I’m Not Doing This With A Friend

“They must have started already.”

I walked as fast as I could, trying to gauge the time.

I wouldn’t be this late if I hadn’t encountered the old man looking troubled along the way.

“At least you did a good job.”

I felt sorry for Carson and Fjord, but I had no regrets.

Besides, if I hadn’t been there, he would have had to continue to suffer.

In fact, when I first saw him, his face was expressionless and solemn.

But somehow, I couldn’t help but notice that his stern expression showed a hint of distress. He actually needed help.

“I hope you’ll take your painkillers with you in the future.”

I explained that the painkillers are distributed through the top of Hans’s, so he should be able to get them when he needs them.

It’s not like I’m expecting any profits to fall on me.

It’s just…

He didn’t want to see the man who seemed more solid than anyone else break down in pain again.

“We’ll never meet again.”

It’s kind of sad to think that. As I kept my feet moving while thinking about him, I reached the club room.

I was late, so I expected it to be open already.

What I didn’t expect was…

“Why is the line so long?”

For some reason, there was a long line of people lined up at the haunted house.

When I looked closer, I realized that there were a lot of couples in line.

I heard unpleasant things like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!’ and ‘Are you scared, my baby?’

My brow furrowed. They’re all so full of nonsense…

I pushed my way through the crowd until I reached the door to the club room, where Fjord spotted me and greeted me.

“What the heck?”

“Sorry. My bad luck got the better of me in the middle.”

“Again?”

I shook my head, and Fjord smirked.

“I kind of expected it, you’re not the kind of person to be late for an appointment without something happening.”

“I hear you’re wrapping things up nicely.”

“Well, you and I were supposed to take turns standing, so I wouldn’t feel bad if I went first.”

“That’s true.”

Fjord’s eyebrows waggled at the blunt answer.

“…I’d expect you to feel guilty of at least a minute for being late.”

“I’m sorry.”

I weakened immediately. No matter how good the reason, the guilty shouldn’t show their guilt.

Fjord shook his head vaguely, as if he didn’t want an apology.

“Just greet Carson and tell him I’m here, and you go play. I’m pissed off that he started this without even seeing your face.”

“What if I come back from playing?”

“I have to get ready for Miss Arena, so I’ll do it now, and then I’ll switch with you in the middle.”

“Okay, but Fjord, don’t you think there are a lot of couples among the guests?”

“Oh, that’s…”

It was then. As if the people inside the clubroom were done with their experience, the door swung open.

And as soon as the door opened, a male student ran out with a look of terror on his face.

He was running so hard that he disappeared before my eyes.

I looked at Fjord in bewilderment as he rolled his eyes in amusement.

“As you can see, there’s been a bit of a rumor about the love test stage.”

“A love test…?”

Just as I was about to ask him to elaborate, a female student slowly walked out through the open door.

Bam—!

She slammed the door behind her, and her expression was as ghastly as if she had come out of a haunted house.

What the hell was going on inside?

If there was any sound, I would have guessed it, but there was no way to tell since the room was enchanted to be soundproof.

Her eyes flashed, and she glared down the hallway where the boy had run.

“You say you’ll protect me, and then you throw me out as bait and run?”

Ahhhh…

Our club was playing the role of couple breaker.

I silently give Fjord a thumbs up. He gives me a thumbs-up, proudly.

“We’re waiting for a customer back there, so just quickly greet him and come out, Leen.”

“Okay.”

I hurried into the clubroom. I couldn’t afford to delay if I wanted to tear more couples apart.

As I closed the door behind me, darkness enveloped me. The windows had been boarded up to keep the light out.

“Caon, I’m here…”

Before I could finish my sentence, the pitch-black room was transformed.

I looked around and realized I was standing in the middle of a forest. It was an illusion.

“Oh, no.”

He must have thought I was a guest.

…I guess I should not. We have to finish this as quickly as possible and get out of here.

Carson said he only wanted to show me the good stuff, so he didn’t finish the illusion until the end.

Little did I know that this was what I would experience.

I wandered through the forest, looking around. It feels like I’m walking, but I’m really just treading in place.

The illusion magic was quite realistic.

The eerie fog and the buzzing of grasshoppers were detailed and convincing.

As I walked along, marveling at his execution.

I heard a bizarre laugh coming from behind in the distance. I turned around to see hundreds of pure white hands reaching for me.

As they reached out, I stood still.

It took all my energy to run and walk back, but I was too exhausted to run again. I wasn’t scared because I knew it was an illusion anyway.

As I stared at it, I noticed that among the hundreds of hands, there was one that wasn’t reaching for me.

It was the hand at the top.

Everything I see in front of me now, even if I try to grab it, I fail. No wonder, it was an illusion, no matter how real it seemed.

Some highest-level magic could be felt as if it were real.

That was literally only true for the most advanced magic.

But somehow, my hand felt like it could grasp something.

Without hesitation, I reached out for it, “Gotcha.”

I grabbed it firmly and pulled it toward me.

The clubroom had been emptied of its haunted house, so if I had caught anything, there was only one thing.

‘Carson.’

But I’d overlooked something.

The hand I grabbed was far above me, and I hadn’t expected Carson to reach for it.

He was levitating magically in midair, and with a sudden tug, he lost his center and fell toward me.

His weight knocks me backward. A second seemed like an eternity.

At this rate, I’d end up with my back on the floor. I squeeze my eyes shut.

Thud—

I heard a definite thud, but I didn’t feel any pain.

I slowly opened my eyes and realized that the collision had broken the illusionary spell, and my surroundings were pitch black.

Likewise, I gripped the floor with my hands to pull myself up. Suddenly, instead of the cold floor, my hands felt warm.

…Warm?

I suddenly recognized the warmth not only in my hands, but in the ground beneath me.

“Caon?”

Now that I thought about it, something was wrong. I must have fallen backward, but I was facing forward, not backward. What the…

Oh, my gosh. Carson must have been crushed under me instead…!

I hurriedly groped for what I assumed was Carson’s head. It was dark, so I couldn’t tell where was where.

“Caon, is your head okay, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine… Ugh!”

Carson says he’s fine, but then screams in pain.

“Caon!”

I panicked even more, moving my frozen hand again, and then Carson called my name urgently.

“Le, Leen!”

“Yeah, I’m here, what’s wrong? You didn’t hit your head on the floor, did you?”

“I’m fine, I’m not hurt at all, can you move away from me a little bit…!”

Those words startled me, and I quickly got down from Carson’s top.

I was in such a hurry to make sure his head was fine that it was bothering him. I must have been sitting on his stomach.

“I’m sorry, it must have been hard to breathe.”

“It’s not you… I’m having trouble with… Oh, it’s nothing.”

Even in the darkness, I could feel Carson shaking his head rapidly. He breathes a sigh of relief.

“Anyway, I’m not hurt, so you don’t have to worry.”

“But you were in so much pain earlier, you couldn’t even finish your sentence.”

“Well, that’s because… I pricked a thorn in my hand.”

“What? Let me see! No, wait a second, I can’t see anything right now. I’ll just quickly turn on the magic bulb.”

“Leen, wait!”

He grabbed my arm as I tried to get up from my position.

“Huh?”

“Uh, my eyes have barely adjusted to the darkness. I just magically removed the thorns, so I don’t think we need to turn on the lights!”

“Really…?”

Something about his tone seemed very awkward and unnatural.

Still, he seemed to dislike the idea of turning on the lights, so I stopped walking.

A few moments passed, and Carson’s figure loomed over me. He asked me cautiously.

“You’re not going to turn on the lights, are you…?”

“I won’t do it if you don’t want to.”

I rubbed the nape of my neck absently and thanked him.

“More than that, thanks for catching me. I thought you were going to crack your head open.”

“No. It was my fault for casting the illusion spell on you in the first place. I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to see that…”

“It’s okay. It was an interesting experience.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

With that, no more words were exchanged between us.

“…”

“…”

A deep silence descends.

Why did the air suddenly feel so awkward…? I wonder how much time has passed.

Carson spoke up, breaking the oppressive silence.

“Fjord and I will be guarding this place, so you can play until it’s time for your shift.”

“Oh, okay.”

I scrambled to my feet and headed for the door. But before leaving, it dawned on me that Carson would have to work without shifts.

It was unavoidable, since he was the only one who could use magic, but I felt sorry for him.

So, I decided to make it up to him. A little selflessness.

“Caon.”

“What?”

“I thought we agreed to just do a simple morning run, no afternoon run.”

“Right.”

The business was split into morning and afternoon shifts, and we only had to fill one of them and our obligation was over.

Wanting to just get the assortment in and be done, we naturally decided to just do the morning and be finished.

“So, in the afternoon, do you want to come with me to see the other clubs?”

“Uh…?”

Carson made a dumbfounded sound, as if the suggestion was unexpected. But I knew it wasn’t a sound of distaste.

“You don’t like it?”

“Oh…?”

I smirked and answered for him, “You can’t hate me. I’m not going out with anyone but you. Furthermore, I don’t take no for an answer.”

I opened the door, and my eyes, accustomed to the dark, squinted at the light.

But that didn’t stop the smile from forming at the corners of my lips.

“I’ll see you later, then.”