Side Story Chapter 192 - Epilogue

Thump, thump, thump.

A knife pleasantly hit the cutting board.

“Hm, hm, hm~♬”

The sound ranges of the hums were wretchedly all over the place. The woman’s butt and breasts shook to the rhythm— no, using a wholesome word like

shook

to describe it was disrespectful.

“Seol-Ah, you’re a terrible singer as always.”

A woman with red hair reaching her hips in a ponytail sighed deeply.

“Wh-What?!”

Han Seol-Ah reddened after being truth-bombed and turned around to glare at Cha Yeon-Joo.

“...” Yeon-Joo stared at Seol-Ah with deeply sunken eyes. Her lips quivered as she wondered whether to say what was on her mind and then asked cautiously, “Are you... okay?”

“...”

Silence fell in the house.

“Are you sure... you’re okay now?” Yeon-Joo asked tremblingly.

Seol-Ah slowly put down the kitchen knife.

“Yeah...” She smiled so faintly that it felt like it would be erased at a moment’s notice. “I’m... fine now.”

Seol-Ah had lost her way for some time— no, a very long time— but she was fine now. She decided to think it would all work out somehow and they would be met with a brighter future. If she did not...

“...”

She wouldn’t be able to hold out.

“Sheesh,” Yeon-Joo sighed. “Where the hell is that son of a bitch when you need him...?”

“Yeon-Joo...”

“I know! I know, goddammit!” Yeon-Joo shouted in irritation. The tumbler containing iced coffee in her hand was crushed. “I know... it couldn’t be helped.”

She swept her hair back and frowned. She couldn’t accept it but she had no choice but to understand it.

Wham!

“Seol-Ah! Are you finished getting ready?!”

A black-haired girl swung open her door and ran out of her room. No, she couldn’t be called a girl anymore. Echidna had grown so much over two years and now exuded the aura of a university freshman.

“N-No, I have to finish making breakfast...”

“Hm! Now isn’t the time for that!! Come to my room right now! We only have six hours!”

Echidna pulled Seol-Ah by her hand with unbelievable force, dragging Seol-Ah away.

“O-Okay! Okay, so...!”

Yeon-Joo clicked her tongue as she wiped the coffee she had spilled from her crushed tumbler.

“Looks like we’re skipping breakfast today...”

Click.

The front door opened and a black-haired woman entered. Her every step exuded a seductive aura even when walking normally.

“Oh, welcome back, unnie.”

“Thanks. Where’s Seol-Ah?”

“Echidna just dragged her away.”

“Hohoho. Is that so?” Lilith giggled as if she had expected it.

“What about you, unnie? Where have you been?”

“Mm. I went to see the skeleton.”

“Vaal Zahak?” Yeon-Joo asked. It had been a while since she heard or used that name. “What has he been doing all this time? I haven’t seen him at all.”

Vaal Zahak had not left his home for quite some time. He was absent even before the battle against Akart.

“Hmm... just work. No, I guess I should call it surgery,” Lilith answered.

“What are you talking about?”

Lilith placed her index finger on her bottom lip and explained, “Halcyon should come out of hibernation soon, so he’s been preparing for the surgery to match that time frame.”

“Surgery? What surgery?”

“Well, a removal surgery.”

“Eh? Removal? Remove what?”

Lilith approached the confused Yeon-Joo and whispered in her ear.

“Oh...” Yeon-Joo expressed and grabbed her forehead as she exhaled. “I see, okay. Sure. Tell him I hope it goes well.”

She had nothing else to say on that topic.

“Hohoho. Her soul has already chosen to become a woman, so it shouldn’t be difficult,” Lilith added.

“...” Yeon-Joo leaned on her chair in silence, expressing sorrow. “Though I wonder... if there’s even a point going through it now.”

“...” Lilith’s expression slightly hardened but only for a moment. She smiled again and continued in her usual seductive voice, “I wonder about that... you never know, right?”

“I guess so...” Yeon-Joo nodded and sat back up. “More importantly, when are we heading out?”

“We have six hours but since there are some things to prepare, around noon?”

“Hmm. Looks like we have four hours to waste. Get some rest, unnie. You’ve been busy all the time lately.”

“Oh? Are you worried about me~?”

Lilith smiled widely and hugged Yeon-Joo, her pale hands digging under Yeon-Joo’s clothes. Yeon-Joo flinched aggressively and sprang up from the chair.

“God, unnie!”

“Hohoho. I love touching your supple skin~”

“Argh! Whatever! I’m gonna be in my room!”

“Oh? Are you leaving your unnie all alone?” asked Lilith as she pretended to sob.

“I don’t care!” Yeon-Joo shouted and turned around.

However, she did not head to her room but the largest room in their home.

Clack.

She opened the door and was met with cold air.

“...”

Yeon-Joo froze as she stared at the empty room. Her shoulders subtly trembled and her lip she was biting reddened. She walked to the bed, so big that ten people could easily sleep on it, and sat on it. She ran her hand along the bedsheet— it was cold. It was only natural since no one had slept on this bed last night.

“Idiot...” she muttered as she clenched her fists. “ARGH!”

Yeon-Joo shook her head in frustration. Seol-Ah was far more pained than her but had said she was okay. She probably wasn’t fine at all but had said she was fine

now

.

“Haaa...” Yeon-Joo sighed softly and got up from the bed.

There were four hours left until they needed to head out.

Yeon-Joo shouted at Lilith curled up on the couch,“Unnie, stop being so sad over there, and let’s go out to get some breakfast!”

***

Seol-Ah, after changing, headed to the meeting place around noon with the other women. They had decided to meet inside a small Gate— a forest that used to be inhabited by Goblins but not a single one in sight.

“Oh... Y-You’re all early,” said Seol-Ah in confusion after arriving.

Four people were already in the open area formed by uprooting all the trees. They were Layla, Kim Si-Hun, Balrog, and Kurosaki Yurie.

“Hoho. It’s an important day, after all.”

“But we still have two hours left...”

“Well, I suppose we can chat until then.”

Layla shrugged with a smile. Si-Hun approached Seol-Ah and handed her a box the size of a watermelon.

“What’s this...?” Seol-Ah asked.

Si-Hun scratched his head awkwardly and answered, “The latest air fryer. Umm... I’ve heard it is all the rage lately, so Layla and I decided on it after much thought.”

Seol-Ah smiled and accepted the box. “Thank you very much, Si-Hun.”

“Not at all. I was worried it would be... insufficient.”

“Of course not. We were thinking of replacing the one we had at home anyway.”

Seol-Ah softly giggled.

“Ahem! I prepared this place instead of a gift!” Balrog pounded his chest as he coughed excessively.

He seemed to have been the one who uprooted all the trees in the area to make the open space.

Seol-Ah smiled. “Fufu. Thank you, Balrog.”

However, an unconcealable hint of sorrow was still visible even on her angelic smile. There was no way she was okay.

“...”

“...”

Silence fell after short greetings. The air was far too awkward to spend the time chatting.

Layla attempted to break the silence, “Seol-Ah, umm...”

“It’s already been ten years,” Seol-Ah interjected. “This is the place where I first met Kang-Woo.”

“...”

“Fufu. It honestly feels more like a century than a decade.”

Countless things, whether joyful, sorrowful, or even painful, happened in those ten years. Regardless it did not change the fact that one man she had met ten years ago changed her life completely.

“Kang-Woo...” called Seol-Ah as she looked at the blue sky.

He was the man who had changed her life— the man who was sometimes flippant, prudent, evil, kind, childish, and excessively mature.

“I love you.”

She knew Kang-Woo couldn’t hear her, but whispered her love to him anyway.

“I... love you.”

She could only pray for her voice to reach him.

— FIN —

“Wait a second, Darling.”

CRACK—!!!

A black Rift formed in the sky. A man with upturned eyes jumped out of it and landed softly on the ground. He tidied his slightly disheveled tuxedo and walked toward Seol-Ah, wearing an angelic white wedding dress.

“You’re making it sound like I’m dead or something.”

Kang-Woo chuckled and shook his head.

“Ah...”

Seol-Ah’s shoulders trembled, wide-eyed.

“OH KANG-WOO, YOU MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!”

Boom!

After noticing he was wearing a tuxedo, Yeon-Joo raced across the field and bit her lip as she punched Kang-Woo on the solar plexus.

Bash—!

“KURGH!!”

Kang-Woo flew backward, his back bent forward.

“You scumbag!!! What kind of groom abandons his bride the day before their wedding?!!” Yeon-Joo shouted, frowning like a Yaksha. “Do you have any idea what Seol-Ah was going through?! Huh?!! She was worried sick, you bastard!”

“The hell?” Kang-Woo clenched his stomach with a frustrated expression. “What the hell was I supposed to do?! A Rift happened to open yesterday of all days!!”

A new Rift had opened yesterday after no occurrences for months. Because of that, Kang-Woo had to scrap his plan to spend a hot night with Seol-Ah before their wedding and ran with all his might to the Rift to close it.

“Even still!!” Yeon-Joo shouted.

“Fuck! I wanted to leave it for later too!!”

However, the size of the Rift this time was too large to leave unattended.

Riiing!

[You’re a sinful man, Sir Guardian Deity~!]

[꒰( ˵¯͒ꇴ¯͒˵ )꒱]

“Shut up. You’re the one who told me about it.”

[Because no one else but you in this universe can close a Rift!]

[(~˘▾˘)~ ]

“Fucking bitch.” Kang-Woo grabbed the back of his head in rage. He calmed his breathing and turned around. “Fuuu. Anyway, I’m not late, am I?”

The wedding was scheduled for 2 PM; he still had thirty minutes to spare.

“Kang-Woo...!”

Seol-Ah ran toward him, her dress fluttering in the wind.

“Whoa, there. Your dress will wrinkle like that, Darling.”

“Haaa. I was... so worried.” Seol-Ah sucked Kang-Woo’s lips so hard that they might tear off and sighed deeply. “Did it... hurt a lot?”

“Huh? Nah, I don’t feel that much pain anymore just from closing a Rift,” said Kang-Woo leisurely as he shrugged.

He was not lying to reassure her; closing Rifts no longer caused him significant pain because the capacity of the Demonic Sea expanded exponentially after closing one Rift after another for the past two years.

“Hehe. I’m glad.”

Seol-Ah smiled and kissed Kang-Woo again. Kang-Woo smiled and grabbed her hand.

“Right, shall we get started?”

“Okay. After all, you have a wedding with Yeon-Joo tomorrow and Lilith unnie the day after that.”

They decided to have one wedding a day because his three lovers wanted their ceremony held in different places.

“Hmph. I can’t believe my wedding is last when I was second...”

“That’s because you wanted yours held in the Ninth Hell, unnie,” Yeon-Joo remarked.

“That’s because I wanted to hold it where I first met the king like Seol-Ah.”

“Man, then do I have to hold my wedding in a PC room?”

Yeon-Joo chuckled. FYI, she chose a regular getaway resort as her venue.

“Hm!! Next is me!! Me!!!” shouted Echidna as she raised her hand.

Lilith approached to calm her down. “Fufu. Why don’t you wait a little longer, Echidna?”

“Urgh... no fair, all of you. I’m all grown up now...”

“Hoho. But you’re not a mature dragon yet, right?”

“Ngh,” Echidna pouted.

Laughs and giggles filled the forest.

“Hmm... I’m getting a little jealous now that we’re here. Right, Si-Hun?” Layla asked.

“Let’s hold ours soon too.”

Si-Hun nodded and embraced Layla.

“Fufu. You’ll be wearing the dog ears at the wedding, right, my puppy~?”

“I-I told you not to call me that!! And I won’t!!”

Si-Hun stepped back in shock. Layla burst into laughter.

“Huhu. My king. When you hold the wedding at the Ninth Hell in two days, I believe it will be best for me and Yurie to—”

“No.”

“WHY?! WHY MUST YOU REFUSE OUR WEDDING?! WHY MUST YOU REFUSE YOUR LOYAL SERVANT BALROG’S BLAZING LOYALTY?!”

“BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE OBVIOUSLY GONNA HOLD THE WEDDING IN YOUR TRUE FORMS!!!”

“IT IS THE MOST PRECIOUS MOMENT OF YURIE’S LIFE!! IS IT NOT ONLY NATURAL?!”

“I DON’T WANNA SEE THAT FUCKING SHIT—!!!”

Kang-Woo shook his head furiously in disgust.

“Hoho. Calm down, my beloved,” Yurie calmed the fuming Balrog.

“Urgh...”

“Huuu.” Kang-Woo shook his head. “Sorry about that, Darling.”

“Hoho. It’s okay. Rather, I preferred it because it felt like usual.”

As Seol-Ah mentioned, days like this had been the norm for the past few months as they discussed wedding plans.

“Well, then...” slurred Kang-Wo as he stretched his hand toward Seol-Ah.

Seol-Ah grabbed his hand and they walked along the red carpet.

Just then, Kang-Woo whispered so quietly that not even Seol-Ah next to him heard, “Were you surprised?”

He was staring at the black Rift in the sky. He could be staring at Akart or possibly someone else.

“Didn’t I tell you?” He shrugged and smiled. “A happy ending fits this story the best.”

— FIN —