Chapter 126: The Final Day
Chapter 126: The Final Day
About four days had passed since my conversation with Quilp. I had stayed up all night, buzzing with anticipation for what was to happen today, when a sound reached my ears.
"Mmm... Yaaaawn."
It was the sound of Han A-bin yawning.
Right on cue, I opened my eyes as well.
"You awake?"
"...Mmm...?"
At my morning greeting, Han A-bin slowly turned her head, her mouth working as if she were still lost in a dream.
"...S-sen...ior...?"
Was A-bin always this bad in the morning? Her tongue was completely tied.
"...Didn't you... sweep...?"
"I just woke up early."
About six hours early.
"That's... a first..."
A-bin muttered groggily as she climbed out of bed.
With her hair a disheveled mess, she dragged herself slowly toward the center of the room.
"Could you... please leave...?"
She directed those words at me.
"Leave? Where to?"
"Morning Exercise... I'm going to do it."
She stared at me with vacant eyes as she spoke. It was as if she felt she had to say this, no matter how sleepy she was.
"Why? Just do it here."
This was the same girl who usually padded around in nothing but a T-shirt in front of me.
"...If I tell you... to leave..."
A-bin shuffled toward me, dragging her feet, and grabbed my hand.
"Leave..."
Then, with all the strength she could muster, she hauled me toward the door and kicked me out of the room. I ended up tumbling into the room where the children were, still wrapped in the cloth I’d been using as a blanket.
What was that about?
I’d let myself be dragged out without a fight because of the strange, absolute pressure she exerted—a vibe that said she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer—but was I really the kind of person to be treated like this?
I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Had she hit a late-onset puberty? It felt about ten years overdue.
Lost in thought, I rolled around on the floor.
My own behavior was admittedly quite pathetic, but fortunately, it was still too early for the children to be awake and witness it. The four of them were huddled together, their light breathing the only sound in the room.
I lay there for a while, listening to the low rhythm of the children's breaths and the heavy exhalations coming from the other side of The Wall, which offered zero soundproofing.
"Hm? Where'd Master go?"
"Haaah... Ah! Si-hyun. You're awake? Senior is in the next room. He woke up a while ago."
I heard the two of them talking, suggesting Baek Si-hyun had finally woken up. Then, with a sharp fluttering sound, the cloth partitioning the rooms was swept aside.
"Si-hyun, wait!"
"Master! Good morning!"
An energetic Baek Si-hyun appeared.
"Sleep well—"
I tried to return the morning greeting, but the words died in my throat at the sight beyond the curtain.
Yoga for Morning Exercise, huh...
So that's why A-bin is so flexible.
A fleeting moment of escapism crossed my mind as I processed the scene.
I had a good reason to be flustered.
I thought she was just doing some light stretching, but it turned out A-bin was doing yoga—and the pose itself was the problem.
She was in the Cat Pose, chest flared and head tilted back, facing right toward me.
To put it simply, I had just seen something I definitely wasn't supposed to see.
Drip.
A bead of sweat rolled down A-bin’s chin and hit the floor.
Flutter.
As if reacting to my internal shock, the raised curtain fell back into place.
"Huh? Did something happen?"
Si-hyun’s oblivious voice cut through the silence.
"It's noth—"
"WHAT! DO! YOU! THINK! YOU'RE! LOOKING! AT?!"