Chapter 80: Chapter 80- Far Too Close (Part 2)
The green light emitting from Gu Iseul's hands slowly engulfed Talon's body. A few seconds passed like that before any effect started taking place.
Talon's injuries started visibly closing at a rapid pace. The remaining cuts and bruises slowly disappeared as tissue cells and skin reconnected. The broken bones also healed and returned to their normal position. By the time a minute passed, all those small injuries vanished out of existence, leaving behind only the nasty ones.
There were three main ones that were lethally dangerous, the huge scar on his face, his carved side, and a huge laceration in his left leg.
Each one of them was even worse than the other and healing them seemed like it was going to take ages. Minutes passed as Gu Iseul's face started changing. Her breathing turned audible and erratic and her hands started shaking visibly.
Eventually, she couldn't keep that light going and she fell back, her face completely covered in sweat.
"Are you ok?" Hyun-Jae looked at her.
"I-I'm sorry, Miss President… I depleted my Aetheris… I need to replenish it to continue…" The girl replied with a pale expression as she closed her eyes.
She could see that Hyun-Jae was in a really bad mood because of Talon's state, so the fact that she couldn't continue the healing made her fear the president's reaction. However, much to her surprise.
"It's fine, go take a break. You already healed so many students. Thank you for your help." Hyun-Jae replied in a calm tone.
"..." Gu Iseul blinked in shock as she looked at Hyun-Jae. There wasn't a shred of anger or disappointment in her eyes at all.
Gu Iseul didn't know how to react at that moment as she nodded her head and stood up. 'So this is why Miss President is so popular… She's really such an amazing person.'
All she heard about Hyun-Jae were rumors before and she never really believed them fully. However, when she saw Hyun-Jae's character from up close, Gu Iseul was certain that it wasn't merely rumored… Hyun-Jae was indeed that amazing of a person.
After the healer left, Hyun-Jae exhaled a long breath as she sat down again. Her eyes wandered back to Talon who was still unconscious. His face looked a little better than before, but he was still far from good. The nasty injury on his side was fully open still.
However, surprisingly, it didn't seem like it was getting any worse as Hyun-Jae expected. In fact, she noticed that Talon's body was recovering on its own at a considerably fast pace.
That made her heart feel a little more at ease even though she was still worried.
"Mmm, Miss President…" As she was like that, she heard a soft voice calling for her.
"Hm?" Hyun-Jae turned around. "Hei Ran? Everything ok?"
Hei Ran had an awkward look on her face as she pointed at Hyun-Jae's back. "Mm, I know this isn't the time for this, but your back is… completely exposed. Do you need some clothes?" She asked.
Hyun-Jae took a second to take her words in before she looked at her back only to realize what the girl meant. Because of the continuous fighting, Hyun-Jae's clothes were shredded to pieces. Especially her back which was not covered at all. Her eyes then wandered around her only to notice students looking at her with weird eyes.
Immediately, her body shuddered and she felt her heart grow cold.
"I brought you a blanket." Hei Ran said when she noticed the president's reaction. Being naked in front of others, even if no sensitive parts were visible was a very bad feeling. Especially for Hyun-Jae who hated that way more than normal.
"Thank you."
Taking the blanket, Hyun-Jae covered herself as she exhaled a long breath.
'This feels a lot better… Though, how did I not notice this earlier?' She asked herself in confusion.
Usually, Hyun-Jae would instantly notice if someone was looking at her no matter where she was. It was akin to a sixth sense she developed across her entire life. It helped her cope with the trauma she had since childhood.
The trauma that followed her till today and will probably keep following her for the rest of her life. Something that only a few people knew of. For a split second in her head, a dark image filled her vision as she noticed a silhouette beneath her, dripping with a red liquid.
When Hyun-Jae realized what she was doing, her eyes widened as she immediately shook those thoughts away and focused on Talon.
'I guess I was too occupied with him to even notice that… It never happened before…' She mused.
Her worry and fear made her ignore arguably the most sensitive thing about her completely. It was a first for Hyun-Jae and naturally, that made her even more confused. How did this young man make her feel that way? She, who rarely feels anything intense, was now on an emotional rollercoaster on a daily basis.
All because of him…
Hyun-Jae's eyes flashed with complicated emotions as she stared at Talon silently. Her senses were completely focused on him, ignoring the outside for a few moments.
"Mm, excuse… me…"
That focus was broken when she heard a voice behind her again. Looking up, she saw Chin-Hwa standing there with a frown on his face.
Hyun-Jae squinted her eyes without replying which seemed like a signal for him to speak.
"Can we… talk alone for a moment?" The cold prince said in an awkward tone.
"Speak, no one can hear you," Hyun-Jae replied as she turned around and started looking at Talon again.
Chin-Hwa's face grew even uglier when he noticed that and could only gnash his teeth in frustration. In the end, he exhaled a long breath before he spoke.
"I wanted to apologize for what I did… It was really idiotic of me to come here and put such a huge risk on everyone. I'm really sorry."
Every word Chin-Hwa said at that moment was his true, sincere feelings. He hadn't realized the huge disaster of a mistake he made that put everyone, including his and Hyun-Jae's life in danger.
His selfishness had brought his beloved pain and suffering, that fact alone was enough to break his heart to pieces.
'I'm such a moron!!' He cursed himself again and again countless times.
As he stood there, Hyun-Jae didn't seem to show any reaction as she kept looking at Talon with a serene expression, as if his features were a source of peacefulness for her. In the end, she opened her mouth and replied.
"Did he save your life?" She asked.
"... Saved my life?"
"Yes, did he save your life when you came here?"
"..." Chin-Hwa frowned before he nodded his head. "Yes, he pulled me off the bike before I hit a wall."
"I see… So that's why it took him a long time to come back…" Hyun-Jae's calm face smiled slightly. "Yet, it's weird that he didn't say that to me, isn't it?"
"..." The cold prince's face changed again. "He didn't? Why?"
Hyun-Jae's smile turned way softer as she eyed the unconscious man next to her.
"Knowing him, he probably didn't want to make you look bad in front of me."
Hearing that, the young man's eyes widened. Hyun-Jae's words made him remember what Talon had said when he saved his life.
"You came here for her, didn't you?" He asked him at the time to which Chin-Hwa nodded his head.
At the time, Chin-Hwa didn't give it much thought. But, he now realized what happened. Talon knew that Chin-Hwa had more than just 'respect' toward Hyun-Jae so he didn't really want to make him lose even more favorability from her.
'But why… Isn't he…' Chin-Hwa felt completely lost at that moment. Everything he assumed before had seemingly come crumbling down at that moment. Was he wrong about Talon having malicious intent toward Hyun-Jae? Was he really not trying to take her away from him? Each question blurred into the other and it made him even more confused.
"It's really funny… He always does the most unexpected things without bragging or telling anyone and yet it's always amazing when you notice it. I never understood how he does it."
'It's really like him, isn't it?' She asked herself again as she felt warmth in her heart. Perhaps, it wasn't all too vague and puzzly as to why she found Talon this intriguing. After all, this seemingly normal young man kept stirring her heart as he wished.
"I… I didn't…" Chin-Hwa was at a loss for words.
"What happened had happened. You put everyone's life at risk without realizing the consequences of your actions. All for something that I already warned you not to do." Hyun-Jae finally turned around and looked at Chin-Hwa. Her voice was calm and yet incredibly stern and heartless.
"I don't think we can be friends anymore."
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )
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