I’m not a Regressor
chapter-260

I’m Not a Regressor

Chapter 260: Date (2)

Didn’t they say that time flew by when you were having fun? They went to the arcade, bought ridiculous hair bands, laughed, and talked. The sun started to set before they knew it, and the darkened amusement park twinkled with lights like stars embroidered in the night sky.

"Haa." Isabella, looking over the sparkling amusement park with a dim gaze, breathed a short sigh. "We should… head back." She tapped her toes on the floor as if she were sad and made a bitter smile. They’d had so much fun that it was almost closing time before they knew it. "I had so much fun today, Ohjin." She smiled and turned to Ohjin.

“…” Her smile was so beautiful that it felt like the surroundings lit up for a moment, and Ohjin pursed his lips with a conflicted look on his face. With a short sigh, he pulled on her hand. "We still have half an hour left, so let's ride another one for the last time."

"What?" Isabella gave him a wide-eyed look. Without waiting for her answer, Ohjin headed back out to the amusement park’s Ferris wheel, which was an indispensable ride for amusement park dates.

"Oh, is it a Ferris wheel?" Isabella, who had never been to an amusement park before, smiled and nodded as if she knew about the ride already. "Fufu, so you had this romantic side, too." She gently leaned her head on Ohjin’s shoulder as she embraced his arm.

Again, Ohjin seemed conflicted. He had something he had to tell her since before the start of the date, or maybe even long before that. It was time to face the things he’d been avoiding.

"The Ferris wheel is moving!" the ride attendant yelled.

As the wheel moved, waves of starlight cascaded from the night sky.

"It's pretty…" Isabella softly murmured as she watched the beautiful lights through the window.

“…”

"Ohjin?" she asked.

"Isabella…" Ohjin, who was continuing to worry, spoke softly. "I'm dating Ha-eun, you know…" Though they were on the date with Ha-eun’s permission, he wasn’t in a position to enjoy it with her properly. "I'll try to raise 30 billion won somehow, so from now on…"

“You're saying it'll be hard to go on dates with just the two of us, right?" Isabella nodded and smiled. She knew from the beginning that, no matter how much she loved him, his heart was with Ha-eun. There was no room for her to intervene in the first place.

Still…

"Really… is it impossible for you?" Isabella's shoulders trembled as she gave him a tear-filled look.

"Isabella?" he asked.

"Isn't there a place for me in your heart?" She carefully reached out and placed her hand on Ohjin's chest.

Ohjin's shoulders trembled at the tickling sensation. "Isabella…"

"I know that Ha-eun will always come first for you." When he saved her and was trapped in the Demon Realm, Isabella had decided to be his first priority, but even that determination only lasted for a moment. No matter how blatantly she seduced him, his eyes were always on Ha-eun.

Alright… It was impossible to begin with.

"It's okay if you don't go out with me," she said. Clear tears ran down her cheeks. "You don't have to hug me, and you don't have to kiss me." She pulled on his arm as if pleading. "Just… can't you allow me to be by your side?"

“…” Ohjin's expression stiffened. Why did he have to make her miserable to such an extent? "Isabella, if it's you, there are better men…"

"I don't need them!" Isabella cried out. "All I have left is… you." She couldn't live without him. That day, when she heard his sweet lie in the collapsed mansion, when the hope of "Ohjin" sprouted in her dried-out heart, she had irrevocably fallen for him.

“…” Ohjin could only watch as Isabella cried.

Throb. Throb—

It felt like someone was piercing a corner of his heart with a sharp needle. Had she asked if there was somewhere in his heart she could fit? It was a meaningless question because Isabella was already firmly in his heart.

'I…' What should he do? How could he make her, Ha-eun, and himself all happy?

- It's still common for Italian aristocrats to have more than one wife.

For a moment, Roberto's words crossed his mind, but Ohjin smiled and shook his head. It was a ridiculous thing to say. Even if he was okay with it, there was no way Ha-eun would be. Thinking about it the other way around, would he be alright if Ha-eun told him she wanted two husbands?

‘No way.’ He knew he wouldn’t be okay with that, so how could he entertain the idea of being the only one to have two lovers? It was selfish.

"H-Ha-eun said it was okay," Isabella stammered as if reading his thoughts.

"What?" Ohjin’s eyes widened.

Isabella grabbed at the hem of her dress, blushing. "Before, when you were trapped in the Demon Realm… I asked her if it was okay to like you."

"What did she say?"

"She said she would comply with your decision."

“…” It was his decision? Ohjin looked at Isabella with his eyes trembling.

"How… do you feel, Ohjin?" Isabella gave him a nervous look, pulled at the hem of her dress again, and tearfully continued. “Can’t I… be next to you?”

* * *

Translator - Rainypup

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

His head was burning hot. The throbbing pain in his heart spread all over his body. What did his heart want? His honest feelings were…

"Both, I can’t let go of either of you." Others could call it selfish. It didn’t matter if he was shameless garbage—he didn't want to let go of either Ha-eun or Isabella and wanted to hold them both. "That's how I honestly feel."

"Oh, Ohjin…" Isabella shivered and looked at him. She could see it was difficult for him to handle the emotions bursting from his heart. When she tried to stand and embrace him…

"But…" Ohjin shook his head and stopped her. Although he had expressed his honest feelings… "I have to talk to Ha-eun first." She said she would follow his decision, but it was not something he could decide without consulting her first.

As much as his heart was important, Ha-eun's heart was also important. If she refused to have a relationship with Isabella included, then he had no choice but to reject Isabella's feelings, no matter how much he didn't want to let go of both.

“Okay, Ohjin…" Isabella nodded as she sat back down. "I'll tell her."

"I should…"

"No, I'm stepping in between you and Hae-un." Isabella slightly smiled and shook her head. She also didn't know if Ha-eun would allow it or not. "Right now… it's enough to just know your feelings." She held Ohjin's hand with a happy look on her face. Just the thought of having a place by his side made her heart pound.

'Come to think of it, it's very strange…' She couldn’t believe she was so happy because she’d been told by a man who already had a lover that he liked her, too. If it wasn’t happening to her, such a pathetic thing would have made her laugh.

"Hehe." What could she do? Whether it was first or second, he had told her that he didn’t want to let her go. Isabella’s shoulders shook, and she was unable to control the smile her lips curved into.

“…” ‘This is cheating,’ Ohjin muttered in his mind as he leaned in close to her.

"Ohjin…" Her eyes widened as he gently lifted her chin and kissed her. "Ugh—!"

Isabella's breath tickled his lips.

She looked this way and that with round eyes as she stiffly sat there, looking helpless, but that was only for a while. "Uhm…" She embraced him and carefully placed her tongue between his lips, as if she were a sparrow pecking at its prey. At the height of their sweet kiss…

Rattle—!

The Ferris wheel stopped.

"Oh…" Isabella gave Ohjin a sad look.

"Well, let's get going. It must be closing time." Ohjin stood up from his seat, blushing.

Isabella also followed him with her head bowed, as if to conceal her red face. Was it because it was so late? They didn't see anyone else walking around.

"Well… Oh-Ohjin." Isabella carefully pulled at the hem of Ohjin's clothing as she walked.

"What?"

"Th-there are no people around." She glanced at Ohjin and approached his side with small steps. "Before you go out… g-give me one more kiss." She leaned in and tightly closed her eyes.

“…” How could he resist such temptation? Ohjin gulped and slightly pulled Isabella's waist toward him. When there was barely any distance between them, and their lips were about to overlap…

-Shhhk, shhhk—

An eerie slithering reverberated around them as if a snake were sliding over concrete.

"Here…you are," a low voice echoed.

Ohjin turned his head toward the drunk-sounding voice. Within the otherwise empty amusement park, a woman in a black dress stumbled from the darkness. "I've been looking for you." Her movements were stiff, and she seemed almost like a broken wooden doll.

Kasia flicked her long tongue like a snake as she gave off a bloodthirsty aura and stared at Ohjin with empty-looking eyes.

"Why are you…?" Why had Kasia, who should’ve been getting rid of the Musca faction in South America, appeared in the amusement park out of the blue? 'That's…' Ohjin's eyes focused on Kasia's forehead, where he saw a black gem the size of a thumb embedded in her flesh. It was a gem he hadn’t seen before.

"Ah…" He wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Isabella's eyes were wide as she watched Kasia stagger toward them.

"Sister…" Isabella whispered, staring in disbelief as she recognized her sister, who’d gone missing 10 years prior.