Starting to Build the House (2)
After dark, I immediately got to work on drawing up the blueprints. In a situation where I had no idea how long building the house would take, finishing this as quickly as possible was the way to save time. My goal was to wrap it up by the end of the day. Since I was building it with the power of my Skill, I didn't need perfectly precise blueprints, which made it feasible.
"Like this here... and this way over there would be good!"
It was work I had to do, but since it was exactly what I wanted to do, I was buzzing with excitement. Building a house I'd designed myself with my own hands—that had been my dream. I never imagined that moment would come this soon, but anyway, I threw myself into it with everything I had.
Still, the more I drew, the more I bumped up against reality. My skills and time fell short of my dreams. The Quest goal was to build a 30-square-meter house. It would be tough, but totally achievable. But what I envisioned was several times—no, dozens of times—bigger, so I hit a wall.
"Ah, what to do..."
I didn't want to compromise my dreams, but realistically, I had to scale it back. Rationally, I'd reached a conclusion, but my agonizing dragged on a bit longer.
The house was surrounded by a wall, so we could feel somewhat safe, but monsters could easily climb over or smash through and invade. So we decided on night watch shifts, with So-hyun taking first turn. The watch would be stood in the living room on the first floor—no need to stand outside.
After So-hyun came Da-on, who went to bed a little early, and after Da-on was Seo-rin, who just hit the bathroom before planning to crash right away. On her way back from the bathroom to her room, she noticed my door was open.
"The door's open..."
Light leaked through the crack into the dark hallway, along with the sound of scribbling. Unable to contain her curiosity, she sneaked over to peek at what I was doing.
Unexpectedly... he's working hard...! Or maybe not so unexpected...?
Because of the blueprint drawing, I'd been excused from night watch duty today. She'd come to check if I was slacking off, but I was actually working harder than expected. Seo-rin watched my back as I intently sketched away for a good while.
Then suddenly, I let out a guttural yell and started rubbing my head furiously.
"Gaaahhh~!"
"...?!"
Finally, I stretched with a massive yawn and flung my chair back, lying flat. Caught off guard by the sudden outburst, Seo-rin froze in place, too stunned to even think of running.
I happened to spot her standing in front of my door like a burglar.
"You... there's nothing to steal here, y'know?"
"Who said I was stealing anything—?!"
"Kidding... Why're you lurking at my door? Got lost?"
"As if I'd get lost like that."
"Then, do you need something from me?"
"Uh, uh...?"
She'd usually just deny it like always, but now she was about to get caught staring. Seo-rin couldn't bolt right away, but she quickly came up with an excuse.
"I-I was just... checking if you were slacking off alone? Looks like you're working hard, though..."
"Yeah, thanks a ton~! ...But I'm stuck right now, ugh."
"Stuck...? On what...?"
"Come here."
Seo-rin ended up naturally stepping into my room. It was the first time in her 21 years she'd ever entered a guy's room. By the time she realized it, it was too late, so she tried not to show it as she approached me.
I paid no mind and just showed her the blueprint I'd been drawing.
"This is what you drew...?"
"Why, does it look weird?"
"No..."
Seo-rin was a total layman when it came to blueprints. Still, she could tell how much effort I'd poured into the paper. It seemed incredibly impressive.
At some point, she got completely absorbed.
"Y'know..."
I fanned myself while spilling my troubles, but she wasn't listening at all. She stared straight through at my face as I looked over the blueprint. We'd known each other for almost two years now. We hadn't always been like this. At first, we'd talked properly and worked hard together in club activities. Even though it was over two years ago, those memories were still vivid. Including the feelings she'd had for me back then...
I'd confessed to her too, like the serial confessor I was. If things had gone my way, she might've accepted. But just a few days before, she'd heard bad rumors about me—confessing to this girl and that, only to get rejected. Naturally, she doubted the sincerity and turned me down. From then until now, we'd kept up this 'can't stand each other but dying to get at one another' dynamic.
Sure, I still didn't like that side of me, but she knew it wasn't the whole story. She knew that confession back then had been genuine. But Seo-rin was shy, with zero dating experience just like me. She didn't have the ability to advance our relationship further. Blink, and we'd be bickering again. She didn't want things to stay like this forever. This time, she'd realized it crystal clear. Compared to her, I shone so brightly!
Honestly, she didn't have any particular passions. No dreams for the future, nothing she loved. She liked reading books, so she'd studied half-heartedly and barely got into Aseong University's Korean Literature department. Two years into college, and she still hadn't found what she wanted to do. Meanwhile, I had a clear goal and was steadily moving toward it, even if not far yet. It seemed so cool and radiant.
"Amazing..."
"Huh, what'd you say?"
"Uh...? Oh, uh... I mean..."
She'd unconsciously blurted out her thoughts. Luckily, I hadn't caught it properly.
"You listening to me? I'm pouring out my troubles here, and you're spacing out? ...You feeling sick or something?"
Her cheeks were so flushed that I mistook it for a fever. I put my hand to her forehead.
"Eek...?!"
"Hmm... No idea!"
Seo-rin swatted my hand away and snapped.
"Why do something you can't even do properly...?!"
"Hey, that's what people do when you've got a fever, right? Just testing. Anyway, did you hear what I said?"
"Wh-what...?"
"Ugh, fine, one more time!"
I explained my dilemma again, and this time Seo-rin listened. She calmed her heart as best she could while hearing me out. By the end, she'd fully focused on my problem. Then she tossed out casually,
"Just draw it big from the start and build it bit by bit, right? You can do it with your abilities, can't you? I don't know much about architecture..."
"Huh...?"
"Was that too ignorant?"
Caught up in the excitement of my dream, I'd only thought of building it all at once. Expanding gradually hadn't crossed my mind.
Right, I can expand it...!
My greed had blinded me to that option.
"You...!"
"Wh-what...?"
And as she said, I had the perfect Skill for it—Demolition & Construction.
"Yeah, that's it! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks so much, now I get it!"
"R-really...?"
New designs started flooding my mind. Overflowing with gratitude for her clear solution, I said,
"I'll make you a co-designer as a special treat!"
"Co-designer?"
"Yeah, I never would've thought of it without you!"
Normally, she'd blush and snap or just storm out. But not this time. Seo-rin mustered her courage.
"Th-thanks!"
"Uh, uh..."
How long had it been since she'd said that without her usual snark...?
My cheeks flushed too. For a moment, we stared wordlessly—me at her red eyes, her at my brown ones.
Seo-rin broke first and fled the scene.
"A-anyway—! I'm off to bed!"
She darted out, and I stared blankly at the door for a while after.
"Yeah... goodnight..."
"Whoa, done!"
Morning light broke, and I'd finally finished the blueprint. I stretched hugely while still seated. I'd pulled an all-nighter, but thanks to my boosted stamina, I wasn't nearly as wiped as usual.
Now it was time to actually build!
"Oppa, you finished?"
"Da-on?"
A voice from behind—I turned to see Da-on coming into the room. She looked like she'd just washed up. That fresh-from-bed face after just splashing water...? The world really is unfair...
"Can I see it?"
"Sure, here."
I showed her the completed blueprint.
"This is... amazing!"
"Thanks!"
Da-on admired it, scanning the paper, but her gaze fixed at the bottom. She'd been smiling brightly, but her expression suddenly hardened.
"Why's... Seo-rin unnie's name here...?"
"Oh, that... She helped me out a bit last night."
"Ah..."
Her reaction was a little off...? Something she didn't like? It was a house we might all live in someday—if there was a part she disliked, I'd change it. Was that jumping the gun...?
Da-on handed the blueprint back. Then she grabbed my free hand with both of hers.
"Oppa—!"
"Wh-what... what's up...?"
"Can you add my name here too?"
"Add your name...? Well, no reason not to, but why...?"
"Then you'll do it! Yay!"
"Uh, well..."
She lit up like she'd won the lottery. It wasn't a problem, but seeing her so thrilled, I couldn't say no. Besides, she'd helped me a ton anyway. I hadn't expected her to want this, though. And why was she staring like that...?
"R-right now...?"
"Yes, now!"
"Got it... I'll add it right away!"
I wrote Da-on's name next to Seo-rin's while she watched. The moment I did, she hugged me from behind.
"Oppa, thank you!"
"D-Da-on—?!"
"It's really our house now!"
"Our... house...? Y-yeah..."
Not good for my heart... Ah, but it heals...!
We scarfed down a simple breakfast, then So-hyun and I headed out for the next big thing. Seo-rin and Da-on stayed to help Mom clean up. So-hyun was just bored and tagged along.
Anyway, the important thing was the building site. We went straight to the neighbor's house. It was close, clearly abandoned, and no longer livable.
"You wanna build it here?"
"Yeah!"
Best spot ever! If the owner came back demanding it later... cross that bridge when we got there.
"First time seeing a house wrecked like this. Even a haunted ruin wouldn't look this bad."
"After that thing rampaged around."
I patted the mace shell we'd left as-is yesterday. This needed clearing too...
"Won't this thing just collapse if I tap it?"
"Don't mess around!"
Distracted by the mace shell, I missed what So-hyun was doing. A loud BAM— rang out. I turned to see the building crumbling.
"Whoa—?!"
I'd told her not to joke around, but she...!
I bolted over, yanked my stunned sister out, and debris crashed down right after.
Ten years off my life...
I glared at So-hyun.
"You—!"
"Hehe..."