Ch.73Ramune 4

My legs are trembling.

I barely managed to get off the gyro drop while clutching Anna’s shoulder.

Unlike me with my face drained of color, the two siblings’ expressions remain unfazed.

“Aren’t you two… scared?”

“Compared to airborne training, this is child’s play.”

「Compared to Dad’s airplane, this is nothing.」

I squeezed my eyes shut.

How did I end up with these two monsters…

While I was lamenting, Jihu grabbed my t-shirt.

He immediately pointed his finger toward our next destination.

“A roller coaster…?”

Even at a glance, the downward slope looks quite steep.

「That looks fun.」

“I agree. The slope is quite impressive.”

Anna nods her head.

The two of them drag me toward the roller coaster as if they planned this together.

“Wait, guys, I think I’m going to throw up…”

By the time I came to my senses, I was already seated on the roller coaster.

As we boarded the wyvern-shaped train, a female staff member greeted us with a bright smile.

“Welcome aboard our Wyvern Train…”

The staff explained how much faster this train was compared to other roller coasters.

It’s so fast that she advised us to remove hats and personal belongings.

“Well then, I hope you enjoy your time. See you alive.”

Wait a minute.

See you alive…?

“—!”

With the staff’s final words, the train began to rattle violently.

Anna crossed her arms and fixed her gaze straight ahead.

Jihu, sitting next to me, did the same.

The child stared straight ahead with crossed arms, just like Anna.

We’re gradually climbing higher.

As we approach the peak, my heartbeat grows louder.

With trembling hands, I firmly held Jihu’s hand.

“It’s, it’s okay. This is safe! If anything happens, I’ll protect you.”

Anna looks at me pathetically as I stutter.

She shakes her head and fixes her gaze forward again.

“—.”

Soon the roller coaster reached the top of the rail.

It’s so high that the air feels cold, and people below look like dwarfs.

I tried to swallow deeply.

But at that moment.

“—!!!”

The roller coaster began to drop at an insanely fast speed.

I screamed like I never had before in my life.

So hard that the child’s interlocked hand might break.

The incredibly fast speed and twisting rails contort my sides.

The saliva I was trying to swallow spurted out, causing me to choke.

While coughing, the rail climbs uphill again.

And then, as if trying to end my life, it begins its final sprint.

My head jerks in all directions like a doll.

By the time my neck felt completely worn out, the train finally arrived at its destination.

“Thank you for riding-!!”

The staff member we saw earlier welcomed our safe return.

The passengers got off the train, giggling about how fun the roller coaster was.

Anna and Jihu were the same.

But… I was still plastered to the rail.

I simply couldn’t get up.

Drool dripped from my mouth, and the squirrel ears attached to my head dangled loosely.

The staff handed us a photo of ourselves taken on the train.

It showed our faces captured during the ride.

I stuck out my tongue when I saw it.

These crazy siblings showed absolutely no change in expression even during the drop.

They just stared blankly ahead with their arms crossed.

Only my face was completely distorted, as if I’d been to hell and back.

Like I alone had weathered the storms of time…

“Are you two seriously insane?”

“What? It was more comfortable than swimming in waves.”

「It was similar to when Dad carries me on his back and runs.」

I can understand Anna, but what kind of person is Jihu’s dad…

The child points at my face with his finger.

「You look ugly.」

“Definitely.”

The two siblings deliver their criticism while looking at my face in the photo.

Really, you two are the abnormal ones…

We each took a copy of the photo.

“I’m really thirsty. So thirsty-.”

I opened my bag.

And took out an unopened Ramune.

Jihu, with eyes as blue as the bottle, stared at it intently.

“Want some?”

I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and handed him the Ramune.

The small child took the blue bottle and looked at it from different angles.

“The color is interesting, right?”

Jihu nodded in response to my question.

“How about it, want to try opening it yourself?”

Jihu tore off the cap.

And naturally put the bottle to his mouth.

But no matter how long he waited, the refreshing soda didn’t come out.

I bent my knees for him.

And kindly explained with my fingers.

“Look, see the cap you tore off?”

“See the pointed part of the cap? If you press it down firmly, the marble blocking the opening will drop.”

Jihu immediately inserted the cap into the bottle as I instructed.

But the firmly lodged marble didn’t budge.

“How about I do it for you?”

Anna said indifferently, as if bored.

But I shook my head.

“Why- you have to try these things yourself. The satisfaction when you succeed is amazing.”

I clenched both hands into fists and cheered for Jihu.

Jihu pressed down with all his might, his cheeks puffed out.

And finally…

“—!”

“That’s right- you did it!”

Bubbles surge from the drink.

He pressed so hard that the carbonation overflowed, even wetting his hands.

“Oh my, that’s going to be sticky.”

I quickly took out wet wipes from my bag.

And looked worriedly at Jihu, who must have been surprised.

But…

Jihu’s expression was completely different from what we expected.

He smiled softly, seemingly pleased with his accomplishment.

The boy who hadn’t smiled through the gyro drop or roller coaster was now smiling over a simple drink.

Anna gazed down at me as I wiped the child’s hands.

She nodded at the sight, reminiscent of a mother and son.

“How is it? Tasty, right? It’s even more delicious when you accomplish it yourself.”

Jihu nodded with a grin.

Then he tried to return the bottle to me.

“It’s okay. I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

I stroked the child’s crown.

Jihu looked up at me with bright, round eyes.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

Jihu shook his head gently at my question.

Then he took out his phone and typed a message.

「No, you don’t look ugly right now.」

I chuckled at the child’s words.

I narrowed my eyes and spoke gently to him.

“I’m not that bad-looking, you know.”

It’s just that everyone around me is so pretty.

I held hands with the child.

And then joined hands with Anna as well.

“Now, let’s go. We need to find your parents.”

Anna carried my bag for me.

And together, like a family, we headed toward the lost child center.

The roof of the center appears beyond the horizon.

Soon we spot a woman anxiously pacing in front of the building.

Black long hair and beautiful appearance.

Anyone could immediately tell she was Jihu’s mother.

“Jihu…!”

The mother recognized her son even from a distance.

She hurriedly ran toward us.

“Where on earth have you been! Mom and Dad have been looking everywhere…”

The child silently embraced her.

Then typed a message to show his mom.

「I got lost, but these sisters helped me.」

“Really…?”

The mother looked up at us immediately after reading the message.

She bowed politely, repeatedly thanking us.

I smiled awkwardly and waved my hands in dismissal.

Jihu had several secrets, but I decided to pretend I didn’t know.

The father also came out upon hearing the mother’s loud voice.

But his appearance seemed… familiar somehow.

Unkempt bushy hair.

Casual sweatshirt and jeans that made him look approachable like an uncle.

But I could immediately recognize his clear and intense eyes.

“Ch… Chief of Security?”

Dae-eun’s face darkened severely when he saw us.

He clearly hadn’t expected to see first-class criminals here, especially in front of his son.

“…”

His pace gradually quickened.

The ranker rushed to his wife and son like an arrow.

“Anna… and that hostage from before.”

He immediately took a defensive stance to protect his family.

His wife looked puzzled at his behavior.

“Honey… what’s wrong?”

“Step back.”

“Step back? These people found our son.”

Found our son…?

He frowned at these unexpected words.

And asked us with a dumbfounded expression.

“What is this all about?”

I spoke first on behalf of the taciturn Anna.

“It’s exactly as it sounds. Your son was lost and wandering, so we brought him here.”

Jihu typed a message on his phone to show his father.

The ranker’s eyebrows twitched as he read the content.

「It’s true, these sisters brought me here. They even gave me a drink.」

The child smiled brightly while shaking the Ramune I had given him.

Dae-eun’s eyes widened at his son’s smile.

His son who never even smiled.

And now he was even smiling.

Dae-eun raised his head to look at the two of us.

I smiled awkwardly and said to him.

“Your son is very handsome. I wonder who he takes after… haha.”

Despite my compliment, he still didn’t relax.

Dae-eun took a deep breath and asked me.

“Why are you here? And with that villain…”

“Why else? We came to have fun too.”

“So you two were in cahoots after all? Or is it Stockholm syndrome?”

“It’s not like that…”

I’m not sure how to explain.

Thinking about it, hanging out with Anna is objectively dangerous.

But somehow… I had become so accustomed to being with her.

To the point where I felt comfortable in her company.

“You didn’t feed my son anything strange, did you?”

“Of course not. Even that drink was bought here.”

I pointed to the Ramune with the amusement park sticker on it.

Only then did the Chief of Security seem somewhat relieved.

“I’ll let it slide just for today.”

“Are you moved by our good deed?”

Anna responded to his words with an expressionless face.

She really never knows when to back down…

“Don’t misunderstand. I just don’t want to shed blood in front of my son.”

“And you be careful. I don’t know why you’re hanging around with that human trash… but you’ll surely regret it.”

The Chief of Security shot me a sharp warning.

Then he left quietly with his family.

As they were leaving, Jihu suddenly turned his head.

And waved his hand at us.

But that hand was soon stopped by his father.

Because of that, I could only stare blankly at the child’s retreating figure.

Human trash… regret…

I gazed up at Anna.

She showed no change in expression despite the harsh words.

But I could tell.

That she wasn’t feeling particularly good.

I just knew it intuitively.

“Let’s go.”

Anna said firmly.

And turned her head first, heading toward the parking lot.

“Anna, wait…”

I stopped her.

“Are we going home like this, feeling unsettled?”

“…”

I smiled brightly at her, knowing she wasn’t in the best mood.

And gently grabbed the killer’s arm.

“We still have the highlight left.”

“—.”

A red sun hung on the horizon.

The sky where lava seemed to drip.

I stared at that beautiful scene from inside the Ferris wheel.

But Anna’s gaze wasn’t directed outside.

She looked at me and asked quietly.

“Why?”

The woman who supposedly had no emotions suddenly asked about my feelings.

I tilted my head in confusion.

“What?”

“As he said, I’m a dangerous person. So why are you being nice to me?”

I chuckled and shook my head.

Then leaned my head back and murmured.

“I wonder-. Why am I being so nice to a bad child-.”

There wasn’t really a big reason.

At first, it was sympathy.

And second… some inexplicable sense of kinship.

She, like me, had longed for the love of someone she trusted.

And that love was cruelly discarded.

“—.”

It was very quiet inside the Ferris wheel cabin.

I gazed steadily at Anna sitting across from me.

An expressionless Russian woman.

A woman with white hair and white eyes, an angelic appearance who had killed countless people.

That woman looks at me.

Surely she must have wanted to kill me too.

But at this moment.

She asks me a different question, not about death or life.

“Don’t you regret being with me?”

“Regret?”

It’s a word I’ve heard somewhere before.

Those two syllables magically warmed my heart.

“Because of me, you were kidnapped… jumped from a tall building… it was hard, wasn’t it?”

The woman who supposedly had no emotions is worried about me.

Recalling everything that had happened so far.

“…”

I couldn’t readily answer that question.

I just gazed at the beautiful red sunset in the distance.

This question…

I had also asked someone else before.

And that person had gone through numerous hardships because of me too.

What did that person say to me back then?

I fingered a stray lock of hair.

Eventually, I brushed it aside and smiled brightly.

“No, I don’t regret it.”

“…”

Anna’s eyes, tinged with the sunset, wavered.

She soon stood up from her seat.

And very slowly approached me.

I froze at her sudden action.

Soon Anna’s breath drew closer.

Her soft lips touched my cheek.

I felt dazed at that electrifying sensation.

“Your sister expressed affection this way.”

The killer whispered softly in my ear.

And continued in a gentle voice.

“Thank you for today.”

I stared blankly at Anna.

For a while, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Because the Anna I was looking at smiled at me.

“—.”

The whole world darkened.

I walked back to my apartment alone.

So many things happened today.

I met the Chief of Security and his son, and spent a long day with Anna.

My legs are trembling as I climb the stairs, I’m so exhausted.

Well, even so…

Thanks to that, I was able to quickly shake off memories I wanted to forget.

Being tired, I think I can sleep comfortably without thinking about anything.

I smiled faintly as I headed toward the apartment corridor.

But…

The thought that I could sleep comfortably soon completely disappeared.

Because someone was standing in front of my home.

And I knew right away who it was.

Dark, elegant hair.

And… dangerously beautiful red eyes.

My heart pounds.

My whole body instinctively shivers.

The Red Death, with her suit jacket draped over her elbow, was leaning against our front door.

Soon her red eyes meet mine.

At that moment, my breathing began to quicken.