Chapter 138 - 138- Waking Up The Sleeping Beauty (Part 2)

Standing there for a while, Talon watched Hyun-Jae's sleeping face, trying to find a way to approach her without sounding like a creep.

'Even though what I did is already creepy enough.' He sighed in his head as he made a small cough.

"Ehem, Hyun-Jae. Wake up." He called for her again.

But, except for a small disturbance in her rhythmic breathing, the girl didn't reply at all to his voice. It was clear that she was completely out of it. When someone's body reaches a certain level of exhaustion, their sleep could very much turn into a form of coma that they can still wake up from, except it requires far more effort to do that.

So, with no other choice, Talon slowly approached her and crouched down.

"Psst, Hyun-Jae. Please wake up." He said in a gentle tone.

Still, the girl didn't open her eyes. Instead, her face frowned slightly before she turned to the side with her face in his direction.

'What am I supposed to do now?' Rubbing the back of his head, Talon contemplated his next move.

The last thing he wanted was to make Hyun-Jae think he was a pervert or someone with any malicious intent. So, depending on his next action, the consequences could be vastly different.

'I guess it should be fine if I tap her shoulder, right?' pinching his nose, Talon slowly moved his hand and touched the girl's soft shoulder. Then, as he tried to ignore the embarrassment, he shook it a little.

"Hyun-Jae. Hey, Hyun-Jae. Come on, you need to wake up. We have work to do." He said again.

"Mmm..." The girl groaned slightly. "No... Not me..."

'Huh?' Talon looked at her confusedly. 'Is she still dreaming?'

"Please... No... Don't go... there..." She repeated again in a wavering, weak voice. "You won't... come... back..."

Her tone was very sad and filled with regret even though she was talking through her sleep. Her face also had a very uncomfortable look on it as if she was suffering through something great.

Talon listened quietly to those words as he recalled something.

'This is the second time I heard Hyun-Jae speaking in her sleep. It seems like a similar nightmare.' He thought to himself.

Whatever it was, Talon was certain that it wasn't as simple as a fleeting dream. If Hyun-Jae has this exact nightmare every time, then that meant that it had something to do with her past. Perhaps a trauma, or something that she can't forget.

'In both times, she seemed like she regretted doing something. Like she was trying to prove a point. But, what could it be?'

With how popular Hyun-Jae was, Talon thought that her past was already known. She was very much a celebrity and the press loved to dig through the pasts of known figures. If there was a bad thing that happened to Hyun-Jae when she was young, they would've spread it far and wide across the country or perhaps even the world.

But, no such thing happened. In the end, Talon could only shake those thoughts away. It was none of his business what she had hidden in her past. Whatever it was, it was something she decided not to tell anyone about.

As he was like that, Talon suddenly felt a hand touch his. Looking up confusedly, he realized that the sleeping girl had suddenly grabbed the hand that was touching her shoulder.

He flinched for a moment as he thought she had woken up. But, in reality, Hyun-Jae was still deep asleep.

"Fuuh... That was close..."

So, Talon slowly tried to pull his hand away, only to feel Hyun-Jae's grip on him strengthen. It wasn't to the point where he couldn't pull it out anymore, but it was going to require him yanking it away with some force which was guaranteed to jumpscare the sleeping girl.

Finding himself in such a delicate situation, Talon cursed himself forgetting himself in it like an idiot.

'This reminds me of those anime shows that keep doing dumb stuff just to get perverted lucky situations! Isn't this a little bit too much of a joke, guys?!' He screamed in his head.

Even though in their eyes, she was the one who worked the hardest next to Talon, she still felt that she wasn't doing as much as she should be doing.

"Yeah... But, before that, ehem..." Talon coughed awkwardly as he pointed down.

The girl raised an eyebrow as she slowly looked at where he was pointing. There, she could see that she was holding Talon's hand, with both of her arms intimately.

"...!! Oh! What?" Immediately, she released it in shock. "When did I? I'm really sorry. I didn't notice that."

"It's fine, nothing happened. I should've not entered your tent while you were asleep. I know that you don't want such a thing." Talon replied as he stood up.

"No! that's not a problem." The girl blurted out without thinking twice.

"...?"

"Oh, I mean... I don't mind you doing that. You aren't... a bad person..." She explained as she averted her eyes awkwardly.

"Is that so? Well, thank you. You aren't... a bad person either."

The two remained in a little awkward silence for a few moments before Talon finally turned around and started walking.

"Take your time getting ready and oh, good morning."

"... Good morning..."

With that, Talon finally left the tent. When that happened, Hyun-Jae's body fell to the side. She covered her face with both hands.

'What the hell was I doing? So that was the warmth I was feeling while I was asleep... He must think I'm some kind of weirdo that likes to grab people's hands while asleep...'

For the next 30 seconds or so, she rolled around as she cursed herself for being an idiot again and again. In the end, she stopped as she peeked through her hands.

'Though... I don't know why... But it felt really nice... holding his hand.'

Her eyes flashed with a weird glint for a second before it vanished.

"What am I even thinking of..." Finding her thoughts rather embarrassing, she shook them off as she finally stood up. "A bittersweet start to the day." Even while she was readying herself, her face still had a healthy blush on it.

Meanwhile, Talon moved away from the tent and found himself in a secluded area of the camp. There, he rested his back on a wall as he rubbed his face with one hand.

"That was... unexpected..."

"Look who's hiding their embarrassed look. She really got you there, didn't she?" Acrypha asked amusedly.

"... Shut up..." Talon averted his eyes as he sighed.

"You have a very cute reaction~"

"No! I don't!"

"You definitely do, hahaha."

"... Tsk."

A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading ??