Solo Leveling: Sung-Jin-Woo x Cha-Hae-In

IX. Bad Mood

It was a sunny day. The heat was present in the air as it blew. Summer was supposed to be the time for happy times like going to the beach or just relaxing around at home.

But Sung Jinwoo is in a sour mood.

Lee Sehwan bit his lips in silence at his partner's dark aura. 'Sir Jinwoo can't be bothered by anything today... or else. Maybe because he was late to work?' He thought as he glanced at the man in question. Jinwoo was leaning against their parked car, waiting for their target to come down from the building. He clicked his tongue.

"I really don't like dreams." Jinwoo grumbled, and his fingers tapped the hood of the car, getting impatient.

"Eh? Sir?" Sehwan just blinked in confusion at his statement.

Jinwoo stood properly, took his blazer off, feeling the heat, and shoved it inside the car's open window. His tongue clicked in annoyance once again.

"It's either a dream about my time up there or something else bothering... really, really bothering." He grumbles more before starting to walk towards the building.

"Come on, Sehwan. Our target just stepped in the elevator."

"Yes sir..."

Earlier...

"Oppa! I told you, just follow me. Do not fuss!" A woman with shoulder-length hair chuckled softly as she pulled her boyfriend towards some place she described as beautiful and forced him to go to it today.

"Fine. But why do I need to be blindfolded?" Jinwoo grumbled, but he kept following her anyway. So she let her guide him. And a few minutes later, Haein stopped walking, and she let go of her grip on him.

"Haein?"

"Shh, it's a surprise, so just stay still there for awhile."

Jinwoo let out another grumble, voicing out his complaints, but he obliged anyway. 'Hmm... this curiosity is killing me... Perhaps I can use my powers?'

"No oppa. No use of sensory sharing or any powers up your sleeve. No Shadow Sovereign for tonight."

"Haaaa-." Jinwoo sighed. 'She really knows how to read my thoughts now.' Should he be amused by that fact?

With no more choice but to wait (well, his girlfriend wouldn't let him have any other choice anyway), he relented and stood still in his spot. He heard some noise and footsteps from his left. Five minutes had passed when he heard the noise stop and heard her voice again.

"Okay oppa. Open your eyes now."

"Finally. So what do you want to show me? Forcing me to come,  he He took off his blindfold, and the sight in front of him left him speechless. It was enough for him to cut his sentence short.

No. Wait. It's more than enough.

Haein stared at him with her expressionless face once again, and what's more, there was a man beside her who had his arm wrapped around her waist. Jinwoo stared wide-eyed; the man looked familiar.

"Jinwoo. Let's break up. I don't want to be with a man who is already old mentally while in a teen's body. That's so weird. I have antares now. Goodbye."

"Ha? Old man? Me? What!?" He exclaimed furiously.

"He's the Monarch of Destruction! The enemy!"

Jinwoo jolted awake on the bed. His slumber was interrupted. Quickly sitting up, he frantically looked around the place while he tried to catch his breath. He recognised that he was in Haein's apartment, and he started to calm down.

'What. the . Fuck?' He ruffled his hair frustratingly.

'The hell with that dream? Fuck. My mind is scarred.' He groaned and stared at the wall disbelievingly before he laid down again. His hands went to his face, trying to even his breathing. Unfortunately for our Shadow Monarch, the images came flooding back again. His girlfriend was leaning closer to the man, who looked too much like the Dragon Emperor, his lips inching closer.

'STOP! Arghh!'

His heart thumped loudly. That sight was enough to shake his core. He knew Haein would never do that. He knows. However, the sight really took him off guard. A dream that started fluffy and sweet ended up becoming a disaster that scarred him.

'This... is a nightmare.'

Haein watched him with amusement dancing in her eyes. 'He gave in to insanity...' She thought playfully. She had been staring at him for a minute now since he woke up, and she tilted her head in confusion as she sipped her morning coffee.

"Babe? What are you doing?" She mumbled.

Jinwoo sat up quickly and looked to see where the direction of the voice came from. Haein was sitting down on the couch across the bed while holding her mug. She looked at him weirdly when he did not answer. "I tried to wake you up earlier, but you wouldn't budge... Now, you spent the last few minutes groaning and grumbling about something."

She blinked as she saw him standing up and walking towards her in three strides. His height towered over her, and her sentence trailed off.

"Jinwoo?"

He gritted his teeth in irritation as the memories flashed in his mind. So, he placed his hands on both of her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her lips.

Haein froze at the sudden contact, and she almost dropped her mug, but Jinwoo, with his reflexes, took it and placed it down on the table, and then he kissed her harder.

Confusion was written all over her face, but she let him do it anyway. Her ears were getting red from embarrassment as her heart started beating loudly.

Jinwoo just stared at her, and then he nibbled her lip before pulling away. He licked his lips.

'Hm, morning coffee tastes good.' The bitter taste of coffee and her taste mixed sweetly on his tongue. He wrapped his arms around her as he sat down. Haein melted in his embrace. Her form was secured around him.

"That's mine, okay?" He mumbled, pertaining to her lips. "No, scratch that. You're mine, right?"

"Uh.. right. Yes." Haein stuttered as she just blinked, still trying to recover from his sudden actions, and it brought a dark blush to her cheeks.

"Babe, you'll be late to work." Haein mumbled.

"No. Let me stay here more."

"But you've been hugging me for an hour now."

Jinwoo just tightened his embrace, and he buried his face on the crook of her neck instead of replying. He inhaled her vanilla scent.

And Haein, still dumbfounded by the course of events this morning, just stayed still in his arms.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the territory of eternal rest,.

[...]

[Khieek!]

[... Our king is whipped.]

[Aww...]

To be continued...