Chapter 509: Childhood Friend (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 509: Childhood Friend (3)
A storm of emotions raged beneath her deeply shadowed face.
Jealousy, envy, resentment, self-blame, regret.
All of them were dark emotions that sicken the human heart.
The maturity she always showed, unbefitting of her age, was gone.
Behind it, her true self looked precarious, as if it could twist and break at any moment.
Very much so.
“How strange.”
Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin.
The two, who had grown up together since childhood, piqued my curiosity in different ways.
How did that young kid come to possess such a firm will?
And how did this young junior come to harbor such venomous emotions inside her?
It was a wonder that these two, who seemed like polar opposites—light and dark—had remained close until now.
At this point, it wouldn't be strange if they grew sick of each other and went their separate ways.
“Hmm.”
With my hand on the doorknob, I paused, lost in thought.
Was it right to open the door and leave like this?
If she had been hiding this side of herself so carefully all this time, she probably wouldn’t want anyone to see it.
Things were already a little awkward after I rejected her last time. Wouldn't this be the final blow?
After a moment’s thought, I made a subtle play.
“Yoon Si-hoo!”
“Yes, Sunbae-nim!”
I deliberately raised my voice louder than usual.
So she could hear me clearly from outside.
“You didn’t collapse today, so you can get home on your own, right?”
“Of course! I’ll clean up and head out, so you can go on ahead, Sunbae-nim!”
The kid answered even louder, as if not to be outdone.
That bastard must have swallowed a train whistle for breakfast when he was a kid.
It was at that very moment.
Startled by the voices coming through the slightly ajar door, Jin Ha-rin snapped to her senses and started running quickly down the opposite end of the hall.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
“Phew.”
It seemed my choice was the right one.
Seeing her run off in such a hurry, she must not have wanted anyone to see her like this.
Even if my dream was a guild that felt like a family, there were still boundaries we had to respect.
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Today, I had succeeded in protecting the privacy of a junior who would one day be my colleague.
* * *
She ran and ran.
“Hah, hah…!”
She may have been a mage, but she was still a Hunter.
Though the distance wasn't nearly enough to wind her, given her stamina stat, she gasped for breath.
She put distance between herself and them.
After running here and there, she arrived at an empty classroom in the Magic Department building.
In the silence that settled with the lingering chill, Jin Ha-rin calmly caught her breath.
Her ragged breathing gradually returned to normal, and the fog of confusion in her mind slowly cleared.
“……”
Having finally regained her composure, she recalled the conversation she had overheard outside the training hall just moments before.
-“That’s why I’m going to become an S-rank Hunter.”
The youngest S-rank, who it was no exaggeration to say was receiving the most fervent attention in Korea—no, in the world.
Her childhood friend, without being intimidated in the slightest, had confidently declared his ambition in front of such a person.
-“So that no more victims are unjustly pushed aside.”
An ambition that could only be described as a daydream.
“How foolish.”
Childish.
Like a little kid obsessed with hero movies who writes ‘hero’ as their dream job.
But wasn't Yoon Si-hoo an adult, well past that age?
So it wouldn't be much of a stretch to call him a fool.
In truth, it wasn't that big of a deal.
His sense of justice had always been extraordinary.
-“Ma’am, let me carry that for you!”
From small things, like helping an old woman carrying heavy bags in the opposite direction.
-“It’s okay, I’ll save you!”
To big things, like running into a sudden fire to rescue a child.
Others praised him, calling him amazing, but… well.
Every time she watched him, she had to struggle to hide the irritation welling up inside her.
Why was he so busy trying to help others when he was a clumsy oaf who couldn't even handle his own business properly?
“Tsk…”
She clicked her tongue and scowled.
A sudden memory was the cause.
The words that his skills had grown so rapidly that he was no longer far behind her.
And at the same time, the moment he had coldly rejected her request to teach her.
“Why him, but not me…!”
It was unfair.
Why was it okay for Yoon Si-hoo, but not for her?
Simply because his efforts looked impressive?
What a joke.
When it came to effort, she wouldn't lose.
“I’m trying so damn hard…!”
Everyone was mistaken.
They thought she was a genius who could understand ten things when taught one.
So, being roughly ten times more efficient, she didn't have to try as hard as others.
Every time she heard those words, she felt sick to her stomach.
Because it pained her to have her efforts belittled by their words?
That was part of it, but the real reason was herself.
Even knowing that hearing those words wasn't entirely a good thing, she strived for that one phrase.
Because it was so foolish of her to pour her blood and sweat into turning one lesson into ten, just to hear herself called an effortless genius, to elevate her pathetic self and fill her lacking self-esteem.
Because she felt even more foolish and stupid for being unable to let go of this pathetic behavior, even though she knew it was.
“Why does it have to be me…!”
I hate it.
I don’t want to be caught up by him.
It felt like if he caught up to me in the one thing I had, I wouldn't be able to maintain my current life.
That's why I resent Kim Do-jin.
I hate him for wasting his time teaching Yoon Si-hoo while turning me away.
At the same time, she was desperate.
It felt like he could completely resolve this anxiety she had.
Barely managing to compose herself, she headed straight home.
And the next day.
After finishing training as usual, she went straight to Kim Do-jin.
“Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Can I talk to you for a moment?”
She was determined to win him over.
The person who would give her giant wings to fly farther and longer.
* * *
We entered the empty club room, turned on the lights, and I made some coffee.
Maxim, of course.
I handed her a cup of coffee, made with the perfect water-to-powder ratio.
“Here, drink up.”
“Thank you.”
Jin Ha-rin took a sip as soon as she received it, a pleasant smile briefly gracing her lips.
She really was something else.
She looked like she'd be a picky eater, but she ate anything.
Noticing my gaze, she asked with a puzzled look.
“Why are you looking at me like that…?”
“Oh… it just occurred to me that you’re not a picky eater, unlike how you look.”
Oops.
Was that rude?
“Ahaha… I get that sometimes.”
Thankfully, she didn't seem too offended.
“Actually, it would be impossible.”
She smiled sadly.
“In my situation, how could I possibly be a picky eater?”
“Ah…”
Her sophisticated appearance had made me momentarily forget.
The fact that she was living with her childhood friend, Yoon Si-hoo’s, family.
“Ah, but don’t get the wrong idea! Si-hoo’s parents are both very good to me.”
Just as the mood was about to turn solemn, Jin Ha-rin quickly waved her hands and spoke.
Well… I expected as much.
The chances of someone with Yoon Si-hoo’s personality being born to terrible parents were very slim.
They must both be people of great character.
That's probably why they took in their son’s childhood friend after she suddenly lost her parents and became an orphan.
However.
“I understand how that feels. No matter how well they treat you, you can’t help but walk on eggshells.”
“Ah…”
My junior looked stunned, as if she hadn't expected me to empathize with her like that.
Then again, how many people could truly understand that feeling?
“That’s right. You too, Sunbae-nim…”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
At least, I know it well.
The kind of sorrow an orphan goes through.
Being unable to simply feel grateful to those who are kind to you, or to even accept their kindness.
That feeling of constant anxiety, as if everything given to you is a mirage-like illusion.
“This is the first time.”
“What is?”
“Talking to someone who understands and empathizes with my feelings so precisely.”
“Well… even if they say there are more orphans now than in the past, there are still fewer of us than kids with parents. And it’s not like people want to go around advertising that they’re an orphan.”
As I answered nonchalantly, Jin Ha-rin’s eyes widened slightly.
“For someone saying that, you… don’t seem particularly ashamed of it…?”
That was a strange question.
“…Why should I be ashamed of it?”
“That’s…”
“I grew up just fine despite having a hard time without parents. If anything, I should be proud.”
“……”
I wasn't wrong.
But this was a realization I only came to after a lot of time had passed and I’d matured mentally.
“To be honest, even though I say that now, I used to be ashamed and felt it was unfair that I was an orphan.”
I was like that when I was young.
I wondered what kind of people my parents were to abandon their child at an orphanage.
What did I do so wrong that I couldn't grow up like everyone else and had to have such a sorrowful childhood?
This victim mentality soured my relationships, and my personality just kept getting worse.
“But what can you do? It’s not like we chose to live this way.”
“That’s… true.”
Jin Ha-rin nodded, her expression growing more melancholic as she agreed with me.
But for some reason, her melancholic expression looked more alive.
“Um, Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah.”
“Actually… I heard you and Si-hoo talking yesterday.”
What’s this?
Why was she suddenly confessing that?
My eyes widened slightly as I raised my voice.
“O-Oh, you did? I had no idea. You must have come to the training hall last night?”
“Yes…. I stayed behind to study at the library and got worried that Si-hoo might have collapsed again.”
“Right, yeah. That makes sense.”
She continued.
“Back then, Si-hoo said it, didn’t he? That he wants to become an S-rank Hunter and change the world…”
“He did.”
“What do you think about that, Sunbae-nim?”
A deep sense of anticipation was etched on her face as she asked.
It seemed she had an answer she wanted to hear from me.
Her eyes, filled with an even stronger yearning, were fixed on me.
“Please tell me honestly. What did you think when you heard him say that?”
“Uh… well.”
What did I think, huh?
Without much thought, I voiced the impression that had come to mind at the time.
“I think I thought something like, ‘He’s still young and so naive about how the world works’…?”
At that, she smiled.
Like someone who, wandering the desert with a burning thirst, had just discovered an oasis.
A brilliant smile.