Chapter 167

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 167

Chapter Title: Blind Trust

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The laughter from Han Aebom, which I'd thought would end quickly, dragged on longer and grew louder with every passing second.

My heart felt like it was shrinking smaller and smaller. It wasn't until it had shriveled down to the size of a fingernail that she finally stopped laughing.

She wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye with her index finger and looked at me. My tiny heart pounded like it was about to burst, bracing for whatever might come out of her mouth next. If something negative slipped out here, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might add another layer of PTSD to my collection.

'Let's end it here.'

'Good work.'

'Kids these days are just unwatchable. Can't believe how badly they handle interviews.'

'They grew up soft, that's why. Soft. Totally different from our time.'

Even if I'd steeled myself to handle it, those old wounds and shocks from back then weren't going anywhere.

I stared intently at her lips, dizzy with tension. Finally, she parted them.

"How..."

How? What did she mean?

"How can you trust me that much?"

"...!"

Her unexpected question came with a smile so beautiful and soft, like her eyes were melting—something she'd never show in front of anyone else. My mind went completely blank.

'Did you know? When you smile, people change, and lives change.'

Someone had said that once. It wasn't bullshit after all.

'She's fucking gorgeous.'

With my limited vocabulary as a dummy, that was the best I could muster. But in my book, it was the highest praise.

Simple, sincere, no frills.

"My grandfather, grandmother, dad, mom... none of them trust me that much. Let alone promising to take responsibility if things go wrong. Pfft, hah! Sorry. I've never heard anything so hilarious in my life. And here I am, being so rude again. Whew."

Was promising to take responsibility really that funny?

Never once had those words struck me as a joke. Well, everyone has their own standards. It might seem hilarious to her.

"Whenever I look at you, Hyunwoo..."

"Yeah."

"It makes me feel good, knowing I wasn't wrong about you."

"Huh? What do you mean...?"

"It's like this. Sometimes I wonder if it was a mistake, if I was too impulsive... but then I face you, and all those shaky thoughts magically fall back into place."

To me, her words right now were the real magic.

I had no clue what she was talking about. Was I just too dense?

"In proposals or negotiations, the most important thing is ultimately the result. Sure, a lot of people say the process matters too, but for people like us, it's all about the outcome. If the process is divine enough to impress even gods, but the result is a total mess... it's like nothing's left in the end."

"Yeah, uh-huh."

That sounded like classic chaebol thinking. My friends always went on about how the process matters too.

"That doesn't mean I'm saying ignore the process just because I mentioned results. To achieve positive outcomes, you need positive processes too. What I'm getting at is: if you go through a positive process and still get a bad result, then the process was flawed from the start. Admitting that is the first step to avoiding the same mistake."

"I... see."

Sparks flew in my brain with a crackle. My poor neurons were overloading, struggling to keep up.

"In that sense, your persuasion and proposal were excellent. At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some point, I found myself nodding along."

"Really?"

I gave her a look that said it hadn't seemed that way at all.

"Of course, I wouldn't show it in the moment. You have to maintain a stance that's advantageous to you to see the bottom of their cards."

"Ah..."

Learning something new again.

I'd known convincing her as-is was impossible, so I'd desperately thrown out every argument I had, real or not. By the end, when I started with my personal opinions, there wasn't an ounce of logic left.

"Honestly, I wondered if I was being too stubborn. Pure literature writers spend far longer than I have and still feel it's not enough to even debut. And yet, arrogantly, I sometimes thought I could pull it off."

"That's... because the barriers in pure literature ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are sky-high. Can't be helped."

To be honest, I thought her writing had issues too, but after all my research, what she'd just said wasn't wrong.

As Song Ayoung had pointed out, pure lit and popular lit had insanely high entry barriers.

That's why most popular lit books probably only came out after gaining fame first, with big promo budgets. Not sure, but that's how it seemed to me.

"No matter how high the barriers, talented people make it through. But it'd take more than ordinary books. You'd need something that shakes the foundations of the world. Like a real grimoire anyone could learn from."

Slightly different from Song Ayoung's analogy, but the track was the same.

This had to be what they meant by "a needle in a bag"—true talent shines through no matter what.

"By that logic, no matter how hard I tried, as a total newbie to literature, it might've been impossible from the start. Especially since, objectively, I don't seem to have the talent."

I knew it.

I muttered that inwardly as I looked at her. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why aren't you denying it?"

"Gah!"

"Hmm. With anyone else, facts are facts, but when you lay out reality like that... it feels weird."

"S-sorry."

"I wasn't saying it to get an apology..."

She let out a small laugh, then wrapped her arms around my waist, hugging me tight and burying her face in my chest. Her lips tickled me as she mumbled against my skin.

"Hearing it from you doesn't feel bad."

"..."

I'm gonna lose it.

My heart was thumping wildly now. Different from before. This was a ticklish, pleasant beat.

If every word from her felt like a love confession right now, was I overreacting?

Once she latched on, she didn't seem to want to let go.

Han Aebom cutely rubbed her face back and forth against my chest. My heart was already ticklish, and now my chest joined in, so my lips kept creeping up toward my ears without me realizing.

I naturally hugged her back, and she spoke.

"I like this too."

"..."

"The solid feeling from blind trust, not perfect evidence. To be honest, even if I wrote web novels, there's no guarantee of success. If you think of web novels as just another form of writing, the odds of failure are even higher."

"..."

"And yet, listening to you... I feel this vague confidence. Never felt this way before. I've always proven myself with perfect reasoning and execution."

Han Aebom chuckled softly.

"Confident for no reason... even a five-year-old wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠act like that."

No, five-year-olds do that all the time.

Did she study the Analects in the womb or something? Sometimes her words left me baffled. The scary part was, in her world, that wasn't bragging.

Oh Hanam was like that, and so was Han Aebom.

Monsters who 99 out of 100 people couldn't understand, but they'd show results and make everyone see.

"Let's give web novels a shot. I've been striking out for over four months anyway. Better to dig a new well than keep at a dry one... way more realistic."

At the end of this marathon talk, I finally got the answer I wanted from her lips. Was it the nonstop tension and anxiety? It felt like the sweet payoff after the torture in a web novel.

A wave of relief and thrill raced up my spine to my brain—something I wouldn't feel from an easy resolution.

And at the same time, a message window popped up.

Rewards kept pouring in for my hard work. Couldn't get sweeter.

I had some anxiety about how far she'd go with web novels of all genres, but since she trusted me, I trusted the system too.

'You never know.'

Web novels were a perfect example.

Once a niche thing only basement dwellers read, now everyone knew about them—even if not everyone read them.

By that logic, who knew? Her web novel might catch the era's wave, ride the luck, ride the trend, and become a Harry Potter-level phenomenon that shocks the world.

'What's this Warm Embrace Skill anyway?'

I was a bit dumbfounded reading the description.

Didn't this feel like something anyone could do without a skill? Pretty sure a warm hug would make anyone feel that way.

Just as I started feeling disappointed, thinking it was another vague skill...

"Mmm, something... feels good."

"Huh?"

"Your arms, Hyunwoo. They were always nice, but now they feel even better. I must feel this way because it's you, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah... sure."

She clung to me tightly, showing no signs of letting go.

She must really like it...

Watching her like this, it felt like the system was telling me:

'There's no such thing as a useless skill in this world.'

'Okay, okay. No need to sell it.'

I replied inwardly, feeling oddly called out.

"Aebom, since you've decided to write web novels, I picked out some recommendations for you?"

"Hmm, you prepared like you knew I'd say yes from the start?"

"Nah."

I tried to nudge her away gently, but she wouldn't budge, so I softly stroked her hair as I spoke.

"I prepared because I was determined to convince you somehow. Or... are you not gonna let go?"

"Would you like me to?"

"N-not really. It's just... you're so close. Kinda embarrassing, haha."

"Yeah, I feel weird too. I've always liked your scent and being this close, but... today it feels extra cozy and nice. The longer I stay like this, the more my frayed nerves and tired heart seem to heal. Makes it hard to pull away."

"If it feels that good, you can stay."

"...I'm not making excuses to stay. Just stating cold, hard facts."

"Got it."

As I kneaded her puffed-up cheek with my thumb and index finger, her eyes turned sharp.

"You said you'd convince me no matter what. What would you have done if I'd refused to the end?"

"Well, I'd have offered to grant a wish or something..."

Her sharpened gaze softened as she spoke in disbelief.

"Are you in elementary school?"

Tears welled up in my shocked heart at her words.

Damn. I'd thought it was a serious plan.