Chapter 63.2

Chapter 63.2

Ara nodded quickly, but then tilted her head.

“What exactly counts as too close?”

Seok-kyung’s gaze dropped to the floor between them.

Naturally, Ara followed his eyes.

His gaze stopped on the floor, on the pair of shadows cast by the room’s light. Two dark shapes stretched at a slant, close but not touching.

“When your shadows overlap.”

Seok-kyung’s voice dropped low as he stepped forward.

“Like this.”

He took another half step.

“If you can, never let your shadow touch Yoon Suho’s. Spirits like that usually use the dark as their weapon.”

Only after showing her the overlapping shadows did he explain why.

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

Ara nodded quietly.

The evil spirit she had faced on Mount Daeyasan had risen from a dark puddle. Later, Baekseol told her that the severed-handed wraith had escaped along the shaded parts of the forest.

Next time, she would have to watch her own shadow too.

She lifted her head, only to find the space between them suddenly much smaller.

“One more thing.”

Her breath hitched. The faint scent that always followed him mixed with the warmth radiating from his body, flooding her senses.

“If something happens, something I don’t see coming…”

Seok-kyung took her hand, his grip firm but unhurried. Before she could ask what he was doing, he guided their joined hands upward, wrapping her fingers around the gem of her necklace. Then he brought their interlocked hands to her lips.

“When that happens, breathe onto it like this. Call me.”

His eyes, staring down from just above her, held a quiet kind of command that made it hard to look away.

“No matter where you are, I’ll come.”

Ara hiccuped softly, heat rising to her face. The touch of his hand, the weight of his gaze, even his breath, everything burned and tingled at once. Her heart thudded so violently it felt ready to leap out of her chest.

“Th-thank you.”

She broke free of his hand and stumbled back a couple of steps.

Seok-kyung narrowed his eyes, looking faintly dissatisfied, then saw the deep blush on her cheeks. His expreon softened, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Before something embarrang slipped out of her mouth again, Ara quickly added,

“I keep ending up in your debt, Kim Seok-kyung.”

“Then accept it gladly and pay it back without hesitation.”

He said it so easily that Ara suddenly felt her nose sting.

‘Then I’ll just accept it and return the favor.’

‘Happily accept it, willingly give it back. Isn’t that how it should be?’

His words were almost identical to what she’d once told him at the vegetable stand in the market.

A goblin who once distrusted humans so deeply that he saw even the smallest kindness as a burden was now the one speaking of returning favors first.

Moved, Ara looked at him with teary eyes. Seok-kyung noticed the shine in her gaze and sighed softly.

“I still don’t understand you. I’m not helping because I agree with human ideals like kindness or justice. It’s just…”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“You’re better at cards than I am.”

And at that moment, Ara finally understood.

“You said a gambler always bets on the sure hand.”

He might not believe in human goodness, but he was, in truth, more compaonate than anyone she had ever known. Even knowing how reckless and foolish this was, knowing it might put him in danger, he still couldn’t turn his back on her.

“I’ll win,” Ara said firmly, wiping the corners of her eyes with her hand.

“So you won’t lose anything.”

She clenched both fists and steadied her breath, her voice full of quiet resolve.

“So everything can go back to the way it should be.”

“…Alright.”

Hearing the subdued tone in his voice, Ara suddenly thought of Cheongseon. She wanted to tell him what had happened, to proudly share that maybe, just maybe, the miracle he’d spoken of had begun to sprout its first new leaf.