NOVEL WEB Chapter 135
“I’m not entirely sure about this. Maybe I read it wrong, but still, no matter how I think about it.”
“Is there something… odd going on between Minho and Blanca?”
It was clear that something had happened between Minho and Blanca. Otherwise, that strangely cold atmosphere wouldn’t have lasted over a week.
“When you say ‘odd’, do you mean Minho and Blanca are… heh heh, I’m just joking! But yeah, it does feel a bit chilly, like Yeonhwa said.”
Ageha tried to twist my words into something weird, but when I scrambled to shut her down, she laughed as if to say she wasn’t thinking that at all and nodded in agreement.
“I… I think so too… It’s like they fought…”
“Not just like they fought… but they actually did fight, right? There’s no way this would happen otherwise. Plus, both Blanca and Minho got dragged into that situation, so surely something went down.”
Seolhwa speculated while dropping ice cubes into our drinks, wondering if the two had something going on. I thought so too, but…
Neither of them was saying anything, so all we could do was speculate.
Jinhyeon expressed that whatever happened, he hoped it ended smoothly. I agreed. But would that even be possible?
Given they’ve been cold for a week, it seemed like they had quite a big fight.
I personally had never had a falling out that big, but I knew that in normal relationships, even if they patched things up, some bad feelings would linger.
I hoped that there wouldn’t be any lingering discomfort in Blanca’s heart. It would be too sad to go from being close friends to feeling awkward every time we met.
But I had no idea how to properly clear that tension.
The only ideas floating in my head were to have fun or maybe watch a movie. But I knew that wouldn’t cut it.
Lingering feelings can’t be swept away with just enjoyment. While joy might cover the bad feelings temporarily, they must eventually be faced.
The real problem was figuring out how to make them confront those feelings…
“What should we do to get Minho and Blanca to open up to each other…?”
Wondering if the other kids might have good ideas, I asked them.
Lapiz said it was difficult for her to answer something like that. When I pressed her to share her thoughts, she hesitated a bit but shyly offered an opinion.
“How about going to an amusement park…? I had a time with my mom on the ferris wheel, and we talked about feeling sad…”
“An amusement park. That’s a decent idea, but time is an issue. It would be tough if it’s not on the weekend, Lapiz.”
“I was thinking of something like fine dining, but this seems better. Plus, fine dining feels too obvious and a bit awkward.”
Seolhwa praised Lapiz’s idea and suggested that there probably wasn’t a better one than this, so we should go with it.
“Uh… right?! Um, how about this detailed plan…!”
Getting unexpectedly praised, Lapiz seemed pleased and crossed her arms, waving her tail happily.
Jinhyeon claimed that sharing his opinion wouldn’t mean much, so we started planning a trip to the amusement park with them for the upcoming weekend.
We’d pretend to have fun not specifically for them, but later, when on the ferris wheel, we’d use various excuses to get the two together.
“If I had my way, I’d ride with Minho… But if that’s the plan, maybe I should invite Lucia too.”
“In that case, I’ll suggest it to Alice as well. I don’t like her much, but I don’t want to see someone struggling that catches my eye.”
“Unless we need to bring someone specific, I won’t invite anyone.”
“Of course, there’s no need to invite anyone specific, Jinhyeon. Still, wouldn’t it be more fun to go with a group?”
While the ultimate goal was to set the stage for Minho and Blanca to reconcile, that didn’t mean we shouldn’t have fun ourselves.
After all, with all the tense stuff we’ve been through, I wanted to shake off the fear and enjoy ourselves a bit.
“Chili hot dogs… I bet they’ll sell those?”
Lapiz gleefully licked her lips at the thought of eating the long-remembered food from the amusement park.
“Chili… only spicy, but somehow weirdly delicious… I need to eat as much as I can after such a long time.”
It seemed like the kids were more interested in the amusement park food than the rides themselves.
What could we do? We had already become immune to the thrills of normal rides.
Even though abilities users don’t exactly lack the thrill of usual rides, all we had experienced was far beyond that, and it seemed unlikely we could really enjoy them.
It’s not quite like solving kid’s math homework… but it felt more like observing elementary schoolers doing their extra work.
“What are you all huddled up whispering about?”
Just as our conversation naturally shifted to food, Blanca smoothly blended into our group.
“Blanca! What did the teacher say?”
“Nothing special, really. Just to be careful and that they’ve increased security around. Oh, and I got this. A button that sends a signal straight to the Heros Company.”
Blanca showcased a shining button to us.
“Is this a personal security button just for you? It’s fascinating but… kinda sad too, that it’s needed.”
“What can I do if I’m so charming that everyone wants to dissect me? I just have to accept it.”
Blanca responded to Ageha’s concerns with a bit of an aggressive joke, acting as if it was nothing serious.
“Uh… have you not met Minho?”
Carefully asking about Minho, Blanca wiped away the smile she had and turned completely expressionless.
But soon after, she smiled faintly, saying she did see him but left quickly because Alice was there.
“No way! Lucia and Alice were keeping an eye on each other? I can’t just intrude on someone else’s love battle.”
“Those damn girls…”
Seolhwa seemed greatly annoyed by their flirty behavior, unconsciously radiating coldness and literally chilling the atmosphere around her.
“Calm down, calm down. Seolhwa, it’s freezing.”
Blanca skillfully handled Seolhwa’s mood, calming her down. While Blanca’s attention was on Seolhwa, I exchanged glances with Lapiz and Ageha.
‘Should I say it now?’
I didn’t hear any verbal response, but they seemed to share the same thought.
“So, um, Blanca. We’re thinking of heading to the amusement park this weekend or next… do you have time?”
“Amusement park? Uh… I’ve got all the time in the world, but… it’s not like Minho got you guys to invite me or something, right?”
Blanca agreed easily, but still seemed suspicious about Minho. He must have raised some flags recently when he brought Alice into the mix.
“No, nothing like that! It’s just, after everything that’s been happening, plus we’re gonna get buried in studying for midterms soon…”
So, before that, we just wanted to have some fun and enjoy the last bit of summer before it’s all gone.
After explaining this to Blanca, she laughed weakly, realizing that was the reason, and agreed readily, saying it was no problem at all.
“Ah, but is Minho going too since this is your idea?”
“Of course, isn’t it?”
“…I shouldn’t have even asked. Alright, let me know the exact schedule when it’s ready. I’ll keep my weekend clear.”
That enigmatic expression she had at the end…
I really hoped that expression would disappear from her face.
– – – – –
I opened the status menu to check the relationship section. Blanca’s favorability was unlocked up to level 4.
However, when I tried to view it, it only said, ‘I won’t tell you,’ in four simple letters.
…I didn’t know if Blanca had a status screen, but even if she did, it wouldn’t change much.
This situation was entirely my fault. I needed to make her willingly take action, instead of pushing her into it.
Knowing that she cherished her friends, why did I come up with this plan? It might have been the perfect opportunity, but still, I should have calculated the risks better.
A long sigh escaped me. While the routes with other heroines were progressing smoothly, it felt like Blanca was overtly resisting the flow.
Plus, I still had no clue how to deal with her, which added to my frustration.
She wasn’t just a character. She really was a person, just like me.
She knew what I knew, sharing the same goal… at least up till now, she had been operating as an ally.
That’s why it was so awkward trying to figure out how to interact with her.
At this point, I couldn’t just ignore her. But getting closer felt awkward too.
Also, as she said, the people in this world really started feeling like actual people.
Heroines that once felt like mere targets to defeat now felt like genuine individuals after hearing her words.
So…
I honestly didn’t know what to do anymore.
Of course, I had to keep trying. I was determined to work hard to achieve the happy ending I wanted.
If only Blanca would help me, that would be the best.
But… I wonder if that’s even possible.