'What do I do?'
My legs trembled, almost unconsciously.
'S-Should I run away…?'
It was not unreasonable to think that. Deokgu didn't seem to have noticed something strange yet, but I, who had already seen her like that before, knew very well what that meant.
It felt like the point of the conversation didn't match. It was scary to hear her voice continually muttering quietly.
I didn't know what it was, but it was natural to think that she was buried in one thought.
The current Vice Guild Master Lee Kiyoung was really busy. He was already busy because of the thing with the neutral country, and since the Republican variable had intervened, it was natural for him to have a lot of routes in mind.
The situation had even gotten busy enough for him to entrust me with a few simple things, so there would be no need to explain how busy he really was.
The problem was with Jung Hayan, and the way she had accepted it.
'What the hell did he say…?'
I didn't know what happened or what she heard because she didn't go out to meet the Vice Guild Master, but looking at her reaction, it seemed like she had been scolded, being asked if she had cheated on him.
'It's complete hypocrisy.'
The fact that the Vice Guild Master's relationship with women was not so clean was the fact that not only Lindel, but also the State and the whole sky knew.
I just wondered how he said that without blinking.
'She thinks it's all that guy's fault.'
Not only was the initially scheduled date suddenly canceled, but the recent drastically reduced time together made me feel like she was turning all of the causes to him.
She turned the arrow at one of the Five General Tigers of the Republic. Of course, it was just a prediction, and it could simply be speculation.
However, it was natural to become sensitive to each and every action of Jung Hayan-nim from my standpoint, hoping that a big thing would not happen.
I wanted to leave in a hurry, but my legs didn't move. Surprisingly, it was Deokgu who went first.
"Oh. I-it's training time. I have to go out first… Ahem. I'll see you this evening… Ahem."
'S-so cheap.'
I didn't know the details, but he thought that it was out of the scope of the cases he could handle.
'I trusted him…'
I wanted to leave, but my feet refused to move. Instead, my legs started to tremble, and my body trembled like strabismus. With the cold sweat that kept running down, I bit my lips tightly and turned my attention as much as possible.
"W-What can I do?"
"Yes… Yes… Yes?"
"What can I do…? What if Oppa keeps hating me?"
It was hard to tell whether she was talking to herself or me.
"So…"
Obviously, I had gone through a similar situation before. Whatever the case, the right answer was to get up and get out of this place right now.
The moment I moved my body while tapping my stubborn leg, I suddenly felt her squeezing my hand.
"Aaaahhh!"
A scream popped out at the moment, my heart rattled, but the hall was still quiet.
"So, what do you think, Sora-ssi? What should I do?"
'Don't ask me.'
"Hic… I don't want to be hated by Oppa… He must be thinking that… I-I'm such a woman who goes around in any place…Hic!"
'That's not you. It's him… He's doing it!'
I had to swallow back the words that came to my throat. I couldn't predict what would happen if I were to spit that out.
With as much courage as possible, I turned my head, and what I saw was a woman showing an anxious look while wiping thick tears.
I shouldn't think of this, but I started to feel somewhat sorry for her.
'It would be right to comfort her.'
For now, that was the right answer.
"As Deokgu oppa said, it would be okay. He wouldn't think that. It seems… that he was just saying… and because he's actually… very busy."
"H-His eyes definitely looked a little different from usual… Hic. He just seemed to hate me…"
"You must have been mistaken. Yes. E-Even when he's with me, he talked a lot about Jung Hayan-nim. That you're kind, good, and he always says… you're the one he loves."
"Really? Ah… did you ever talk to O-oppa?"
"Of… course! We weren't alone! Yes! We weren't alone! Deokgu was also there! Yes! We couldn't have been alone. Yes. Hahaha… We weren't like that."
"Ahhh… I see."
"And whether he just said it or not, isn't it good to have listened to t-that?"
"W-what? What's good about it?"
Despite having a short conversation, my body trembled, all out of nerves. There was a possibility that I would fall into hell with one wrong move.
'It was dangerous.'
In particular, the story that I talked about with Vice Guild Master Lee Kiyoung had room for misunderstanding.
"What exactly did the Vice Guild Master say?"
"He doesn't like that… Hic! I talk to people like him."
"Yes. That's good!"
"What's good about that…"
'Don't stare at me… please. Please…'
"It means… he's jealous."
"Jealous?"
"Yes. Vice Guild Master Lee Kiyoung doesn't want to see you talking to other men. Definitely. If he didn't like you, he wouldn't care…no matter what you did with that guy. If he said that… it means that he's possessive. It's rather good."
"I-i-it means that?! Possessive?"
"Yes. Sure."
"Was O-pppa jealous?"
"I'm not sure because I wasn't there, but…"
"Oppa was jealous…"
"Yes. Right."
"Oppa was jealous!"
"Yes!"
"He wants to own me!"
"Yes! That's it!"
Did I say the right thing? I thought about it, but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. For now, she stopped crying. action
She was so excited that my nerves skyrocketed, but my breathing became more and more comfortable when I saw Jung Hayan's eager face.
'Did I really say the right thing?'
But the problem was that I kept feeling anxious. I don't know why, but unidentified anxiety sprouted in the corner of my heart.
'If the…'
She realized that the Vice Guild Master was jealous, but if she tried to do the same thing again, and end up being really hated… If this happened once again, and once again come into a groaning and crying situation, this time the arrow may turn towards me.
'It's because of the S-S-Sora. It's because of Sora! Hic… I really didn't want to do this… It's all your fault!'
When I imagined Jung Hayan stabbing me with a dagger by saying that, I started to think it wasn't the right thing. Whatever I said, it would be hell after that, but at least I wanted to avoid the arrows to my side.
I might really die. Last time, I just survived because I had been really lucky. No, it was better to die than to go through that once again.
I had been looking for happiness little by little recently.
"A-and!"
"Yes?"
"And that person must've had… bad intention. Yes. Bad intentions. The Vice Guild Master tends to see people well, so he must have noticed that the person has a different idea. He doesn't really care about Jung Hayan talking with other men, right? He must have had something different in his mind. That's why he was upset."
"Ah… I-I see."
"Yes. Of course, it doesn't mean that everything I'm saying is correct, but I think it's likely to be so. Rather than because of Jung Hayan-nim…"
"Right? Is it because of that, that bad person, right?"
"Yes."
"What do I do?"
"Yes?"
"I have to prove that I have only Oppa. I have to prove that I don't care about that bad guy as much as a hairpin."
"You don't have to prove it…"
"Oppa should know that I am not that kind of woman… Yes. Right."
"Wouldn't he… already know?"
"But he needs to know a little more. Jealousy is good, p-possessive is good, too, but… I hate him looking at me like that. I will… Yes. I only have Oppa. We have to prove our innocence. Because she said he was a bad person. Yes… It's not our fault."
I started to feel like the air was gradually getting heavier.
"Yes. It's… not because of Hayan-nim."
"It's because of that person, right?"
"If you have to find someone guilty… It could be, but…"
"I only have Oppa, but he talked to me for no reason and made him have a useless doubt. He made him look at me as a strange woman. So it's correct that it's his fault. This wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for him. He was the one who interrupted our date… At that time, though, the atmosphere was good at first… We could have dinner together, and we could have become o-one formally! Okay… But we were disturbed."
"Ah… that…"
"We were disturbed. We were disturbed… It wasn't enough to interfere, so he took time with something unreasonable. Just think about it. It was actually dangerous then. My precious oppa could have died by them. Those are the people he doesn't need. And they are dangerous people."
'It's wrong.'
It was terrifying to see her keep muttering alone. I thought I was going to feel nauseous thinking about that time. The rat in front of the cat would not be more scared than this.
"Right. It's not just that person. That woman seemed to like Oppa, too… Even the big guy swung his fist at Oppa. Just think about it. It's those people who keep him busy. If it weren't for those people, we would have been able to hang out every day… Why do they come to Laios and make people feel uncomfortable? They should be stuck… in the Republic! Those i-idiots! Those fools! There are many places I haven't been to yet, and there are many things I want to do… Deokgu also said this trip was an opportunity! They ruined all those opportunities. Everything! They screwed it all up!"
"P… please…"
"I have to get rid of them. I have to kill them."
"Help me…"
"I have to kill… It's to clean up. I should have gotten a little stronger… Because those people are also strong…"
"Please. Please save me."
Not only was my body shaking, but I started to feel that my bottoms were getting damp.
Tears flowed out of my tightly closed eyes. I knew that I wasn't the target of that anger, but my mouth kept asking for help. The nightmares I felt before started to come to my mind.
The voice of Jung Hayan-nim, which was heard while murmuring unknowingly for help, gradually faded. The room had quieted down.
'Did she leave?'
As soon as that hopeful thought entered my head, a voice spoke up to dash it.
"Sora-ssi also thinks the same, right?"
Of course, I had no choice but to nod at her words.