Grape Cave (3)

"Crybaby."

Choco, who had been fanning her reddened eyes in a desperate bid to settle them, flinched at the jab. And it wasn't just words — a finger kept poking, poking, poking into her side.

"Dummy."

"Idiot."

"Stubborn mule."

"This one was in the wrong, so cease thy poking..."

"No. Choco needs to be scolded a little more."

"Nngh."

Yeon said it firmly, poking even harder than before. A tear that had still been clinging to Choco's lash slipped down her cheek.

It was absolutely not because the poking hurt. Choco told herself that as she sniffled and rubbed her side.

Yeon let out a long sigh, watching her groan and clutch her ribs.

"Is Choco an idiot?"

"What now..."

"You didn't have to tell me something like that. If just remembering it hurts that much, it's a memory you wanted to forget, isn't it?"

"That's..."

Choco hemmed and hawed, then hung her head and mumbled.

"Didst thou not speak of thine own as well... and so this one also..."

"...Don't tell me this is because of what I said?"

Yeon looked at her with a face that said she couldn't believe it. Had sharing her own story — after Choco had said it probably wouldn't be interesting — actually gotten to her?

Choco's gaze slid away. Which meant yes.

Yeon pressed a hand to her forehead and muttered.

"That was obviously a joke..."

"Ugh..."

At the incredulous tone, Choco's eyes darted aside again. But that wasn't enough to escape Yeon. She reached out, took Choco's face in her hands, and made her look at her.

"Besides, when I told you everything back then, I was only able to say it because I'd already sorted through my feelings. And that vague goal I'd been carrying around actually started moving forward once I met you, so there was no reason to keep being sad. If anything, I should've been happy."

But. Yeon paused and looked at the eyes flickering restlessly before her.

Those gold eyes, wet and glittering, shone with a radiance that could steal a person's heart if they weren't careful. At the same time, the turmoil in them was unmistakable. Even after shedding all those tears, the grief still lingered.

Of course it did. She had spent so long running from those memories and feelings instead of facing them. Stale, long-suppressed emotions that had been packed down into her chest with nowhere to go weren't going to vanish after a single release.

"—But that's not you, Choco. You're still missing them. You still regret what happened back then."

Choco couldn't say a word. It was a bullseye with nowhere to hide.

"Of course... I did want to know another side of you. That's true. But I don't want to see you get hurt because of something I wished for."

"This one is sorry..."

"Don't apologize. I'm not saying this because I want an apology."

"Then...?"

Choco rolled her eyes this way and that, looking lost. She'd always thought of herself as socially gifted and good with words, but in moments like this she had no idea what she was supposed to say.

As she sat there floundering, Yeon slid the hands that had been cupping her face around to the back of her head — and gently pulled her into her arms.

"...Thou art rather stiff."

"Well, I can't exactly throw off my armor in the middle of a dungeon, can I?"

Choco let out a small laugh at the gamer logic. Still, staying like this did ease something in her chest. Like a weight that had been sitting on her stomach was finally settling — nothing was fundamentally solved, but at least she felt a little better.

The hug lasted a while longer after that. Even the Armor Ants seemed to have some sense of the moment, because they didn't attack. At least, not until Choco's heart had fully settled.

"This is enough."

"You can stay a little longer."

"This one is not a child. One cannot remain in thy arms forever."

A smile sat on Choco's face as she lifted her head, grumbling. In both looks and the expression she wore now, she was no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different from a child — and Yeon was briefly tempted to tease her for it. Instead, she smiled back.

"If you say so."

She let go without a fuss. Free of her arms, Choco tidied herself up with her hands and said,

"Thou hast this one's thanks. Thy comfort was a balm."

"See? Nobody does it like me, right?"

"Aye. There is none but thee. Thou art the only one who hath ever done this for this one."

Yeon had said it as a joke, trying to lighten the mood — but the heavy, sincere reply that came back made her freeze for a moment. Unaware of this, Choco carefully took Yeon's hand and spoke in a low voice.

"Truly, this one is grateful, Yeon."

"Uh, u-uh, yeah..."

"Thanks to thee, this one thinks she may be able to face it, just a little."

She had fled her home for fear those memories would surface. She had fled reality itself for fear they would find her even in her dreams. She had thrown herself into the game just to keep running.

She shouldn't have. She should have faced it instead of running. When her father and little sister had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knocked on her door, she should have stood with them and weathered it together. If she had, she wouldn't have wasted so much time.

She had realized it far too late. Choco tightened her grip on Yeon's hand and lifted her head.

Those gold eyes, wet and glittering, shone with a radiance that could steal a heart if one weren't careful. Yeon knew that, and still there was nothing she could do about it. Who in the world could look at someone gazing up at them like this and not lose their heart?

A feeling that arrived in a single instant was not something a person could control. Even if the other person was the same gender as herself.

"...It's nothing. Really."

With her heart aflutter, Yeon flushed and turned her head away.

"...? Art thou unwell? Thy face is red—"

"I-it's nothing!"

Only Choco, who understood none of it, tilted her head in confusion.

That had happened, but the hunt wasn't over. After taking a moment to collect themselves, the two of them pressed onward.

They walked on until Choco, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, turned her head toward Yeon trailing behind her.

"Why hast thou been walking so far behind since earlier?"

"Huh, what?! Me?!"

"Do not shout so. This one is not fond of loud noises."

Watching Yeon jump as if she'd been burned, Choco frowned and lightly clutched at her chest. She already had a timid streak when it came to sudden noises — loud sounds would startle her now and then — and Yeon's shout was exactly that kind of thing, making her heart seize up.

When she said as much, Yeon seemed to notice the hand on her chest a beat late, and hurried over with another startled look.

"S-sorry. Are you okay?"

"There is no need to apologize. This one was merely startled, nothing more... So wilt thou not tell this one why thou art walking so far behind?"

"Ah, um, about that..."

Yeon mumbled, looking troubled. As she trailed off, hesitating, Choco shrugged.

"Well, if it is difficult to say, thou needst not. Instead, tell this one just one thing."

"H-huh?"

"Thou art not unwell, or aught of that sort?"

"Of course not!"

"Then that is enough."

With that, Choco turned and started walking again. Watching her go, Yeon let out a long sigh.

"I'm not unwell... but something is definitely weird."

She muttered it under her breath.

When she'd locked eyes with Choco a moment ago, listening to that thank-you, Yeon had felt a strange emotion she couldn't put into words. That flutter in her chest every time she looked at Choco. She'd wondered if this was what the books called love — but thinking it over carefully, it felt a little different.

That is... the sorts of things people in love were supposed to do with each other — never spelled out, but easy enough to imagine — and she didn't want any of that.

We're the same gender to begin with.

They called it the passion between man and woman, didn't they? Wasn't love something that happened when a man and a woman came together as a pair? Of course, people said there were many kinds of love in the world... but no matter how she thought about it, this wasn't that.

If she had to put a word to it, bewitched felt closer. It wasn't as if Choco had been trying to do it on purpose — but as far as Yeon was concerned, she was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠definitely under Choco's spell. Then again, didn't they always say foxes were seductive creatures that bewitched people?

Yeon gazed at Choco's retreating back with a strange look in her eyes. The ears and tails were surely hidden — and yet somehow, she could almost see them swaying and swishing before her.

"Art thou keeping up?"

"Ah, yeah!"

Whether she'd felt that gaze or not, Choco whipped her head around to ask, and Yeon nodded in reply. It seemed this heart, bewitched by a fox, was going to need a little more time to get used to the feeling.

Yeon pulled her sword free from the Soldier Ant and dismissed the system window that had popped up. It was already the third level-up notification she'd seen since descending into the depths.

"Is it really okay to hunt them like this?"

She turned her head to survey the surroundings — a desolate scene of nothing but gray ash drifting through the air.

True to the name Grape Cave, the space narrowed the deeper they went. Unlike the upper floors, which were spacious and packed with monster rooms, the depths had only two. And the Soldier Ants that had occupied those rooms were now completely wiped out.

The cause, naturally, was Choco. While Yeon swung her sword and managed to take down one or two at a time, Choco would give a casual flick of her hand and send a wave of flame crashing through a dozen of them at once.

Of course, that sped up the hunt and helped them level faster. But a part of Yeon couldn't help thinking—

Isn't this kind of cheap?

In a way, you could say they'd occupied the hunting ground. It wasn't as if no other players had come down to the depths — they'd just clicked their tongues at the empty floors and turned around. Then again, they'd leveled up enough themselves that they didn't really need to hunt anymore either.

She was already level 41. Unlike before, when she'd had to pick out the softer spots to drive her blade in, now the sword sank in whether she stabbed or slashed, no precision required. Honestly, it was less a hunt at this point and more like manual labor.

"Hast thou finished them all?"

"What about your side?"

"Swept them away without a single one remaining."

It was a question she already knew the answer to. Yeon turned to Choco, who had said it in that casual, no-big-deal tone.

"So now we go catch it?"

"Well, there is naught else left, is there?"

They said as much and looked toward the passage leading downward. Descend that, and they'd reach the boss room of Grape Cave.

"Well then, shall we?"

At Choco's words, Yeon nodded. And with that, the two of them walked toward the passage.

Unlike the winding corridors that had led from the upper floors down into the depths, the path to the boss room ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ran in a straight line.

And when they stepped out of the passage into a wide cavern — the boss room was empty.