Ch.55Episode 10. Comforting the Loners (7)

“I’m just taking care of my assigned student.”

“Hmm~.”

Gu Yeonhwa made a disgruntled sound at my nonchalant response.

“But from what I know, there aren’t many instructors who care for students like you do, right? Everyone else just focuses on their own work and improving their abilities. Yet you’re spending your personal time and money to take care of us? Is that really something you’d do simply because we’re your assigned students?”

She grins and pressures me to be honest.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“You have some purpose with us, don’t you? Some very sinister purpose…!”

“……”

“Ha! Your silence means I’ve hit the mark! Heh heh—GYAAK!”

I chopped Yeonhwa’s forehead with the side of my hand as she prattled on annoyingly. She blinked with a dumbfounded expression. She clearly had no idea why she’d been hit.

Eventually, she protested with an utterly wronged expression.

“Why did you hit me?!”

“Stop with the unnecessary suspicions. What sinister purpose?”

“Of course I’m suspicious! Just look at how you came to my room to comfort me so I wouldn’t feel lonely!”

Oh dear. Had she noticed?

“Do you know how strange you’ve been acting today? Being unnecessarily considerate and all!”

“…Was it burdensome?”

It was true that my attitude toward Gu Yeonhwa had become more cautious than usual. I’d been hesitant about how to approach her personal circumstances, which made me somewhat withdrawn.

“Burdensome? No. Rather, I didn’t know how to act. I was being careful with my words because I felt awkward.”

“That didn’t seem to be the case.”

“You have no idea how frustrated I was!”

Ignoring me, huh…

“Well… it was nice not thinking about my mother all day because I was so busy!”

Yeonhwa nodded with her arms crossed. It was quite something to see her acknowledge what needed to be acknowledged even in this situation.

“But please don’t keep acting like this.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? You sound like such a blockhead!”

She points at me with her index finger, scolding me.

“Listen carefully. When a woman is comforted during her weak moments, she naturally opens up and becomes dependent. You might create an unnecessary relationship based on misunderstandings. Wouldn’t it be annoying for you if I became dependent on you?”

“It wouldn’t be annoying.”

“Come on. Don’t lie.”

“I’m here for you to rely on as much as you want. I’m your instructor, after all.”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

She had been stubbornly pushing her opinion, but now she seemed flustered by my firm attitude and couldn’t continue.

To be honest, it wasn’t that it wouldn’t be annoying at all, as she suggested.

But only a fool would say that honestly.

It’s a big mistake to think that honesty is always the most truthful answer.

I knew that sometimes concealing one’s true feelings provides flexibility in relationships.

Besides, the reason I was at the Academy was to prevent these kids from going down the path of villainy.

I was paying attention to them because I wanted them to rely on me, not on villains.

If that wasn’t the case, there would be no reason to invest money and time.

“So you’re saying you take care of us like this without any purpose? Just because you’re our instructor?”

“…I do have a purpose.”

“Ha! I knew it!”

She points at me with a face full of triumph, as if she’s caught me red-handed.

“Come on, tell me!”

I stroked the spot on her forehead where I had hit her earlier. She looked back and forth between my hand and my face, confused by the sudden physical contact.

“I believe you all will become heroes representing South Korea in the future. What I’m doing now is an investment in that.”

The strength seemed to leave Yeonhwa’s accusatory finger as it slowly bent downward.

“Heroes representing South Korea… Haha, isn’t that too much to expect?”

She spoke self-deprecatingly.

“I think it’s entirely possible.”

“No. Just look at the S-class heroes in South Korea right now. They’re people we can’t even begin to compare ourselves to.”

“‘Right now,’ yes. But someday… no, if you follow my guidance, it could happen within a few years.”

“…It feels strange hearing from you what I never heard from my mother.”

Yeonhwa smiled bitterly. Then she suddenly jumped up from her seat and shouted.

“Ah~ To think I’d receive such recognition from my instructor. My potential is truly frightening!”

“That’s right. Your potential is frightening. But… is there really a need to pretend like nothing’s wrong?”

When I gently hit the core issue, her forced smile trembled. She put even more effort into maintaining her smile to hide her almost frozen expression.

“Come on~ How can you say that? I’m going to be a hero. The first thing we learn in hero basics is that if a hero wavers, the public becomes anxious.”

“…You’re a person before you’re a hero. It’s enough to act strong in front of villains and the public.”

“Hmm~ What’s this? Did you set me up today? Nothing’s going to come out just because you talk like that.”

“I don’t expect anything. I’m just worried about you.”

“…Worry. Always worry. How much do you know about me to be constantly worried?”

I know everything about you.

Even if I can’t remember other things, I still clearly remember everything about your special class.

But I couldn’t tell her everything as it was.

“Well. I might know more than you think.”

“Hmm~ You’re saying interesting things. Can you tell me how much you know?”

“I can’t.”

“I see.”

Yeonhwa’s eyes narrowed. She seemed intrigued by my statement.

“…Alright. Then, encouraged by your concern, shall I pretend to be struggling for once?”

“What?”

“Don’t misunderstand, okay? This is just ‘pretending’ to struggle.”

When her forced smile disappeared, her expression became almost seriously blank. Her eyes grew cold in an instant.

“…You’re a liar, Instructor.”

What? She’s blaming me right away?

The only time I made Yeonhwa struggle was during training!

I stared at her in bewilderment. Looking into her eyes, I realized she wasn’t joking.

“Actually, I knew from the beginning. That my mother wouldn’t visit the Academy.”

“What?”

“Remember when I told you a few days ago that my mother said she wouldn’t come to the Academy?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“I was already certain then that she wouldn’t come.”

Tsk. I didn’t expect this.

“Were you testing me?”

“Hehe. That’s right. I wanted to see your reaction, so I tested you.”

She got up from her seat and looked down at me while letting out a dry laugh. Her expression remained unchanged—a face devoid of any emotion.

“But… I didn’t expect you to lie. Why did you do it? Did you hope I wouldn’t get hurt?”

“…That’s right. Because I vaguely knew about your family situation.”

I closed the drawer and stood up from my crouched position. As I rose, she lifted her head.

“But contrary to your wishes, that well-intentioned lie made me ‘expect’ something, only to be disappointed. In the end, she didn’t come, just as I predicted.”

“I apologize for that. I’m sorry.”

“Pfft. I’m joking. I told you, I knew from the beginning she wouldn’t come. What would I expect?”

No. She must have had expectations.

There’s no way she didn’t hope, even with the slimmest chance, that her mother would come to the Academy to see her.

This was clearly her being considerate by reading my ‘mood.’ Trying to prove she wasn’t a troublesome child.

This was more of a ‘habit’ than something intentional.

“I just get annoyed at myself for making you lie because of me. I’ve bothered you again.”

“You’re always showing off in class with those middle school syndrome-like lines. Why be self-conscious now?”

“Ahaha! That’s how I keep you constantly interested in me! And I’m not suffering from middle school syndrome—it’s ‘real’!”

It was ridiculous how she rationalized her behavior with that snicker.

As we talked, the atmosphere lightened a bit, and both of us regained some semblance of a smile.

“Still, thank you. I might have been depressed all day after hearing my mother wasn’t coming. But I was so busy that I didn’t have time to feel down.”

“That’s…”

She spoke while stretching, then clapped her hands to change the mood before I could respond.

“Alright! That’s enough pretending to be troubled! So you can go back now. We don’t really have anything to talk about, right?”

“…Yeah, we don’t.”

“I like your honesty.”

“But I’ll stay with you until the day is over.”

“There’s no need for that. I’m fine.”

“I want to.”

“…That kind of behavior makes women misunderstand. Seriously!”

Yeonhwa easily gave permission, as if she didn’t really want to send me away either.

“Fine. Then let’s watch anime until midnight! Let me know if there’s anything you want to watch. I’ve unlocked the authority to watch a vast library of animations through my Netflix contract!”

Yeonhwa’s expression wasn’t bad as she turned on the television while humming.

Seeing her like this sometimes made me wonder.

Maybe I had relied too much on information from the novel.

It could be that she wasn’t just pretending to be fine—she might actually be fine.

Even if most of the content from the story matches this world, it might not be good to trust it completely.

After all, the story has already begun to change.

I turned my attention to the television as Yeonhwa rubbed her chin, contemplating which anime to watch.