CH 221

If glares could be heard, Ryu Hyerin’s eardrums would have burst from the deafening roar by now.

However, once again, Ahn Seo-kyung could do nothing to stop Bae Jaemin and Ryu Hyerin from leaving the room together. As always, he could only glare at Ryu Hyerin, hiding his damaged pride and anger. He couldn’t do anything to her, who docilely took Bae Jaemin’s offered arm.

As she glanced at Ahn Seo-kyung who tried to soothe his own temper, Ryu Hyerin thought, ‘A person in love is truly a fool…’

And, that thought resurfaced memories she had kept well hidden.

Although she had been unable to shamelessly express her blind love, like Ahn Seo-kyung had, she had once, in the past, been so thirsty to possess entirety of one person–desired his whole being. At that thought, intense discomfort ran through her whole body; the feeling was strong enough for her to momentarily lose control over her expressions. That memory was her biggest mistake…and the darkest blot in her history.

Those who shared her [secret] thought she had abandoned him. However, she knew. She didn’t abandon him; that was her only choice other than to be rejected by him.

Still, she thought of that man often. She had never been humiliated like that ever in her life… On lonely nights, she thought of his hand…which had held hers while she woke from nightmares.

That man would never visit her unless she came to see him, but he never hung up the phone on her when she cried to him all night long. A man who would never respond to her ‘I love you’ declarations.

Still, he presented her with a small lamp to drive away her nightmares. When she slept with that lamp on, she didn’t have those detestable dreams and could sleep soundly.

’You’re saying you want to stop with this farce?’

At that time, Ryu Hyerin smiled as she asked him that. That man, Seo Dawon, didn’t answer her.

Ryu Hyerin threw the small lamp she had received from him into the trash can as soon as she returned home, but, the next morning, she wiped it clean and placed it next to her bed. However, she didn’t turn the lamp on. And, after he died, she placed it deep within her inventory and never took it out.

“…Hyerin-ah.”

Her reminiscing was broken by Bae Jaemin calling her name.

“Hm?” She said, absentmindedly.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I’ll die by Ahn Seo-kyung’s hand if this continues?” Ryu Hyerin quickly adopted a smiling face and looked up at Bae Jaemin. Only after the Priest looked around and confirmed no one else was listening in did Bae Jaemin smile coldly, as if he were clinically detached from this situation.

After seeing his expression, Ryu Hyerin recalled that the Priest and Moon Issak had spoken before all this debacle. Quieting her voice, she asked, “How did it go with Moon Issak?”

“Not well. I had a bad feeling ever since he called me out for a conversation, but…”

“What did he say?”

“…He asked where I had gotten my Beatrice.”

Ryu Hyerin couldn’t help but feel a chilly shock run through her body at those words. Unless the man knew something, there was no reason for Moon Issak to separately question someone of Bae Jaemin’s status like this. “What did you say?”

“I said it was a keepsake from Garam-ie… Though he didn’t seem to believe me.”

“Do you think he dug into this matter because he suspected something?”

“……” Bae Jaemin didn’t answer, but silence was as good as any spoken response. The Priest sighed deeply, “He probably has no physical evidence. I’m sure he came to see me and dig because he had none. If he had even the slightest bit of proof, he wouldn’t be here making shallow conversation at this party.”

“…Then, was he hoping to observe how we’d act while startled?”

“That could be possible… Or perhaps he’s hoping we’d focus on him while the investigation team secretly delves through our history.”

While listening to Bae Jaemin, Ryu Hyerin tried to think of someone who could obstruct Moon Issak.

Perhaps a High Priest that Moon Issak had to maintain a good image with; or perhaps a member of the board of directors for the User’s Association–someone that could give direct orders to Moon Issak’s investigation team…

Ryu Hyerin thought of all the people that she could control; she needed to use some of the cards hidden up in her sleeves. Recalling the president’s secret transaction she had learned about in her last party, she whispered the details of that deal into Bae Jaemin’s ear.

“I think they could tackle him by changing the investigation team’s direction. There can’t possibly be official investigations into the Red Lotus incident.”

“The problem is, Moon Issak won’t cause his fuss through official means.”

“That’s right… Still, it’s better to have some reins on the situation than none,” Ryu Hyerin said.

Bae Jaemin still muttered pessimistically, but soon seemed to accept Ryu Hyerin’s words. He had no choice but to wait while trying to hinder Moon Issak as much as he could in his own capacity.

The two walked silently for a while; Bae Jaemin seemed to regain his composure, little by little. Ryu Hyerin looked at his face and fell into thought for a bit, but… Eventually, she asked him something she had been meaning to ask ever since she saw him and Ahn Seo-kyung together. “By the way, what were you doing with Ahn Seo-kyung earlier?”

“…He came onto to me one-sidedly.” At the inconvenient topic, Bae Jaemin looked elsewhere, vaguely avoiding her blatant gaze.

Staring at his troubled face, Ryu Hyerin opened her mouth again, “But, why did it feel like Ahn Seo-kyung wanted to kill me when I walked in? He acted like he had just been interrupted…”

“Impossible.”

“I’m not joking. You said you rejected him properly before; you didn’t use me as an excuse, did you?”

“He probably noticed that I like you.”

“……” Ryu Hyerin observed Bae Jaemin’s face; the Priest had declared ‘I like you’ with such an apathetic face.

It’d been quite a while since Bae Jaemin had expressed his feelings for her. Even while Seo Dawon was alive, he had approached her without hesitation.

Because of that, she couldn’t help but think of Bae Jaemin when she fell in love with Seo Dawon–so much so that the love had turned to hate. Bae Jaemin was willing to be her toy even though he knew exactly who Ryu Hyerin desired.

“Isn’t Ahn Seo-kyung quite pretty? Or, it’d be fine to close your eyes and receive his advances,” she said.

That was why Ryu Hyerin felt comfortable in front of Bae Jaemin. She had already shown him herself at rock bottom; she had no need to calculate and pretend in front of him as she did for others. She had no need to be courteous to him nor walk on eggshells around him, so she could say things he’d clearly detest.

As expected, Bae Jaemin immediately frowned. However, it didn’t convey as much discouragement as would normally be expected when the woman he liked told him to play around with someone else that liked him instead. Rather, he seemed irritated; it was as if he were saying ‘Why is today like this?’ with his resigned expression.

“I like a woman who looks good in a black dress,” he said shamelessly, as he glanced at the black dress Ryu Hyerin wore. The dress had a bold design that exposed her cleavage; she could have reported him for harassment at that moment.

Ryu Hyerin responded with a sly smile, “That was such a lame and perverted comment.”

“Furthermore, she has to be good at making spiteful remarks.”

“Are men an impossibility for you?”

“It would be possible if you were a man.” Bae Jaemin smoothly, without losing pace, wrapped one arm around Ryu Hyerin’s waist. At a surface glance, his action seemed purely romantic, but she knew Bae Jaemin was the type of man to take his arms away if Ahn Seo-Kyung were to exit the room and see them.

As if the two had shared an inside joke, Ryu Hyerin laughed. Bae Jaemin must have taken her laughter as implicit permission; he gently bit her full lips. She was a little offended that he bit her carefully painted lips, but she was able to overlook that slight as thanks for making her laugh.

“I’ll have to fix my makeup again because of you… Mmph!”

However, Bae Jaemin seemed to have been strangely stimulated by her coy eyes. Perhaps he quickly grasped that Ryu Hyerin was in a generous mood today. Bae Jaemin skillfully pushed her against the wall and pelted her with kisses.

At that moment, she remembered how she and Bae Jaemin played around like this in the Red Lotus headquarters, avoiding Seo Dawon’s gaze. However, she didn’t feel as miserable and wretched as she did then. So, when Bae Jaemin separated their lips for a moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck instead of glaring at him.

Bae Jaemin hesitated, but continued to endure her weight until her breasts fully pressed against his chest. Then, she whispered mockingly in his ear, “You’re so bad. You’re so clumsy, no matter how many times we’ve done this.”

“Why not give me chances to practice?”

She didn’t need to say who she was comparing Bae Jaemin to; the shadow that ‘man’ cast, intruding between Ryu Hyerin and the Priest, was particularly clear today. Instead of getting angry, Bae Jaemin buried his face in the nape of her neck.

At first she was so happy to see his hurt face after saying such things to him… After killing Seo Dawon, though, Bae Jaemin gained a sense of ease.

Ryu Hyerin was disappointed that she couldn’t similarly be at ease. It seemed as if she was the only one still stuck, floating around aimlessly.