Ch.169Episode 34. Christmas Eve (2)

“…I’ll be going now.”

Yeon Muhui bowed politely to Jin Subin and the elder. I had no idea she could be this courteous. Seriously, at this rate she should be speaking formally to me too.

“Alright. Take care.”

“…T-take care.”

“Yes.”

Before turning away, Muhui looked at Subin and gave a slight smile. Though there was still an awkward atmosphere between them, their relationship seemed much improved from before.

I should ask later what they talked about.

Clank!

As soon as I opened the front gate, I grinned at Muhui. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of teasing her.

“So polite. You’re never like this at the academy.”

“…Are you being sarcastic?”

“Yes, I am being sarcastic.”

“What?!”

I giggled as Muhui frowned. When I smiled mischievously, she clenched her fist and swung at me.

“Take this!”

“No thanks.”

I dodged all her punches, which seemed genuinely meant to land at least one hit. Whether something had changed since I learned Yeonhwaseum, Muhui’s punches were fiercer than I expected.

“Phew…”

“Nothing like working up a sweat in the dead of winter.”

“…Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re an adult or a child, Yujin.”

“Right now, I’m choosing to be a child.”

I patted her back while dodging her punches, which had made her slightly out of breath. Finally giving up on hitting me, Muhui snorted.

“Hmph. It’s none of your business anyway. Don’t worry about how my family gets along…”

“Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

She stared at me blankly, then abruptly turned her head away.

“…It’s thanks to you that I was able to repair my relationship with my mother. I don’t mind talking to you about my family, even if I wouldn’t tell others.”

If you’re going to compliment me, do it properly instead of muttering. It sounds like gossip.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah…”

I flashed a wide grin at Muhui as she nodded.

“I guess I do have a lot of influence. Hehe.”

“…When you put it that way, I suddenly don’t want to admit it.”

In truth, all I did was create an opportunity for dialogue. It was possible because Muhui had continued talking with her mother as I suggested.

“…By the way, I’ve been wondering something you dodged before.”

“Hmm?”

“How do you know so much about my family situation?”

“Hmm~ Because I’m interested in you?”

“What?”

Instead of a sleazy grin, I gave her a gentle smile and placed my hand on her head. I stroked her hair, and Muhui didn’t pull away. I guess this much contact is allowed now.

“You didn’t tie your hair up today?”

“…It’s cold. When I tie it in a ponytail, the back of my neck gets cold. But I still have the bracelet here.”

Saying that, she slightly pulled down the sleeve of her coat to show me. The frayed red ribbon hair tie was wrapped around her wrist.

“I’m really grateful that you treasure it so much.”

Since she said the back of her neck gets cold, I should buy her a scarf later.

“Not really…”

She’s so bad at being honest.

“So… don’t change the subject. How do you know about my family situation?”

“When two students died and parents had to visit the academy, I felt something off about Yeonhwaryong’s attitude. So I looked into it and found some old news articles about domestic violence allegations.”

I showed her a few news articles I had captured beforehand.

I couldn’t tell her that I knew all about the terrible process of her becoming a villain, so I had prepared a plausible excuse in advance. To avoid being caught off guard like last time.

“Really?”

“Yeah. But now that you’ve improved your relationship with your mother… I don’t intend to meddle anymore. Once I defeat Yeonhwaryong…”

My role will be over.

By then, Muhui will have graduated from the academy and become a proper hero in her own right.

After that, there would be nothing left for me to do.

I plan to maintain our relationship going forward, but that’s up to her.

“Once you defeat him?”

“You’ll be able to put your past behind you, don’t you think?”

“…Yeah. I think so.”

Beyond the white breath that escaped with each of her words, I could see a faint smile.

This was it. Not much longer now.

Beep beep.

I pressed the smart key to unlock the car.

“Let’s go. To see the ocean.”

“Okay.”

We quickly got into the car to escape the cold. I immediately turned on the heater and seat warmers. The car soon became warm, and we both let out relaxed sighs.

“Won’t you get drowsy if it’s too hot while driving?”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

I connected my phone to the car’s Bluetooth and set the music to play softly.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

* * *

Bang!

Muhui closed the car door rather forcefully and headed toward the shore with quick steps.

Before going to the pension she had reserved, she said she wanted to see the ocean first, so we came here. We still had time before check-in anyway.

“Nngh!”

She sniffled.

Being near the sea, the wind was much colder than at the elder’s house.

I took out a padded jacket I had left in the car and locked the doors.

I approached her and naturally draped it over her shoulders. She looked up at me quizzically, then noticed the long padded jacket on her shoulders and blushed slightly.

“You looked cold.”

“Ah… yeah. Th-thank you…”

As she shyly expressed her gratitude, I could see her reddened ears through her black hair. I want to touch them.

“Is this where you wanted to come?”

“…Yeah.”

The entire beach was covered in white, as if it had snowed here. Muhui, who had been quietly listening to the sound of the waves crashing, spoke softly.

“This place hasn’t changed at all. Oh… actually, it has. There’s a lot more trash now.”

Her scathing review made me smile wryly.

She looked around as she walked along the shore. Rather than being muddy, the snow crunched under our feet.

It seemed like it would get muddy once the snow melted, but with the weather cold enough to freeze even the mud, walking around didn’t feel unpleasant.

Whoosh!

The waves crashed, reaching close to where we stood. I glanced around at the empty, desolate sea and asked.

“There are many prettier beaches out there. Why this one?”

“…This is the last place in my memory where I was happy.”

The last place…

Was this before Yeonhwaryong began the domestic violence?

Yeonhwaryong is the second-ranked S-class hero in South Korea.

The only person stronger than him was Ha Yuri, and Yeonhwaryong didn’t feel competitive toward her.

Yet the reason he tried to raise his daughter to be strong, even at the cost of destroying his family.

It was simply for “family honor.”

In a situation where countless people looked up to him, rumors spread that his daughter had no talent.

Concerned about this, Yeonhwaryong tried to pass down his sword skills to Muhui, but Muhui, who was young at the time, refused, saying she didn’t like difficult things.

Jin Subin also intervened, saying Muhui was still too young, which led to a major conflict with Yeonhwaryong.

Eventually, Muhui said she would learn because she didn’t want to see her parents fight, but by then Subin had already broken down, and Muhui followed suit.

This past memory must be from her childhood, but the fact that she remembered this place indicated it remained a deep wound even now.

“…Then from now on, it will be a ‘future’ happy place too.”

“What?”

She stopped walking ahead of me and turned around. Her gaze was filled with questions.

“Isn’t it obvious? Since you came here with me, this should now be a place that makes you smile whenever you remember it.”

“…”

Muhui, who had been blinking in a daze, suddenly burst into laughter.

“Pfft.”

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“Sometimes I think you’re even worse than the special class kids.”

“What the hell?”

You’re comparing me to those special class kids? They’re all missing screws somewhere, but I’m normal.

“…But I don’t dislike it. The idea that this will be a happy place from now on.”

As she said that, she clutched the padded jacket I had given her. Seeing her lips curl up slightly, I realized she was genuinely happy.

Seriously, why do you always have to play hard to get?

After that, we walked along the beach, talking.

Just as I was about to suggest heading back to the car because our body temperatures were dropping:

“By the way, how did you convince those kids? I thought they’d make a fuss about you spending time with me like this. Especially Yu Ari.”

It wasn’t easy.

When I stayed out overnight, my phone rang off the hook. All the special class students except Muhui contacted me asking what I was doing on Christmas Eve.

It was a display of relationship management that would never have been possible in the other world.

“I just told them I’d make it up to them later.”

“Make it up to them?”

To be precise, I told them I’d spend time with them until they were satisfied. I’ll probably be squeezed dry soon.

“Something like that. Anyway, we’re all planning to meet on Christmas evening. What do you want to do?”

“What?”

“We’re all going to eat something delicious and have fun together. You can skip if you want to…”

I let my words trail off, hoping she would join us.

Actually, it would be fine if she didn’t participate. But I was hoping we could spend New Year’s together.

“…Do you want to hang out with me?”

I couldn’t answer her question for a while.

That’s because I never expected to hear Muhui suggest hanging out.

“…Yeah.”

I stepped closer to her.

Stopping just one step away, I looked straight at her and said:

“I want to hang out with you.”

“W-what are you doing? That’s too much pressure…”

She really seems to have no immunity to men—just reducing the distance between us made her flustered. Her gaze was uneasy, her hands fidgeting, and her feet constantly shifting.

“But today, I want to hang out with just you.”

“!”

“Is that okay?”

“W-what are you saying? That’s why we came here in the first place…”

I reached out my hand slowly enough that she could avoid it if she wanted to. But Muhui, while watching my hand carefully, didn’t pull away.

When I took her hand, she flinched but didn’t withdraw it. It meant she understood what spending time with me implied.

“Thank you.”

“Hnngh…”

Turning red as a tomato just from holding hands, she trembled slightly and hung her head low.

“It’s cold. Shall we go?”

“Y-yeah…”

I walked leisurely toward the car, still holding Muhui’s increasingly warm hand.