Chapter 12 - Jealousy
[ Jealousy ]
=== Jealousy ===
A street a few blocks away from the park.
With the hour growing late, the road was practically deserted, devoid of both cars and pedestrians. Only the streetlights cast a steady glow at regular intervals.
Beneath the warm lights, a woman strolled at a leisurely pace.
Her short hair, tied back in a neat ponytail, swayed gently with each step.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she wore a cheerful expression, looking as if she might burst into a whistle at any moment.
Her name was Kang Seo-yoon.
She was a well-known, high-ranking S-class Hunter.
"...Hmm?"
She suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Her ponytail swayed one last time before settling still.
Kang Seo-yoon slowly turned her gaze in one direction.
Toward the park.
It was the very park she had been mindlessly passing by just a moment ago.
"...Wait."
She muttered softly, her eyes narrowing.
It had lasted only a fraction of a second.
A moment so fleeting it was practically instantaneous.
But it was distinct.
A subtle ripple in the air.
It felt as if an invisible wave had lightly brushed against her surroundings before vanishing.
"...What was that?"
She tilted her head slightly.
It was a shift so subtle that an ordinary person would have missed it entirely.
Even most Hunters would have dismissed such a minute tremor as a trick of the mind.
But Kang Seo-yoon was different.
She was an S-class Hunter.
And a high-ranking one at that.
With her level of sensory perception, there was no way she would miss a fluctuation in the flow of mana, no matter how faint.
"...Definitely not my imagination."
Taking a slow, deep breath,
she looked toward the park once more.
Her eyes grew sharp, like a predator locking onto its prey.
Usually, a reaction like this meant one of two things.
Either a powerful skill had been activated nearby,
or—
"A Dungeon?"
Or, in very rare cases,
a phenomenon that occurred when overwhelmingly powerful mana began to warp nature itself.
...There was a chance it was a precursor to the formation of a high-rank Dungeon.
"Interesting."
True to her impulsive nature, she didn't hesitate.
In the next instant,
her presence vanished.
Sliip—
As she suppressed her mana to its absolute limit, her presence dissolved into the surrounding air.
With her presence completely erased,
Kang Seo-yoon slipped into the park.
Crunch.
The soles of her shoes lightly brushed against the gravel at the park entrance.
The park at night was quieter than she expected.
The distant hum of traffic,
and the rustling of leaves in the wind.
That was about it.
"...No one's here, either."
She slowly scanned her surroundings.
The walking path illuminated by the streetlights.
The benches.
The flower beds.
The lawn.
On the surface, it was just an ordinary park.
But...
"...Something is definitely off."
As she drew closer to the source, her heightened senses picked up more details, prompting her to mutter under her breath.
Her perception grew sharper with every step.
The ground.
The trees.
The grass.
The air.
It felt as if the very nature of the entire park was being bound to a single point.
As if someone had seized control of the entire space.
"...No, to do something on this scale..."
Seo-yoon's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Even for an A-class Awakened, affecting the surrounding environment to this degree was incredibly rare.
Especially over an area this large.
"...What is this?"
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"...Did another S-class show up?"
Her curiosity was fully piqued.
Seo-yoon slowly made her way deeper into the park.
One step.
Another step.
And then,
a few seconds later,
Seo-yoon stopped again.
"...Huh?"
At the edge of her vision,
something caught her eye among the trees.
At first, she thought it was just a shadow.
But as she drew closer, its shape became clear.
"...What on earth is that?"
Tree trunks,
and vines.
A structure made of them, tightly intertwined.
It was a simple, perfect cube.
A room-sized space constructed entirely out of tree trunks and vines.
"This is actually pretty fascinating."
Kang Seo-yoon slowly approached the bizarre structure.
She reached out and lightly tapped a vine.
It was rock hard.
They weren't just woven together, either.
The plant tissue had been reinforced, deeply infused with mana.
"...It's a skill."
She was certain of it.
Someone's ability.
And a technique that required an incredibly high level of control, at that.
Kang Seo-yoon slowly walked around the structure, inspecting it.
"...But,"
she tilted her head,
"who would make something like this in the middle of a park...?"
It felt strange. There was no way she wouldn't know someone with this level of skill.
A space just big enough for two people.
And completely sealed off, at that.
"...Seriously, what is this?"
Just then—
BOOM—!
The air suddenly buckled.
An invisible shockwave.
But to her S-class senses, it was clear as day.
"...!"
Kang Seo-yoon's eyes widened.
Her body reflexively took a step back.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"...What was that?!"
Holding her breath, she stared intently at the cube.
That shockwave just now...
It was definitely an explosive burst of mana erupting from the inside.
"Wait."
Thoughts raced through Seo-yoon's mind.
A surge of this magnitude.
And this structure.
In such a completely random location.
"...Could it be?"
Her eyes sparkled.
"Is it a precursor to a Dungeon forming?"
It was an incredibly rare phenomenon.
A case where the surrounding mana became highly unstable and exploded right before a Dungeon manifested.
She had been sure it was a skill, but it could also be a precursor to a Dungeon—one so obscure that even she didn't know about it.
There were too many suspicious details.
But...
Kang Seo-yoon wasn't the type to overthink things.
"...Well,"
she shrugged.
Whether this was a Dungeon core or something else,
"...I can just break it."
Having completely ruled out the possibility of it being someone's skill,
mana began to pool in her fist.
The air vibrated subtly.
Small pebbles at her feet floated into the air.
"Just in case..."
She took a step toward the cube.
"...I'll blow it up ahead of ti—"
At that exact moment,
the gap between the vines widened ever so slightly.
It was a complete coincidence.
As the mana buckled, the structure warped slightly.
And...
Seo-yoon's gaze naturally drifted toward the gap.
"...Uh."
Wait.
It was truly just a split second.
She caught a fleeting glimpse of the interior.
"...Huh?"
Kang Seo-yoon's expression froze instantly.
The mana gathered in her fist dispersed in an instant.
For a few seconds,
she stood completely still.
Then, she slowly leaned forward a bit.
"......"
She peered through the gap once more.
But the vines had already locked back together.
She couldn't see 'that silhouette' anymore.
Seo-yoon stood there blankly for a moment.
Then,
slowly covering her face with her hands, she recalled the scene she had just witnessed.
"...Ah."
She muttered softly,
"...It wasn't a Dungeon."
A deep blush burned on her small face, hidden behind her hands.
"...Now it's my turn ♡"
Han Cho-yeon, wearing a playful smile, shifted her weight.
Barely supporting herself on trembling legs, she slowly climbed down from where she had been sitting astride my face.
The soft rustle of skin and clothing brushing together echoed quietly in the enclosed space.
But just as she was about to stand up,
she froze.
"...?"
Han Cho-yeon's expression shifted.
Her playful demeanor vanished in an instant.
She slowly turned her head.
Toward the wall of woven vines.
And beyond it.
Her gaze locked onto the barrier.
For a few seconds,
she didn't say a word, letting a heavy silence hang in the air.
The space enclosed by the trees and vines fell dead silent.
The vines that had been subtly swaying earlier had completely stilled.
Instead,
a single slender vine nearby wriggled ever so slightly.
Her gaze followed its movement.
Once more,
the vine trembled weakly.
"...What's wrong?"
I was the first to break the silence.
Only then did Han Cho-yeon look down at me.
But she didn't answer right away,
instead tilting her head toward the outside once more.
As if she were listening for something.
A brief silence followed.
"...Strange."
she muttered softly.
"What is?"
Han Cho-yeon's gaze drifted back to the vine wall.
Or rather, beyond it.
"...I'm not sure."
She blinked, lost in thought.
She seemed to be organizing her thoughts.
"...It feels like someone was just out there."
As Han Cho-yeon lightly touched the ground with her finger,
the thin vines around her reacted subtly.
The air settled.
It was still quiet outside.
There was nothing but the rustling of leaves.
After a moment's thought, Han Cho-yeon shook her head slightly.
"Someone was definitely here."
"Who?"
"...U-uh?"
My voice came out colder than I intended.
Even though we hadn't defined our relationship as anything special... the thought that someone else might have seen Han Cho-yeon's body made me feel like absolute shit.
"...Then,"
I blurted out,
"that means someone might have seen you."
Han Cho-yeon tilted her head.
"...Seen what?"
I looked away slightly before speaking.
"...You, Noona."
...
At my words, Han Cho-yeon froze.
And then,
"...Ah."
Han Cho-yeon's eyes went wide.
She stood blankly for a second, then suddenly waved her hands in frantic denial.
"N-no, it's not like that!"
Her voice was flustered.
"It's really not..."
"..."
"You can't see anything from the outside!"
Han Cho-yeon tapped the vine wall.
The surrounding vines shook slightly.
"I set up a barrier when I made this."
"...A barrier?"
"Yeah..."
She parted the vines slightly with her hands, then let them snap back into place.
"I made it so the light bends. Even if they looked, they would have barely seen a silhouette at most."
"..."
"A-and! You're responsible too!"
"...Me?"
She suddenly blushed, her voice rising.
"Normally, it would have been absolutely invisible from the outside... but because of y-you, my concentration slipped for a second."
"...Ah."
I recalled the image of Han Cho-yeon sitting on my face and climaxing just a few minutes ago.
"...And,"
she stroked the vines with her fingertips.
"...I was especially on guard against men, so I would have known immediately if a guy was out there."
...
For some reason, those words brought me a wave of relief.
Just as my expression softened without me realizing it—
"...Hehe..."
"...?"
"You were... jealous, weren't you?"
I was temporarily at a loss for words.
"...No, I wasn't."
"Oh, come on."
At my hesitant reply, Han Cho-yeon burst into laughter.
Her expression cleared up so quickly I wondered if she was the same person who had been red-faced with embarrassment just moments ago.
"...Don't lie."
She tilted her head slightly, staring at me.
"Your face was completely stiff, you know?"
"...That was..."
I tried to defend myself but stopped.
I couldn't think of a single excuse.
"..."
A brief silence fell between us.
And as if she had been waiting for this exact moment,
"See?"
Han Cho-yeon giggled softly.
"Hehe, I knew it."
"...I told you, I wasn't."
"Sure, sure."
Her tone made it clear she didn't believe me for a second.
Then, she took another step closer, closing the distance between us.
"...But,"
she looked down at me with mischievous eyes.
"I like it."
"...What?"
"Seeing you jealous."
"..."
"It's cute."
"..."
I had absolutely no idea how to counter, so I just shut my mouth.
Han Cho-yeon laughed, finding my reaction even more amusing.
"Earlier, you were tied up like that, completely helpless."
"...Why are you bringing that up again?"
"Why?"
She shrugged.
"It's the truth, isn't it...?"
"..."
"Your face was completely red."
"...That was—"
"And even now."
Tap.
Her finger lightly tapped my cheek.
"It's still a little red."
"..."
I thought about brushing her hand away, but I just endured it.
Han Cho-yeon laughed again.
"You're really cute."
"..."
"Ga-on."
"...What?"
"Will you keep being jealous for me in the future, too?"
"...That's never going to happen."
"Oh, come on."
Han Cho-yeon clicked her tongue playfully.
"After you got so worked up about it?"
"..."
"Worrying that someone might have seen me."
"..."
The longer this conversation went on, the more I felt like I was losing.
In the end, I let out a sigh.
"...Let's just go home."
"Huh?"
"It's late."
Han Cho-yeon blinked in surprise.
And then,
"...Pfft."
she burst into laughter.
"You're running away."
"...I'm not running away."
"Sure, sure."
Her voice still carried that teasing disbelief.
Han Cho-yeon lightly tapped the vine wall.
Rustle—*
The vines began to unravel smoothly.
The intertwined vines sank to the ground, and the plants that had formed the walls slowly returned to their original places.
In an instant, the room vanished without a trace.
All that remained was the quiet night park.
Under the streetlights, Han Cho-yeon stretched her arms wide.
"...Whew. Shall we go?"
Then, glancing at me,
she linked her arm with mine, and we began to walk down the path side by side.
...
And that scene...
...was watched in silence by Kang Seo-yoon, standing deep within the shadow of a distant streetlight.