Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: 31. A Simple Favor (2)
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The reason was simple.
Because the dragons had to be happy.
Forgetfulness didn't exist for them, so momentary memories lasted forever. Painful ones included. That was why Yoo Ji-tae had to ensure they felt happiness in every moment.
As an extreme example, if Bom had been the type of child who got excited by rejection, Yoo Ji-tae could have refused her everything.
But the real Bom wasn't like that, so Yoo Ji-tae didn't refuse her request.
"Over the past year, you've always refused me. I've never asked for the same thing twice. And now I'm asking."
The Green Dragon from the 5th round came to mind.
She was the only one among the four dragons who had tried to communicate with Yoo Ji-tae. Who had made a request of him.
"Just once... couldn't you do it...?"
If he hadn't refused that request, would the 5th round have ended differently?
"I'm begging you like this..."
Probably not by much. That round had been botched from the very first button.
Still, at least the dragons in that round would have been a little less unhappy.
His refusal had made them unhappy. Those memories from the 5th and 6th rounds were etched into his mind like milestones. Even though he was human and could forget, closing his eyes brought every moment back vividly.
Of course, he couldn't say that out loud. How do you tell them it's because they're pufferfish?
So he gave up on responding.
"Huh?"
"......"
"Hmm?"
"......"
"I want to know..."
"......"
"You won't tell me?"
She was being unusually persistent today.
He needed to make an exit.
Yoo Ji-tae tried to carefully stand up while holding Winter. But he couldn't. Bom had gotten down from the table and plopped herself onto his lap.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She giggled and adjusted her position.
Winter was still sleeping soundly, so Bom's voice grew a bit more subtle as she drew closer.
"Mister, do you remember the first favor I ever asked you?"
He didn't.
"The day we first met. I asked you not to kidnap me. I liked that place. I'd been staying there for half a year already. Couldn't you just leave me alone? But you refused my first request. And I got kidnapped."
"You came on your own two feet, so it wasn't a kidnapping."
"It's just a figure of speech. When an adult drags off a kid, that's kidnapping."
"......"
"But something weird happened. The very next day, I made my second request. Let's go grocery shopping together. And you didn't refuse that one."
That one he remembered clearly.
She had suddenly offered to cook a meal.
"It was strange. You'd done something bad, but you treated me kindly. I didn't hate it. The day before, I'd been so scared, trying not to show it. But my thinking started to change a little."
"......"
"So I wondered: Why did he kidnap me? How does he know me?"
"I can't tell you that..."
"You said that. But I wasn't the only one. Yeoreum and Gaeul wondered too, over and over."
Yoo Ji-tae shut his mouth. Bringing them here to live together, he'd thought this bizarre cohabitation was somehow working out because they were naive kids who didn't know the world.
"I convinced them. I explained for you."
"Why."
"We had to survive first, right? But as we lived like that, everyone started changing their minds."
"Changed their minds?"
"Yeah. Or maybe it's that we grew fond of you? You know how something you hated at first can grow on you the more you see it."
"......"
"I've done petty little revenges like that before too."
Petty revenge?
Suddenly, something clicked.
"That first meal you made me. You did that on purpose."
Bom's smile deepened just a bit.
Feeling thoroughly tricked, Yoo Ji-tae let out a hollow chuckle.
"That porridge too, I guess?"
"Huh?"
"I'll have to make it again. I know it's medicinal, but it doesn't have to taste bad."
He hadn't complained about the taste this time either. Realizing that, Bom beamed.
"Oh, but this one wasn't revenge."
"Then it's supposed to taste like that?"
"No? You don't know?"
"Know what."
Her eyes curved like a bow.
"You look cute when you eat."
*Cough*.
Yoo Ji-tae coughed reflexively.
It was, to him, utterly absurd.
Winter squirmed at his cough. He gently stroked her back, and she fell back asleep.
"Almost woke her."
"...What the hell are you talking about."
"What?"
"......"
"That you're cute? You eat so awkwardly. Like you're munching so carefully."
Suddenly, he thought maybe she had a point.
He hadn't eaten for decades, in simple time terms.
"And your face changes when it tastes bad. I can tell those expressions apart."
"......"
"This one was the cutest today."
Bom held up a bi-gyeong fruit. A deep green berry the size of a fingernail.
That thing. He remembered. Incredibly astringent.
"You have twisted tastes, feeding me that and laughing at my suffering?"
"Sorry. But..."
"But what."
"You don't refuse, so I keep feeding you."
The regressor sighed lightly and shook his head.
"Still not telling me? Why you won't refuse."
"......"
"Do you like me or something?"
What the hell was this now.
The regressor answered in a flat voice.
"No."
"Hmm?" Bom leaned in closer, until she was right up against Winter. Then she tilted her face up, peering into his eyes.
"Really no?"
"No."
He needed to draw a clearer line.
"I don't know what you're expecting, but you and I are just guardian and ward."
Bom's eyes went wide.
"If you don't refuse and treat me well, isn't that because you like me?"
"Well, no."
"Weird..."
"What's weird."
"All female dragons are beautiful, and males handsome. We know looks hold power in human society, so we shape ourselves that way. Beauty's peak transcends gender and age, so how can you not like me?"
His eyes reflexively went to her face.
"I'm this pretty."
He almost thought it brazen for her to say it herself. But there wasn't a hint of shame on Bom's face.
Like a child calling a puppy cute. Her calling herself pretty felt like stating a simple fact.
In that moment, Yoo Ji-tae felt a strange sensation.
As if emerging from fog, his usually dull senses sharpened bit by bit.
The dorm's scenery grew vivid. Winter's steady breathing sounded clear. The weight on his thighs felt heavier.
And those green eyes looked more burdensome.
"......"
His scattered senses focused sharply when killing enemies. A phenomenon from visibly sensing the apocalypse recede. But why now?
Thinking silently, it hit him: making dragons happy pushed back the apocalypse just like killing demons. He must have grown attuned to visibly feeling it when they were happy. The difference? Killing demons brought a filthy pleasure swelling in his gut. Nothing like that now.
Anyway.
The regressor figured it was time to cut this off.
"Bom."
"Yeah."
"Enough. Get off my lap."
"Why?"
Bom's eyes widened again.
"We live together, so keep some boundaries. The others don't do this. You cross lines sometimes."
"...Huh?"
"Don't get the wrong idea. I called you pretty a few times, and now you think the world revolves around you?"
"......"
"If you keep this up, you'll ruin the dorm vibe. Act mature. You're the big sister."
A bit harsh, maybe. But he had no more delicacy than that.
Bom's smile faded.
Her mood flipped.
"I've never wanted to own the world. What good is the whole world? I've never coveted even the smallest thing. So you're the one mistaken."
Cryptic words. But he couldn't grasp what she meant.
The next moment, Bom gently stroked Winter's head.
"Do you really see me as the kids' big sister?"
"...What?"
Bom smiled wistfully.
"I'm not their big sister."
It felt like a hammer to the back of his head.
Like the tower of their relationship crumbling from the base.
Strictly speaking, Bom was right. They were dragons of different clans. Bom wasn't Winter's sister. It was just a frame he'd made for convenience within social norms.
"Do you see me now?"
Do you see me not as the big sister you defined, but as the Green Dragon? That's what Bom was asking.
For a moment, her closeness felt awkwardly intimate.
Too close.
No, wait. He knew this expression. When she was truly pranking him, she'd push an overly serious face like this.
So. He'd feel awkward for three seconds, then she'd burst out laughing.
He waited for that moment.
......
But Bom didn't laugh.
Her eyes narrowed.
"I see you, Mister."
Bom slyly extended her arms, pressing close against Yoo Ji-tae.
Her face nearer than Winter's head.
As the awkwardness hit critical...
"Kyaa~."
Bom burst into laughter.
The tense atmosphere shattered in an instant.
Gasping for breath amid her laughter, she tumbled off his lap onto the floor.
"......?"
Winter, suddenly confused, stared at Bom with bleary, half-open eyes.
The regressor, who hadn't shown a flicker until then, shifted Winter in his arms and pressed his temples.
"Hey, Bom..."
"Sorry...!" Bom was rolling on the floor now. Oblivious Winter giggled along.
Finally catching her breath, wiping tears, Bom looked up at him.
"Sorry, Mister. Did I scare you bad?"
A smile he'd never seen on Bom. Pure glee.
Infuriatingly cheeky. But seeing her that happy killed any urge to scold.
She kept cackling for a good while. Like she'd never laughed this hard.
"Huff... hee...! Ah, my stomach hurts..."
"......?", "......?" Winter, now on the floor, tilted her head at Bom. Calming her laughter, Bom scooped her up, panting.
"...What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Winter. Sorry sis woke you."
And there she called herself sis naturally. He checked with Scales Eye (SS). The result: truth.
Bom's words were sincere. Just a prank after all.
He'd been had good.
Winter grinned sleepily, and Bom stroked her head. "Wanna go back to sleep?", "...Yeah." Bom held Winter out to him.
"Mister. One more favor?"
"......"
"You put Winter to bed tonight."
Yoo Ji-tae nodded vaguely, took the limp girl, and headed to Bom's room.
Leaving the dorm, Bom walked aimlessly down the road.
Recalling Yoo Ji-tae's flustered face made her want to laugh again. Hoo, hoo, phoo—. Trying to steady her breath, she burst again.
'Gotta stop laughing...'
She'd laughed so hard her abs hurt.
No, not the time.
Bom pulled a notebook from her subspace, face brimming with energy. Added a new entry.
When she teased him, he'd always look troubled but hide it behind a stoic face.
Today was different. His expression had clearly changed, right?
Recalling his genuine panic made her chest flutter with laughter.
Bom decided she'd think of today whenever she felt down, then closed the notebook.