Chapter 71
No matter how I think about it, this group is serious about eating.
I thought that again as I looked at the lavishly prepared dinner table tonight.
For me, who rarely had three meals a day, these were very unfamiliar days.
“This fish. Noah caught it today.”
Yu said, offering me a well-grilled fish dish.
“…Really?”
Maybe because I caught it myself, it tastes even better.
I thought while chewing.
‘I really need to leave tonight…’
But the food is so delicious.
So maybe I’ll stay just a little longer? Just one more day…
“I’m back!”
Just then, the door burst open and an excited voice was heard.
It was Choi Kkang-kang, holding a strange-looking item in one hand.
“What? I thought you’d be eating dinner at the workshop again today.”
“I came back early to show you this! Do you know what this is?”
He entered the living room in an instant, excitedly holding up the object in his hand.
“It’s an Awakened detector!”
“…..!”
For a moment, surprise flashed across my face.
I had lied to them about contracting with an information-type lesser god.
Not noticing my change in expression, Choi Kkang-kang continued to shout.
“If a non-Awakened puts their hand on this, the crystal turns red! Isn’t it amazing?”
Yu, who was next to him, looked at the item with curious eyes and asked.
“But why is an Awakened detector necessary?”
“To identify humans who pretend to be Awakened while actually contracted with evil gods, Nunim!”
Choi Kkang-kang was extremely excited about discovering a new item.
“I want to make one too! Should we test if it works properly first?”
Saying that, he suddenly grabbed my hand, startling me into pulling it away.
“Ah, no, I’m fine…”
Did I refuse too obviously?
However, he turned his head without showing any particular suspicion.
“Right. We’re all Awakened… Oh, but you’re not, little one?”
The child who was being fed in Baek Yi-heon’s arms flinched.
“N-no…”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt! I just want to check if I made it properly.”
“I said no!”
The child unexpectedly refused firmly and jumped out of Baek Yi-heon’s arms.
Then suddenly, she ran to me and pulled my hand hard.
“That Unnie first! Make her do it first!”
“Huh? Ouch. It, it hurts…”
Are children this small usually this strong?
It felt like my arm might be pulled out entirely by the unexpectedly strong force.
With that overwhelming strength, my fingertips slightly touched the item.
Just as a red energy seemed to flicker in the transparent crystal.
Startled, I instinctively shook off the arm that was holding me to defend myself.
“Ow…!”
At the same time, the child was thrown down and landed on her bottom.
Tears quickly welled up in the eyes of the stubborn child.
‘I, I definitely didn’t push hard…’
I was flustered and tried to apologize quickly, but I was too shocked to easily say anything.
Moreover.
‘Did the others see the crystal turn red?’
Thinking my lie might have been exposed, my heart sank and my hands and feet went cold.
As I was flailing my arms in panic…
“Waaaaaah!”
Sure enough.
The child burst into loud tears.
Then she shouted at me with a tear-filled voice.
“Unnie hates Minseo, right? That’s why you keep hitting me, right?”
“…What?”
“You said mean things to me when people weren’t looking! You hit me like this and this!”
I was so dumbfounded that I was at a loss for words.
“I, I….”
Stumbling over my words, I unconsciously glanced at my companions.
I had already told them about my father being Yoo Hyun-min and me being a psychopath.
So, no matter what excuse I made, they would surely misunderstand…
“I, I was just trying to cover Ji-hye with a blanket…”
“Liar! You psychopath!”
For a moment, my mother’s cold cry resurfaced from my memory, crossing my heart.
‘There’s no use in making excuses.’
I was always blocked by prejudice before I could even say anything.
‘So, no matter what I say, it won’t reach those people…’
“Tsk.”
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, a loud tongue-clicking sound was heard, as if in warning.
It was Choi Yu beside me.
He put on a stern expression and scolded the child.
“Hey now. You shouldn’t lie like that, you know? …Keep trying to make her look bad and you’ll be in trouble.”
I opened my eyes wide in surprise at those words.
So, had they noticed everything from the start?
Seeing the calm expressions on the others’ faces, it seemed they had all guessed this fact already.
The child, seemingly surprised by the unexpected situation, looked around nervously and muttered.
“N-no. Minseo didn’t lie. Unnie really hit me…”
“Oh dear, Minseo-ya. Choi Kkang-kang… I mean, that Oppa is right. You shouldn’t lie.”
Yu also admonished the child with a stern expression.
“Noah isn’t that kind of person.”
A lump formed in my throat.
Suddenly feeling my eyes grow hot, I blinked in confusion.
‘W-what is this?’
It felt like someone had poured hot water into my heart, my chest was burning.
No.
I shouldn’t keep feeling these emotions.
As I was trying to suppress my unexpectedly emotional heart, the child suddenly burst into loud tears.
“Oppa and Unnie hate me…”
The child cried sorrowfully, burrowing into Baek Yi-heon’s arms.
“Minseo-ya.”
“Because Minseo doesn’t have a Mommy or Daddy… Nobody likes Minseo…”
The expressions of the two who had scolded the child darkened.
“That’s not true, Minseo-ya.”
“Yeah, kiddo. Why are you jumping to such conclusions?”
What will Baek Yi-heon do in this situation?
The child reminds him of his sibling, but what if it causes a fight among the group?
Feeling like all of this was somehow my fault, I nervously watched his face.
“……”
Baek Yi-heon silently bent his knee and embraced the crying child.
Then he whispered something quietly into the child’s ear.
“…..!”
The child seemed startled for a moment, then quickly stopped crying.
‘What? What did he just say to her?’
Is it because he has experience raising a sibling that he knows how to comfort young children?
Fortunately, that calmed the child, and the situation was resolved.
But as we sat back around the table, there was an awkward atmosphere unlike before.
The lavish meal we had prepared had all gone cold.
“……”
“……”
No one asked me about the red light they had just seen on the detector.
However, unlike usual, no one joked with me or spoke to me either.
I stared at the fish dish I had barely taken a bite of and thought:
‘Right. This is the price for not leaving when I should have.’
While not being able to honestly confess that I’ve been lying to them all this time.
While not being able to accept the fact that my father is Yoo Hyung-min and fight together to save humanity.
Making excuses about fishing and delicious side dishes and dawdling.
I sneered at myself.
Don’t fall into useless sentimentality, get it together, Yoo Noah.
If you’re a psychopath, act like one.
💎
Late at night, under a bright full moon.
As I left the house secretly without my companions knowing, I muttered to myself while looking at the sky.
‘Perfect night for running away.’
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
