Chapter 158: The Life We Choose Together

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even speak.

There were several reasons for that, but first of all, it was unbelievable that after preparing a confession for so long, he would say something like that while lying on a hospital bed, covered in wounds.

After an intense battle, collapsing from exhaustion, and then opening his eyes only to propose as his first words—seriously?

Ah, whatever.

That stuff didn’t even matter right now.

What mattered was that Jaeyul had asked me to marry him.

Not “let’s date,” not “I like you,” but marriage…?

Was that even right?

I wondered if he was just spouting nonsense because he was injured, so I asked again.

“M-marriage?”

“Yeah.

Marriage.”

Jaeyul sat up.

I forgot all about scolding him for moving when he wasn’t supposed to.

Looking at his face, it seemed like he was finally fully awake.

“At the moment when I thought I might actually lose to ‘X,’ I regretted it so badly.

Thinking that I’d die without even confessing, without having any kind of relationship with you, made me so bitter I couldn’t stand it.

That’s when I decided.

As soon as the battle was over, I’d confess.

Without weighing anything, without overthinking it.”

I looked over Jaeyul’s sorry state.

In the emergency, there hadn’t even been time to change his clothes, so his combat uniform had been shredded everywhere with scissors during treatment.

His thigh was wrapped tightly in bandages, and there were still bloodstains on the back of his hand that hadn’t been completely wiped away.

And the setting itself—

The stark white walls of a cramped hospital room, a cheap metal bed.

Steam kept puffing out of the humidifier meant to control the moisture in the air, constantly blurring my vision.

It wasn’t romantic by any stretch of the imagination.

None of this was something I’d ever dreamed of.

Not a single part of it suited a marriage proposal.

“…No.”

“Huh?

Y-you don’t want to…?”

“Yeah.

I don’t want to.”

But honestly, how he confessed didn’t really matter.

“We’re dating first, not getting married.

Do you have any idea how many romantic fantasies I have about dating?”

Just confirming that we liked each other was more than enough.

“Phew… you scared me.

Fine.

Let’s date first, then get married.”

So no matter what, it still ended with marriage, huh…?

Only after I gave a positive answer did a smile finally spread across Jaeyul’s face.

It really felt like I’d been properly trapped now.

Even when we were just brothers, he could be seriously possessive at times—so if we started dating and eventually got married, just how bad would it get?

Would I even be able to go out anymore?

This felt like my last chance to run away… though maybe it was already too late.

“…Fine.”

I slipped the ring Jaeyul had prepared onto my finger.

Given how I felt right now, even that seemed nice.

At forty years old, I was stepping onto a path I’d never once walked before.

From here on, my past life experience didn’t matter all that much anymore.

Because I now had something that Jin Sehyun, who had lived alone and unwillingly in loneliness back then, never had.

A life with someone who would never let go of my hand, someone who would stand absolutely on my side no matter what.

I had never lived that kind of life before.

Jaeyul was probably the same.

Unlike the countless Seon Jaeyuls who had destroyed the world hundreds, thousands of times, he had protected many people.

And from now on, he would walk a path that none of the other Seon Jaeyuls had ever walked.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Jaeyul and I were stepping onto an unfamiliar road, one without a single footprint on it yet.

Hand in hand.

“So… the other Seon Jaeyuls always ended up playing villains, right?

That’s why I told him to try being a hero for once?”

“Yeah…”

I was explaining to Jaeyul why I had decided to keep ‘X’ alive.

It had already been two days since we’d put ‘X’ inside Poppy’s stomach, and we couldn’t keep him trapped there forever, so we were discussing what to do next.

“Sounds like he was trying to screw me over properly.

Who the hell wants to play some cringey hero anyway—going through all that trouble.”

…I wanted to, though…?

I gave up after reality slapped me in the face because of ‘X,’ but still.

“Anyway, even knowing all that, I didn’t want to kill him.”

“He’s still a bad bastard, no matter what.

He killed countless people just to make me into some hero I never asked to be.

I’m not preaching that cheap kind of justice about how he deserves punishment, but I honestly don’t know if he’s worth saving.

Didn’t he even destroy an entire previous world?”

Wow… look at how cold he was.

This was a story about someone who looked exactly like him, and yet there wasn’t the slightest emotional change.

He was almost too objective.

“Anyway, I’m against killing him.

In the first place, it doesn’t seem like he came over here with bad intentions, right?

Like you said, everyone in the world would probably say ‘X’ deserves to die.

But at least you and I shouldn’t be the ones to say that.

He’s the one who sent you here on the day you were dying, and the one who chose to become the villain himself so you wouldn’t have to live as one like the other Seon Jaeyuls.”

Only after I finished speaking did I realize that everything I’d said was purely emotional.

By Jaeyul’s way of thinking, it probably made no sense at all.

And sure enough, he stared straight into my eyes.

“…Haa.

It’s not urgent, so let’s think about it over time.

It feels like time flows differently inside Poppy’s stomach, so he won’t die for a while.”

Thank goodness.

Jaeyul didn’t force his opinion and instead took a step back.

If we kept narrowing our differences like this, maybe ‘X’ would get a chance to live a different life too.

“Oh, right!

Just what is Poppy anyway?

What’s inside his stomach?

Honestly, Poppy’s scarier than the end of the world.”

“You only realized that now?

He only acts all innocent in front of you, hyung, but among monsters, he’s one of the strongest.

Just think of him as a regular mutt—no, a puppy—and your life will be easier.”

“Even so, why was he glued to ‘X’ all the time lately?”

“Hmm… no idea.

You can interrogate him later, hyung.”

“No.

Let’s just forget it.”

Let’s just think of Poppy as a puppy obsessed with meat.

Curiosity killed the cat, after all.

Poppy, completely oblivious to our conversation, was sprawled out by the sunny window with his belly up, sleeping soundly.

It looked like he twitched for a moment… but it must’ve been my imagination.

“Stop, stop!

The wallpaper’s slipping!”

“What?

I can’t hear you well, hyung!”

Oh, you sly bastard.

He’d only climbed a few rungs up the ladder—how could he not hear me yelling?

“This is bad.

If Jaeyul doesn’t hurry and finish the wallpaper, our house is never going to be ready for us to live in together.

Poppy, I guess we’ll have to live on the streets.”

I muttered loudly enough for Jaeyul to hear.

Honestly, I kind of knew why he was acting like this.

He was protesting.

“…Fine.

I’ll do it.

But why did you lie and drag me here?

How is this a date?”

I’d coaxed Jaeyul into coming out on a date this morning and brought him here.

Where was here?

The old house in the village where Jaeyul and I first met.

Strangely enough, this village had escaped serious damage despite ‘X’’s rampage.

Considering how hard it was to find decent buildings these days, even this rundown house was a blessing.

If we fixed it up properly, it seemed like it could become a pretty satisfying home, so I bought it right away.

I needed to soothe this sulking Jaeyul and put him to work already…

“Hey.

Your face is known all over the world—where exactly are we supposed to go on a date?

Do you want another crowd swarming us like last time, with you swinging Light Bombs around again?

And why isn’t this a date?

You know, those things… ah!

There are plenty of dates where people pay to do one-day classes like this together!”

Ugh.

The more I lied, the longer my explanations got.

What kind of crazy couple would go on a ruined-house renovation one-day-class date?

I doubted clever Jaeyul would buy this.

If we messed up the wallpaper after all the trouble of getting it, we’d be in real trouble.

“…Really?

People actually pay money to go on dates like this?”

“H-huh?

Y-yeah!

I mean… doing hard work together with someone you like turns into memories and all that!”

“Hm.

Then hold the bottom steady.

I’ll make sure to stick it perfectly.”

…Huh?

That worked?

Seems like he didn’t know much about dates either.

That naïve side of his was cute too, so whatever.

Now we could finally get some real work done.

“But hyung.

Are you sure this house will be okay?

The support office said they’d build us a new one in a good location.”

“It’s fine.

Favors like that always turn into debts you have to repay later.

It’s easier to deal with people honestly when you don’t owe them anything.

And… I kind of like this neighborhood.”

I used to think of this place as a crappy neighborhood I wanted to escape as soon as possible.

There were barely any proper facilities, and the narrow roads made it hard for cars to pass through.

No new shops opened, none closed—it was just boring.

There wasn’t a single good memory here, only sad and painful ones, so of course I couldn’t like it.

But now, this place meant something different.

The place where I started a satisfying second life.

The place where I met Jaeyul, more precious than anything.

The place where we brought in our third family member, Poppy.

I was grateful that this village, filled with our family’s memories, was still here.

“I like you too, hyung.”

From now on, this neighborhood would hold even more precious meaning, filled with countless unforgettable memories.

But what was Jaeyul saying just now?

Why did he suddenly say he liked me?

I looked up while holding the ladder.

The way he was looking down at me felt strange.

His gaze was heating up, like flames rising…

That look—

It was that look!

I instinctively scanned the floor first.

I had to check if it was safe, if there was anything that might hurt my back.

The moment I confirmed it was fine, a black mass crashed down on me.

It was Seon Jaeyul, jumping down the ladder without a sound.

Just as expected, my body tilted and my back hit the floor.

“How is it that you still look so good even in work clothes?

Even covered in dust, you’re sexy.”

“I-I’m not…”

The things he said while looking down at me…

They were nice to hear.

Compliments never got old, no matter how many times I heard them.

Poppy was right—it was good I wore the blue shirt.

That guy really had great taste.

“No wonder I can’t keep my head straight.”

Jaeyul’s hand naturally started unbuttoning my shirt.

I should stop him!

I should yell at him for acting like this in the middle of work instead of being some animal in heat—!

“…Does this place have hot water?”

Screw it.

I’ll be the animal in heat.

We can work a bit and do ‘that’ a bit too, right?

I never imagined we’d do something like this in the middle of an unfinished construction site, but… it sounded kind of fun.

All the buttons on my shirt came undone, and Jaeyul slowly leaned down.

Maybe because it was an unfamiliar place, my heart started pounding.

A pleasant kind of tension, of course.

Bang!

What the hell—!

Just as Jaeyul’s lips were about to touch my neck, a loud crashing sound came from outside.

Something shattered, followed by fast-approaching footsteps.

“Stop, stop!

Why’s it so fragile?

Don’t tell anyone I broke it!

If that stingy youngest finds out, he’ll nag me again.

Seriously, Seon Jaeyul’s getting arrogant because people keep praising him everywhere.

I really need to put him in his place—just wait till I catch him.

I’ll smash him for real.

Who does he even take after to be so—huh?

Jaeyul…?

Why are you here?”

Our eyes met with Park Bomyeong as he stepped into the house.

His eyes widened as he stared blankly between Jaeyul and me.

Only then did I remember Song Jihan saying they’d all come help with the renovation in the evening.

I had no idea how it was already evening, but still…

“Hey!

Move aside, you’re blocking the way!”

“No.

You shouldn’t see this.”

At least Park Bomyeong stood in the doorway, blocking the others from coming in.

“Haa… of all people, Park Bomyeong again…”

“Bear with it.

He’s still kind-hearted, at least.”

Jaeyul let out a heavy sigh.

I felt just as deflated.

How did that guy always show up at the most critical moments and ruin everything?

Under the pressure from behind, Park Bomyeong couldn’t hold his ground and was pushed inside.

Yueden, Song Jihan, and even Uncle Oh Seonggyu filed in one after another.

Looks like another drinking party was about to start.

If I had to guess, this place was about to become their hideout.

“…Get lost.

We’re on a date.”

Of course, that was assuming they survived Jaeyul’s swirling, glowing Light Bomb attacks.

This life felt pretty successful.

Jaeyul and Poppy, who I’d spend my life with, and dependable friends too.

They healed the wounds from my past life.

And I wanted to return that, with everything I had.

Most of all, I wasn’t going to live worrying about other people’s eyes anymore.

“Jaeyul.”

“Yeah?”

I pulled his face toward me and kissed him.

This was the only way I could express how I felt right now.

“What’s that.

I love you too.”

Curses flew at Jaeyul’s words, but who cared?

As long as we were happy, that was enough.

I loved how Jaeyul still understood my heart so well.

〈The End〉

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