Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: It Smells
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There's a smell.
My lips puffed out.
"Su-hyeon."
"What."
"Su-hyeon."
"...What."
"Something's off. Are you feeling unwell?"
"No."
In conclusion, there had been a change in how they addressed me.
But only on my end.
I didn't like it when Ga-eun called me Su-hyeon-sunbae, as it felt like our relationship was getting awkward again. And when Chan-seong called me Su-hyeon-nim, it overlapped with Brüel, so I told him to stop.
It made me feel like a 2-meter muscle-bound version of Brüel.
I didn't like unnie or noona either.
"You hate everything, so why are you so dissatisfied? Is there a way you'd like to be called?"
Ga-eun poked at my puffed cheeks as she asked.
"...Big Brother?"
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Ah, nothing."
...Yeah, right. I knew it would end up like this.
Sigh.
We hailed a taxi to head to Chan-seong's house.
"Hello."
"Come on in!"
A rare manned taxi these days.
The driver glanced at us through the rearview mirror and said cheerfully,
"Wow, you two got married young."
"......?"
"...Excuse me...?"
He seemed to have mistaken us for a young couple with their daughter.
Ga-eun looked baffled.
Chan-seong, sitting in the front seat, had his expression hidden, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Out for a weekend outing?"
"No. We're not mom and dad."
I denied it first and foremost.
But maybe because of my curt tone, the driver misunderstood in another way.
"Aigoo, is our little princess in a bad mood? Did something upset you?"
Wha...!
A chill ran down my spine.
What did he just say...? P-Pri...ncess...?
"It's such a nice day out—don't waste it fighting with mom and dad while you're all grumpy. Shake it off and have some fun!"
"Ah, no...."
I just gaped in bewilderment and turned to the side.
Ga-eun was wearing a mischievous smile.
Whenever she was the one flustered, but now that it was me, she found it amusing again.
"Hey, our princess, Mommy's sorry."
I playfully pinched her cheek, and she smacked my hand away.
"Who said you could? I have a different mom."
Su-hyeon turned her head away with a huff.
Then she looked Ga-eun up and down appraisingly.
"And my mom's prettier anyway."
"Huh...."
Ga-eun was dumbfounded.
Whenever she'd called me mom before and put me in an awkward spot. What now?
If her head were just a tiny bit bigger, I'd have smacked her.
"Take a right at the intersection up ahead, please."
Chan-seong calmly gave directions to his house, nothing more.
Leaving the driver's misunderstanding behind, we arrived near Chan-seong's home.
As soon as we got out of the taxi, Ga-eun was glaring at me for some reason.
Her stare stung.
So I kept Chan-seong between us, dodging around her until we reached the destination.
A house that looked even more rundown than my sweet home.
And as soon as we stepped through the entrance, a faint foul odor spread.
I almost asked, 'Doesn't it smell like something?', but I bit my tongue, thinking it might be rude.
Instead, I checked their expressions, but they both seemed fine.
The rusty iron door creaked open.
"You're here...?"
"Please stay lying down, Mom."
Chan-seong's mother looked worse off than I'd imagined.
Everything below her neck resembled a mummy.
And the stench was overwhelming.
"Cough— Guests...?"
"My... friends. I asked them to take a look at your condition, Mom."
"What is this, making such a fuss...."
"Hello."
"Sorry, it's so humble here, make yourselves— Cough cough!"
"Su-hyeon, can you manage...?"
Chan-seong looked at Su-hyeon. A flicker of anxiety showed in his eyes.
"...I'll try."
As I approached, Chan-seong's mother seemed slightly startled.
"Oh, the younger one...? Cough— Sorry...! Cough."
Did she mistake me for Ga-eun's little sister or something?
Today's full of family mix-ups with Ga-eun.
Anyway, I carefully approached and took the mother's hand.
Then I slowly circulated my energy.
"Oh?"
"Are you okay?"
Ga-eun asked as the mother reacted.
"Yes, yes. Hmm, that's strange. My body suddenly feels lighter. Breathing's easier too."
"Ah!"
The dark cloud over Chan-seong's face lifted.
Even I could see the mother's condition had clearly improved.
The stench emanating from her body seemed gone too.
But the joy was short-lived.
"Hnggh...."
Fatigue hit me all at once.
I'd used too much energy yesterday, and today again without recovering.
"Su-hyeon, you okay?"
Ga-eun rushed over worriedly and caught me as I staggered.
"Hng...."
I tried to smile, but even that was hard, so I just gave a slight thumbs-up.
Ga-eun seemed relieved and chuckled, brushing my forehead.
A moment later, Chan-seong's mother had fully recovered and headed to the kitchen.
"You've come all this way—I have to treat you to something. Wait just a moment."
"We're really fine.... Please rest more."
"No, think of it as my thanks."
Her insistent invitation left us having lunch at Chan-seong's house.
"Thank you so much.... I don't know how to repay this kindness."
At the table, Chan-seong bowed his head again.
"That looks gangster-ish, so don't."
"Ah, got it."
He sheepishly lifted his head at Ga-eun's scolding, but...
"It's fine. You've helped me out plenty of times. Call it even."
"...Thank you. If you ever need my help—"
"I get it, enough."
"She looks exhausted. You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, just need some rest...."
I panted face-down on the table as I answered.
The chair was too tall, so thick books were stacked under my butt.
I'd used too much energy yesterday, and today again without recovering.
"Huh? Wait...."
Ga-eun, gently stroking the back of my head, made a sound like she'd noticed something.
Suddenly, I felt a slight tug at the crown of my head.
"You have a leaf in your hair."
"Huh?"
As Ga-eun tugged lightly, my scalp pulled a bit.
Seemed like it was really attached.
She took a photo and showed me—sure enough, a small leaf was in my hair.
We all stared in confusion.
"It's real...?"
"So the thing we saw that first day was actually growing out of your head."
"It wasn't an excuse after all.... I thought you were just a jerk back then."
"......"
That's when my gaze landed on a flowerpot in the corner of the room.
It was a pretty ordinary pot, but the more I looked, the stranger it felt.
"Anyway, I was so worried about our Chan-seong, but you're friends with such a pretty young lady too! What's your relationship with him?"
"Pardon? Oh, just run into each other a few times."
"Our Chan-seong might be blunt and oblivious, but he's so polite and caring...."
"Ah, haha...."
Once recovered, the mother took a big interest in Ga-eun. She praised Chan-seong while appealing to her, but Ga-eun just smiled awkwardly.
As Chan-seong's mother headed back to the kitchen, I turned around and slowly slipped under the chair.
Then I approached the flowerpot that gave me the weird feeling.
Sure enough...
"Su-hyeon, what's wrong all of a sudden?"
They both looked puzzled as I went straight to the flowerpot.
"What kind of flower is this?"
The smell I'd caught from outside was coming from this flower.
"Dunno. I'm no good with flowers."
"You two, don't you smell something foul here?"
I asked seriously, and they exchanged glances before shrugging.
Seemed like only I could sense it.
I squeezed out my remaining energy. Sure enough, the stench faded. And I felt something counteracting it.
"It's demonic energy."
Their faces hardened instantly.
"Where's it coming from?"
Chan-seong hesitated before answering.
"My dad got it from the master of my current guild before he passed."
"No way...!"
"You should get rid of it right now. And report it."
"Right? What kind of psycho...!"
Chan-seong bowed his head.
"But there's a contract, so it's tough."
"Demonic energy's coming from it, I said! The contract's not the issue!"
His attitude frustrated me. Ga-eun felt the same.
"Just pay the penalty and be done! Quit right now. How much could it be anyway? Are you insane?"
Chan-seong pulled out the contract and showed it.
It was packed with absurd penalty clauses.
Damages from not raiding gates, costs of finding a replacement while he was gone, drop in projected combat power if he left—all dumped on him.
A rough calculation put the penalty over 2.5 billion won.
Like making one person cover a mid-tier guild's annual earnings.
Ga-eun was furious.
"Are you an idiot? How could you sign something like this?"
Chan-seong apologized with his head down.
"I'm sorry. It was the condition for waiving the interest on my dad's debts at the time. And I hadn't even properly graduated high school, so I didn't know better...."
"No, it's not something you should apologize for, why...."
A loud voice drew Chan-seong's mother over.
"What's going on, everyone...? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, no, nothing. Just checking out this interesting flower."
"He brought it back when he was still alive. Pretty unique, right? Sigh.... Things were fine back then, no debts.... Then I got sick, hospital bills piled up, the accident happened.... And now even this kid's suffering...."
The auntie teared up, reminded of the past by the flower.
"Ah, Auntie, it's okay. You're all better now."
"Aigoo, yes, thanks to our young lady, I recovered so quick. Thank you so much~?"
"Y-Yes...."
It was hard to watch, so I offered awkward comfort, and luckily she smiled and returned to the kitchen.
Back at the table, Ga-eun told Chan-seong. Her tone was quiet, but she was still angry.
"You need to get out of that guild, no matter what. You'll pay off the penalty eventually if you join a better one. To me, it looks like the money's just an excuse to hold onto you. A healer in a thug guild like that? Suspicious from the start."
"Still...."
"We'll figure out money somehow. You can't even raid gates right now, can you?"
I encouraged Chan-seong too.
It stung my conscience, saying that after lounging around without earning a dime.
"...I understand."
Chan-seong gave a grateful look.
Man, this guy's incredibly dense. Lucky his scary face hides it—otherwise, he'd have been taken advantage of left and right.
No, he's still getting screwed over with a slave contract right now.
Then the mother brought out the meal.
"Here, eat up. Not much at home, so this is all I could whip up.... Thanks so much for today."
"No, Auntie! Wow, this looks delicious. Right, Su-hyeon?"
"Y-Yeah. Thanks for the meal."
The smell of doenjang jjigae after so long.
Su-hyeon fiddled with the leaf on her head while scooping a spoonful of doenjang jjigae.
No tofu, no pumpkin, but it was delicious.
What a day for deep thoughts.