45. Rabbits Like Carrots
45. Rabbits Like Carrots
45. Rabbits Like Carrots
If you ate curry loaded with capsaicin, it was only natural to feel pain.
But I'd lost my sense of taste, so all I felt was a faint pain from the spiciness hitting my brain.
"Is something wrong with you...?"
Yu Ha-yeon didn't miss that issue and began to suspect my condition.
Why, of all times, did the cooks make a mistake?
The one who messed up was looking at me apologetically anyway, so there was no one to blame.
I imagined what would happen if they found out I'd lost my sense of taste.
'You can't taste anything...? That's never happened before... When did it start...? Answer me...!!'
It's no exaggeration to say Yu Ha-yeon hates anything happening to my body more than anything,
so the future where she'd go berserk was crystal clear.
And of all days, the day I lost my sense of taste was the very day Black Dawn kidnapped me.
Yu Ha-yeon, who doesn't properly understand my ability, would definitely blame Black Dawn as the culprit.
That, in turn, could cause trouble for Ban Ha-na, a member of Black Dawn.
I absolutely couldn't let them find out.
I had no choice but to bluff my way through with Yu Ha-yeon.
"Mine must have only gotten a little. It wasn't that spicy to me."
"Really? Only yours out of the three? The color was off, and the smell was weird, too."
"...Well, these things happen."
They say everything in the world has a reason, but if you look at it differently,
you can think, 'Well, that could happen,' and let some things slide with a generous heart.
Most of those cases get dismissed as coincidence and are let go with an easygoing attitude.
'How about you let it go with a generous heart, Ha-yeon?'
Just as I was thinking such carefree thoughts,
my stomach began to churn, as if refusing to cut me any slack.
"Does that even make sense..."
"Hold on. Yu Ha-yeon. Wait a second..."
My sense of taste had only turned the spiciness into a faint pain.
It didn't make my stomach invincible.
'What the hell...'
Stomach cramps.
A symptom where, after eating something spicy, your stomach works too hard and gets overloaded.
I clutched my painfully throbbing stomach and headed for the infirmary.
Beside me as I endured the pain, Ban Ha-na stuck close and was cheering me on with all her might.
"N...no! Si-jun! Don't die! Hang in there!"
Was it just my imagination, or did Ban Ha-na's "fighting!" right next to me make it hurt even more?
Ha-na, I appreciate your enthusiasm.
But could you not get so worked up about it...?
If my Will stat weren't high, I would've yelled at Ban Ha-na right then.
She kept shouting encouragement, maybe getting carried away without realizing it.
I wanted to ask Ban Ha-na to use her ability, but using abilities without permission inside the academy was impossible.
I had no choice but to head to the infirmary.
"What's their deal? A girl carrying a guy?"
Yu Ha-yeon, the one with the best physical condition among us, ended up carrying me on her back.
I finally reached the infirmary and ended up missing all afternoon classes.
This happened on the day we returned to the academy.
And it all went down on the very first day.
***
Inside an office at the Hero Association.
A middle-aged man was watching TV with a displeased expression.
"Useless insects who can't even do their jobs... Hah..."
Black Dawn.
The man chewed over the group's name and let out a sigh.
"I clearly gave orders to kill that man... Why did they let him live..."
And not only that, they'd used him in their crime and sent him back.
There must have been some kind of deal between them—that was certain.
The middle-aged man mulled it over and sorted his thoughts.
"Still, the request to kidnap Han Si-jun had its effect. I heard Yu Ha-yeon trained because of it."
The request didn't achieve the goal of Han Si-jun's death, but the true objective—spurring Yu Ha-yeon to train—was a success.
The middle-aged man debated whether to place another request to kill Han Si-jun.
"Could that kid also have growth potential?"
The man acted based solely on his own judgment of whether this child would bring peace or not.
He firmly believed that this way of doing things was what had allowed him to rise to a high position in the Hero Association.
He sat in his chair, rested his head in his hands, and fell deep into thought.
"Is Han Si-jun someone worth keeping alive..."
The Miracle Child.
Rumors said he'd performed a miracle ten years ago and lost his strength and health.
Would he wait for the boy to work another miracle?
If not, would it be better for him to become nourishment for Yu Ha-yeon?
"For now... it's... pending, I suppose."
He decided not to issue any more requests and added Han Si-jun to the list of promising heroes.
If Han Si-jun showed no results within a year, he'd keep in mind the option of commissioning another villain group.
***
After missing all my afternoon classes, when it was time to go home,
Yu Ha-yeon was the one who came to pick me up.
"Han Si-jun."
"Oh, you're here? Why are you just standing there? Let's go home."
"You think you can just brush this off? Get over here."
I'd been caught.
Unfortunately, Yu Ha-yeon was still suspicious and grabbed me as I tried to escape.
Was there nowhere to run?
a small pink creature came into view.
"Si... Si-jun!"
"Ha-na. Think you can save me?"
"I... I'd like to. But Si-jun. That thing is a monster...!"
Ban Ha-na had roughly gauged Yu Ha-yeon's mana before.
But she'd seen Yu Ha-yeon's true ability during the afternoon class, and now she was hesitating a bit.
She used to tease Kkamangi and call her stupid.
Seeing her a little intimidated made her look like a rabbit.
It seemed like I had nowhere to turn.
"First, let's walk and talk. I'll explain everything."
"Explain... Fine. Explain it. Every nook and cranny, without missing a single thing."
"I want to hear too!"
Was this really something they needed to crowd me for?
I said goodbye to the nurse who'd taken care of me, then left the infirmary.
As I walked toward the dormitory, I started explaining to Yu Ha-yeon and Ban Ha-na.
"How it happened was..."
They waited eagerly for the story to come out of my mouth.
But all I could do was bluff.
I answered them in a completely serious tone.
"Actually... I don't really know either...?"
I just played dumb.
They must have felt that the answer to all that anticipation was garbage,
because they openly showed their disappointment and complained.
"Si-jun! What kind of answer is that!"
"You don't know...? Does that even make sense?"
"I mean, I also think it doesn't make sense... but it's kind of mysterious, isn't it?"
Anyway, the issue of my sense of taste wouldn't come to light unless I went to a hospital.
It could only be measured through an examination and a taste-loss test.
I had absolutely no intention of going to the hospital.
'Well, if I just don't go, that's the end of it, isn't it?'
Unless I went insane and said, "I temporarily lost my sense of taste because of my ability,"
there was no way Yu Ha-yeon would ever find out.
Yu Ha-yeon seemed to have realized that too, as she was looking at me with furrowed brows.
"How annoying..."
"Me too! Me too!"
I wasn't sure whose side Ha-na was on, but given her response, it probably wasn't mine.
Did she even know what Yu Ha-yeon had asked me?
Probably not.
If I had to guess, Ban Ha-na was probably just going with the flow.
As we walked the path back to the dorm, time passed and the talk about my sense of taste naturally faded.
Yu Ha-yeon would keep her suspicions, but unless I brought it up myself, it would never be revealed.
We chatted about everyday stuff and the school trip, and before I knew it, I'd reached my destination: the male dormitory.
When we arrived, Yu Ha-yeon asked about my plans.
"We're here already. Are you coming out to train tonight?"
"We'll see. But probably."
My shooting skill was at the lowest level, so I had to raise its proficiency.
To do that, I needed to use the academy's training facilities, not just bodyweight exercises at home.
Unless Ban Ha-na got in my way, I planned to head to the training facility for shooting practice today no matter what.
I told Yu Ha-yeon I'd text her and turned toward the male dormitory.
"Hold on. Ha-na. Why are you following me?"
"Huh?"
Ban Ha-na tilted her head as if to ask what the problem was.
The gesture implied, 'This is obviously my home, isn't it?'
She opened her small mouth to explain.
"Well, Si-jun and I are li..."
"You... you want to come with me? Still no. You need to go to the girls' dorm, right?"
Only then did Ban Ha-na realize her mistake and turn right around to go to Yu Ha-yeon's side.
Yu Ha-yeon was glaring at Ban Ha-na with a cold expression.
'She's... not suspecting anything.'
Me covering her mouth might have looked a little awkward,
but Yu Ha-yeon seemed like she wouldn't dream that Ban Ha-na and I were living together,
showing no sign of suspicion at all.
'Getting caught for that would be worse than getting caught for losing my sense of taste.'
Living with Ban Ha-na and the kiss I gave her as a reward.
If those two things got exposed, Yu Ha-yeon would genuinely treat me like trash.
For me, currently in a dating practice phase with her, getting caught cheating would deal considerable damage.
After holding Ban Ha-na back like that, I waved goodbye to Yu Ha-yeon as she left.
With them gone, I was the only one left.
"Whew..."
I sighed in relief and headed into my room.
Into my dormitory.
Took the elevator.
Opened the biometric door lock.
A day where I'd nearly had everything exposed.
I threw myself onto the bed to shake off the fatigue.
"That was really close..."
Still, it was a relief that I hadn't given Yu Ha-yeon any definitive proof.
Thank goodness her discoveries had ended at mere suspicion.
I pulled myself together after nearly starting life on hard mode.
'I'll have to pay attention to what I eat from now on...'
If I was going to keep this a secret going forward, I had to act perfectly.
Never give her room to suspect anything that could get me caught.
Once Yu Ha-yeon bit into something, she never let go, so the moment I gave her reason to doubt, she'd keep digging.
Be as careful as possible, and then even more careful.
As I sank deep into those thoughts, Ban Ha-na, still in her school uniform, burst out of the hidden door in my room.
"Si-jun...!!"
Ban Ha-na leaped at me right away, as if asking to be held.
I caught her and set her down on the bed.
"What's up?"
"W...well! I did really well today, didn't I...! I listened in class, worked hard at studying... I was a total good kid...!"
Ban Ha-na giggled, clearly wanting something.
She'd gotten quite used to our cohabitation by now,
so she was appealing to me to acknowledge she'd been a good kid.
She stood up from the bed, closed her eyes, and leaned her face toward me while I was sitting.
"I was good today... hurry up..."
It was a gesture that asked for a reward.
I had no choice but to give one to Ban Ha-na, who'd made it through her first day of academy life well.
'Ha-na. All of this is fine, but let's cut down on the slip-ups...'
With that thought, we briefly let our tongues mingle.
How long would this twisted relationship last?
As I mulled over that concern, I savored the moment.