Chapter 39: Make it mine.

“…What?”

A birthday gift… she wants what?

Flustered by Baek Yeon’s request, I questioned my ears.

“Say you love me, with sincerity.”

But Baek Yeon just repeated herself, her expression calm.

What is this? She’s boldly spouting lines like some abandoned heroine clinging to the protagonist in a novel.

I thought it might be a joke, but her serious face told me she meant it.

‘Love…’

At first glance, it seemed like a simple request.

Just saying a single phrase—easy enough.

But I knew Baek Yeon.

She’s cunning.

I hate to admit it, but… in the Baek Clan, the one most like the Clan Leader, Baek Wooncheon, is Baek Yeon.

She never acts without a reason, calculating the outcomes and reactions in her head.

It’s a good thing her focus is solely on me… If she were twisted, she’d probably be running some crime syndicate by now.

Seriously.

So, her request for me to say “I love you” as a birthday gift must have an ulterior motive.

‘…What is it?’

But I couldn’t figure out her intentions, and my head started to spin.

I do care for Baek Yeon.

If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have turned down the chance to be the disciple of a former martial world legend.

She’s a precious bond after years together, and I know I’d be deeply hurt if she died. I’ll stay by her side, as I promised.

But—

If you ask whether this feeling is ‘love’…

I couldn’t say yes.

What I feel for Baek Yeon is a complex mix of emotions, too tangled to pin down with one word.

‘Tch.’

My brow furrowed as I thought it over.

This was harder than any request she’d ever made.

Even harder than when she pestered me to hold her.

‘…Screw it, whatever.’

I’ll go crazy overthinking this.

Maybe I could just say “I love you” casually… She can’t read my mind, right?

As I opened my mouth to speak—

Tap.

“…”

Baek Yeon placed her index finger on my lips, silencing me.

Staring at me, she spoke slowly.

“You know, Seoran, I hate lies, right?”

Y-Yes, of course.

Startled by her sudden question, I nodded cautiously.

Her eyes curved into a strange smile.

“So, if you say ‘I love you’ just to get it over with…”

“…”

“I’ll be really mad.”

Gulp.

Her soft but pointed warning made me swallow hard.

‘Damn, I almost screwed myself.’

Having spent years with her, I know her threats aren’t empty when she says she’ll get mad.

As I clamped my mouth shut, sweating profusely, her smile deepened.

“So… can you say it or not?”

“Uh, Young Lady—”

“If you can’t even give me this…”

Ignoring my call, she slid her finger from my lips, down my chin, tracing my neck, and stopping at my collarbone.

“What can you give me?”

Her hand hovered, teasingly close to slipping further, brushing against the bare skin exposed by my clothes.

Despite my efforts to stay calm, my body reacted honestly.

“Y-Young Lady… Ngh.”

A faint, unintended moan slipped from my lips.

Feeling my face heat up, I barely managed to respond.

“Just… give me a little time.”

“…Hm.”

She let out a cryptic hum, her lips curling into a smile.

“I won’t give you too much time.”

It was a seductive, meaningful smile.

I swallowed again.

But, like…

“…”

Can’t she do this when we’re alone?

I shot a glance at Song Hwa, who was trying to blend into the background.

She avoided my eyes, staring at the ground.

…I’m dying of embarrassment.

—

With the situation resolved, the two—well, three—of us headed to a small (by Baek Clan standards) dining hall in Baekryu Hall.

There, the Young Master, Baek Kang, was waiting after finishing his duties.

Thus began the dinner to celebrate Baek Yeon’s birthday.

“…Yeon, you seem in a good mood.”

“Hehe, so do you, Father.”

“Of course I’m happy.”

Baek Kang spoke sincerely.

“Being able to sit and eat with you like this feels like a blessing. Sniff…”

He wiped a tear from his cheek.

It didn’t match his rugged, bandit-like appearance, but Baek Kang, the famous daughter-doting fool of the Baek Clan, didn’t care about others’ opinions.

Baek Yeon smiled lightly in response.

“I’m happy too, Father.”

But in truth… her attention was solely on Seoran, sitting beside her.

“Haha…”

Seoran forced a smile, but Baek Yeon could sense the complex emotions beneath it.

The small sighs she let out constantly.

The soft lips hesitating as if deep in thought.

The drooping, cute eyebrows.

‘…Hoo.’

Suppressing the urge to pull Seoran into her arms, Baek Yeon let out a heavy sigh.

Since they were children, Seoran had been hers.

That fact became an absolute rule in Baek Yeon’s world the moment Seoran affirmed it herself.

But the feelings she had as a child were slightly different from now.

Her innocent, childish possessiveness had evolved into a deeper, more intense desire, laced with raw longing.

Baek Yeon knew these weren’t normal feelings to have for another person.

But she didn’t care.

Even if they weren’t normal, Seoran was hers forever.

‘Right, forever mine…’

Though she knew Seoran would always stay by her side, she sometimes thought—

What if she could ensure Seoran could never leave?

What if only she could see Seoran, and Seoran could only see her?

‘…Seoran would probably accept even that.’

But Baek Yeon wouldn’t do it.

If she locked Seoran in a cage, she wouldn’t get those genuine smiles anymore.

And then… she wouldn’t have Seoran’s ‘sincerity.’

In other words, she couldn’t fully possess Seoran’s body.

So, paradoxically, there was something she couldn’t have.

There couldn’t be any part of Seoran’s emotions that Baek Yeon didn’t possess.

That’s why she let Seoran roam freely.

But—

That didn’t mean she’d let her loose without any safeguards.

So, after biding her time, Baek Yeon spoke.

Say you love me, sincerely.

‘Silly Seoran.’

Baek Yeon chuckled inwardly, glancing at her.

She already knew.

Seoran loved her.

Seoran herself might not realize it, but Baek Yeon did.

While Seoran’s eyes looked out at the world, Baek Yeon’s were fixed solely on her.

So, she’d waited patiently.

Until Seoran’s unrecognized feelings slowly colored her entire being.

At first, Seoran saw her like a younger sister (Baek Yeon still didn’t get why Seoran, younger in body, treated her that way), but now she noticed all of Baek Yeon’s actions.

And she felt the affection and desire behind them.

Everything unfolded like a meticulously planned process, and Baek Yeon had firmly rooted herself in Seoran’s world.

‘So… keep thinking about love, about me.’

I want your mind filled only with thoughts of me.

And realize—

That you love me.

That your world is filled with me. That just as I can’t live without you, you can’t live without me.

Realize that and love only me.

Since I can’t fully have your body, let me have your mind.

‘My… Seoran.’

Her sticky thoughts flooded her mind endlessly.

But Baek Yeon had lived with pain her whole life. Enduring and suppressing was second nature to her.

“…Hehe.”

So, she swallowed the ugly emotions she couldn’t voice and simply smiled.

Until Seoran’s unrecognized love consumed her entirely.