Chapter 59 - Chapter 57: Episode 56 - Reassembly
After Miel reassembled Seon-ah's memories, he was back in Yu-rin's hands, lying on the bed in the master bedroom again.
Every time Seon-ah felt Yu-rin's gaze, he flinched and trembled.
Even though he didn't know who she was, he felt a sense of fear every time he looked at her.
It felt as if she were someone who had done violent things to him over and over again.
Right now, he and Miel-noona, his lover and wife, were imprisoned in what appeared to be this person's house.
Miel-noona was even confined to what looked like a bathroom, bound by chains and a metal collar that seemed impossible to break.
Furthermore, she had shown her violent tendencies by kicking the bathroom wall after an incomprehensible conversation with Miel-noona right in front of him and Miel-noona.
He didn't need to see it to know how reckless this woman could be.
But at the same time, she had a sad and pitiful expression as she looked at him.
It looked as if she were worried about him.
"Have we perhaps met somewhere before?"
"No, you're just a stranger..."
Yu-rin had no choice but to lie to Seon-ah.
Before leaving the bathroom, Miel had said that until he stabilized, Yu-rin should, 'as much as possible,' avoid causing confusion to Seon-ah's memories.
'What the hell is that "as much as possible," you bitch...'
What Yu-rin knew was that Seon-ah was currently Miel's lover.
And that his memories of his parents had completely disappeared.
For the sake of stabilization, except for knowledge about daily life, he had no memories of most things, such as going to school or making friends.
When Seon-ah asked her just a moment ago, she had felt it once again, but a bitter smile naturally came at the thought that there could be nothing more heartbreaking than that.
As she was thinking that, Seon-ah spoke to Yu-rin cautiously.
"Um.... could you please let us go?"
"No, don't ask why."
Yu-rin didn't know how to explain it to Seon-ah.
If things were normal, she would have said she brought him here to reclaim him as her lover and break the brainwashing, but she felt she shouldn't do anything that could strain Seon-ah's mind any further.
Furthermore, if Seon-ah kept mentioning the word 'Miel-noona,' she felt like she would suddenly get angry and end up telling him about his old memories, so she spoke to ensure Seon-ah wouldn't ask any more questions.
"..."
Perhaps intimidated by that unpleasant tone, Seon-ah clamped his mouth shut.
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The next day, Yu-rin went out.
In the morning, Yu-rin took care of Seon-ah and Miel's meals.
She prepared steak for Seon-ah, who had become gaunt from mental shock and losing too much blood from nosebleeds, and for Miel, she spat into a dog bowl of dog food and mixed it well.
Miel trembled with rage, but couldn't say a word.
Dog food is perfect for a bitch like her, so is it wrong?
And she had brought a refrigerator into her master bedroom.
In the refrigerator she had prepared in case Seon-ah got hungry, she stocked it with many things she had made since dawn—dishes she had learned to cook and wanted Seon-ah to eat.
It didn't matter if that bitch Miel drank from the shower or the toilet water if she was hungry, but she couldn't bear to see Seon-ah starving.
And she put a newly bought collar on Seon-ah's neck to prevent him from wandering around as he pleased.
And she closed the bathroom door so they couldn't see each other.
Miel and Seon-ah could still talk to each other through the bathroom door, but she didn't see the need to stop that.
Although she felt jealous, it was a decision she made because if Miel and Seon-ah couldn't even talk to each other, it certainly wouldn't be a 'normal life for a couple.'
She was deeply uncomfortable because she really didn't like leaving the house with Seon-ah and Miel inside.
Duty Hunters originally had to stay in designated quarters, but Yu-rin was a Duty Hunter of the Hwaryong Guild.
Therefore, with the help of her mother, the representative, she was able to register her house as a Hwaryong Guild Duty Hunter dormitory and pull a trick to commute from home.
This was something she couldn't have done before being kidnapped by the Gate.
At that time, her mother was the Executive Director of the Hwaryong Guild and was competing with other board members for the position of representative.
If she had pulled such a trick back then, she might not be the representative now, but might have been pushed out of company politics and recommended for retirement.
Thanks to such luck, she was able to bring Seon-ah to her house.
However, Yu-rin began to be weighed down by too many worries.
Seon-ah, whom she had regained.
And the Gate Expedition Team created to retrieve Seon-ah.
Seon-ah's parents.
Those countless things crowded Yu-rin's mind.
The thought that it was right to reveal the fact that Seon-ah had returned to this world, along with the thought that if she revealed that fact, she would eventually have Seon-ah taken away.
These two things kept cluttering Yu-rin's mind.
She was devastated to learn that the marriage registration form she had submitted the day before the wedding had been rejected.
And she realized it then.
The fact that even if Seon-ah returned from the Demon World, he wouldn't be able to stay by her side.
Actually, the reason she brought him to her house now wasn't to kidnap him and live with him for the rest of his life.
It was just something she did with the hope of breaking Seon-ah's brainwashing—he was being toyed with in the clutches of that succubus—and making him remember her again.
And once the brainwashing was broken, she intended to send Seon-ah back to his parents and inform them about the relationship between the succubus and Seon-ah.
She was somewhat aware of the sins she had committed, and she intended to make amends.
However, she wondered if Seon-ah and his parents would be happy even if she brought back the Seon-ah who had changed like this.
Furthermore, wouldn't she end up unhappy too?
She thought it would be wiser to find a way for everyone to be happy rather than making everyone unhappy.
Furthermore, when he spent those hellish days in the Demon World, before being brainwashed, Seon-ah had devoted himself to her even while suffering tremendous humiliation.
Thinking about that, she couldn't believe that the days with her, which Miel mentioned, had been traumatic.
Thinking about Seon-ah's state, unable to escape Miel's clutches, she felt that she was the only one who could solve this.
Even if she sent him to his parents' side like this, considering that Miel would still have to stay by his side, and thinking of how Seon-ah's parents would be shocked to see their son as a succubus's mate, this was something that absolutely could not happen.
In the end, Yu-rin made a choice, as if there was no other way, even though it would be more painful for Seon-ah.
With the thought that only this choice could save Seon-ah...
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Min-ah was at Hyeon-tae's hospital again today.
As Yu-rin said, she had decided to join the expedition team to save Seon-ah, but she felt it would be difficult to leave Hyeon-tae, who had ended up like this, so she decided to participate in the 2nd Expedition Team.
She hated Yu-rin, but she only felt grateful to Yu-ra, who was helping her even by overworking herself for her family.
There was only one reason she intended to join the 2nd instead of the 1st.
Hyeon-tae's condition had deteriorated rapidly and he was now on the verge of death.
Wrists as thin as tree branches.
A face that resembled Seon-ah's, but had become gaunt.
And the oxygen mask attached to his face.
The monitor checking his pulse and heartbeat.
Too much time had passed since her husband and Seon-ah's father, Hyeon-tae, had stopped eating, and he was now in a coma.
Hyeon-tae's attending physician said that there wasn't much time left.
The memory of hearing that story back then, crying uncontrollably, and grabbing the doctor's pant leg, begging him to save Hyeon-tae, is still vivid.
I judged that if I joined the 1st Expedition Team, I'd be busy with training and wouldn't be able to see Hyeon-tae's final moments, so I told Representative Yu-ra that I would switch to the 2nd Expedition Team.
Today as well, holding the hand of Hyeon-tae, who didn't even move, I spoke to the child's father about memories with Seon-ah, even though I knew full well that no answer would come from Hyeon-tae's mouth.
My heart ached, and hot tears kept wetting my cheeks.
And as always, I made a vow.
I promised, holding the hand of Hyeon-tae, who wasn't even conscious, that I would definitely save Seon-ah.
Even though it was a promise he didn't even know about.
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Yu-rin was a key figure in the 1st Expedition Team, crossing over to the Demon World at the forefront.
A B-rank Hunter selected as an advisor for the expedition team at the age of twenty-one.
The first Awakened to return from the Demon World.
These were the titles given to Yu-rin.
She was a Duty Hunter, but after joining the 1st Expedition Team, she couldn't go out to the Gates.
Furthermore, the expedition felt almost like a gamble.
Because there was a significant risk that they might never return, many of those who volunteered for the expedition team were either quite confident in their skills or chose to do so out of greed.
Perhaps worried that she wouldn't come back, the guild notified Yu-rin that she could operate freely until she participated in the expedition.
Work hours became her own time.
Since there were 4 months left until the expedition, it was the same as having 4 months of free time.
It was true that problems would arise if valuable expedition personnel went missing, but they allowed it because they valued her worth, since among the advisors, there was no one to replace Yu-rin, who at least knew a little about the Demon World environment.
Although her environment or knowledge about the Demon World wasn't at an expert level, she was a valuable asset who could be of great help.
Being the first had that much significance.
It was only natural for someone like Yu-rin to be part of the 1st Expedition Team.
Since the main goal of the 1st Expedition Team was to play the role of the Advance Team that could cross over to the Demon World first and establish a base, someone like Yu-rin was nearly essential.
Once she satisfied the qualification of being a B-rank Hunter, which was the minimum requirement, no one raised an objection to her serving as an advisor.
Yu-rin knew the situation Seon-ah's mother, Min-ah, was in.
Because she herself sometimes visited Hyeon-tae in the hospital.
She felt guilty, so she sometimes went to Hyeon-tae and Min-ah to apologize.
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Of course, those apologies were often answered with fists.
She always said she was sorry, and in the end, she said she would definitely bring Seon-ah back.
But today, that statement was going to be a lie.
Although her heart ached, it was an unavoidable choice to save Seon-ah.
Yu-rin hardened her resolve and entered the hospital room where Hyeon-tae was lying.