Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: That Video
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I should have checked who it was before waking them up….
I lamented my own stupidity.
I should have remembered that the Supreme Commander also lived in this house. Waking up my boss while brazenly sleeping in my superior's home—there was no greater rudeness than this.
I quickly lowered my gaze and apologized.
"I'm truly sorry."
"For what?"
Ye-hyeon murmured with his head down and eyes closed.
Anyone could see he was half-asleep. The sight doubled my guilt.
I kept blaming myself and apologized again.
"For waking you while you were sleeping. I'm sorry. Please don't mind me and go back to sleep."
"Okay."
Ye-hyeon replied in a drowsy voice and flopped back onto the sofa.
Silence returned in an instant. I carefully backed away while watching the man lying there with his eyes closed.
I'll just quietly slip into the guest room next to the entrance like this.
"Huh."
Ye-hyeon's closed eyes half-opened.
"But why are you here?"
"Oh."
I froze in place, having been backing away like a thief.
I glanced at my boss staring blankly at the ceiling and answered.
"Yoon told me to use the guest room. He said the house would probably be empty. I didn't know you'd be here. I'm sorry. I already feel bad enough for imposing…."
"Is there a problem at the old barracks?"
My boss sat up again. I felt like I was dying of guilt.
Ye-hyeon lifted his pale body and pressed firmly on his eyelids with his hand.
I chose my words carefully.
"There's no problem at the old barracks, but I had a small issue with Senior Mullen. So…."
"Mullen?"
Ye-hyeon's eyes widened.
His already large eyes grew even bigger.
"John Mullen?"
"Yes. It's because I did something stupid. It's nothing, so please don't worry about it."
"Did he say he wanted to experiment on you, and you said okay?"
Is he a ghost?
I stared at my boss in bewilderment.
"How did you know?"
"I had a feeling."
I shouldn't lie in front of this guy.
Ye-hyeon slowly got up from the sofa. A wrinkled white shirt and black pants. They must have gotten rumpled from sleeping on the sofa. But my boss didn't care and walked slowly through the living room with sleepy eyes.
I couldn't move from my spot.
Ye-hyeon shuffled diagonally across the living room before stopping and looking at me.
"Have you eaten dinner?"
I hadn't, but I was scared that if I answered honestly, he'd offer to make some.
But before I could reply, Ye-hyeon spoke.
"From your face, I can tell you haven't."
I really shouldn't lie in front of this guy.
Ye-hyeon shuffled off again. The sound of his bare feet on the clean floor echoed through the living room. His gait screamed off-duty. Everything about him was kind of floppy.
Is this what they mean by so mild it's bland?
The pale man wilted his way across the spacious house and opened the fridge door.
With his head buried in the fridge, he asked,
"What do you like?"
"No, Commander. I'm really fine."
"I haven't eaten either."
"Then let me order something."
"Yeah. Order whatever you want. The card's on the dining table."
Yoon. Please come back soon.
I confirmed again that my boss didn't care what it was and ordered sashimi. I tried to pay with my phone, but I was blocked by Ye-hyeon's firm insistence on using the card on the table.
Unable to argue further, I quickly ordered from the sashimi place he recommended. Full sashimi platter, estimated arrival in 30 minutes….
"I'm going to sleep a bit more. Make yourself comfortable."
Ye-hyeon headed back to the sofa with his eyes half-closed.
I nodded and dashed into the guest room.
The moment I closed the door, I let out a sigh of relief at being alone. The place I'd stayed that chilling night when the cabin was wrecked. Still, having been here once, it felt somewhat familiar.
In the bluish darkness, a chair and a simple bed.
I walked quietly and sat on the chair.
Without turning on the light, I checked my phone.
People freed for the weekend had sent messages.
[Recruits Chat / Hessi: I'll bring all the game packs from home this week, so let's retry next week!]
[Recruits Chat / Tom: Have a good trip home. Hilde, I pray you escape the stalking safely….]
[Recruits Chat / Tom: I don't know why they only do it to you.]
[Ro: That bastard again?]
[No Caller ID: You seemed to have completely forgotten about it?]
What is this?
I looked down at the message from No Caller ID.
The notification on the screen. The last one stood out as weird.
What? Is this from the same person who sent that crazy message last time?
But last time there was a number. An unknown one, but….
Probably different people. The previous owner of this number must have been problematic.
Frowning, I tapped the notification. There were several messages from the restricted number.
[No Caller ID: You really forgot everything?]
[No Caller ID: No way, after all the things you did.]
[No Caller ID: Ah, no, you probably haven't forgotten everything. You remember something.]
[No Caller ID: Or not?]
[No Caller ID: You really forgot everything?]
[No Caller ID: Really?]
[No Caller ID: Fuck]
[No Caller ID: At least you shouldn't do this to me]
[No Caller ID: Remember, you lunatic!]
Who are you?
Who the hell are you? Do we know each other?
Reading the impulsive messages alone left me stunned.
It gave me chills too. No matter who sent it or why, the sender clearly wasn't right in the head.
This is too weird.
Should I change my number?
It might not even be for me. But the fact that I'd lost my memories made it feel off. If these keep coming, I should mention it to Yoon or Ami.
Anyway, nothing I can do about it now.
I closed the mystery chat and started replying to normal messages.
Trying to remember what the merchant had yelled about forgetting, as I sat fiddling with my phone, the clear ring of the doorbell jolted me up.
To keep my boss soundly sleeping on the sofa from waking, I rushed to the front door.
***
"There's banana pudding."
Sadly, Yoon was late, leaving me to eat sashimi alone with my top boss.
Ye-hyeon, who had been sleepily munching on sashimi, suddenly said,
"Have one later. It's good."
"Gasp, yes. Thank you."
"How's Yoon?"
I nearly spat out my miso soup.
The sudden question chilled me to the bone. His expression suggested his switch was still off, but he was still my Supreme Commander.
I quietly set down my chopsticks.
"Better than expected."
Ye-hyeon blinked his large eyes once.
The man staring at me chuckled softly after a moment.
"Good. Sounds like an honest answer."
"Yes. I figured saying it's great would make you not believe me, so I was really honest."
"Well done."
"Yes. And we're actually getting along better than I thought. I don't know what you think of Yoon, but he was the one who first suggested I try the sword…."
"The sword?"
Ye-hyeon's chopsticks stopped mid-air on the way to the flounder sashimi.
My chopsticks, reaching for salmon nigiri, also froze in mid-air.
Are you surprised? Yoon must not have reported it.
We stared at each other rigidly for a while. Ye-hyeon broke the frozen moment first. He kept his gaze fixed on me while casually moving his arm.
I resumed eating while watching my superior wield his chopsticks, recalling the memory from a month ago.
That video.
The video that earned him the title Hero of Turbulent Times. The one everyone had seen. The person facing the 10th-tier Creature in it was now slowly picking up flounder sashimi right in front of me.
I watched Ye-hyeon swallow the flounder sashimi and broke the silence.
"Commander."
"Yeah?"
"I saw that video."
The switch flipped on.
The change was visible. The slouched posture of the person idly eating sashimi straightened in an instant. Eyes free of any sleepiness. No more shuffling—his chopsticks clacked sharply on the table.
An inscrutable gaze.
Ye-hyeon waited until I spoke next.
Looking into his seasoned, unfathomable black eyes, I said,
"By any chance."
"Yeah. Ask freely."
"By any chance, that Creature…."
I had too many questions, making my mind spin.
But the one that finally emerged from the tangled mess in my head wasn't whether I was a 10th-tier Creature or if he knew something about me.
I asked this:
"Do you know why that Creature hesitated?"
What was that fleeting emotion?
A feeling shown for just an instant. One I wouldn't have caught if I hadn't focused all my attention.
That powerful emotion that welled up and vanished in Ye-hyeon's eyes—it was so intense I couldn't bring myself to ask follow-ups.
Even though he hadn't given a clear answer.
"Did you start practicing the sword after seeing that video?"
"No. The first time I went out, Yoon told me to try the sword. I saw the video because others mentioned it…. Oh. Yoon definitely knows swordsmanship, but he said it's not enough to let me out, so no outings for a month, and since then I've only sparred indoors until today."
"Good job."
Which part exactly are you praising?
I was puzzled but didn't ask this time either.
Ye-hyeon looked down with a thoughtful expression. Then, picking up a fried shrimp with his chopsticks, he quietly added,
"Let's spar sometime."
"Ah, yes. It'd be an honor. Yoon did say that if I surpass his sword skills, I should ask you for a match. Not sure if that day will come."
"It will."
Ye-hyeon said something encouraging—or whatever it was.
Then, staring at the round shrimp tempura for a long time, he added,
"If you beat me with the sword, I'll give you that sword."
The Supreme Commander spoke in a pensive voice.
The shrimp tempura caught between his chopsticks split cleanly in half.
"The sword from the video. I have it."
I couldn't find words to reply for a long time.
We ate dinner in prolonged silence. Until Yoon, who had successfully shaken off John Mullen's stalking, returned home with a refreshed look.