episode_0072

“It’s over!”

After finishing registering my settlement information, I stretched and relieved the fatigue that had built up in the morning.

Actually, it’s not too late to come back after lunch, but if I take my time with my work, the heroes might get their paychecks delayed, so I try to finish registering right away if possible.

Especially in cases like this where there are issues that need to be transferred to other guilds, it has to be even faster. Because you can’t estimate how much work that guild will have piled up. Sometimes, you have to wait for almost a week for a difference of one or two hours.

“You finished faster than I thought. Are you going to meet your friend today?”

“Yes, there is Hannayeon too… but that place is the most delicious.”

As I grabbed my wallet and got up from my seat, Im Seul-gi, sitting next to me, suddenly popped her head out.

“Ah… Do you want to go together?”

“No, I’m on a diet.”

Lim Seul-gi shook a half-empty plastic container.

Lettuce and cherry tomatoes look so fresh. I can barely survive on just that much.

“I envy you, Haru. It seems like you don’t gain weight easily. Or do you take care of it separately?”

I thought so, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

Lim Seul-gi, who looks me up and down and smacks her lips.

“Oh, no… I have a belly too! I teased Mirae a while ago, saying she gained weight… .”

“Future…? Oh, you mean my little brother!”

I felt burdened by that gaze so I slowly took a step back, but before I could leave the place, Im Seul-gi’s chatter switch turned on.

“My younger sister is really strict. Well, she’s a beautiful sister… If she were even a little disheveled, wouldn’t she be noticed… Indeed, the power of genes… .”

As I back away, Im Seul-gi brings a chair and closes the distance between us.

And yet, his mouth keeps mumbling, and he ends up spitting out words he doesn’t even know what they are.

… It has nothing to do with genes in the first place.

Mirae and I only have the same hair color, but we are quite different in many ways.

From body shape to eyes and impression. Of course, if you think of them as sisters, they might be different.

“I’ll go and check it out before it’s too late! Enjoy your meal!”

I had a feeling that Im Seul-gi’s chat would get longer, so I ended the conversation somewhat forcefully and left the reception area.

But the corners of my mouth kept twitching, thanks to Im Seul-gi who thought of me and Mirae as a real family.

They say that when you’re together, you start to resemble each other.

It doesn’t seem that awkward to other people.

I feel sorry for the future, but either way, it was the best compliment I could ever receive.

* * *

“Um, umm… .”

The second floor is reached by climbing the stairs.

I headed straight to Familiar, the family restaurant where Hanna Yeon worked, but somehow it was difficult to get in because there were so many people gathered in front of the door.

Why are you doing this?

People who just make a fuss and have no intention of going in.

If all these people are guests, then meeting Hanna Yeon is a foregone conclusion.

“Excuse me… .”

Still, I had to eat lunch, so I pushed my way through the bustling crowd.

In times like this, small is convenient.

People’s attention was focused on the front, and since my physical condition allowed me to squeeze through any gaps, I was able to reach the front of the restaurant without much difficulty.

“I’m sorry!!”

At the same time, a loud apology that shook the entire second floor struck my eardrums.

It feels like a familiar situation… .

As we entered the restaurant through the human wall, we could finally see Hanna Yeon with a frowning face.

That’s not anger. To others, it would definitely feel like she’s about to hit someone, but Hanna Yeon is in a very difficult situation right now.

“I’m not doing this to be forgiven! But… I can’t think of a way!!”

Whether to apologize or to get angry.

A woman who screams and clashes her heart.

Kim Min-ji, dressed in a neat suit, was kneeling down in front of Hanna Yeon in the middle of the restaurant.

In technical terms, it’s called dogeza.

The posture was so awkward that it looked like the suit skirt would burst at any moment, but Kim Min-ji showed off a perfect dogeza without any discomfort.

“Okay, get up… .”

“No, I’ll stay like this until you’re satisfied!!”

“I said I was satisfied… .”

“With a face like that, there’s no way I can trust you!!”

No, Hannah Yeon’s face was originally like that… .

First of all, the situation has been identified.

Kim Min-ji, who came to solve the problem of lunch, coincidentally finds Hanna Yeon and immediately casts dogeza in an attempt to make up for the mistakes she made as a student.

At that, Hanna Yeon was flustered and made that expression, and the situation must have only gotten worse.

Kim Min-ji, who has been hit with a dogeza. People are flocking in. The sound of gossip.

Hanna Yeon’s expression only became more and more hardened, and Kim Min-ji thought that Hanna Yeon was angry, so she never got up.

This is the whole story I imagined, and I’m sure it’s probably about 90 percent accurate.

The question is how to respond.

It seemed that if we left Hanna Yeon and Kim Min-ji alone, this hellish standoff would continue for the rest of their lives.

As time goes on, more and more people will gather around you, and with more eyes watching, strange rumors will start to spread.

[Chef of a family restaurant in the East Guild forces an apology for not liking a customer…]

Surely, along with this article, there will be a photo of Hanna Yeon with her eyes mosaiced with black sticks.

Since this is the only family restaurant in the East Guild, it won’t be long before the person in the photo is identified, and as word of it spreads throughout the country, customers will eventually stop coming… .

Familiar is ruined… Hannahyeon loses her job… Now she can’t get a job anywhere, so she’s slowly falling apart… .

This can’t go on… .

After looking into the dark abyss, I calmed my mind and approached Kim Min-ji from behind.

It’s a bit of a rough method, but it’s inevitable to save Hannah Yeon.

Phew─!

“Eww?!”

The murmurs that had been filling the surroundings ceased as a strange scream sounded.

At the same time, Kim Min-ji sat up abruptly, hugging my buttocks, and Hanna-yeon looked at me with bewildered eyes.

And I kicked Kim Min-ji’s buttocks hard, and let out a voice that surprised even me.

“Get up, you’re a nuisance.”

* * *

After stopping Kim Min-ji’s dogeza, we moved to a corner of the playground behind the guild.

A playground with a proper running course and natural grass, not the typical dirt playground of a school.

The back door leading to the playground was always open, so several citizens and heroes were working out in the warm sunlight.

“Hey, I never thought I’d get kicked by my senior!”

“Senior, what are you… It’s okay to just leave it alone.”

Kim Min-ji sat on the bench, scratching the back of her head as if she was embarrassed.

It’s nice that there’s no sunlight at all, but I feel a little guilty sitting in front of people who are working out and sweating profusely.

“The ending is….”

“No, no. If I had any regrets, you would have already… .”

Why did Kim Min-ji become so timid?

I was so frustrated that I couldn’t help but say something rude, but I saw Kim Min-ji’s surprised expression and I calmed my voice.

“Okay, let’s make it comfortable, okay?”

“Oh, I see… .”

“Okay” what kind of answer is that?

But if I push too hard, it might feel like bullying, so I decide to stop here. I look away from Kim Min-ji and slightly tilt my head, which was stiff from the morning work.

Boom-thump-

“Hic… .”

“Oh, no, I’m just a little nervous. I’m not trying to scare you, am I?”

That really bothers me… .

Since we weren’t particularly close to begin with, I felt a little uncomfortable being alone with him.

“Sigh… .”

But that was only for a moment.

As I sighed with exhaustion, I lost the strength to even think about how awkward it was.

Hanna Yeon walks with a heavy heart, carrying a small basket.

I thought it was a priority to drop Kim Min-ji, so I came out first, but it seems like the restaurant staff caught her while we were gone.

“What is that?”

“Lunch.”

Hanna Yeon, who sat down next to me, opened the basket placed on her thigh.

sandwich.

It was a pretty sandwich with white bread cut into triangles of equal size and ingredients like cabbage and ham sandwiched between them.

“Isn’t this a meal for the people you work with?”

“Make it separately and eat it.”

It might be annoying… .

The Familiar staff take great care of Hannah Yeon. Especially the assistant manager. When I first saw him, I thought he was a bandit because of his beard, but he turned out to be a warm and generous person who was as big as his size.

Last time I went there, I gave her two hamburger steaks because she was my friend.

“That’s amazing… .”

As Hanna Yeon and I were giggling with the sandwich basket between us, Kim Min-ji, who was sitting blankly next to us, muttered.

“What?”

“The two of you are still friends. Senior… No, it seems like your personalities don’t match well either… Didn’t Han Na-yeon transfer schools in the middle of the semester?”

personality…?

I’ve never thought about that before. I’ve never fought with Hanna Yeon, and she’s never said anything regrettable.

Well, when I first saw it, I was terrified and shaking.

“Um… .”

Actually, if I were to ask why, one thing comes to mind.

“Isn’t it said that if your personality is different, you’ll fit in better? I heard that you should marry someone with a different personality so that you can live long while making up for each other’s shortcomings… .”

A conclusion reached after much deliberation.

“There was something like that? Then you two should get married!”

Kim Min-ji gave me and Hanna Yeon a sneaky glance, then smiled playfully and poked the air with her finger.

“What are you talking about, so childish… . I eat this?”

Marry Hanna Yeon….

That’s why I used marriage as an example. You can make up for any shortcomings you have as friends.

For some reason my face started to feel hot, so I stuffed the sandwich into my mouth to try to calm the situation.

“Oh, right. Can I go to the housewarming today?”

“Yeah.”

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me. It was about the housewarming party I couldn’t attend yesterday.

The structure itself may not be that different, but we can’t leave out this kind of event. If we don’t force it, neither of us will leave the house.

“Housewarming?”

“Hanna Yeon’s house moved. Next to our house.”

When Kim Min-ji expressed her doubts, I personally added an explanation.

But something bothered me, so I looked into the reason, and it turned out to be the reason behind the question that Kim Min-ji asked.

The reason I asked again, emphasizing the word housewarming.

Could it be that Kim Min-ji also wanted to come?

Now that we are no longer bad friends at school, we are guild mates.

“You too… .”

“Why would I go there? Seriously, don’t worry about it, just have fun.”

It seems like I was completely wrong.

Kim Min-ji turned her head coolly and smiled as if it was okay, but Hanna Yeon, who had been silent next to her, suddenly held out a sandwich.

“Eat.”

“Oh, thank you. I will enjoy it with gratitude!”

Kim Min-ji accepts the sandwich with both hands, looking overjoyed.

He must have been hungry, because he ate so quickly that you could almost say he was in a hurry.

As I sat there blankly, eating each sandwich, a name suddenly came to mind from deep within my memory.

A child who was always with Kim Min-ji, just like Hanna Yeon and I.

“Ah… That… Are you still in contact with Hyunseo?”

Her name was Oh Hyun-seo. She was the first person to talk to me when I was sitting alone. But after meeting Hanna Yeon, she remained indifferent.

Now that I think about it, why did your attitude change so much as soon as you met Hanna Yeon? Was this a topic you shouldn’t have brought up?

I felt worried later on, so I glanced at Hanna Yeon’s face, but she didn’t seem interested in this at all.

But since I had already asked in the first place, there was no way to take it back.

“Hyunseo? Oh… Oh Hyunseo! I cut off contact with her a long time ago. If we had continued hanging out together, my life would have been completely ruined. I wouldn’t have been able to get a job at the guild.”

Kim Min-ji, who tilted her head several times and searched her memories, soon nodded vigorously and said something quite brutal.

“Yeah… ?”

I didn’t really care what happened.

However, since I already knew her face, it is true that Kim Min-ji’s answer did not sound very pleasant.

Isn’t this an answer that came from none other than Oh Hyun-seo’s closest friend?

“Lee Haru, drop it.”

As I was thinking about that and smiling bitterly, Hanna Yeon grabbed my sandwich from the side.

When I thought about losing strength, I guess the strength left my hands too.

“Thank you… .”

At the same time, I felt selfishly fortunate.

I’m so glad I’m friends with Hannah Yeon.

Well, Hanna Yeon has always been a positive influence on my life.

“Thank you so much.”

“No need to say it twice… .”

As if she didn’t know how grateful I was, Hanna Yeon just bashfully avoided my gaze.

For some reason, my sandwich still holds on.