To the Capital (1)
"Miss Jung Hayan has awakened."
That was the news that reached me only after Cha Heera had already left the guild.
Jung Hayan, who had been sleeping for so long, had finally sat up.
The timing was a little strange, but to say I wasn’t happy would have been a lie.
The memory of her shielding me back then was still vivid. A little funny to put it that way, perhaps, but I’d even found myself missing her.
She must’ve had a hard time.
It wasn’t that I’d fallen for Jung Hayan or anything dramatic like that, but I’d certainly grown attached to her. And while it was too early to call it love, even beasts knew gratitude. When someone saved your life, it was only natural to feel some affection in return.
“Ah. I should go see her for a moment.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll make sure the handover to the guild master is finished by today. Jungki, Miyoung, once you’ve wrapped everything up, review the tasks I assigned you.”
“Yes.”
After patting Park Jungki and Kim Miyoung on the shoulders for their trouble with Kim Hyunsung, I quickened my pace, and before long Jung Hayan’s hospital room came into view.
Since it was quiet inside, I figured I was probably the first one here.
“Hayan.”
“O-Oppa...”
I saw her every day, of course, but it had been a while since I’d seen her awake like this.
She looked much the same as always, except for one small difference: she seemed a little intimidated.
There was something like fear in her expression, and it didn’t take long to realize why she was acting like that.
Probably...
It must have been because of the abusive things I’d shouted at her before she lost consciousness.
As I recalled it, I’d been so frantic that I’d yelled at her to get out of the way and cursed up a storm.
So of course she’d react like this.
She thought I hated her.
Jung Hayan had probably been out of her mind at the time, too, but she must have remembered what I said.
No wonder she was scared.
The atmosphere was awkward enough that even thanking her felt embarrassing.
Awkward.
Jung Hayan probably felt the same.
Still, it took only a moment to realize there was no need to force words out. The instant I opened my arms a little, she sprang toward me and threw herself into them like a cat leaping at a mouse.
“Hhhnngh... O-Oppa. S-Sorry... nghh.”
“It’s fine. I’m the one who should thank you—and apologize.”
“Oppaaahhh...”
Apparently deciding this was her chance, she buried her face against my chest and rubbed against me, which was quite the sight.
Even her usual behavior, which had always felt a little eerie, somehow looked cute today.
And seeing that she seemed healthier than usual eased the worry I’d been carrying in some corner of my heart. Still, her clear refusal to let go was oddly burdensome.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
When I stroked the scarred skin across her back, she shook her head quickly.
It was only natural to worry whether any wounds remained. I turned her gently around and lifted her shirt, and she gave a squeak of delight.
No scars left.
Her face flushed bright red as she looked over her shoulder, as though she’d expected me to do something else, and she even seemed to press her body a little closer to mine. That only made me more embarrassed.
Obviously, I didn’t mean anything indecent by “show me your back.”
After I lowered her shirt again, Jung Hayan’s deeply disappointed face greeted me.
“You’re fine now. Thank goodness.”
“Ah... t-thank you for worrying about me, Oppa.”
“Of course I’d worry. Just don’t do that again, Hayan.”
“Yes...”
“I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Y-Yes!”
When I slowly brushed her cheek, her whole body trembled as if she’d been struck by a spasm. She looked like a frightened animal.
She wasn’t all that different from usual, and yet she was reacting this way—probably because my eyes were a little different from normal.
It was true that I was genuinely worried, and genuinely grateful.
Jung Hayan must have felt the difference between now and before more acutely than anyone else—the difference between this and the times I’d touched her almost mechanically.
No, I felt it more sharply than anyone else.
I could understand how she might think she was receiving some nameless affection.
Then, quite suddenly, Jung Hayan let out a tiny cry.
“Ah.”
“Hmm?”
Breathing hard, she clutched at her stomach.
It was only natural to be stunned; I had no idea what was going on.
Her face looked pained.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“N-No. I’m f-fine.”
At my worried tone, her expression subtly changed. I saw her body tremble again.
Oh, look at this one...
“Are you really all right?”
“Yes. I-I’m fine, Oppa. It just hurts a little here... the wound from the knife keeps throbbing...”
“Should I call Sun Heeyoung?”
“N-No, it’s not that bad. Not that bad at all... it just hurts a little...”
She was being outrageously shameless.
She was enjoying the fact that I was worried.
I’d thought she’d gotten a little more sane after the Cursed Shrine regression incident, but it felt like some strange illness was flaring up again.
Left alone like this, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she started hurting herself for attention.
Jung Hayan’s weird behavior was the sort of thing that needed to be nipped in the bud.
What was deeply irritating, though, was...
My heart’s softening.
My own conscience kept reacting to that absurd act of weakness.
She really isn’t in pain, is she?
I could still remember Jung Hayan bleeding all over me while holding me in a fierce embrace. That hot blood, and the voice saying she would protect me.
So to question whether she might actually be unwell because of that deliberately pained expression felt ridiculous.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let myself be fooled this once.
At the very least, if I thought about Jung Hayan getting stabbed in my place, that seemed like the right thing to do.
Quietly stroking her hair and keeping the same position as before, I watched her tremble again.
“Ah... it hurts.”
......
“I really should call Sun Heeyoung.”
“A-Ah, no, it’s not that bad. It’s not... if you just keep stroking me a little, I think it’ll, um, get better really fast. If Oppa pats me...”
At this point, I began to suspect getting stabbed in my place might not have been an accident but an elaborate scheme.
She even lifted the hem of her shirt a little and showed me her stomach, like a puppy begging for treats. She was openly asking to be stroked on the bare skin, and it was obvious from the way she watched my reaction with a fluttering expression.
Should I think of this as a reward?
That was probably right.
There was no reason to hesitate.
As soon as I set my hand lightly on her stomach, her expression melted.
She seemed to think she was managing her face, but she was already grinning helplessly.
She’d been whining that it hurt, but the face she was making now did not belong to someone in pain.
It was more like the face of someone who had the whole world in her hands.
“Feeling a little better?”
“I-It hurts a little lower...”
“Here?”
“A little lower.”
“Around here?”
“A-A little lower than that.”
Damn... how far down are we going?
“A little lower... j-just a little more...”
Stop going down...
“A little farther down than that.”
Stop.
She’d somehow developed a little.
Until now, she’d only charged at me with brute force, but today Jung Hayan felt like she’d evolved into someone who was actually scheming.
No, that was wrong—she had definitely changed.
Using my pity to engineer something like this was the sort of thing that would have been unthinkable for the old Jung Hayan.
For a moment I wondered whether she might be learning this sort of thing by watching me, but I shook my head fiercely and shoved the useless thought aside.
Even so...
She was still only at the level of a child.
Jung Hayan simply didn’t have any talent for this sort of thing.
Even now, she couldn’t seem to restrain herself at all. The way she kept pleading for more, like some master digger tunneling ever downward, made the answer obvious.
She might have started well, but she still didn’t understand that if she wanted to really trap me, she needed to be a lot subtler.
I was actually thinking maybe I should give her a more definite reward after all—just then,
“Is there somewhere that hurts?”
it was Sun Heeyoung’s voice.
“I was just looking for the elder brother, and it seems I’ve already found him.”
“Miss Hayan, I’m glad to see you awake.”
And she wasn’t alone.
From Park Deokgu, who was wearing a rather sly expression, to Kim Yeri, who simply nodded without saying a word.
Even Kim Hyunsung’s face appeared, gently covering her eyes.
Behind his somewhat embarrassed expression, our party’s only minor let out a small voice.
“I know about making babies too... about how to make them...”
You know what? A kid like you, making babies? What the hell are you talking about...
My face turned red in an instant.
I quietly pulled my arm away and muttered under my breath, but no one seemed to be paying much attention to me.
“Hayan said her stomach hurt, so I was, um, just checking on her condition.”
“I see... ah, I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.”
“Heh heh... maybe it would’ve been better to come back a little later, eh?”
Park Deokgu, you bastard.
“No, Deokgu. I-I really was just checking, that’s all.”
For the first time, I understood why Jung Hayan stuttered.
There had been a small incident, but it was still the first time in a long while that everyone from the Seventh Party had gathered together.
Watching the others smile a little, I could tell they were happy to be here even if no one said it aloud. Even Jung Hayan, who had been puffing out her cheeks, looked a little pleased.
Of course, the guild was still incredibly busy.
Setting aside Park Deokgu and Kim Yeri, neither Sun Heeyoung nor Kim Hyunsung could move around freely at a time like this.
And yet they’d still come here, probably because they wanted to spend even a little time together.
Even a short conversation like this was enjoyable.
Among the entire Seventh Party, of course, the most enthusiastic reaction came from Park Deokgu, who loved talking.
My ears were practically ringing from it.
“I’m telling you, it was unbelievable! When I heard you were going to the capital, Miss Hayan suddenly opened her eyes like a miracle and got up in one shot. It looked just like the way my old granny said a cripple had risen in church back in the day. That’s the power of love, I tell you. Aha!”
“She was only in a state where she needed to wake up mentally. Maybe some faint awareness was still lingering. Her physical treatment was definitely perfect.”
“Ah... I see.”
“She looked like she was about to get up somehow, you know. Every time someone mentioned the elder brother, she’d twitch a little, and then she just went and popped right up like that. I was really shocked...”
Enough.
Based on Park Deokgu’s account, I did begin to wonder if Jung Hayan had actually been conscious all along, but I decided that wasn’t very important.
What drew my attention more was how unusually calm she was acting.
If Park Deokgu was right, then she already knew I was going to the capital.
Crying, clinging, making a scene—that would have been the natural reaction.
Just as I was thinking about the meaning behind her strangely composed expression, a voice answered my question for me.
“It’s just that Miss Hayan seemed to be having such a hard time...”
This bastard...
“So I ran to Hyunsung hyung and suggested that maybe she should come along too. That’s worth praising, isn’t it?”
This pig...
“The Mercenary Queen agreed as well, Kiyoung. I thought about it for a while, but I do think it would be better if you went together. Miss Hayan is still in no condition to be handling work...”
More like she can’t even see properly.
“Being with you will help her emotionally.”
I figured they simply didn’t want to deal with Jung Hayan after I left.
Kim Hyunsung, even you?
It was a setup aimed squarely at me.
No, they were definitely aiming at me.