CH 271

His hand slowly descended towards the collarbone without stopping along the neckline. My body trembled at the tingling sensation.

‘Wait…’

Didn’t he say he’d only kiss? While I was contemplating whether to tell him to stop, the hand that gently pressed the collarbone came up to the top of my neck again.

“Ugh.”

The thumb, pressing firmly on the earlobe, moved in a circular motion along the inner side of the pinna. It was then that I was about to put his hand away, unable to bear the chill anymore.

Chu, a strange touch was felt on my lips along with the sound. Instinctively, I could tell that Ha Tae-heon had kissed me.

“What…”

When I opened my eyes, which had been tightly closed, in surprise, I saw Ha Tae-heon’s handsome face in front of me. When I met his eyes full of emotions, my whole body stiffened.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, wa… ugh, umph…”

Chu, chu, chu, chu.

Surprised or not, he kept kissing my lips. It was then that I realized why Ha Tae-heon told me to stay still.

I should have done it! Then I would have simply kissed him on the cheek and done!

The kissing sound I heard in my ears was very embarrassing. Most of all, my heart raced like crazy to find out that it was Ha Tae-heon who kissed me.

I hurriedly leaned my upper body back, but he followed the same and I couldn’t escape. I looked back and saw the soft bed touching my back.

Ha Tae-heon, who was kissing while holding my ear to prevent me from turning my head, stopped just then.

“It hurts a little if you avoid it like that.”

“…you kept doing it.”

“I never said I would do it once.”

That’s true. It seemed like I was the only one suffering.

He smirked and frowned when I pushed Ha Tae-heon’s shoulders, who was too close. Then he took my hand on his shoulder and kissed the palm of my hand. Again, the embarrassing sound resounded.

“I’d like to do more if I could, but the place isn’t very good.”

“Yes? Do you want to do more after doing this much?”

“It’s not that I want to do more. Anyway, get up.”

…so what did that mean?

Ha Tae-heon, who pulled me up easily by pulling my wrist, raised the corner of his mouth. You’re sure in a good mood.

“I think I’ll have to do something else next time.”

“I’m not going to let it slide, just give up.”

“There are so many rivals, don’t we have to be strong even like this? I hope you understand.”

Who would like a man with a 35-year-old man in him? I was really worried about Ha Tae-heon’s strange taste.

“I think… the only person who has feelings for me is Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

Ha Tae-heon made a dissatisfied expression and turned the conversation back to the book.

“I will be back tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. Can’t you wait?”

“I think I have to coordinate it with El. I’m not going to go in right away since he told me to take a rest. And…”

The moment Elohim first took out the book, Cheon Sa-yeon’s side face, who was looking at the book with me, came to mind.

“I plan to have a separate talk with Cheon Sa-yeon. It’s Cheon Sa-yeon’s past.”

“I see.”

Ha Tae-heon, who was staring at the book with a complicated expression, nodded his head.

“It’s okay to talk to him. It’s his past, so you know what’s important or something to be careful about.”

“Yes. I am of the same opinion. And… I’m also concerned about Cheon Sa-yeon, who has to show me his past.”

“Yeah.”

He opened his mouth with a smile on his face.

“If it was Cheon Sa-yeon, I wouldn’t mind. It’s not anyone else what you see.”

“Pardon?”

“If possible, I want to show you my past as well.”

“Ah, that.”

I looked away awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.

Although I had never seen Ha Tae-heon’s past, I had glimpsed the life he had lived through ‘Abyss’, so my head became complicated in an instant.

No, to put it right, even if it was Ha Tae-heon in the last time period, the past was the past… it might be right that I consumed the past without permission from the person concerned. It was just for my personal interest, too. (The last time period refers to Cheon Sa-yeon’s last regression, before this time)

‘Should I be honest with him now?’

About Abyss. And even the reason why I understood and helped him…

However, the words didn’t come as easily as I thought. I couldn’t really predict what kind of reaction Ha Tae-heon would have when he found out the truth.

Would he be disappointed that I had only read his past so lightly, or would he be angry not to confuse him with the main character of the book?

While I hesitated, Ha Tae-heon got up from his seat and gently stroked my hair.

“Get some rest. There’s a lot of work to do, so it’s good to take it easy for today.”

“Well, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

Ha Tae-heon, who was about to leave the room, stopped at my call. When I met the black eyes that looked straight at me, no words came out as if there was a malfunction.

“…no, never mind. Ha Tae-heon-ssi, please rest well.”

“Good night.”

In the end, I let Ha Tae-heon out without saying anything.

Left alone with the click of the door closing, I bit my lip and walked towards the table. Then, I gently swept the cover of the leather book and touched it.

‘Looking at Cheon Sa-yeon’s past…’

Let’s explain later. You don’t have to do it now.

Ironically, I was afraid that Ha Tae-heon, who learned about Abyss, would leave while I looked at the past.

It was similar but different from when I made the decision to spend 70 days with Elohim in China.

In the past, I was only afraid that Ha Tae-heon would be disappointed in me. But now, after Ha Tae-heon left, I was afraid of the loss I would felt when I saw the empty space.

It had been like this. It was then that I realized that I had become that much closer to Ha Tae-heon.

* * *

“Then, Yi-gyeol-ssi, get some rest.”

“I’ll be right back soon.”

Except for me and Elohim, everyone else got ready to go out early in the morning.

Unlike me, who was an independent, everyone had to go back to the guild to deal with the delayed work.

“Get back safely.”

While waving slowly at Min Ah-rin and Kim Woojin, Park Geon-ho, who was next to him, suddenly pulled my hand.

“Uh, what is it?”

“It’s softer than I thought.”

“Don’t joke around.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who was quietly watching me and Park Geon-ho arguing, intervened.

“You’d better get some more sleep. Hasn’t it been less than five hours since you slept?”

“I woke up a little bit, so I’m fine for now. If I’m tired later, I’ll take a nap, alright. There are a lot of beds in the house.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

When I added it, Cheon Sa-yeon responded as if he had been waiting. It wasn’t a joke, annoyingly.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to look for which room and bed you’re sleeping.”

“Stop there, you. When do you think everyone will be back?”

“We are going to come in the same car when Master leaves. I think we will probably leave after midnight… What about Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon?”

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi said he would be back either tonight or tomorrow morning. Then everyone will come around the same time.”

“Oh… I guess the two of you have already talked?”

Oops. Reflexively, I said it. I was trying to pretend awkwardly, but Ha Tae-heon took a step ahead first.

“We met separately in the morning.”

“Oh my, really?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me and Ha Tae-heon when he said that.

Behind Min Ah-rin, whose eyes widened as if surprised, Kim Woo-jin, who had a contorted face, Park Geon-ho, with a complicated smile, and Woo Seo-hyuk, with a frown on his forehead, were seen.

Cheon Sa-yeon who raised one eyebrow, Kwon Jeonghan who touched the corner of his mouth, and even Elohim watching with interest.

“That… was just a short talk…”

A cold sweat broke out at the very poor excuse.

I didn’t think Ha Tae-heon’s feelings were caught, right? While I was worried, the kiss incident with Ha Tae-heon kept coming to mind, so I was very concerned that Elohim might read my thoughts.

“I thought you were tired and were going to fall asleep right away because it was early in the morning, but I guess it was better than I thought.”

Starting with Park Geon-ho’s sarcastic words, each of them spat out a single word.

“Han Yi-gyeol. Me, me too… I have something to talk about.”

“Then you must have slept less than five hours.”

“Isn’t discrimination too harsh, Hyung?”

“What the hell did you do in someone else’s house?”

“What do I do? It’s just a brief chat! And when did I discriminate?”

The kiss scene, which had been forcibly turned away, suddenly popped out in mind at once with Cheon Sa-yeon’s lament. Pushing it down, I pushed Cheon Sa-yeon’s back out of the front door.

“Stop talking nonsense and go quickly. It’s already past eight.”

“Look at this. You’re only pushing me again. My heart hurts with this obvious difference of affection…”

“Ah, please!”

“See you later, Yi-gyeol-ssi~!”

As soon as I barely pushed him out the door, Min Ah-rin, who went out last, greeted me with a wide smile. As I forced myself to smile and closed the door with a bang, Elohim, who was watching the situation behind me, said in a playful voice.

“You look happy.”

“…with this? You are mistaken.”

“You’re smiling.”

“This means to seeing them off… that’s enough.”

Even if you knew everything anyway, you must have been asking a question like that on purpose to make fun of me. As soon as I thought of that, Elohim rolled his eyes.

“You’ve become more sensible.”

“You’re a little mean today.”

“Do you see me like that?”

“Yes. Did something happen?”

Elohim approached me and pressed my lips together with a pure white hand and then released it.

“I’m sorry if you felt that way. I saw a funny scene earlier.”

“……!”

I immediately understood what the gesture meant and my face flushed red.

Damn it, he noticed. I thought it would be like this, so I tried not to think about it.

“The more you think about it, the clearer it becomes.”

“El…”

Shrugging his shoulders, Elohim patted my cheek and turned his back.

“I get it. I’ll stop. Let’s start with breakfast.”

“Is there anything to eat?”

“Before you woke up, one of the kids went out and bought it. They have everything from lunch boxes to sandwiches, salads, and porridge.”

“Who is that?”

“The kid’s name is Park Geon-ho. There was a bike in the garage and he rode it. No one has touched it, so it’s only yours, Se-hyun-ah.”

Park Geon-ho? Besides, did he ride a bike? Did you mean there was a bike in Cheon Sa-yeon’s garage?

It was a series of surprises and I was also grateful. I had been starving since dawn, so to be honest, I was a little hungry.

As we headed to the dining table at the back of the first floor, there was a lot of food that Elohim had prepared in advance. As I sat on the chair and raised a spoon, Elohim, who pushed the porridge in front of me, opened his mouth.

“Eat comfortably while listening.”

“Yes. Please tell me.”

“Right. First of all, this is the answer to the question you were most curious about.”

Elohim, who opened his eyes after closing his eyes slowly, continued.

“The blood that Producer you saved saw is Kali’s blood.”

“……”