Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding
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I have to swallow these boiling emotions for now.
There must be a good reason for it. Yujin might have her own circumstances.
"Yeah, I see. You brought me here."
I grip her hand tightly, struggling to keep my composure.
Like a devout believer praying to the heavens, I cling to Yujin, my one and only link to Earth.
"...Why?"
I ask politely once more.
I have no intention of provoking her or spewing out my feelings recklessly. For now, I just want to know the reason.
Why did she bring me here of all people?
Why me, specifically?
And why hasn't she said a word to me, the one directly involved?
"Jeong-woo, you're angry."
I'm not angry.
I'm just baffled that for nearly a month, I've endured all sorts of humiliations in this other world without any explanation whatsoever.
Now I'll finally understand.
Yujin, whom I haven't seen in ten years, will give me a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Something like the other world will perish without me,
or that I need to fight the Demon King as the hero...
Mwah!
But Yujin kisses my cheek before she can say a word.
It's not the answer I wanted at all. If anything, it sends chills down my spine in confusion.
"I'm sorry it took so long. I'm sorry for bringing you here without a word. But I had no choice if I wanted to keep my promise."
A promise?
No matter how stupid my younger self was, I can't imagine making a promise that involved reenlisting in the military.
"I tried really hard too. You must have tried hard as well. That's why we're together again, right?"
And yet Yujin tries to explain everything away with that one word: promise.
We sit side by side on the sofa, turning our heads slightly to look at each other.
Unlike my stiff expression,
Yujin's face is filled only with sincere affection.
"You've been through a lot. Jeong-woo, let's never part again."
"You crazy bitch!"
I can't help but raise my voice.
"What the hell are you talking about? Why did you drag me here? Tell me right now!"
Promises be damned—I'm furious to the top of my head. I've felt my temper flaring more since coming here.
And it's no wonder.
Everything that's happened to me has been nothing but absurd, idiotic, and irrational events I can't comprehend.
"A promise? What promise? What promise did you and I ever make? Hell, we don't even need a promise. Who the fuck are you to summon me here? When did I ever say I wanted to get dragged to a shithole like this and do military service twice?!"
But the more I rage,
the more my anger chips away,
and in the empty space, confusion and fear start to grow.
"..."
Yujin says nothing.
Her tightly pressed lips scare me.
Unlike me, who's jumped up and is throwing a tantrum, she just sits quietly on the sofa, staring at me.
I'm the one who shrinks back.
My mouth goes dry, sweat trickles down my nape.
"You're still not over your anger, huh. Yeah. I'm sorry."
And yet she smiles again and reaches out her hand to me, which creeps me out even more.
She's so upright,
so incredibly kind,
that my outburst feels utterly low-class and vulgar by comparison.
"I'll do much better from now on. Can you forgive me?"
Are my words getting through?
Is she understanding how I feel?
"I had no choice. Our parents will finally approve of us now. So from here on out, it'll really just be the two of us—"
"What the hell are you even saying... Just send me back home already...!"
Does she even realize how flustered I am?
How can she stay so calm and composed?
As if she understands everything,
as if she'll accept whatever I do...
"...Don't interrupt me. Anyway, we can keep being together from now on."
She finishes calmly,
then holds out her smartphone.
"Calm down first. Want to call your mom?"
I've been through hell just for one damn phone call.
And I still haven't even accumulated 50 Military Life Points.
Yujin casually offers her smartphone.
The screen displays my mom's phone number.
I can barely breathe.
I don't even know where it all went wrong.
"No need. I don't want it. Just send me home!"
No matter how much I plead with Yujin, the situation doesn't improve.
If anything, the atmosphere is growing tense.
"..."
She, who had been sitting demurely, now crosses her arms and leans back against the sofa. An unconscious shift to get comfortable as things turn uncomfortable.
"Jeong-woo, what's wrong with you?"
Even the smile is gone from Yujin's lips now.
"It's been so long since we reunited, but your reaction is so weird. You've been waiting for me all this time—why act like this all of a sudden?"
"Waiting? Me? For you?"
Little by little, bit by bit,
our emotions intensify.
"What the hell are you talking about? Just send me home!"
"Lower your voice. Don't get worked up."
"Could you stay calm in a situation like this? I've been dragged here out of nowhere, spent a whole month busting my ass through every ordeal imaginable. And I'd already been discharged...! Starting from boot camp all over again!"
I need to convey my grievances to Yujin properly. I can't understand what possessed her to do this, but maybe I can get her to rethink it now.
"Why the hell would you do that? No contact for years, then you show up out of nowhere—what the fuck do you want? What is this supposed to accomplish...? Is reenlisting a joke to you? A fucking game?!"
But Yujin presses her temples with a stiffer expression than mine, as if she's getting a headache.
I swallow hard, waiting for her response.
Praying that this is all just a misunderstanding,
waiting for a sane answer from Yujin.
"...Jeong-woo, you're the one taking this too far. Can't we stop now? I'm starting to get annoyed. Instead of getting emotional, let's try to be more considerate and understanding. Got it?"
But all I get is Yujin's stern warning. Every word feels like a gem of wisdom, making me want to flip the table over.
"That's what a proper relationship between lovers is."
Yet the words "relationship between lovers" slip from Yujin's mouth so matter-of-factly that it leaves me utterly bewildered.
"Hah...?"
As I grimace, Yujin points it out again.
"You'll get wrinkles on that handsome face. Relax your expression and let's talk calmly. Okay? I'll be as considerate of you as I can, so you do the same for me. It's from page 112 of The Guide to Proper Dating—couples reuniting after a long time need to be extra understanding."
She's sweet to the end. But so unbelievably sweet that it shatters my sanity.
A remarkable woman who's calm, flawless, and model-like in any situation. But right now, all of Yujin's virtues are backfiring on me.
Resentment, frustration, anger, injustice, bitterness, suffocation.
Tormented by it all, I finally shout at Yujin.
"Why the hell would I be your lover? Just send me back already!"
I shouldn't have said that.
I should have held back a little longer.
"..."
Yujin, who hadn't shown a flicker of agitation until now, drops her teacup the moment she hears my bombshell declaration.
Crash!
Shards of the broken cup scatter across the floor. Yujin's mental state must not be faring much better from the shock.
The cup has already left her fingertips, but she still mimes sipping her tea.
"Why would you say something like that?"
She's pissed. Her left eye glares up at me, and meeting her gaze makes me shrink involuntarily.
"No matter how angry you are, you shouldn't say things like that. You're being too harsh to your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? What girlfriend...? We're not in any relationship!"
"Enough with the jokes. I'm starting to get scared. You waited for me all the way until I turned 22, just like we promised."
"Waited for what, exactly...? Our conversation is going completely off the rails—"
"You thought of me and held out all this time. You didn't even glance at other girls until I turned 22. I held out thinking only of you too."
Whoosh!
Yujin can't hold back anymore and stands up like I did. But she never raises her voice. In an even tone, suppressing her emotions as much as possible...
"We've both endured well from the day we started dating until now. Yeah, I'm sorry for bringing you to boot camp without contact. But if I hadn't, Mom never would have approved our marriage. I had no choice."
But with every word from Yujin, my heart crumbles further.
"Mom said if I really wanted to get married, I should get citizenship here first. And the only way to do that was through the military."
It's all nonsense.
But Yujin's face as she says it is deadly serious.
"That's why I waited until your service was over."
It's truly absurd.
Yujin says it without changing expression.
"Once you serve once, you'll adapt here faster. You'll do well in boot camp too."
My common sense and values shatter completely.
I endured all the injustices here,
but a mere twenty minutes talking with Yujin totally wrecks my mental state.
"So I enlisted too. To do military service with you. In case you ever needed help."
Fuck.
What the hell am I listening to right now?