A well-set table.
Someone might think this situation is ridiculous.
I stared blankly at her lying on the bed for a moment. She was breathing heavily with her flushed face, troubled by the black ropes binding her.
As I lowered my gaze past her lips, which exhaled in a heated manner, I saw the rope starting from her neck. It was a supporting line that vividly revealed the sexual contours of her body.
Even standing still, her feminine lines were striking, and with the added supporting line of the rope, she was exuding her femininity to the max.
She truly was beautiful.
It was hard to believe that a woman like her would calmly say she wants to sleep with me or ask to be tied up.
For someone like me, who had never even met a triangle kimbap, this situation was an overwhelming temptation.
Of course, I wasn’t actually thinking of burying my face in that massive mountain of beauty or suffocating her with my mouth to block her heated breath.
Unfortunately, I know her true identity.
The one lying on the bed is not a seductive woman.
It’s the infamous Heavenly Killing Star who is destined to be a murderous fiend.
If I eat her, I’ll be sick. If I shove my face, I might really die.
The only reason I’m alive until now is that I’m pretending to be the childhood friend’s older brother, not because I’m her boyfriend.
“Y-Yoon Ho.”
She was still looking for me, having lost her focus.
“I won’t go, Oppa.”
Since I decided to play the role of her older brother, I should see it through to the end.
I flipped over the imaginary lavish twelve-course meal set in my mind and dragged a chair from the desk to sit near the bed.
“Uh, where are you?”
Even though I was right next to her, she couldn’t find me.
Isn’t this a serious situation? Is this rope really okay?
She said she used it while sleeping, so there shouldn’t be any great danger, but the current 모습 of the Heavenly Killing Star seemed like someone heavily intoxicated with strong liquor or drugs.
Having heard my voice, the Heavenly Killing Star reached out her hand towards me, but it just flailed in the air.
Her hand looked pitiful, like a child’s hand helplessly dropped in the world without any support.
“Cheon So-hee. I’m here.”
I made sure she had something to lean on.
Her hand, callused from practicing martial arts, still resembled the hand of a child who had lost her way.
“Don’t go.”
Maybe she felt my hand. She turned to look at me, and her blurry eyes gained a bit of life.
“Where would I go, leaving you behind?”
“Uh-huh.”
She nodded faintly, then quietly stared at our clasped hands.
Is holding her hand effective? The labored breathing she had been exhaling was gradually stabilizing.
“You’re sweating a lot.”
Do we have a towel around?
I attempted to let go of her hand to look for a towel and a water bottle, but she seized my hand tightly, trying to keep it.
“Don’t let go. Stay here.”
She spoke like a child who fears that the mother caring for her will disappear.
Seems like she’s really struggling.
There’s no need to provoke her in this unstable state. Holding her hand, I twisted my body as best I could to bring the towel and water bottle closer.
I dampened the towel with water and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“Feels nice. I’m happy.”
Feeling weakened, she didn’t show a hint of distaste towards my touch and accepted it.
It would be nice if she displayed such clear expressions of her feelings more often. She shouldn’t just mumble whatever when ordering food.
‘Is the past that precious?’
The choice that the Heavenly Killing Star made to not kill me and stay by my side puts herself in a vulnerable state, something no martial artist would dare to do, one hundred percent.
How precious must the past she lost be to make such a choice?
‘At least she trusts me.’
My efforts over the past few days haven’t been in vain.
She entrusted her life to me.
Though she can’t be entirely sure I’m just her childhood friend’s older brother, she at least believes I’m not someone who would harm her.
If we continue to develop our relationship like this, she might come to think of me as her childhood friend’s older brother, even if her memories don’t return.
Suddenly, a way to escape this world came to my mind.
[Ending Condition: Capture the true heroine.]
Could the Heavenly Killing Star possibly be the true heroine?
‘No. She can’t be a heroine.’
She cannot become a heroine. The Heavenly Killing Star is a character created to be a villain.
Having lost her parents to a tragic incident, she forgot her past memories. She lived her life honing her killing techniques as the Heavenly Killing Star.
She voluntarily bound herself up with those ropes to avoid killing me, but this will be meaningless in the end.
Someday, she will lose her mind, and after countless murders, ultimately perish.
She is the villain who will power up the protagonist and increase their fame levels. That is the role assigned to her in this world.
‘What a tragic fate.’
As I watched her acting like a child seeking comfort, sympathy I had buried deep inside suddenly blossomed beyond my tension and fear.
A woman with a predetermined doom.
Even if I feel sympathy for her and maintain a good relationship, her future will not change.
It’s not a fate that a mere barbarian like me could alter.
Whether she is pitiable or I act to save myself, ultimately, the only thing I can do is faithfully play the role of an older brother.
“Cheon So-hee. If you’re really having a hard time, should I just untie you?”
The Heavenly Killing Star had stabilized her breathing but still had a flushed face with cold sweat continuing to flow. Seeing a bit of consciousness in her gaze, I asked for her intention.
“No. I’ll sleep like this.”
“Alright.”
“Yoon Ho.”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me a story about… the past.”
She said to me with drowsy eyes.
Is she asking for a lullaby? Yesterday, the Heavenly Killing Star slept like a baby after hearing the sun and moon story. Sure, I’ll hit her with a finishing blow of a story that will deal with her sleepiness.
“Long ago, in a distant past…”
“Tell me about when I was little.”
She has a plethora of requests.
To play my role as her older brother well, I should avoid saying anything unpleasant in situations like this.
What story should I tell?
I guess I’ll share the tale of when my childhood friend next door got sick.
“Because I’m holding So-hee’s hand, it reminds me of the past. So-hee, remember when you had a fever and a cough but still came to play with me? You didn’t even know you had a cold, coming to meet me.”
I gently brushed aside her bangs that had fallen forward as I reminisced about the past with a warm expression.
“Col…d.”
Her words were becoming slower.
“After I took you home, how worried I was. I couldn’t sleep at all.”
She had only spoken a few words, but the Heavenly Killing Star’s eyes were slowly shutting.
“So-hee. Are you okay? So-hee, here’s some candy. I said to you while standing at your home, and your mother was so worried about you. So, your mother…”
Grow up quickly. I’m sleepy too.
The sound of insects chirping echoed through the night in Chilgok County.
Eventually, that night, I continued to guard her side, despite her unfortunate fate.
I dreamt of warm and nostalgic things.
When Heavenly Killing Star woke up to the sound of morning birds, she pondered deeply.
In front of her, she found Kang Yoon-ho, asleep uncomfortably, and her own hand holding tightly onto his.
Carefully, she rubbed her moist eyes with her other hand, ensuring not to wake him.
‘When did he fall asleep?’
Since he tied her up, her memories became hazy. Cheon So-hee started to recall yesterday’s events.
She remembered being laid down in bed, nestled in his arms. He felt sturdier and cozier than she expected.
What did he say afterward?
‘Yoon Ho, don’t go.’
As she recalled the words she had said last night, all her drowsiness evaporated in an instant.
How weak she must have sounded.
This was all the fault of that Binding Technique. The Heavenly Killing Star blamed the innocent artifact.
‘Is it because it hasn’t been used for long that this effect occurred?’
The effect of the Binding Technique was not supposed to be this intense.
While it calms the killer’s mind and weakens control over martial arts and emotions, yesterday, the strength of the effect was overwhelmingly strong.
The Binding Technique made specifically for the Heavenly Killing Star. This powerful item was created to harness the power of the stars, and years of not being used had caused its accumulated magical force to manifest in full.
Fortunately, the effects of the Binding Technique were temporary, and by morning, the Heavenly Killing Star was able to regain her senses.
Had she used the Binding Technique lightly in another situation, it could have spelled disaster.
She briefly recalled last night.
Left alone in bed, she felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and helplessness she had never experienced before. It felt as if she were trapped on a boat adrift in a stormy sea, alone. Feeling like she could die if things continued as they were.
‘Where would I go, leaving you behind?’
Cheon So-hee felt a small sense of relief knowing that the person who stayed by her side in such a situation was this man.
She gently moved her thumb on his hand, tracing his fingers.
Unlike her, his hand, which did not wield a sword, felt soft and weak.
But this weak hand had become a sturdy anchor that protected her dangerous night.
“So-hee, are you awake?”
The man felt her touch and awakened from his slumber. His face was still drowsy, but he always asked about her with a kind tone.
Cheon So-hee did not let go of his hand, even though he was awake.
“I’m awake.”
“Shall I untie you?”
“……Please untie me.”
She could technically untie herself. However, for some reason, she wished for him to do it.
Kang Yoon-ho carefully propped her back up and began to loosen the knots from behind.
Cheon So-hee felt his warm breath on the back of her neck but showed no signs of discomfort and remained calm, feeling his delicate touch.
“So-hee, would you like some water?”
“Yeah.”
All the ropes binding her were finally loosened.
Cheon So-hee should have felt happy about her newfound freedom, but strangely, she kept fiddling with the area behind her neck, where the ropes had pressed down on her, and where she felt his breath.
“Here you go.”
The man handed her the water.
As she reached for the cup with her dominant hand, she seemed to realize something and quickly grasped it with her other hand.
Cheon So-hee slowly drank the water while gazing at the hand the man had held throughout the night. It still felt warm.
Feeling the lingering warmth, a strange, inexplicable ticklish sensation emerged in Cheon So-hee’s heart, but she tried to ignore it.
She had good news to tell him.
To share this news, Cheon So-hee opened her mouth.
My neck hurts a lot.
I should have just slept on the floor.
Having talked all day amidst incidents, I ended up falling asleep myself.
I wonder if I can work today.
While handing the water to the Heavenly Killing Star and pondering these thoughts, she spoke up.
“I had a dream today.”
“Really? What kind of dream?”
As long as it’s not about me dying, I’m okay with it.
“When I was little. I dreamt about my mom caring for me when I had a cold.”
“That sounds like a precious memory.”
That’s a common memory kids have when their parents take care of them when they’re sick.
Huh?
Memory?
“It was a memory of my mother looking at me worriedly and wiping my sweat.”
Her lips curved upwards slightly. A nostalgic, yet happy expression. It was the first time I’d seen her smile.
But I couldn’t help but feel tense upon seeing that smile.
“I also thought of my parents a lot when I was sick overseas. So So-hee must have remembered often, too, since you were sick yesterday.”
Feigning empathy, I subtly tried to probe her feelings.
Please say yes.
To my disappointment, she didn’t erase her smile and shook her head.
“It was the first memory I thought of. A memory from when I was little that I had forgotten. That came back to me.”
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