Chapter 109 – GOY 109

#109

Joo ​Seung-hyuk’s ​voice, ​repeating ​his ​apologies ​while tightly holding ​my ​hand, ​continued ​to ​linger in my ears. ​Even ​though several months ​had already passed, ​it ​felt ​as ​vivid ​as ​if it had ​happened ​yesterday. ​It must be ​because the fact that ​I was ​hurt had ​left such ​a deep ​mark ​on ​his heart.

‘Wouldn’t it ​be okay ​just as it is? ​Is there a need ​to leave, even if ​it means ​hurting ​Joo Seung-hyuk?’

The image of Joo Seung-hyuk ​checking my body, completely ​disregarding ​his ​own ​injuries, ​kept flashing before ​my eyes.

‘You ​idiot, ​do you plan ​on ​spending your whole life trapped ​in a ​place ​where you don’t ​even ​know ​which ​country ​it is? ​Do ​you not ​know how terrifying Joo Seung-hyuk is? Can ​you even handle ​him?’

My reason screamed ​violently. However, my heart ​kept whispering ​the opposite. It ​tempted ​me, asking if ​I couldn’t just ​stay by ​his ​side, trying ​to ​pull me ​deeper ​into Joo ​Seung-hyuk’s ​swamp.

I ​didn’t sleep with ​him ​today. Therefore, ​my ​thoughts ​weren’t ​clouded by pleasure. And yet, these foolish thoughts kept occurring.

‘Get a grip, Lee Yeon-soo.’

I sat down at the desk without thinking. Then, I looked at the books on the bookshelf. Many of them were the same ones I had when I was confined in the basement. It seemed he had brought the books [unauthorized copy]along when we [Read on Read BL Novels]took the plane. Among the books packed tightly on the shelves, one particularly large children’s storybook caught my eye.

I pulled it from the shelf.

‘The Prince of the Forest’

Why did Joo Seung-hyuk choose this book? When I was in the basement, I couldn’t bring myself to open it out of fear. It was the same now. I felt as though this book contained Joo Seung-hyuk’s true feelings that he hadn’t been able to voice. And I was afraid of knowing them.

Why on earth was I like this? What was I so afraid of?

In my confusion, I stroked the cover of the book. The illustration of the prince in the forest with a small crow perched on his shoulder was so cute that it hardly seemed like a book Joo Seung-hyuk would have chosen.

However, seeing as it was the first book he gave me when I was confined in the basement and that he had brought it all the way abroad, it must have a special meaning.

After hesitating, I opened the book.

‘Once upon a time, in a certain kingdom, there lived a prince who never smiled.’

The story began with an illustration of the expressionless prince.

The prince had never smiled once since birth. No matter how hard the king and queen tried, it was useless. Eventually, the prince was framed as Read on Read BL Novelsa cursed visit our sitechild stolen contentand banished from the royal palace. It was a lie, but no one believed him. The people who had praised his beautiful appearance and whispered their love for him every day turned on him in an instant and tried to kill him.

Amidst the betrayal of everyone, only the crow the prince had raised stayed by his side.

The prince and the crow fled and fled again to avoid people, eventually arriving at a black forest.

The crow hoped the prince would be cleared of the false accusations.

‘If the Prince smiles, everyone will know the curse is a lie!’

The crow worked hard to make the prince smile. He brought gold and jewels and granted whatever the prince desired. But the prince did not smile. The crow resented himself for being unable to bring a smile to the prince’s face.

Then one day, while the prince was fast asleep in a beautiful flower garden, a large bear attacked him. The crow threw himself forward to protect the prince.

In the end, the crow drove the bear away. He had lured the large bear and caused it to fall off a cliff. However, the crow was also severely injured and eventually fell, unable to return to the prince’s arms.

Waking up, the prince looked around. The crow, who had always been by his side, was nowhere to be seen.

The prince set out to find the crow.

After a long time, he arrived at the place where the crow had fallen. The crow wanted to call out to Read on Read BL Novelsthe prince, but he had lost so much strength [visit our site]stolen contentthat he couldn’t even make a small cry.

But then, a light appeared ahead. The prince, forgetting the crow, was captivated by the bright light and ran toward it frantically.

There stood a beautiful boy.

The moment the prince saw the boy, he wore a bright smile for the first time in his life.

The prince had always been empty. Even if he possessed everything in the world, a part of his heart felt hollow. But the moment he met the boy, the prince realized. He realized that this boy was the destiny he had been searching for all along.

“I love you.”

The prince confessed his love to the boy. The boy smiled softly, and the two held hands and left the black forest together.

And the crow watched his departing back.

‘The Prince smiled.’

The crow closed his eyes with a smile.

The storybook ended with the final image of the prince and the boy smiling brightly at each other.

What on earth is this story about? I was beyond speechless; I was actually angry.

Throughout the book, I had been rooting for the crow.

The crow loved the prince and devoted himself unilaterally. But the prince never once smiled at him. He even forgot the existence of the only one who had stayed by his side and left the moment he met his destined partner.

Why did Joo Seung-hyuk want to show me this book? What meaning does it have?

I thought there would be a message from Joo Seung-hyuk to me in this storybook. But after actually reading it, I was only confused.

Perhaps it meant nothing at all. Maybe Joo Seung-hyuk simply enjoyed it or bought it because the illustrations were pretty.

Come to think of it, the movie I watched with him had a similar plot.

The protagonist of the movie abandoned his long-term lover and left the moment his destined partner appeared. Just like the prince in this story.

Could it be that Joo Seung-hyuk longs for a ‘destined partner’? That might be why he is drawn to these kinds of stories.

Alphas are attracted to Omega pheromones. Joo Seung-hyuk says now [unauthorized copy]that traits don’t matter, but things might change if [Read on Read BL Novels]he actually meets a destined partner. If that happens, he’ll be disappointed in me for not being able to feel pheromones, or he’ll grow tired of me quickly.

And if Joo Seung-hyuk says he’s leaving, I’ll have no choice but to accept it. Just as when my aunt abandoned me in the past, there was nothing I could do.

Because if I refused the breakup and clung to him pesteringly, I would meet a gruesome end, just like the Lee Yeon-soo in the original novel….

I hate that. Being abandoned without even being able to tell them not to go—once was enough.

Joo Seung-hyuk was obsessed with me. He burned with an obsession and possessiveness strong enough to reject an arranged marriage with Lexington Pharmaceuticals. Yet, while he granted everything I wanted, he had never once told me he loved me.

It’s probably because he cannot feel the emotion called ‘love.’

Love changes. Even vows of eternal love break hollowly; how long would obsession and possessiveness last?

Joo Seung-hyuk has been obsessed with me for seven years. Back then, our matching rate was low. So it wasn’t that he fell for the Guiding. He fell for me for no reason. This meant that Joo Seung-hyuk could just as easily fall for someone else for no reason.

“I’ve met my destined partner. Let’s break up.”

I imagined Joo Seung-hyuk notifying me of a breakup. It was the moment I would escape the obsessive yandere and find freedom, yet strangely, I felt my breath hitch.

Even if that situation came, I couldn’t ask how he could do this, or beg for one more chance, or demand if everything he told unauthorized copyme was a lie. Thinking of my own position—unable to say a word, unable to [visit our site]even stolen contentgrab the hem of Joo Seung-hyuk’s clothes, forced to accept the breakup—tears suddenly surged up.

‘Why are you crying? It would be a good thing if Joo Seung-hyuk left.’

It was clearly a good thing, yet I felt my fingertips grow cold just thinking about it as I stood up from my seat.

I blindly opened the curtains and pressed my hand against the glass window.

I’m scared. I was so scared that my stomach churned. What on earth am I so afraid of? Is it because the memory of being abandoned by my aunt in my past life is still so vivid? Am I this afraid because those memories are resurfacing?

I want to leave right now. If I leave this place, this strange sense of dread will disappear. I won’t have stupid, foolish thoughts about it being okay to stay like this.

I want to leave. No, I must leave before I become any stranger. I must escape from Joo Seung-hyuk.

‘I’m leaving. I will definitely escape from this room. I will get away from Joo Seung-hyuk.’

I repeated the same sentence in my mind over and over, as if making a vow to myself.

Once I decided to leave Joo Seung-hyuk, the fear that had been tightening around my heart gradually faded.

“What are you doing?”

Before I knew it, Joo Seung-hyuk had entered the room and hugged me from behind.

“…I was looking at the sea.”

Suppressing my confused emotions, I spoke in a voice as calm as possible. Now that I had decided to leave, I must never let this feeling be discovered.

“Do you like the sea?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty. Like you.”

I gave a casual answer. But it wasn’t a lie. Joo Seung-hyuk was the most beautiful person I had ever met.

I thought I had played it off naturally, but his expression didn’t soften. Joo Seung-hyuk stared intently at my face.

“Did you cry?”

“No. I just read a book and it was sad.”

Joo Seung-hyuk glanced at ‘The Prince of the Forest’ lying on the desk.

“Was it sad?”

“Yeah. A little…. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I read a book, it made me more emotional….”

“Eat this and cheer up.”

He handed me a bag of snacks. They were the shrimp rolls and chocolate rings I had mentioned during the meal.

“Thanks.”

Seeing how quickly he obtained Korean snacks, is this really a Koreatown? If so, there might be people who recognize my face.

If this is a Koreatown, escaping will be much easier. As long as I can get out of the villa, I can ask people for help….

But I mustn’t rush. Running away blindly, like Kim Joon in the original, was also forbidden. Instead, I had to be thoroughly obedient to Joo Seung-hyuk to put him at ease. Only then could I escape from him.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, let’s eat together.”

I gave a gentle smile, as if the thought of escaping unauthorized copyhadn’t even crossed [stolen content]my mind. But suddenly, Joo Seung-hyuk grabbed my wrist.

“…….”

What is it? Did he perhaps notice my thoughts? My blood ran cold.