At the languid voice ringing in her ear, Ga-eul belatedly came to her senses and jumped.

“Ah, aaaa, no…! When I said not to ask permission, I didn’t mean this…!”

“I love you.”

Touch. Once again his lips touched Ga-eul’s and pulled away.

“…!”

Ga-eul’s face turned as red as it could possibly get.

Niel, finding her utterly adorable, whispered once more in a voice that couldn’t bear it.

“I love you, Ga-eul.”

At that ticklish confession, Ga-eul ended up burying her face deep in his embrace.

***

“Wow, what a real piece of trash.”

Niel, who was bringing a steaming cup of cocoa, looked up at the sound.

Ga-eul was sitting in front of the TV, completely absorbed and cursing at the male actor in the drama.

“What’s the story about?”

Niel approached her and handed her the mug as he asked.

Ga-eul grumbled as she explained the drama’s plot.

“Look at him, oppa. He’s breaking off the engagement because he found another woman.”

Pause.

For a moment, Niel’s eyes stiffened.

“No matter what the circumstances, how can someone who claims to love hurt with such words? If there’s a truly unavoidable situation, he should honestly explain everything. Isn’t that real love?”

“…”

Sipping her cocoa while keeping her eyes fixed on the TV, Ga-eul sensed something strange about Niel’s reaction and turned her head.

Discovering his pale face, Ga-eul blinked.

“Oppa? What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Niel quickly gathered his emotions and smiled brightly.

Tilting her head at his unusual response, Ga-eul soon narrowed her eyes and asked:

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to cheat like that guy?”

It was a deliberately mischievous question, even though she knew he wouldn’t do that.

“On the day I confessed to you. I already told you then, Ga-eul.”

Niel chuckled and pulled her into his arms.

“That I’ll love only you for my entire life. Even if you say you don’t like me, even if you say you like another man, I’ll still love only you.”

“What’s this, so cheesy.”

At his heartfelt confession, Ga-eul burst into giggles and escaped from his embrace.

“I’m serious. You don’t believe me again, Kim Ga-eul.”

Niel ruffled her hair and smiled gently.

That day when he confessed that he liked her, loved her.

Niel sensed it.

That once he poured out these feelings, he could never take them back.

Even if someday she returned to being his fiancée from his memories, who disliked him. Even if she remembered this moment and cursed him or hit him. It couldn’t be helped.

Because it was she who had taught him that love doesn’t need permission.

That’s why Niel wanted to love her generously in every moment and pour out this enormous feeling.

“Ah, o-oppa.”

Ga-eul trembled as his hands burrowed under her T-shirt while nibbling her nape.

“Wait, I’m not yet… mmh…”

Niel lifted Ga-eul’s body and strode toward the bedroom.

As he devoured the lips of the surprised woman who clung to his neck with both arms, the sweet cocoa flavor spread throughout his mouth.

“Mmm, mm.”

Even in the midst of this, a restrained m*an leaked through her sealed lips as his hands moved without pause.

Does she know that this unintentional sound drives him crazy?

Click.

As the bedroom door closed, the TV sound she had been engrossed in faded away.

All that remained were the sounds of the mattress sinking, clothes rustling as they fell to the floor, and their intertwined heated breaths.

Niel’s eyes reddened with heat as he looked down at her writhing on the white sheets.

He never became immune to her face looking up at him with such an expression.

Burying his lips on her skin that he wanted to completely infuse with his scent, he whispered softly:

“I love you, Ga-eul.”

Her body, without a single part that wasn’t lovely, was so very sweet.

“I love you.”

Niel poured all his love into her and whispered endlessly.

I love you. I love you, Ga-eul. I love you, Jella. I, love you, you, Kim Ga-eul, love…

In the midst of the hot ecstasy, Ga-eul reached out with both hands.

She cupped his face and parted her lips.

“Me too.”

His head spun at her flushed face smiling broadly while catching her breath.

“I love you too. Oppa.”

Niel was helplessly drawn in by the weak strength of her arms pulling him.

Their sweat-soaked bodies interlocked slickly.

Unable to hold back, Niel embraced her tightly enough to crush her.

She burst into melodious laughter in his arms.

But even that clear laughter was soon swallowed again with hot breaths.

***

Niel quietly looked down at Ga-eul sleeping peacefully.

He carefully stroked her face, as she had fallen fast asleep right after washing up, perhaps from overexertion.

How can even your breathing sound be so lovely?

The time he spent with her gradually grew longer. And this meant that the time left with her was running short.

An urgency he had never felt in his life swelled inside him.

He had met Ga-eul here and spent many seasons together.

He knew that soon he would have to take Ga-eul to the world where Jella was waiting.

Ga-eul’s body would face death exactly 2 years and 7 months from now.

And he needed to match that moment when her soul separated from her body to take her healthy, uncorrupted body across to the other dimension.

Although Ga-eul would face death, Ga-eul’s soul would cross dimensions and be reborn as Jella’s body.

And he would cross over to a point twenty years later to give the resurrected Jella her second body.

So there was no need to be so grief-stricken about Ga-eul’s approaching death. Her death would soon become another birth…

‘But…’

Niel closed his eyes tightly and swallowed his anguish.

You will be reborn as the princess of Shunaibel and endure twenty years of lonely and intense days on your own.

Losing your parents at birth, being betrayed by your fiancé, being ignored by your friends, being pointed at by everyone… you’ll have to live such a life.

And yet, when I think of you sacrificing yourself by willingly becoming the villain for everyone’s sake and pursuing peace, my heart aches too much. Ga-eul…

If there was one consolation in the long and painful years she would experience, it was that there would be at least one person who would not leave her side until the end.

Niel thought of the silver knight who always guarded her side and smiled bitterly.

The man who eventually took her life in the final moment.

Thus, while Niel despised that man terribly, he felt ambivalent at the thought that Ga-eul’s afterlife would be a little less lonely because of him.

Niel gritted his teeth and lifted his eyelids. He could still see Ga-eul sleeping peacefully, unaware of anything.

When he brushed away the hair that had fallen over her forehead, Ga-eul made a small whimpering sound.

Niel chuckled and gazed down at her face quietly.

Ga-eul, when you meet me again after this… at that time, I might make you very lonely.

I might hurt you and turn away from you, even knowing you’re alone.

So, Ga-eul.

If you meet me in another life someday, don’t like me then.

Don’t even look at the incompetent fiancé who will hurt and isolate you; find someone who can be your support.

Sometimes I’ll suffer from my petty jealousy, but even so, I can’t bear to see you remaining alone and lonely. I absolutely cannot bear that.

So when you’re reborn, never like me.

***

“What exactly are we to each other?”

One day, Ga-eul asked abruptly.

What kind of relationship, she asks. Even while leaning against his chest right now.

Thinking it was one of her whims, Niel laughed softly and placated her.

“Why are you upset again, Ga-eul.”

But Ga-eul pushed him away and pouted.

“You’ve never once said what kind of relationship we have.”

“Huh…?”

“I won’t even talk to you until you properly tell me what we are to each other.”