Gabyul, I'll Definitely Save You! (6)

Shit, that startled me.

I knew Kang Ha-seung had come to, but I never expected her to suddenly scream like that.

·····Haa, I'll get there as fast as I can.

Kim Gabyul must have heard Kang Ha-seung's voice as well; she let out a sigh.

"That would be for the best, I suppose."

I hung up and turned to look at her.

"Hic!"

The moment our eyes met, she started trembling and hiccuping.

Kang Ha-seung. Was this person really that Kang Ha-seung?

She was nothing like the image I had in mind.

Kang Ha-seung had appeared in the original work as well.

When I read it, she had shown up sweeping enemies aside in spectacular fashion whenever the protagonist Seong Hyeon was in danger. So why did the Kang Ha-seung standing in front of me look so pathetic?

Could it be that the woman in front of me wasn't Kang Ha-seung at all?

"Your name is Kang Ha-seung, correct?"

At my words, her eyes darted left and right.

"·····N-no? I'm not Kang Ha-seung."

"Ahhh, is that so?"

"Yeah! That's right, hic!"

Kang Ha-seung, still rolling her eyes, immediately shouted as if that was exactly the answer the moment I played along.

Come to think of it, the moment I saw Camael attached to her, she had been confirmed as Kang Ha-seung.

Which meant everything Kang Ha-seung was saying right now was a lie.

"Then what is your name?"

"·····Uh? Uh····· well, you see? I····· can't tell you."

"Aha, you can't tell me? And the reason for that would be?"

"That's·····"

Kang Ha-seung kept glancing around, rolling her eyes, hiccuping, and generally falling apart.

No matter how I looked at her, she was nothing like the image I knew.

"Th-that's it! You're a black mage, right? You can't just go around telling people your name! Hic! Who knows what you'd do with it!"

"Ahh, so that's how it is?"

"Yeah! That's how it is!"

"Hmm, there's one thing I'd like to ask, if I may·····"

As I trailed off, Kang Ha-seung gulped.

"W-what is it?"

"Why were you tailing me?"

"T-tailing? What are you hic! talking about·····."

Even while hiccuping, Kang Ha-seung tried to play dumb.

"Haha, I suppose words alone won't do, then?"

"What do you mean by····· Kyaaah!"

The moment I suddenly moved, Kang Ha-seung screamed.

Conversations really did go better with food involved, didn't they?

I had once read a study somewhere that said people became more talkative and generous after eating something delicious.

I remembered I had left some chocolate in the freezer.

I opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the living room to fetch it.

I pulled a few chocolates from the freezer and started back toward the room; through the door I could hear her muttering quietly.

I paused for a moment to eavesdrop on what she was saying.

"·····Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down? You know my personality. In the first place, Camael, you should have protected me·····!"

From the sound of it, she was talking with Camael.

A moment later her voice came again.

"·····He won't harm me? Camael, something that only tickles an angel can be life-threatening to a human."

"You've seen how dangerous that black mage is. That horrifyingly ugly monster. I hic, I just can't believe the person who made that could be normal·····!"

That monster—I hadn't made it.

If Kang Ha-seung was right, then Moon Seyeon was an abnormal black mage.

·····Well, Moon Seyeon's tastes might indeed be a little less than normal.

"·····Besides, you know what Baek Sejin did to Gabyul. He's clearly planning to do the same thing to me. Just locking me in here and calling Gabyul is proof enough."

"He's definitely going to use Gabyul to force me to submit."

I couldn't listen any longer. I opened the door and walked back into the room.

The moment I re-entered, Kang Ha-seung glared at me.

"No matter what you do to me, I won't submit."

Kang Ha-seung shouted with a flushed face.

It was absurd, but I approached her anyway to hand over the chocolate.

"Why don't you eat this first?"

I smiled kindly as I drew closer, yet her expression changed in real time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with every step I took.

Kang Ha-seung's face gradually crumpled into a tearful look.

"Hic?! D-don't come any closer!"

In the end, when I got very close, Kang Ha-seung screamed and tried to get away from me—whatever she was imagining.

Not that she could go far; her back was already against the wall.

When I blocked her path, she squeezed her eyes shut.

I took her hand and pressed the chocolate into it.

The moment my hand touched hers, Kang Ha-seung flinched, but curiosity about what she was holding soon made her slowly open her eyes.

"·····Chocolate?"

"You don't like chocolate?"

"N-no, it's not that·····."

"Then please eat it. It's a small token of goodwill."

Kang Ha-seung looked back and forth between me and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the chocolate, then opened her mouth while watching my reaction.

"If I don't eat it····· what happens?"

I thought for a moment about what she meant.

What happens if she doesn't eat the chocolate? She just doesn't eat it, that's all.

Ah—well, since I went to the trouble of handing it to her myself, I might feel a little sad if she refused.

"Well, I might feel a little sad, but it doesn't really matter if you don't eat it."

"Then·····."

Kang Ha-seung carefully set the chocolate down on the floor.

"Ah, so you're not going to eat it? In that case·····."

"I-I'll eat it! I'll eat it!"

Kang Ha-seung made a tearful face, hurriedly unwrapped the chocolate she had just set down, and shoved it into her mouth.

I had been about to say "Then I suppose it can't be helped," but····· well. It didn't really matter.

"Well then, shall we clear up the misunderstanding first?"

"Hoo, hoo·····."

I had come home and was swinging my sword as usual.

Sweat ran down my forehead, along my chin, and dripped onto the floor.

A text from Baek Sejin made me lower the sword I had been swinging.

Baek Sejin sent a photo.

What is this?

The moment I looked at the picture Baek Sejin had sent, my mind went blank.

In the photo was a blonde woman lying on a bed with her eyes closed, her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face flushed red.

·····What was he trying to do by sending this?

I frowned.

Was he bragging?

Something like "While you're swinging a sword, I'm here with a girl"?

Why would he send me something like this?

Heat rushed to my head for a second.

Baek Sejin, I didn't think you were that kind of person·····.

"·····It's Ha-seung."

Gabriel, in her tiny angel form, muttered while looking at the screen.

At Gabriel's murmur I looked at the woman's face again and confirmed it was definitely Kang Ha-seung.

"·····Why is Unni with Baek Sejin?"

I couldn't make sense of the situation at all.

Come to think of it, Unni had contacted me a few days ago.

I re-read the message Kang Ha-seung had sent.

No matter how I looked at it, she was the one who seemed to need help.

I texted Baek Sejin again.

He must have already been typing an explanation, because a message arrived from him at the exact same moment I sent mine.

I read Baek Sejin's message over and over, but I still couldn't understand a single word of it.

So Ha-seung Unni had been tailing Baek Sejin?

What the hell was the chimera Moon Seyeon gave him·····?

And what did "collapsed" mean?

From shock? Or because she was badly hurt?

Had Baek Sejin made Ha-seung Unni collapse?

And why had Camael-nim told him to put Ha-seung Unni on his bed?

None of it made sense.

I called him.

—Ah, Gabyul-yang.

"What the hell is going on right now? Why is Ha-seung Unni with you?"

—Ah, as I explained, Kang Ha-seung-yang was tailing me, so I used an item of Seyeon-yang's for a moment and·····.

Baek Sejin began explaining again with an awkward-sounding laugh.

As expected, I still couldn't understand a word.

Well, what I had to do had been decided the moment I received his text anyway.

He wanted me to clean up this mess, right?

The fact that he had sent me a photo of Kang Ha-seung meant he already knew about my relationship with Ha-seung Unni.

"Forget it. I just need to go there, right?"

—Well····· something like that, yes.

—No! Gabyul, don't you dare come here! I'll sacrifice myself, so you run!

Ha-seung Unni's voice came through from behind Baek Sejin's.

Hearing Unni's voice only made the situation even more incomprehensible.

"·····Haa, I'll get there as fast as I can."

—That would be for the best, I suppose.

I'd figure it out once I got there.

A sigh slipped out; I had the distinct feeling I had gotten tangled up in something extremely bothersome.

"Gabriel, what on earth is going on?"

[I have no idea either. I'm eating popcorn with Camael for the first time in ages, so hurry over.]

"·····That's a joke, right?"

But Gabriel's voice didn't come again.

I took a moment to catch my breath, then pressed the doorbell.

I never imagined the first time I visited Baek Sejin's house would be for something like this.

A moment later the door flew open.

"Ah, you've arrived."

The person who appeared when the door opened was Baek Sejin.

"Just what is going on?"

At my words Baek Sejin smiled as if he were in a difficult spot and led me toward the room.

The dolls scattered everywhere were pretty distracting, but I followed his lead into the bedroom for now.

"Ga-Gabyul·····."

The moment I stepped inside, what I saw was—yes, unmistakably the Kang Ha-seung I knew.

Bright blonde hair, blue eyes, and that unnecessarily large chest were exactly as I remembered.

"Haa·····."

I couldn't hold back the sigh.