Chapter 75: Sinful Man (4)

“Haa… In the end, I couldn’t talk about any of the things I wanted to say today….”

Kang Hye-eun sighed as she washed the dishes after feeding Sung Taekyung his slightly early dinner.

If things had gone according to plan, she would have poured out all the accumulated stories to him during their date today.

She had intended to ask him why he hadn’t acknowledged their relationship as lovers, why he’d been away from home so often lately, and if he truly felt nothing more than friendship for her, his childhood friend.

She had planned to ask him all these miscellaneous questions on their date today, but his sudden bout of flu symptoms meant all her questions ended up unasked.

“I can’t interrogate someone who’s sick….”

She figured there would be another chance to have a serious talk someday, even if it wasn’t today.

With that thought, she finished washing the empty plastic containers and cutlery until they were clean, then divided the remaining porridge into single portions, packed them into airtight containers, and stored them in the refrigerator.

This way, he could just reheat it tomorrow morning and eat, so he wouldn’t starve because he couldn’t prepare his own meals while sick.

“…It’s already this late.”

Now, it was time to make a choice.

Should she go back to her own house and have dinner with her mother, or should she stay here at his place and spend the time with him until tomorrow?

“Since I haven’t seen him in a while, maybe I should stay a little longer….”

It was a rare chance to see him, and she hadn’t done anything date-like at all. A selfish desire flickered in her mind, but Kang Hye-eun shook her head, deciding against acting solely on her own desires.

“I don’t want to bother him when he’s sick. I’ll just go home today.”

Regardless of catching his cold, she didn’t want to tire out a sick person.

If he didn’t seem better tomorrow, she could always visit again and check on him. That would be enough, she thought, changing out of her loungewear back into her going-out clothes and heading towards his room.

“Get plenty of rest today, and contact me when you’re over your cold.”

With that, she offered a farewell that wouldn’t be too burdensome for her childhood friend, and just as she was about to head home.

“Hye-eun-ah.”

“Hm?”

Kang Hye-eun’s steps halted at the serious voice suddenly calling from behind her.

She briefly imagined him asking for one last kiss before she left, a cute fantasy, but what Sung Taekyung said wasn’t simple coquetry. It was something far heavier than she expected.

“I… awakened as a Hunter. Hye-eun-ah.”

“……”

A sudden silence descended.

Sung Taekyung, who had dropped the bombshell statement as if it were nothing, looked as if he had calmly delivered the words he needed to say.

“…Huh?”

It took Kang Hye-eun a long moment to process his words before she could finally manage a single exclamation.

“A… awakening?”

“Yeah, I awakened.”

“Oh, r-really…?”

What kind of reaction was appropriate in this situation?

When your childhood friend earnestly claimed something that sounded like a blatant lie, how should you respond?

The fact that men couldn’t awaken was already a globally known piece of information. Considering the cases where Hunters claiming to be male Awakeners turned out to be frauds or pathological liars, Kang Hye-eun’s first thought was naturally concern.

If he was just hallucinating and telling her alone, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But if he claimed to be a male Awakener in front of others, he’d obviously be laughed at.

‘More than that, knowing Taekyung’s personality…’

What if, mistaking his delusion for an awakening, he recklessly charged into a high-level dungeon? That wouldn’t just be a matter of losing face anymore. Kang Hye-eun’s expression shifted cautiously, like watching a child about to swallow a toy.

“I-I see. Congratulations, Taekyung.”

“……”

“W-well, your hard work paid off. If it were me, I knew you’d eventually…”

“Enough. You don’t have to pretend to believe me so awkwardly.”

“Huh? N-no! I believe you!”

“How many years have we known each other? Do you think I can’t read your expression?”

Swallowing the words ‘Even though you couldn’t read my feelings for you, which I’ve harbored for ages,’ which rose to her throat, Kang Hye-eun continued the conversation with a slightly calmer expression.

“T-to be honest, it is a bit surprising…”

“You still don’t believe me, do you?”

“Yeah. S-sorry, Taekyung…”

“It’s fine. If it were me, I wouldn’t believe it either.”

“……”

“I’ll show you just a little bit.”

Show her what, exactly? Before Kang Hye-eun could even grasp the meaning of his words, Sung Taekyung’s hand moved towards the container of writing utensils on the desk. He calmly took out a cutter knife and extended the blade, and a moment of ominous thought flashed through her mind.

“W-wait, Taekyung! No!”

“…I’m not going to do anything strange. Just watch.”

“……”

“This is my first time trying this, but it should be fine.”

Muttering this, Sung Taekyung tossed a pencil he’d picked up into the air in front of Kang Hye-eun. Then, as the pencil fell from above, he swung the blade a few times towards it.

-Pasak!

“……W-what?”

The moment it hit the floor, the pencil split cleanly into five vertical pieces. Four identical wooden shards and a single line of graphite in the center. Anyone could see the traces of a cross slash and a precision slash, proving he had awakened his swordsmanship ability.

“Wow, t-that’s amazing, Taekyung…”

Kang Hye-eun, momentarily startled by Sung Taekyung’s display, quickly regained her composure and forced herself to react with feigned agreement. If a female Hunter had shown the same ability, anyone would have concluded she was a Hunter who awakened her swordsmanship. But Sung Taekyung, whom her mind and body knew as 100% male, made her naturally suspect a trick, like he had pre-scored the object.

“You still don’t believe me.”

“……”

“Do you have a coin? Toss one over.”

“……Okay.”

Sung Taekyung asked again with a serious look, as if trying to prove his innocence. Following his request, Kang Hye-eun took a 500 won coin from her pocket and tossed it towards him. Sung Taekyung didn’t even catch the coin; he swung the small knife in his hand. The 500 won coin that landed on the floor was instantly split into four pieces.

-Charyureuk!

Not just four fan-shaped pieces, but four pieces sliced parallelly across the wide surface. They looked like four thinly sliced coins. This time, even Kang Hye-eun had no choice but to believe. The 500 won coin that had just been in her pocket was now neatly cut into four pieces without him even touching it.

“Seems like you believe me now.”

“Y-you mean… you really awakened?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Unlike Kang Hye-eun, who still looked bewildered as if she had witnessed something impossible, Sung Taekyung continued speaking in his unchanged voice.

“Actually, my main weapon is a greatsword, but I can’t swing that around in here.”

“……”

“I’ll show you next time, if I get the chance. Maybe in the yard, or somewhere else.”

Watching Sung Taekyung, who spoke as if merely stating facts, Kang Hye-eun felt a strange sense of unease. The fact that a male had awakened was unprecedented and absurd. Yet, he was delivering this crucial news like a simple notification, without much emotion. His attitude felt like a solemn determination to convey something even more important than the awakening itself.

“It’s been long. Really long.”

“……”

“12 years, since the day I first set my goal. It’s been really long.”

“…It has.”

Kang Hye-eun, who had witnessed him striving to become a Hunter since around the time boys his age were learning basic arithmetic, could vaguely guess the emotions he must have felt upon awakening. She could naturally infer what actions he might have taken without telling her after awakening.

“I hadn’t told you until now.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m already working as a Hunter.”

He pulled out a Hunter ID tag from somewhere I didn’t know where he got it and shook it in front of her. Unexpectedly, she could accept this news more normally than the first piece of information.

“I see.”

“You’re not that surprised, are you?”

“I just figured you would, of course. You barely achieved your dream of awakening, so there’s no way you wouldn’t use that power for something, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

Not putting off what needed to be done for as long as possible. That was one of the biggest strengths Kang Hye-eun knew Sung Taekyung possessed. It was easy to infer that if he gained awakening abilities, he would naturally utilize them. Rather, it felt like one of the questions that had been bothering Kang Hye-eun was finally being resolved. Hearing the news that he had definitely awakened, Kang Hye-eun’s emotions began to lift.

“Th-that’s why you were often not home recently!”

“Hm?”

“You awakened your Hunter abilities and were out hunting with the Hunter Guild, right? That’s why you weren’t home?”

If the reason Sung Taekyung had been away from home so often was because he was active as a Hunter in dungeons, that alone would have been a considerable comfort to Kang Hye-eun. At the very least, the scenario she least wanted to believe-that he was out with women of ill repute or staying out all night-was basically gone. Therefore, she was hoping for an affirmative answer, but…

“Half true, yeah.”

“Half? What do you mean, half…?”

“…There’s… something like that.”

Sung Taekyung’s ambiguous answer made Kang Hye-eun’s anxiety return, and it didn’t take long for that anxiety to turn into certainty.

“I wasn’t planning on telling you this, but since it’s come this far, I’ll just tell you.”

“…Tell me what?”

“My awakening ability… is a bit special.”

“What do you mean, special? Isn’t it just swordsmanship-related?”

“It is related to swordsmanship. …It’s just that the way I raise my proficiency is very strange.”

Unlike the previous two confessions, Sung Taekyung’s noticeably tense expression gave Kang Hye-eun a bad feeling.

“What… what is it…?”

The sentence that followed her childhood friend’s words turned that ominous premonition into reality.

“Making love with a woman… that’s the condition for my awakening ability.”