D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 137

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

Chapter 137
“Is that really important to you?”
“Yes, it is.”
Ha Gyuhyuk’s question fell outside the scope of my expectations.
This is another difficult question to answer.
After a moment of deliberation, I nodded.
“You see, ever since I met you, I’ve felt the source of my star wavering countless times. Do you know what it means when the source of a star wavers?”
“I’m not sure….”
“It means I’m no longer alone. In over three hundred years of living as a Constellation, you alone made that possible.”
The words tumbled out like a heartfelt confession.
Perhaps because of that, I found myself feeling pathetic.
Here I was, pretending to be an omnipotent being capable of anything, yet bound to this world by a single emotion I couldn’t shed—loneliness.
“Se-um, that’s….”
“The truth is, a Constellation isn’t really all that remarkable.”
[ Warning! Please refrain from making statements that diminish the dignity of Constellations. ]
[ Continued instances of such remarks may result in disciplinary action from the Constellation System. ]
The Constellation System is far too obsessed with the honor and image of Constellations.
But on this point, we truly aren’t anything special, are we?
We’re nothing more than ghosts wandering the nine heavens, unable to leave this realm because of mere loneliness.
Except this ghost happened to experience miraculous events and ascended to the seat of divinity.
I paused to choose my words carefully, then exhaled a long breath. My thoughts were spiraling deeper than I realized.
Ha Gyuhyuk waited for me patiently all the while.
“Ha Gyuhyuk, I don’t know what the future holds, but you are the first being I’ve truly seen in all my existence.”
“The first being you’ve truly seen?”
“Yes. So you’re probably the only one in this world who could make me feel this way.”
Even if someone else appeared, I’d need to wait centuries more to know.
Once I’ve felt this emotion, the standard will only rise higher.
Even if I lived for several times three hundred years, I doubt I’d meet another like Ha Gyuhyuk.
“It’s not the kind of loneliness that disappears just because someone is beside you. I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand.”
“Why would I misunderstand, Se-um?”
“You never know. You have low self-esteem. You might think that Se-um’s loneliness would disappear with anyone by their side, and you just happened to fill that role.”
These weren’t words meant to console or persuade him.
I could only say this because Ha Gyuhyuk was truly special to me.
I closed the distance between us. We were so close our lips might touch at any moment.
Ha Gyuhyuk held his breath as if even the brush of my breathing was impossible.
I gazed at him intently, then tilted my head slightly.
“Why aren’t you stopping me?”
He couldn’t speak while holding his breath, so he just shook his head vigorously. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him toward me.
Now only the smallest gap remained between us—we were about to touch.
Ha Gyuhyuk gripped my shoulder urgently and spoke.
“I can’t, Se-um.”
“Can’t what?”
“You might touch me….”
“Do I seem like I don’t want to touch you?”
Even without breathing, even without a heartbeat, I was once human.
I could read what Ha Gyuhyuk’s ragged breath and wandering gaze were imagining.
“You’re doing this because you won’t look at me. Look at me properly.”
“….”
Only then did his unfocused, scattered gaze settle wholly upon me.
I could permit him anything else. But I would not allow him to avoid me.
“Is it that you don’t want to touch me?”
“That’s not it. I’m not unwilling.”
“Don’t give me such ambiguous answers. Tell me plainly—do you like this situation or not?”
Ha Gyuhyuk squeezed his eyes shut once more.
How many Constellations were watching this moment, I wondered.
I knew they likely cared far less than I imagined, yet I found myself laughing silently at my own predicament.
There were certainly Constellations who spent their nights indulging in desire with their clients. The others saw nothing strange in it.
But if a Constellation gave their heart to a client? Then they would pity or mock.
Since they deemed such sights unworthy of observation, Ha Gyuhyuk and I would likely remain unseen.
His voice came slowly, following mine.
“I dream every night. You appear in those dreams.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. You don’t try to learn about my dreams, but every time I wake and see your face, I feel… guilt. Such guilt.”
His voice trembled so much I couldn’t even ask what he dreamed of.
Don’t worry—I have no intention of prying into your dreams afterward either.
And if he felt guilt to this degree, the content was obvious without my looking.
“How many times have you kissed me in your dreams?”
“That’s… actually, not even once.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid you’d find it unpleasant if I kissed a human, so I always ran away. And I thought that if I touched you even in dreams, you might think I was being unfaithful….”
“Unfaithful?”
“Because you’re the only master I’ve chosen, so I can’t turn my eyes away, not even in dreams.”
He speaks well for someone who can’t even open his eyes.
Remarkable. Is there a school that teaches such things?
“Fine, it’s good you weren’t unfaithful. But do you understand what you’ve done to me now?”
“What have I… done to you, Se-um?”
If a human shakes me at my side, shouldn’t that human bear full responsibility?
“A mere human has shaken the source of stars. Are you prepared to take responsibility for this?”
He seemed to grasp my meaning.
I had turned the question back upon him.
A demand to know if I could keep them from being lonely. A pressure that what had once been shaken could never be undone.
And if that proved unbearable, they were offering me a chance to escape even now—an act of mercy.
“How should I take responsibility?”
“You’ve exhausted your allotted questions. The rest, you’ll have to discover for yourself.”
Ha Gyuhyuk’s expression suddenly turned aggrieved.
It seemed he hadn’t anticipated this final question would count against his quota.
So what are you going to do about it? Don’t just stand there looking wronged and say nothing.
“Your three questions are finished, so now it’s my turn. I won’t limit the number.”
After all, I only have one thing to ask anyway.
Despite my audacious claim, Ha Gyuhyuk answered without protest, simply saying yes.
“What do you want?”
Do you want me not to disappear?
Do you want to abandon the path to becoming a Constellation now?
Have you grown weary of me?
Or do you feel betrayed that I won’t reveal the truth about death?
Whatever it was, I needed to know Ha Gyuhyuk’s heart. He owed me that much.
He was my human.
He was mine.
Ha Gyuhyuk exhaled in irregular bursts.
As if he didn’t know what to say. After a long pause, he finally opened his mouth hesitantly.
“I want to touch you.”
“….”
That’s not what I asked.
Ha Gyuhyuk’s expression was grave, as though he were confessing an intimate secret he’d harbored deep within.
He really does miss the point.
But that’s precisely why I don’t dislike him.
This time, as if refusing to evade, he opened his eyes carefully.
“Se-um, I know it might seem strange to say this in a situation like this.”
“Yes.”
“Every time I look into your eyes, I think of seeing stars from the closest possible distance.”
“Is that so? My eyes are like stars?”
If this had been some clichéd pickup line, I would have scolded him, but knowing it came from Ha Gyuhyuk’s genuine heart, it was only endearing.
How much further did he intend to shake me?
“Yes.”
“Even if they’re not gold?”
“Yes, because you are my star and my universe, Se-um.”
It was the most inelegant and sweetest confession in the world.
Without further thought, I closed the remaining distance and pressed my lips together with his.
The warmth of a human flowed into me. The pulse of life thrumming through his breath and temperature seemed to shake me entirely.
I wove our breaths together, as though burrowing into the gap to share our hearts.
Ha Gyuhyuk’s trembling hands wrapped around my waist, his fingertips surely cold with tension.
As he was pushed backward step by step, his back finally met the wall. I pinned him there, one hand cradling the nape of his neck, the other braced against the stone behind him.
In this moment, he was utterly bound to me—completely mine.
After he had surrendered even a star’s breath to me, how could I possibly let him slip away now?
We mingled our breathing—star and human—in ragged gasps for a long while before I finally pulled back.
“Haah….”
Ha Gyuhyuk’s face flushed crimson as he struggled to catch his breath, his fingers clutching at the fabric of my clothes.
“Se-um….”
“What.”
“Can we do it again?”
I cupped his cheek with my fingertips and whispered.
“That’s the problem.”
That’s why you’ll never be able to exist without me.

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