novelraw Chapter 73: You don’t know me as well as you think you do
Chapter 73: You don’t know me as well as you think you do
"Are you not hearing yourself, then?"
Brows drawn together, Han Kakta stared him in the eyes, exactly his height, as he spoke.
"That’s not possible...."
"You don’t have to worry about that. Closing a gate without entry also wasn’t possible before I did it."
"I can’t let you do it. I know the process of you corrupting your energy into matter, but creating a core... that’s too impossible..."
"You also don’t need to put your trust in me. I am confident I can—no, I will do it—even without your or anyone’s trust."
He could just put Han Kakta under mind corruption, but Yoon Seoyul might not like that. He seemed to care for Han Kakta, and according to the kind protagonist, it wouldn’t be polite to touch and inspect something so personal without that person’s permission.
Cheon Areum tilted his head at Han Kakta, waiting to see if he had anything else to say against it. Standing stiffly, Han Kakta seemed like he had a lot to say but couldn’t say anything more. To assure him further, Cheon Areum spoke out again.
"I saw two cores coexisting together in harmony. It’s not impossible. If an S+ Class boss can have two cores, then why can’t I?"
"There isn’t that much of a difference between us, don’t you think?"
Two cores embedded in the heart, just like an S+ Class boss. He could just have more energy by creating an additional core with energy and materializing it. He wouldn’t even need to heal or worry about his original core afterwards. As a manipulator of energy, what could he not do? What defined his limit?
"I think Yoon Seoyul should know about this too, after all. If he allows it... I will let you inspect it or whatever you want."
Han Kakta spoke as he took his hand out of his pocket, clutching his phone. At that moment, the office, which had been very well lit, suddenly plunged into darkness—to the point Han Kakta couldn’t even see his own hand. Cheon Areum stared at him with a face devoid of any emotion, but it was very clear he didn’t want Yoon Seoyul to know of this.
"Cheon Areum... you can’t use your abilities inside my guild. Please stop."
Cheon Areum’s eyes dropped to the phone in Han Kakta’s hand, gripped tightly—something only he was able to see in the pool of his blackened energy. His eyes moved to Han Kakta’s face as he called out.
"Hyung."
A clear ripple of tremble crossed Han Kakta’s face.
This isn’t it.
Cheon Areum clicked his tongue, closing his eyes and withdrawing his energy—and himself—from Han Kakta. At that address, all he could hear was Rian’s voice calling him ’hyung’.
"Sorry. I won’t disturb you anymore. I will do it on my own."
Turning away, Cheon Areum returned the low table he had dragged to the couch to its original place. His fluctuating emotions, mixed with his energy, were too dangerous—he shouldn’t be taking it out on anyone other than Cho Kihyun. Unable to fully expel his energy, Cheon Areum squarely walked himself to the door without a glance back at Han Kakta, leaving his last words.
"I expect you to keep your mouth shut about this. If word gets out—even to Yoon Seoyul alone—I will take it without your consent."
"Don’t do it. This is way too reckless, even for you."
"Don’t let anyone touch that core unless it’s me."
Waving his hand in the air, Cheon Areum opened the door with his energy and walked out with his head low. If Han Kakta didn’t want to comply, he would just do it by himself. That’s how he reassured himself as he exited the Aurora Guild building—and immediately spotted Yoon Seoyul waiting by the entrance.
"...."
Their eyes met without a chance to dodge. Yoon Seoyul approached him and took his hand.
"What did you do to him?"
"Who?"
"Han Kakta. His watch alerted everyone due to the unusual amount of energy around him and his rapid heartbeat."
Yoon Seoyul took him to the car parked right by the entrance of the office building.
"Did you get a new watch this quick?"
"I have my own ways. Don’t switch the topic. What were you doing for it to go off?"
In his struggle to get his energy under control, he had totally missed the alert on his watch. Cheon Areum sat in the passenger seat, with Yoon Seoyul in the driver’s seat.
"Han Kakta dismissed the alert before anyone could take it seriously."
The car fell silent for a few seconds.
"Areum, don’t make the others turn against you. If he is also bothering you, tell me."
Yoon Seoyul asked, expecting a response from Cheon Areum, who was gazing out the car window at the busy road. After a long while, he dragged out a short answer.
"I will tell you later. I don’t want you to worry unnecessarily."
He didn’t want to cover it with a lie, and he also couldn’t tell what he was planning to do. Yoon Seoyul wouldn’t let him do it either. It was natural to care about your partner, after all—but... Yoon Seoyul had doubts that he could lose to Kihyun. No matter what kind of underhanded tricks he used, Yoon Seoyul was the first person he wanted to trust him.
"You’re under too much pressure, Areum. Don’t do anything dangerous in this situation. Think rationally."
"Stop treating me like a weakling. I hate it. When it comes to fighting, no one can beat me—not even you—so don’t get cocky with me."
Ticked off, Cheon Areum almost shouted as he looked at Yoon Seoyul. Only now did he realize that in Yoon Seoyul’s eyes, Cheon Areum’s reflection had always been that of a vulnerable little omega—someone who needed his protection.
"Even after all these years, you don’t know me, Yoon Seoyul. I chose you to be the one to see my vulnerable side, but that’s only for you. You seem to be forgetting who I really am."