Chapter 45 – Rabbits Like Carrots

It was only natural to feel pain if you ate curry that had capsaicin dumped on it. But I lost taste buds, and only a slight pain from the spice was transmitted to my brain.

“Is there something wrong with you…?”

Hayeon didn’t miss that wrong note, and began to doubt the condition of my body. 

Just how of all things did the Ajumeonis slip up with the food they were making?

I didn’t even have anyone to blame since the Ajumeoni who made the mistake was looking at me with an apologetic expression. 

I imagined what would happen if the truth about me losing my taste buds got out.

“You can’t sense anything in your tongue…? You weren’t like that before… When did it start? Answer me!!”

Hayeon absolutely hated it when something happened to my body, so I could clearly see a future of her throwing a fit. 

It just so happened that the day I lost my taste buds was the day I was kidnapped by the Black Dawn.

Hayeon didn’t know much about my abilities, so she would point out the Black Dawn as the main source for my loss in taste buds.

Hana, who was still a member of Black Dawn, could potentially suffer damage.

It was a situation where I must not get caught.

I had no choice but to take the bull by the horns and come up with an excuse for Hayeon.

“I guess only a little went in mine. It wasn’t that spicy for me.”

“Really? Of the three plates, only a little went into yours? The color was weird, and it even smelled weird too.”

“…Well, it could happen.”

They did say there was a reason for everything in the world, but in a different perspective, there were things that could easily be moved on from by saying, “Well, it could happen.”

Most of those things were brushed off as coincidences, and looked past with an open mind.

Why don’t you look past it too, Hayeon?

As I thought about casually moving on, my stomach began to rumble, as if not to cut me some slack.

“Does that make sense…”

“Wait a sec. Hayeon. Give me a sec…”

My taste buds only changed so I felt a tiny bit of pain from the spiciness.

It didn’t turn the inside of my stomach invincible though.

This is crazy…

Stomach cramps.

Your stomach would be put hard at work whenever you ate something spicy, but then it would get overloaded.

I clutched my belly, which was rumbling painfully, and headed towards the school clinic.

And whilst I was in such pain, there was Hana stuck to my side, working hard to cheer me on.

“N-No…you can’t! Sijoon! Don’t die! Stay strong!”

Was I just imagining that I was feeling more sick because of Hana shouting “Hwaiting” next to me?

Hana, it’s nice that you’re trying your best to yell in support.

But can you not get so worked up…?

Had my fortitude not been high, I wouldn’t have been fine with her shouting.

She also didn’t know she was getting worked up as she cheered me on.

Although I’d like to ask Hana to use her ability, it was impossible to use your abilities without permission within the premise of the academy.

I had no choice but to head to the school clinic.

“What’s up with them? The girl is carrying the guy?”

Hayeon, who was the most fit among us, carried me on her back.

After finally arriving at the clinic, I ended up skipping all the afternoon classes.

This happened the day I returned to the academy. 

And that was on my first day back too.

 ***

Inside the office of the Hero Association, there was a middle-aged man watching TV in a cynical manner.

“The bastards who couldn’t even get the job done… Huu…”

The Black Dawn.

The man let out a sigh as he brooded over the organization.

“I clearly told them to kill him… So why did they send him back alive…”

They also returned him by exploiting him for their own crimes.

The man was positive that they made some sort of deal with each other.

The middle-aged man mulled it over as he organized his thoughts.

”However, the kidnapping of Han Sijoon did have an effect. I heard Yoo Hayeon trained.”

Although they didn’t hit the mission’s target, which was to kill Han Sijoon, his goal of getting Hayeon to train was successful.

The middle-aged man contemplated whether to put another request in to eliminate Han Sijoon.

“Could this child also have the potential to grow later down the line?”

The man merely acted on the basis of his judgement on whether this child would bring peace or not.

He firmly believed this behavior of his was also the reason why he was able to climb the ladders to a high position in the Hero Association.

He sat in his chair, cradling his head, as he fell deep into thought.

”Is Han Sijoon worth keeping alive…”

A child of miracles.

The rumor of him creating a miracle ten years ago and the loss of his strength and health.

Should he wait for him to create another miracle?

Or, would it be better to turn him into a nutrient for Yoo Hayeon?

“For the time being, let’s…put it off.”

He decided not to put in any more requests, and moved the boy up to the list of promising heroes. He did this while keeping in mind that if Han Sijoon had no track record within a year, he’d put a request in with another villain organization.

 ***

I had skipped all of my afternoon classes, and when it was time to leave school, the one who came to pick me up was Hayeon.

“Han Sijoon.”

“Huh, you’re here? What’re you standing there for? Let’s go home.”

“You think I’m going to let it slide? Stop right there?”

Did I get caught?

Unfortunately, Hayeon, who still seemed to be suspicious of me, caught me attempting to escape far away.

How was there no place to run away to?

At that moment, I saw a little pink creature in my line of sight. 

“S-Sijoon!”

“Hana, can you rescue me a little?”

“I-I…want to, but… Sijoon. That’s a monster!”

Hana had a rough idea of Hayeon’s magic from last time. However, it looked like she saw Hayeon’s true skills during the afternoon class, I could see her hesitating.

She had been picked on for behaving foolishly.

The way her energy died down, she looked like a rabbit.

It seemed that there was no place for me to lean on. 

“For starters, let’s talk while we walk. I’ll explain everything.”

“Explain… Alright. Go ahead and explain. Without leaving out a single thing, tell me everything.”

“I wanna hear you explain too!”

Was this a story they needed to flock around to listen to?

I said my goodbyes to the school nurse who I was indebted to, and came out of the clinic.

Then, I began to explain to Hayeon and Hana as we walked toward the dormitory.

“So how that happened was…”

They were waiting for the story that was about to come out of my mouth. But the only thing I could do was to make something up.

In a very serious tone, I replied to them, “I don’t know either…?”

I just played dumb.

They had their expectations up for my response yet when I gave a garbage answer, they voiced their complaints. 

“Sijoon! What’d you mean?!”

“You don’t know…? Does that make sense?”

“I mean, I also think it doesn’t make sense…This is quite interesting, isn’t it?”

Anyway, my taste buds would not be found out unless I visited the hospital. It could only be discovered by getting examined and taking an ageusia test.

And I had no intention of going to the hospital.

Well, if I don’t go, that’s it, isn’t it?

Unless I lost my mind and directly said, “I briefly lost my taste buds for an ability,” Hayeon would never find out about what happened.

I wondered if Hayeon also realized this, she scowled as she glowered at me.

“How frustrating…”

“Me too! Me too!”

I didn’t know whose side Hana was on, but from the way she replied, it didn’t seem like she was on my side.

Did she even understand what Hayeon asked me?

She probably didn’t.

My guess was Hana was just following the mood. 

As the time passed on while we walked the path back to the dorms, the conversation about my taste buds automatically dropped.

Hayeon was still suspicious, but nothing would be revealed so long as I didn’t speak out.

We casually chatted about our daily life and the field trip. Then I was able to reach my destination, the male dorm.

Upon arriving, Hayeon asked me what my schedule was later.

“We’re already here. Are you going to come out at night to train?”

“I’ll have to see. But there’s a high chance I will.”

I had to improve my skill proficiency since my shooting skill was at the bottom. 

In order to do that, I had to use the training facility within the academy instead of exercising at home.

If Hana didn’t interfere, I was definitely going to head to the training facility today for shooting practice.

I told Hayeon I’d leave a text message, and turned towards the male dormitory.

“Wait a minute, Hana. Why’re you following me?”

“Huh?”

Hana tilted her head as if to ask what was the matter?

That action of hers meant, “This is definitely my home,” and she opened her mouth to explain herself.

“I just want to go together with Sijoon…”

“Y-You want to go together? Even so, you can’t. You have to go to the girl’s dorm, right?”

It was only then, Hana went, “Oh yeah,” and turned around, going to Hayeon’s side.

Hayeon wore a cold expression when she saw her like that.

She…doesn’t seem to be suspicious though.

It did look a little awkward the way I hushed her, but Hayeon seemed to have no idea that Hana and I were living together.

She didn’t even appear to be suspicious of it.

I’d rather have my taste buds get discovered than this.

Living together with Hana and kissing her as a reward.

If those two things were found out, I’d truly be treated like scum by Hayeon, wouldn’t I?

For me who was in a practice dating relationship with her, getting caught cheating would be greatly damaging.

That was how I caught Hana before she slipped up and waved to Hayeon who was leaving.

I was the only one there after they left.  

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh of relief, then headed to my room.

I went into the dorm, got on the elevator, and opened the biometric door lock.

It was a day where everything could’ve been out in the open with the slightest mistake.

I threw myself on the bed to relieve my exhaustion.

“I almost got in huge trouble…”

But still, I wondered if it was a good thing that I did not give definitive proof to Hayeon.

I was lucky though that it all ended with her just having doubts.

I almost steered myself into hard life mode.

From now on, I’ll have to pay attention to what I’m eating too.

If I was going to deceive others from the start, I’d have to act perfectly. 

Let’s never raise suspicions which would get me caught.

When Hayeon asked something once, she wouldn’t let go of it, so she’d keep digging the moment I gave her doubts.

Let’s take great caution and be more careful.

While I was deep in my thoughts, Hana, in her school uniform, leaped out from the hidden door in my room.

“Sijoon…!!”

She immediately jumped at me as if she wanted me to hug her.

I accepted her, and sat her on the bed.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“T-That! I did a perfect job, right…?! I paid attention in class, I studied hard… I was a perfectly good girl!”

“Hehe.”

Hana giggled, hinting she wanted something.

I was quite used to it while living together with her.

Her telling me she had been a good girl was her way of appealing to me.

She stood up from the bed, leaned her face to me who was sitting down, and closed her eyes.

“I was good today…so hurry up and do it…”

The way she was acting was her wanting a reward.

I had no choice but to reward Hana for being good today on her first day at the academy.

Hana. Everything was good, but let’s cut the verbal slip ups.

I thought about that as we briefly entangled our tongues.

I wondered how long this warped relationship would last.

I enjoyed the moment as I contemplated it.