27 – VCR

I was stealing glances at Seo-joo and enjoying a nice lunch of coffee and steamed buns when a bolt from the blue struck. Some crazy bastard, covered in blood, came charging toward me.

I had noticed something strange the moment I sat down in the convenience store. What is that? Why is someone I’ve never seen before running toward me? I was supposed to stay quiet so Joo Min-hyeok wouldn’t catch me being out, and then head back in—so what is that weird thing running this way? To make matters worse, Joo Min-hyeok called me again.

Grand Imperial Concubine, have you had lunch?

“Yes, I ate early. I’m drinking coffee right now… huh?”

Hey, what’s with him? I had a sinister feeling that the destination of that strange person was me. And my sinister feelings were always right. Is he really coming for me? He is, isn’t he? I flinched and grabbed Hyun-wook’s arm.

Before I could even widen my eyes to look, Hyun-wook had already taken a defensive stance and blocked my path, his face full of tension. Shielding me, Hyun-wook frowned sharply and stared straight ahead. Wait, what is that red stuff on that person’s face and hands?

While I was momentarily distracted by the man charging so fiercely that I couldn’t properly answer Joo Min-hyeok’s question, the man swiftly slipped behind Hyun-wook and grabbed me in a tight embrace. My god, he was so strong that I thought my neck was going to snap the moment he lunged at me.

“Agh! It hurts!”

“User!”

What? What’s wrong? What’s happening!

I could hear Joo Min-hyeok shouting, but that wasn’t the problem right now. W-what is this? Is this blood? Blood wasn’t flowing from the man’s face; rather, the blood that had been flowing had stopped and dried.

The piercing glint in his eyes made me instinctively recoil. The dried blood was macabre enough, but his eyes were smiling like a madman. But where is he touching?

“I said it hurts, aaagh! Where are you groping! Ack!”

Palms as dried with blood as his face slid across my back and waist. Goosebumps erupted at the touch of this crazy brat, and I screamed like a lunatic. Stop touching me!

What? Groping? He groped you?

“Stop touching me!”

Ignoring my screams to stop, his hands continued to stroke my back wildly. I stamped my feet and clung to Hyun-wook. No matter how hard Hyun-wook tried to tear him away from me, he only clung tighter, entwining me without a single gap.

“If you don’t get away from the User right now, I’ll actually kill you!”

“Hey! It really hurts! Get off! Who the hell are you!”

The rough shouts erupting from Hyun-wook and my screams mixed together, and with Joo Min-hyeok’s voice blasting through the phone—which I had forgotten about—it became a total chaotic mess. In the midst of all this, the mental fortitude of this human who was calmly holding me…

Cha Hae-joo! What’s wrong with you! Tell me what’s happening!

I felt like I was going crazy because I couldn’t shake him off; he was stuck to me like a giant snake wrapping around its prey. Setting aside the groping, I felt like my bones were about to break. I had no idea why he was so strong or why he was clinging to me with such feeling.

The sound of Joo Min-hyeok screaming continued to come from the phone, and I felt a sudden urge to just turn it off. If this guy doesn’t let go, Joo Min-hyeok is going to go ballistic and might actually kill our Hyun-wook.

“Grand Imperial Concubine User! Wow, we finally met! I broke through that window to get out! I’ve been wandering around to find you!”

What, Grand Imperial Concubine User? He knows me?

He called me exactly that: Grand Imperial Concubine User. I froze at the title and stopped struggling to get away. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead and back. He shouldn’t have been able to recognize me so instantly just from the photos leaked at the beach. I leaned my face closer to examine him more carefully.

“…It’s embarrassing when you look at me like that.”

Shut up. Don’t be embarrassed while covered in blood. I can’t even recognize you with your face like that. But his voice… I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere? Anyway, how did he wander the streets with that much blood? That means he must be wounded somewhere, right?

“First, let go of me and stop touching my back and stomach!”

What!

Gasp, is Joo Min-hyeok still on the line? I couldn’t stand the unpleasant sensation of the hands on my body any longer and ended up screaming. But it was strange. When Joo Min-hyeok touched me last time, it didn’t feel bad, but perhaps because this man is also an Omega, I got full-body goosebumps and wanted him off me immediately. Yet, this man’s reaction was utterly absurd.

“Why?”

‘Why?’ What do you mean ‘why’? In this situation, isn’t ‘Yes, I’m sorry’ the normal response? Not missing the opportunity, Hyun-wook used force to tear him away and pulled me behind his back. Phew, I’m exhausted.

“It’s not ‘why,’ it’s ‘I’m sorry.’ Why on earth are you touching a stranger like that?”

“Because I wanted to touch you.”

…?

“I kept wanting to see the Grand Imperial Concubine User, and seeing you again, I wanted to touch you. So I just touched you for a bit… We have to eat ice cream together again. I wandered around for a long time at that hour, but I couldn’t find you. Not at all.”

Ice cream? If it’s ice cream…

You crazy brat, Han Hee-sung, just know that I’ll kill you the moment I get to Korea! How dare you, a concubine of the Emperor…

Han Hee-sung? What? Han Hee-sung? The name coming from Joo Min-hyeok’s mouth over the phone was shocking enough, but something even more shocking happened next. Han Hee-sung reached out to my phone, which was rolling around on the parasol table, and hung up on Joo Min-hyeok.

“Grand Imperial Concubine User, may I enter my number? Let’s exchange numbers. My father locked me in my room, but it was worth breaking the window to get out. I’m truly so happy to meet you.”

“…You’re Han Hee-sung?”

Yeonghwa Palace? I blinked in utter bewilderment and stared at his face. Those long, monolid eyes. That straight bridge of the nose. My god. It really is the Yeonghwa Palace Lord, Han Hee-sung. The Yeonghwa Palace Lord is happy to meet me? What on earth is this situation?

“Then the person who ate ice cream with me back then was…”

“It was me, it was me. Palace Lord User. I missed you.”

Even if he tried to make a shy expression with a face full of blood scabs, it only looked creepy. Don’t be shy with that face. Sigh, looking at his behavior, he’s no ordinary personality. First, I need to take him somewhere and do something about this face and those hands.

I intended to take Han Hee-sung to a nearby pharmacy to treat his condition and hear how all this happened. However, my plan could not be executed. A group of men appeared from the direction of the palace. Black suits with the Imperial Official mark.

They were Joo Min-hyeok’s imperial guards. It seemed Joo Min-hyeok had contacted them. After surrounding us, they bowed quietly to me and approached Han Hee-sung.

“Please come with us. There has been an order from His Majesty the Emperor. The order was to separate you from the Palace Lord immediately and escort you back to your residence. He ordered that you be placed under house arrest until further notice.”

“House arrest?”

The man delivering the message nodded at my question. Joo Min-hyeok is pissed. Did I scream and make too much of a fuss? I felt a bit sorry for Han Hee-sung, who remained silent.

Seeing as he broke a window to get out, it seems he was locked up even before he left. Worried that they might be rough while taking him away, I made a request.

“His expression was just excessive; I think he simply wanted to see me. So please do not treat him roughly. Escort him safely to his residence.”

“Yes. We will keep that in mind, Grand Imperial Concubine User.”

“…I don’t want to go. I wanted to meet you. I couldn’t go to the Imperial Palace, and I couldn’t see the User on the street, so I did that. I know I was rude. I’m sorry. So…”

Ha, why is he looking at me with those eyes and calling me with such a desperate voice? What possible reason could he have to be like this toward me? We were rivals. The Yeonghwa Palace Lord, who wanted to kick me out and take my place, is looking at me so sorrowfully. What kind of deficiency does he have that he’s like this to someone who just exchanged a few words with him in passing?

“Just go back for now. I am a concubine of the Emperor, and it’s true that you went too far today.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s exchange numbers. I’ll give you mine.”

“Really?”

“Palace Lord User! You can’t! If His Majesty finds out…”

Hyun-wook tried to stop me, horrified. I know. With his personality, he’ll go ballistic again. But right now, I was more curious about why this guy, Han Hee-sung, the Yeonghwa Palace Lord, was acting like this toward me. To find that out, I need his number.

What he’s thinking, what emotions he’s feeling as he approaches me. And in such a crazy state. I absolutely must find out the truth. I looked complexly at the back of the Yeonghwa Palace Lord, who kept turning his head to look at me as if he were missing something.

∗   ∗   ∗

Ugh. What is this. Why is my body so heavy? Am I having sleep paralysis because of all the nonsense I dealt with all day? Today was so exhausting with such shocking events that I almost forgot I met Seo-joo. I barely fell asleep at dawn, but I woke up to a heaviness pressing down on my body.

Huh? What is this now? Do ghosts grope bodies these days? Why is everyone so obsessed with touching my body? I snapped my eyes open, startled by a warm touch felt beneath my pajamas. Since the hand was warm, it didn’t seem to be a ghost.

The hand didn’t stop; it touched my stomach and waist firmly, as if kneading dough. W-what is this… He wasn’t touching me carefully; he was touching me with complete confidence.

“…You’re awake now? I came a while ago, and you’re only just opening your eyes?”

“Your Majesty?”

Joo Min-hyeok? I don’t know when he arrived, but Joo Min-hyeok was kneading my body with a very confident and brazen face.

“Where from where did that psycho touch you? Huh? Where did that son of a bitch Han Hee-sung touch the Palace Lord? Tell me quickly. I felt like I was going crazy the whole way here.”

Joo Min-hyeok buried his nose in the crook of my neck and took a deep breath. Gasp, soy-marinated crab again? Anyway, it’s strange that even this perverted side of him looks handsome. When Han Hee-sung touched me during the day, I hated it so much I got goosebumps, but now it wasn’t like that at all.

Far from hating it, I wanted to feel it a bit more. Perhaps that’s why the fox hiding inside me has reappeared. Judging by the nonsense spilling out of my mouth.

“……Up to here?”

I grabbed Joo Min-hyeok’s hand and guided it up to a place Han Hee-sung hadn’t even touched.