Chapter 371: A Somewhat Cruel Reunion.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 371: A Somewhat Cruel Reunion.
A brief silence followed.
The trouble started just before Great King Yama could drop her bombshell, when everyone tried to shut her up at once.
If only one or two of them had possessed quick reflexes, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But in their shared panic, they failed to coordinate and lunged forward as a group, resulting in a messy collision straight out of a gag manga.
“Uh, did I… perhaps make a mistake…?”
The culprit who had dropped the mega-bomb and put us all in this awkward spot seemed completely oblivious, making it impossible to even get angry at her.
…Then again, they were the ones who had agreed to keep the secret in the first place, so they didn’t have much ground to stand on anyway.
As everyone kept their heads down, stealing glances at one another, he finally spoke.
“…So my mother was here. Judging by your reactions, I assume everyone already knew?”
His voice was flat, making it impossible to tell if he was angry or not.
Well, logically speaking, he should be angry since we tried to deceive him, but we did have our reasons.
“I see. I thought everyone was being a bit too considerate lately, but I guess that explains it.”
Even Baek Seol, who rarely cared about what others thought, flinched as if she felt this had gone too far.
“So-hyun, I—I can explain! I can explain everything!”
Unable to bear the pressure, Cathy was the first to scramble for an excuse, looking for all the world like a partner caught cheating. However, she fell silent the very next moment.
One by one, the others looked up in confusion, only to fall silent just like Cathy. Kang So-hyun’s state was… strange.
They expected him to be angry, or sulky, or perhaps even smug about having the upper hand.
Instead, he simply stood there with a calm face, wearing a faint, bittersweet smile.
“I’m sure everyone had their reasons for hiding it.”
He met each of their eyes, one by one, as if acknowledging they must have had no choice.
“You wouldn’t have done it for no reason. You did it because you were thinking of me, right?”
He looked as if he understood everything.
“…Or maybe Mom asked you to because she didn’t really want to see me.”
That smile, which seemed to say, ‘I trust you all,’ pricked their consciences even harder.
…It would have been better if he had just gotten angry.
“N-No! It’s not like that!”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to force an explanation. I won’t misunderstand.”
Kang Ha-ni finally shouted out, unable to take it anymore, but he only shook his head, insisting he was fine.
“T-That’s right, So-hyun! Your mother didn’t make a request like that!”
“S-She must have had her reasons. Yes, of course. It was obvious she wanted to see you right away!?”
Only Yama, who didn’t understand the situation, tilted her head as she watched them.
* * *
Just to be clear, I wasn’t actually that angry. My bittersweet act was about fifty percent calculated.
I wasn’t actually thinking, ‘It can’t be helped,’ or ‘I’m really okay.’
I was flustered at first, but now I was feeling quite level-headed.
Actually, it made sense. I’d been wondering what was behind all the bizarre behavior lately, but if my mom was involved, it all clicked.
She was always one for mischief.
She probably had some reason why it was hard to meet me, and since she couldn’t, she decided to play a few pranks instead.
…Then why was I acting all bittersweet and watching everyone squirm?
“Since everyone is like this, there’s no need to feel so sorry.”
“I-I’m telling you, that’s not it!?”
“Exactly! So-hyun!”
Because this was much more effective than scolding them or demanding to know how they could do this to me.
Aside from Baek Seol, everyone here was fundamentally a good person. And since I’d been the one making all the concessions lately, they were probably feeling incredibly guilty right now.
This meant I probably wouldn’t have to worry about being confined once we went back.
…Of course, it would be a lie to say I didn’t want to see her. But I didn’t want to force a meeting if she was telling people not to let me come, especially if it made everyone else’s lives difficult.
Once I feel a bit more confident in myself, I’ll go see her then.
“Since everyone is okay…”
Anyway, I felt like I’d laid enough groundwork, so it was time to start negotiating. First, I’d get them to promise not to lock me up when we returned—
“No, it’s not okay.”
“…Huh?”
A voice suddenly cut through my thoughts, contradicting me.
“…Master?”
The Plum Blossom Sword Empress, Lee Ha-ru.
Her eyes were shimmering with a strange fervor.
…Did I lay it on a bit too thick?
“Yes, So-hyun. I know you’re not okay at all.”
Wait, the atmosphere is getting a bit…? No, the ‘medicine’ worked a little too well.
— You brat, use your head for once.
‘…Excuse me? What for?’
— If someone who was crying and throwing things just a few days ago saying they weren’t okay suddenly started smiling bitterly and saying “I’m fine,” would you just go, “Ah, okay! He’s fine!”?
‘Uh, well. No, but it’s already been a week…’
— It’s ONLY been a week. If someone who tried to kill themselves a week ago said they were fine, would you just go, “Whew! What a relief!”?
‘Are you just going to keep hitting me with facts?’
— The Will of the Saint looks at you with pathetic eyes.
— The Touch of the Devil claims… it’s nothing.
— And most importantly, even to us, you don’t look okay at all.
…I don’t look okay?
“Let’s go see her.”
Before I could ask what she meant, Master spoke and grabbed my hand.
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know what the reason is, but let’s go see her anyway. Deep down, she must want to see you too.”
Uh, well. It was great that I had permission to go out, but everyone had this terrifying fire in their eyes.
She wouldn’t have avoided me for no reason. What if I went to see her and things got messed up?
Right, no matter how I looked at it, I should refuse.
Master wasn’t pulling that hard; I could have resisted if I really wanted to.
But for some reason, I couldn’t.
“Yes, So-hyun. Let’s go see her. It’s only right that you at least say hello.”
“…Yeah, let’s go. I’ve been feeling uneasy about this, but I think seeing her is the right thing to do.”
Everyone was being so gentle, treating me like a fragile child, which made it even harder to resist.
I knew that meeting her might cause problems, but I couldn’t shake the desire to just give in and see her.
By the time I snapped out of it, I had already been led to the front of a certain room.
…She’s in here.
I saw her briefly last time, but it was so short I didn’t even get to say everything I wanted to.
I hesitated. I was worried. But selfishly, knowing she was behind this door made me want to open it despite everything.
Was this a reaction to realizing my own spoiled nature?
Well, I’d come this far. There was no turning back now.
If a problem arose, I’d just apologize and fix it somehow.
With that resolve, I opened the door.
* * *
To be honest, the others weren’t without their anxieties, but they ultimately felt this was the right choice.
They had lost their minds for a bit, bickering over who would be the ‘first daughter-in-law’ out of greed, but in the end, his will was what mattered. They didn’t know when an opportunity like this would come again, and they didn’t want him to regret it later.
Beyond his shoulder, the woman sitting inside the room widened her eyes in surprise, gazing at him with a look of profound heartache.
Though his back was turned and they couldn’t see his face, they imagined he wore a similar expression.
“Ah…”
Perhaps he was holding back the urge to run to her and burst into tears.
“…I thought this might happen because everyone loves my son so much, but you’re all quite cruel, aren’t you? You could have at least let me prepare myself. So suddenly.”
As she slowly stood up and approached him with tearful eyes, everyone smiled.
Despite everything, she must have missed him too.
“Our So-hyun seems to have grown a bit since I saw him last.”
Just as everyone was about to relax in the tender atmosphere, a few with sharp intuition felt something was off.
The tearful look on her face held more than just joy; it was tinged with a sorrow that went beyond mere regret.
The reason for that dissonance became clear to everyone—not just a few—a moment later.
It started when the boy, who had been standing with his back to them, finally spoke.
“…She’s not here? Did she step out for a moment?”
Because he was facing forward, they couldn’t see his face, but his reaction was undeniably bizarre.
His mother was standing right in front of him, looking at him. What on earth was he talking about?
If it was a cruel joke, it didn’t fit his behavior leading up to this moment.
“…I really gathered my courage to open this door. I didn’t expect her to be out right now.”
His voice wasn’t angry, nor was it soaked in sorrow.
He sounded truly calm, as if he were simply stating that something invisible was, in fact, not there.
“So-hyun…?”
“What are you…?”
As they tried to speak, the ebony-haired woman shook her head and slowly brought her index finger to her lips.
“Shh.”
“Huh? What’s wrong, everyone?”
When he turned around, his face showed nothing but genuine confusion.
“Maybe I should have been more honest. I was worried he’d suffer trying to find a way to fix it if I told him, so yes, that’s why I asked you not to let us meet.”
No, surely not. That would be too cruel.
“Actually, there was no need to ask you to keep us apart. I’m still serving my punishment.”
“…Can I wait here?”
Several people winced, and someone covered their mouth with their hand as they watched her reach out to touch his head, only for her hand to pass through him like a ghost.
“Even if we met, he wouldn’t be able to see me. I didn’t want So-hyun to be hurt, so I was just going to let it pass. Besides, it would break my heart to be so close and not even be able to touch him. It would hurt too much.”
“…She hasn’t left already, has she? I really worked up a lot of courage to come here.”
“It’s hard for all of you, but please don’t make it obvious.”
“Hmm? What is it? Ga-eul, why are you crying? Wait, why do you all look like that?”
“If he knew I was right in front of him and he couldn’t see me, my poor So-hyun would be devastated. And knowing him, he’d blame himself, thinking it’s his fault I’m being punished.”
The ebony-haired woman, with a face so like his, smiled playfully yet bitterly and shook her head.
“So, let’s just let him believe I’m a bad mother who left without seeing her son even though he was right there.”
“…No, why is everyone so quiet? Is there something behind me?”
In this uncomfortable space, the most tragic person was the only one unaware of his own tragedy. Most of the others found that closing their eyes was the best they could do.
None of them—not even Baek Seol—could bring themselves to say that his mother had simply ‘left.’ But that seemed to be enough.
“Thank you, everyone.”
The Witch of the Time Flower, Yu Ha-na, smiled brightly and expressed her gratitude.
Well, if there was one problem, it was that it was already too late.
“…Everyone, tell me the truth.”
Kang So-hyun wasn’t so dense that he wouldn’t notice something was wrong in this situation, nor was he patient enough to ignore it after working up the courage to come this far.
“No, seriously. I won’t be mad. Just tell me the truth.”
He swallowed hard and turned back around to face her. Or rather, from his perspective, he looked toward the spot where she might be.
“…Is someone standing next to me?”
At the sound of his trembling voice, no one could answer.
“…I knew this would happen, which is why I didn’t want to meet.”
The two of them, looking at each other with bittersweet faces, were so alike.
“…Really?”
It only made the scene look all the more heart-wrenching.