Episode 26: A Rough Start (7)

While trying to avoid suspicion, she ended up arousing even more of it. As she rolled her eyes in sudden panic, Juyul’s face already carried a natural smirk, as if mocking her for quite some time.

Shocked, Sodam gaped and, forgetting her fear, pointed a finger at him while glaring straight into his eyes.

“Wait, are you mocking me right now? For your information, I’m a precious life-loving citizen with amnesia! If Esper Baek Juyul were in my shoes, surely he’d…! Ah, no, why are you coming closer?”

Although they were in the same room, the fact that they weren’t seated side by side like yesterday had given her a false sense of security, leading her to blurt out her thoughts. Naturally, her courage evaporated the moment Juyul, who had been perched on the bed, started moving closer. She didn’t even finish her sentence.

She wanted to jump up and bolt out the door, but her legs, having endured a long walk followed by immediate kneeling upon arrival, felt like they no longer belonged to her. Instead of standing, she couldn’t even manage to crawl away on her knees, leaving her in a state of panic as she desperately looked around for an escape.

Unfortunately, Juyul reached out his hand toward her faster than she could find an exit.

“I’m dead…”

Perhaps the lingering memories from her dream played a part, weighing heavily in the back of her mind. Despite knowing better, the thought struck her as his hand drew closer.

Reflexively, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, cradling her neck as if to shield herself. Ridiculously, Juyul’s hand went somewhere entirely different, below her defensive stance. And what was down there was all too obvious.

Now it wasn’t fear but sheer mortification that left her speechless. Gaping, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“You crazy bastard, brainwashed by your dick…!”

“…What?”

Contrary to her assumption that his hand was slipping under her clothes, it had simply rested near her leg and back, doing nothing alarming.

Juyul calmly stood up, leaving Sodam awkwardly dangling in his arms. The fact that she had just hurled an embarrassing insult directly into his ear in such a position only added to the absurdity of the situation.

While Juyul might feel a little offended, considering his actions were solely to help her at that moment, Sodam’s humiliation easily surpassed his.

With no place to rest her gaze, Sodam twisted her head in every direction before clutching at her final shred of dignity and blurting out:

“How about I recite a 16-line acrostic poem?”

“Even you don’t believe that’s a good idea.”

“…No, I don’t.”

Juyul placed Sodam, who had quickly fallen silent, onto the bed and firmly pressed his finger against her forehead. It didn’t hurt, but the sheer embarrassment was unbearable. She turned onto her side and buried her face in her hands. The tingling in her legs no longer mattered.

“Isn’t this what they call an overactive sense of self-awareness…?”

Having never behaved so recklessly in her life, her face and chest burned with embarrassment. Sure, she knew she wasn’t bad-looking, but she was certain she didn’t have a face that could compare to Juyul’s.

The only person who could rival him was the main female protagonist of the world, and as an extra, she figured she was hopeless.

“Actually, I’m not even sure about this body anymore. My face looked a little different from the one in the dream. Was it just my imagination? Even the photos are all of this face, so I can’t confirm it.”

Though she had turned her back on Juyul, who stood like a stone statue, she felt an unexpected sense of comfort. With her thoughts straying far from him, she was startled out of her reverie when her hoodie’s drawstring suddenly tightened around her neck.

“Ack, wait…!”

“Hold still. I just need to check something. …What’s wrong with your neck?”

“Ugh, let go of me! Please…!”

“What happened for it to look like this…?”

The hoodie had caught on the handprint Juyul had left the previous day, triggering a coughing fit that refused to subside. To make matters worse, the pain brought back memories of the dream she had momentarily forgotten.

Without realizing it, Sodam began to cry softly and begged, which seemed to fluster Juyul. He quickly pulled her into an embrace.

Even though he had been the one to strangle her, oddly enough, being in his arms brought her a sense of safety. Perhaps her body instinctively recognized that as long as she stayed close to him, her life wouldn’t be in danger.

As her mind settled, the coughing fit that had been stuck inside her erupted violently. After coughing until her throat was raw, her voice, which had started to return, faded again.

“Ah, my throat hurts…”

“Drink some water first. Then… let me take a proper look at your neck.”

“Huh? Thank you, but… why?”

She accepted the paper cup filled with water with one hand while using the other to pull her shirt up to cover her neck. At that moment, Juyul’s previously stern expression wavered slightly, a sight so rare it caught Sodam’s full attention.

“Why does he look like he’s the one hurt? I’m the one who almost died…”

Growing up in a life surrounded by violence, she had learned to be grateful for simply surviving. Even though her neck, wrist, and thigh were sore, she found it preferable to being beaten all over.

She figured Juyul had acted out of necessity, so she didn’t dwell on it. But seeing him look so guilty, when she already felt stifled, completely suffocated her. Her briefly softened heart hardened again.

Unwilling to lie and say something insincere like “I forgive you,” Sodam tightened her grip on her shirt and muttered bluntly:

“Esper Baek Juyul, don’t you think it’s unfair to make that kind of face after putting me in this state? I’m the one who was hurt, but now I feel like the bad guy.”

“…I apologize. I didn’t realize you were this weak, even for an F-class Awakened. I thought I’d held back enough to avoid leaving marks…”

It was hard to imagine anyone but Juyul being able to say something so absurd without batting an eye. Even the Association members who defended him wouldn’t be able to suppress a few awkward coughs at his words.

But Sodam wasn’t one of them, so there was no way she’d hold back.

“Excuse me? You strangled me like you were trying to kill me, and now you’re spouting nonsense about restraint… I could write an 18-line acrostic poem…”

“Don’t. Just swear at me if you want. I’ll take it.”

“Yes, Esper Baek Juyul is truly a bastard.”

“…….”

If I were some typical heroine facing a despondent man like this, I’d probably spout something ridiculous like, ‘No, it’s fine. Lift your head. I forgive you.’ But I’m perfectly sane, so I had no intention of doing that. In fact, I was more than willing to unleash a tirade of curses while I had the chance. When else would I get to insult the great ‘Esper Baek Juyul’ right to his face?

“You were so gentle while… you know… getting close, and then barely ten minutes after I regained consciousness, you were choking me and threatening to kill me. And now you’re talking about restraint? If you ask me, the first thing you need to restrain is your own brain.”

“…….”

“Honestly, if there are more victims like me, it could become a serious problem. Sure, someone as saintly as me might let it slide, but a regular person? They’d go straight to the press, plastering headlines like ‘Baek Juyul, go to hell!’ all over the media.”

“Right… I’m sorry. My intention was to threaten you, but I didn’t mean for it to go this far…”

“Even that sounds ridiculous. Threats are threats—there’s no degree to them. Either make it clear you’re going to kill someone, or don’t threaten at all. I get why I might look suspicious to you, but that’s exactly why I’m going through all this trouble to prove I’m not. And I even get why you’d think I’m worth threatening.”

“…….”

Maybe my sharp words earlier had actually gotten to him. His expression softened a little, like he thought he’d earned some forgiveness just because I was clarifying things. But I had zero intention of excusing his insane actions. What I was stating were just facts, not excuses.

“I’m just saying; understanding and forgiveness are entirely separate matters. What kind of lunatic forgives someone who tried to strangle them to death?”

“…….”

“If I could, I’d love to get my revenge by doing the exact same thing to you. But unfortunately, I’m such a weak little F-class that it’s impossible. So take these words lightly, like they’re coming from a guppy that can’t even bite.”

Finally nailing the coffin shut with my words left me feeling oddly refreshed. My throat, however, was starting to feel sore, so I sipped my water carefully, only for Juyul—who had been biting his lip in silence—suddenly to lean in close over my bedside.

“What—what are you doing? I almost spilled my water!”

“Do it.”

“…What?”

“Do the same to me. I’ll take it lightly too.”

And there it was—Baek Juyul’s masterpiece of nonsense, the single most absurd thing he’d said in the past two days. His hand, which was firmly holding my waist to make sure I wouldn’t fall backward, only added to the surreal absurdity of the moment.

Hiding the smile that almost crept onto my face, I let out a long sigh and waved my wrist weakly in front of his eyes.

“You’re unbelievable.”