Chapter 103: Ah, How Can I Resist Cheon Yu-hak’s Birthday Party! (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103: Ah, How Can I Resist Cheon Yu-hak’s Birthday Party! (4)
The incident was, of course, settled quickly.
— I’m sorry…!
— I wasn’t thinking…!
— You… you… you crazy bastard, you’re the one who started it!
And so on. I received reasonably sincere apologies from the seniors—no, the esteemed seniors.
Does one of them seem a bit off? That’s the guy who sprayed juice on me; he was expelled from the club on the spot.
Honestly, they got scolded way more severely than I expected. Watching them get chewed out almost made me feel a bit sorry for them.
Of course, I quickly concluded that they brought it on themselves, so I didn’t actually feel bad!
It’s not like I made up the incident, right? Nobody forced them to get together and harass me just because they were jealous.
“…So-hyun, are you really okay?”
“Yes, well. I can just wash the clothes, and I’ve already showered. Oh, I don’t smell like red ginseng, do I?”
It’s not like the Academy lacks shower facilities, and my sister quickly found me a change of clothes.
…They’re a bit brighter than my usual taste, but I’m in no position to be picky.
Anyway, the Juice Club bastards, who bore the full brunt of Professor Cathy’s and my sister’s wrath, tried the typical scapegoating tactics—claiming ‘it wasn’t intentional’ or ‘it was just an individual’s impulsive act.’ Naturally, that didn’t work at all. When Professor Cathy thundered that she would resign as the club’s advisor if they didn’t formally apologize to me, they immediately bowed their heads.
The guy who actually sprayed the juice refused to apologize and kept spouting nonsense until the very end, resulting in his immediate expulsion from the club.
Watching him scream about how unfair it was was quite a spectacle. Seeing how he glared at me instead of reflecting on his actions, I had a reasonable suspicion that he’d end up becoming a Villain rather than a Hero in the future.
Well, two important people are right in front of me, so let’s stop thinking about one rude senior.
“What are you talking about? You only smell like something nice.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right. So-hyun, have you been wearing perfume lately?”
Actually, the smell concern was just a joke.
Ever since I started living with Ha-ni, I’ve made it a habit to wash every nook and cranny as thoroughly as possible.
Besides, ever since I took the Elixir, I haven’t had to worry about body odor.
I’m practically a walking natural deodorizer.
Anyway, thanks to those guys, my sister and the professor were so worried that they dragged me out for lunch. Seeing the two of them in the restaurant brought back a strange memory.
The first time these two met was also in a restaurant.
“What do you want to eat, So-hyun?”
“They don’t sell omurice here. I heard you liked it.”
Well, they weren’t exactly on friendly terms back then.
My sister was the one to break the silence that fell while we waited for our food.
“Oh, that’s right. Cathy Unnie. I heard Yu-hak is in your class. You must have received an invitation to the party, right?”
For the record, the birthday bash for Young Master Cheon Yu-hak, the legitimate heir of the Cheon family, is divided into two parts: an outdoor party that anyone can attend without an invitation, and an indoor party in the VIP Hall that only invitees or their partners can enter.
It’s called a festival, but the outside will probably be a living hell no matter how well they manage it.
“Ah, yes. Of course I got one. I think almost everyone in the class did.”
In fact, because Cheon Yu-hak’s father threatened to invite everyone if he didn’t fill a minimum quota, Cheon Yu-hak had to swallow his pride and invite several people he wasn’t even close with just to meet that requirement.
“I see. Then, Unnie, have you already decided on a partner to go with?”
“Wh-what…!? Me? Well…”
But seeing the professor awkwardly glancing at my sister, it seems she hasn’t told her about asking me to be her partner yet.
Well, it’s not exactly something she has to tell my sister. Right.
“So you don’t have one? What about you, So-hyun?”
“…Someone did ask me to go with them. But I haven’t decided yet.”
My sister nodded as if relieved by my answer.
“Then, So-hyun. How about the three of us go in together—me, you, and Cathy Unnie?”
…Did I just hear that right?
“Pardon?”
“I asked how about you go in with both me and Cathy Unnie.”
Did Sun Wukong mess up my ears when she performed the Marrow Cleansing and Bone Rebirth last time…?
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s a bit awkward to say it myself, but I’m practically a celebrity, and Unnie is a professor. We’re perfect targets for gossip columns.”
Oh, I see. But while my sister is—at least on the surface—family, the professor has no connection to me at all. Instead of stopping rumors, wouldn’t I just become the star of the gossip?
“Yes, that sounds good. Na-hyun. Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.”
But the professor took the bait immediately.
“No, wait. Sister, isn’t a partner usually the person you enter with at the same time?”
“I have two arms. We can both link arms with you at once.”
…Was my sister always like this?
“…Or did you already have someone else in mind?”
Seeing her scowl like that, she finally looks like my sister again!
Actually, she doesn’t seem to have a purely fierce personality, but maybe because of my first impression of her, it feels like she’s only herself when she’s frowning a bit.
But honestly, how can I walk into such a massive party with both my sister and Professor Cathy on my arms?
I’ll get stabbed. Even if I don’t get stabbed, there’s no way Cheon Yu-hak’s father would miss such an entertaining incident.
…Hmm? Thinking about it that way, it might not be so bad. I do need to draw the elder Cheon’s aggro somehow.
But as for a partner…
It really is a problem.
Setting aside everyone else, there’s Ha-ni, Ga-eul, Professor Cathy, and even my sister.
I’m honestly a bit happy about the endless requests, but when it comes to actually picking one, they all have pros and cons, making it impossible to choose hastily.
Wait, come to think of it, Ga-eul hasn’t actually asked me to go yet, has she?
The professor interrupted her just as she was about to.
…No, wait, why the hell am I even having these playboy-like worries?
I don’t even have a girlfriend.
“…Is it because you don’t want to?”
No, please. It makes me really uncomfortable when you act all timid like that, Sister.
In the end, what came out of my mouth wasn’t an answer about who I’d go with, but an evasion.
“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that entering with both of you would stand out way too much.”
But the moment I said it, I realized my choice of words might have been wrong.
“…I guess you’re right.”
“…Pardon?”
Why did her voice suddenly get so low and serious? It’s making me nervous.
“I see. I didn’t think I’d have to face off with Na-hyun like this again.”
“I know. I don’t want to fight with you either, Unnie, but couldn’t you just back down this once?”
Huh? How did things suddenly escalate to this?
To make matters worse, the food arrived at the absolute worst possible timing.
Every dish looked delicious, but the atmosphere was so chillingly sharp that I couldn’t even pick up my utensils.
Why do I keep falling into a living hell every time I come to a restaurant with these two?
Is this my fault? Is there seriously something wrong with me?
Just as I was about to endure the suffocating air and reach for my spoon, my smartphone buzzed.
“Oh, let me just check this text!”
Please, someone, anyone, save me from here.
I opened the text hoping for a rescue boat, but the content was so cryptic I couldn’t understand it for a moment.
No, the meaning was concise and clear.
There was no room for any other interpretation.
First of all, the sender was Lee Yu-na.
Sure, that’s fine.
But the content was so incomprehensible I wondered if it was a joke.
No, I wanted to believe it was a joke.
[Do you want to be my partner?]
Because I wanted to deny that Lilac, that total idiot, had caused yet another disaster.
It wasn’t a rescue boat; it was a sinking ship.
Fine. Lunch is over for me today.
If I eat anything now, I’m definitely going to get indigestion. Seriously.
Even the two women, who were about to start bickering, noticed my expression suddenly stiffen and looked at me with concern.
[Where are you.]
In the end, that was the only reply I could send.
* * *
“Dammit…!”
A boy kicked a trash can in a park near the Academy.
The trash can was bolted down, but when a Superhuman kicked it with genuine fury, it rolled away, spilling its contents.
He hated the trashy club members who abandoned and betrayed him the moment he messed with a rude junior, and he hated that pretty-boy bastard who tricked the innocent professor into giving him the partner spot.
“Those bastards. I only did it because they were being so pathetic.”
Feelings toward someone are always easy to distort.
The phrase ‘for their sake’ justifies one’s actions and makes it easy to make excuses.
In the boy’s mind, he was already a hero who had acted for the sake of his admired Professor Cathy.
For a fleeting moment, a bitter resentment toward her for not recognizing his devotion bubbled up, but he quickly denied it and corrected his thoughts.
The professor was just being tricked by other bastards.
That black-haired brat who enjoyed mocking him with that nasty look, the club members who sold him out to pretend they were uninvolved, and the bastard who acted all virtuous while condemning him and wagging his tail at other women.
He remembered them all.
Of course, remembering didn’t mean he could actually do anything, but he smiled as he repeatedly fantasized about striking them down with a hammer of justice.
Holding onto the twisted hope that he would one day make this a reality, he looked up.
“Oh, hello?”
“Gah!?”
He fell onto his backside, startled by the people who had suddenly appeared before him.
“Oh, why are you so surprised? We just smelled the delicious scent of desire and wanted to offer some help~?”
“De-desire?”
“Yes, it was a wonderful dream. You’re right. You’re someone who deserves to do that.”
With a seductive aura and intoxicating mana, the woman before him approached as if casting a spell.
“We just want to help you. If you come with us, we can make that dream a reality as much as you want.”
Facing these people shrouded in such a mysterious atmosphere, he felt his heart pounding and slowly opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not interested in buying anything weird. Go find someone else.”
“…Pardon?”
Among the things he had learned in his eighteen years of life was that people who approached him like that always had something wrong with them.
Just because he had been having violent fantasies didn’t mean his reason had completely vanished.
He wasn’t a child; if a group wearing robes suddenly appeared and said, ‘You’re the one who has the right,’ who but an idiot would just go, ‘Oh, I see!’
“Ah, dammit. They said these kinds of kids are easy to lure. They’re all liars.”
He tried to run away from the women as they revealed their true colors, but he was caught with pathetic ease.
“We should have just done this from the start.”
“…Mmph…!”
He wanted to scream, but his mouth wouldn’t open.
“Don’t worry~ we don’t plan on hurting you. We just happen to need a lot of twisted desire. It might actually feel good~?”
As he stared into her eyes, which glowed with an eerie color, the strength slowly drained from his body.
Ah? Am I falling asleep? In a place like this?
No matter how hard he tried to resist, he couldn’t fight the overwhelming drowsiness.
“Then, have a nice dream.”
“Why are you even bothering to say goodbye to a guy like that? How much is left of today’s quota?”
“He’s the last one for today. But let’s look around a bit more.”
“Huh? If we’re done, let’s go. I seriously hate this.”
“Don’t be like that. He’s a talent who will give his life for our goal.”
“…Cut the crap, he’s just prey we hunted on a whim. You have a worse personality than me, you bitch.”
Engaged in a conversation that was impossible to imagine coming from people who had just kidnapped someone, the women spread bat-like wings and took to the sky.
“For the day the Dream World finally opens.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go catch some more, then.”
* * *
I eventually agreed to meet Lee Yu-na after all classes were over at the cafe where we usually met.
The cafe door opened with a chime.
Before I knew it, this place had become our default meeting spot, but I wasn’t exactly in a good mood.
Seeing her enjoying chamomile tea in the same spot as always, she seemed quite upset, but honestly, no matter how angry she was, her text was hard to understand.
“Hey.”
“Oh, you’re here? Did you order a drink?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll pay since you came because of me.”
“…Forget it. Sorry, but my head is killing me right now, so I’m going to be blunt today.”
“Is that so? Then go ahead.”
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
I showed her the text she sent, offering her a chance to deny it, but she countered nonchalantly.
“It’s exactly what it says. I’m asking if you have any intention of going to the party as my partner.”
“What about Lilac?”
The moment I mentioned Lilac’s name, her shoulders flinched.
…No, seriously. What the hell did he do this time? Lilac, you total moron.