Yu Jitae lifted his body as Yeorum gasped for breath like a squid out on the land. She appeared to have become powerless due to the immensely long tickle.
“…You know.”
While thinking to himself that she must be getting ready to swear at him, he reached his hand out to help her stand back up.
“I fought with my oldest unni after going back.”
However, she suddenly started talking about a whole different topic.
Crossing her legs, she covered her eyes with the back of her hand.
The fight against her oldest unni… was naturally something he had constantly been curious about. The only reason he didn’t ask till now was because he wanted her to mention it herself.
Yeorum returned to Earth thanks to Bom’s oath after she completed her Grand Schema.
In other words, there could only be one reason why Yeorum was able to be here.
“So you won. You beat her.”
“Nn.”
He felt his heart being quite overwhelmed with emotions.
“Yu Yeorum.”
His voice was a little brighter.
“…I’m insane, right?” she asked.
“Yes. You’re crazy.”
“…Is Yeorum cool?”
“Fabulous.”
“…Is she the best?”
“You’re the best in the entire universe.”
Yeorum twitched her lips as she soon let out a grin.
Kulkulkul… Like a person who can’t control their laughter, she continued giggling like a boiling kettle.
His compliment was like a full stop to her story.
“You did an excellent job.”
Her smile slowly dissipated.
At this moment, Yeorum had her life and hard work acknowledged once again by the one who trusted her more than herself.
That very person asked her a question.
“How did you fight her? Do you mind telling me?”
“…Ah.”
She described everything that happened back then to Yu Jitae including every detail possible. While talking about those moments, a drop of tear left her eye and like a water-drop on a document, it tainted the paper to smudge the ink of her memories.
Wiping off those tears, Yeorum calmly continued her story.
Starting from the 300 years which had gone by as she blindly waited for the Selection Ceremony after returning from the Amusement, Yeorum explained how she trampled upon the condescending gazes of her parents to kill her oldest sister, as well as how she wailed by herself in front of her youngest unni’s grave at the end of everything.
Those stories, feelings and words created a lump in her throat whenever she looked back on them but…
He serenely listened to her story and lent a close ear to her chronicles.
Meanwhile, it made Yu Jitae think that today might be the day for him to ask Yeorum for her forgiveness, but her following words put a stop to his line of thought.
“It was super hard for everyone, you know that?”
“I think I do, the more I listen to your stories.”
“But, to be honest, I don’t think what I went through is even close to half of all the suffering Yu Bom had to go through.”
“What?”
“You… you really need to take good care of her. She worked really, really hard.”
Yeorum then started mentioning the chronicles of Bom in a soft voice. She talked about the crazy vengeful spirits of the black dragons, the war of green dragons… and the likes.
“But I guess she wouldn’t have been that worried about the future. Because she must have been certain that she will be sleeping with you as a black-hair…”
Her next words, however, were very confusing for Yu Jitae. Sleeping with him as a black-hair?
“What is that about?”
“What?”
“Do ‘what’ with me as a black hair?”
“Ehng…?”
As if she finally noticed her mistake, Yeorum shook her hands.
“Pretend like you didn’t hear that.”
“What is it about?”
“Ahh, I don’t know. Whatever. Don’t tell her I told you that, and don’t even pretend like you know what it’s about. Okay?”
Yu Jitae was already greatly intrigued though, because he remembered how Bom used to pick a few females in the Association to become friends with. What was common between all of them except for one person was that they were all Asians.
Until now, he didn’t know why she hadn’t tried to befriend some females over others and couldn’t find anything common between them, but the sudden words of Yeorum became a puzzle piece that entered his head.
He remembered the hair colours of the ones Bom had been trying to become friends with.
He recalled the appearances of Kang Ahjin, Zhuge Haiyan and Freya Wahabi.
Black hair…
They all had black hair.
“That black hair or whatever – are you really not going to tell me what it is?”
“Ahhh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t tell you anything!”
“Why?”
“Dunno. Just forget about it. Please!”
Yeorum stood up and shook her hands in the air before jumping across the dimensions to escape from him.
After that, he asked her a few more times in secret when they were at home but Yeorum did not tell him anything.
Yu Jitae recalled what she said.
– But I guess she wouldn’t have been that worried about the future. Because she must have been certain that she will be sleeping with you as a black-hair…
It sounded positive as if there was an underlying layer of hope.
‘Sleeping’ was probably referring to a sexual relationship.
In other words, that meant Bom with black hair having an intercourse with him would lead to some kind of optimistic result.
That, however, was strange.
It was because her hair had been turning back to green ever since they met each other again. There was pretty much no strand of black hair left.
If ‘black hair’ would lead to a optimistic result,
Then why was her hair turning back to ‘green’?
***
In the end, he couldn’t ask Yeorum for forgiveness that day, but he decided not to be in a hurry.
Atonement was his lifelong duty. There was no need to be in a hurry, and the future ahead of them was still very long.
He would have more opportunities in the future.
Thus, he decided to drop the things related to his atonement in daily life for the time being, and started pondering about Bom’s show of affection.
He was way too curious to disregard it, but asking wasn’t an option either considering the frantic attitude Yeorum showed when he asked her a few times. It didn’t seem like a joke and seemed like a fairly serious topic that shouldn’t be delved into.
Yu Jitae wanted to find the truth.
There were 2 keywords.
1. Black Hair
2. Show of Affection
There was nothing he could do about the first one. It wasn’t something he could openly ask about, so he had to control the variables and make Bom introduce the topic.
Thus, he decided to control the second element. After that day, he avoided having deep affectionate actions with Bom.
It wasn’t easy.
There were only three rooms. They didn’t bother making any more rooms so he had to use the same room as Gyeoul and Bom.
“…”
It was on a certain warm evening in Spring.
The kids were outside playing and Bom was the only one who had returned before them.
After coming into the room, she stared at him, as he turned his eyes and returned the gaze.
There was no-one inside the house as the two of them shared a suggestive eye-contact.
Bom looked very pretty today as well. Her eyes that were gazing up at his eyes from uneasiness and the nervously pursed lips were a sight to behold.
They had already done it a few times, and yet Bom was still very nervous before having a relationship with him. That was why it was usually his job to approach her and be the one moving.
But today, it was different.
Yu Jitae returned a faint smile before looking away from her.
A look of doubt appeared in Bom’s eyes.
That was the end. While suppressing the burning passion inside, he soothed himself. He continued lying down on the bed reading a book, but that was when a fragrant scent of nature cleared up his brain. That was the furtive signal Bom was throwing at him.
“…?”
However, he contained his desire and refused to move.
Bom tilted her head.
She then swept past her lower lips with her thin fingers.
*
After a few days,
It was a day where Gyeoul and Yeorum went playing outside together despite bickering with each other all the time, while Kaeul came back after playing with Chirpy the enormous baby chicken and immediately fell asleep in her room.
He was alone in the living room watching a documentary on hologram TV.
That was when Bom came out of the shower like a human, while wearing a gown with her hair lifted to a bun.
And that was a big problem. The white neck revealed beneath her hair gave off an indecent charm and the soft skin was an extremely lewd sight. That was why he was refusing to go into the room even though it was already close to midnight.
He simply had to wait a bit more, because Gyeoul would be coming back very soon.
However, Bom did not go into the room either.
“Why are you out here in the living room?” she asked.
“I’m watching a documentary.”
“A documentary? ‘Architecture of the early Ottoman Empire in the 14th Century, in search of those roots’…?”
She tilted her head after reading the name of the documentary.
“Oppa, are you interested in things like this?”
“Yeah. It’s more interesting than I thought.”
He had to give a ridiculous excuse.
However, it was a good choice of documentary because Bom would definitely have zero interest in such a topic.
“What is it about?”
But Bom threw that question while naturally sitting next to him.
With a gush, the scent of nature grazed past his nose.
While pretty much throwing her body on the sofa, Bom sat down and leaned on him. Her lower body crashed into his lower body as he felt the weight behind her legs.
What was her question again?
Was it about the content of the documentary or something?
Yu Jitae had to pull his mind back together.
“Well. It’s like…”
“Like…?”
It was…
“It’s just about how the way they build houses is influenced by the past.”
He gave a random reply while turning towards her, but he had to immediately fix his gaze on the screen again.
It might be because of her throwing herself down on the sofa, but the untightened knot and the loose gown revealed the lines of her white body inside.
“Hmm… It doesn’t look that interesting though.”
Bom said with a lethargic voice while leaning her head on his shoulder, all the while wrapping her arms around his arm in a natural manner.
He could feel something that was both soft and heavy touching his arm.
“It’s not bad.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Finding the roots of the 14th Century’s Ottoman Empire’s architecture is not bad…?”
“I was quite bored today, you see.”
“Ah.”
“I guess that’s why this doesn’t look that bad.”
“Really? Hnn~”
Bom gave a nod.
That slight movement of her head shook her body as the weight touching his arm also swayed back and forth.
He stood his ground. By recalling a random catchy song, he formed a barrier around his brain.
However, a soft whisper from Bom shattered his barrier like it was nothing.
‘Do you want to do something more fun together…?’
He turned stiff.
He could feel her gaze – she was definitely gazing up at his face and that was driving him crazy.
Lust was something he had lost alongside his ‘daily life’.
But after the return of ‘daily life’, the kids often called him a ‘kid’. He was also like a kid at the face of lust which had come back together with his daily life. Regardless of the matter with black hair and whatever, he wanted to do something dirty with her.
It was when bombs were going off in his head.
“Uuun…”
Kaeul walked out of her room while rubbing her eyes.
Yu Jitae felt those bombs being dropped into an ocean as he managed to regain his composure.
“Uh? What are you watching till so late?”
Bom, who had pulled herself away from him in the blink of an eye, replied to her with a smile.
“It’s a documentary called ‘In search of the roots of the 14th Century’s architecture of the Ottoman Empire.’”
“Uing? Is that the title?”
“Nn.”
“That’s new. Is it fun?”
Kaeul headed to the kitchen while giggling to herself, as Bom gave a response that seemingly contained a hidden agenda.
“It’s the most boring documentary I’ve ever seen in my life.”
But Kaeul, who came to the living room after a cup of milk, was instead intrigued by her description.
“That makes me curious. How boring is it?”
“…Nn?”
“Hehe. I’m gonna watch it too~”
Kaeul dropped on the sofa with her bum and leaned her head on Bom.
Hiding his inward satisfaction, Yu Jitae commended Kaeul in his heart. Well done, Yu Kaeul.
Meanwhile, he glanced at Bom. She, who was no longer leaning on his arm, had already adjusted the front of her gown.
The risk was gone.
Heaving a deep sigh, he deeply immersed himself in the 14th Century architecture of the early Ottoman Empire.
Towards those deep and profound roots of the world of architecture…
*
However, the true risk came at night.
Yeorum and Gyeoul were not coming back.
Kaeul returned to her room with a yawn, and unfortunately, the roots of the Ottoman Empire were not deep enough.
When the documentary neared its end as the closing credits were starting to go up, Yu Jitae felt pressured and immediately called Yeorum.
The call ended with her saying they would be back home very soon. He then tried calling Gyeoul but she said the same thing in response.
Since there was no justification anymore behind sitting at the sofa, he lifted his body. He walked into the room and sat on the chair instead of the bed.
But his location might not have been important. What was important was that he was alone with Bom.
And like what she did during the day of the interim review, Bom abruptly sat down on his lap.
“……Why are you like this these days?”
“What. What do you mean.”
She looked at him with a depressed gaze as a voice dripping with sorrow left her mouth.
“I know you are trying to avoid me, oppa.”
Yu Jitae scrutinised her eyes. Was it uneasiness? Or perhaps displeasure?
No. Hidden beyond that in her depressed gaze was a sense of desperation.
That let him realise something.
As expected, the ‘optimistic result’ Bom had been harbouring in her heart throughout the hard times of Askalifa appeared to have a direct correlation with ‘affectionate actions’.
“No. I’m not trying to avoid you.”
He had decided not to lie, but… it might not be bad to have some exceptions. Thinking that, he opened his mouth.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Why would I try to avoid you?”
“How do I look right now?”
“The prettiest in the world.”
Only then did she ease her expression.
Maybe it wasn’t the affectionate action itself, but the process of sharing affection? Did it include both the physical and the psychological element?
…It was when Yu Jitae was busy thinking about the truth of the matter while having wrong guesses.
Bom started moving her waist.
“…”
His eyes shot wide open. Holding onto his body, Bom was moving her own body by rubbing it back and forth near his thighs.
Soon, a soft voice tickled his ears.
‘Please don’t run away if I’m pretty.’
If the coquettish action before was a bomb, then this was like an atomic bomb. His impulses exploded like a volcano and set his mind ablaze.
Gathering the last bit of his patience, he replied.
“Be patient. The kids are going to be back soon.”
Bom, however, shook her head in response as he finally realised something. The optimistic result and whatever was not the reason why Bom was depressed.
‘I can’t be patient anymore.’
She sweetly whispered into his ears alongside a faint moan.
‘I’ve been waiting for a thousand years…’