I Don't Want To Do a Romantic Comedy With a Villain! - Chapter 137

Episode 137

There was no choice but to comfort him.

Min-joo knew how to comfort Vehen, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“Thank you for everything until now.”

The only thing she could say was a farewell.

Parting is never easy. It never has been. Accepting someone, and giving them affection, makes parting painful.

Min-joo held onto Vehen’s sleeve, suppressing the urge to cry.

He told her to leave without looking back. Leave without regret. He already told her that.

Despite knowing it would come to this, sorting out her emotions wasn’t easy.

“They’re having fun. Hey, Park Min-joo.”

Robert’s rough and sharp voice cut through the melancholic atmosphere.

When Min-joo flinched and looked at Robert, she impatiently gestured for her to hold the doorknob.

“Hold it.”

“What?”

“Hold onto it.”

With a stern tone, she awkwardly grabbed the doorknob.

“Leave.”

Stunned by Robert’s words, Min-joo stood dumbfounded, still holding onto the doorknob.

Vehen frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re in the way.” 

Robert said.

Vehen stepped forward towards Robert.

Robert neither flinched nor avoided eye contact, simply ignoring Vehen.

Robert scolded Min-joo.

A flicker of flame danced on her fingertip.

“Leave.”

“R-really leave?”

“Go.”

Perplexed. She didn’t understand what was happening or what Robert was thinking.

But she had a vague idea. If she opened the door and left, she wouldn’t be able to stay here anymore.

As abruptly as she came, she would leave just as abruptly.

‘I knew it, but I didn’t want to.’

Min-joo gripped the handle and looked at Vehen and Robert.

It would be kind of her to send them off without giving them a chance to say goodbye.

Without lingering on long farewells, leave when she can leave.

If she says she doesn’t want to go, is it ridiculous?

But if she has endured this long to go home and still want to stay here…

She didn’t want to part with them. She had given them too much affection.

Despite being careful, as humans, she couldn’t help but give them her heart.

‘Saying goodbye will only make it harder to leave.’

She feared that if she bid farewell to the connections she had made, she would be trapped and unable to leave.

Even if she ran away, there was nothing to say, but she couldn’t stay here out of fear of parting with them.

Her life was in Korea.

So she had to go. She had to.

“Thank you. Really, everyone.”

Still, she thought she could at least express her gratitude.

Min-joo smiled softly and turned the handle to open the door.

Leaving the room was no different from usual.

The door opened, and Min-joo left.

And she didn’t come back.

Vehen waited for Min-joo to open the door again and come back, but he knew she wouldn’t open the door again and stepped back inside, smiling.

“This feels more comfortable.”

Robert muttered quietly.

Vehen couldn’t agree. There wasn’t even time to say goodbye.

But even if there was time, could he let Min-joo go without holding onto her? He couldn’t be sure.

It didn’t feel real. Had Min-joo really left?

Had she truly gone to a place without Vehen, safely back to where she was before?

When Vehen clenched his fist silently, Robert lightly nudged his shoulder.

“Hey.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry.”

Only then did Vehen turn his gaze to Robert.

With one side of her face covered by light brown hair and a shadow cast over her face, Robert looked like a sinister sorcerer.

Vehen looked at Robert without saying anything.

He couldn’t tell if the apology she offered was for sending Min-joo away without a word, or if it was due.

“Turning back time was my selfish desire, and you got caught up in it. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I apologize for causing you harm out of my selfishness.”

The pale face that seemed so sinister now looked tired and worn out.

Robert’s dark and deep blue eyes locked onto Vehen.

“I’m sorry. I pretended not to know what you were going through. I apologize for not apologizing properly.”

Why apologize now? Min-joo had already left, and there was no one to stop Robert.

Maybe she wanted to ask for forgiveness so she could live with a clear conscience.

Vehen thought it was truly despicable, wanting to harm others and live unscathed.

Veins bulged in Vehen’s neck.

“So what do you want to do?”

His low, resonant voice poured out threateningly towards Robert.

Robert slowly closed and opened her eyes, then smiled as roughly and abruptly as before.

“You can harm me. Even if I stop breathing, time won’t turn back. There’s no more going back. I assure you. So, you can seek revenge.”

Revenge.

Vehen silently rolled the word around in his mouth. It tasted lukewarm and bitter.

Would seeking revenge relieve the pain he had endured so far?

Vehen had sought revenge many times in the cycle.

To Tedric, whom he believed had harmed Min-joo and his parents. To Count Mirtese, who deceived him.

Seeking bloody revenge didn’t improve anything. It only left him feeling emptier, as if he had lost something.

Would it be the same this time? If he harmed Robert, who had ruined his life, would there be nothing left but emptiness?

Moreover, he didn’t want to give Robert what she wanted.

He wasn’t sure.

Vehen simply hoped Min-joo would come back. And for that, he needed Robert.

“How can I make sure Min-joo arrived safely?”

Vehen stared at the door and asked.

Robert also looked at the door and replied quietly.

“I’ve decided to call her back later to ask. If she arrives safely, we can send her back the same way.”

As soon as he heard the answer that she might come back, a sensation erupted near his heart.

What erupted filled his chest gradually.

Whether this sensation was hope or greed, it didn’t matter.

Vehen nodded.

“We’ll decide what to do with you after confirming that Min-joo has arrived safely. Stay here until then. Don’t reveal that you’re a sorcerer.”

“Why not kill me?”

Vehen turned his head at Robert’s low and bold voice.

Robert frowned, seeming quite displeased with something.

Vehen chuckled and spoke.

“Seems like you want to be harmed, but I’m not interested.”

“…Fine. Even if I give you a chance, you reject it like a lunatic.”

Robert tapped Vehen’s shoulder and went up the stairs.

Robert feared death.

After realizing she couldn’t return home, she lost her zest for life.

She had intended to send Min-joo back and apologize to Vehen before losing her breath.

As a sorcerer, she couldn’t reveal herself to the world.

Making connections with someone, and achieving something, was a luxury not permitted to a sorcerer.

‘I didn’t ask to be born a sorcerer.’

There was nothing more she could do. With nothing to strive for with her own body, there was nothing she wanted to do.

There was no need to call Min-joo back to confirm if she had arrived safely. She must have arrived perfectly safely.

‘How should I live now?’

Robert locked herself in the room again.

As soon as the door closed, Vehen let out a heavy sigh.

‘Min-joo is gone.’

She really was gone.

He opened the door to check outside, but he couldn’t find Min-joo.

He had tried to send Min-joo away. He had tried his best to do so. Now that he had succeeded, he didn’t feel as happy as he thought he would.

The experience of having Min-joo for even a moment felt too painful.

‘I shouldn’t have tried to be her lover.’

Her smiling face was still vivid.

He thought he could accept it gracefully.

He had lost Min-joo several times already, and since he had wished for her safe return, he thought he would be fine.

He shouldn’t have tried to have her. He shouldn’t have been greedy.

If he had known it would hurt this much.

He shouldn’t have done it.

* * *

The scent of dust.

Faint sounds of clacking and car engines.

Min-joo couldn’t open her eyes.

She was afraid that these familiar noises might be hallucinations. If she had heard something she longed for so desperately, she felt she might collapse.

She took a deep breath. Along with the unfamiliar sound of breathing, the typical hustle and bustle of the city flowed into her ears.

Her heart pounded, and the tightly clenched doorknob grew hot.

It wasn’t until the sound of the TV from the next room reached her ears that Min-joo could open her eyes.

“…Home.”

It was home. Min-joo’s living room.

The familiar structure and Min-joo’s familiar belongings caught her eye. And standing in the middle of the living room was her younger sibling.

Her sibling?

“…Whoa?”

Min-joo blurted out a gorilla-like sound.

Min-joo’s younger sibling, Min-seo, also seemed greatly perplexed by the situation, standing there without even noticing her glasses falling.

“…What?”

Looking strikingly similar to Min-joo, Min-seo muttered to herself more sharply than Min-joo.

Then, she took off her glasses, wiped them on her sleeve, put them back on, and looked at Min-joo.

“…Sister?”

With a muffled word, emotions flickered across Min-seo’s face.

Joy, worry, joy, delight, and deep, heavy relief.

Unlike Min-joo, who was fragile, Min-seo was strong and quick-witted, a natural-born leader.

She handled things smoothly on her own, and made sure to take care of her affairs, but she wasn’t selfish.

While Min-seo sometimes looked down on Min-joo’s sensitive nature, it was born out of affectionate concern.

And that affectionate concern, along with months of silence, suddenly burst forth upon seeing Min-joo show up out of the blue in strange attire.

“Where have you been all this time? Why did you leave your phone behind? Why didn’t you contact me once? Where on earth have you been? You left your wallet and phone here!”

The loud, clanging voice echoed sharply in the small studio.

Approaching Min-joo with quick strides, Min-seo was like a storm.

As soon as she stood in front of Min-joo, Min-seo scrutinized her and grabbed her collar.

“What’s with this outfit? What have you been up to? What are you doing without any sense of responsibility?”

Knowing it was out of concern, Min-joo couldn’t utter a word in response to Min-seo’s one-sided scolding.

It was always like this. Whenever Min-seo occasionally looked at her with a pitiful gaze, Min-joo’s heart would ache, and she would be at a loss for words.

“I paid the rent, and I covered for Mom and Dad’s missing person report. If you have something to say, speak up, what happened!”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

In novels or comics, when characters return home after living in a parallel world, they easily return to their daily lives.

Why couldn’t she do the same? Was it because she wasn’t the protagonist?

Or was it because this was reality, not a fictional story?

Surviving in this otherworldly realm was already extremely difficult, but why was reality rushing at her without a moment to catch her breath?

To be honest, she didn’t think she could believe it.

Treating her like she was insane, it seemed they’d look at her with pity.

“…I was just too exhausted, so I went on a trip abroad.”

So she lied.

Knowing it was a lie that wouldn’t hold, she had no choice.

Taking off the shoes she’d been wearing, Min-joo passed by Min-seo and stood in front of the entrance. Her brown shoes, showing signs of wear, were placed in the shoe rack.

Imprints of feet remained on the front surface.

Min-seo grabbed Min-joo’s arm and turned her towards herself. It was a rough touch.

“Say something sensible! You went on a trip abroad and came back without any luggage? Dressed like this?!”

If she didn’t want to talk, she should just refuse, why was she so insistent?

Min-joo couldn’t hide her frustration and shouted out.

If she wouldn’t believe anything she said, then it didn’t seem to matter if she told the truth.

“Then what should I say? Fine, I went to another world and back! I went and fought off a prince, learned to use a gun, and even had a romantic relationship, why!”

With her tearing shout, Min-seo’s face contorted into a mess.