chapter 154
153 – Fiance_12
Every day, TV, newspapers, and all kinds of media have been talking about this incident. But even if they are talking about the incident, they can’t stop at that day.
Time cannot be caught, it just flows away.
A week passed like that.
[Some of the organizations involved in the terrorist incident…]
[The investigation headquarters will soon…]
Things went as planned.
Xiaomei’s condition improved day by day.
“You don’t look so good. Are you worried about something?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like that at all?”
“It’s okay, I’d rather take some painkillers…”
Lately, one side of my face has been strangely dark.
Anyway, the wound hasn’t completely healed yet, but I can now walk moderately, eat, and change clothes on my own.
Compared to the last time I was picked up, this one is more serious. Needless to say, the extent of the injuries was similar, but this time, recovery was faster.
The reason was very simple.
‘I will pay all the medical expenses.’
This was because Baek Seol-ha used her own money to ensure that not only the seriously injured patients in the hospital, but also those in the infirmary could receive the best treatment.
If there were no other problems, it was clear that Xiaomei would be able to participate in the practical exam, which had been postponed due to the terrorist attack, in full condition.
Yeah, if there are no other problems.
“Where are you going?”
A night where clouds obscure the moonlight and stars, and the sky is devoid of light.
Only the streetlights were shining faintly here and there.
Inyoung carefully leaves Laplace Academy through the path between them.
It was a bit far away so it wasn’t clearly visible, but it wasn’t hard to identify who it was.
Inyoung came out of Building 1 and went outside the academy.
The direction from which it came, the direction it is going.
And it was rare for anyone to stay at Laplace Academy until this night.
Xiaomei, a vengeful ghost who came to find her father’s enemy.
It had to be her.
That’s why I stood in front of her as she struggled to leave the main gate of Laplace Academy.
“Let me ask you again. Where are you going at this hour of the night?”
“…”
He looked taken aback by my sudden appearance.
But for a moment, Xiaomei thought about something for a moment, and then said a reason that even a child would understand.
“…I felt bored just staying in the infirmary, so I came out to go for a walk.”
“Wearing a weapon?”
“It’s dangerous these days.”
“Even though the trail is on the other side?”
“Just because you’re going for a walk, you don’t necessarily have to go to a walking path.”
“…”
It’s true that it’s dangerous.
Just because you go for a walk doesn’t mean you have to go on a walking trail.
All correct.
I grabbed her arm gently.
I felt a tremble.
It wasn’t shivering from the cold.
“I don’t think you’ve recovered enough to go for a walk?”
“I recovered.”
“Why are you shaking so much?”
“It’s because it’s cold.”
“It’s pretty warm today, isn’t it?”
“…”
But Xiaomei was stubborn.
I sighed slightly at her stubbornness and looked at her with concern.
“I don’t know why, but I’ll help you. Let’s go back first. I’ll listen to your story later. The night air is cold. Okay?”
“are you okay.”
“…”
But she shook my hand away.
But, even though I was just walking, my body started to sway as I tried to shake off the hand.
“It’s okay. Look, it’s still dangerous. Don’t be stubborn for no reason…”
I urgently supported Xiaomei.
“It’s okay. I just wanted to take a walk.”
“Then can I follow you?”
“That… isn’t possible.”
“Why? I said I was just going for a walk.”
“…I want to go alone. So please don’t come with me.”
But it was Xiaomei who pushed back again.
I can roughly guess why this is happening.
I’ve just barely gotten a clue about my enemy.
Judging from the noise he made on TV and other places, it seemed like he was very nervous, not knowing when he would be caught or run away.
So, even though my body wasn’t fully recovered, I ran out to catch my enemy.
It was to take revenge on the being that drove his father to death.
‘Without even knowing it was right in front of you.’
If it’s a fever, then it’s a fever.
But I had no intention of showing it.
“That won’t do.”
I shook my head firmly to dissuade Xiaomei.
I don’t know why, but I can’t leave it alone.
“Why… doesn’t it work?”
“Is it because your health is not good?”
“Then it’s no problem. Okay, look, it’s okay. So please get out of the way.”
Xiaomei moved her body widely as if to prove that she was okay.
“I told you not to.”
But he refused, supporting her as she staggered dangerously.
“…”
“…”
This led to a brief standoff.
The structure of the country that was blocking Xiaomei’s departure was easy to understand.
How many dozens of seconds passed like that?
Xiaomei’s mouth opened.
“…without knowing anything.”
“what…?”
“You don’t know how I feel right now. You don’t know why I’m doing this. You’re interfering with what you know. I have to go. I have to go…”
If you didn’t tell me and didn’t ask, how could you know the circumstances?
I’m not some cross-eyed law wizard from somewhere.
‘I can’t use the law of interest. It’s not that I don’t know, though.’
It was good anyway.
What I was going to say now was already decided.
“Yes, I don’t know. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask. I have no idea why. I don’t know why you’re saying it’s a nuisance, or why you’re trying to force it.”
I know why Xiaomei didn’t tell me what happened and why she didn’t ask for help.
It was a consideration to not drag me, who had helped him, into his revenge.
Surely, if I listen to the story, I will know the circumstances.
I will help her.
It was a natural reaction for her, since she acted to make it look that way.
Although Xiaomei seems like a strong-willed being who wants to take revenge on her own, she is actually just a 20-year-old kid who has just become an adult and is afraid of the world after losing her only blood relative.
“So─”
“So I guess I should start listening now.”
“…if I don’t tell you.”
“Then it’s just what I originally planned to do.”
Silence fell.
The only sound I could hear was the cold wind.
Xiaomei’s gaze turned to me.
He had an expression on his face that said he couldn’t understand why he was doing this.
“why…”
“Because it’s natural to help people in difficult situations.”
“This isn’t just a simple problem, it’s a very dangerous one…”
“It doesn’t matter. If it’s something dangerous, I’m always going through hard times.”
“It’s something that could ruin the career of a senior who is aiming to become a hero.”
“Tell him to do so.”
“…I have nothing to give you.”
“I don’t do this because I expect something in return.”
That’s a lie.
I’ll get it. Even with interest.
“…you might get hurt.”
“It happens all the time.”
“If you make a mistake, you could die.”
“That’s a little scary.”
“Your family could be at risk.”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m an orphan, so it’s okay.”
“…”
It was a joke of conversion, but the reaction was so-so.
“There are no other dangers? Then I guess there’s no problem.”
“Senior…”
“huh?”
“Are you… an idiot?”
“Idiot? What are you talking about?”
“If not that…”
Xiaomei looked at me as if she didn’t understand.
Even though he clearly saw himself as being involved with a villain.
You’ve seen lives put in danger because of it, and you know that helping others could put you in danger too.
It’s not like we had a relationship before or anything.
I knew his face, his name, and we talked often, so we became close, but it’s only been a month since we met.
If it was a favor, then I would understand. Rather, I received it.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was not enough time to develop a relationship worth risking one’s life for.
But why…
“You’re having a hard time. That’s enough. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to help you 100%, but if we think about it together, I’m sure we’ll come up with better ideas. We might even find a better way.”
Still, I reached out my hand.
Only Xiaomei knows what that must have looked like to her.
**
“I had a proud father. He was the only family in the world…”
As if my persuasion had worked, Xiaomei began to tell her story.
As expected, it was a story we all knew, and the story behind it was also a story we all knew well.
I pretended to listen to her story, sympathizing in many ways.
[Did you say that every action has a reason? In my opinion, you are a person without a reason. Even if you had a reason, it would probably be self-satisfaction like pleasure.]
However, Paladin intervened during this process.
[That can’t be true. I’m not a simple hedonist. I have my own reasons that are hard to explain.]
[That must be true. Even if there was some damage back then, I should have killed you. I couldn’t, and that’s my eternal regret. %$%@!@# of the parents who gave birth to someone like you]
[Don’t swear at my brother!!]
Sarah silenced him again.
Normally, I could have just made him unable to speak for the rest of his life from beginning to end, but Paladin’s reactions were funny, so I let him go sometimes, and that’s what happened.
[Thank you, Sarah.]
[Okay. Just leave it to me. If Grandpa starts swearing, I’ll stop him right away.]
[Saraya is the one who can help. By the way, isn’t Padrip a bit like that? Isn’t it? Ines, Ray.]
[…]
[yes…]
[Ines is not responding. It’s been a while since I went on a date with Olivia…]
[…I don’t think pad-lip is allowed.]
The reactions were interesting.
“─Yes.”
But we can’t just keep chatting and playing, and at that moment, Xiaomei’s boring and dull story came to an end.
I haven’t heard of it at all.
Sad and touching.
‘What was it again?’
It was good anyway.
I took proper care of my voice and facial expressions.
“It must have been painful to even think about it. Thank you for telling me.”
“…”
“You’ve really worked hard so far.”
“senior…”
Then he gently hugged Xiaomei and patted her.
As I did that, my top got dirty from the tears and snot that naturally flowed out, but I didn’t care and just patted her even more kindly.
How much time has passed like that?
Immediately after I finished checking how much water there was in the human body, Xiaomei fell away from me.
“From now on, I will help you too.”
“but…”
‘But what.’
It could be that I gave you a reason to get off my block.
Rather, it was probably because he was unconsciously looking for someone to help him out of fear of the villain, fear of what was about to happen, and other emotions.
Otherwise, even if I had asked you to tell me the reason, you wouldn’t have told me the reason.
Of course, it was also thanks to skill.
Skills are not omnipotent.
Anything can be used only if there is an opportunity or possibility.
Anyway, since Xiaomii revealed it, it was my turn to reveal it too.
A story of an incredible coincidence, or rather, a relationship, that has been kept hidden until now.
“It’s okay. No, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
He bowed his head slightly.
“The reason why my senior would feel sorry is…”
“No, if she’s Professor Xuen’s daughter, she’s not a stranger to me. I’ve been digging into that case before, but I couldn’t solve it properly.”
I’ve never dug into it.
In the first place, I hadn’t even thought about it until Xiaomei came.
But it was necessary for the story I’m about to tell.
The so-called attribution of probability.
It makes no sense that I am not chasing the villain who harmed my respected mentor, Professor Xuen.
It was a sudden story, but I think he manipulated it and there is information that he seems to have researched diligently, so he won’t be caught.
“That’s… what…”
“I asked you before. Why are you helping me like this?”
“I’m following a certain professor…”
“That’s Professor Xuen.”
“…yes?”
Fake after fake.
Adding lies to lies.
“It’s embarrassing to say this, but… I’m now being called a model student or a top cadet, which is excessive. But last March, I was…”
He spilled out a moderately embellished story of the past.
A story about how, despite my efforts, I entered the supplementary class K and failed repeatedly, leading to despair.
‘Can I… even someone like me… become a hero?’
‘You can be a hero.’
The story goes that at that time, I met Professor Xuan by chance and received help and advice from him.
The story goes that after that, he was able to become stronger by receiving various pieces of advice.
In fact, she hates me because of the Han Yuri incident. It was Xuan who asked me a lot of questions during every class and tried to find fault with me at least once.
‘I believe that heaven will be satisfied with the beautification I have done for you.’
Plus, I’ll make Xiaomei happy too. I wish the heavens would at least bless me instead of cursing me.
If you don’t do it, there’s nothing I can do.
“If I hadn’t met Professor Xuen back then. If Professor Xuen hadn’t helped me during that terrorist incident. I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I almost couldn’t keep the professor’s last words to take care of my daughter.”
I take off the necklace I was wearing around my neck.
“No way…”
Xiaomei’s eyes widened.
Was it a token of engagement?
I guess it’s okay.
This was enough evidence that what I said was not a lie.
“So I think this time it’s my turn to repay the favor I received from you, Professor.”
There was no answer.
But from the moment the story came out, it seemed like the answer was out there.