Chapter 60: Stay, you are so beautiful(6).

“Yeonkyung.”

“Wolmyeong, how’s the kid? Did she fall asleep?”

“She’s sleeping on that sofa over there.”

‘Kid,’ huh.

Recalling the perception of Chayeon that had changed in a single day, Wolmyeong chuckled.

She sat next to Yeonkyung.

Just this morning, in their heads, Chayeon was a terrifying demon who had tried to kill the Heukgumiho a year ago, had tried to kill the Baekgumiho a few months ago, and had perhaps cast mind control on many people, including Seohee.

That image of Chayeon changed to a reliable ally and the strongest Ineungnyeokja with great power immediately after knowing her identity.

Terrifying demon, strongest Ineungnyeokja.

That impression was reversed again in just a few hours.

Were they looking at such a weak child, who looked like she would collapse at any moment, in that way?

Thanks to Byeol and the Heukgu, they realized that it was because they were being played by the tricks of a dangerous demon named Mephistopheles, but it was difficult to avoid guilt.

Sniffling sounds in the quiet.

Occasionally, a mumble of “Mom” could be heard. It was a sleepy sob that she probably didn’t know about. Now they could understand why Seohee had taken care of Chayeon so much.

“Should we have stopped Arena…-nim?”

Yeonkyung muttered that name, who had newly become one of the Seven Divine Pillars, with a regretful voice.

As soon as the support of Arena disappeared, Chayeon collapsed.

Since Yeonkyung had vaguely noticed that this would happen, she didn’t want to let Arena go as much as possible.

“How can we stop her when she says she’s going because she’s worried about her mom and dad?”

Yeonkyung, Wolmyeong, and everyone else here except Chayeon had the experience of losing someone close to them because of demons.

The sniffling continued.

“…Really, she’s such a fragile child that it’s hard to believe she’s the vessel of the Heukgumiho. How can she have so many tears?”

Even though she knew the reason now that she had heard it from the Heukgumiho, Yeonkyung deliberately spat out those self-deprecating words.

“You were the same, Yeonkyung.”

When Wolmyeong said with a smile, Yeonkyung glared at her.

“…You were too, Wolmyeong? You were just as much of a crybaby. Even if you belatedly put on a mask with that strange tone, I won’t forget it, okay?”

“Ha, is Yeonkyung criticizing my tone to me?”

The two glared at each other.

Then a laugh that burst out from one of them quietly spread.

Night when everyone was asleep.

The two women laughed quietly.

“…The only one among us who wasn’t a crybaby was Seohee.”

“That b*tch is the most vicious even though she’s young. She’s a demon in human skin.”

The women became girls for a while, putting down the heavy burden on their shoulders.

The time when they were still students at Jindal.

The time before they had lost so many things and their hearts had been carved away.

Looking back, the four of them had always been together.

“……Yuna only looked weak on the outside, but she was actually vicious too.”

“That’s right. She was the most eccentric one among us.”

She would suddenly disappear, and then we would get a call from near Gangwon Land.

She said she couldn’t leave because she had sold everything she had, including her car.

Did she even take out a private loan? I really thought she was a crazy b*tch back then.

In the end, Seohee took the lead and we all stormed in and took her out.

Come to think of it, what happened to the debt at that time?

Did your family pay it off?

No, I don’t know about that… No, ahahahaha. Wait a minute. You didn’t pay it off? Really? Ahahaha, ah that crazy b*tch really.

While unable to laugh loudly, the two women held their stomachs and giggled.

“Na Rae-ya.”

“Don’t call me by my name.”

Ignoring her friend’s sulky expression, Yeonkyung opened her mouth.

“What should I do?”

There was still a smile on the corner of Yeonkyung’s mouth as she said that.

“Yuna died because of me, because I was foolishly played by a demon.”

“Is Seohee alive? Will she be okay?”

“I thought I was mentally prepared, I thought I had changed now, but when I was ransacking Seohee’s head, I couldn’t bring myself to torture her. I knew it was a doppelganger, I knew Seohee wanted me to do that. But even if it’s a doppelganger, it can affect the main body if something goes wrong, right? I couldn’t bring myself to tear it apart thoroughly.”

“I regret that so much. Why am I always like this at critical moments? I vowed to be strong, but if I had acted sooner and more boldly, Yuna would have been…”

For a long time, she had been killing her heart.

She wanted to become a heartless and cold-blooded person.

The dam of emotions that she had forcibly blocked was slowly cracking.

“Yuna…

…Wouldn’t she have died?”

Looking at her friend’s face, which was completely distorted for the first time in years since the day she lost her husband, Wolmyeong silently grabbed her hand.

“Because of me…”

“Yeonkyung-ah.”

“I wanted to save her, but I couldn’t.”

“Yeah, if you had saved Yuna there… You wouldn’t have been able to save that child.”

When Chayeon was looking for Arena and Byeol, Yeonkyung was thinking about what would happen after that.

If one of the two girls had died, or if Chayeon, who might have possessed the Heukgumiho in the worst case, had died.

Jindal could not be saved if Chayeon’s heart was broken.

If Melara and Meridi were Doppelgangers imitating the Heukgumiho, the Heukgumiho’s help was absolutely necessary.

The worry became a reality.

Byeol had died.

So Yeonkyung cut down her own abilities and life and saved Byeol.

Thanks to that, Chayeon, even though she was in an unstable state, promised them cooperation.

In return, Yeonkyung lost an old friend.

By her own choice.

She had let her die.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Yuna-ya…”

“Don’t cry, you crybaby.”

“…What, I’m not crying.”

In the midst of time that had been twisted in an unwanted direction, the hearts of the two women, which had been frozen by time, melted and flowed out.

However, tears did not flow until the end.

It was still a dim dawn, but Chayeon and the other eight people were fully prepared.

Three large birds, similar to what they had seen yesterday. They were divided into three teams, including the three of the Seven Divine Pillars Chayeon, Yeonkyung, and Wolmyeong, and climbed onto the Shikigami.

“We can’t delay any longer. We’re going straight to the place where the heart is, Jindal Heart.”

If the heart was destroyed, the influence of the Shinsu would weaken and the power of the demons would become stronger.

It was the number one goal that had to be defended.

<<Are you okay?>>

“Yeah. Don’t worry. And don’t ask if you know.”

She answered the Heukgu, who was asking a vague question.

Was it because she had been whining yesterday? It really felt like they were looking at her like she was a child.

Starting with Yeonkyung’s team, three giant eagles began to fly.

They will catch Mephistopheles.

They will save Seohee.

And,

They will recapture Jindal.

The final act, filled with each person’s wishes, rises.

“Girls, did you pack your things?”

“Yes!”

“Did you pack your keys well?”

“Yes!”

“It’s time to go pick them up. The deepest and deepest floor with the red three-legged incense burner, Mother, formation and transformation, the eternal heart’s eternal re-creation. It’s time to show Chayeon what happiness is.”