Sharing Even a Single Bean
Sharing Even a Single Bean
[Arnes- If she's drunk, does that mean she has no drug tolerance? The measured grade is correct. Anything else?]
[Cheon Hae-won- She's a heavy drinker. It's annoying.]
[Arnes- There are still many parts that don't add up, but this is good enough to be grateful for. Thank you.]
[Cheon Hae-won- What about her memories or thoughts not being readable? Did you find out why?]
The brat... Kwon Do-ah's mind or memories cannot be read by Arnes's ability.
The hypothesis she presented is twofold.
One is that she is protecting herself with an ability that even Kwon Do-ah herself is unaware of.
Or, someone has locked away Kwon Do-ah's memories.
The former is something that can be overlooked. Who would be wary of the weakest girl who possesses an ability that only penalizes herself?
But the latter.
If she is an unknown entity, or belongs to one, the story changes.
I need to find out who her backer is and what their purpose is.
'That means... she's just a moron for now.'
Either way, since she has no memories or information, she can only speak the truth.
The truth that she doesn't know.
I sent an instruction to Arnes.
[Cheon Hae-won- Investigate everything from terrorist groups to Magi Zone residents and religious groups from around 20 years ago.]
A reply arrived saying she felt like she was already going to die of overwork, but since she's a woman who works for peace, I dismissed it as a joke.
It's just a precaution.
If the investigation results show that Kwon Do-ah isn't tied to anything, then she's just a barking mutt.
'If, by any chance, even a trivial element is connected to that bastard...'
The scammer who turned our story into a curse.
The liar who didn't keep his promise, the fucking bastard.
The one who killed my woman, the one I'd love to grind into dust.
This girl, who smells like the lingering scent of a dead god, whom I've already confirmed dead by scattering her flesh and bones myself.
I... will kill her.
Just as I thought I could do it anytime if I felt like it, my cheek was stretched out by the girl who was humming a tune.
"Ungnana~ Ungna Ungna~"
"Is it fun?"
"Hae-won-i too, chee~se! You look handsome when you smile!"
You looked like that even when not smiling, you idiot.
Still, you've finally opened your eyes.
Kwon Do-ah massaged my cheek to her heart's content, but when I didn't react, she seemed to get bored and sat back down quietly, drinking alcohol with a straw.
"Sour! Sweet! Delicious~ Fruit is yum-yum... delicious... Huh? Why is Hae-won-i's only ice?"
"Want to try?"
I offered the glass to Kwon Do-ah.
Sniff sniff-
Kwon Do-ah sniffed the glass with curious eyes, then recoiled, snapping her head back as if falling over, surprised by the smoky smell.
"W-what?! Spicy! How do you eat this?!"
"Tsk, is it because you're a brat? Can you not drink it?"
"Not a brat! Shit..."
Clack-
Kwon Do-ah grabbed the glass she snatched from me with both hands.
She's already flushed after less than half the Long Island Iced Tea.
Her eyes are already unfocused.
Lick-
She sipped the whiskey with her tongue, and with a violent reaction, she carefully pushed the glass containing the Long Island Iced Tea toward me.
"Ptooey! It's spicy as expected~! You drink the Long Tea!"
"What are you going to eat?"
"Uhh... this!"
The glass I was drinking from.
Nonsense.
She was acting all serious about having something to say, but in a few minutes, she's really turned into a dog.
I brought her here, but I didn't know she couldn't drink this much.
Even though it's a strong cocktail, she only had two or three sips.
I tried to take the glass, but Kwon Do-ah turned her back as if she didn't want to give it up easily.
"Don't drink Hae-won-i's painful stuff! I'll drink it!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake."
Soon, she laid down on the floor with the glass to her lips and downed it in one shot.
The glass was emptied in an instant, and the passed-out Kwon Do-ah licked the round ice inside with her tongue.
Then she screamed at the burning sensation that flared up.
"Wowoooong...! M-my eyes, my eyes are spinning..."
"That's why I asked why you're drinking something you can't handle."
She was so burned that Kwon Do-ah only answered after drinking five cups of water.
"............ Because, Hae-won-i, you shouldn't drink painful things."
"So why."
I held back my strength, but I choked her, and I didn't hesitate to trample on her dignity as a woman.
Even without checking, there must be red handprints on her butt and chest.
I did it on purpose to make her hate me and reveal her true colors.
...I can't deny that personal feelings were mixed in.
It's natural to want to hate such a thug, and in fact, Kwon Do-ah hated me.
'Ugh, I hate you.'
'Aisha is too good for someone like you.'
I can't grasp emotions, but my eyes, Hwa-an-geum-jeong, can see through lies and magic tricks—they call it magic these days, right?
Anyway, I can see through that kind of deception.
She always spoke the truth.
But I frowned knowing that the statements coming out of Kwon Do-ah's mouth right now were not sweet lies, but honest feelings.
She covered her eyes to endure the dizziness, opened her fingers to look at me, and answered.
"......... I just, didn't want you to be in pain anymore."
"More? What does that mean? Do you know me?"
"I, don't really know... But because of me, I, set things up strangely, so Hae-won-i, Aisha, everyone... might have been in pain... so I'm sorry."
Settings? I don't know what she's talking about.
I read it with my eyes.
It's not a lie.
I'm in pain? Because of you?
Is she just spouting nonsense because she's drunk?
She knows nothing about me, yet she feels guilt for no reason.
The vaguer she answers, the more annoying it is.
Stuck on a rock for so long that moss grew on my head, I even hate this time waiting for an answer.
'Humans aren't worth protecting.'
The true heart I chose after the day everything ended.
To be precise, there are almost no humans worth protecting now.
Unlike when we helped each other even when it was hard, now it's a world with more things worse than monkeys who ignore people dying on the street.
Yet, why are you.
The one who only did things to make me hate her.
Why are you looking at me like that.
Why.
Why.
'... Calm down, I'm too heated.'
Just making negative guesses will only lead to abstract, baseless hypotheses.
Just as I was about to burn some Mana Herb to cool my head, Kwon Do-ah chuckled, holding back laughter.
"Hehe... You don't even know that? This is why idiots don't work~ Hic!"
"... Ah?"
I don't want to hear that from a girl with an intelligence grade lower than a monkey.
Kwon Do-ah jumped up and grabbed my palm, huffing.
"Listen well, Cheon Hae-won! I still hate you!"
"Yeah, I hate you too."
"I'm sorry because you might have been in pain because of my mistake! But you choked me and poked here and here, and I got bruises! You lifted me up and everything! It was super scary!"
The surroundings are noisy.
Since we weren't alone in the shop, her meaningful statement drew hateful gazes toward me.
Some guy even looks like he's going to report me after seeing her small frame.
"Mind your own business and finish your drinks?"
I glared at them one by one, the bar atmosphere turned cold and interest faded.
Regardless, Kwon Do-ah continued what she was saying.
"Hic, you know... the person who raised me said this? There's no one in the world who deserves to be in pain~ I still hate you, but that doesn't mean I want you to be in pain~"
"... You were raised by a saint, huh."
"Hehe~ If you know, that's enough, here!"
Wondering what she's doing, I stayed still, and Kwon Do-ah smiled brightly and spread her arms.
"If you have anything painful or sad, dump it all on me! I'll fill your empty heart with love!"
"............"
"......... Uh, Hae-won-a?"
"......"
"Your face, it's close..."
It was for a moment, but to see the peach and the flat chest overlap.
Seems I'm tired from using my brain after a long time.
The similarity... is just that they are both pure.
Tap-
I flicked her forehead lightly.
"Waut?! Ow, auuu... shit..."
"What's with the 'hug me' when you don't even have a chest to hold or lean on."
Groans leaked from her as she rolled around holding her head.
"Has the mutt lost her mind, wagging her tail at anyone? How are you going to survive in this harsh world being this soft?"
"E-everyone! Happily!"
"If that world comes, I'll become your dog."
"Oh, really? That's a promise, okay?!"
It's a bet you can't win anyway, so why not.
Not that I've dropped my suspicion.
She still smells like him, and there are many unanswered questions.
But.
Seeing isn't everything, but if all I can trust is what I see, I have to trust it for now.
I hoped my trust could last to the end.
"That aside... hugging is one thing, but I wonder if milk would even come out of a washboard like that."
"Y-you, you're poking with your fingers again...! I'll bite you, I swear!"
"Don't growl and eat this."
"... A bean?"
I handed the Senzu Bean to the fanged Kwon Do-ah.
Using a miracle drug as a hangover cure is a luxury, but considering it as an apology for the handprints, it's not a waste.
Kwon Do-ah examined the Senzu Bean in her hand, then her eyes sparkled as if she realized.
"I saw this in a cartoon, a bean that heals you immediately when you eat it! I wanted to try it once."
"Well, it's similar."
"Ehehe... Then—"
Snap-
Kwon Do-ah struggled to break the Senzu Bean in half, ate half, and shoved the other half into my mouth.
Her giggling face is so...
It makes my heart ache, reminding me of someone I'm trying hard to forget.
"We're not at the stage of sharing even a single bean yet... so this is just a snack!"
"... Didn't we say we hate each other?"
"My chest might grow someday, so maybe we'll end up liking each other~ I refuse that on my end, though! Heehit... Alright, I finished it, shall we try another drink— Thud."
Kwon Do-ah tried to call Yong-i, but fell asleep before the Senzu Bean effect kicked in.
She was barking loudly, but her sleeping face was... passable.
I carried Kwon Do-ah on my back and entered the kitchen.
"Yong-i, I'm leaving."
"You have so much money, yet you dine and dash again... You damn monkey."
"The brat drank it all, so put it on the house."
"I'm the owner of Hallstail, you bastard, why are you deciding the service? Anyway, it's rare. Even though she smells like that guy, you didn't kill her and brought her along."
"Don't even bring him up, just make the food."
"Tch, I liked it when you'd just throw it at me... Did your taste change? You've become fucking dangerous."
"Shut up, it's a mess outside, so you handle the atmosphere? I'm leaving~"
"Eh? Why. Did you beat someone up again? I told you not to act like a shithead inside the shop— Hey, hey! Where are you running off to!?"
As expected, she's still as prickly as ever.
She'll definitely turn into her true form and go wild, so I hurried outside.
"Uhihih, Hae-won-a~"
"Ugh, gross. Are you looking at me even in your dreams?"
A voice melting while kneading my shoulder blades.
Doesn't match when she calls me prickly with my last name, but well...
'Not, too bad.'
On the way back to the bakery, the Artifact rang.
It was Isha.
"Yeah, Isha."
[Hae-won-a, did you see Do-ah? I can't find her anywhere! She's not answering the phone, maybe her Artifact melted from a Slime...]
"She's drunk and passed out on my back, I'm coming to your place."
[... Drunk? The two of you... drank together?]
"Well... yeah? She went down quickly so we didn't enjoy it much. Don't worry, we'll be there soon—"
[H-Hae-won-i is with Do-ah, with Do-ah...]
Thud-
As soon as she finished speaking, I heard something drop on the other side of the receiver.
"Isha? Are you listening? Why can't I hear you suddenly..."