I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 32

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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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Episode 32

Danbi had been out of her mind since early dawn.
For days now, Hyeon had been relentlessly driving her from the crack of dawn until late night under the senseless pretext of “protecting me”—and she was at her wit’s end.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d slept properly, but when an Arrow had whisked past her cheek just moments ago, what little sleep she’d managed to cling to had shattered completely.
‘Hyeon, you absolute madman……!’
She bit her lip, barely swallowing the curse that threatened to spill from her mouth. If she could just tear off his rank insignia, she’d grab him by the collar and shake him until his teeth rattled—that’s how badly she wanted to do it.
But she had to endure it.
If she lost control now, the tower she’d built so carefully would crumble in an instant.
Hyeon, who had drawn near before she knew it, blocked her escape route and pulled Danbi into his arms.
“Where did that determination to protect me go? And here you are, shaken by a single Arrow.”
“No, I nearly died just now……!”
She managed to find her voice, but instead of answering, Hyeon laid his large hand over hers. His grip on the bow was rough yet solid.
He pressed down on Danbi’s shoulders and drew the bow upward.
Danbi’s back fit snugly against his firm chest. The warmth that seeped through the fabric of their clothes felt hotter than the Arrow that had grazed her cheek.
‘What is he suddenly doing?’
From his stubbornness about taking her to the Hunting Ground to teaching her Archery himself—it was all incomprehensible.
Ever since Hyeon had first demanded her presence, Danbi had hardened one suspicion.
‘This is absolutely surveillance.’
His reason for keeping her at his side was clear: not love or favor, but thorough surveillance.
Hyeon had repeatedly put Danbi on trial.
He made her adjust her clothes at arm’s length, had her taste food that might contain poison.
He even shared every moment of daily life with her until sleep, prying relentlessly into her inner world.
As if asking: ‘Are you truly prepared to love me?’
Danbi had willingly thrown herself into those trials. She played along without flinching, even more brazenly dancing in the palm of his hand.
She had decided that facing that piercing gaze head-on was better than trying to evade it.
But this hunt was unexpected.
No matter if his intent was surveillance, she couldn’t fathom why he would insist on teaching her Archery—something that could pose a threat to him.
‘Could this be part of a test as well?’
Danbi tightened her grip on the bow.
Hyeon was no easy opponent. Even without a word, the way his gaze followed her relentlessly, never giving her a moment to breathe, proved it.
Perhaps behind the plausible excuse of ‘hunting,’ he was hiding a true purpose.
What was he really hiding?
That was when it happened.
Hyeon’s arms, braced behind her, swept down along her own, and his strong hands suddenly twisted around her wrists.
“Lift your arms higher. The bow isn’t drawn by the strength of your arms. You anchor it with your back muscles.”
His low voice rang out as her arms were forced upward. At the same time, his chest sealed itself against her back without the slightest gap.
Hyeon covered her hand completely with his own and pulled the Bowstring back hard.
Creeeeak—
The bow wailed as it bent. With each inch the Bowstring tensioned, the weight borne by her fingertips became staggering.
The slightest loss of strength, and the Bowstring would scrape across her fingers—she’d lose the flesh entirely. The terror seized her.
“Ugh, my fingers hurt too much. I think I’m about to let go……!”
“Endure it. The moment you release, it won’t be your fingers that suffer—it’ll be your life.”
His voice, reaching her ear, was chillingly cold.
Under the guise of correcting her stance, Hyeon pulled Danbi back against his chest relentlessly. His thighs were nearly touching the back of her legs.
A distance where every breath, every movement was felt directly.
“But isn’t this…… rather close?”
She turned her head slightly, affecting indifference, only to find Hyeon’s eyes watching her from inches away.
A gaze different from usual—mysteriously subdued.
He curved his mouth in a faint smile.
“Why do you ask? Has my embrace grown so sweet that it dulls your blade?”
“That’s not what I meant……!”
She had no time to protest.
He enclosed her in his arms once more and gripped the bow firmly.
Hyeon lightly captured her chin and turned her face toward the Target, then added more force to her fingers gripping the Bowstring.
“Now, draw. I must see for myself what truly lies in your hands.”
Hyeon’s hand slowly released its pressure on her fingers. Beyond her trembling fingertips, the Target came into view.
Pain biting into her fingers, breath pressing down on her from behind—her mind reeled, and in that dizzying moment, a strange impulse stirred within her.
At this distance, in this suffocating closeness.
It was the perfect opportunity.
If she were to feign drawing the bowstring, then bend the arrow’s trajectory backward to pierce his throat—wouldn’t this tedious game finally end, and couldn’t she return to reality?
Danbi’s eyes narrowed to slits as she held her breath.
Thump, thump.
Her heart hammered. The pulse traveled down to the arrow’s tip, setting her fingertips trembling.
Yes, just close your eyes and do it once. Then everything would be over…….
“What thoughts occupy you?”
At his voice, suddenly intimate against her ear, Danbi’s fingers released of their own accord.
Twang!
The arrow shot free with a sharp crack.
But contrary to expectation, it traced a pathetic arc, failing to reach the target before burying itself uselessly in the dirt.
“……Ah.”
A hollow sigh escaped her. Then came his voice from behind, low and measured.
“Pathetic.”
Hyun’s soft voice fell from above her head.
“……I beg your pardon. My hand slipped.”
Danbi answered with false composure, curling her trembling fingers into a fist.
But Hyun, without withdrawing the warmth his hand had imparted to hers, casually took the bow from her grip.
He drew the bowstring with practiced ease, his gaze fixed precisely on the target.
“If your eyes lose sight of the target, the arrow turns and bites its master.”
The words fell carelessly, yet the weight they carried was far from light.
Whoosh!
The instant he released the arrow, the bowstring sang through a perfect arc and the shaft embedded itself dead center in the target.
Hyun lowered the bow and met Danbi’s eyes directly.
“You know exactly where the tip of your arrow was headed just now, don’t you?”
Danbi went rigid.
So he had known all along.
Her hesitation had lasted far too long.
In that fraction of a moment, he had clearly already seen through where her arrow was aimed.
‘What now? Is this the end?’
The silence stretched unbearably.
As the Royal Guard soldiers surrounding them fixed her with sharp stares, Hyun’s hand rose to her shoulder.
He tapped her rigid shoulder lightly, twice.
“That’s enough for today. Driving a frightened beast into a corner isn’t my pastime.”
Hyun turned without hesitation, and Lang appeared beside him like a shadow.
As Hyun’s figure receded, Danbi exhaled the breath she’d been holding.
It was hollow.
And bitterly, deeply regrettable.
Why hadn’t she released her fingers in that moment?
If she’d bent the arrow and pierced his throat then and there, this suffocating game would have ended, the suffocating surveillance would have ended long ago.
‘Why did I hesitate?’
Was she afraid of him?
Or was she afraid of the fallout if she failed?
Danbi looked down at her palms. The back of her hand, where Hyun’s warmth had touched it, burned hotter than her fingers, raw and reddened from drawing the arrow.
What did any of that matter.
When she raised her gaze, she caught sight of his figure walking through the mist. A familiar silhouette overlapped with those broad shoulders.
“……Damn.”
Danbi stamped roughly on the arrow abandoned on the ground.
Crack.
The arrow snapped uselessly in half—a perfect reflection of herself.
Unable to shed even one small regret, unable to take a single step at the crucial moment—her weakness was utterly contemptible.
Danbi gathered her trembling hands and tucked them into her chest, beneath the opening of her jacket.
Her palm brushed something cool, and a small glass vial, no larger than her hand, came into view.

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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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