Side Story Chapter 140 - Requiem (1)

“Gasp!!”

Oh Kang-Woo woke up. He was all sticky because of sweating profusely in his sleep.

“Huuu,” he sighed and swept back his sweaty hair.

‘It’s been a while.’

He had not dreamt this nightmare in a while. It was a faint memory from his days in the Ninth Hell— a sharp fragment of the past that cut up his soul each time he recalled it.

“

Sniff...

”

Kang-Woo suddenly heard sobs.

“Huh? The hell? Wh-What are you guys doing?”

His three wives were sitting next to his bed, laser-focused on him. Their expressions were those of being on the verge of tears.

‘Did I catch a terminal disease in my sleep or something?’

He felt like a terminally ill patient about to take his last breath with his family members next to his deathbed. He was half-expecting to hear a flatline sound in the background.

“

Sniff... Sniff...

”

“Darling??”

“KANG-WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Han Seol-Ah jumped toward Kang-Woo.

“Kurgh!”

She grabbed his head and stuffed it between her breasts.

“It was hard... wasn’t it?”

“Mmmrrrggghhhhh.”

‘I mean, it’s getting a little hard to breathe. I guess a death like this... isn’t too bad.’

He was sure it would win head and shoulders above the rest if this moment were to be nominated for the Best Death award.

“Mmmrrrggghhhhh.”

“

Sniff...

You had to go through so... so much.”

Kang-Woo wondered what was going on. He tried to turn to look at Cha Yeon-Joo and Lilith but he couldn’t see anything but breasts.

‘My word... The whole world is made up of titties. This is a life worth living.’

Kang-Woo couldn’t care less why Seol-Ah was acting like this. All that mattered were the breasts that covered his field of vision even when he turned his head.

“Mrghh.”

He relaxed every muscle fiber and let the warmth take him. He still couldn’t breathe but that didn’t matter.

‘Let these breasts... be worth more than my life.’

Kang-Woo technically did not die even if he couldn’t breathe. Hence, he would fully enjoy the moment.

“Seol-Ah. You’re making the king uncomfortable.”

“Ah... I-I’m sorry.”

‘No, I’m not uncomfortable. I’m as comfortable as I could ever be.’

“Pwah!” Kang-Woo gasped for breath as he was released from Seol-Ah’s embrace. He turned to Lilith and asked, “What’s up with you guys out of the blue?”

Lilith’s eyes were tearing up like Seol-Ah’s for some reason.

“To tell you the truth... We peeped into your dream with the Trait I got last time.”

“Oh.”

Kang-Woo understood Darling’s odd behavior.

‘They saw that.’

They had seen his memories that were fresh to this day.

“I’m sorry, my king... for peeping on your dream without permission. I’ll accept any punishment you give me.”

Lilith bowed deeply to Kang-Woo, who scratched and shook his head.

“No, well... It’s fine. It’s all in the past.”

He never planned to talk about his memories of back then but it was weird to conceal his past from his wives whom he would spend the rest of his life with.

“Umm, so,” Yeon-Joo, holding a crushed beer can, asked cautiously, “What happened... after that?”

“Nothing much. I just gathered subordinates here and there and fought against the princes.”

“...”

Kang-Woo was saying it as if it wasn’t much but Yeon-Joo could tell the process wasn’t as simple as he was making it out to be. Yeon-Joo sighed softly and stood up to pat Kang-Woo’s head.

“What... are you doing?” Kang-Woo asked.

“I mean, a-ahem! Trying to c-comfort you... I guess?”

“If you wanna comfort me, do what Darling did.”

“Fuck off.”

“If you think it’ll have no effect because your chest is as flat as the prairies, I can assure you that won’t be the ca—”

Bash!

Yeon-Joo smashed him in the solar plexus; it hurt.

“Son of a bitch!!! You try to tease me every chance you get!!!”

“Hehehe. The mood was so somber, I couldn’t help it.”

Kang-Woo did not want to see his wives sad.

‘This is how Yeon-Joo should be.’

Kang-Woo yanked Yeon-Joo, who was punching him, by the waist and hugged her.

“Well... I did go through a lot over there.”

Looking back, none of his memories couldn’t be beautified into nostalgia.

“But look at me now. I couldn’t be happier.”

It was to the point that he thought all the suffering he had to go through had been the foundation for his current joy.

“So cheer up, everyone.”

His wives were always beautiful but were the most beautiful when they smiled. Yeon-Joo smirked and pulled Kang-Woo’s cheek.

“This son of a bitch turned smooth like butter after learning weird shit from Si-Hun.”

The crying Seol-Ah and Lilith also smiled.

“Right, here’s to another great day—”

“Just a moment, please,” Seol-Ah remarked as she pulled Kang-Woo back into bed as he was about to leave.

“What’s up, Darling?”

“You said you’re fine, but... I-I still want to comfort you.”

Seol-Ah smiled gently and laid Kang-Woo back on the bed. She caressed his forehead, still sweaty from the nightmare, and lay beside him.

“I want to stay with you like this... a little longer.”

“Sure.”

He couldn’t deny his loving Darling. Besides, he had nothing else to do.

“M-Me too,” Yeon-Joo remarked.

“My God.” Kang-Woo’s mouth was left agape as he looked back at Yeon-Joo, lying behind him and hugging his arm. “You’re making me cry.”

‘I never stop... crying.’

***

The sun set as Kang-Woo was being “comforted” by his wives; they had lost an entire day. He felt sentimental for some reason, so he left his sleeping wives behind and went up to his apartment building rooftop.

Whoosh!

He could feel the cool night sea breeze when he arrived at the rooftop.

“Haaa,” he sighed as he leaned forward with his arms on the rails.

Kang-Woo could see a beautiful nightscape as he looked down.

“Fel, Firean,” he called the names he had buried deep in his memory.

He was embarrassed to say this after all the comforting his wives had done for him after seeing his past, but he didn’t feel anything particular for them anymore.

‘Because so much happened even after that.’

Kang-Woo had gone through far too much tragedy to treat only their tragic deaths as special. The despair he had felt at the time paled in comparison to everything else after that.

“It’s been a while...”

He had not felt this way in a while since returning to Earth. An unshakable displeasure was stuck in his heart.

‘It’s meaningless.’

Kang-Woo had no intention to deny his tragedies. He did not want to say bullshit like how those tragedies turned him into the man he was today, but they were indeed part of him.

‘Even so.’

Turning back the Halves’ unfair and wretched deaths was impossible. Nothing would change even if he remembered them; he would just feel like shit. Hence, he forgot— he did not tell a soul about them and stuffed the memories deep inside him.

“But...”

He ended up remembering them. The displeasure had taken root in his heart so strongly that he couldn’t brush it off as just a nightmare.

‘The bitterness.’

He recalled the taste of the bloodlight tea he never drank again after what happened. He could only describe the feeling as blood from a wound inside his mouth touching his tongue; it didn’t feel good no matter how he tried to sugarcoat it.

“I guess I have no choice.”

He couldn’t look forward to the next day while carrying such unpleasant and disgusting emotions. He needed to empty unnecessary thoughts somehow.

Riiing!

[Are you planning on meditating?]

[【・ヘ・?】]

A blue message window appeared in the air with a chime.

“Nope,” Kang-Woo shook his head.

Meditating to eliminate the disgusting emotions was meaningless.

[Then what will you do?]

Kang-Woo smirked. He took his arms off the railing and spread them out wide. The cool sea breeze blew back his hair.

Feeling more refreshed than ever, he replied, “A requiem.”

It was the act of comforting the dead and putting them to rest.

“Simply put, a

jesa

[1].”

For Fel and Firean, the two Halves who had to die unfairly and wretchedly— no, for all the Halves he had spent the three years with.

[A...

jesa

?]

[(⊙_⊙)?]

Eve sent a wide-eyed emoticon, not having expected that answer at all.

“Yeah.”

Kang-Woo had spent ten millennia in Hell but was fundamentally a Korean. The Korean Confucianist blood in his veins was screaming desperately at him to comfort the unfairly killed Halves. He had no intention of denying his soul’s pleas.

He said in a low tone, “Starting now— we will prepare for a

jesa

.”

Of course, he was not talking to Eve since she couldn’t help him prepare a

jesa

. He was simply saying it to himself— a form of vow.

‘I’ll need a helping hand first.’

He couldn’t hold a

jesa

alone; he needed someone to help him throughout the preparation and the service.

“Alright.”

Since Kang-Woo had made his decision, he couldn’t afford to dilly-dally. He opened the rooftop door and headed down— not to his suite on the top floor but to the very bottom where the large training room was and Balrog’s residence.

“Hm? What brings you here so late at night, my king?”

Balrog was watching TV on his custom-made giant couch. Kurosaki Yurie was using his lap as a pillow.

“Balrog, I need to discuss something with you.”

“Just a moment, please.” Balrog lifted Yurie from his lap and asked, “Could you give us a moment?”

“Of course, my beloved. Please let me know once you are done.”

Yurie bowed courteously and went to another room.

“Balrog, you remember Fel and Firean, right?” Kang-Woo asked.

“Oh... you are referring to the Halves you were close to. Yes, of course, I remember.”

Balrog nodded; he had to think for a little since it had been a while since he heard those names.

“I’m going to hold a

jesa

for them.”

“A

jesa

? What is that?”

“A ritual for comforting souls.”

“I see.” Balrog nodded as his eyes shone. “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Of course.” Kang-Woo nodded.

“Then please allow me to help.” Balrog smiled and nodded back.

With that, a

jesa

for the unfairly slaughtered Halves began.

1. Jesa is a Korean ceremony held as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants, usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor’s death. ☜