No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 67

Apple ended up taking on a time bomb that could explode at any moment and got a face that looked like he was going to go crazy, but I wasn’t concerned and brightly turned around. 

Unlike my expectations, I couldn’t declare it to the person directly like a declaration of war, but anyway, I achieved my initial goal of tentatively expressing my intention to drop out, so I was about to leave refreshed, but the situation repeated itself once again.

What does that mean? It means my forearm was grabbed.

“You…!”

“…”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The bright blue eyes filled with a sense of betrayal are unfamiliar. I never thought it would be an expression I could expect from Ryuseong. I don’t know why you, who is determined to kill me, would feel a sense of betrayal towards me though.

I’m not completely without common sense, so I know there’s an implicit dating rule that you have to explain something in this situation. After all, we are dating, whether it’s fake or by contract, and people who date have to follow implicit dating rules. Implicit dating rules differ by country and person, but the point that you become a historic asshole if you break them is the same. That’s the universal rule.

It would be a lie if I said a protagonist with chastity values like me has never been a historic asshole. My record of an eventful promiscuous strongest life is truly comparable to a playboy… (omitted)… Anyway, it was amazing, I tell you. 

But since I already decided to become the family head in order to not let go of Ryuseong, there’s no need to act up.

I decided to use my heart kindly.

“Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

“…Are you serious?”

I shrugged my shoulders and looked around as if saying, don’t you see the students whispering? They were holding their breaths in the feeling of watching an amazing drama, and I would have done the same.

If Romeo and Juliet fall in love at the academy and start the love of the century against their families’ opposition, and then one of them declares they’re dropping out, anyone would go crazy. They’d go nuts over what happens next. Furthermore, Romeo didn’t even know the circumstances. He was thoroughly excluded from information while things progressed to the point of declaring dropout to the professor. What could Juliet, no, Cassice Demillang have been thinking… It was a huge issue that one couldn’t help but have their eyes drawn to and be curious about if they were human.

“Are you really… going to leave?”

He even throws in more fuel. Ryuseong looked genuinely shocked, his eyes grimacing, and the sight of a strong man looking confused as if he would crumble was honestly delicious. The fact that it was because of me made it perfectly delectable. But I didn’t like the others’ voyeuristic gazes directed at Ryuseong to simply enjoy it. I only wanted to see you fall apart.

I also knew what I had to do for that.

Reach out my hand, grasp it, and pull.

And…

***

They started running.

It was Cassice Demillang who started it. Cassice Demillang interlocked his fingers with his own hand. He dug into the joints and extorted them. Ryuseong’s dynamic vision captured the moment he playfully smiled, but he didn’t wait for the stunned Ryuseong to stare stupidly. He roughly pulled the hand he grabbed. And took a big step forward. Ryuseong’s strength could prevent his arm and upper body from being pulled hard. But he swayed defenseless. He couldn’t build up the courage. He didn’t intend to be shaken…

“Wait…!”

To avoid falling, he had to take a big step and follow. If he didn’t pick up speed as if hanging onto the grip pulling him forward, he would fall. If he wanted to stop, the option of falling was fine, but then Cassice Demillang might get hurt. Ryuseong didn’t want that. So he couldn’t stop himself from being shaken. If it was defeat, it was defeat.

Ryuseong was worried they might collide with someone, but the students began to scatter in an instant. It was an instinctive movement to avoid bumping into them. It was a sudden start, but no one could block them. They ran through the cracks of voyeuristic gazes and across the hallway.

…Suddenly, Ryuseong thought the forceful, even coercive lead was paradoxically liberating.

Did he feel a sense of liberation, or was it confusing because it was spring?

It was late spring when flower pollen was flying. He remembered Haeyuna jokingly babbling that the flower language of cherry blossoms was midterms. Was that why the campus was now buried in light pink flower clusters after the midterms ended? Why do flowers make people’s hearts so unsettled? The two people ran on the bicycle path with a lively and sweet scent. The reddish-brown pavement unique to bicycle paths with a strong reddish tone wasn’t meant for running shoes to step on, but Cassice Demillang was running excitedly even in loafers.

Dropping out, it doesn’t make sense, the mind that wanted to ask why you suddenly made that choice scattered blankly just like that. Even though it was clearly an escape from a heavy conversation topic, it felt like he couldn’t stop it. He could only be helplessly pulled along as you pulled.

‘Where are you taking me?’

As they were trained individuals, no panting breaths could be heard. So only the sound of the wind or the rustling of falling flowers could be heard between them running through the campus.

I’ll say it again. Cassice Demillang interlocked his fingers with his own hand. His body temperature was always cool, so the touching skin was like snowflakes. Despite the ice-like smooth and soft texture, no, rather because it was excessively smooth, the cold and chilly skin that felt like snake scales, that was Cassice Demillang. But it was different now. Whether it was from running or for some other reason, his blood got warmer. His skin was lukewarm with heat. That ambiguous temperature…

Ryuseong felt like he was going to go a little crazy just from that.

Today, you acted like a living person.

That impression is sophistry. Cassice Demillang is always alive. However, he was always indifferent to death, and even if he were to die tomorrow, he would close his eyes without passion. But when he grabbed Ryuseong’s hand, Cassice Demillang smiled. Playfully, he had a heated smile as if anticipating something. That’s when he learned that when a person who was always cold smiles tepidly, the heart thumps.

He couldn’t stop his heart from scattering, whether it was the spring breeze or the flower pollen.

Ryuseong had lived a hard life to the point where age didn’t matter. He had experienced all the ups and downs of life and even survived miserably since he was a baby. What would have happened for a child born in monster territory to survive?

Ryuseong never told anyone about it, but he was already a broken person. He was shattered from birth, and the cracks increased as he lived on. A damaged heart was beating in his chest. The act of killing people inevitably ruins people. And a young child who grew up tearing apart and eating corpses was slowly breaking himself in a wasteland where there wasn’t even an adult to teach him that he shouldn’t kill people. Because there was no one to teach him that he shouldn’t be broken…

Perhaps when he felt that Cassice Demillang was no different, when he learned that he might have lived a life where his life was always targeted, the reason Ryuseong felt sorrow was because he compared his own life to him. In their first encounter where he felt aversion to his kind, it was repulsive from the perspective that Cassice Demillang was also a bastard with a ruined personality, but it was different now. Thinking about the ordeals Cassice must have faced to have his personality ruined, he suddenly felt sorrowful.

Why does the world break people, how should broken people live, it collapses and destroys everything a person loves without teaching anything.

Even though people whose hearts have become wastelands lose their driving force to live.

Ryuseong had a father. Then what did Cassice Demillang have?

‘What does he have?’

That’s what makes Ryuseong fall into melancholy.

I might want you to take me with you rather than leaving alone somewhere.

If you had no reason to live, I wanted to give myself to you to grasp.

The dormitory building. As if he had no intention of waiting for the elevator, Cassice Demillang ran straight into the emergency exit, and I followed him up the stairs. All movements were fast. Still, the smell of spring was less here. Maybe there would be a bit of a strong scent from the newly painted walls. That was enough. If I could just forget about spring, it seemed like I could be freed from feeling dizzy like now. But when Cassice turned around and smiled with squinting eyes, everything collapsed again. The bright features shone brightly like light pink, reminding me of spring. Maybe I just feel dizzy from facing you, but I didn’t want to think that way. It’s all because of the spring energy, because I’m caught up in the spring breeze… Before I could finish my thought, my body was pushed through the open door gap. I couldn’t resist. Still, I didn’t want to fall alone, so I just embraced you with my whole body.

As the two people fell entangled, a few flower petals stuck in their hair were crushed…

Click, the door closed.

The spring with a grassy scent was trapped.

***

The next morning, listening to the bird sounds coming from beyond the window… I started choosing what to say. Uh, um. I mean, what should I call this?

‘Did you sleep with him?’

Yeah, guys. I told you dreams come true, right? Know that I succeeded.

‘Hehe!’

You can’t hold back your laughter because you’re so happy? Hehe haha, oh my back. I overdid it so much, whew.

Last night is a secret only I know and I want to keep it for life, but to briefly reminisce…

Hehehe…!