Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 200

200. If I Could See You

[Great Demon, Great Demon.]

Rembrary shot his eyes open, startled from his sleep.

At that moment, a rumbling sound echoed, and a flash of lightning illuminated a tiger-headed figure outside the window.

“!”

Rembrary abruptly sat up, surprised. To wake up and see a person with a tiger’s head.

“Why do you keep calling me Great Demon?”

Rembrary asked, trying to hide his surprise, but the tiger-headed man merely twitched his whiskers in response.

[Today is the day.]

“The day for what?”

[The day I get a human head.]

“Ah…….”

Rembrary reached for his phone. He pressed the power button, and the date and time appeared. It was indeed the day.

“It’s already that time.”

[Will you be here today?]

“Probably.”

[I’ll come this way after changing my head, so could you take a look?]

“Do as you please.”

Even though Rembrary answered casually, the tiger-headed man happily left.

Meanwhile.

Jung Seo blinked from inside the blanket. He had actually woken up from the thunder earlier. But as soon as the thunder subsided, he heard Rembrary muttering to himself. He couldn’t help but worry.

However, he heard the rustling of the blanket as Rembrary burrowed back in, so Jung Seo thought, ‘He must be okay?’ and closed his eyes again.

But about an hour later, Jung Seo woke up again to a thumping sound.

Rembrary was grumbling to himself again, wondering why someone wasn’t coming in.

Jung Seo wondered what was going on, but he didn’t bother turning around to check.

Actually, it was a good decision not to look. He wouldn’t have seen anything anyway.

On the other hand, Rembrary saw something a little different from Jung Seo. Earlier, a tiger-headed man with long whiskers had come to talk to him, but now…….

[Why? What’s wrong? Is it not good?]

There was just someone who looked like a person. He was tall, almost 2 meters [approximately 6’7″], but in terms of appearance, he was human.

[How is it? Does this body look as good as the Great Demon? Daeju said I have a very handsome face.]

Rembrary sighed, and the tiger-headed monster fidgeted anxiously.

[Is it that strange?]

“Personally, I thought you looked cuter as a tiger.”

Rembrary answered honestly. He wasn’t trying to be mean, but he was genuinely disappointed that the fluffy fur and whiskers were gone.

On the other hand, the tiger-headed man turned pale. Seeing Rembrary’s reaction, he was afraid that the face he had changed into was one that would make people sigh. The tiger-headed man had wanted to look as good as possible to Lady Im.

But since he couldn’t change his face again for a month, the tiger-headed man dragged his heavy feet and went out the window.

* * *

At that time, Im Yoo-han was repeatedly turning the lights on and off.

It was because the ‘handsome tiger-like man’ that Rembrary had gifted her said he wanted to properly show her his appearance today.

But no matter how she adjusted the lighting, she couldn’t get it right. It was because her partner was a monster. If she turned on all the lights, she couldn’t see him at all, but if she turned them off, she couldn’t see anything at all, not just him.

After thinking it over, Im Yoo-han eventually turned on a movie on TV and turned off the lights. This created a satisfying light that flickered between dark and bright. Thanks to the cloudy day, there was no light coming in from outside when she closed the curtains.

Relieved, Im Yoo-han turned on only the kitchen light and carried popcorn and cola to the TV.

Then, as she was about to go back to the living room to get ice, a rose suddenly appeared on the table.

Im Yoo-han put down the ice bucket and picked up the flower. The ice bucket floated into the living room on its own.

Im Yoo-han swallowed her laughter, picked up the flower, and followed behind it.

At first, she couldn’t see anything, but gradually the shape of a man appeared faintly.

Im Yoo-han cleared her throat and sat down on the sofa. The man sat next to her on the sofa, with the popcorn between them.

“Are you a tiger?”

Im Yoo-han asked casually on purpose. She didn’t look at him, but she could feel him nodding.

Im Yoo-han glanced at the tiger’s profile. For some reason, the tiger was only looking straight ahead and not glancing at her.

“Why are you only looking ahead?”

She asked because it was strange, but he answered something without making a sound.

‘Is he shy?’

Im Yoo-han turned her body to the side and stared intently at the man’s profile.

From the moment Woo Yeon-woo described the tiger monster’s appearance, she knew he wouldn’t have an ordinary face… but it was even more so in person.

Is it because he’s not human? He’s really handsome in a way that humans aren’t. Even the fellow actors she meets on set rarely have faces like this.

In the moment she was mesmerized by his sculpted jawline, the tiger suddenly turned his head.

Im Yoo-han was very surprised. His eyes were sharp and fierce, but his profile was just as handsome.

“You’re…… handsome.”

Im Yoo-han muttered, and the tiger looked surprised, then smiled, his fierce eyes turning into crescent moons.

Her heart fluttered for no reason at the sight, and Im Yoo-han awkwardly turned her head forward.

But even when she watched the movie, she couldn’t hear the dialogue. All she could hear was her heartbeat. The lights were flashing in front of her, but all her attention was on her side.

Then, in a stiff movement, Im Yoo-han grabbed the popcorn, and her hand brushed against the tiger’s. The human and the monster froze, unable to grab the popcorn, and remained still.

Im Yoo-han felt the large hand touching hers twitch, and the corners of her mouth lifted for no reason. She pretended not to notice and subtly took the tiger’s hand.

For the first time, with his hand held by a human, the tiger-headed man muttered.

[My hands must have been running to hold the Lady’s hand.]

It was an exaggeration, but it was also true. The only time he used his hands on someone was when he was hunting. Other than that, Im Yoo-han was the first for the tiger to hold hands so gently.

Im Yoo-han couldn’t hear his confession, but coincidentally, she looked at the tiger-headed man at that moment.

The eyes of the two people met.

A monologue from a woman who fell in love with a werewolf played on TV.

―Is it arrogance or prejudice to think that only we are having a special love?

At that moment, the light from the screen intensified, and the tiger’s figure became blurred.

Im Yoo-han was surprised and tried to grab him, but the tiger disappeared like sand on an open palm.

“Where? Where did you go?”

Im Yoo-han asked in surprise.

[I am here.]

The tiger-headed man answered in front of her in a sad voice, but Im Yoo-han couldn’t hear him this time either.

“Where did you go?”

The tiger-headed man answered again.

[I am here. I am always in front of the Lady.]

Then, the light in the movie disappeared again, and the tiger appeared.

Im Yoo-han’s eyes widened. The tiger’s face was right in front of Im Yoo-han’s nose. He was crying right in front of her.

As she watched a tear fall from under his fierce eyes, Im Yoo-han quietly brought her face closer.

[The reason the Lady can’t see me is because I love the Lady. Because I never want to hurt the Lady.]

With their lips almost touching, the tiger-headed monster whispered with a heavy heart.

As the movie reached its happy ending and the screen turned white, light filled the room.

At the same time, the tiger’s figure disappeared like mist again.

* * *

[I want to become human.]

[I want to see monsters too. I don’t mind if other strange things come with it.]

Rembrary clutched his pudding bowl and looked back and forth between the tiger-headed monster and his phone.

The tiger-headed man was the one who said he wanted to become human, and Im Yoo-han was the one who sent the text.

The tiger-headed man looked down at Rembrary’s phone and covered his face with both hands.

[It seems this body is also in Lady Im’s heart.]

“What are you talking about? You’re in front of me.”

[Isn’t the Great Demon too heartless, as befits the Great Demon?]

“……Who keeps calling me Great Demon?”

Rembrary sighed and corrected the reference, then repeated what he had said before.

“I really don’t know how to turn a beast into a person. I might know if it were a person who was just becoming a monster, but you… you were just born that way.”

Beasts had body parts that were animal-shaped, and evil spirits and ghosts had strange appearances or unclear forms, but they were basically human in form.

Only monsters and demons can take on a complete human form; beasts give birth to beasts, demons give birth to demons, the dead become ghosts, and evil gives birth to evil spirits.

Monsters are created through ‘transformation,’ and unlike ghosts or evil spirits, it is not uncommon for monsters to give birth to monsters.

Overall, they are usually called monsters, demons, or ghosts, but these races, who are more accustomed to darkness than light and more accustomed to death than life, have their own complex classifications.

In particular, beasts were just one race. No matter how great a high priest Rembrary was, he could not change a race.

Disappointed by Rembrary’s words, the tiger-headed man hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth.

[There’s a flower shop nearby, you know?]

“I don’t know. Why?”

[The plants there aren’t very good. They’re not fresh. Keep that in mind if you ever need to buy some.]

The tiger-headed monster left those words behind and left powerlessly.

Rembrary watched the gloomy silhouette disappearing out the window, picked up his phone, and frowned.

It’s nice to see two people, no, one person and one monster, liking each other so much. It’s also sad to see them longing for each other and looking for ways to get to each other. But separately, it’s just making things difficult in the middle.

‘Of course, I don’t know how to turn a tiger’s head into a human…….’

If there’s any corner to lean on, it’s how to create ‘eyes’ for someone who doesn’t have them.

But this is also daunting. He was originally special, so he had an abundance of divine power and ‘eyes.’ But Im Yoo-han doesn’t have divine power, so how do people like that get ‘eyes’?

After thinking about it, Rembrary sent a text to Woo Sung-woo.

[How did you get those eyes?]

[When you got hurt because of me. I cried a lot and when I woke up, I could see.]

Rembrary recalled Woo Sung-woo mentioning a car accident and a scar before. Is that what he’s talking about?

[I was the one who got hurt, so why did you get eyes?]

[I don’t know either.]

Anyway, Woo Sung-woo is no help. Rembrary thought about who else had ‘eyes’ besides Woo Sung-woo.

Daeju? But Daeju is also from the divine power system. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Im Yoo-han getting eyes.

Then…….

‘Whale!’

That’s right, Shin Jo-woon definitely had ‘eyes’ too. Rembrary sent a text to Shin Jo-woon this time.

[Shin Jo-woon, I have something to ask you, so I’d appreciate it if you could answer as soon as possible.]