Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 351 (Part 1)



351 (Part 1)

Right after the Heavenly Demon opened the demonic gate and vanished.

The woman hurriedly ran to support Gu Yang-cheon.

“Gu Mister…!”

He staggered and fell. As soon as she touched him Wi Seol-ah felt it. The demonic qi boiling up from Gu Yang-cheon’s body.

“No….”

She let out a silent gasp upon seeing it.

In the end it had come to this.

She had hoped so desperately that Gu Yang-cheon would not become a demonic practitioner.

But Gu Yang-cheon had ultimately become a demonic practitioner.

She could see the look in Gu Yang-cheon’s eyes as he gazed at her.

Unlike the usual black or red irises.

Now Gu Yang-cheon’s pupils were a shade of purple. This was a symbol of a demonic practitioner.

Seeing that the woman felt herself choke up without realizing it.

“No… no….”

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

It felt like a light tap would make them flow.

At that moment Gu Yang-cheon moved.

He raised his hand and reached out toward the woman.

“Are you okay…? Gu Mister…!”

The woman called out to him urgently but Gu Yang-cheon suddenly stretched out his hand to stroke her cheek.

“Ah….”

“What are you crying for?”

His rough fingers brushed past her eyes.

He was wiping away her tears.

“Stop crying it’s fine. If someone sees us they’ll think I’m dead.”

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“…”

As the woman bit her lip.

Gu Yang-cheon quietly watched her.

She had also retracted the white energy she had been spreading around her body.

As the situation calmed down the woman felt a wave of anxiety wash over her.

This was because of the peculiar look in Gu Yang-cheon’s eyes.

He must be exhausted.

He must be surprised to face the Heavenly Demon.

The woman thought to herself but she realized that it was no longer that simple.

“Hey.”

“…!”

“Don’t we have something to talk about?”

At Gu Yang-cheon’s words the woman swallowed hard.

How should she say it? What should she do?

[Unnie….]

Inside Wi Seol-ah was calling out to the woman but now was not the time to respond to that voice.

At that moment.

Suuuuuu.

“Gu… Gu Mister?”

She began to feel a gradual change in Gu Yang-cheon’s body.

The woman anxiously tried to examine Gu Yang-cheon’s body.

But her outstretched wrist was caught by Gu Yang-cheon. It seemed to mean not to touch him.

She could see the flow of demonic qi in his eyes.

The demonic qi that had been flowing through Gu Yang-cheon’s body began to move gradually.

Just as she wondered what kind of change this was.

“Suu….”

Gu Yang-cheon exhaled as if it was somewhat burdensome.

The change was not only in his energy but also in his physical form.

His dark black hair began to show hints of a lighter red.

The color of his irises was also returning to the usual black.

“What is this….”

In other words it meant that he was shedding his demonic practitioner state.

But to the woman this was something impossible.

Once one became a demonic practitioner it never changed until death.

How dreadful was the demonic qi that spread from a demonic practitioner facing death?

Only after reaching that point could one be liberated from the demonic qi.

Yet now Gu Yang-cheon was in the process of shedding his demonic practitioner state.

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How could that be possible?

While the woman watched in astonishment.

Having gathered all his energy Gu Yang-cheon opened his eyes again.

“…Huh.”

“How….”

Just as the woman was about to ask Gu Yang-cheon for the reason.

She fell silent again at the gaze they met.

Quietly they could only hold eye contact for a few seconds but that time felt incredibly long.

Should she make an excuse?

No it wasn’t that. It was a misunderstanding.

It wasn’t what he thought.

The woman thought countless times.

She had thought there would be a day like this.

But before that the resolve she had made was to disappear before such a thing could happen.

If she did that then for him….

“What should I call you?”

“…!”

“What should I call you?”

Gu Yang-cheon said monotonously.

The woman had to make a face as if she would cry at any moment.

His tone was certain.

He was already convinced.

“…Ah… ugh….”

“It’s not like you can’t speak. Why are you broken?”

“That’s….”

“Forget that I have a lot of questions. But first I want to ask something important.”

Where should she start? How much could she say?

What would he ask?

Would he ask what had happened?

Why was she like this?

Why hadn’t she said anything?

Or if not that.

Why had she tried to kill him?

Was she satisfied with that?

Did she know what she had done for him?

Would she burst out with such resentments?

Just imagining it made her breathless.

Her hands began to tremble but the woman forced herself to endure.

He had the right to speak like that.

She was just running away because she didn’t want to hear such words.

“Still.”

Finally at the voice that came the woman squeezed her eyes shut.

Then.

“Do you hate me?”

Gu Yang-cheon’s voice reached her.

What did he just say?

Did she hear it wrong?

Her eyes slowly opened.

The expression she wore was one of confusion as if she had misheard.

The woman looked into Gu Yang-cheon’s eyes.

“What do you mean…?”

“No I was just wondering how much you hated me to follow me. Can’t you forgive me? I tried my best in my own way.”

With a somewhat awkward gesture of scratching the back of his head.

The woman couldn’t say a word.

Such words….

“What do you mean by that? You… you shouldn’t be asking me that.”

“Hmm?”

Tears finally fell from her trembling shoulders.

“I should be cursing you… calling you a worthless person. It’s your fault. I should say that. Why… why are you asking that?”

“What are you talking about? Why would I curse you? Was that my taste?”

“I….”

“Ah stop whining and just answer the question. It’s really frustrating.”

Gu Yang-cheon couldn’t hold back his frustration and interrupted her.

And he asked the same question again.

“Do you still hate me?”

“…”

Her wrist was still held tightly.

In this situation she had a mountain of questions to ask yet the first thing he asked was just this.

It was a time when she could have poured out her grievances.

It was a time when she could have cursed and beaten him to death.

And yet he was only asking that.

Perhaps he was indirectly cursing her but.

Gu Yang-cheon’s eyes were the same as usual.

The eyes she had longed to see.

As she looked into those eyes of Gu Yang-cheon the woman finally managed to speak.

“No….”

The words she forced out were somewhat clumsy and trembling.

But it was not a lie.

She didn’t know at the first meeting.

No she might have hated him then.

She must have.

It was like that during their first meeting so how could she have liked him?

But at least.

The feelings she held for him until the moment she died were surely different from hatred.

“I don’t hate you… I never hated you.”

The words she uttered in a trembling voice.

Upon hearing that Gu Yang-cheon loosened his grip on her wrist.

“Thank goodness.”

And he smiled.

The first question he asked was that.

And he smiled just from hearing that one answer.

With that smile the woman felt her heart drop.

“…”

There were words filling her mind.

I want to hold you.

Looking at him memories surfaced. The moment she had held him for the first and last time.

The day she had held his body as he bled and died.

Not the time when she had cried out while embracing his cold lifeless body.

But she wanted to hold the him of now.

Did she have the right to do so?

No. She believed she had no such right.

Yet.

Yet now she wanted to hold him at least once.

Even knowing it was selfish.

The woman moved as if entranced.

And just as Gu Yang-cheon wore a puzzled expression at her movement.

“…Could you stop and help me a bit?”

She froze.

A voice came from behind.

“While it’s nice to watch I’m a bit pressed for time here.”

When Gu Yang-cheon turned his head to check the owner of the voice there stood Bi Yi-jin drenched in cold sweat.

“Hmm?”

“…Ah.”

It was a fact that both had completely forgotten.

******************

Creak.

Thick smoke billowed up and at its center was a red coffin.

As the ominous-looking coffin opened someone cautiously began to rise.