Book 1, Epilogue 31 - Will you marry me? (2)
As time passed, Chun Jiwoo and Hugo became closer and closer. In the beginning, they merely texted each other questions like, “Did you eat?”
However, Chun Jiwoo’s texts asking how he was came daily. If he hadn’t eaten, she would ask him to buy her a meal. It was enough to cover the dry cleaning fee.
Chun Jiwoo had probably done it on purpose since Hugo had started to ignore his meals after Lee Gun’s death.
Even if people around him prepared food for him, he would rather drink alcohol than eat food to fill his stomach.
However, Chun Jiwoo was aware of something. Whenever Hugo ordered food meant for two servings, he inevitably had to have a drink.
But she also knew that his personality wouldn’t allow a woman to eat by herself. Hugo found it too awkward, and Chun Jiwoo’s assumptions were correct.
“Uh… Miss Jiwoo. You’re having the Hangover Soup set again?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You had the Hangover Soup yesterday too. Order something more expensive. I’m buying. You can order some meat or pasta…”
“Oh my! What’s wrong with this?”
“Miss Jiwoo.”
“Yes?”
“Do you perhaps drink daily?”
Of course, the problem was that Hugo said unnecessary things. Still, the Hangover soup was good for Hugo, who had become an alcoholic.
Chun Jiwoo also dragged him outside and stopped him from drinking.
Hugo slowly distanced himself from the life of someone dejected. In fact, he was disgusted as he looked in the mirror. He looked at his own body.
“Wow! This is crazy! I have a gut now.”
It was the result of his being overconfident that an awakened being’s body was sturdier than a normal person’s body.
When he had lived the life of a hikikomori, he had been unaware of it. However, his body was in worse shape than he had thought.
His body, which used to be muscular, was now the body of a prototypical drunkard with a potbelly. His hair and beard were bushy. His skin and eyes looked sunken as if he were on drugs.
However, Hugo was able to work himself out of his alcoholism thanks to Chun Jiwoo. He worked out to regain his former figure and cleaned up his hair and face.
Hugo was able to return to living his normal life, and over time, he and Chun Jiwoo became quite close.
“Oh my! It’s the Hero’s Museum. I never knew they built something so amazing!”
“Hmmph. Yang Wei is amazing at sniffing out opportunities to make money. I never expected him to really make this place…”
Hugo was embarrassed by the museums of the twelve Zodiac Saints, which had been built in various locations around the world.
Each of the twelve Zodiac Saints was called a hero and was given a special exhibition room. Despite liking it, Hugo couldn’t raise his head. Still, he wanted to look good in front of Chun Jiwoo.
“Um… Miss Jiwoo! Let’s go over there! There is something cool about me over there…!!!”
However, Hugo thought twice about this as he changed direction. “No! Instead of mine, we should go to the one that has a cool special exhibition room of Gun!! Miss Jiwoo likes Gun, right?!”
Chun Jiwoo burst out laughing when she saw Hugo, who didn’t know what to do with himself. Hugo seemed very conscious of the words she had spoken before.
She had said, “I’m not interested in anyone other than Lee Gun-nim.”
It was the same when they were buying some goods at the museum.
“What are you buying, Miss Jiwoo?”
“Kyaa. W-What?! Ah! It’s a random figurine. The quality was great, so I…!”
Chun Jiwoo, who had been inside the store, became flustered when Hugo approached her.
Hugo started to sweat when he saw the display listing what Chun Jiwoo had bought.
- Lee Gun Random Figurine x 1,000
- Hugo Figurine x 1
“Ah. As expected, you were buying Gun’s figurine. T…Thousand...”
“What? Ah. Yes…!”
Hugo felt a bit disappointed since Jiwoo had bought only one of his figurines, but he didn’t outwardly show his disappointment.
However, something happened when Hugo approached to buy the Lee Gun figurines too.
“Customer Chun Jiwoo! I’m sorry for making you wait for so long. It’s because not many people look for this item!”
“Ah! No!”
“Here is Hugo-nim’s Special Custom-built Premium Figurine!”
“Kuhk…!!”
Hugo was shocked by the incredibly high-quality figure of himself, and Chun Jiwoo’s face turned red.
The surprised Hugo asked, “W…Why would you get a custom figurine… Isn’t this really expensive?!”
“That is… I thought this version of Mr. Hugo’s figurine was too cute……”
Hugo’s face turned beet red.
Chun Jiwoo didn’t know what to do with herself when she saw his reaction. “T-This is an investment! Investment! Mr. Hugo, you refused all insurance money related to Lee Gun-nim. I’m just looking out for you…!”
“Uh… My figurines don’t resell for a premium. Unless it’s Lee Gun or the top three members of the Zodiac Saints… At most, it sells for only a hundred…”
“Kyaa! Younger brother!! It’s for my brother! I’m giving it to him as a present because he likes you!”
“I’m pretty sure your younger brother likes Stevens...”
“Kyaa! Father! It’s for my father!!”
“Pfft!”
Hugo laughed. After losing Lee Gun, this was the first time he had laughed.
* * *
Of course, it didn’t mean only happy moments transpired. In reality, the world became noisy once more after Lee Gun’s death.
- Ivan-nim! Stevens-nim! You guys suffered a complete loss! You failed in the raid once again! Please give us a statement!
- Isn’t it true that you are missing the loss of Lee Gun?!
- Are you sure you killed Red Eye?!
The world was unsettled that the Zodiac Saints continued to fail in their raids. The Zodiac Saints were becoming a laughingstock.
“Wow! How are they unable to recover any land after Lee Gun’s death??”
“That’s what I’m saying. Lee Gun recovered countless lands.”
The Zodiac Saints were starting to feel their limitation as well.
‘Damn it! We can’t kill the monsters without Lee Gun.’
‘I thought we would be able to take care of them on our own, but…!’
They realized that Lee Gun’s absence had created too large of a hole. It made them grind their teeth.
They almost admitted that leaving Lee Gun behind in the tower was a mistake.
It was around that time that Chun Jiwoo started having trouble.
“Uh, Miss Jiwoo. You seem to have a delivery? What is it?”
“Ah! It was delivered to the wrong place.”
Chun Jiwoo laughed as she threw away the parcel addressed to her.
A while ago, some nameless blackmailer had started sending her a variety of items, including a bloodied toy, a knife, tacks, and a vermin-shaped doll.
At the end of the day, it was like a child’s prank, so she had been ignoring it. She didn’t know the purpose of her actions, but she knew who the culprit was.
- Hurry up and break up with Hugo.
That message narrowed down the list of culprits, and Chun Jiwoo didn’t even think responding to such a person was worth it.
‘She tried to put on a kidnapping just for show to scare me. It seems she doesn’t get tired of sending these. This is a waste of boxes.’
In truth, Chun Jiwoo had almost been kidnapped by a suspicious person. Of course, it was all for show and Hugo was able to save her immediately.
So it was considered an attempted kidnapping.
Despite having such things happen to her, Chun Jiwoo continued to ignore it all. However, in the end, the one behind the threatening letter appeared in front of Chun Jiwoo.
“Look here. Did you not receive my letters?”
The blackmailer was none other than Sophie. After she had gotten on Hugo’s bad side, Hugo cut all contact with her.
Sophie glared at Chun Jiwoo.
When she had heard that there was a woman in Hugo’s life, she was shocked. She tried to separate Chun Jiwoo from Hugo’s side.
Sophie glared at Chun Jiwoo. “Have you been ignoring my warnings?”
“Yes. I have.”
“?!!”
They were in a cafe, sitting opposite each other. Sophie looked at Chun Jiwoo with shock. Her expression said that she thought Chun Jiwoo had lost her mind.
However, it didn’t take long for Sophie to throw liquid medicine and an envelope full of money toward Chun Jiwoo. “I heard your family is in a tough financial spot, and your father’s leg isn’t doing well.”
“…!”
“Break up with Hugo. You’re the one who is getting in the way. You’re stopping him from meeting with us, right?”
Sophie furrowed her brows. Since the Zodiac Saints had lost consecutive raids, they had been looking for Hugo.
As Lee Gun was gone, they decided Hugo had to join them if they wanted to conduct a successful raid.
They had thrown all kinds of bait toward Hugo to meet him, yet he continued to either ignore or hide from them.
Of course, Sophie had an additional motive fueling her: jealousy. It was why she had come to meet Chun Jiwoo.
“How dare a civilian try to seduce a Zodiac Saint?”
Chun Jiwoo looked at Sophie with contempt. “Ah. You really are an ugly and uncivilized bitch.”
Sophie’s eyes turned round like those of a surprised rabbit. “…what?? W…What did you just say?”
Chun Jiwoo let out a chuckle as if she had made a mistake by letting those words slip out. “Oh my! I’m sorry about that. I meant to say I understand why Mr. Hugo hates the Zodiac Saints.”
“W-What did you just say?!”
“Anyway, thank you for the letters and items. I’ll also take the money and medicine with thanks.”
Sophie laughed as if this was how it should be. “Finally, you get my drift. You’re going to keep yourself away from Hugo from now on, right?”
“What? Why would I do that?”
“W-Why else? You took my money and medicine! So why?!”
“What does breaking up with Mr. Hugo have anything to do with me taking these items?”
“W-What the hell did you just say?!”
“Why should I follow your instructions? I just have to dine and dash.”
“W-What?! Look here…!”
“I’m joking.” Chun Jiwoo tossed several photos on the desk. The pictures contained the threatening letters Sophie had sent her. It also had pictures that she had taken when she had been kidnapped for show.
“Just think of it as you paying me for damages.”
“W-What?”
“If not, you can call it a fee for making me keep my mouth shut. How’s that?”
Sophie shook from fear when she saw Chun Jiwoo’s angry eyes. It was a threat.
Chun Jiwoo had flipped the table, and she was threatening Sophie! With an elegant smile, Chun Jiwoo took up the glass cup in front of her.
The water inside the cup was mixed with a tasteless and odorless drug that Sophie had put in there beforehand. Chun Jiwoo seemed to be aware of this. That was why she had purposefully avoided drinking from the cut.
Chun Jiwoo smiled as she finally stood in front of Sophie. “Listen to me well, Saintess.”
“What are you—”
Sophie screamed.
Chun Jiwoo held the cup of water and poured it on top of Sophie’s head.
“Kyaaa!”
Sophie froze. She looked like a mouse that had fallen into the water.
Chun Jiwoo didn’t care as she coldly looked at Sophie. “I don’t care what nonsense you pull on me. However, I’ll really kill you if you make Mr. Hugo shed blood, sweat, and tears.”
As she spoke those words, she broke the glass cup.
Sophie shook when she met eyes with Chun Jiwoo. Her opponent was a civilian, yet possessed a tremendous spirit.
It flustered Sophie. However, that wasn’t important right now.
“Kyaaa! I put a laxative in the water! It got in my mouth! Ptooey! Ptooey!!”
Sophie cried as she looked for a towel.
Chun Jiwoo’s eyes turned round as she turned around. It was as if she found it unexpected.
‘What the hell? I thought she put poison in the cup. It was only a laxative?’
However, that didn’t matter to Chun Jiwoo, so she left the cafe.
Hugo had been waiting for her outside. He quickly approached her. “Are you ok? Did she try to bully you?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“I should have gone in. I would’ve taken care of it. Why did you stop me from going in…!”
“If you went in, Mr. Hugo, you would have 100% fallen for what they were offering.”
“?!”
The Zodiac Saints were chomping at the bits to add Hugo back in as an ally. They were already missing Lee Gun, and they had a falling out with Hugo. It had put them in a precarious situation.
If Chun Jiwoo had let Hugo meet them in person, they probably would have used the opportunity to kidnap her and made Hugo join them by force.
Since Hugo had a soft heart, he would have folded. This was why Chun Jiwoo had told him not to make direct contact with them. She asked him to stay outside and just be ready.
“Did the Aquarius Saint say something foul to you?”
“She didn’t say much.”
Hugo let out a huge sigh of relief. “I’m sorry! Just because you got involved with me…”
“I don’t care. You already used the blessing of your Zodiac on me, and you’ve done a good job protecting me.”
“But…!”
Instead of saying anything, Chun Jiwoo grabbed Hugo’s face and shyly kissed him, leaving Hugo flustered.
Blushing, Chun Jiwoo said, “I can choose to be safe without you, Mr. Hugo, but I would much prefer to be with you and be in danger.”
Hugo didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Thanks to her, he was finally able to laugh again. Chun Jiwoo was an existence too precious in his eyes.
No. Maybe, they might have fallen for each other. They had fallen so hard that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
On that day, the two of them drank some alcohol and became honest with each other.
Then they might have gone home and made passionate love to each other that night.
* * *
“What? You decided to date her?” Lee Jaewon’s eyes turned round at the unexpected confession. “I thought you were so intimidated by her that you were unable to confess to her?”
“No! I confessed and succeeded!”
Lee Jaewon smiled. If the two of them were happy, it was all that mattered to him.
Not too long after that meeting, Lee Jaewon witnessed something shocking.
“Ah. Miss Jiwoo. Over here! This guy is Jaewon. He’s the one I told you about. He’s taking his college entrance exam, so I couldn’t introduce you to him.”
After gathering at the chicken house, they exchanged greetings.
“It’s nice to meet you for the first time. So when will you two be marrying?” Lee Jaewon asked.
Both Hugo and Chun Jiwoo were embarrassed by the question, yet they let out bright smiles.
“What are you talking about? We are still in our mid-twenties. Jiwoo and I laughed about it when we had that conversation. We decided that we’ll wait until our thirties.”
“That’s right.”
For some reason, Lee Jaewon kept tilting his head as he looked at Chun Jiwoo. “You should probably marry real soon.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“What else could it be?” Instead of answering, Lee Jaewon looked toward Chun Jiwoo.
“…oohp!”
“?!”
Hugo and Chun Jiwoo became surprised when Jiwoo had a bout of morning sickness.
Whether it was in the future or the past didn’t matter. Lee Jaewon was able to sense the presence of a fetus. He laughed.
After realizing that the two of them had made an accident, Hugo and Chun Jiwoo immediately got married. And the child they had was named Chun Yooha.
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