Ch.73No joke, I’m serious.

# 73. No Joke, But Serious Talk

The momentary silence following Yebeop-nojeong’s “honey” declaration… if I had to explain it, it contained anticipation for what would unfold next. The enormous gap between her cold impression and this unexpected affection was truly shocking.

But the silence I created now was different.

Fear.

I could see fear in the expressions of my party members.

“I know that cutting things off so forcefully isn’t good. I know that.”

With each word I spoke, it felt like my head was splitting open and my ribs were stabbing my heart. I didn’t know pain could be this intense.

This damn cat, when it wakes up, I’ll definitely give it a belly flick…

I continued speaking, trying my best to endure the pain and anger. Oh, my heart.

“Due to the side effects of the spell, I’m in pretty bad shape right now. Even though it was unavoidable, this mess happened because I suddenly disappeared. Until I’m in my right mind, huff, and can take responsibility… everyone just stay put.”

“That…”

“Noona. Could you heal me once?”

“Oh, sure.”

The physical therapist immediately shot a beam of healing light at me, but it didn’t help much. This seemed more like feedback that my soul had to bear rather than physical injury.

‘This is my limit.’

Just speaking without showing irritation or groaning was now my limit.

“I’m really, really sorry, but I’ll pay for it. Could you go downstairs and rent one more single room?”

“Oh, okay. Got it.”

The physical therapist took the money from me and quickly darted out of the room.

The room was then filled with tense breathing. This continued until the physical therapist hurriedly returned and handed me the room key.

After pocketing the key, I stood up and added:

“I’m not stopping you from talking to each other, but physical confrontation is absolutely, absolutely forbidden. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

“Sorry for shouting, and I’ll see you all tomorrow. Sleep well.”

“Ah. Just in case, I’ll keep checking on you until you fall asleep.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

I left the room with the physical therapist.

**

First Step of Radaniya, Room 303.

Only three people remained in the large room that was originally meant for five.

“Shit, I made oppa angry. When you think about it, it’s not even his fault.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t have crossed the line.”

*Gritting teeth*

“You think I’m holding back because of what oppa said?”

“You, can you handle the consequences if you keep acting like this?”

“Oppa is my number one priority.”

“The deputy leader he appointed is me. And your emotions aren’t a rank. Will your behavior benefit the party? Or will it benefit him? This is why he’s putting up walls. Don’t you get it yet?”

“Yuri. Stop it. Unnie, you stop too.”

The two who were about to continue speaking regardless stopped abruptly when they saw Keutjukyeora’s expression. Her face was extremely serious.

“U-unnie. Are you okay?”

“No.”

“Oh, r-really? Right.”

“I’ve never seen the leader that angry before. Right? Unnie, you agree, right?”

“Oh, yes. That’s right.”

What should I do? What if he’s disappointed in me?

He must think I’m an immature woman. He must see me as a childish person who can’t distinguish between personal and professional matters. He must think I’m a selfish woman who can’t consider others because of my own emotions. I hope he doesn’t see me as a troublemaker hindering the party’s progress. That’s what the leader was most wary of. Ah. That’s why I didn’t say anything. Even though I had a lot to say, I held it in because I was afraid of being disliked by the leader. Why did Subin unnie have to kiss him there? No, her logic that it was the best option at that moment wasn’t wrong. But emotions, my feelings, aren’t so easily convinced by logic. And Yuri is too harsh. No matter what, trying to use violence first while cursing at unnie crossed the line. But on the other hand, I understand Yuri’s feelings too. Subin unnie gave off the impression that she would understand and help us with our feelings, but then she, who claimed to have no interest, was the first to kiss him so openly. And for more than 5 minutes, even using tongue… Is it really true that she has absolutely no romantic feelings? This is troubling. So troubling…

Saeaeks and Yebeop-nojeong, who were listening to Keutjukyeora’s mumbling, unconsciously rubbed their arms. Goosebumps had formed on their skin.

‘Seyeon unnie has broken down! What do we do?’

‘I thought she was fine, but is this a case of suppressing everything until it explodes? She’s quite troublesome too. What should we do?’

Forced into a ceasefire by the party leader’s first-ever outburst of anger, and due to Keutjukyeora’s creepy abnormal symptoms, Saeaeks and Yebeop-nojeong conducted a silent negotiation through eye contact. They stood up and supported Keutjukyeora from both sides.

“What are you doing, Subin unnie, Yuri?”

“You seem very tired, so we’re telling you to rest first.”

“No, I’m not tired at all.”

“Don’t be like that. Okay?”

“Why? So you two can fight again after I fall asleep?”

Both quickly shook their heads. Only after repeatedly promising not to fight did Keutjukyeora close her eyes.

“…”

“…”

“I need to shower.”

“You go first.”

“Un…nie should go first.”

“It’s fine. I have things to organize and think about, so you go first.”

The forced peace without genuine reconciliation based on true understanding only created awkwardness between them.

From another perspective, one could say that the party members respected and followed the leader’s words even in his absence, but…

Whether it was Saeaeks hesitantly entering the bathroom, Yebeop-nojeong wanting to avoid this situation altogether, or Keutjukyeora pretending to sleep reluctantly.

They all thought simultaneously:

The leader’s presence was too significant.

Whether in the party or in their personal lives.

**

“Nnnghhh…”

“A-are you in a lot of pain?”

“Huff, huff, huff.”

After barely making it to the other room, I collapsed to my knees before even reaching the bed. Fortunately, Danya managed to stay on my shoulder without falling off.

The physical therapist, startled, helped support me and asked worriedly:

“I’m not a doctor or a real priest, so I don’t know what to do in this situation.”

“Hoo, hoo. It’s not your fault, noona, so don’t worry too much.”

“You should try being in a healer’s position sometime…”

Thanks to the physical therapist, I was able to lie down on the bed. Danya naturally settled at my head. By now, I had reasonable suspicions that she wasn’t actually unconscious, but that was trivial at the moment.

Enduring this unfamiliar pain.

I wanted to hold onto something tightly. So I embraced Danya, who had said that being close to me reduced her burden.

“Nyaa…”

[Mmm…]

“Here.”

“Ah. Thanks.”

The physical therapist had already placed a cold, wet towel on my forehead. It seemed to help, just a little bit.

“Rest well. I’ll stay by your side until you fall asleep, just in case.”

“Noona.”

“Yes?”

“It was entertaining, like watching a makjang drama.”

“Ha, haha. N-no way?”

“I’m not trying to criticize, so be honest.”

The physical therapist, who had been watching my reaction, nodded slightly.

“I think it’s something that could happen. But seeing it happen right in front of you, to your comrades, is a different story.”

“What do you think I should do, noona?”

“Well…”

Indeed.

It’s a difficult question. I wasn’t asking for a definitive answer anyway. I slowly stroked Danya’s back, gradually regaining my composure.

“From a third-party perspective, I see this as just the beginning.”

“The beginning, you say.”

“Yes. If it had never erupted, that would be one thing, but now that it has… they’ll be less inhibited. Things will get more intense when you’re not around.”

“What will get more intense?”

“Your other half?”

*Hiss*

I must have applied too much pressure without realizing it, as Danya flinched. I gently patted her in apology, and the physical therapist continued:

“You’ve probably thought about this a lot, but there are really only two options. Either keep putting up walls, or embrace them all.”

“Soyu noona. Even if we just filmed a makjang drama episode, that’s going too far.”

“This isn’t Earth, you know?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“That’s exactly what I meant.”

“Why are you being like this too, noona?”

“Being like what?”

Oh, my heart.

I released my irritation in a sigh.

“I don’t want to play with people’s emotions. I’m already guilty enough as it is.”

“They don’t consider themselves victims at all. Rather, they probably see each other as competitors. Now it’s gone from two to three. Ah~ Player Eun Subin, who we thought was the referee. Turns out she was already starting from near the halfway line~”

“Noona.”

“You managed to suppress it with your authority this time, but can you keep doing that in the future? For how long? What if something like this happens again when you’re not around?”

Even Yebeop-nojeong, who should have been managing these issues from a neutral position, had become involved. The only third party now was the physical therapist.

“You don’t want to date anyone? Fine. That’s fine, but you kissed her. How would anyone know if that wasn’t your intention or if there was no emotional exchange? But it happened. They saw it with their own eyes. A contradiction was created. That’s why all the suppressed feelings exploded. And they’ll explode again at the slightest hint of something similar happening.”

“…”

“In my opinion, you need to resolve this while we’re still in Ayord. No joke, but serious talk.”

I just kept stroking Danya’s back endlessly.

Until I fell asleep.