Chapter 26
Whoever they are, I hope they’re happy.
As Sehyun quietly turned around, trying not to disturb the unknown couple’s romantic moment,
“How dare you defy me, you bastard. You think I’m a pushover because I’m waiting? Huh?”
A voice filled with malice pierced her ears.
At the same time, memories flooded back.
“Just die, die already!”
The malice that had been directed at her.
Sehyun clenched her teeth, feeling goosebumps rise on her back.
Painful memories engulfed her mind like wildfire, but Sehyun didn’t turn back.
They could be fighting, or there could be another reason.
More than anything, she didn’t want to get involved in someone else’s fight. Her goal here was to safely receive her Guard rank.
Yes, that’s what she thought.
“I-I’m s-sorry, but I-I can’t.”
Until she heard a faint voice carried by the wind.
At first, she doubted her ears, and then a chill ran down her spine.
The stammering, shrinking voice was too familiar.
Sehyun looked up at the building. Coincidentally, her dormitory window was dark.
As if confirming that no one was there.
“Ah… Damn it. Suddenly?”
The man’s voice was puzzled. As if he had realized that someone had bypassed his ‘Sound Blocking’ and was eavesdropping.
The man looked around with a cold expression. He frowned when he realized he couldn’t hear anything.
“My body’s not feeling well, and now my skills are acting up. Is there a short circuit in my skills too? Damn it.”
The man cursed softly and glared at Jieun even more fiercely.
As if the problem he was experiencing was her fault.
“Hey, I’m telling you one last time. Find out Kim Sehyun’s weakness. I’m not asking you, this is an order. You have to do it, regardless of how you feel. And find out what her skills are. Got it?”
“N-No.”
“Ah, this bitch… Hey! Do you think I’m doing this for fun? My parents will be happy if I do well. And your life will be easier too. Right?”
Jieun bit her lip at the man’s words. The man smirked, watching her.
“Do you think your parents sent you here because they want you to do well?”
“…”
“They sent you here because they’re afraid I’ll get hurt. So you can use that meager skill of yours on me.”
“…”
“So you’re like a disposable bandage. You have to get your act together and do as you’re told. How dare a disposable bandage talk back?”
“…B-But…”
“Ah, you really don’t understand, do you? You only learn when you get hit, huh? I was going to hold back today because it’s bad luck, but you’re asking for it.”
The man raised his hand.
“Hello, Instructor.”
The man’s hand froze in midair at the sudden voice.
He turned his head and saw Sehyun emerging from around the corner.
Sehyun was smiling brightly, looking at something behind the building. Then she paused as she saw Jieun and the man.
“Oh? Jieun.”
The man’s face crumpled at Sehyun’s greeting.
Did Kim Sehyun just bypass my ‘Sound Blocking’?
He immediately dismissed the thought.
The only way to bypass someone else’s skill was with a higher-level skill of the same type.
So there was no way Kim Sehyun, a mere F-grade, could bypass his ‘Sound Blocking.’
Then…
The man suddenly remembered Sehyun calling someone “Instructor.”
What if the instructor had heard their conversation?
Goosebumps erupted all over his body, and he quickly took a step away from Jieun.
“Jieun, be careful not to catch a cold. Do what I asked you. I’ll contact you again.”
The man spoke in a gentle voice, as if he had never raised his voice, and quickly turned around. He disappeared in a blink of an eye.
A cool breeze blew in the silence.
Jieun closed her eyes for a moment, letting the wind wash over her face, and then flinched as she opened them.
The smile that had been on Sehyun’s face was gone.
Jieun swallowed hard.
…She heard everything.
There was no proof, but she knew Sehyun had heard her conversation with her brother, Garam. There was no other reason for Sehyun to be looking at her with that expression.
Jieun couldn’t bear to look at Sehyun’s face any longer and lowered her gaze.
What should she say? Should she denounce her brother for asking her to find Sehyun’s weakness?
Should she tell her that her C-grade brother was trying to become Shin Jooho and Choi Sungwon’s lackey?
What would change even if she said those things?
It wouldn’t change the fact that she hadn’t actively defied Sung Garam.
“Aren’t you tired?”
Sehyun suddenly asked in a casual voice.
“Huh? W-What?”
“Let’s go inside.”
“…”
“I said, let’s go inside.”
Jieun looked at Sehyun at her words.
A faint smile played on Sehyun’s lips, as if she had never been expressionless. It wasn’t a forced smile either.
Ah… Did she not hear?
Jieun’s shoulders slumped.
Thinking rationally, it was possible that Sehyun hadn’t heard their conversation.
Because Garam always used ‘Sound Blocking.’
Maybe Sehyun’s expression had darkened just from seeing the tense atmosphere between her and Garam.
But one thing she wondered about was why Sehyun wasn’t asking.
What happened. Why she was acting like that.
Jieun wondered but nodded slightly.
“…Y-Yes.”
Jieun followed Sehyun, who was walking ahead, towards their dormitory.
“I’ll, I’ll shower first.”
Jieun rushed into the bathroom and showered before Sehyun could stop her. She prayed that Sehyun would just fall asleep.
But when Jieun came out after drying her hair, she saw Sehyun standing by the window, her back to her.
It was just her back, but Jieun felt her heart sink.
She couldn’t explain why, but Sehyun’s back looked too heavy.
“W-Wash up, Sehyun.”
Jieun mumbled, unable to say anything else, and crawled into her bed. She took out her Cinderella book, which she always kept by her bedside, and opened it to the first page.
Jieun read and reread the now tattered Cinderella book until Sehyun came out of the shower.
She reflected on Cinderella’s patience and endurance.
She even made sure to read the part where Cinderella finally reaped the rewards of her patience.
She closed her eyes and imagined the happy times that would come to her someday.
That just like Cinderella, good days would come to her too. They had to.
“I’ve always wondered.”
Jieun’s head shot up at the sudden voice.
She saw Sehyun drying her wet hair with a towel.
Wh-When did she come out? I didn’t hear the door open.
Jieun’s eyes darted around nervously. Her plan to pretend to be asleep when Sehyun came out after reading her Cinderella book, which was supposed to calm her nerves, had crumbled.
“Y-Yes? W-What?”
Jieun stammered, more flustered than usual.
“You seem to like Cinderella.”
Sehyun’s indifferent gaze fell on the Cinderella book in Jieun’s hand.
“Huh?”
It was an unexpected question. Sehyun pointed at the Cinderella book with her fingertip.
“That book is always by your bedside. And you have a Cinderella sticker on your suitcase.”
“Ah, y-yes. I-I like it.”
Jieun quickly nodded. At the same time, she felt a little relieved.
Sehyun hadn’t brought up the incident with Garam and was talking about something else.
Maybe Sehyun didn’t think much of it.
Yes, maybe she was just being overly sensitive.
Jieun’s face relaxed, and a faint smile played on her lips.
“Really? Why do you like it?”
Sehyun asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. Jieun hesitated for a moment and then spoke.
“I-It was the f-first gift my m-mom gave me.”
It was also the last, but Jieun didn’t add that.
She stroked the worn corner of the book with her fingertip and continued, lost in thought.
“Sh-She said that if I-I endure hardships with a p-positive attitude like Cinderella, h-happiness will come to me.”
“…”
“A-And isn’t it amazing? That she endured all that pain with a positive attitude.”
“…”
A faint smile touched Jieun’s lips.
“I-I’m trying to endure like Cinderella, d-doing my best.”
“…”
“I-I believe that g-good days will come if I do.”
Jieun finished speaking, a tearful smile on her face, and hugged the worn Cinderella book to her chest as if it were a precious treasure.
Sehyun, watching her silently, sat on her bed.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Jieun.
“Yeah, Cinderella… She’s amazing.”
Jieun’s face brightened at Sehyun’s positive response, despite her slightly cynical tone.
“Y-Yes, she is.”
“Cinderella had no other choice. She was raised delicately and didn’t have any other skills. And she couldn’t just run away and wander the streets at night, risking danger. There were no CCTV cameras back then for her to report domestic violence.”
“Oh? Y-Yes.”
Jieun replied with a flustered expression at Sehyun’s sudden objective analysis of Cinderella.
“So enduring was her best option.”
At that moment, Sehyun’s gaze, which had been fixed on the Cinderella book, shifted to Jieun.
“But that was Cinderella’s best, wasn’t it?”