‘Huh?'
The insides of his head twisted and turned from the incomprehensible situation.
‘Why… is Ha-eun there?'
Not only did Ha-eun and Lee Shinhyuk stick together during the 1st Round, but they were also close enough to speak comfortably with each other.
With his questions still unresolved, the memories continued.
-Kieeeeeeirk!
-Damn it! Those bastards are so persistent!
Ha-eun looked at the vampires that were chasing after the boat and removed the eyepatch that covered her left eye.
Click—
The hideous eye of a reptile that was unbefitting of her beautiful looks revealed itself.
-Ugh.
Ha-eun groaned from the pain and extended both of her arms forward.
Fwooooosh!—
A powerful tornado of flames swept away the vampires that were approaching the boat.
-Kieeeeeeeirk!!
—Blazing flames.
The vampires wailed out and jumped into the sea, but the flames that stuck to their skin burned ferociously even inside the water.
-Huff, huff!
Ha-eun nodded her head and strengthlessly sat down on the spot.
Lee Shinhyuk picked up the eyepatch on the ground and handed it over to her.
-Here.
-Thanks.
-Your eye… is it okay? You used it a considerable amount of times today.
-Yeah. Well, it does hurt, but it's somewhat bearable.
Ha-eun equipped the eyepatch once again.
-But still, I should try to use it to its fullest extent since it's an eye you bought me for a hefty price.
Ha-eun looked back at Lee Shinhyuk and fumbled around her left eye.
-…I didn't buy you the Dragon's Cursed Eye with that kind of thing in mind.
-Hm? Then why did you buy it for me?
-Th-That's…
The cheeks of Lee Shinhyuk heated up as he slurred the sentence he was about to say.
-No. It's nothing…
-Boring.
Ha-eun smiled and lightly flicked her finger on Lee Shinhyuk's forehead.
Smack!—
A heavy sound rang out.
-Ow! What was that for?
-Even if you didn't buy it for me with that in mind, I'll make sure to repay this debt one day.
-…
-Though it'll be difficult to do that right now.
Ha-eun gazed at the sea with bitter eyes.
-Because… there’s someone I need to take care of.
—She spoke in a lonesome and dreadful manner.
She chewed on her lips and restlessly looked at the endless sea.
With her last words scattered away by the ocean wind…
-Ring!
[All of the lost memories have been restored sucessfully.]
Lee Shinhyuk's memories cut off.
"…"
Ohjin stood still on the spot dumbfoundedly and gazed into the air with his eyes zoned out.
‘Lee Shinhyuk… bought Ha-eun the Dragon's Cursed Eye?'
‘Then what about… me?'
Just what was he doing at that point in time?
"…What the hell is this?"
What had happened to Ohjin and Ha-eun in the 1st Round?
Was the ‘someone I have to take care of' she mentioned referring to himself?
And if Ha-eun was alive…
Just why—did he destroy the world?
"…Goddammit."
Ohjin stopped thinking and shook his head.
‘I don't have enough information."
It wasn't possible to come to a conclusion with only fragmental memories.
"At the moment… I have no choice but to increase the awakening stage of the Black Heaven."
It wasn't something he could just ask another because he didn't know. The only person who possessed the memories of the world in the 1st Round was Lee Shinhyuk.
"Tch."
Ohjin clicked his tongue and thought about the memories that remained in his head like a stain.
Recalling how Ha-eun was with Lee Shinhyuk made irresistible displeasure boil up.
-Ha-eun!
The way he smiled so brightly at Ha-eun.
‘Don't fuck with me.'
The only person who could be that close to her…
was himself.
Because she was his—
"…"
Ohjin shut his lips tight and moved his feet.
The unpleasant stain stuck to him like a sticky liquid.
* * *
* * *
Click—
The front door opened.
"Gwon Ohjin, you bastard! Why didn't you contact me?! I told you to call me often!"
The sound of rushed footsteps and a familiar voice was heard the instant the door opened.
"I'm home, Ha-eun."
Ohjin roughly embraced Ha-eun, who rushed out to see him.
‘Aah.'
—The warmth that could be felt in his grasp.
—The snug feeling like covering a baby bird with his hands.
‘Yeah.'
Whatever happened in the world of the 1st Round, the warmth that was felt in the present wouldn't change.
"…U-Uh?"
He stroked around Ha-eun’s left eye as her face was burning up with a panicked expression.
"Wh-What? D-Did you want to see me that badly?"
Ha-eun raised her nose and asked playfully.
"Yeah."
He added more strength into his embracing arms.
"I wanted to see you so badly I thought I was going to go crazy."
"…Wh-What?"
The unpleasant feeling that stuck to him washed away, and happiness took over that empty space.
"Ah, uh, uhm. So…"
Ha-eun's body shook with a stumped expression.
A satisfied smile was placed on Ohjin’s mouth.
In the current world, he was the only one who was able to see her adorable appearance.
"Wh-What's gotten into you? Did the food in Italy not match your tastes?"
Ha-eun asked with an expression mixed with worry and excitement
"No, it's nothing like that. I'm just glad to see you since it's been a while."
"K-Khm! Seriously, how would you ever live without me?"
"…"
Yeah.
As she said…
"…I wouldn't be able to."
—If he lost her.
—If she was taken away.
It wasn't hard to imagine how much he would break down.
‘Whatever happened in the 1st Round doesn't matter.'
The important thing was the present.
The present where she was by his side.
"…Are you really ok? Did something happen?"
Ha-eun had also felt that something was off at that point and asked with a worried voice.
"Ha-eun."
"Y-Yeah?"
Ohjin carefully reached out his hand to her cheek.
"Can you smile for me this one time?"
"…Smile?"
"Yeah."
"What the…"
Ha-eun looked up at Ohjin with a dumbfounded expression and soon let out a deep sigh while forcefully raising the edge of her lips.
"Is… Is this okay?"
Her smile was second to none when it came down to awkwardness, however—
"…Yeah."
—it wasn't a sorrowful smile like the one in Lee Shinhyuk's memories.
"This is enough."
With that alone, he was able to continue living on.
"…"
Ha-eun looked at him with somewhat dissatisfied eyes.
"Damn it."
She scratched her red hair that was tied into a ponytail.
"I was going to scold you when you came back home, but now I don't think I can."
Ha-eun didn't know what had happened, but she could tell that Ohjin's current state was very different from usual.
"Haha. Sorry, I wasn’t able to contact you because I was too busy."
Ohjin hid the matters regarding Isabella for the moment. Telling her would only needlessly increase the amount of things she worried about.
‘I probably won’t meet her anytime soon.'
Isabella was currently acting as a ‘Saintess' in Italy.
The number of charities she operated amounted to dozens. She was even participating in volunteer work herself.
‘On top of that, Isabella bears the responsibility of the Black Star Organization.'
As long as she couldn't clone herself, it wouldn't be easy to leave Italy, as she would have to digest that intense schedule.
‘That's probably also why she asked when I would be able to return.'
If she was able to freely come to Korea, there was no reason to ask that kind of question in the first place.
‘In other words…'
As long as he didn't go to Italy to find her himself, they wouldn't run into each other in most cases.
And needless to say, he didn't have the slightest bit of intent of going back to Italy.
‘I'm not going until I'm fully confident in my ability to protect myself.'
In any case, they wouldn't meet Isabella for the time being. It would be best to explain about her later down the line.
"Heh. That sounds like the excuse of a husband that cheated on a business trip."
"Then are you thinking of me as your husband?"
"Oh? You're acting up again."
Ha-eun smiled and playfully pinched his side.
"Well, let's just say that you're a candidate."
"It is my honor."
"Heh, if you think that way, you should give me more attention."
Ha-eun smiled bashfully and gently hugged him back.
"What's this?"
Ha-eun, who was leaning her head on his shoulder, pointed to the paper bag that Ohjin was carrying.
"I bought hamburgers."
"Wow, hamburgers? How long has it been?"
"Hehe. You miss them since it's been so long, don’t you?"
"I just happened to be craving them. Little bugger, you know me so well."
They sat on the sofa in the living room and took out their hamburgers.
"Nom, nom. Kyaha! People talk about the Guinness burger, but the original is still the best!"
Ha-eun's body shook as she took a big bite out of the burger.
After they finished eating and cleaning up the two Whopper sets, they relaxed and leaned their backs on the sofa.
"Now, present to me your lap so I may watch the TV in comfort."
"Don't wanna."
"Ah, come on! I let you do whatever you wanted today!"
"Uhm."
Now that he thought of it, it was true.
"While you're accepting my requests for today, I want to lay on your lap."
"Ohjin… do you really want to overstrain my one and only remaining leg?"
"…"
‘This is unfair.'
"Damn it. Alright, alright. Geez, lay down."
"Hehehe! Yay~!"
Ha-eun cackled out and placed her head on top of his lap.
"Gosh, your thighs have gotten a lot firmer."
Ohjin lightly stroked Ha-eun’s hair, who was lying down on his lap.
The uneasy feeling he got not too long ago, he couldn’t even remember it properly anymore.
‘That's right.'
In order to feel that warmth to the end of time…
‘I need to become stronger.'
—To the point where not a single person would be able to touch him.
—To the point where they wouldn't even think about daring to oppose him.
‘Should I focus on clearing the quest for the time being?'
He had already requested starstones from the Valhalla guild, but he didn’t have any plan on sitting around during that time.
‘It might not amount to enough.'
With how many starstones were needed to complete the quest being unknown, it was best to secure as many of them as possible.
"Ohjin, do you have any plans tomorrow?"
"Why?"
"I'm going to the Association. Do you want to come with me?"
"Association? What are you going there for?"
"Was it Joonman? That person asked if I would like to join the Association without commuting to work as you do."
Joonman had contacted Ha-eun before he knew it.
‘Well…'
Ha-eun had become an 8-Star Awakener. Rather, it'd be strange if he didn’t try to recruit her.
"There's no reason to refuse when they're giving me a salary for free, right? And, well… you're in the Association as well."
"Alright, then let's go together tomorrow."
Ohjin happened to be planning on checking up on how the internal faction problem was progressing.
"Hehe. Now even our occupations are the same."
Ha-eun smiled bashfully like something like that was much to her liking.
"…Seriously, you."
Ohjin smiled like she was a handful.
Suddenly, he became curious about one thing.
"Ha-eun."
"Yeah?"
"Do you… think that you're indebted to me?"
"Indebted? Hm."
Ha-eun closed her lips while she contemplated.
"I'm not sure. I did think like that back then, but not really anymore."
Ha-eun, who was lying on his lap, turned her body around to look up at him.
"Isn't the debt already cleared by letting you have this pretty and sexy me keep you company?"
Kyahaha!—
She boastfully shrugged her shoulders.
"…I see."
"Eek. It's embarrassing if you react that way."
"It's alright."
"What's alright?"
"Just… everything."
Ohjin smiled faintly as he stroked her hair.
Endlessly…
—Like stroking a infinitely precious treasure.
