noveltune Chapter 99
Chapter 99
Ryu Seo-ha reflexively turned around. Clearly, a living room of the same shape and size as the house in Hannam-dong, Seoul was just a few steps behind. It wasn’t an illusion. Then what was this scene unfolding before his eyes?
While he was blinking in confusion, he felt a large hand caressing his cheek. When he turned his head, Choi Gang-hu gently pressed his lips to the other cheek. It was an affectionate kiss as always.
“Do you like it?”
The low whisper was sweet as usual. Rather than liking it or not, he just wanted to press for an explanation of what exactly was going on.
“Where is this?”
“South Pacific, Polynesian Islands.”
At the straightforward answer, he felt like his mind was running away to the distant horizon.
“This tower...”
“Since it’s not a place to stay for just a day or two, I thought a familiar structure would be better.”
It had the nuance of implying he would stay here continuously. The word ‘confinement’ flashed through his mind momentarily, but he soon shook his head. He had made a similar misunderstanding before. Like then, there was nothing for him to gain by confining him now.
“Is it like a vacation home?”
Though he asked gently, pushing away negative thoughts, Choi Gang-hu just gave a strange smile without a clear answer.@@@@
“Would you like to take a look around?”
Ryu Seo-ha couldn’t nod or shake his head. An odd anxiety was tickling a corner of his heart. Choi Gang-hu, who smiled charmingly, gently pulled at the waist he was still holding with one arm.
As he walked where he was led, they soon left the living room, passed through the middle door, and then the entrance. Instead of cool outside air, the warm air characteristic of indoors swirled over his skin. The scene before his eyes was different from the one in his memory.
Instead of the light green lawn and main gate that should have been visible at the Hannam-dong mansion, a spiral staircase that looked like it belonged in a movie about wizards stretched endlessly downwards. It was a height that would be difficult even to glance at for someone with acrophobia.
“The building isn’t fully constructed yet.”
Choi Gang-hu added with a regretful expression that he didn’t expect to move in before completion.
“Move in...?”
“Although it looks like a tower from the outside, once it’s finished, the interior won’t be much different from a hotel resort.”
He went on to explain that it would be an island equipped with large amenities and all kinds of leisure facilities including beaches, ski slopes, golf courses, spas, campgrounds, water parks, theme parks, movie theaters, restaurants, and arcades.
He continued that he had originally planned to reveal it while throwing a 100-day anniversary party for their relationship. Ryu Seo-ha couldn’t find words to refute the off-point answer. Was he planning to build some kind of kingdom?
“Why go to such lengths...”
Ryu Seo-ha’s words, spoken after gathering courage, were cut off by Choi Gang-hu’s action of hugging him and leaping into the central void of the staircase. The time falling downwards felt very long.
It was a height where even the famous Rapunzel’s hair would fall short of reaching the ground even if grown for a lifetime. At a glance, the pattern engraved on the stairs was unusual. Were skills and items applied?
“Don’t you like it?”
“Pardon?”
“The sea, the stars, the beautiful scenery.”
After a long while, Choi Gang-hu, who had landed on the ground floor, pressed kisses to the cheek of Ryu Seo-ha, who was tightly hugging his neck. He didn’t think to avoid the lips that touched him habitually without any context.
“Well...”
A voice as gentle as the touch arranging his wind-blown hair settled by his ear.
“Is this place... somehow different?”
“Of course.”
When he stopped abruptly and asked, an immediate answer came back without even taking a breath.
“No one can enter or leave without my permission.”
The following words were also in a definitive tone.
“It can be called a truly heaven-sent fortress.”
He said the island, surrounded by beautiful coral reefs, itself acted as a shield blocking unauthorized external approaches. He also said he had planted traps throughout the island as well as defenses against spatial abilities.
Suddenly, in the distance, a blue field that seemed to clear his stuffy insides came into view. Choi Gang-hu’s mouth corners rose as he followed his gaze. The touch caressing Ryu Seo-ha’s shoulder was sweet.
“I plan to increase the island’s area further through land reclamation in the future.”
Desert, jungle, beach, mountain, river, field... His face smiling as he said he would create all the terrains on Earth in each part of the island was extremely affectionate. As was his voice adding that it was still far from enough, but he would arrange any environment as desired.
“Are you going to confine me here?”
“Hmm, borrowing a previous expression, shall we call it ‘protection’ to sound better?”
No matter how indirectly he phrased it, the true meaning wouldn’t change. Bewilderment seeped into Ryu Seo-ha’s eyes.
“Ah, I’ll allow your sister to be invited occasionally. After thorough inspection, of course.”
Choi Gang-hu smiled excitedly as if to say not to worry. Though his tone was gentle, his attitude was quite stubborn. As if no amount of pleading would change his decision.
“What if I don’t want to?”
“What’s the reason?”
“Pardon?”
“Whatever the reason you dislike it, I intend to remove it all. Or fill it all in.”
It seemed utterly impossible to reason with him.
“I can bring in farms, orchards, wildlife parks and such if you’d like.”
“...”
“You can swim freely in the sea around the island.”
Choi Gang-hu smiled again, saying he wouldn’t be able to go beyond the barrier anyway.
“The surrounding coral reefs, set to attack en masse when external approach is detected, will recognize and welcome you, Ryu Seo-ha.”
“...How is such a thing possible?”
Even if a monster taming skill had been applied, such detailed settings couldn’t be made for anyone other than the owner, Choi Gang-hu. Thinking this, he asked back, forgetting to argue about the fundamental issue.
He saw the sharp eyes curving gently. Then he pulled out a file from [Subspace]. The word ‘property’ was briefly visible. It looked like an important transaction document.
“Because Ryu Seo-ha is the owner of this island.”
Looking closely, it was a contract specifying Ryu Seo-ha’s name as the owner of this island.