Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 20

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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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Leave the Hero’s ex-girlfriend alone!
EP20
“Are you all right?”
Zero asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Are you very cold?”
“Ah, no. I’m fine, thanks to you.”
He must have thought I was huddling because I was cold.
I smoothed the hem of the shirt resting on my knees.
“This is expensive clothing, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s soaked through anyway.”
Zero shrugged, as if it were no big deal.
“Paying you back would be tough. I’m still just starting out in the working world.”
“Why would I take money from you, Haesoo? Besides, I have more than you’d think. I even own an island. I’ll invite you over sometime.”
“I’d probably be tired of islands by now.”
“That’s a shame. I thought you’d like it.”
I never imagined I’d be trading jokes like this with a Villain.
Looking back, I even felt grateful that it was Zero who had been swept under the waves with me.
We kept talking until the darkness had fully swallowed the forest.
* * *
The smell of the wind had changed.
The damp, heavy air gradually grew lighter.
Faint color was seeping through the dew-soaked blades of grass, and inside the hideout, the shadows cast on the walls were fading.
I carefully pushed myself up.
My body ached all over, but when I drew a deep breath, clean air filled me all the way down to my lungs.
Zero, who had been leaning against a corner, also quietly opened his eyes.
Zero unfolded his arms, turned his head slightly, and looked out at the golden light seeping in.
“…It’s dawn already.”
I let out a small breath at Zero’s words.
“Yes. Shall we move?”
I ventured cautiously.
“We should. Someone will come soon enough.”
His tone sounded oddly certain, but I hoped he was right.
Zero got to his feet slowly.
Then he picked up the shirt, already reduced to rags, and stepped out of the hideout.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I can walk.”
In truth, one of my knees still throbbed, but this was no time to be worrying about that.
And so we left the hideout.
Zero said nothing the whole way as he led the path.
Only now and then, whenever I stumbled, did he quietly reach out a hand.
As I pushed aside the leaves and made my way out of the forest, sea breeze brushed across my face.
The air was cool, yet tinged with sunlight.
The crash of waves, the cry of birds passing overhead, the distinct salt smell of the seashore.
I squinted for a moment and shaded my eyes with my palm against the sun.
Just as my body, soaked all night, was drying in the morning sun, my heart seemed to be settling little by little.
The beach still bore traces of yesterday’s storm scattered here and there.
“They’ll come looking for us, right?”
Beside me, Zero nodded lightly.
“Yes, they’ll be here soon.”
Soon?
“Look.”
Zero pointed with his finger into the empty air.
Far off, above the waves, I could make out a single small speck.
At first I thought I was imagining it.
But the speck was drawing closer at a rapid pace.
My heart thudded, thud, thud, twice, hard.
My hair whipped about in the strong wind.
Grains of sand began to tremble, little by little.
A rush of exhilaration stole my breath.
Without thinking, I took a step back.
“…You came.”
The waves slammed against the shore once more.
And through them came a shadow, rushing toward us like a storm.
Bang-!
Alpha landed in a spray of seawater and came straight for me.
Sliding over the wet sand, his face flushed and his breath ragged.
That was how he came running to me.
Something surged up in my chest, in that very instant.
Whether it was the joy of making it back alive or the sight of him standing right in front of me, I couldn’t tell. But my body began to tremble as the tension drained out of it.
It started in my fingertips, and before long my legs gave out and I dropped right where I stood.
The sand shifted and slid away beneath me, and I felt its gritty roughness against my legs.
Then a dark shadow fell over me from above.
That guy pulled me into a tight embrace.
A chill came off the sea breeze, but it soon turned into warmth.
The pounding of his heart, like something knocking hard against a wall, came straight through the two thin layers of our clothes.
Ragged breaths reached my ears.
“Ha…”
He drew in harsh breaths close to my ear, then let them out slowly, one measured breath at a time.
Watching his shoulders tremble as he held me, my sense of reality came rushing back.
“Hey… hey, why did you only show up now!”
Before I knew it, I was sobbing.
Up until now, I’d kept telling myself I was fine, that someone was bound to come and rescue me.
I’d held on by believing that.
But in truth, it was all a lie I’d been telling myself.
“It’s okay now.”
Soothing me, he kept repeating it over and over.
It’s okay now. Everything’s okay.
I couldn’t tell whether he was saying it to me or chanting it to himself, but what mattered was that he was right beside me.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed myself deeper into his arms.
Only moments ago the whole world had been shaking, and now it was slowly settling.
By the time my tears stopped, he loosened his arms and began checking me over.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Alpha cupped my face in both hands.
“Your face is… fine, at least.”
Next, my arms.
“What happened to your arms? Why are there so many cuts?”
Then, my legs.
“Did you hurt your knees badly? Let me see.”
The way he examined me so earnestly, one part at a time, felt strange somehow, yet at the same time familiar.
He used to be a bit more blunt, I thought…
Well, this time was different.
I’d been kidnapped and locked up countless times, but I was always rescued quickly.
The villains had never been after me. They’d been after him from the start.
They had only used me as bait to lure Alpha to wherever they were holding me.
But this time, it was different.
I had simply been swept away by the waves and vanished.
Where I’d gone, whether I was alone, whether I was still alive.
No one could have known any of it.
So I figured the anxiety he’d gone through must have been no different from mine.
“Hey, hey… I’m fine.”
Now I couldn’t tell who was comforting whom.
Looking at him now, his face was pale and drawn, as if he hadn’t slept at all.
He seemed to have dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes looked slightly bloodshot.
“Let me untie this for a second.”
“Ah, no. I’m really fine…”
I waved my hand to stop him, but Alpha’s fingers had already found the end of the shirt tied around my knee.
The wound on my knee had scabbed over, and my shirt was stained with quite a bit of blood.
“It just looks bad. It’s not that serious… and it doesn’t even hurt right now.”
I forced a calm smile.
But whether he even heard me, he kept his eyes fixed on the wound and didn’t answer.
Just then, at the sound of footsteps behind him, Alpha’s head finally lifted.
“Hey, there’s a person here too, you know.”
Zero came over with an awkward expression, pointing a finger at himself.
I hate to say it, but I had forgotten all about him.
Zero stopped at a comfortable distance and held his ground.
A gust of wind swept hard between us.
“…Who are you?”
Alpha’s guard went up.
For a brief moment, I found myself torn.
“He’s called Zero…”
Should I tell him the truth?
Perhaps because of Zero’s ability, Alpha didn’t seem to know who he was.
Just then, a scrap of Hawaiian shirt fluttered in the wind before my eyes.
‘If I tie it too tight, it’ll hurt, so… this should be fine.’
‘Oh, you’re awake. You looked cold.’
Zero waited quietly for my reaction.
The eyes that held the green of the trees trembled faintly.
As if he had something he wanted.
‘I keep my word. As long as you cooperate, I’ll help you get off this island safely.’
In that instant, the words I had said to him came back to me.
It was a promise I didn’t have to keep.
And yet.
“He was swept away by the waves with me.”
I spoke as calmly as I could and looked up at Alpha.
After being trapped on this uninhabited island, I don’t think everything he has shown me was a lie.
Above all, since he protected me… I’ve decided to give back exactly that much, no more and no less.
Only then did Zero smile.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m just someone who got swept up in this ‘by chance.'”
He seemed to understand what I meant.
Please, just let it pass for now.
Kwaaang!
Then a deafening roar burst overhead.
Sand whirled up as if caught in a storm.

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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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