DM Side Story 10
“Lee Sarin.”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.”
He turned her chin, making her face him directly.The intensity of his gaze made her heart thump faster, even though she wasn’t running right now.
“It’s nothing much. Ah, it’s a bit awkward here. Let’s go outside…”
“What is it?”
Owen blinked slowly, lowering his gaze. He glanced at the bulge in Sarin’s pocket, then met her eyes again. Holding her chin, he kept her from looking away. It was really nothing, but she suddenly felt embarrassed to show it to him among these splendid jewels.
“What is it that made you make me wait like this, hm?”
She clenched the case tightly. Gripping it until the sharp edges dug into her palm, she finally took it out in front of Owen. It was just a palm-sized case. It wasn’t an elegant box; it was no different from a square, angular box.
“I was out walking the dogs… and just happened to see it.”
The money Owen had given her was still hidden in the same place, surprisingly. With just that, Sarin felt like a wealthy person. Since she already had everything she needed at home, Sarin carried the cash Owen gave her in small amounts, without using the card he provided.
In Eden City, there were several facilities set up for tourists. A cathedral was one of them. While walking the dogs, she noticed a rosary ring at a relic shop next to it. Normally, these were sold indoors during winter, but they had displayed them outside due to the nice weather.
Sarin thought of the ring she had lost.
She tried putting on the ring most similar to the one she had lost, trying to recall the size. It was a small ring, paid for with her own money, so it felt oddly easy to give it away.
The things Owen gave her were so great that she thought she could give them without thinking. She did, but she ended up in the most unlikely place in the world.
“It’s a ring.”
Owen opened the case and exclaimed in surprise.
It looked similar to the ring he used to wear out of habit. His was very worn out, but the one Sarin handed over was emitting a unique silver shine. Seeing Owen’s face darken with disappointment somewhere, she quickly closed the case.
“I’ll get you something better.”
“Something better?”
“Adorned with gems like that…”
Sarin’s gaze wandered aimlessly. There, a ring with a fist-sized emerald sparkled.
“Haha. My hand would look really beautiful with that.”
She sighed as she put the case back into her pocket. He reached out and took the case back.
“You keep touching your fingers, I’m sorry for losing it.”
“I told you it doesn’t matter. If you’re going to give a man a ring, give him something to wear on his other finger, not here.”
Sarin stopped breathing for a moment and looked at him. Her eyes barely blinked. It was a confusing statement that didn’t make much sense to her.
Owen slowly took the ring out of the case and handed it to Sarin. She accepted it unexpectedly and he gracefully extended his left hand as if he were receiving a proposal.
“You can just put it on.”
“Nonsense. If you buy it, you have to take full responsibility.”
The ring slipped from her nervous hand and rolled onto the marble floor. Startled, Sarin knelt down to retrieve the ring. When she found the ring, completely lying on the floor after hitting her feet, she let out a relieved sigh. Owen then knelt down as well, so they were at eye level.
Owen held out his hand to Sarin, who had picked up the ring. His hand trembled slightly as he slipped it onto her index finger. Though the sound of swallowing dry saliva was noticeable, he pretended not to notice.
Thanks to frequently handling his ring, the size was not too big or too small. It fit his index finger perfectly, as if it was made for him.
As the ring sparkled a bit more on his finger than her previous one, it seemed like everything had been restored. Owen turned the ring out of habit.
“It’s a shame it’s not for my fourth finger, but I’ll take this one as an engagement ring.”
“What? What do you mean?”
She looked up sharply, questioning what kind of ring he was talking about.
“So you were only planning to use me at night.”
“No!”
It wasn’t like that at all. Sarin shouted in exasperation. How could this situation become so complicated all of a sudden? She simply found something similar to the ring she had lost and bought it, but Owen took it as an engagement ring.
“Yeah. I thought you felt the same way as me, Lee Sarin.”
Speechless at Owen’s bright face that seemed to take her breath away, she couldn’t deny it at all. She wondered if he had ever smiled like this before. Sarin’s gray eyes became cloudy.
“…Owen.”
“I want to have a child with you.”
The words that could never have come from his mouth fell like a bomb. When Sarin envisioned a future with Owen, a child was never part of it. She’s vaguely aware of how much he despises his own blood. Just accepting Hayan made Sarin not think of that future.
Her lips parted widely like an idiot.
“I, I’m….”
“I feel like I need to bind you to me in every possible way.”
Whether it’s a formal device or a child. Owen was serious.
“Why do you have such a shocked expression on your face?”
He rubbed Sarin’s shocked face with his ringed hand. His low voice holds a thick heat.
“I thought you… hated that kind of thing.”
“I hate it, but I think I have to do it with Lee Sarin.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m the more desperate one.”
Belov was laughable. He shattered his relationship with Karlena and destroyed everything she cherished. He flipped the pretext of love to justify all the violent relationships and ultimately gained nothing. Owen grew up watching such things beside Nikolai.
What on earth is this all about? It seemed so ridiculous to him, this obsession of staying alive.
But he himself was treading the same path.
To get Sarin whom he wanted most, he had cut into his belly and removed his organs to save the child. Yet, he still wasn’t fully convinced that she was completely his. The sinister and destructive thoughts were turning his brain into a quagmire. In that case, he just needed to create something that would make her never be able to leave him.
Like an ordinary person, Owen thought of marrying and having a child.
Even after having a child, he could not be free from his obsession that he might lose her.
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
Sarin looked terrified.
This is why he didn’t want to be found out. Since she was giving a naive answer without even guessing the mess in his head, he ended up putting on an overly kind facade that didn’t fit.
“You’ll be fine, Sarin.”
The problem was him. Owen kissed her lips. He kissed the gray eyes staring back at him. Her lashes closed reflexively, and he lifted them with his tongue and licked greedily at their slippery, tear-filled, salty lids.
He supported Sarin’s back as she fell backward. Not to keep her upright, but to keep her completely off the ground.
“Hah….”
He said, gasping at her trembling breath, kissing her lips on her eyelids as if swearing to herself.
“Since you’ve pulled me out and even given me a ring, you should take me with you.”
She couldn’t resist the forceful words. She didn’t want to do it that way. Reluctantly, She accepted him, as if being pushed.
“I’ll do my best…”
She thought it was amazing when her sister gave birth. She thought it was great, but she couldn’t imagine what life would be like after she was tied to someone. She was scared of the future, but she didn’t want to push away the big, tough man who was hugging her.
She nodded her head as if she couldn’t win.
Holding the man’s body, she thought of the dogs she had left in Eden City. Sometimes they’d get excited and jump on her like this, and when she falls over, they’d jump on top of her and lick her face. She thought dogs take after their owners.
“Okay. I’ll figure something out.”
His face, which was close to her, was warm.
“You have the ring, right? It was blessed by a… priest.”
They probably did. All the products in front of the relic shop were labeled as products blessed by a priest.
“Something prettier than jewelry.”
“Yeah….”
Owen liked the idea of a ring that had been blessed by a priest. He didn’t bother to bring up whether God would like him or not. If Sarin wanted to believe in it somehow, she could believe it.
Sarin, lying down pushed by him, thought about the conversation just now and tears came to her eyes for some reason. It wasn’t because she was sad. Without asking why she was crying, Owen swallowed it with his lips.
The cabinet was filled with the jewels he’d promised to give her, each one creating a different color. The walls caught the light and sparkled with different colors, clearly visible from below.
But above all, the most beautiful thing was the reflection of herself in the mirror. No gem caught her eye more than this one.
Facing Owen nearby, Sarin vaguely reaffirmed that this would be her lifetime jewel.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Three Dobermans nearby fiercely barked at those who glanced at him.
Woof, woof, woof!
Owen, with a cigarette in his mouth and the leash loosely held, inhaled smoke with the cold air. It was always the same city. Addicts of pleasure crept through the gates he opened to offer even their souls. Owen had grown quite fond of this nighttime scene.
On the way back to the hotel, he casually glanced at a drunken person sprawled out. They’d probably find them as corpses by morning, but he didn’t care.
Woof, woof!
Three dogs guarding their quietly standing owner growled threateningly. No one glanced this way as they passed by. Beyond the white smoke, the city of pleasure gleamed. As Owen stood upright and finished his cigarette, the darkness deepened.
