Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Episode 67. 90 Years of Service (1) + Yoo Gaeul Illustration
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Time passed.
Winter was doing well. There was no hesitation in her steps to school anymore. She even seemed to be enjoying life there quite a bit. She would occasionally talk about her friends. Her hair was blonde like Autumn unni's, or black like Ji-tae's, things like that.
The other kids were a little wary of Winter. They feared her instinctively, in a way they couldn't quite explain. Winter still couldn't fully control her presence. To young children, she must have felt like a beast.
Even so, the kids who had warmed up to Winter were gradually getting closer to her, like befriending a massive tiger.
Lately, Winter had developed a sudden interest in money.
More precisely, in cash rather than cards. "A magical thing that can be exchanged for anything." That seemed to be how Winter viewed money.
"...Um, can you buy me just one wallet?"
"A wallet?"
"...Yeah."
He wanted to give her something nice. So for her first wallet, he bought her a luxury artifact wallet worth 12 million won. It would sound an alarm if lost and reveal its location.
Winter, unaware of its value, slipped a single 500-won coin inside and looked quite satisfied.
"...Hehe."
She would gradually come to understand amounts and value. When she tried to buy jelly for the first time in a while with her 500 won and was told it wasn't enough, she looked a bit downcast.
That was how the little one was slowly learning about the world.
"Phew. Finally done."
Bom had finished writing her novel all the way to the epilogue.
The title of this horror novel was From the Sin of the Long Dawn. Quite a poetic title had been born. The contest results wouldn't come out for a few months, so now all she had to do was wait patiently.
"Good work. You put in months of effort. Hope it goes well."
"Yeah... me too."
Bom's "Yeah... me too" was a bit unexpected.
"What's up? Feeling a bit greedy about it?"
"Huh? Oh... um..."
Bom tapped her lower lip with her finger for a moment, then her eyes widened round.
"Huh? Yeah? Somehow, as I wrote it, I grew attached. I never cared if it did well before."
"Might as well aim high since you did it."
"Yeah, yeah."
But a problem arose. They hadn't registered for the contest yet. While Bom was away briefly, Yeoreum had messed with Bom's keyboard on a whim.
"Huh? What? Huh?"
Bom returned and checked the registered manuscript over and over.
Then she bit her lip and called out to Yeoreum.
"Hey. Yoo Yeoreum—"
It was a voice from Bom laced with irritation, something Yoo Ji-tae had almost never heard.
"Huh? Why?"
"What is this? What did you do?"
"You hadn't picked a pen name, right? So I picked one for you."
"I, I did pick one."
"Then why didn't you say so earlier."
"You, you...!"
"So what is it?"
"Spring."
"What kind of pen name is that? When did you decide?"
"Just now!"
Bom shouted. Yoo Ji-tae learned that day that Bom's voice could get that loud.
Slightly startled, Yeoreum frowned, then realized and gave an awkward smile.
"Oh? Then just re-register it."
"Can't re-register. Don't touch my stuff without permission from now on. Got it?"
"Yeah. Sorry~."
"You, really, you really...!"
Bom huffed, breathing heavily through her nose. She opened her mouth as if to say something harsh, then bit her lip repeatedly. She was so angry that her pale skin flushed red from her ears down to her neck.
So he casually checked the pen name Yeoreum had registered.
[From the Sin of the Dawn]
-Author: Broccoli Hair Color
Oof.
A snort escaped him, and Bom whipped around to look.
Her grass-green eyes seemed more hurt than just disappointed—almost aggrieved.
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you laughing? Is it funny?"
"I didn't laugh."
"If I win, they'll call 'Broccoli Hair Color author' up to the podium. Then everyone will really think my hair is broccoli-colored and I'll be a laughingstock...? Is that funny...?"
"No. Not funny..."
As the fire turned on Yoo Ji-tae unnecessarily, Yeoreum stealthily snickered.
She seemed to take the novel more seriously than expected. It felt a bit odd. He couldn't understand why she was angrier at him than at Yeoreum.
Anyway, Bom looked like she'd cry at even a single joke, so he played it off as much as possible.
That day was like sitting on pins and needles.
"Mm. Time for training~."
Yeoreum hummed awkwardly and slipped away.
As always, she dressed for training, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door.
Even lately, she was doing anger management training.
But there were no results.
Just moments ago was a perfect example. When Bom yelled, she had to reflexively hold back her own surge of anger.
This was partly due to her innate temperament and her Red Dragon clan's competitive spirit. But it was more accurate to see it as a mental illness.
It wasn't a matter of personality.
It was a sickness that needed treatment.
Avoiding the situation after realizing she was angry was the best Yeoreum could do. In other words, she still got angry.
If an uncontrolled situation ever led to a massive shock, he'd need to fit her with a 'safety pin.'
And he knew how to do it. A method he'd learned by chance at the end of his 5th cycle.
If he wanted to add that safety pin...
He might have to push this Red Dragon hatchling into an extreme situation. It would be very violent. Merciless. Yeoreum would suffer. And he'd have to push through despite her pain.
It hadn't bothered him back then, but now it left a bitter taste.
He hoped that time never came.
"Why. What are you looking at?"
Yeoreum asked as she tied up her red bob haircut.
He shook his head.
Still, with her efforts, maybe there'd be good results.
"Have a safe trip."
"Yeah."
Yoo Gaeul.
Lately, she had consciously started keeping distance from the chick. She spent more time alone than always going out together.
It seemed like she was deliberately throwing herself into environments without the chick. Perhaps because she'd received some of BY's memories and emotions. Her judgment seemed perfectly rational to him.
So when Bom looked for Gaeul, the one who used to bring back baguettes would wave with a bright smile.
"Huh? Why are you filming me?!"
"It's for sending you to the underground labyrinth."
"Oh! It's already today?!"
"Do a V."
"Peeeace~~."
To Yoo Ji-tae, this was a curious thing.
That parting could be practiced.
The chick left alone in the dorm chirped pitifully searching for her owner, then ended up in the guardian's hands and into a brand-new cauldron.
"This is your home now."
The guardian's red eyes curved into (^^) shapes. Unaware of what was happening, the chick napped comfortably in the cozy cauldron.
This was the daily routine flowing by.
The regressor hoped it wouldn't shake.
To ensure that, he now had to go somewhere beyond the everyday.
Late at night, when the kids were holed up in their rooms. As he tried to leave the dorm without a word, Bom quietly opened her door.
Their eyes met. She approached him cautiously.
"Going?"
"Yeah."
"You'll be back soon?"
"Gotta be. Before dawn."
"..."
Then she quietly headed to his room. If he waited silently, she brought out a necktie.
"What are you doing."
"...Appearance is power."
"What power."
"If you look a bit neater, people will open up to you more easily."
She said it so casually, as if she'd seen right through him.
Then she reached both arms around his neck to drape the tie. With slow hands, she began tying it. As always, he was in a white shirt and slacks, and now an unfamiliar tie knotted around his neck.
As she did, Bom carefully spoke up.
"Sorry for getting mad earlier today."
"It's fine. You had every right."
"..."
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay..."
They were so close.
He was troubled but didn't look away.
Not looking away meant Bom's face was close.
Being close, he was starting to realize what it meant when she called herself pretty.
Grass-green eyes. Eyelashes. Lower lashes. Double eyelids. Then as her gaze traveled from his hair down and their eyes met, he quietly looked away.
"Mm. While I'm at it. Want to sit?"
After finishing the tie, Bom suddenly said that and pulled something from her pocket. It looked like wax or pomade for hair. Why was that coming out of her pocket?
As he thought that, Bom carefully touched his hair. His usually messy hair fell neatly. He felt her fingers brush his hair, grazing his ear.
When it was done, Bom stared at his face with dazed eyes.
He had braced himself for teasing, since it was prime material.
But Bom didn't tease him. Far from it. She seemed almost out of it, so he asked.
"Done?"
"Ah, ah, yeah..."
"Thanks. I'll head out. Guard the house well."
"Y-yeah..."
Strangely, she didn't tease him even at the end.
Odd. Thinking that, he left the dorm.
Then Bom snapped out of her daze, her focus returning.
She let out a deep sigh and shook her head, realizing how tense she'd been. She belatedly noticed a pair of red eyes peering through the door crack.
Yeoreum was watching her.
"Why?"
"What was that just now?"
"Touched ajusshi's hair for him."
"Hm."
Yeoreum nodded nonchalantly.
Bom also went back to her room nonchalantly.
But once Bom was in her room, Yeoreum quietly stepped into the living room. She looked at the chair where Yoo Ji-tae had sat, then recalled Bom's expression.
Surprise and intrigue filled Yeoreum's mind.
'Whoa, shit, what was that...'
She'd suspected a few times before. Bom sometimes naturally leaned her head on Yoo Ji-tae or linked arms with him.
When he'd seen her wearing his clothes, he'd thought, ah, does this cucumber have that kind of taste?
Meaning he'd brushed it off as no big deal.
After all, dragons in the midst of amusement couldn't harbor romantic feelings for anyone.
"Dragons cannot fall in love with anyone during their amusement period."
It was a basic spell on the 'Piece of the Ancient One' attached to the dragon heart, to prevent excessive immersion in the game. Of course, Bom was a dragon too, with a dragon heart and the Piece. He'd confirmed it with the Lord before entering the amusement.
'What is it...?'
But what was that look in Bom's eyes just now? It was just like the expressions she'd seen in romance manga.
To put it in an embarrassingly corny way...
It was the eyes of a girl in love.
She couldn't brush off this irony. Yeoreum knocked on Bom's door.
"Hey. Yoo Bom. Open the door."
—Why?
"Got something to ask."