The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 265

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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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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 265

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Choi Woo-jin had come to Mo Jun-mi’s house after hearing news of Lee Yu-ji from Pee So-won yesterday.
Lee Yu-ji had collapsed.
The mere thought of it kept replaying that memory in his mind.
Crack.
A sound like something breaking.
He had witnessed Lee Yu-ji’s death at the hospital in the previous cycle.
He certainly remembered that.
But the words that followed seemed strange.
‘Someone fell.’
‘There are several doctors in the adjacent building.’
‘The apartment prices will drop.’
‘My goodness… holding a funeral for a daughter in the same building?’
‘Someone fell at the funeral hall.’
Why.
Why did some people speak of a hospital, while others spoke of an apartment.
And why was Choi Woo-jin standing in front of an apartment building.
Watching Lee Yu-ji being carried out alongside Han Seong-ye from that apartment where she lived.
His mind was in turmoil.
Without realizing it, he had climbed to the room where Lee Yu-ji lay.
And there he encountered Kwon Ik-seong.
‘Entering without knocking is a bad habit.’
As if it were obvious, Kwon Ik-seong was tending to the potted plant above Lee Yu-ji’s head, fiddling with her blanket.
‘Don’t you think the same applies to you?’
Choi Woo-jin’s jaw tightened.
‘Investigator Lee Yu-ji is unharmed. Isn’t that what you came to confirm?’
At Kwon Ik-seong’s question, Choi Woo-jin turned his gaze toward the window.
‘I was just curious if the window was properly closed.’
Yes. That was why he had come to see Lee Yu-ji.
Though she would never know.
“When did I… die in front of you?”
Lee Yu-ji asked, furrowing her brow.
Seeing that, Choi Woo-jin relaxed his expression.
He could not speak of the memory that had suddenly appeared in him.
After all, he could not tell her that in a life she does not remember, you ultimately threw yourself from a hospital window, and I could not save you—
‘I cannot say anything more beyond what’s necessary.’
“Right. When was that, anyway.”
Choi Woo-jin smiled faintly and stepped back.
“What?”
Lee Yu-ji’s expression turned bewildered.
“…What… Why suddenly….”
“What were you and Kwon Ik-seong discussing so intently last night?”
Choi Woo-jin recalled Kwon Ik-seong, who had lingered by Lee Yu-ji’s side throughout the previous evening, and forced the corners of his mouth upward with difficulty.
“I, I don’t know what there’d be to discuss intently.”
Lee Yu-ji stumbled over her words.
But she knew.
She had no talent whatsoever for hiding her expressions.
Choi Woo-jin observed the flush creeping across Lee Yu-ji’s cheeks and contemplated.
So this was what they called ‘affection’, he thought.
And witnessing it, like a mirror, he understood.
‘If affection is like that, then I….’
“I’m grateful.”
Choi Woo-jin spoke.
At those words, Lee Yu-ji’s expression froze.
“For what.”
“Because he looks after you. That man—”
He probably doesn’t confuse what affection means like I do.
That man—
‘The window is properly closed, Choi Woo-jin.’
Last night, Kwon Ik-seong had said so with eyes that didn’t waver in the slightest.
‘I like Lee Yu-ji.’
‘What? Why are you saying something I didn’t even ask….’
‘Don’t you like Lee Yu-ji as well.’
Eyes as calm as a lake.
That irritated him.
Without sensing any turmoil, he couldn’t exploit the opponent’s waves either.
And that meant Kwon Ik-seong was his rat poison—an opponent against whom he could never leisurely manipulate from atop the other’s waves as he always had.
The fact that he couldn’t even feel jealousy somehow irritated him further.
‘Lee Yu-ji and you are firmly entangled by your parents’ circumstances.’
‘Yes. That’s right.’
So he deliberately provoked Kwon Ik-seong.
‘That’s why Lee Yu-ji cares about me. Always.’
‘….’
Kwon Ik-seong gazed down at Lee Yu-ji quietly.
Then he lifted his gaze to meet Choi Woo-jin’s.
‘That could be so.’
‘…What are you trying to say?’
Kwon Ik-seong rose from his seat and approached Choi Woo-jin.
A duel… request?
As Choi Woo-jin thought this, unexpected words flowed from Kwon Ik-seong’s lips.
‘Please protect Lee Yu-ji. You have the strength to do so, don’t you? Whether from the President or from the Hunter’s Faith….’
Kwon Ik-seong’s lake-like eyes rippled with agitation.
And it wasn’t because of Choi Woo-jin.
It was… because of Lee Yu-ji.
‘Or from Lee Yu-ji herself.’
Kwon Ik-seong’s body trembled slightly.
‘Please help ensure that Lee Yu-ji doesn’t fall into danger.’
It was, surprisingly—
a desperate plea.
The moment Choi Woo-jin saw Kwon Ik-seong trembling, his heart twisted.
Choi Woo-jin laughed bitterly.
He wanted to torment this man.
Because all of his waves were caused by the moon named Lee Yu-ji.
‘Ah. So it’s a request, then? Well, requests require give and take. I have something I want too.’
‘…What is it.’
‘Disappear from beside Lee Yu-ji. How about it? Will you do it….’
‘I will.’
Kwon Ik-seong’s answer came without a moment’s hesitation.
And so he understood.
Choi Woo-jin, who had always used others and seized what he desired, could never obtain Lee Yu-ji’s affection.
That affection from another person wasn’t something to be obtained—it was something that overwhelmed you.
Kwon Ik-seong’s affection would overwhelm Lee Yu-ji.
Lee Yu-ji would either seep into it or escape from it.
Regardless of which choice she made, Kwon Ik-seong would let her decide for herself.
‘However, officially, I won’t be able to avoid meeting Lee Yu-ji. Is that acceptable.’
Truly… a man who left him speechless.
That was the difference between him and Kwon Ik-seong.
Knowing how to let go of what you want.
And thus, knowing how to see Lee Yu-ji more clearly.
Choi Woo-jin recalled Kwon Ik-seong’s words asking him to protect Lee Yu-ji from herself, and looked down at her.
Only then did he notice her pallid complexion, the strands of hair clinging to her temples dampened with sweat.
“You don’t look well.”
“Ah… it’s nothing. I’ve just been so scattered lately.”
Lee Yu-ji avoided Choi Woo-jin’s gaze.
“…Aren’t you thinking too much? You can’t take responsibility for everything.”
And as if he had seen through Lee Yu-ji’s thoughts, Choi Woo-jin spoke.
But his words reached Lee Yu-ji differently.
That she need not bear responsibility for his death in his past life.
But that offered no comfort to Lee Yu-ji.
“Of course, I understand your work isn’t exactly about virtue rewarding the good and punishing the wicked—”
Choi Woo-jin smiled wryly and bowed his head toward her.
“That means the good receive their due and the wicked face consequences, not that we should prevent wrongdoing altogether, right?”
Watching her eyes avoid his gaze, Choi Woo-jin grew curious.
Had she always avoided looking at me like this?
“You couldn’t have stopped people from dying in that Dungeon alone. So carry your responsibility in moderation.”
Whatever the case.
If you dislike me, then I should step back for now.
Choi Woo-jin chuckled softly.
“So I do like you, you know?”
“What?”
Witnessing Lee Yu-ji’s affection, Kwon Ik-seong’s affection, I understood as if gazing into a mirror.
This was indeed affection.
I was right to like Lee Yu-ji.

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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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