Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Blunder
****
“Hehehe~”
The pre-raid meeting had ended and Mi-jin was on her way home, her steps were unusually light today.
In her hand was a bag of snacks for her beloved younger sister.
Although she had received a large sum of money thanks to Tae-jin, she had to use it to pay off some of her father's debts and save the rest for her mother's medical bills, so her living expenses were still tight.
Even so, she had splurged on a bag of Ha-rin’s favorite “Shrimp Chips.”
It was out of a sense of guilt.
The tiramisu slice she had eaten at the cafe was just too delicious.
The delightful sweetness reminded her of Ha-rin, who was home alone waiting for her, and thankfully, Tae-jin had paid for it.
This left her with a little extra money to buy a bag of snacks.
Thinking about how happy Ha-rin would be, she happily headed home.
But just as she neared the house, someone called out to her.
“Mi-jin~!”
“Huh? Grandma?”
It was Park Soon-ja, an elderly woman who ran a small fruit store at the end of the alley.
A gentle smile on her face, Park Soon-ja called out to her, holding a black plastic bag.
“Take this.”
“What is it?”
“I got some persimmons. Take these and share them with your sister.”
Inside the bag were three persimmons.
Mi-jin was touched, she expressed her gratitude to Park Soon-ja.
“Thank you, Grandma.”
“How’s your mother?”
“Well… the usual. Hehe.”
Mi-jin smiled sadly.
Knowing how much the young girl struggled as the head of the household, Park Soon-ja’s eyes were filled with a mixture of pride and pity.
She gently patted Mi-jin’s back.
“Good days will come. Stay strong, dear.”
“Hehe, of course! Thank you, Grandma! We’ll enjoy them!”
“Yes, yes. Oh, but…”
“Yes?”
Although no one was around, Park Soon-ja leaned in closer and whispered.
“I was going to drop off the persimmons earlier, and there was a tall student waiting in front of your house. Is he your boyfriend, by any chance? I haven’t seen him before.”
“Huh? A tall student?”
“Yes, tall as a beanpole and with a bit of a sour look, but quite handsome.”
“…Who could it be?”
“A few weeks ago, there was that scrawny, dark-haired boy hanging around your house all the time, but this one was different. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that scrawny one lately.”
Mi-jin tilted her head.
As far as she knew, there was no one who would be waiting for her in front of her house.
She had recently paid off a good chunk of her debt, so it couldn’t be the debt collectors.
“There’s no one who would be waiting for me. Is he still there?”
“I don’t know. I went by about 30 minutes ago.”
“Hmm…. Who could it be? I’ll go check it out. Thanks, Grandma.”
“Alright, alright. If it’s some weirdo, be sure to tell me.”
“Pfft, I’m a cadet, you know~”
At Mi-jin’s cute bravado, Park Soon-ja chuckled and waved her hand.
“Alright, alright. Go on now.”
“Okay!”
And so, with bags in both hands, Mi-jin walked with even lighter steps and entered the back alley.
And soon, she arrived at her house…
But she stopped when she saw someone leaning against the wall.
“Huh…? Do-han?” [T/N: call the cops]
It was Choi Do-han.
Choi Do-han, who had been absent from the academy for several days, had suddenly appeared in front of Mi-jin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Mi-jin stopped a good distance away from Do-han.
Instead of a feeling of joy or relief, she felt a strange sense of unease.
The dimly lit back alley as the sun was setting, his absence from the academy for several days, and most of all, there was no reason for Do-han to be waiting for her in front of her house without an appointment.
‘What’s going on?’
They had never met outside of the academy, and they had never even been alone together within the academy.
It was always with Han-na and Su-ah.
That’s why she was puzzled.
Why had he suddenly appeared without any appointment?
And why did his expression seem so unusually grim?
“…What’s up?”
“Ah, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“How… did you know where I live?”
“I asked Professor Ella.”
“My house? Why?”
Mi-jin showed a subtle hostility.
She was also embarrassed.
She was embarrassed by Do-han’s sudden visit to her dilapidated house, which was practically a shack.
To her, her house was something to be hidden.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“…Couldn’t you have just called or texted?”
“It’s an important matter.”
“What is it?”
At Mi-jin’s question, Do-han pushed himself off the wall and approached her. The reddish light of the streetlamp illuminated his face.
A deep shadow fell below his forehead.
Choi Do-han stopped about five steps away from her.
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m being sincere.”
“…What is it?”
“I really didn’t expect things to turn out this way.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?”
This is the nature of human speech.
When you think something is strange, you instinctively start with a long preamble.
And a long preamble usually makes the other person sense that something is wrong.
It’s a self-defeating move.
“Let’s go out.”
Just like now.
“This is my first time confessing to you.”
A move that seems like a mistake can still, by some miracle, turn into a masterstroke.
“…Wha-what?”
However, in this situation, the board was not a ‘Go board’ but a ‘chessboard’ for Choi Do-han.
“I want to officially date you.”
And he had just made a ‘blunder.’
Mi-jin’s expression froze in shock.
“What…? Su-suddenly?”
A blunder was a term used to describe a major bad move that could change the course of a game.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Mi-jin was so shocked that she couldn’t close her mouth.
A sudden visit followed by a sudden confession.
A confession that was only faithful to his own feelings, without any consideration for the other person’s feelings, made Mi-jin bite her lip in awkwardness.
“…Do-do I have to answer right now?”
At Mi-jin’s answer, Choi Do-han let out a small sigh.
Her reaction, different from what he had expected, made him frustrated.
“Do you… not want to?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t want to… It’s just so sudden. I never imagined you’d just show up like this and confess.”
Honestly, it was absurd.
They never had a private meeting, and she still didn’t know what kind of person he was.
This confession, coming just as she was starting to get to know him, actually made her feel averse to him.
Choi Do-han sighed deeply.
“Haa…. We can get to know each other while dating, can’t we? Is that important?”
“Even so, tha-that’s a bit…. You’re definitely a great guy… and an excellent cadet. But this just feels a bit wrong…. And I’m going on a real raid in a few days, so I need to focus…. So…”
*Jumble, jumble.*
Do-han abruptly cut off Mi-jin, who was rambling on out of a sense of apology.
His tone was cold, even frigid.
“It’s because of Han Tae-jin, isn’t it?”
“Huh? Tae-jin?”
“…Tae-jin, huh? You two must have gotten pretty close.”
“No, why are you bringing up Tae-jin? It’s just that this is all so sudden…”
“…Forget it.”
Before Mi-jin could even finish, Choi Do-han turned away sharply.
Then, without a word of goodbye, he walked out of the alley.
For some reason, Mi-jin felt a strange sense of guilt, as if she had done something terrible to him. She reached out her hand and also opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
“Ah.”
Only a short sigh escaped her lips.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So… Choi Do-han mentioned my name, and that’s why you’re telling me this?”
“Uh, yeah… I just felt like you should know. It didn’t feel right. He seemed angry.”
“Ha.”
A sigh rose up, threatening to choke me.
Choi Do-han, this crazy bastard, he just started to make progress with Mi-jin but he suddenly confessed?
And he thinks the reason he got rejected is because of ‘me’?
Even though I’m a dating noob, I don’t need to think twice to know why he got rejected.
‘And he’s blaming me for this?’
It was absurd.
The guy who transmigrated after reading the original of the original novel, *"I'm the Only One Having a Honey-Dripping Time at the Academy”*, was a certified virgin and clueless about dating.
However, the author’s skillful push and pull showed him as an attractive virgin who seduced the heroines….
‘Maybe because the original story is cracking, his original virgin traits are popping out.’
Anyway, he must have come up with his own strategy to protect his harem, but he made the worst move out of countless possible moves.
And, in conclusion, it seemed like he now clearly recognized me as an ‘enemy’, so I should be careful going forward.
“I got it. If Choi Do-han tries anything weird again, let me know.”
“Uh, yeah. I will. But Tae-jin….”
“Yeah?”
“What’s the deal with you and Do-han? You had that sudden duel, and he seems to be wary of you.”
“Ah….”
It had already caused a lot of rumors within the academy.
The reason for the sudden duel.
But like him, I wasn’t in a position to explain it, so I decided to keep the explanation brief.
“Well, I guess he just didn’t like me.”
It was the truth.
Mi-jin tilted her head in confusion.
She twisted the end of her ponytail with her hand.
“Really…. I wonder why. You don’t seem like the type to be disliked.”
“Anyway, thanks for telling me.”
“Yeah. You’ll keep it a secret, right?”
“Of course.”
I brushed off my butt and stood up.
15 minutes had already passed.
It was time to end the small talk.
After all, we were in the middle of a real raid.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
I offered my hand to Mi-jin, and she grabbed it as she stood up.
"Form up."
At my command, the party quickly formed ranks.
<w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">Shortly after, we entered the portal to the event room.