Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
62. Way back home (5)
The power of a quiet voice saying ‘that word’ was mighty.
‘That word’ alone was daunting, but adding ‘hyung’ to it increased its power.
‘… It’s even worse than ‘that word + nim’.’
It wasn’t long since I suffered the phantom thief attack from the Phantom Thief Neon, but now you had to call ‘that word’ after transforming!
I couldn’t expect a day when, from all people, Eun-ho would attack me with ‘that word’.
He must have remembered how cringy were the action of the bizzaro, the Phantom Thief Neon, in PMH, so Eun-ho probably had enough material to reason things out.
As evidence, it seemed Eun-ho knew I would react sensitively to ‘that word’.
“Did Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung knew how dangerous the place He was heading to? It’s only natural that You must’ve known. I know very well what a smart and careful Person Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung is.”
Even though it seemed like something praise-like was mixed in the middle, I wasn’t even a little happy.
Eun-ho maintained a soft tone and a gentle face, throughout his speech, but because of chanting ‘that word’, my mind was dizzy.
While I couldn’t gather my senses, Eun-ho grabbed my wrist.
It seemed he wanted to check my pulse, while I was off guard and forgot about pulse and superpower wave.
When a Player’s mind is scattered, the superpower wave’s guard weakens, so Eun-ho may be aiming at that.
“Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung, what did You see there?”
Did he read the fear of death remaining in the depths of my brain when checking my pulse?
It seemed that Eun-ho was certain that I saw something.
Eun-ho immediately figured out what it was.
“Fomori Demons treasure their reputation, so the Demon King would personally step forward to try to capture the Phantom Thief Neon. Moreover, if something happened to the Phantom Thief Neon, Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung wouldn’t be so calm.”
Even though Eun-ho wasn’t there, he clearly recited the events of that day.
While reasoning them out, Eun-ho still didn’t stop chanting ‘that word + hyung’.
“However, if something happened to Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung, Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung would be calm. To the point that no matter how close one was, it would be difficult to recognize.”
The words with that cringy word had bones mixed in them.
It seemed that Eun-ho was speaking about the events just before coming to this world.
Hwang Jiho, who was quietly listening along to Eun-ho’s words, asked:
“You seem to speak from experience.”
“Yes. I directly experienced it from the side a few times.”
“Jo Uisin…”
A few times?
He wasn’t just commenting on not revealing the fact that I was terminally-ill?
Hwang Jiho pressed his temples and said:
“I’ll ask about past events later. Listening to your words right now, Eun-ho, it seems that Jo Uisin was involved in something in Britain, eh? No way…”
Both the geezer and Eun-ho were quick-witted.
If just not for ‘that word + hyung’ I would operate superpower wave well and hide it somehow!
In the end, Eun-ho revealed a fact that I wanted to hide.
“Yes, Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung must have looked into Balor’s eye.”
“Balor? Jo Uisin, no way, you’ve faced the ‘Eye of Death’?!”
Hwang Jiho, who took one step back and was observing the situation, said with a shocked voice.
In the meantime, gentleness vanished from Eun-ho’s face.
“Balor’s Eye of Death, it said to show the target it sees their death — it presents death to realize it.”
“He saw that?… Jo Uisin…”
Hwang-ho lamented and Eun-ho looked at me quietly.
Every time Eun-ho said the word death with his mouth, I recalled that I left Cheon Seong-heon in charge of my settlement, and was ashamed to face him.
Silence fell for some time, the tigers shutting their mouths.
I deliberated over it, and spit out an excuse that could persuade the two tigers.
“I had the divine treasure of Tuatha dé Danann, ‘Spear of Lugh’. So I was okay even when I faced Balor’s eye…”
“Are You talking about the divine treasure that goes crazy for blood if not put to sleep with poppies? You mean You were holding that in Your hands?”
“Holding a weapon with such a legend in your hands? It’s a reckless behavior even if you have use of everything…!”
It was a mistake to mention the Spear of Lugh.
Eun-ho and Hwang Jiho raised their voices.
I explained I was fine, as I had a ward[1] of a Celtic higher being, but the two tigers still seemed to be in a dissatisfied mood.
I barely finished a story, but this time Hwang Jiho brought up another topic.
It wasn’t as much as the Eye of Death, but it was a topic difficult to bring up in front of the two very worried tigers.
“Jo Uisin, thanks to you avoiding to contact me, we weren’t able to talk about the things that happened during the broadcast station incident.”
“I also wanted to hear the details of what happened at the time. Hwangho-nim, You heard the story from Yong Jegeon?”
“Yeah, I heard the entire story through an alter-ego.”
I barely escaped the story of Balor and the Spear of Lugh, only for that incident’s story to come out.
‘Did Yong Jegeon told him everything? From where to where….?’
It was clear that Hwang Jiho already asked about the parts he didn’t know about.
And Yong Jegeon was a dragon, who would talk about even trivial things no one asked for.
He would tell a story in extreme detail, waiting for how Hwang Jiho would react.
“Jo Uisin, I heard that you suggested Yong Jegeon to exchange clothes, to deceive the eyes of the opponent. Jo Uisin’s suggestion was successful. But the problem was that that suggestion also deceived Yong Jegeon.”
“That’s what I expected. So?”
As I expected, it seemed that Yong Jegeon vividly conveyed the events of that day.
More than a character worthy of a teacher, Yong Jegeon’s personality was famous for being like that of a Game category dragon, and in truth, was leaning more in that direction — but, his ability to convey situation and explain it was really amazing, worthy of a teacher.
Hwang Jiho described things like he saw them with his own eyes that day, so I was bursting with admiration on how well Yong Jegeon conveyed it.
In contrast to my admiration though, the atmosphere gradually grew darker, as the explanation continued.
“You departed the next day after Your back and shoulder were pierced?”
“….”
After Hwang Jiho’s explanation ended.
Eun-ho and Baek Ho-gun quietly looked in my direction.
Though the two didn’t share blood, when they sat side by side and made similar expression, they really felt like brothers.
Don’t white and silver look similar if you don’t look closely?
“Red Wall Phantom Thief hyung, why do you keep thinking about other things? We’re worried about hyung’s body and have no room for other thoughts.”
My reality escapism immediately ended.
As if Eun-ho saw through my thoughts, he immediately noticed I was looking away.
I worried what I should do about this atmosphere and finally gave voice to an apology.
“Sorry for worrying you.”
“You shouldn’t apologize about this. Worrying is everyone’s freedom.”
Then what should I say?
I felt like my throat went dry.
Then, Eun-ho placed a tea cup in front of me.
The tea cup was filled with orange cheong[2].
“Hwang-ho and I didn’t tell this story in front of You because we wanted to hear an apology.”
Hearing those words, I realized what kind of words the tigers were waiting for.
The words those tigers wanted to hear was ‘I’ll restrain from doing such things in the future’.
As I knew what words they wanted, I just had to reply.
However, it was difficult to speak.
Because by saying that, I would tell a lie.
“I’ll work hard to find safer methods in the future.”
I presented a compromise, but the tigers didn’t seem at all satisfied with it in their hearts.
“You’re not saying you won’t do it, eh?….”
Silence fell again.
The tigers just sometimes took turns to quietly tilt their tea cups.
The first to open his mouth was Eun-ho.
“I knew that Uisin hyung wouldn’t be able to lie. And that You would give such an answer. But actually hearing it is suffocating.”
After chanting ‘that word + hyung’ it was the first time he called me ‘Uisin hyung’.
Gentleness returned again to Eun-ho’s face and voice.
But it looked somewhat bitter.
“It seems that the preparations for a birthday feast are finished, eh? Let’s go.”
At Baek Ho-gun’s words, everyone stood up and headed to the side-building’s dinning room.
* * *
In front of Eungwang School’s gates.
After finishing the birthday party in the private plane, Maeng Hyodon went to train again.
‘I have to train.’
Maeng Hyodon heard that they’re going to hold Jo Uisin’s birthday party overseas on the plane, and made time for the entire weekend.
Wasn’t Jo Uisin a benefactor, who saved Maeng Hyodon from hell and brought him to school?
So he made up his mind to diligently train during the weekdays, and spent his entire weekend on Jo Uisin’s birthday party.
However, he changed his mind when hearing what Jo Uisin was doing, while he was out of school.
It seemed that Jo Uisin was moving to search for the first work of their class friend, Min Geurin.
‘He wouldn’t be just finding it. Vice president probably did suspicious things again.’
He didn’t know much about paintings, but Maeng Hyodon saw news a few times about the thief of Min Geurin’s painting.
With Maeng Hyodon’s head he couldn’t imagine what happened very well, but he guessed that Jo Uisin was working hard anyway.
Because thinking of things wasn’t his specialty anyway, Maeng Hyodon decided to train his body.
When he finished until-dinner-training.
Maeng Hyodon ran into Ju Su-hyeok in the central zone.
“Hyodon-ah, hi.”
“Uh. What are you doing here on a Sunday?”
“I was doing work for the Guideline Club. Dongha hyung seems busy these days, so I’m helping. Is Uisin-i at the dormitory perhaps?”
“No. Why?”
Ju Su-hyeok showed him a paper bag, that was assumed to be holding a gift.
“Today is Uisin-i’s birthday, right? Opportunely, I came to school for the Guideline Club’s work, so I wanted to give him a gift.”
“Vice president had a meeting in the evening.”
Based on what Hwang Jiho’s said, Jo Uisin had a connection to Hwang Jiho’s family.
So, as he heard, they were planning to hold a birthday party in Hwang Jiho’s home again.
It seemed it was a one-sided promise from Hwang Jiho, but anyway, that was it.
At Maeng Hyodon’s words, Ju Su-hyeok made a regretful face.
“I should have made an appointment. But I wanted to surprise him, so I didn’t say anything.”
“Uh, okay… ah.”
As conversation with Ju Su-hyeok prolonged, Maeng Hyodon recalled something he had forgotten.
Maeng Hyodon, who was isolated at his home and school, had one place, where he had exchanges with people.
Stadiums, where youth sport competitions were held.
Because in those places he often meet with Ju Su-hyeok, and became close with him, while being treated as his rival.
‘Right. I happened to talk to other kids besides Ju Su-hyeok there.’
Since his middle-school days, Ju Su-hyeok was idolized by many students, and had many friends and fans.
Unlike Maeng Hyodon, Ju Su-hyeok had many students, who came to cheer for him, male and female students alike, but there was a female student, who cheered for Ju Su-hyeok at the very forefront every single time.
‘There was a day when waiting time for the competition became long, right?’
Ju Su-hyeok asked the female student if he could share snacks he received as a gift with Maeng Hyodon.
That female student readily agreed, and told Maeng Hyodon to eat well.
And that female student…
“Ack.”
At that moment, they ran into a male and female student, who were just coming out of the central zone library.
It was Bang Yunseop, and the female student, who Maneg Hyodon thought he saw somewhere, when he ran into her before.
With a renewed joy, Maeng Hyodon greeted the female student.
“… Hey. Thanks for that time.”
“What? Do the two of you know each other?”
Bang Yunseop made a face filled with wariness.
In contrast to him, Ju Su-hyeok made a seriously happy face.
“Hyodon-i remembered, huh!”
“Uh, I should have recognized you right away, but I couldn’t remember. Sorry.”
The female student was making a somewhat embarrassed face.
Bang Yunseop asked, with this face twisting.
“Where did you met her!?”
Maeng Hyodon didn’t notice Bang Yunseop’s anxiety.
He just thought he was like this, because Bang Yunseop always showed such an attitude and tone in front of Maeng Hyodon.
“I often saw her at the stadiums, during middle school. She came to cheer for Ju Su-hyeok every time.”
This female student came to cheer in the sport competitions so often that even Maeng Hyodon remember her, and if not for the illegal admissions incident, there was almost no chance she would be admitted to Eungwang School.
Bang Yunseop thought what it meant.
Didn’t the female student do this to meet Ju Su-hyeok?
The moment he understood this truth, Bang Yunseop felt a feeling that was difficult to describe surge in him.
Bang Yunseop looked at Ju Su-hyeok and his face twisted.
*~*~*
[1] ward — BEHOLD! I have found the word for ‘not the blessing from status window’
[2] cheong — sweeter in the form of syrup or marmalade.
Translator’s note: ‘To the point that no matter how close one was, it would be difficult to recognize’ — Yeah, it’s so hard to recognize that I’m now banned from speaking about it without warning >.>;; (look-away, embarrassed emoji)
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