Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Dustin reached out and brushed Andra’s hair to the side one lock at a time. The sound of touching her hair echoed softly through the quiet room. Even with this, Andra didn’t wake up from her slumber, not once tossing or turning, as if Dustin’s touch soothed her.

“Andra Avellin.”

He called out Andra’s name quietly. He didn’t know why it felt nice, how those two words rolled gently off his tongue. Thanks to this, Dustin laughed in vain.

He couldn’t believe there came a day that he realized how he liked Andra’s name. It was just a few months ago that he was so sick and tired of hearing her name.

To be honest, Dustin still didn’t know what to call these feelings he had for Andra. In some way, too, he didn’t want to admit it.

How exactly did he feel for his lifelong rival and nemesis? Wasn’t this absurd? They hated and despised each other for so long, but now, he didn’t hate her anymore? It felt like his life up until now was a lie.

“I still don’t know.”

Whether or not he likes her.

Did he really like Andra Avellin?

Dustin sighed and wiped his face with both hands. He still couldn’t believe that he cried in front of her that day. It was something he never even thought would happen—to show any vulnerability in that way.

It was quite literally an accident.

Who’d ever think that Dustin Airak would cry in front of Andra Avellin? The person in question also left the scene as if he was running away in embarrassment.

As if it’s not enough of a shock that he wept because of her, he even escaped like that.

At first, Dustin denied it. Who on earth was she in the first place? He didn’t want to admit his feelings at all.

Everything’s a lie. This isn’t real. This just might be a dream.

He tried to dismiss it all as nothing.

But he never woke up from the dream, and when he stayed up all night he had no choice but to accept reality.

After that, everything was chaos.

Dustin locked himself in his room, pondering several times a day the words Andra had uttered to him, unable to contain his anger and unable to resist the urge to let out his anger on other things. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to stand it.

After a few days like that, despair came over him like a wave.

Why did it have to be Andra Avellin?

He thought it over.

Half of this world was full of women, and yet the person he had to be entangled with was Andra Avellin, from a household that was his family’s sworn enemy. The same woman he loathed to the point that he trembled.

But now he couldn’t—he could no longer hate Andra. He neither despised nor hated her. Whenever he thought of Andra, his heart filled with tears from somewhere deep in his heart.

“Why you. Why does it have to be you?”

Looking towards the sleeping Andra, Dustin continued to ask himself. Why does it have to be you? If it’s not you, why else? If it weren’t for you, it wouldn’t be this painful.

He couldn’t figure out how far he could accept his feelings.

“You can’t go…”

Then suddenly, Andra mumbled as she tossed and turned. She grabbed Dustin’s hand.

He was bewildered by Andra’s hand intertwined with his, but at the same time, she clasped his hand tightly. Because of this, he froze up, unable to move.

“Stay like this, even for just a moment…”

And when Andra said this, Dustin felt his chest swell up like it’s about to explode. It was because his heart was pounding so hard as he saw his hand and hers tightly intertwined. He just touched her hand, yet all the blood in his body sang. He himself did not know why he was reacting like this.

‘Stop… Stop it.’

He was afraid that his loud, pounding heart would even reach the sleeping Andra and wake her up. If that happened, he would have to explain why he was here.

No, even if he tried to explain, Andra wouldn’t listen. She would look at him as contemptuously as always, and she would speak to him with only cold words.

“It’s like this every time. Truly nothing more than garbage.”

In fact, even after cursing himself out, Dustin had nothing else to say. It’s true that he went into her dormitory room without her permission, and it was also true that he’s here, secretly watching her sleeping like this.

But when he thought Andra’s words again, his heart ached once more. He felt like he was falling over and over down a steep cliff, to the unknown depths of the abyss.

Even so, there was one side of him that continued to lust for her—wanting to devour everything there was to Andra. From head to toe. To chew on her and eat her and make all of her his own. Would it make him feel a little better if he got fully drunk on that feeling of satiety? Perhaps he would no longer feel such misery.

Above all, he did not want to yield Andra to anyone else. He wanted to monopolize her. He wanted to keep her locked up somewhere so that she couldn’t escape him further, so he didn’t show her to anyone and she would look only at him.

Though of course, if he did that, Andra would surely despise and hate him more than ever before. He really didn’t know what to do anymore if she looked at him as though he was nothing but an insect.

But the thought of being the only one in Andra’s eyes made his heart race.

Despised and hated? Hadn’t that always been the case? Even if he received more hate and despise, there was nothing he couldn’t do if only he could fully take Andra.

Maybe it was alright for her to hate him. If only he could isolate her from the world so that he could monopolize her alone.

But at the same time, he doubted whether this feeling was normal. What the hell was this feeling. Was it even right for him to like Andra?

He wondered if it can be said that this desire, which made him want to harm everything about her just for her to look only at him, was truly because he actually liked her.

“It’s really… absurd.”

Dustin muttered to himself. To destroy a person in order to have that person. How could this be a normal emotion?

Then Andra tried to wake up from sleep while tossing and turning. Dustin looked down at their intertwined hands. How could this be explained? For a moment, Dustin tried to get out of that spot, but oddly enough he couldn’t bring himself to shake Andra’s hand off.

It was very impulsive for him to bow his head and kiss Andra as she was about to wake up.

“Ah, mmph…”

He hastily brought his lips to Andra’s. He licked her moist lips and even her teeth, then locked his lips over hers.

Taken off guard, Andra opened her mouth, but he didn’t miss this chance. He sucked her tongue even when she tried to draw away. The sound of their kiss echoed clearly throughout the room.

It was such a strange feeling. Even though he was already kissing her like this, why was it that he felt even more thirsty?

Dustin continued to grab Andra and press their lips together. And it wasn’t just that. He put his hands behind her back and pulled her up. Andra, still half asleep, gently followed his hand.

Dustin clasped her hands with one hand and then wrapped his other arm around her waist, continuing the onslaught of his tongue more violently than ever before. Just how pushy was he? Andra began to struggle as she felt short of breath.

Dustin pulled his lips apart only after Andra, who came to a belated consciousness, bit his tongue hard. Andra, reminded of the long kiss, gasped for breath, and she looked at him in disbelief.

“…….”

“…….”

The two didn’t say anything. Andra just looked at Dustin, perplexed, and in turn, Dustin was waiting for Andra to speak first.

“Dus…tin Airak?”

After a few minutes of silence, Andra opened her mouth and the first thing she said was a question. She tried to make sure the man in front of her was Dustin.

Since the light was turned off and the whole bedroom was dark, they could only rely on the moonlight streaming in through the window.

But Dustin felt his stomach twist when asked the question.

“Then, do you have anyone else besides me?”

“Ah…!”

A groan escaped from Andra’s mouth as he tightened their interlaced hands. It was then that Andra realized who the man in front of her was. It’s Dustin.

Black hair, dark green eyes. There was only one person around her who had sharp eyes and straight, clenched lips.

“Why are you here…”

At that moment, a tingling feeling pierced her chest. Andra felt her breath choking when she saw Dustin reflected in the moonlight.

Why did Dean and Dustin’s appearance overlap now?

Because of that, her face reddened as she recalled the love affair with Dean in Anat’s memory.

Dustin wasn’t Dean, but he looked like Dean.

Above all, Andra felt goosebumps rising over her skin because of Dustin’s gaze towards her.

She wanted to deny it, but no— she couldn’t deny it.

The way he looked at her was so very similar to the way Dean looked at Anat.

Why? No, how could he look at me with those eyes? Andra suddenly became confused.

It wasn’t enough that Dustin Airak entered her room, but he even gave her a deep kiss, and now he was looking at her with a look so similar to that of Dean’s.

There were so many things she couldn’t understand.

What happened while she was peeking into Anat’s memories?

More than that, Dustin…

No, no.

Andra denied it. It couldn’t be. She must be seeing it wrong. There’s no way that Dean’s loving look for Anat was the same as Dustin’s look towards her. It’s impossible.

It really was impossible in the first place.

But if that really was the case, then this means… Dustin likes her.

Dustin nervously observed Andra’s expression as she didn’t say anything back, only staring at him for a long while. Why aren’t you talking? Say something, Andra.

Unable to hide his impatience, he urged her. Of course, he couldn’t get it out of his mouth, lest his feelings for her would be exposed. He was so afraid that his feelings would be discovered.

“Andra Avellin.”

However, as the silence between them continued on, and as Andra’s expression changed from moment to moment, this was no different than torture. Unable to bear it any longer, Dustin called her name first. Still, Andra did not answer. She just stared intently at Dustin.

“Say something.”

Dustin spoke again, glancing at Andra’s lips that were shiny with his own saliva. It would have been better if she had cursed at him. Andra didn’t respond at all.

Was it because she just woke up? She seemed calmer than usual, and her mood seemed to be subdued.

Did she have any nightmares?

He was about to think so. But then, Andra suddenly opened her mouth.

With a shocking remark that Dustin wouldn’t have ever expected.

“Are we going to f***?”