Campfire in the Middle of Winter -5

Slurp, slurp.

The cheerful sound of someone drinking something without pause.

And the sight of a girl eating her meal with satisfaction.

Shin Hyun slowly nodded as he watched Noah carefully picking out fish bones.

‘She really eats with such enjoyment.’

Noah ate in a way that made both the observer and the cook feel satisfied.

So how must the person who was both feel?

It was indeed a good decision to make this.

With a pleased smile, Shin Hyun noticed a grain of rice in front of him.

That small, pearly white thing. It was stuck to the side of Noah’s lips, proudly asserting its presence.

Shin Hyun gave a small smile.

‘Is it so delicious that you’re getting food all over your face?’

Swish.

He stretched his arm forward and gently wiped the corner of her mouth with a gentle touch.

Then he removed the rice grain and put it in his mouth.

“You’re not a child, you know.”

Of course.

He had no particular intention.

“…Mmm…”

But Noah let out a small moan.

Then she closed her eyes and puckered her lips slightly, her cheeks turning a bit red.

“…Noah?”

Suddenly?

In the middle of eating?

“Mmm…”

Seeing that she seemed to be waiting for a kiss, Shin Hyun thought for a moment. Then, it dawned on him.

He had eaten it.

He had eaten Noah’s rice grain.

‘She must think of it as an indirect kiss…’

It was a clear mistake.

His habit of not being able to stand wasting food had caused this situation.

“…Haah.”

Shin Hyun shook his head and flicked Noah’s forehead.

“Ouch!”

“What are you doing? What if a bad ahjussi took advantage of that?”

“That’s why I was sitting still.”

“Sigh… how did this child end up like this.”

“Hurry up. Do ttaeji-ttaeji with your lips.”

A catastrophic choice of words.

Ttaeji-ttaeji with lips? Where on earth did such an idea come from!

“J-just eat your food, you.”

Unable to find a proper response, Shin Hyun quickly turned his head away to avoid her gaze.

“That’s mean.”

“What is?”

“You seduced me first.”

He had no words for that.

“I just… made a mistake.”

What kind of conversation is this?

It’s like dialogue between people who spent a night together.

In reality, nothing happened, and they were just in the middle of eating.

“Tch.”

Noah stuck out her lips.

In a completely different way from before. She seemed to be sulking.

With perfect timing, those who had been at the camp returned.

The Demon King came in first, having changed into dry clothes, followed by the magical girls.

Noah didn’t miss this chance.

“Ahhhh…”

As if deliberately showing off, she rubbed her stomach with a satisfied expression.

“Ahjussi’s warm stuff is all inside me…”

“Wait, stop right there.”

Shin Hyun couldn’t bear any more contemptuous glances.

+++++

“Ugh… ughhh…”

It whispers…

Ah… The one is whispering to me through starlight-

“Snap out of it!”

“Ack!”

Iris closed her eyes tightly and said in a choked voice.

“That hurts!”

Kraken’s black tentacle had just slapped her back.

“It becomes really troublesome if you lose your mind and go berserk.”

“Ow… you could just use words.”

Iris glared at him as she said this, but his words were true.

Black Heart, Stella.

After their turns were all done, Natalia was in the middle of absorbing the dragon’s magical power.

Due to a momentary mistake, Natalia became a servant of the dragon and went berserk, and they had to struggle enormously to subdue her.

The memory of barely succeeding after two attempts and breaking a cold sweat was still vivid.

“Whew…”

Focus.

I need to focus and finish quickly for the plan to succeed.

‘Let’s finish this fast.’

Iris concentrated, repeating this in her mind several times. Although there were some impure intentions mixed in, concentration was still concentration.

Even the dragon’s soul that was trying to slowly possess her cowered and bowed its head.

‘I’ll just leave.’

‘No. Leave your power behind.’

‘I… I’ve already been stripped of everything-‘

‘There’s still some left.’

‘But this is my soul…’

‘Yes, give that to me.’

‘Demon…!’

Whether she was a demon or whatever didn’t matter.

Noah put an end to the poor ancient dragon’s soul that had entered her magical power.

Of course, the dragon, seemingly not wanting to reach enlightenment, spewed out curses, but Noah had a goal and didn’t care.

“Whew…”

Noah, who had closed her eyes to absorb the dragon’s magical power, felt something strange.

“Huh, is this all?”

It wasn’t satisfying.

Following his recommended method, there should have been an overflow of strong power.

“I don’t feel much different.”

Shin Hyun nodded.

“That’s to be expected. You’re already as strong as you can be.”

“Hmm.”

“Even if you get a little stronger, it won’t be noticeable.”

It was hard to understand.

Then why did they come all this way?

Seeing her questioning look, Shin Hyun nodded.

“The final rest.”

“The final rest?”

“Yes. After this, there will probably be almost no time to rest. Winter break is probably the time for the finale of the story.”

Shin Hyun was sensing it. That the end of the story was gradually approaching.

But this wasn’t the place to talk about such things. Above all, Noah needed stability right now.

“For now, absolute stability is key. If you go berserk, things will get troublesome.”

The corners of Noah’s mouth curled up.

She had been waiting for those words.

“You said stability is important, right?”

“Huh?”

“You definitely said it with your own mouth? That stability is important.”

“I did.”

Noah smiled.

“Then you’ll have to help me, ahjussi?”

“…What are you planning now?”

“Something that helps with mental and physical stability, of course.”

Noah quickly approached and wrapped her arm around Shin Hyun’s arm.

“Let’s go stargazing together!”

+++++

Squeeze.

Shin Hyun, caught by Noah, looked down to his right.

Squeeeeeze.

He could see Noah clinging to him, somehow pushing her chest forward.

Giggling, did she know how she looked right now?

“Whew.”

After a short deep breath, he slightly curled up the corners of his mouth.

The image of a man drenched in fatigue was visible.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

Maybe he was.

Considering the past two weeks.

Preparing meals, playing with the Demon King, accompanying the magical power rituals.

Even with help, he was the one who organized and managed everything. It was an inevitably tiring schedule.

“Here, lie down.”

“…”

Noah patted a large sleeping bag.

It was just big enough for two people; she had obviously planned this from the beginning. Normally, he wouldn’t even think of getting in, but what could he do.

“I’ll lie down for a bit…”

In the face of fatigue, one becomes powerless.

Lying side by side, the two looked up at the night sky without a word.

In a world surrounded by darkness, only starlight and moonlight twinkled.

“It’s beautiful.”

“…Yes.”

“Ah, ahjussi has no sense.”

“Huh?”

“At this point, you should have said, ‘You’re more beautiful.'”

Shin Hyun’s sunken gaze, very slowly, clearly conveyed his feelings to Noah.

It was a rather incredulous look.

“No mood at all.”

“Sorry.”

“We came to enjoy together, right? Then ahjussi should enjoy it too.”

Noah, who had been chuckling, looked back at the stars and murmured.

“How much time do we have left?”

“…Well, honestly… will we even have a month left?”

Maybe even less than that.

“It might be less than a month.”

“That’s short.”

“It’s the last rest and tranquility before the battle.”

Probably within a month.

In that amount of time, everything would be decided.

A period would finally be placed at the end of this long time.

As Shin Hyun was thinking this, Noah turned around to face him.

“Ahjussi.”

“Yes?”

“What do you want to do after everything is over?”

After everything is over.

“…I don’t know.”

Shin Hyun had never thought about it.

He had tried to think about it several times, but never once had a clear answer emerged.

An outsider.

That would probably be the word that suited him best. All he had was an ID card. No education or experience.

Until now, he had been driven by the sole desire to save Noah, but even if everything ends, life continues.

For him, this world had already become as real as reality.

“You can’t just keep working part-time at a convenience store forever.”

“…That’s true.”

Noah looked at Shin Hyun’s face.

“Ah, this won’t do. I guess I’ll have to keep you for life.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll hire you as my butler. The contract period is lifelong, with salary and room and board provided. How about it?”

Shin Hyun gave a hollow laugh.

Come to think of it, how would this kid live?

Seeing her talk about music and such, would she live the life of a singer or composer?

Whatever she does, I hope she can live happily.

“Later.”

“Please consider it positively.”

“Later.”

“Tch. Always ‘later.'”

Because no one knows what will happen in the final battle.

‘I need to survive.’

In the ending Shin Hyun saw, there wasn’t a single one where Noah survived.

Even if she made it to the boss, she always met her death.

But this time will be different.

He, if necessary.

‘At least I need to save Noah.’

He was even prepared to sacrifice himself.

That’s how precious Noah was to him.

That’s why he pushed Noah away even more.

He bought time with words like “later.”

If they were to cross the boundary of intimacy, and then one of them ended up dying, it would likely become a wound that would be difficult to heal for a lifetime.

“Hmm… Ah! Ahjussi, look! A shooting star!”

“Oh.”

“Make a wish, make a wish!”

Clap!

Noah put her hands together and concentrated on whatever wish she was making, even furrowing her brow.

Watching her, Shin Hyun also quietly closed his eyes and made a wish.

Please.

‘Let everyone safely reach the conclusion.’

May the ending of this story be a happy one.

…And the storm that hit their quiet daily life came two weeks later.