Chapter 87: Where Are You (2)

Chapter 87: Where Are You (2)

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: 5/week, Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

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...........How long have you been deceiving me?

"..."

No words came from her open mouth.

Her vision blurred. Song Soo-yeon doubted her own ears.

"...What...?"

Finally, she managed to ask Jung-gyeom with difficulty.

The question she just heard couldn't possibly be real.

This was something that couldn't happen.

-Thud.

The cake she had carefully selected for Jung-gyeom fell to the ground.

The gift box containing a watch engraved with the affectionate phrase 'From Soo-yeon' also fell.

Jung-gyeom, covering his eyes with his palms, muttered quietly.

"Since when...since when...exactly..."

"...Mist...F*ck"

"When did you...as a villain...start deceiving me?!"

Jung-gyeom's voice, now laced with force, echoed loudly in the room.

Soo-yeon's knees trembled and then gave out.

-Thump.

She couldn't stand up again.

Breathing became too hard in this terrifying situation.

"Ha...ah...haah..."

Gradually, Soo-yeon started to grasp the situation.

Jung-gyeom had found out.

"No...it's not..."

With a voice drowned in fear, Soo-yeon hastily denied it.

Her mind went blank, unable to come up with even a sloppy excuse.

But she had to deny his words.

She had to argue by any means that she wasn't a villain.

"...No, it's not...it's not..."

She shook her head like a child, denying the accusations.

The walls she had built to avoid getting hurt were nowhere to be found.

Neither her sharp persona nor her shameless faade.

She couldn't act any of it out.

There was no room for that now.

And to Soo-yeon's denials, Jung-gyeom, through his tears, burst into hollow laughter.

"...Are you still trying to deceive me?"

"...Mister, Mister..."

"Was I...a fool for believing in you?"

Jung-gyeom had believed in her words so naively, to the point others would ridicule him as a fool.

He kept his distance when he heard of her misandry.

When she said her parents took her money, he readily found her a part-time job.

He offered her a studio apartment when she didn't want to go home, and comforted her whenever she vented out of the blue.

He trusted her without evidence.

He believed in her based on her words alone.

And he didn't mind that.

When everyone else seemed like an enemy, Jung-gyeom made her feel like he was on her side.

As long as Jung-gyeom believed in her, everything was fine.

That's why she wanted to stay by his side so badly.

Jung-gyeom's hollow laughter trailed off.

His shoulders, trembling with tears, began to shake with laughter.

"Kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk...kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk."

It was impossible to know what he was feeling as he laughed.

She was just terrified, each moment searing fear into her mind.

".......Yeah, I was a f*cking idiot."

Jung-gyeom blamed himself.

Song Soo-yeon gasped in shock.

That kind man was now spitting out harsh words without hesitation.

An idiot, a loser, a pushoverhe had laughed it off when called such names, but now he trembled with rage.

It felt like a dagger was plunged into Soo-yeon's heart.

Tears started to flow.

".......I could never have saved anyone."

"...Ah...ahh...."

"...Everything I did...was just for my own satisfaction. It was a waste of time."

Jung-gyeom regretted the very fact that he had helped Soo-yeon.

As he spoke, tears burst forth uncontrollably, like a dam had burst.

His words were painfully sharp.

The person she loved was regretting being involved with her.

"No...please...Mister...please..."

Jung-gyeom took his hands away from his eyes.

His eyes, now cold and desolate, looked straight at Soo-yeon.

".....Soo-yeon, what do you keep saying no for?"

This change crushed her heart.

It was unbearable to see Jung-gyeom despair because of her.

"Is it really not you? You're not Luna?"

Jung-gyeom asked as if interrogating her.

But within his words, there was a faint hope.

He sincerely hoped Soo-yeon was not Luna.

".............."

But faced with such questions, Soo-yeon could only become mute.

Even if she had a hundred mouths, she could say nothing.

She just bit her lip and bowed her head.

Jung-gyeom laughed hollowly again.

"...See?"

"...Sob...ugh..."

"...When did you...start having powers...?"

"...Ugh..."

"Since when? Since we met?"

"No...it's not true, Mister..."

Jung-gyeom no longer listened to her pleas.

As if reminiscing, he nodded to himself.

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I remember. The moment we truly started to get close. Now that I think about it...there was nothing more awkward than that."

Tears streamed down Soo-yeon's face as she looked up at him.

"...Solace."

Jung-gyeom said.

"It was since the moment Solace and I started to get close."

"...Mister...?"

"As a villain...did you use me? Did you use me to spy on Solace? That's why you stayed by my side...and that's why you hated Solace so much?"

His thoughts began to race.

He was unable to think rationally due to the betrayal.

Soo-yeon couldn't stand on her trembling legs.

She crawled to him, clinging to his legs.

"It...it was never like that...please believe me..."

She turned her stiff neck slowly to look at Jung-gyeom.

His face was contorted in pain.

Tears were flowing from his eyes too.

"...No, Villain Luna."

Soo-yeon was the same, tears streaming down endlessly.

She too began to realize.

It was too late.

Her eyes, like Jung-gyeom's, were losing their color.

She struggled to speak.

"Not Luna...I'm...Soo-yeon-"

"-I can't trust you anymore."

"......................Mister...please...."

Jung-gyeom wiped away his tears.

And with that, as if shedding his attachments, he firmly walked past her again.

Jung-gyeom, who had always believed her words without question, now wouldn't believe her desperate pleas.

It left her at a loss for what to do.

Soo-yeon's emotions began to explode.

She started to rage against the unfairness of the world.

Why. Why does the world curse her again?

Being by his side made her forget that the world was trash.

No, in a world that felt like trash, it made her realize that there was also warmth.

What right does the world have to give and then take away?

If it were going to be like this, it should not have let her know.

It should not have shown her that such warmth existed.

For the past 19 years, she endured not knowing this warmth.

But now, she couldn't.

She couldn't bear a world without Jung-gyeom for even a second.

She couldn't return to the hellish coldness of before.

"Don't go..."

She said.

But Jung-gyeom kept walking.

"...Don't...don't go...!!"

Soo-yeon turned and roughly grabbed Jung-gyeom.

She aimed for his arm, but what she caught was his wish bracelet.

The wish bracelet Soo-yeon had made stitch by stitch for Jung-gyeom when she was poor.

-Snap!

The now worn-out bracelet, caught by her fingers, broke off all too easily.

-Thud.

The string fell from his wrist and dropped to the floor.

The bracelet, once a source of joyful and cherished memories, met its end just like that.

Soo-yeon stared blankly at the scene before snapping back to reality.

Jung-gyeom didn't stop despite her pleas.

He grabbed the door, twisted it open, and his body moved towards the outside of the studio apartment.

"Don't go, f*ck...! Please...please don't leave...!"

Song Soo-yeon screamed desperately.

"I'll die without you...! Sob...I love you, f*ck...! Please, don't leave me alone...!"

It was the first time she had ever pleaded like this. It was the first time she had been this desperate.

She couldn't accept this nightmare.

She was already terrified of what would come after Jung-gyeom left.

"Mister!!!"

She yelled as loud as she could, but Jung-gyeom continued to move.

At that sight, Soo-yeon's rationality snapped.

She kicked open the door of the studio apartment that was beginning to close.

Her bare feet got dirty as they hit the ground, but she didn't care.

Silently watching Jung-gyeom's retreating figure, she said,

"Tomorrow...! You're coming back tomorrow, right...? That's why you're leaving now...?"

"..."

"Say something!! I'm scared to death, damn it!! You're coming back, right!! Please!! Please!!!"

Jung-gyeom's back remained unchanged.

Soo-yeon's eyes began to shine with a violet light.

There was no turning back now.

"Ugh...!"

She raised her hand.

She made her decision.

"Come back...!"

She commanded.

"Come e back and hold me...whisper to me that you love me...sob...tell me you love me..."

She had vowed not to use her powers on Jung-gyeom.

She didn't want to be loved through manipulation.

She wanted to be truly loved by him.

But.

...It was better than nothing.

Keeping him through manipulation was better than losing him entirely.

Determination filled Soo-yeon's eyes.

Jung-gyeom was also at fault.

If he knew she was a villain, he should have been careful.

He shouldn't have thoughtlessly tried to escape.

He had seen her defeat Solace, so he should have been wary.

No one wants to watch their heart walk out of their life.

Soo-yeon felt the same.

She wasn't going to just watch Jung-gyeom leave.

As Jung-gyeom, who had been walking away endlessly, began to slowly turn around, Soo-yeon caught her breath.

The panic that had seized her breathing calmed down a bit, like first e e back and...don't call me Luna...call me e and hold me..."

But beyond that, Jung-gyeom didn't move.

His cold gaze fixed on her, he just stared at her motionlessly.

Soo-yeon, puzzled, looked at her own hand.

Still shining with a violet light.

It was clear that her powers were activated.

"...Why? e here..."

And then something that shouldn't happen, happened.

"......So this is what repaying a favor means."

He spoke.

And did not move.

Her power had no effect.

"...................."

Song Soo-yeon lost her strength again.

She collapsed right there, staggering.

Jung-gyeom left.

She couldn't hold onto him.

"Come e back..."

She squeezed out her powers, but he no longer looked back at her.

"Don't leave..."

His body turned away.

"Mister...please....."

Soo-yeon pleaded.

........But Jung-gyeom did not stop his steps until the end.