Chapter 106
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Hug Me
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"S-Su-hyeon, were you... listening...?"
Ga-eun's face turned pale.
Fortunately, it didn't look like she'd been hurt by the shards of glass...
"Huu, uuu..."
Rustle-
Tears seemed to bubble up from Su-hyeon's large tear glands, and then she spun around and fled.
"Ah, wait...!"
Ga-eun's mind went blank for a moment. The conversation she'd just had with the staff flashed before her eyes like a montage.
She couldn't properly remember anything from the middle onward—it had all been drowned out by irritation.
What did I say? How much did she hear?
She'd tried to hold back the worst of it, but she couldn't imagine how it must have sounded to the listener.
"That..."
Damn bastard... Why did he have to show up right now of all times...!
For the first time in her life, Ga-eun felt something akin to murderous intent.
But right now, catching Su-hyeon was more important.
"Su-hyeon! Wait, just hear me out!"
Ga-eun, who had been awkwardly crouched down, sprang up and dashed forward.
Crack-
A shard of glass shattered and scattered under Ga-eun's foot.
"Be careful...! No, why is she so fast...!"
Considering the difference in their physical abilities, this was odd.
Of course, they were indoors, so she wasn't sprinting at full speed, but something felt off.
Ga-eun chased after Su-hyeon in a daze, but the distance between them only grew.
She reached out a hand, but all she could see was the small figure receding into the distance.
"Huu, huu..."
Su-hyeon ran.
Her small legs moved faster than ever before.
She didn't even know why she was running away.
She just instinctively wanted to go far, farther away.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't think to wipe them.
Clatter
She slowed a bit while clumsily descending the stairs, but once she reached the gravel-covered parking lot, her speed picked up again.
A few passenger cars had joined the buses, but she paid them no mind.
Where to?
"Su-hyeon, please! Wait! Let me talk...!"
Talk.
Of course she wanted to.
Ga-eun was still a precious connection to her.
A tiny hope lingered in a corner of her heart that what she'd overheard was a misunderstanding.
But what if it wasn't?
She was afraid of even that small hope vanishing.
Even if it was all her imagination.
She feared the failure that might come.
So she decided to hide.
Just like when she'd first come up to Seoul and holed up in her room.
To the forest, let's go to the forest.
Su-hyeon left the parking lot and plunged into the nearby woods.
After that, she didn't know.
Hide quietly. Go home. Live with Grandma and Mom...
That thought made her eyes well up again.
"Kyaaak!"
Ga-eun, chasing Su-hyeon frantically, let out a shrill scream.
It looked like Su-hyeon had thrown herself down a steep slope beyond the parking lot.
Fortunately, Su-hyeon didn't tumble badly and vanished into the forest at a run.
"Hah, huu..."
Ga-eun clutched her chest in relief, then snapped back to attention and resumed the chase.
Splash-
Ga-eun slid down the dirt path like she was on ice.
The slope was so steep even she could barely keep her balance.
To run down a place like this—what talent.
Normally, she'd have clapped in admiration, but the timing couldn't be worse.
"Urk, how...!"
Ga-eun panted as she plunged into the forest.
Su-hyeon's figure was already out of sight, but she couldn't stop.
She shouted until her throat was raw.
"Su-hyeon! Where are you? Please answer!"
A tree branch scratched her face.
Her tracksuit pants snagged on thorny bushes; she roughly brushed them away.
A scrape appeared on the back of her hand.
Ga-eun pushed forward like that for a while.
Wait...
Something was wrong.
She was running hard, but it felt like she was walking in place.
For every step Ga-eun took forward, the forest seemed to retreat one step.
"Hah... hah..."
Ga-eun paused briefly and looked around.
Roooar-
The dark, dense forest felt like a massive beast wary of her presence.
...Was this Su-hyeon's power?
Su-hyeon's will rejecting her?
"Hah..."
Her heart felt like it was tearing apart.
Was this the end? Not even a chance given?
A single tear trailed down.
"Hup..."
Ga-eun clenched her fists tight and yelled.
"...Su-hyeon, I know you're listening!"
You're there... there... there...!
Ga-eun's voice echoed through the woods.
"I, I messed up!"
Still no reply.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what you heard, hah... but it wasn't sincere! Even before that... hng, this morning too, I didn't push you away because I hated you...!"
She kept shouting, ignoring everything.
"...I heard it from Brüel! Hah."
The wounds Su-hyeon had endured.
The ones she'd reopened while trying to heal them.
"I absolutely won't leave without a word! Hah... please, give me a chance...!"
She cried out with all her desperation.
If there was still no answer...
...
Grrrrr-
The wind rustling through the trees sounded like a low growl.
With no reply still, Ga-eun started forward again.
She pushed through the piles of foliage trying to block her.
Then she realized something.
The forest's resistance grew fiercer in one direction.
"...Urk, she's this way!"
Crash-
Now it felt like swimming through underbrush.
Sharp thorns pricked her here and there, thick branches barred the way.
But she didn't stop.
Rooooaaar!!!
As Ga-eun refused to stop, the forest roared like a beast.
Branches pointed at her like a giant's spear tip, but she didn't stop.
If this was Su-hyeon's will, she didn't care anymore.
Riiip-
Pressing on without pause, her cheek got scratched and beaded with blood.
At that moment.
"Don't do iiiit!!!"
Su-hyeon's shout rang out huge.
Shoooaaa-
The plants encircling Ga-eun retreated all at once.
A long path opened up.
And at its end.
"Hah... Su-hyeon..."
"...Sniff."
Ga-eun, a total mess from head to toe, and Su-hyeon, her face equally ruined with tears.
The two stood facing each other for a long while.
Su-hyeon wiped her tears and looked ahead.
Ga-eun stood there, battered and bruised.
Her hair a wild mess like a ghost's.
Her gym clothes torn and ripped in places.
Scratches everywhere, blood trickling.
She's hurt.
Because of me.
"Sor..."
"I'm sorry!"
As Su-hyeon tried to apologize, Ga-eun bowed her head first.
"Never! Never have I ever found you annoying. Whatever you heard, I can explain it all as a misunderstanding. I swear it wasn't sincere...!"
Drip drop-
A few water spots appeared on the ground.
"Pushing you away this morning was just a moment of jealousy... After that, with other people, I thought it'd be good if you could hang out... Eep."
Ga-eun's words came out haltingly, her throat choked with emotion.
"I'm truly sorry for hurting you with my actions. You might have felt betrayed..."
Ga-eun looked up, tears streaming down her chin.
"Will you forgive me...? I don't want to lose you..."
In the silent forest, not even a bug chirped.
Only the sound of the two swallowing tears.
"Me toooo..."
Her own emotions welled up just the same.
It was strange—she'd clearly wanted to apologize step by step and make up.
But it had fallen apart from the start.
"Me too, eung, me too..."
Still, she didn't stop.
"Thank you... for letting me out..."
Normally, she wouldn't have gone to class.
On that first weekend, she'd have gone straight home and hidden with Grandma.
"Thank you... for helping me make friends..."
From the first restaurant encounter to the chance meeting in Monday's liberal arts class—Min-ji and Ji-eun.
The two she'd avoided out of burden had become precious friends alongside Ga-eun.
"Thank you for spending time with me at school."
The campus was huge, so no need to seek her out every time.
But whenever she was alone between classes, Ga-eun was always there.
"Thank you for taking me to the department store and the infirmary..."
Without Ga-eun, she'd still be rotating the same shorts without proper underwear.
She remembered snapping irritably back then, not wanting her to approach.
"Thank you... for talking to me first..."
Maybe it was curiosity about the kid with the geese.
But Ga-eun's actions back then had created their bond now.
"And thank you... for chasing after me like this..."
Su-hyeon looked at Ga-eun once more.
She'd chased her down like this, getting hurt just to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Uuu... thank you for being my frieeeend..."
With those words, Su-hyeon stretched out both arms.
"Hng..."
Ga-eun approached and scooped Su-hyeon up into a hug.
And rubbed her tear-soaked cheek against hers.
Just like when they first met.
"Eung..."
Tears flowed—who knew whose they were—and a warm sensation spread on her cheek.
Sobbing echoed through the forest.
That was how they made up.
When friends fight, a hug seals the deal—that's the rule.
Pat.
Su-hyeon's small palm touched Ga-eun's cheek.
The spot scraped earlier.
And just like that, all the scratches on her body vanished.
Her messy hair and clothes didn't recover, of course.
"...Thank you."
Ga-eun gave a slight smile.
Su-hyeon shook her head no, then silently wrapped her arms around Ga-eun's neck.
Ga-eun supported Su-hyeon's bottom once more and headed toward the camp.
She didn't know the way, but it was fine.
The forest parted a path for them on its own.
"...Gotta go back and wash up."
"Yeah..."
"Eat something too."
"...Did they open the cafeteria?"
"Not hungry enough to wait till six? Grab something light from the shop?"
"No, it's fine. I checked it earlier—not that big."
"Oh?"
"...What excuse for the two of them?"
If they went back now, it'd be time for the next session.
But they couldn't go like this.
Forget Ga-eun's clothes—they both had faces wrecked by tears.
They'd definitely ask what happened.
"Don't worry about that."
Ga-eun grabbed her sleeve and wiped Su-hyeon's cheek.
But her sleeve, from sliding down the dirt, wasn't clean.
"Ah."
A camouflage streak appeared over her flushed cheek.
"Heh. Sorry, forgot."
"Heehee."
Ga-eun couldn't help but laugh at the cute sight.
Su-hyeon just grinned back at her.