Chapter 41 : A promise of a friend, not a contract as an adult.

Not a contract as an adult, but a promise between friends.

When Nanoka’s memory ended, my consciousness immediately darkened. It felt like being trapped in amniotic fluid.

Buzzing-.

It vibrated as if my ears had gone underwater.

I was conscious, but my eyes wouldn’t open.

The front was dark.

An endless, pitch-black space.

I slowly stretched out my arm in the dark.

It felt like someone would appear.

It felt like an important memory would suddenly show up.

I don’t know how long I waved my arm in the dark.

I wanted to give up, but strangely, I wanted to keep going.

It was then.

Little by little, something started to become visible.

Pink, white, black…

Is it a person? Something that looked like a human shape became clearer.

Before long, the silhouette became very distinct.

It felt unfamiliar but strongly familiar.

[Hello. Sister.]

It was that person.

No, this was the memory of my first meeting with that person.

The person who begged me, crying, not to graduate.

Would this person know something?

I had so many words to say, and my lips twitched.

Unable to speak, my throat trembled.

Who are you?

Why did you stop me?

And what were you doing while I was like that?

Just as I was about to step forward to grab their hand…

Splat!

“…Ah.”

I woke up from the dream.

Like a tragic anime protagonist, I reached out into the air.

Honestly, I probably looked a bit pathetic.

My eyes were strangely moist.

“Ugh…”

Ugh. How embarrassing.

It was a dream I never wanted to have again.

I didn’t want to see something so grim either.

I don’t even like taking my favorite red medicine…

But…

Above all, the sensation of Nanoka’s emotions flowing through me feels so damn bad. It felt like crying during a forced emotional scene in a movie.

My head still hurts.

“Are you okay now?”

“Ah. Bihangwoon.”

She was peeling an apple next to me… or wait, she really sucks at cutting it.

I couldn’t tell if she was peeling the skin or the flesh. The fruit pulp was clinging to it a lot.

“There’s nothing left but the apple core?”

“Yes. I’m going to make juice.”

“Aha.”

I was about to let it slide, but…

Crunch! Whoosh!

The image of Bihun squeezing the apple by hand made the atmosphere uncomfortable.

What is this?

Is she going to crush it like that…?

Or is she showing off her strength, expecting me to do something…?

“Drink it.”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t that.

Slurp.

“Oooh.”

It’s delicious.

Bihangwoon watched me savor the juice for a while.

It was a similar expression I make when a cat appears in a shorts video…

Huh?

“Did you just smile?”

“I didn’t smile.”

“No, you smiled…”

“I didn’t smile.”

Really? Is she embarrassed that she smiled?

I grumbled and gave Bihangwoon a sharp look.

My usual scary yellow eyes and fierce expression.

And unlike usual when she wore a full suit and carried a leather bag, today she had on a comfortable hoodie and shorts.

“…You seem different today.”

“Can you tell?”

Bihangwoon smiled again…

Huh.

“You smiled again!”

“Yes. I smiled.”

This time, she even confirmed it?!

Something’s off today…

“Well, of course I’d smile in front of a century’s fool.”

“Me?”

“Who else? The doctor said that you already had a weak, anemic body, and that you even threw up blood, causing dizziness.”

Ah. It wasn’t that I fainted while going into the memory… that’s more realistic.

Squeeze.

Bihangwoon tightly grabbed my cheek.

“Really. You’re such a fool.”

Her expression looked a bit bitter… though it hurt…!

Her strength was really ridiculously strong…!

“Ughh. Ow, let go (let go)…!”

Bihangwoon was still holding my cheek.

No, she was probably squeezing it even harder.

“…It really hurts, you know?”

“Does it?”

“It’s not ‘does it,’ let go!”

“…Yes.”

Bihangwoon slowly let go of her hand.

But the sensation left on my cheek from her fingertips was still there.

This person really doesn’t control her strength well…

I rubbed my cheek uncomfortably and glanced at Bihangwoon.

Her expression was as always, close to emotionless, but today she looked slightly less sharp.

I don’t know.

But today, she seemed strangely in a good mood.

“What’s up? Did something good happen?”

“Does it look like that?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

It was strangely suspicious how she flatly denied it.

Even so, Bihangwoon ‘s fingertips were slowly curling in, as if she were revisiting the sensation of just holding my cheek.

Bihangwoon silently stared at me.

A little too much, almost to the point of feeling pressure.

“Heh.”

I shrugged my shoulders and glanced at her again.

Since she wasn’t dressed in her usual suit, how should I put it… she seemed a little less intimidating.

Normally, I would have been intimidated by now.

“You’re unusually talkative today.”

Bihangwoon mumbled in a tone as if she were aware of my gaze.

What’s up with her? Did she feel hurt because she doesn’t talk much usually?

“Ah, well. The atmosphere is usually too harsh.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Today it’s a bit less harsh. But why?”

Bihangwoon didn’t respond.

She just tapped the cup lightly with her fingertips, looking deep in thought.

Eventually, Bihangwoon’s silence broke.

She slowly looked up at me.

Her golden eyes, reminiscent of a snake or beast, met mine.

The yellow tint in her eyes was unusually vivid today.

“I have a request, Suhyun.”

Ah.

Her voice was so unnervingly sweet, like a business tone.

This was someone who usually shouted orders or contracts at me.

It was almost terrifying, as if she was about to lock me away.

Still, Bihangwoon was staring at me directly.

Her gaze felt strange.

It wasn’t the usual intimidating, forceful feeling, but it wasn’t gentle either.

It was the look of someone who had made up their mind.

Something was about to begin.

“Why is it a request today?”

Bihun didn’t answer for a while.

The sound of her lightly tapping the cup again seemed unusually loud in the silence.

And then…

“Because that would be more persuasive.”

Persuasion.

I felt a subtle unease from those words.

Bihangwoon was trying to persuade me.

Not through an order or contract, but as a ‘request.’

Bihangwoon was never someone who easily changed her mind.

She was someone who always had certainty, someone who always knew the answer.

The person I thought was closest to perfection.

And now, that person was making a request.

“A request? What is it?”

Bihangwoon briefly looked down at the cup, as if avoiding my gaze.

Then, she looked at me again and spoke, her voice as if she’d thought it over carefully.

“How about becoming an actor?”

Actor?

For a moment, I thought I misheard her.

Is being an actor some easy job?

You have to practice someone else’s life for months and perfectly depict it.

That’s impossible for most people.

“All of a sudden?”

I felt my face twitch slightly as I spoke.

I couldn’t understand.

No, this is ridiculous.

Me? An actor?

“Why me?”

For a moment, I almost laughed, as if I had heard something ridiculous.

But Bihangwoon was serious.

I thought, she can’t be joking, right?

I ended up laughing lightly and said it out loud.

“Bihangwoon, are you joking?”

Bihangwoon was still looking at me.

Her gaze was even more strange.

It was less fierce than usual.

That less fierceness made it feel even more ominous.

It seemed much more genuine today, more human-like.

“You gave me a friend’s business card before. Does that seem like a joke?”

“Ah… no. I know you’re serious, Bihun, but…”

There’s no context, it’s so sudden.

It makes no sense, absolutely no sense.

“Suhyun, you need to become an actor.”

Just saying it seriously is laughable.

“Forget it. I’m just a VTuber.”

I waved my hand firmly.

I’m already a VTuber and illustrator, three jobs would be impossible. Impossible.

Of course, I’m barely doing illustration work these days, but still!

“…Sigh.”

But Bihangwoon showed no signs of backing down.

In fact, when I rejected her, she became even more insistent.

“The word that suits you least, Suhyun, is ‘just.’”

Bihangwoon said firmly.

“I’m not saying that.”

“Do you really think that?”

Bihangwoon’s eyes narrowed.

Something felt incredibly intense.

It felt like she was about to reveal something, something that would make me feel pressured or persuaded…

“Suhyun.”

Bihangwoon quietly called my name.

And then…

“Do you know what I saw before?”

I instinctively swallowed.

What did she mean by “what I showed”?

If it was the acting I did before, that would be it.

The real-nerd act from the Lumi Live collaboration.

It was so cringe-worthy that I never wanted to see it again, a clip from my dark history…!

I could feel my face burning and turning red, even without looking.

“…What are you talking about?”

I pretended not to hear, but Bihangwoon didn’t shy away.

“Your acting.”

She used semi-formal speech again.

“It was clearly acting that enters the realm of genius.”

“…That was just…”

“As I said, it wasn’t just ‘just.’”

Bihangwoon cut me off.

Her voice was firm.

Bihangwoon’s gaze had changed.

It wasn’t the usual cold, indifferent stare.

It was a gaze full of expectation, no—

It looked like someone longing for something, desperately craving it.

“I don’t know you well, but…”

Bihangwoon continued in a low voice.

“From what I saw, you were never popular in school.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

I narrowed my eyes.

This bitch…

It felt like she was subtly insulting me.

But Bihangwoon wasn’t joking at all.

She was just calmly and firmly throwing words she was sure of.

…And that made it even more unpleasant.

“Living a life completely opposite to yours, without a script, without a partner to act with…”

Bihangwoon lightly tapped the table with her fingers.

“Creating it all on your own, and making people believe in it.”

Bihangwoon took a slow, deep breath.

Her eyes sparkled, like a dreaming girl.

“I’ve never seen acting like that before.”

I didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t.

What I had shown wasn’t acting.

It wasn’t even a joke.

It wasn’t even an attempt at acting, just… an imitation.

“Suhyun.”

Bihangwoon looked at me directly.

“I’ve been waiting for a partner like you my whole life.”

“…What kind of acting partner?”

“An actor who can excite me.”

Those words made my heart drop.

“And you…”

Bihangwoon looked at me with eyes filled with desire.

“Surpassed my expectations by far.”

“So, I’ve never actually acted…!”

“That’s why I’m recommending you become an actor.”

I bit my lip tightly.

Bihangwoon’s eyes were not just trying to persuade me.

They were filled with certainty.

Bihangwoon really believed I was a genius.

Her unwavering gaze and confident posture, the desperate atmosphere.

“It’s not like before with contracts or forceful demands. Suhyun, it’s a request as a friend.”

Ugh…

I stared at Bihangwoon, who had her head lowered for a long time.

…Sigh. Fine.

It’s the first time I’ve seen Bihangwoon so sincere, so maybe I have no choice…

“Okay. I understand. I’ll do it. Acting.”

Maybe I’ll just let myself be fooled this one time.

“…Ah! You really will?”

“Yeah. Why ask now…”

“Because now, right after waking up, your mind isn’t fully activated…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

I felt like I said something strange, but well, after seeing Bihangwoon’s ecstatic smile, I thought it was a bit fun…

“Were you two close? Even acting colleagues?!”

“Tada. A surprise prepared just for you, Suhyun.”

“It’s my junior’s fault, I didn’t know.”

Later, I found out that this was all part of a plan between Bihangwoon and Senior Kang Hanwoo.

Those crazy bastards had planned for me to act.

Kang Hanwoo prepared the role, and Bihangwoon made me say I would act.

“Shit.”

When will I stop being fooled?

That Bihangwoon…