[AFYC] Chapter 19

Standing hesitantly, Seo Ah heard the knock on the door again.

Knock, knock, knock.

Her heart, already startled, reacted sharply to the slightest sound. Seo Ah felt certain that the person outside was not the innkeeper for some inexplicable reason. She considered pretending she wasn’t there, but something told her that wasn’t a good idea. 

“Who’s there?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. 

There was no response. 

Feeling unable to stay rooted to the spot, she slowly moved toward the door, her steps unsure. Once there, she took a deep breath and asked calmly, “What do you want?” 

This time, there was a reply from the other side. 

“I’d like to have a quick word with you. Could you open the door?” 

The voice was deep—deeper than any she had ever heard—and made her heart sink like a weight pulling it down. 

“You can speak to me like this. There’s no need to open the door,” she replied, trying to muster her courage. 

“Well, it’s something that needs to be discussed face-to-face,” came the response. 

“What could be so important that we need to speak face-to-face?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. But the man outside chuckled softly, and she could hear the amusement in his voice. Her fingers began to tremble. 

“Tell me…” The man’s voice trailed off, leaving a silence that felt endless. Finally, his low, monotonous voice pierced through the door. “Do you even know where you are?” 

Seo Ah instinctively held her breath. The food she had just eaten seemed to lodge in her chest. 

“What do you mean? Isn’t this an inn…?” she started to say. 

“Is it?” he interrupted. 

“…” 

“It’s just a little different from what I know.” 

“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice shaky. 

“Well, it makes sense that you wouldn’t want to open the door for someone in the middle of the night.” 

“…” 

“How about this: there should be a latch on the door. If you unlock the latch, you can open it just a crack—enough to see my face but not enough to feel unsafe. If you’re worried, you can do that.” 

“…” 

What should she do? 

Her heart was racing out of control. 

The man outside had rekindled her suspicions, and anxiety began to spread through her body like wildfire. She was frozen, unable to make a decision. Just then, she sensed the man stepping away from the door. 

“Alright, I understand. But you should find out what kind of place this is.” 

With that, he walked away without any further hesitation. 

His footsteps were heavy, and Seo Ah marvelled that she hadn’t noticed such a presence before. How had she not felt someone with such a weighty aura? 

Was this not an inn? Then what is this place? 

After double-checking that the latch was securely fastened, Seo Ah unlocked the door. She opened it just a crack before the man could disappear completely. 

“Excuse me…” she called out, her voice trembling. Then, she disappeared into the darkness, and she saw him stop in his tracks. 

“Wait,” she added. 

Through the narrow opening, cold air rushed in, carrying a sense of foreboding along with it. Darkness and uncertainty seemed to press in on her like tangible forces. Then, the man turned from within that black void and began walking back toward her. 

His strides were long and purposeful. 

Before she could even count his steps, the murky darkness was split apart, and she suddenly found herself face-to-face with him. She didn’t have time to hide behind the door. 

The man now completely occupied the space filled by the darkness and cold. 

Seo Ah stared up at him in shock. 

He was wearing a white shirt. He was so tall that she had to crane her neck to see his face. Underneath the dark hair that fell over his forehead, his piercing blue eyes met hers. 

He was stunningly handsome, but he radiated danger in equal measure. A faint cloud of smoke swirled around him, making him seem like a creature formed from shadows. 

It felt as if all the blood in her body drained to her feet. 

She’s small, pale… and strange. 

These were Oscar’s thoughts as he observed her. 

The woman standing before him, visible through the small crack in the door, seemed so delicate that he felt as though he could see all of her at once. When her large brown eyes met him, he felt a strange disbelief. 

Is this the woman with the key? 

How could the key, which I once desperately searched for, end up in the hands of someone like her?