1440 - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33
Yeonsu lifted her head and exhaled softly. The latte she’d ordered earlier had gone completely cold. She placed a new order for both their drinks, and when Deokwoo thanked her with an exaggerated wink, she almost smiled despite herself.
“See, Yeonsu is always so thoughtful. I’ll enjoy this.”
“Stop that. It’s creepy. ……So, is Soyeon stable now?”
Yeonsu asked about Soyeon. Using the charm she’d brought, she’d located the direction from which the curse had been cast, then redirected every hex aimed at Soyeon toward its source. She’d also woven strong protective barriers around Soyeon herself, so unless someone harbored a new grudge against her, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Yeah. My sister was sad about it, but that’s just how things are…….”
Soyeon, having learned that her own juniors had caused the incident out of a misunderstanding, sighed wistfully.
―That director has a notorious reputation for wandering hands. He openly solicits sponsorships too. So I deliberately kept him away from the younger cast members. Hah……, I guess it could look that way to someone.
As she spoke, she seemed to feel a hollow emptiness about human relationships and the way she’d lived her life.
She had every reason to. What she’d done out of kindness was misinterpreted so badly that it nearly got her hurt.
Though they’d narrowly avoided serious injury, physical wounds weren’t the only kind of damage done. In fact, people of her temperament were far more wounded by injury to the heart.
But given her steadfast nature and the strong blood of a Martial Arts Family running through her veins, she’d overcome something like this within a few years.
“One of them suffered head trauma and now stammers. The other bears a scar across her face—neither will find acting work easy again.”
The curses they’d cast returned to them exactly as intended. Hyerin had wanted to destroy Soyeon’s head, and Mina had wanted to leave an indelible scar on Soyeon’s face. It was all self-inflicted ruin.
“In any case, I’m glad it’s over. Whether it was that business in Gwae-amni or this, everything’s been so hectic we haven’t had time to talk like normal people.”
Time had moved urgently when they were both absorbed in tracking the curse’s origin. Only now that Soyeon felt secure did they finally have space for conversation.
Zing—the vibration alert chimed. Yeonsu stood to collect the drinks she’d ordered.
A warm café latte for herself. And for her Spirit Sibling, who’d been with her since before she received the Gut Ritual, a sweet vanilla latte.
Deokwoo’s face brightened the moment he saw the sweetness, looking like he’d been running on fumes. He drew half the drink through the straw in one go, then released a satisfied sigh. He glanced at Yeonsu, dressed unexpectedly mature for someone her age, and asked.
“So, how’s your person? Did you manage to meet safely?”
At Deokwoo’s question, Yeonsu forgot the self-reproach that had been consuming her moments before and broke into a radiant smile.
She’d made a mistake earlier, but she knew he hadn’t avoided her out of dislike. And he was, as always, beautiful—and unlike In-eum or Yeon-hyung, he genuinely seemed to be opening a place in his heart for her.
At the sight of Yeonsu’s smile, Deokwoo spit out his straw and contorted his face dramatically.
“Whoa…… I’ve never seen you smile like that before. It’s unsettling.”
“Shut up.”
“You don’t even smile like that in front of your mother.”
At Deokwoo’s remark, Yeonsu felt embarrassed and rubbed her own cheek. Her cheekbones were definitely lifted quite high.
“What’s wrong with my face?”
She didn’t want to look foolish smiling like an idiot in front of that man. Using such an excuse in her mind, Yeonsu casually asked Deokwoo.
Deokwoo was about to put the straw back in his mouth when he glanced up and fixed Yeonsu with an intent stare.
“The face of someone who bites the cutest kitten cheeks in the world, gets scratched by those claws, doesn’t mind the pain at all, and just goes back to biting and sucking because it’s too adorable.”
Heat flooded Yeonsu’s face. He was right—she had bitten that man’s cheek once or twice.
Did this bastard catch me on a video mirror or something? Yeonsu narrowed her eyes and glared at Deokwoo.
“What? You’re awfully specific. ……Speaking from experience?”
“Ah. I’m actually dating someone these days.”
“Dating? Hey, since when…… wait, don’t tell me—”
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“Yeah. Soyeon. We opened our hearts more to each other because of all this.”
Deokwoo flashed a grin and threw up a peace sign with both hands, and Yeonsu felt genuine envy wash over her. She flopped across the table dramatically.
“Ugh, damn it. I’m so jealous…… dating. Must be nice.”
Park Deokwoo had always taken romance in stride. Even during those grueling training years, he’d consistently flirted back and forth with other Spirit Siblings and Siblings, male and female alike.
Yeonsu, who felt unfairly frustrated, remained draped across the table and mumbled her question.
“But seriously, what’s the age gap between you two? Is that even possible?”
Deokwoo gave her a gentle rebuke by playfully tugging at her messy hair.
“The age difference between me and Soyeon isn’t that big, you know? ……Six years?”
Then he drained the entire drink Yeonsu had ordered for him. The sweetness that flooded in mellowed his mood, making him willing to indulge his friend’s grumbling.
“You focus on yourself, Yeonsu. How old is that person at your place anyway? Do you even know?”
Of course, this wasn’t meant as earnest relationship counseling.
Yeonsu, having brought up the age difference herself, knitted her brows at his teasing as if struck. She definitely wasn’t in a position to prattle on about anyone else’s age gap.
“……Shut up.”
“There’s that ‘shut up’ again~ Is that his influence too?”
God, Park Deokwoo is really getting on my nerves. Yeonsu turned her face away on the table, deliberately avoiding his gaze.
A young man close to six-foot-three with a solid build, squeezing his large frame into a small café table to talk about his love life, naturally drew every female eye in the place.
A beautiful boy in a white hoodie with striking hair color that somehow didn’t clash at all with his features, looking effortlessly handsome.
Since the moment he’d walked into the café, Yeonsu had been fielding curious stares—drawn by his sharp, defined features, his bright puppy-dog eyes, his broad shoulders, his large hands, and everything else about his attractive presence.
From a nearby table, someone whispered, “Guess he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Should we ask for his number?” Deokwoo clicked his tongue quietly.
“You’ve got so many women interested in you, and you act like you’ve claimed them all. What’s the deal?”
At that, Yeonsu’s body, which had been draped across the table, slowly rose again. As she did, her disheveled hair fell into place as if she’d styled it that way deliberately, and Deokwoo cursed silently. If only I looked like you, I’d have conquered a thousand palaces, you bastard.
Unaware of the whispers around her or Deokwoo’s silent curses, Yeonsu leaned back in her chair with a slight pout and mumbled her defense.
“I haven’t claimed anyone. Nobody’s confessed to me yet.”
At those words, Deokwoo let out a loud snort, as if to say he was listening.
“Ha! You won’t even give me a chance to confess, and now you’re saying you’re jealous of me being in a relationship? If you want to date someone, you need to be proactive like me and prepare yourself to meet someone. Like this—just open your heart wide!”
Yeonsu couldn’t disagree with what Deokwoo was saying. But what she wanted wasn’t just any romance.
“It’s not like I want to date anyone and everyone. That’s what romance is supposed to be.”
Yeonsu wanted to be in love. And she already knew who that person was—had known for a long time.
Often, she couldn’t even understand herself. She was grateful, certainly, for how he’d cared for her when she was sick as a child. But the fact that she’d spent her entire adolescence—years when she never even saw that man—thinking of him, holding him close in her heart…
Above all, he wasn’t even human. A being whose age she didn’t know, whose name she didn’t know, whose very identity remained a mystery.
……Was that normal? Wasn’t it, in some sense, an obsession no different from what the Baek Clan men possessed?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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