Ch.74Yellow Red Yellow – 4

Rina Lee knew people were approaching beyond the hospital room door.

And that their destination would be here, Seojin Baek’s hospital room.

She had known this all along.

‘What should I do….’

“Before you act, please think just once more, my daughter.”

Recalling her mother’s words, Rina did try to think.

The problem was that the time she spent thinking amounted to only about 1 second.

“W-what are you doing?!”

And Rina’s actions were much faster than her thoughts.

Suddenly climbing on top of Seojin Baek, Rina declared loudly:

“The only beings who can capture my interest are those as strong as me. Someone who can understand me. Someone who can be with me. Someone who can survive even me!”

This wasn’t a lie or an act, but her genuine feelings.

Why she showed such interest in this person. In Seojin Baek.

It was the first time. Someone who possessed a similar level of power as herself.

He cut Hyuk Kwak’s spear in half and even counterattacked to wound him.

When she heard those words from Jiyoon Han, she was so excited she couldn’t sleep.

She thought she would never meet someone like this in her lifetime.

Someone else who could understand her.

Someone else bound by this enormous power. No, this curse.

‘I was wrong. Indeed, no one is truly alone in this world!’

If it weren’t for her mother’s warning to stay quietly at home,

She would have gone straight to the hospital where Seojin Baek was admitted.

And she might have grabbed him by the collar and shaken him awake.

‘He was like my secret favorite restaurant. Ah, now it’s become too famous.’

If she had known this would happen, should she have pretended not to know him during that gate incident?

No. Even if it wasn’t for that, he would have become famous for something else anyway.

In that case, it’s better to make the first move and establish that he’s in my network.

Having reached that conclusion, Rina pressed down on Seojin Baek more firmly.

As if trying to provoke whoever was about to enter the room.

Click—

The door opened, and a doctor, nurse, and a female student entered.

Upon seeing Rina, the girl’s eyes flashed with anger.

“You!”

Hearing Soohyun Kim’s angry cry, Rina let out a sigh.

Seriously, people say I’m crazy, but you’re not in your right mind either.

How can you not show even a hint of surprise when you see me?

Clicking her tongue inwardly, Rina casually reached out.

Then she grabbed the throat of Soohyun Kim, who was rushing toward her.

“Gack!”

“Hey. Be quiet. Don’t you know you should be silent in a hospital room?”

“Y-you’re saying that… while you’re… doing that to the Arbiter who’s a patient…!”

Wow… Really, you really don’t back down at all.

Old man, I don’t know about anything else, but you did a good job raising your granddaughter.

I didn’t expect her to be this bold, or should I say crazy? Anyway.

If it were anyone else, they would be trembling with fear.

After shaking her head, Rina released Soohyun’s neck and stepped back slightly.

Soohyun then approached Seojin Baek, who was lying blankly on the bed.

“Arbiter!”

“Oh, oh. Soohyun. Have you been well?”

“Yes! I… No, that’s not it! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere…?”

“Hey. Wait a minute. Someone might think I was trying to kill Seojin oppa.”

At Rina’s words, Soohyun glared at her.

More precisely, she reacted sharply to the words “Seojin oppa.”

“What’s with that look? Put it away? Why are you looking at me like I’m a villain?”

“Shameless! What were you trying to do while the Arbiter was unconscious?!”

“What are you talking about? I may be reckless, but I’m not that depraved.”

So she does have some self-awareness about being reckless.

Not just Seojin Baek, but the doctor and nurse also looked surprised.

“Hey. This is a hospital room.”

Clicking her tongue, Rina restrained Soohyun.

Normally, Soohyun should be the one restraining Rina.

She’s supposed to be the crazy woman, so why does she seem more normal right now?

While Seojin was thinking this, Rina continued:

“Don’t you know to be absolutely quiet? At least I wasn’t shouting.”

At Rina’s words, Soohyun bit her lip with an “ugh,” realizing her voice had been too loud.

“B-but! Just now you…”

“Soohyun. What just happened was Rina falling over.”

Seojin Baek quickly intervened, mouthing “Right, Ms. Rina?”

Then with a pleading face, he indicated that he wanted her to play along.

The bonus was his implied promise to have dinner together soon if she would let this slide.

‘Hmm.’

What should I do? Should I let it go just this once as Seojin oppa says?

But if I do, that weird girl will probably cling to oppa.

Look, look at that. Pretending to be innocent while actually being a shameless flirt.

Oh my! Look at her, sticking close to him and secretly rubbing her cheek against him.

From what I’ve heard, she’s supposed to be extremely timid. No, not just timid.

Wasn’t she described as a complete coward?

But looking at her now, she’s not timid at all. She’s secretly plotting behind everyone’s back.

“Isn’t that right, Ms. Rina?”

When Seojin Baek asked again, Rina finally nodded.

For some reason, I keep giving in to that man.

Ah. Or not? Maybe not. Honestly, I don’t like to lose either.

“Yes. Let’s say it was like that.”

Although her answer wasn’t very convincing, it was enough to move past the issue.

At Rina’s response, Seojin Baek patted Soohyun’s shoulder as if to say, “See?”

Then, having completely erased that fierce look in her eyes from earlier,

Soohyun suddenly threw herself into Seojin Baek’s arms and burst into tears.

‘Oh my. How disgusting.’

As if the sight was unbearable, Rina even pretended to gag.

It also annoyed her to see Seojin Baek comforting Soohyun.

Meanwhile, the doctor who had been watching silently carefully spoke up.

“Um, excuse me. How did you get in here?”

“What do you mean? I’m asking the obvious. I came to visit. Is there a problem?”

“Well… yes, there is? The hospital is quiet despite Ms. Rina being here, and moreover, patient Seojin Baek had no guardian, and since he hadn’t regained consciousness yet, visitors were supposed to be limited to related personnel…”

Shh. Quiet. Rina put her index finger to her lips while smiling.

At her gesture, both the doctor and nurse clamped their mouths shut with a gasp.

It was because of Rina’s eyes—she was smiling, but it wasn’t a smile at all.

“Now, doctor? Let’s stop this pointless conversation. Patient Seojin Baek has regained consciousness, hasn’t he? Aren’t you going to examine him? Surely you’re not just going to say, ‘Oh, you’ve regained consciousness. Congratulations.'”

As she spoke, Rina’s eyes flashed as if to say “be prepared” if he didn’t examine Seojin.

Thanks to that, the doctor nodded his head three times in just one second, saying “Of course I will!”

*

Since the patient had regained consciousness, there were many tests to be done.

So the doctor apologetically asked the two visitors to leave for now.

Soohyun had no choice but to nod in agreement.

It was a bit sad to be sent away right after arriving for a visit.

But it was enough to have confirmed with her own eyes that Seojin Baek was awake.

Although she had seen his face for less than five minutes, it was actually better that way.

“Hmph.”

“…”

It would have been even better if this blonde, blue-eyed woman wasn’t here.

While she was trying to console herself internally for feelings she couldn’t express outwardly:

“Don’t just curse me in your mind. Say it out loud.”

At Rina’s words, Soohyun involuntarily flinched.

What? Did this woman just read my mind?

“You have a face full of complaints about me, don’t you?”

With an expression that said she knew everything, and a voice telling her to be honest.

Soohyun didn’t respond to Rina’s words.

She couldn’t say yes because something was bothering her.

And she couldn’t say no because lying would bother her too.

“Are you ignoring me to my face? That makes me a little sad.”

Don’t engage, don’t engage.

She’s THE Rina Lee. A person who’s better not to provoke.

So just stay quiet and don’t say anything…

“Fine. Then just listen. You, stop acting like the Gatekeeper. Anyone watching would think you and Seojin oppa are dating. Don’t show off and just quietly…”

“Neither are you, right?”

The thread of reason she had been holding onto finally snapped.

As Soohyun’s eyes sharpened, Rina let out a “Huh?” in exasperation.

“Right. I’m not either. But at least I’ve asked him out.”

“So what? Did the Arbiter accept?”

“No. Seojin oppa seems like he’s never dated, and he put up quite a wall.”

“So in the end…”

“In the end, no. Just because I was rejected doesn’t mean it’s over. Whether I keep pursuing him or not, is it any of your business? It’s not. Why are you interfering in other people’s affairs? It’s nothing more, nothing less.”

Soohyun, who was about to say something, bit her lip.

As Rina said, she too was nothing to Seojin Baek.

Just an Arbiter and an Academy student. Really nothing more, nothing less.

‘She’s right. What I’m doing now… it’s inappropriate.’

Soohyun clenched her fist and tried hard to find her composure.

But no matter how much she tried to calm down, she felt alert whenever she looked at Rina.

“You think I’m getting in your way, but from my perspective, you’re the one interfering.”

“…”

“If you understand, then know your limits. That behavior doesn’t look good to others, and it might make Seojin oppa uncomfortable too.”

“…you too.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“The same goes for you, Rina. You doing that to the Arbiter doesn’t look good to others, and it will make the Arbiter uncomfortable too.”

Hmm, as expected. There’s no hope for verbal communication.

Should I slap her a few times? That would make me feel better.

…Ah, come to think of it, this girl is old man Kang’s granddaughter.

What should I do with her, how can I get rid of her without causing problems?

As Rina pondered deeply, something suddenly flashed in her mind.