Ugh, Can't Even Control Their Emotions
I watched from a distance as Im Yuna made contact with Han Hye-yeon.
It was to prevent any unexpected situations that might crop up.
Fortunately nothing happened—but Im Yuna never once apologized, right to the end.
I'd deliberately made her go all the way to the house… and she just shoved a letter at her and left!
And she even casually tossed out something like, "I already apologized," while she was at it.
She's seriously something else.
I didn't like it, but I decided to leave things there. Honestly, her mindset was pure garbage, but it wasn't as if she'd committed some major crime. I just wanted to smear that vicious face of hers with frustration and defeat.
Anyway, the marathon prize money went to a suitable underprivileged neighbor. I couldn't exactly return it to the organizers, and it was awkward money for me to use myself, so it worked out fine.
"You should've just said something sooner…"
Kang Jiye rubbed my cheek with a guilty look. She'd pinched it again earlier, thinking I'd gone and blown through twenty million won.
I folded my arms firmly and stared straight ahead.
"You weren't even listening."
"Well, what was I supposed to do when you were going, 'I didn't do anything wrong! Go ahead and scold me!' Of course I thought you were just being cheeky."
"So you grabbed my cheek without even asking what happened?"
Kang Jiye answered, looking sheepish.
"W-well, honestly, it is soft. How is a magic beast's cheek this soft? It's fascinating."
"Wow— oh, for crying out loud!"
"Aigoo, I said I was sorry."
From there, Kang Jiye started grilling me seriously about what had happened that day. After hearing the whole story, she stroked her chin.
"Well, compensation disputes happen all the time. People request mediation from our side pretty often, too."
"There are way too many petty people in this world. Over a few measly coins."
"It's less about the money and more about feelings. When you're bumping into the same kinds of people every day, it's easy for tempers to fray."
"Really?"
Kang Jiye nodded.
"It's not like these are deals moving hundreds of millions. Honestly, if you said, 'Forget the money—just admit it was the other person's fault!' most of them would jump at it."
I scrunched up my face.
"Good grief. What a waste of energy."
"Heh. You shouldn't take it so lightly. If anything, that Han Hye-yeon girl seems like a special case to me. Keeping emotion out of your work isn't easy."
Kang Jiye added that even she herself got heated from time to time. I thought it over carefully.
…True enough. That Im Yuna woman had looked incredibly smug the moment the distribution was decided. She hadn't even cared much about the payout itself. She'd just been thrilled that she'd managed to pick on Han Hye-yeon and put her in her place.
But why, though?
As far as I knew, the two of them had only met for the first time on this party. It felt like far too short a time for real bad blood to form.
When I tilted my head, Kang Jiye answered as if she couldn't believe I was asking.
"Why are you overthinking it? She just got on her nerves."
"Huh?"
"If every bit of hatred in the world needed a justified reason, what would we need laws for? That Kang Dae-hee guy or whoever was fussing over her, right?"
"Kim Dae-hee."
"Right, Kim Dae-hee. He and a few others were going on about how amazing she was."
"Yeah. Because it's unusual."
A high schooler stepping onto the front lines wasn't common even in this world. No matter how hard life pushed you, who would want to stake their life at that age? It was still an age when you wanted to lean on the adults around you.
But Kang Jiye pointed to that as the cause.
"To ordinary people, that kid might look admirable. But to a few people with twisted natures, it might look different. They probably thought she was making a big fuss over nothing special."
"That's just pathetic busybodying, then."
Kang Jiye's mouth curled into a grin.
"Exactly. Busybodying. Just like how you found that Im Yuna girl so unpleasant."
"…?"
I tilted my head.
"What do you mean?"
"You meddled too."
"Huh?"
"Why go out of your way to make her visit Hye-yeon? There could have been retaliation."
"…That's—!"
"That's why you watched from a distance, isn't it. In case Im Yuna did something unexpected."
"W-well, yeah. But—"
"The victim never even asked for an apology, and there was zero chance the perpetrator was going to reflect. So why force something like that? Hmm, my little one?"
"…"
My mouth closed for a moment.
Why had I done it?
Because Han Hye-yeon was a good kid struggling to take care of her younger siblings, and Im Yuna was a villain who'd tormented that poor girl. Of course she deserved punishment.
…A chance at reflection? That had never even been a consideration. She'd just picked a fight with someone for no reason, so I wanted her to get it right back. That was the only way I'd feel better.
That was why I'd made her personally deliver a letter stuffed with twenty million won. To make her so sick with envy she wanted to die.
Kang Jiye clicked her tongue looking at me.
"Moments like this, I really can't tell whether you've grown up or not."
Apparently she'd seen straight through my impure motives from the start. I admitted it without a fight.
"Yeah. Yes. I meddled."
Kang Jiye's eyes sharpened.
"So helping Hye-yeon was purely for that reason too, then?"
I shook my head firmly.
"That's not it."
"Then?"
"I was going to help her from the beginning. Sure, I got a little carried away while messing with Im Yuna, but still."
"Hmm…"
I waved both hands at Kang Jiye's skeptical look.
"I'm serious. Do you really think I'd be crazy enough to spend my own money that impulsively?"
"With a personality that runs scams outside? I could see it. You'd just make it back somewhere else."
Oh ho?
"There was a method like that!"
I clapped my hands together—and she grabbed my left cheek and stretched it.
"You wanna die?"
"Hwah-nyuh."
I gently peeled her hand away and explained myself.
"I'm being honest! I just ended up knowing too much. I couldn't not help her!"
Kang Jiye asked,
"What do you mean?"
"I told you before. Why I don't talk to people much."
Once you get to know someone too well, a lot of annoying things come with it. It becomes hard to look the other way when they're in trouble, and you end up having to join all sorts of events and social gatherings.
Just ignore it?
Easier said than done. If you do that, one corner of your heart stays permanently uncomfortable. I hated that kind of thing. Being alone was fine—why go out of your way to add variables and make life harder?
"And when someone around me gets treated unfairly… I have a hard time controlling my anger. I can't rest until I've put everything back to normal."
"…!"
Kang Jiye's pupils dilated for a moment. I had no idea what had startled her, but I pressed on.
"I can't go into the details, but knowing a young kid was looking after her siblings all alone kept weighing on me. Up close, she had a stronger sense of responsibility than most kids her age. Before I knew it, she'd stepped inside my boundary."
"…"
Kang Jiye studied me with a settled gaze. She didn't seem particularly angry—more like something had piqued her interest.
"So you cheerfully donated twenty million won."
"Yes."
"And you think that's normal."
"Of course. Once I've felt a sense of closeness with someone, that person has to be happy. And Im Yuna has to be unhappy."
"Mm."
Kang Jiye murmured a quiet I knew it, then asked,
"Then let me ask you this. What if she becomes unhappy?"
"Huh?"
"What will you do if that Han Hye-yeon girl becomes unhappy?"
"I'd find whatever's making her unhappy and get rid of it, obviously?"
Kang Jiye let out a sigh. I asked, puzzled,
"What?"
She answered with a bitter smile.
"Just… it's starting to feel real that you're a Gate Boss? And I think I get why you're a homebody, too."
My eyes went wide.
"A Gate Boss… in what way?"
I wasn't a Gate Boss, though.
Kang Jiye replied in a pitying tone.
"In your book, if someone's good by your standards, they have to be happy. If they're evil, they have to be unhappy. Right?"
"Right."
"And if something falls outside that, you get impulsive. And angry."
I tilted my head. It sounded like the most natural thing in the world for a person.
But Kang Jiye kneaded both my cheeks and said,
"That's completely the stance of a god or a dictator, you little one. Thankfully your standards for good and evil aren't that different from everyone else's… but if your nature had been even a little more twisted, you'd have caused some serious disasters."
"I-is that so?"
I had zero desire to cause disasters. If anything, my dream was to live a peaceful daily life and die of old age.
Fortunately, Kang Jiye went on,
"Well, you've managed fine so far. Of course you have—you tried to wall yourself off from society before you could cause any trouble."
"Yeees… wait, what?"
Hold on. That wasn't—
"Mmph—."
But Kang Jiye squished my cheeks again. Her eyes grew steadily more serious.
"Even so. You don't need to voluntarily become a social outcast. You have to live your own life too. From now on, try to separate the people around you from yourself."
"That's not it, I'm a perfect solo mmph—."
"Aww, our cute little tantrum-throwing magic beast. Was the world not going your way and it made you all frustrated?"
"Mmph—! Mmf!"
I said that's not it!
Honestly…… she wasn't wrong.
When the world didn't go the way I thought it should, it drove me up the wall.
But wasn't that only natural?
All I wanted was for everyone to smile at each other—was that so hard? Don't pick fights just because you're angry. Even if you make a mistake, apologize and make amends right away. The victim accepts it and graciously lets it go. And occasionally donates to the underprivileged, too.
Then no one would have any reason to be unhappy… and yet everyone justified the causes of conflict with every excuse under the sun.
Ugh, how could people not even manage their own emotions!
"Unnieee…! Enough already, just apologize."
"No, I'm telling you I didn't do anything wrong."
"You hit them anyway! You hit our cute little Toris! What could they possibly have done to deserve a beating!"
Yena stroked their heads while clutching a teddy bear. Three Party Bears were clustered around her—the same three that had been late to the dungeon a few days ago and gotten caught by Han Hye-yeon. I'd smacked them a few times as a warning to be more careful, and the little snitches had gone and tattled to Yena.
Incredible. Things that can't even talk!
Just picture those wobbling bodies doing body language. Try not to laugh.
"Apologize right now!"
You idiot, they're immune to physical damage! They're just putting on an act!
Honestly, it could have easily turned into a mutual slaughter. They should have been grateful I'd only scolded them this much—and they dared to snitch?
Not that I could pick a fight with a seven-year-old girl. Ugh, seriously.
In the end I decided to just take it this once and apologized to Yena.
"I'm sorry. I won't hit them anymore."
But Yena shook her head vigorously.
"Not to me—to the Toris. I only have things to thank Unnie for. I can't accept an apology."
"…"
At that, the three Party Bears spread their legs and crossed their arms as if they'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Beep, bip (Let's hear that apology.)"
"…"
"Kyuing— boo (Foolish boss.)"
"…"
"Byuik (Apologize.)"
"…"
"Bip bip (Hurry up!)"
"Fine."
WHAM!
I swung my fist in a big, full circle. The Party Bear that took the uppercut bounced away like a rubber ball and buried its head in the steel frame of the Ferris wheel.
"Tori… mmph!"
I stuffed a grape-flavored candy into the mouth of Yena, who was about to scream.
"…"
Bribe complete.