The Good Person (4)
Karin tossed and turned inside her sleeping bag that night, unable to fall asleep. It wasn't because of the chronic insomnia she suffered from. Nor was it because her forehead still throbbed from the thirteen flicks she'd received. It was because her fears were slowly becoming reality.
'My presence... it's fading.'
At first, she had clearly been the ace of the party. But ever since Jain joined, her position had been shrinking more and more because of him—her perfect superior counterpart.
'They're all going to start thinking I'm useless. They'll secretly badmouth me behind my back. They'll compare me to my brother and say I'm not as good as him.'
Logically, she knew the kindhearted members of this party would never do such a thing. But the ostracism she'd experienced throughout her life made it impossible to erase that fear from her mind.
The reason she'd stubbornly insisted on that card game earlier was because of those very thoughts. That afternoon, there had been an incident where Karin accidentally triggered a magic trap, only for Jain to brilliantly dismantle it and prevent any harm. Jain had brushed it off like it was nothing, but ever since then, self-deprecating thoughts had haunted her relentlessly.
She'd wanted to beat him somehow, to restore her pride and drive those thoughts away.
'But I lost again. What do I do? It doesn't mean anything if I'm not number one...'
Karin continued to toss and turn deep into the night, unable to sleep.
"That damn bastard. Would it kill him to lose just once? What a cheap, dirty jerk..."
She was grumbling and cursing Jain under her breath when suddenly, a sound reached her ears. It was singing. The faint melody that tickled her ears somehow lifted her spirits.
"What is that?"
Karin quietly sat up. It was clearly someone playing an instrument. Listening closely, it sounded like a guitar. Drawn by the gentle music, she walked toward the sound in her pale pink pajamas, her long hair let down.
After passing several trees and pushing through some bushes, she finally drew close to the source. When she parted the last thicket, a wide clearing came into view. Seeing the person sitting there plucking guitar strings, Karin murmured in a daze.
"What are you doing here?"
It was Jain. In the middle of the night, he'd hidden himself in the clearing, playing guitar and humming lyrics.
"Ugh."
The moment he heard Karin's voice, Jain stopped playing and let out a groan. His expression was one of clear discomfort. It was as if he'd been caught doing something he absolutely shouldn't have been.
'Huh?'
Sensing something was off, Karin immediately rushed over to his side. She squatted down next to him and demanded, almost like an interrogation.
"What is this? Why are you singing?"
"It's for an achievement... though I doubt you'd understand. I was just practicing."
Jain waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed. But Karin had no intention of letting it go that easily.
"Song practice? Oh, right—since you're a Red Mage, you can learn Bard skills too, huh? Is that what you're practicing for?"
"Something like that."
"Then why are you doing it in secret like a damn rat hiding away?"
Jain didn't answer. He simply turned his head with a look of utter defeat. It was the first time she'd seen this expression or attitude from the insufferable guy since they'd met. Karin's face lit up with pure delight.
"What? What is it? Hmm? What? What is iiiit?"
With a huge grin plastered across her face, Karin kept chasing after Jain as he tried to avoid her gaze, shoving her face right into his and peppering him with questions. Every time she closed in, he turned his head away to dodge her.
Karin cupped her cheeks with both hands like a flower bud, looking up at his troubled face as she asked, "You suck at singing, don't you?"
Jain said nothing. Considering his usual rude personality, that was as good as half an admission.
"You suck at singing a lot, don't you? Like, really, really badly? That's why you're practicing in secret like a thief, too embarrassed to let anyone hear?"
"What are you gonna do about it?"
"Wait, for real? This is amazing! Wow!"
Karin burst into bright laughter. She'd finally found Jain's weakness.
Jain looked down at her with a mix of contempt and resignation, then explained in a small voice.
"Yeah, it's embarrassing, but... I suck. My little sister told me never to sing in front of other people. Especially not in front of girls. There, happy now? Go back to sleep."
It was an honest confession. He seemed to think that would be enough to make her lose interest and leave.
'I've finally found something I can beat him at!'
But Karin had no intention of letting go of the weakness she'd discovered after so much struggle. She clasped her hands behind her back and began circling him, teasing mercilessly.
"Hmm, so you're tone-deaf? Just so you know, back in middle academy, I took first place in the choir with a solo performance."
"Oh, wow, impressive. Now get lost."
"What? If you get down on your knees and beg, I might even give you some music lessons~"
"Cut the bullshit and go to sleep."
"Come on, let me hear how bad you really are."
"I said cut the bullshit and go to sleep."
Jain slung the guitar over his back and shot to his feet. It looked like he was trying to run away. Karin followed after him with a wicked little smile, like a tiny devil.
"No way? I'm gonna follow you. If you don't let me hear it, I'll follow you around forever and make sure you can never practice again."
"You damn woman, how far are you planning to annoy me? Tormenting me every evening wasn't enough—you have to keep it up in the middle of the night too?"
"Oh my, I'm just asking to hear you sing once and you're being so rude. This is why commoners are—"
"Don't suddenly start acting like a noble lady."
Jain's face was twisted in utter misery as he walked on. Karin, on the other hand, was having the time of her life—more excited than she'd ever been since the day she was born. She trotted along behind him, humming cheerfully.
"There once was a Red Mage named Jain~ He was always acting all high and mighty, bullying girls, hitting them, and sexually harassing them—he was such a bad guy~ But he had one weakness~ He couldn't sing worth a damn~!"
She'd improvised new lyrics to a famous hymn, but just as she'd boasted, she sang it quite well. It was a rather creative provocation, but Jain didn't react at all. He simply kept walking in silence.
Karin raised her voice, taunting him even harder.
"There once was a little sister who screamed when she heard his singing~ 'Big brother, please don't sing that song in front of people~!'"
At that, Jain's footsteps suddenly stopped dead. He stood there in complete silence, offering no response.
The excited Karin suddenly felt her heart shrivel up.
'D-did I go too far?'
She clasped her hands over her chest for a moment, tensing up, but Jain didn't get angry. He let out a deep, world-weary sigh, then plopped down and grabbed his guitar again.
"Fine, I'll play it. I'll play it, so stop acting crazy and sit down already, please."
"Hmph. If you'd just done that from the start, we both could've saved ourselves the trouble."
Seeing him like that, Karin let out a sigh of relief. And just as Jain was about to start playing, she shouted loudly.
"Wait! I have to go get something!"
She ran back to the campsite and soon returned with a fist-sized music box. Inside the crystal sphere was a miniature carousel toy; when you wound it up, the horses would spin while a song played.
"A music box? What's that for?"
"This one's got a recording function."
"What? You're even going to record it?"
"Yep. I'm going to record the great and mighty Red Mage's singing and tease you with it for the rest of your life."
"You crazy bitch. You're seriously ruthless."
Jain looked utterly fed up, but Karin held her head high. She clutched the music box tightly with both hands and asked casually, "So what are you going to sing? What's the title?"
"The Good Person."
"Pfft, what a terrible song choice right from the start. You should pick something that reflects your own ego."
"It's a Korean song... I mean, it's a song from my hometown, so you wouldn't know it. Do you even know what this song is? How can you call it terrible without even hearing it?"
"Because you're a bad person, obviously... Ow!"
Even after getting flicked on the forehead, Karin kept giggling. Jain rubbed his forehead with a look that said he had no idea how he'd ended up stuck with someone like her.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and start!"
Karin squatted beside him and urged him on. With an expression of complete surrender, Jain began plucking the guitar strings.
In the quiet clearing late at night, a warm melody began to rise.
'How should I mock him so his spirit completely breaks?'
Karin had been grinning from ear to ear while pondering that very question, but her face soon went slack with shock. Then she grew furious.
'This bastard tricked me again! How is this the singing of someone who's tone-deaf?!'
But her anger didn't last long. She quickly became lost in the song itself. The lyrics, the melody, the voice—everything was beautiful. Jain was singing in a clear, sweet voice that was completely different from his usual curt tone.
As she listened in a daze, a sudden thought crossed Karin's mind.
'He seems like a completely different person. Does he talk to the girls he likes in this kind of voice too...?'
By the time she came back to her senses, the song had already ended, and Jain was staring at her with a sullen expression. She hurriedly pressed the button to stop the music box's recording, then swept her hair back and tried to act nonchalant.
"Hmph. Well... it really was terrible!"
"I knew it. So, where do you think I need to fix it?"
"W-what?"
"You said you'd give me lessons."
She briefly wondered if he was being sarcastic, but judging by his genuinely pained expression, it didn't seem that way. For some reason, this guy truly believed he was a bad singer.
Karin crossed her arms and tried to look composed.
"U-um, well, I can't really tell after just one listen? Do it a few more times!"
"You're seriously ruthless. How many times are you going to humiliate me..."
Jain shook his head in disbelief and started playing again. But Karin had no such malicious intent. She simply wanted to hear the song a few more times.
Sitting there as the gentle waves of sound washed over her, she felt a strange warmth blooming in her chest. That overflowing warmth melted away the fear and anxiety that had tormented her every night. It felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket fresh from drying in the sun. In that feeling, she could fall asleep without a single worry.
"There. That's five more times. How was it?"
When Jain finished playing and looked over at her, he let out a hollow laugh. She'd fallen fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder, breathing softly.
"Unbelievable. What a selfish girl."
He thought about waking her, but she was sleeping so peacefully that he decided against it. He set down his guitar and looked up at the sky. A full moon was gently pouring down its light. The cascading moonlight turned the nape of the sleeping Karin's neck a pure, snowy white.
Jain stayed seated there in the grass, letting her borrow his shoulder, until the moment she finally woke up.