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Chapter 384 - It’s Nothing

Echidna pouted as if she did not like his answer.

“No. You can eat more.”

“What do you mean?”

‘Why are you the one to decide that?’

“Hm! I brought tons of stuff from the imperial kitchen!”

Echidna took out a heap of fruit that she had placed next to her feet. There were so many that Kang-Woo felt his stomach hurting just from looking at them.

“No, I seriously am full,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“But I won’t have any other chances to feed you.”

Kang-Woo had been stuck in bed while unable to move due to the side effects of opening a Door for the past few days. The party members were taking shifts to nurse Kang-Woo, who couldn’t even move his limbs. Echidna thought that she wouldn’t have the rare chance to feed Kang-Woo again if she missed this chance, so she started to cut the fruit that she had brought with a fruit knife while snorting.

The fruit that had been the size of Echidna’s palm was being skinned at insane speed and was reduced to the size of a pinky fingernail in a flash.

“Why would you peel a fruit like—”

“I peeled it all!” Echidna said excitedly.

“You sure did.”

‘The problem is that there’s nothing to eat.”

Echidna brought the fruit to Kang-Woo’s mouth while her eyes shone brightly. Kang-Woo dodged with just his head since his limbs weren’t moving, but Echidna managed to get the fruit in Kang-Woo’s mouth after much struggle.

“Uuurrrggghhh.”

“Hehehe,” Echidna laughed as if she was the happiest person in the world.

Kang-Woo felt goosebumps from her smile. In the end, he was freed only after being forced to eat all of the fruit that Echidna had brought.

Click.

“Brat, it’s time to switch.”

Cha Yeon-Joo opened the door; Echidna’s shift seemed to have finished. Echidna stared at Kang-Woo as if she was disappointed, but then turned to Yeon-Joo and assumed a weird stance.

“Hello, way of the sword!”[1]

“What?”

Yeon-Joo stared at Echidna in perplexity.

Echidna pouted and turned her head away. “You’re no fun, Yeon-Joo.”

“Seriously, what even is that?”

Yeon-Joo looked at Kang-Woo in frustration, but Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly as if he did not know either.

“I’ll come back next time, Kang-Woo,” Echidna said as she walked away from the two dumbfounded people and out the door.

An awkward air filled the room.

“What’s with her?” Yeon-Joo asked.

“I dunno. Must be puberty.”

“That aside, you look goddamn terrible, Mr. Oh Kang-Woo,” Yeon-Joo said as she poked Kang-Woo.

“I’ll admit, I did push myself a bit.”

“A bit? You call this a bit?” Yeon-Joo glared at him. “You’re so goddamn patronizing, you know that? Hm? Are we nothing to you?”

Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly. It was only natural for him to be scolded this way since he had faced enemies that had blatantly barged in, all by himself.

Yeon-Joo sighed. She lowered her head and muttered, “Sorry.”

Her clenched fists were trembling. Although she was scolding Kang-Woo, she also knew very well that she would be of no help whatsoever in a battle against gods that possessed Deific Essence.

“Don’t worry about it. I get it,” Kang-Woo replied calmly.

There was a clear difference in power between himself and his party members, and especially between him and Yeon-Joo, who arguably was the weakest among them. To put it bluntly, she would be of no help; it would be a relief if she wasn’t a nuisance.

Knowing that fact better than anyone, Yeon-Joo lowered her head in sorrow. She said sadly, “It wasn’t like this when we first met.”

She was able to proudly fight alongside Kang-Woo when they had first met, but Kang-Woo had reached heights so high that she couldn’t dare reach. Forget standing alongside him, she had become one of the weights on his shoulders.

“Should I... just go back?” Yeon-Joo asked while touching her bracelets. Her voice was so lifeless that it was hard to believe that it had come out of her.

Kang-Woo smirked. “Stop trying to put on airs.”

“What?”

“Well, I guess I’d expect nothing less from a Bronze player.”

“Son of a bitch!”

Yeon-Joo got on top of the bed in fury. She grabbed Kang-Woo’s cheeks and pulled them.

“Urrrrhhhh.”

After the fuss, the two of them got off of each other while snickering.

“Come to think of it, did something happen between you and Seol-Ah?” Yeon-Joo asked.

Flinch. Kang-Woo trembled while breaking out into a cold sweat.

“What? What happened?”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Kang-Woo fell into terror while scrunched up. Yeon-Joo stared at the trembling Kang-Woo with her mouth agape.

‘What the hell? What in the world did she do?’

This was the first time that she had seen Kang-Woo like this.

“Ah... Whatever the case, get some rest.”

Yeon-Joo sat next to the bed in perplexity, placed her hand on Kang-Woo’s forehead, and slowly patted it.

“What’s up with you all of a sudden?” Kang-Woo asked.

Yeon-Joo shot him a fierce look and said, “Shut up.”

Kang-Woo smirked and let Yeon-Joo pat him.

‘It’s not bad.’

It felt completely different to see a mild side from a lioness that constantly growled. Kang-Woo closed his eyes and enjoyed Yeon-Joo’s hands in silence. He slowly fell asleep.

***

“Mm?”

Kang-Woo opened his eyes. The room was completely dark. He carefully moved his body and noticed that his limbs, which had not budged until now were moving a little.

‘I’m slowly recovering.’

It was a good sign since he had mountains of things to take care of. Kang-Woo used his still stiff limbs to raise himself.

“Lay down for a bit longer, hyung-nim.”

Kang-Woo heard a voice from next to him. He turned his head to see a man so dazzlingly handsome that it looked as if he was shining within the darkness.

Kang-Woo smirked. “Is it your turn this time?”

Kim Si-Hun nodded with a faint smile. “Yes. I just switched in.”

“You guys don’t need to do this.”

“Not at all. We should at least stay by your side until you fully recover,” Si-Hun remarked firmly.

Kang-Woo groaned. He was not used to being taken care of by people; he had mixed feelings about it.

Si-Hun looked down at Kang-Woo on the bed in silence.

‘You’re gonna stare holes into me, man. Why are you staring so intently and making me uncomfortable?’

Kang-Woo averted his gaze from Si-Hun, who was staring at him with deeply sunken eyes.

After some silence, Si-Hun stated, “Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we’ve been alone together like this.”

“Has it?”

“Yes, it has.” Si-Hun nodded with a smile and then turned his head to look up at the ceiling. “I met Balrog before coming here.” His clenched fists trembled. “He seemed extremely mad at himself.”

“Hyung-nim.” Si-Hun lightly bit his lip. “There’s this one thing that I keep thinking about.”

“About what?”

“About what would have happened in my life... if I had never met you.”

Kang-Woo could feel the sorrow in Si-Hun’s voice. He replied calmly, “Nothing much would’ve changed.”

He was telling the truth; Si-Hun’s talent had long since been affirmed. Although he had lacked confidence, he would have overcome it by himself and broken through his unfortunate circumstances.

‘Rather...’

Si-Hun might not have attained what he should have attained because of Kang-Woo, and because he was forcibly made into Kang-Woo’s Familiar.

“I don’t know about that.” Si-Hun slowly shook his head. “I can’t even imagine a life without you anymore, hyung-nim.”

‘The hell are you talking about?’

“Hyung-nim.” Si-Hun slowly reached out and grabbed Kang-Woo’s hand. “Thank you. And... I’m sorry.”

Si-Hun lowered his head, and his shoulders subtly trembled. Kang-Woo remained silent. He could see the overlap between Si-Hun and Balrog; the sight of them trembling due to their powerlessness.

‘Did he figure it out?’

The reason why Kang-Woo had fought the Constellations by himself while using his desire as a convenient excuse.

‘Fuck.’

It was not even funny. Kang-Woo recalled the day that he had first met Si-Hun when he had forcibly turned the absurdly talented Si-Hun into his Familiar. Si-Hun still did not know the truth; he did not know how their relationship came to be. Seeing Si-Hun weeping because he had not been of any help at all made Kang-Woo curse in his head. It was like a hostage thanking a hostage taker. The unpleasant feeling made Kang-Woo feel sick.

‘If I knew this would happen...’

If Kang-Woo had known that he would become this close to Si-Hun...

Kang-Woo shut his eyes tight. It was already far too late for regret. There was no way to fix the relationship that had gotten off on the wrong foot from the very beginning. Kang-Woo frowned aggressively while staring at the weeping Si-Hun.

‘What the fuck? Why am I feeling this way?’

Kang-Woo’s head was in jumbles. He would never have felt this way over something like this back in Hell. Rather, he would have been happy about the fact that Si-Hun knew nothing and that he had Si-Hun’s undying trust.

‘I should be feeling that way, but... Why do I feel so unpleasant?’

Kang-Woo stared up at the ceiling in silence. His mouth opened before he had even realized it.

“Si-Hun.”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“Do you remember the day we first met?”

“Of course I do.” Si-Hun nodded with his eyes open wide. He smiled faintly while recalling the memories of that day. “Back then, I would have never thought that I would become this close to you.”

“Hahaha,” Kang-Woo laughed. However, it sounded extremely forced. “Back then, I...”

Kang-Woo clenched his fists, and he trembled. Vivid fear that he had not experienced even during his battle with the Constellation of Fear took control over him.

“Yes?” Si-Hun waited for Kang-Woo to finish his sentence while tilting his head.

Silence fell. Kang-Woo shook his head while smiling awkwardly. “No, it’s nothing.”

He swallowed the unfamiliar feeling; it was bitter.

1. This is a line from the anime/manga Kaguya-sama: Love is War where Fujiwara Chika greets Shirogane Kei. ☜