Chapter 109
Summer Break (4)
***
“Wow~ What’s this? Jinhyuk, you’re treating me to Hanwoo beef?”
After successfully clearing the Spider’s Nest.
I took Soyeon to a high-end Hanwoo beef restaurant that I had reserved in advance.
It was both to talk about something important related to the future and to celebrate Soyeon’s first successful dungeon clear.
She had been running around the country for weeks because of me, going through quite a bit of hardship, so I wanted to give her a little treat.
If we had finished the dungeon crawl any later, I would have had to cancel the reservation, but luckily, we wrapped things up early.
“Look over there, see that girl? Isn’t she really pretty?”
“Wow, damn. She’s gorgeous.”
“You gonna try to get her number?”
“The hell? With that face of yours?”
“What did you just say, you bastard?”
Whisper-whisper.
As soon as we entered the restaurant, I could hear the murmurs of some young men from a nearby table.
The two guys were sneaking glances at Soyeon and muttering in awe.
They kept throwing around words like “pretty,” “beautiful,” and “she looks like a celebrity,” clearly impressed by her appearance.
Th i s w as c op i e d f r o m kin g m t l . o r g
“Ah, Hanwoo beef is so expensive that I never even dreamed of having it, but thanks to you, I’m finally living the good life. Hehe.”
But Soyeon didn’t seem to pay the guys any mind. Her focus was entirely on the food, clearly excited about eating Hanwoo beef.
Maybe she was just too used to comments like that by now?
After all, she’d probably been hearing compliments about her appearance since she was little, so there was no need to react to every single one.
Th i s w a s c o p ie d f ro m k i n g m t l. o r g
‘Pretty, huh…’
I scratched my temple for a moment and subtly turned to steal a glance at Soyeon’s face.
Her delicate beauty filled my line of sight.
She really did look stunning.
‘Lately… since she started wearing proper makeup, she’s become incredibly pretty.’
I had grown so used to her face after seeing it for so many years, but every now and then, I still found myself surprised by how beautiful she was.
Even when she didn’t wear much makeup, she was breathtaking, but with a full face of makeup, her beauty went beyond admiration—it was awe-inspiring.
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?”
“No, nothing at all.”
I shook my head and led the way to the small private room that I had reserved.
Unlike the noisy dining area outside, the room was quiet.
We sat at the table, looked over the menu, and ended up ordering the premium assorted set, along with sirloin and tenderloin.
Before long, an employee came in and grilled the meat for us to perfection.
As we ate, we chatted about various things.
“Soyeon.”
T hi s w a s c o p ie d f r o m kin g m t l. o r g
“Hmm?”
“Why do you get along with everyone else but always end up fighting with Yoo Seolhyun?”
“What’s this, Jinhyuk? You already know why.”
Soyeon, who had been happily munching on a piece of sirloin, pursed her lips and looked annoyed, as if she had just heard something boring.
“She keeps picking fights with me for no reason. Ugh… it’s so frustrating.”
From what I knew of Yoo Seolhyun, she wasn’t the type to senselessly butt heads with someone as talented as Soyeon, but for some reason, she had been doing exactly that.
It seemed that whatever tension had arisen between them during their initial interactions had never been resolved.
Seriously, Yoo Seolhyun can hold a grudge like no other.
“I feel like Yoo Seolhyun is interested in you. Maybe that’s why she’s picking fights with me…”
Th i s w a s co pi e d f r o m ki n gmt l .or g
“Hmm? You think so?”
I brought it up while glancing at Soyeon, but she didn’t seem too convinced.
Yoo Seolhyun being interested in me, huh…
Well, it’s possible she had some interest, but it wasn’t the kind of romantic interest Soyeon was thinking of.
After all, Yoo Seolhyun had made it clear that my face wasn’t exactly her type.
And I’m petty enough to remember that.
“Must be nice to be so popular.”
Soyeon gulped down her cola and set the glass down a bit more forcefully than usual, dragging out the end of her sentence.
Then she glanced over at me.
“These days, it’s Yoo Seolhyun, Roxanne, Baek Yoorin… you’re really popular, huh? Has spring finally come for our Jinhyuk?”
She was smiling like she was joking, but I could tell from her eyes that she wasn’t amused.
She was probably a little bothered by the fact that there were other girls around me.
After all, Soyeon had confessed her feelings to me.
“Ha, you sure act like you’re not, but Jinhyuk, you’re quite the player, aren’t you? So, Mr. Popular, how does it feel?”
“Popular? Compared to the attention you get from guys, it’s nothing.”
“…”
At my comment about guys, Soyeon’s shoulders flinched, and she bit her lips with her eyebrows furrowed.
Considering all the incidents she had with men, this subject must have felt uncomfortable for her.
I chuckled and swirled my cola around, teasing her lightly.
“There’s no need to get jealous, Soyeon. I’m not planning on dating anyone for a while.”
“Jealous? I’m not jealous, okay?”
“Really? Just a few months ago, you confessed that you liked me. Have you already changed your mind? Or are you going to go after Lee Siwoon now?”
“…Ugh, are you seriously going to keep teasing me?”
Soyeon’s face turned red as she fidgeted, glaring at me with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment.
I must’ve been teasing her pretty hard. I used to joke around with her like this all the time back in the day.
If this had been the past, she would have laughed it off with something like, ‘Jealous? Me? Of you? Haha, you’re delusional, Jinhyuk!’
But since she had become aware of her feelings for me, she couldn’t brush it off so easily.
“What did I say?”
“Ugh, seriously…”
Soyeon sighed deeply.
She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, her cheeks faintly tinged with pink. She chewed on her lip for a moment before suddenly blurting out.
“…Fine, yeah, I’m jealous. So what?”
“Oh? You’re actually admitting it?”
“Well, I’ve already confessed, so isn’t it weird if I keep getting embarrassed about something like this? Hmph.”
She said it with a slight blush on her face, which made it hard to take her seriously.
T hi s w a s c op ie d f ro m k i n g m tl. or g
She looked incredibly flustered.
“You’ve become quite bold. You didn’t use to be like this.”
Soyeon shot me a sharp look before shaking her head.
“Speaking of which, Jinhyuk…”
T h i s w as c op i e d f r o m k i n gm t l. o r g
“Yeah?”
“Do you… find me being like this uncomfortable?”
“Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?”
“I mean… I’ve been thinking about it. From your perspective, it might be a burden if I keep hovering around after you already turned me down…”
Soyeon hesitated, watching my reaction carefully as she spoke.
T h i s w as c opi e d f r o m ki ng m tl.o rg
“It feels like I’m being a nuisance, clinging to you just because we’re childhood friends… like you can’t push me away because of that…”
Honestly, it would be great for her to find a better guy than me and move on with her life, but I knew she wouldn’t change her mind that easily.
Soyeon was stubborn, both in a good way and a bad way.
“If it was truly uncomfortable for me, I wouldn’t have spent the entire summer break dragging you around with me everywhere.”
T h is w a s c op ie d f r om k i ngm tl .o r g
“Well, I mean, I guess that’s true, but…”
The only discomfort I felt from being with her was worrying about Lee Siwoon’s reaction.
But lately, Siwoon had been pretty quiet about it, likely because he was busy training with the Swordmaster, so there wasn’t much to worry about.
“Now that we’re talking about it… Didn’t you say you liked someone, Jinhyuk?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“So… is it one of those girls? Yoo Seolhyun, Sunari, Roxanne, or Baek Yoorin?”
“Hmm. For now, it’s a se—”
“You’re going to say it’s a secret again, aren’t you?”
I silently nodded. Soyeon stared at me for a moment before twirling the ends of her hair.
“Fine, it can be a secret… but do you even have any plans to date someone?”
“Someday. But not right now.”
“Why?”
T h i s w a s c opi e d f r o m k i n g m t l . or g
“I’ve got stuff to take care of.”
“Stuff?”
Looking at Soyeon’s slightly tilted head, I opened my mouth slowly.
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about today… Soyeon, can you put up a soundproof barrier so no one outside can hear us?”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“Because it’s important.”
“Uhm… okay.”
Without hesitation, Soyeon used her magic to create a translucent soundproof barrier.
A transparent wall formed around us, completely sealing our conversation.
“It’s done.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what’s this important thing you wanted to say?”
“Hmm.”
I took a moment to choose my words carefully.
How should I say this?
After a brief pause, I made my decision and began speaking smoothly.
“You remember that my parents died in an accident, right?”
“Ah, yeah…”
At the mention of my parents’ tragic accident, Soyeon’s expression immediately turned serious, and she nodded quietly.
Since Soyeon was raised by a single mother, she had received a lot of help from my parents.
She had been as close to them as I was.
“I found out who was behind it.”
“What? Really? How?”
“Through my future sight ability.”
Honestly, using the excuse of future sight to explain everything makes it so much easier. It’s basically a cheat code.
“Do you remember the white-haired girl who attacked during the midterms?”
“…Yeah. How could I forget the murderous aura she gave off?”
T h i s w as c o p i e d f rom k i n gm t l . o r g
Everyone who had faced Yoo Dahee back then had been shaken to their core.
No one could do anything against that single white-haired girl, not even the geniuses and prodigies of Union Academy.
“It seems like the group she belongs to is connected to the accident that killed my parents.”
That wasn’t entirely a lie.
There was some truth to it, after all.
“So, I’m going to hunt them down. Every last one of them.”
“Jinhyuk…”
Bringing up the idea of revenge this directly not only gave me a reason to pursue the members of Rebellion but also allowed me to create a deeper emotional bond with Soyeon.
After all, my parents’ deaths had been a heartbreaking event for Soyeon, too.
She had been just as devastated and angry as I was when they passed away.
If I asked for her help in catching the ones responsible for their deaths, she would undoubtedly agree.
For the sake of what lay ahead, Soyeon needed a personal reason to actively pursue the members of Rebellion.
In the original story, it was my death that spurred her to join forces with the male protagonists to hunt down Rebellion, but that wasn’t going to happen now, was it?
“It’s not just personal revenge. I once saw in my future sight that, if we don’t stop them, they’ll turn Korea into a complete mess.”
That part was true.
If Rebellion wasn’t stopped in time, Korea would be devastated.
“In about ten days, there’s going to be a massive auction in Busan.”
“…”
“I have reason to believe that some of them might show up there.”
“…”
The Life & Auction event, the largest legal auction in Korea, takes place annually.
A wide array of items will be up for grabs, ranging from rare treasures, relics, and valuables.
Of course, many of the items will be fakes, but every now and then, something genuine appears.
And this summer’s auction will feature something incredibly valuable.
A relic known as the ‘Blessing of the Star.’
A miraculous relic that can bring its user back to life once after death.
I’m planning to get my hands on it at this summer’s auction.
…Well, according to my past life’s memories, Alex Kim, the legendary thief, will show up and steal everything, but I know precisely how he’ll do it.
“Taking them down on my own is going to be impossible. That’s why I’m asking…”
I met Soyeon’s gaze and spoke in a calm voice.
“…Soyeon, could you help me capture them?”
End of Chapter.