Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

It was a terrible night.

Si-woo, who was dressed as Selena, was pressing his temple and had his eyes tightly closed. He had kissed Ha-yeon. Not just anyone, but Ha-yeon.

There was a joke about not trusting young-looking vampires, but he never thought it would apply to him.

When he saw Ha-yeon, who had applied lipstick and was smiling, his reason flew out the window.

The problem with Luax, who drinks blood, was that they were more susceptible to impulses. But that was a story about Luax who had not lived for long. For those who had lived as long as an average ginkgo tree, the layers of reason were built up, and their self-control was solid.

It seemed it wasn’t as much as he had thought.

No, everything was fine. Even his weakness and his reaction to stimuli like a rookie were acceptable. But why did it have to be Ha-yeon?

If it weren’t Ha-yeon, it would have been fine. Even though it was terrible to think about, if the person he had kissed had been a man or someone younger than Ha-yeon, he could have dismissed it as a mistake. Since more people had been born after him and died before him as immortal, the age difference was not a big issue.

But Ha-yeon….

Si-woo sighed, pressing his temple with one hand.

To him, Ha-yeon was not someone he could regard as a woman.

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

At that moment, the executive standing next to him asked, and Si-woo snapped back to reality.

“What did you say?”

For some reason, the executive did not answer but stared at him intently, so Si-woo asked.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No……”

Then the executive cautiously spoke up.

“I think your way of speaking has changed a bit recently. You used to speak in quite a feminine way… and you stopped modulating your voice. Now, just hearing your voice, I would think you’re a man.”

Then, with a sudden realization, the executive’s face changed as if he thought he had been rude and immediately added.

“Of course, when I see you, you are an extremely beautiful woman.”

“……”

Si-woo turned his eyes away.

It seemed that since he was not actually trying to become a woman and was just cross-dressing, his original demeanor and way of speaking came out as soon as he relaxed a bit.

At one point, he found it amusing when people were horrified to realize he was a man, so he immersed himself in the role of a woman like an actor. But even the best actors would eventually fall into a rut after playing a role for hundreds of years.

Certainly, nowadays, he was just cross-dressing in a rut, doing what he was used to.

‘Perhaps that aspect has been conveyed.’

So even though he was in this appearance, Ha-yeon might have felt him as a man. Still, due to the cross-dressing, he did not seem like a normal man, so it seemed he did not evoke suspicion in Ha-yeon, who was unfamiliar with reason.

Si-woo thought.

‘If that’s the case….’

* * *

“Now I understand what it means to be aroused by seeing a man.”

Suddenly, Ha-yeon’s comment almost made Myung-jin spit out her cola. She looked at Ha-yeon, who was sitting with her on the school’s lawn and having lunch, with an incredulous expression.

“What did you say?”

“Seeing a man….”

When Ha-yeon was about to repeat her words literally, Myung-jin stopped her.

“Stop. That’s enough. Did I ask again because I didn’t hear? What kind of man are you talking about? It doesn’t seem like you’re referring to just any celebrity or passerby.”

“Si-woo.”

Myung-jin raised an eyebrow.

“… Who is that?”

“Selena.”

Myung-jin was silent for a moment as if trying to remember who that was. Then her eyes widened as she seemed to finally realize.

“That cross-dressing guy who’s the CEO of ISLE?”

But Ha-yeon did not answer. Instead, she pulled up a photo on a tablet she had next to her. It was a side view of a man cooking in a kitchen that looked like it could be on a cooking show.

“Who is this…?”

Myung-jin’s eyes widened as she looked at Ha-yeon.

“Is it that guy? Are you serious? With that face….”

Ha-yeon raised her hand.

“Okay. That’s enough. I get your strong agreement.”

“No, wait. But he’s cross-dressing, right?”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s real. I think he’s just cross-dressing.”

At Ha-yeon’s words, Myung-jin raised an eyebrow, showing skepticism.

“Why do you think so?”

“Just a feeling.”

Myung-jin scoffed dismissively.

“Isn’t that just wishful thinking? What are you planning to do? What if you fall for someone with no chance of success? And didn’t they say this guy is around six hundred years old? Hey, at six hundred years, he’s older than General Yi. Get a grip.”

“Do you know how old my father is?”

At Ha-yeon’s nonchalant remark, Myung-jin was left speechless.

“… Let’s not talk about it. I momentarily forgot.”

Then Myung-jin said.

“Wait a minute. I almost overlooked the shocking statement you made earlier. What was that about your body getting heated?”

But Ha-yeon did not answer and just shrugged her shoulders. Myung-jin narrowed her eyes, looking suspiciously at her.

“Are you saying…?”

“The kiss was all.”

Acknowledging it straightforwardly, Myung-jin suddenly extended her hand as if to shake hands.

“Congratulations on your first kiss.”

Ignoring the hand, Ha-yeon said.

“I didn’t know why I had never really wanted to meet a man before.”

Even though she ignored the hand, Myung-jin lowered it without feeling hurt and asked.

“But?”

Ha-yeon slightly raised her chin, showing a somewhat arrogant and audacious smile.

“It wasn’t satisfying.”

Myung-jin couldn’t hide her incredulous expression. But, knowing Ha-yeon better than anyone, she took a bite of her sandwich and asked after chewing a few times.

“If he was kissed, that means he likes women, so why is he cross-dressing? His hobby is really strange.”

“It seems like there’s some reason for it, but I don’t know that yet.”

“I can’t even guess what kind of reason would make a normal man cross-dress for such a long time.”

Ha-yeon also agreed. However, given the circumstances, it was clear that Si-woo’s cross-dressing wasn’t for any particular purpose.

The moment Ha-yeon realized this, it felt like all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The sense of alienation she had felt from Si-woo in his Selena disguise, and the reason why Si-woo had been strangely uncomfortable to her.

Absurdly, she also realized that the reason she found the masculine scent from Si-woo uncomfortable was that it was stimulating her.

However, in the past, whenever she saw Si-woo cross-dressing, Ha-yeon was confused by her own instincts, not understanding them. This was why her attitude towards Si-woo had been inconsistent, her feelings fluctuating. She wanted to keep her distance while also wanting to be close to him, and vice versa.

But the moment she kissed Si-woo, one thing became clear. She was no longer confused about her feelings towards him.

At that moment, Myung-jin spoke up as if she had just remembered something.

“By the way, aren’t you two like a mentor’s disciple and the mentor’s daughter? You’ve known each other since you were young.”

Then she squinted her eyes.

“If it weren’t for the fact that that guy doesn’t age and he seems to be around the same age now, if he was an ordinary human, it would give off a bit of a dangerous vibe.”

Ha-yeon looked slightly annoyed, not so much at Myung-jin but at the statement itself.

“We’re not related by blood, and even in the Luax sense, we’re not connected. What’s the problem?”

“What do you mean by Luax sense?”

“Even if we’re Patroness and Clientess, it’s just that we share the same infection source, not human lineage, so there’s no issue with marriage, and it’s not even connected in that way.”

As Ha-yeon poured out her explanation smoothly, Myung-jin asked in disbelief.

“Do you have this written down?”

Regardless, Ha-yeon continued to say what she wanted to.

“Moreover, if we consider the age difference, most Luax who meet humans would have to be imprisoned. We don’t even need to look far—starting with my father or my uncle… No, that’s too much of a team kill, so I’ll retract that.”

Ha-yeon then showed her palm. Finding it amusing, Myung-jin let out a small laugh and asked.

“So, are you saying you’re, like, dating that guy or something?”

“No, he ran away.”

Ha-yeon said casually. But judging by her tone, it was more like she was saying ‘Yeah, we’re dating.’, which made Myung-jin incredulous.

“Ran away? After kissing?”

As Ha-yeon nodded, Myung-jin did not hide her sympathy.

“You got dumped, didn’t you?”

“I don’t think so.”

Myung-jin looked at Ha-yeon with suspicion.

“What’s with this exploding confidence like a supernova?”

“Because I know the reason.”

As Ha-yeon smiled sweetly, Myung-jin gave a disgusted laugh.

“Wow, it seems like you’ve picked the wrong guy.”

* * *

In reality, Ha-yeon wasn’t entirely unprepared for Si-woo’s reaction. She had anticipated that it would be a fuss.

It might not be entirely accurate to describe it as a fuss, but setting aside their age difference, Si-woo likely viewed Ha-yeon as a kind of forbidden territory that he should never step into. Just like how a servant in the Joseon era wouldn’t dare to overstep with the lady of the house.

Of course, that’s just a metaphor. Even though he was of a noble family when he was human, the era he was born into made him unknowingly conservative and Confucian.

‘How does he manage to cross-dress like that?’

Thinking this, Ha-yeon entered Si-woo’s house.

But next to the entrance, a tall, unfamiliar man in a suit stood. He was tall and the suit seemed perfectly tailored to him.

The white, straight neck visible above the shirt collar seemed oddly familiar, but seeing him at the house, Ha-yeon wondered if he was a new secretary in the office.

At that moment, the man turned around with red eyes.

“You’re here?”

Si-woo spoke with a tone as if nothing had happened between them, with a nonchalant gaze.

Ha-yeon doubted her own eyes for a moment.