mussed.
I then rested my chin lightly on the crown of her head, gently patted her chest, and said:
“I’m just saying you did well. Whatever else happened, he made you suffer for a year, so as long as you didn’t kill him, it’s fine to draw a little blood.”
Fortunately, she seemed to like that. Her ears perked noticeably, and she flashed a bashful grin.
“R-right? Yeah, I didn’t do anything wrong. I did something perfectly justified.”
“Well, even so, I never imagined you’d come back after punching him in the jaw.”
“……”
Naturally, that smile quickly turned teary at my teasing addition.
Seeing Seo Ahyeon glare at me resentfully with watery eyes, I chuckled in amusement.
And lest I cross the proper line of teasing and get hit by her too, now that she had just broken out of her shell, I swiftly changed the subject.
“Anyway, what happened? I was wondering why you still hadn’t come back so late at night……. I was worried something might have happened.”
“……Ah.”
It might have been my imagination, but the conflict in Seo Ahyeon’s eyes, which had seemed to be debating whether to hit me, suddenly evaporated.
Though she pretended otherwise, perhaps she didn’t dislike my concern after all; the corners of her mouth twitched as she answered.
“H-hmm……. Why worry that much? I left you a message. I said I’d be coming back late today.”
“That’s true, but still.”
I replied while enjoying the refreshing citrus scent rising from Seo Ahyeon’s dark hair.
She had been staying at my dormitory with me for several days now, so that scent had grown quite familiar.
Yet it was always new as well. The heroine of the original story, who had most certainly had a boyfriend, was gradually becoming infused with the scent of the shampoo I always used.
My hand naturally brushed through Seo Ahyeon’s hair, and she continued her story as though it were perfectly natural for me to bury my face in it.
“Actually, you know? This afternoon, on the way back to the dorm after attending class with you, Minjun……. No, Kim Minjun, that guy, showed up and grabbed me.”
“I didn’t know this either, but someone had already uploaded a picture to the campus community. I guess someone secretly took it while I was sitting on your lap.”
“I had also ignored Kim Minjun’s messages for three whole days, and he was half out of his mind, so he pushed me against the wall and threatened me…….”
To summarize her story, this was what had happened. It had started with Kim Minjun suddenly appearing that afternoon.
In any case, since they had met face-to-face, they had been talking because she wanted to bring their relationship to an end.
Kim Minjun had suddenly gone pale for some unknown reason and had headed to the infirmary for the time being.
“……?”
When I heard only that much, I couldn’t help picturing a question mark over my head.
It was such a sudden development, and Kim Minjun’s behavior was difficult to understand.
He had come looking for her, furious because he had caught signs of Seo Ahyeon cheating (though it was questionable whether it even counted as that).
Yet after exchanging words somehow, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he needed to go to the infirmary?
“……Did he have some chronic illness or something? I’ve never heard about one.”
“Hmm……. No? It wasn’t anything like that.”
When I asked in a dubious voice, Seo Ahyeon, curled up in my arms with her knees hugged to her chest, tilted her head from side to side before adding:
“He just suddenly took off his pants and lunged at me, so I only said a few words after looking at his ‘thing.’”
She said the latter while discreetly brushing her slender hand over my crotch.
Apparently failing to notice me flinch, Seo Ahyeon blinked innocently and continued:
“Minjun, is that thing really fully erect right now……. And was it always that small?”
“?”
With a perplexed expression, as though she genuinely had no idea what it meant─.
Revealing the rather cruel truth of the situation, Seo Ahyeon went on to explain that Kim Minjun had suddenly staggered even though she had only said those few words.
I looked down at her with a strangely complicated gaze, though it meant something entirely different from before.
Then I moved my lips a few times, wondering what I ought to say.
‘I see.’
I simply closed my mouth again and nodded inwardly. Apparently, that innocent, guileless attitude had dealt Kim Minjun a tremendous internal shock.
Though I had never once thought of Kim Minjun that way before, it seemed I even found him a little pitiable for the first time today.
You really do see everything if you live long enough. I let out a hollow laugh and shook my head.
“So, so, it ended like that in the afternoon, right? I went to my afternoon classes, and around the time I was getting ready to head back to the dorm, I got a message. He said he wanted to talk with me at a café.”
“Mm.”
“Honestly, I didn’t want to go, but we had been dating for a whole year. I thought I should at least show him that final courtesy, so I said okay. I also thought it would be a good chance to make it absolutely clear that we were breaking up.”
Seo Ahyeon continued her story with a bright smile, without even realizing that she had thoroughly crushed one man’s pride.
She seemed to be having nothing but fun right now, nestled in my arms and recounting everything that had happened today.
I nodded with a calm smile and quietly listened to the stories she happily spilled out.
Surely, if she was happy, wasn’t that all that mattered?
At least, what Seo Ahyeon wanted—now that we were already halfway between friends and lovers—mattered more to me than that damn Kim Minjun’s.
Thus, after taking in the whole story of Seo Ahyeon’s diligent chirping like a baby bird—
“So, in the end, you broke up cleanly with that bastard, right? Good job. I’m really proud of you, Seo Ahyeon.”
“……Eheheh.”
What else was there to it? Despite the precious chance Seo Ahyeon had given him to hear him out one last time, Kim Minjun had completely struck out.
Even to the very end, he couldn’t forget the relationship he had conducted from the position of the one in control, maintaining a subtly domineering attitude even while clinging to Seo Ahyeon.
Naturally, Seo Ahyeon had lost even the last scraps of affection she had left for Kim Minjun.
-Seo Ahyeon……! Are you really going to end things with me like this? I’m—I’m saying all this to you!
After firmly declaring the breakup, when Kim Minjun grabbed the wrist she was about to use to stand up—
-Yeah, I am.
At that moment, all the resentment she had piled up surged out─. She swung her fist without thinking.
Naturally, as a magic-type Awakener, Kim Minjun must have been sent sprawling pitifully the instant Seo Ahyeon hit him.
His mouth had split open too, and all he could do was clutch his throbbing cheek; he apparently couldn’t bring himself to keep clinging to Seo Ahyeon any further as she left.
At first, I had been dumbfounded by the very fact that Seo Ahyeon of all people had swung a fist at someone.
But of course, apparently I had harbored just as much resentment toward Kim Minjun.
Because after hearing the detailed story of that disgusting bastard’s jaw getting knocked sideways, I could only feel immensely satisfied.
“Anyway, so…….”
I spoke while stroking Seo Ahyeon, a smile of complete satisfaction on my lips.
“I heard you’re currently accepting applications for a boyfriend? Ms. Seo Ahyeon, who became a free woman as of today.”
“……Yeah, hwet.”
This time, however, I didn’t stroke her hair normally as I had a moment ago, as though she were my little sister.
Instead, I stroked the small of her back with a more intimate and lecherous intent.
Using my outstretched index finger, I ran it straight down between her shoulder blades, then withdrew it at just the right moment, when Seo Ahyeon’s body shivered at my touch near her tailbone.
Seo Ahyeon let out a sultry little sound and flushed bright red─.
“……Ngh, yeah.”
“……”
“There happens to be an empty seat beside me right now……. Hng, so I’m accepting applications from anyone who wants to fill it.”
Despite saying that, she turned halfway toward me with a coquettish glance, as though deliberately provoking me.
I held back a laugh and met her eyes, and Seo Ahyeon murmured in a breathy voice:
“I-if you want to apply too, you’ll have to make some effort…… You know, I’m actually pretty popular.”
“……Oh?”
“W-well? You did help me a lot this time, so I suppose I could put you down as the number-one candidate in particular? But for now……. Eek, ungh?!”
Swoosh!
And I had no intention of merely sitting there and watching her brazenly spout such insolent words.
Before Seo Ahyeon could finish speaking, I immediately undid her skirt and pulled it off.
Thanks to that perfectly practiced undressing skill, Seo Ahyeon’s bare legs and thighs were exposed, everything but her panties stripped away.
The moment Seo Ahyeon’s face flushed bright red in shock—
“You’re awfully cheeky, Seo Ahyeon.”
“……W-what?”
I naturally changed positions, sat Seo Ahyeon down backward on the sofa, then leisurely rose to my feet.
Then I grabbed Seo Ahyeon’s soft, resilient thighs and spread them wide apart.
“After all the comforting I’ve done for you, I’m not even a confirmed candidate, just the number-one candidate? That’s a little hurtful.”
“……Uh, no. Wait, Han Taeyang. Taeyang? That was just a joke, you know──.”
“Seriously. You’re too cheeky for me to let this slide.”
“……?!”
I squatted down in front of the sofa, creating a position from which I looked up at Seo Ahyeon from behind.
I gave her a playful yet faintly sadistic sidelong smile.
Seo Ahyeon had probably realized by now what I intended to do.
But being able to realize it and being able to stop what she’d realized were two entirely different matters.
In any case, if one had to determine the balance of power in my relationship with Seo Ahyeon, it tilted somewhat in my favor.
“……Ah, w-wait just a minute.”
“This is both a reward for breaking up so admirably and a punishment for putting me on the scales so brazenly just now.”
“P-please, just a minute……. Taeyang, ngh!”
I twisted up the corners of my mouth into a fierce smile and lowered my head toward Seo Ahyeon’s underwear.
Even without any direct touch, Seo Ahyeon straightened her back at the breath coming from me.
“It’s all right if we do both at once, isn’t it, Seo Ahyeon?”
“……Mm, ngh.”
“You just said yes.”
I felt desire begin to boil at her adorable reaction and reached out my hand.
Now that her skirt had disappeared from Seo Ahyeon’s lower body, there was only one piece of fabric left to stop me.
In other words, to pull Seo Ahyeon’s cute bunny-patterned panties tautly outward.