(This extra chapter is sponsored by these two rivals, who are framed by a criminal kingpin and are forced to work together to clear their name and kick some butt along the way: Veronique "Tango" B and Philip "Cash" G.)
"I thought you’d take up residence in the dormitory, too... well, whatever, see you tomorrow." (Yi Yu-Jin)
"Let’s all pass this thing together, everyone." (Goh Yun-Jong)
Exams had come to an end for the day; the sky above had darkened before they realised it - 8 o’clock in the evening. Yi Yu-Jin and Goh Yun-Jong spoke their piece and headed towards the dormitory located in the Tower of Eden.
Jin Seh-Hahn casually waved his hand and said his goodbyes, before making his way towards a deserted back alley quite a distance away from Eden. There, he changed back to Kim Sae-Jin and headed back home.
When he arrived, he found Yu Sae-Jung waiting for him as usual.
However, saying that she was waiting for him at home was a bit incorrect now.
Two toothbrushes in the bathroom; a huge king-sized bed much bigger than two people could ever occupy, located in the main bedroom, alongside a bedside dressing table; several high-heels within the shoe cabinet and two closets in the walk-in change room. His house that was entirely too big for a single man to live in had been filled up now, somewhat.
So, at this point in time, it’d be more accurate to say they were living together now, or maybe it was more like this was a newly-weds’ home instead.
"You came?"
While wearing a pair of cute bunny slippers, Yu Sae-Jung came to the entrance to welcome him home. He took off his coat and handed it over, and like a practiced housewife, she took it to the wash basket.
"Ha-ah..."
Kim Sae-Jin let out a long sigh as he lied down on the living room couch. She then stealthily approached him without getting noticed and began shooting him a faked resentful sideways glance.
"The work you’ve been doing must be keeping you busy? I mean, you left at 8 in the morning, only to return now."
"...Yeah, kinda."
Kim Sae-Jin smiled bitterly. This feeling of his body being numb and fatigued, he hadn’t felt it for a long time. Well, his actual physical condition was quite fine, but his mind was completely tired out. After all, it wasn’t a relaxing vacation to find himself in the middle of 200 or so people while busy minding their glares and eavesdropping on others bad mouthing him.
"I’m feeling really sleepy..."
While yawning out, he checked out the time. It was 9 in the evening. In around three hours, he’d have to assume the Monster Forms and wander around outside so he didn’t have much time left.
"...Heu mm."
Yu Sae-Jung carefully observed him with meaningful gaze before jumping into his arms.
"Don’t give up, Oppa. Whenever you need the Dawn’s aid, just tell me. I’ll be able to do something, if it’s up to somewhere around a member of a parliament... Well, of course it’s my grandpa who’s going to do something, but if I ask him nicely, he won’t be able to refuse me."
Within Sae-Jin’s embrace, she began fidgeting and showed a lot of aegyo. She looked so adorable acting like this, even as tired as he was, Sae-Jin just had to smile warmly at the sight.
He then realised why people went through so much trouble and pursued romance, seeing how comfortable he felt when someone was beside him and giving him encouragements.
"...Thank you." (Sae-Jin)
Kim Sae-Jin wholeheartedly thanked her and pulled in closer. His body was definitely bigger than hers, yet he felt safe and comfortable as if he was the one being hugged tightly.
"What’s the point of being thankful, though? You haven’t even told me yet what you’re doing until now." (Yu Sae-Jung)
Quickly seizing this chance, Yu Sae-Jung began acting like a spoiled child. However, Sae-Jin remained as firm as an iron wall.
"...That... Later. When you grow to like me even m
ore, I’ll tell you everything. Absolutely everything." (Sae-Jin)
Of course, he would have to tell her everything sooner or later.
But to him, precisely because she was his girlfriend, he found it hard to tell her the truth.
There was the matter of him changing into different Monsters, but more importantly, he had to be mindful of her status as the heir of the Dawn dynasty.
Technically speaking, he was a completely different ’species’ compared to her. Although the passage of time might have softened his stance, a certain anecdote still made rounds, the one about the Dawn’s Chairman declaring to the world that his precious granddaughter would never marry a foreigner or her name would be removed from the Yu family register altogether.
She was someone he had to treasure more than anyone else out there, which only gave rise to several excuses to be reluctant about revealing the truth.
"But it’s impossible to like you even more than now. you know? It’s okay to tell me now, really!" (Yu Sae-Jung)
Totally oblivious to his inner thoughts, she maintained wide-open eyes and dug deeper into his embrace, then began tickling his side.
"How many times should I say it? I like you a lot, I love you a lot..." (Yu Sae-Jung)
"I know. I know, so please, be still." (Sae-Jin)
Kim Sae-Jin embraced her tightly and stopped her from complaining.
And about five minutes of their hugging later.
"...Hm, hmm..."
Out of the blue, Yu Sae-Jung stealthily moved her hands and began fondling his butt. At first, her movement was over the surface of his training pants, but then, her hands invaded under the fabric and...
"What are you doing?" (Sae-Jin)
Kim Sae-Jin narrowed his eyes at the odd fondling he could feel around his a*s.
"...Well, uh... just because you’re tired, that doesn’t mean you should go to bed right away... But what gives? Even though I didn’t wanna do it, we still did it, but when it’s me, you don’t wanna?"
Yu Sae-Jung pouted and began fondling even more openly than before. As she did the deed many times with Sae-Jin, she had become quite more proactive compared to how she was like before.
"Fuhut. Hey, that tickles."
Kim Sae-Jin finally exploded into a fit of giggles while looking at her as she continued to rub her body against his thighs.
The time remaining for him to get a shut-eye was less than three hours, but... well, this monstrous body of his only needed a couple of hours to recover from all the fatigue anyway.
*
The exams for the Knights continued on.
The second trial consisted of the cadets trying to escape from a bizarre ’space’ located within the Tower after they were imprisoned there. The space was incredibly huge after some type of expansion magic was cast on it, enlarging it; decorated to resemble the great wilderness, it contained countless Monsters, wild beasts as well as numerous dangerous traps.
And even trapped within this jungle-like environment, Jin Seh-Hahn/Kim Sae-Jin broke past all trials and tribulations with empty hands. When Monsters and vicious beasts appeared, he just twisted their necks off; if there was an obstruction blocking his way, he blew it away with a single punch; and thanks to his sharp perception, he never fell into such small things as traps.
In the midst of all this, Jin Seh-Hahn didn’t forget the core of this test, ’cooperation’. If a fellow cadet was faced with danger, he helped out, and if another cadet fell into a trap, he helped out again.
"He’s definitely a genius worthy of the first place in the current rankings."
And since Jin Seh-Hahn was completely unmatched within the criteria of judging cadets, every single one of the high-ranking officials from the various Knights Orders who came to observe the proceedings were busy licking their lips, lights of greed shining in their eyes.
"Most of all, it is quite wonderful to see him take care of the fellow cadets." (Kim Yu-Rin)
Even the Highest Knight from the Raven Order, Kim Yu-Rin, was among those.
Fin.
(TL: $4 left out of $50 for next week’s first sponsored chapter. Get this, I had received enough to meet the quota, then PayPal decided to charge me again. I just don’t get how they operate - sometimes they charge, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they charge a lot, sometimes they charge only a couple of cents... without any explanations whatsoever. It’s so aggravating...)
(TL: Oh and BTW, all the donations made towards sponsoring extra chapters after Thursday deadline will only show up on the following week, in case if you’re wondering. Not sure if I’ve said this before, but there you go.)