"What if the party mbers feel betrayed upon learning this? What if they discover that I was nothing more than a pitiful person with nothing to offer? What should I do? I just want to run away. Should I ask Lina for a mory-erasing spell? Should I use the favor I owe her to make it happen? But I’m supposed to save that for a critical mont. Even if the mories are erased, I can’t look at the party mbers the sa way again. What if there’s no going back? I... I... What should I..."
I swallowed hard. Her words were an exact match to the thoughts dominating my mind.
But then, in the next mont,
Shin Se-hee smiled brightly and opened her mouth to speak.
"It’s okay, Jin Yuha."
Her words made my eyes widen.
Her tone was firm.
"No matter who you were in the past, what kind of past you had, or what kind of world you lived in—none of that matters to ."
Shin Se-hee set down her wine glass and continued.
"Of course, I was surprised at first. But being honest with my feelings, I found the answer surprisingly quickly."
She pointed her finger at my face.
"You’re the one who saved . The one I desire and hold feelings for is you. The one I love is you—not your past self, but the you standing in front of right now."
Her words made look up, and with great effort, I managed to open my trembling lips.
"...Th-then, Se-hee, what do you think of the current —"
My voice shook terribly.
"What do I think of you now?" "Um..."
"The original you was, honestly, unreal. Hard to believe. You commanded battles perfectly, were stronger than anyone else even in a man’s body, and were a leader who earned everyone’s respect and admiration. It was hard to believe soone so perfect could even exist!"
Shin Se-hee furrowed her brow.
"So sotis, you didn’t feel real to . It didn’t seem possible for soone to be so perfect. Like a hero from legends or fairy tales. Back then, you felt... a bit distant, I guess? Like I was always chasing after your back."
But.
She paused briefly.
"Now I understand. You weren’t perfect. A one-star trash, lowest physical abilities, swordsmanship specialized at E rank."
Her gaze deepened as she repeated the words I had once said.
"Oh, so that’s why you worked so hard to overco it."
"..."
"You trained until you coughed up blood every day, burned yourself out for us..." "..."
"It must have been tough. It must have been heavy. Behind the great hero’s back was a desperate, struggling, fragile person."
A wave of emotion surged within .
I clenched my teeth to stop it from spilling out.
But Shin Se-hee seed determined to keep speaking.
"Now I see your true self. It wasn’t because you were perfect. It was because you knew your shortcomings and worked harder to overco them. That’s what made you more beautiful."
Her smile beca clearer in my wide, astonished eyes.
"That’s why I’ve fallen for you all over again, Jin Yuha."
I was speechless.
A single tear rolled down my face and dropped from my chin.
A mont of silence followed.
Languid jazz music flowed between us.
Shin Se-hee looked at warmly, as if to say I had worked so hard.
I hadn’t realized it.
That the mont I feared so deeply could turn so warm so suddenly.
Swoosh—
Abruptly, Shin Se-hee stood up.
"By the way," she said.
She walked slowly to my side. The atmosphere of the restaurant, filled with jazz, felt sweet.
Standing close, she t my eyes and smiled.
"Since I’ve laid all my cards on the table for you, don’t you think I deserve a little gift in return?" "...A gift?"
"Well, I had an excuse ready about wanting to ease my anxiety about you. But that feels a bit cowardly now. The truth is, I just want to do this."
I furrowed my brows, unsure of what she was about to say.
And then—
Smooch—
Shin Se-hee brushed aside a stray lock of hair, leaned down, and lightly pressed her lips against mine.
The contact was brief, but her lips were as sweet as wine.
I stared at her with dazed eyes.
.
.
.
"W-Wow... T-This is, um, really embarrassing. Way more than I thought..."
Shin Se-hee hastily pulled away, speaking incoherently with a face flushed red.
Without realizing it, my own face was burning up. The warmth of her lips still lingered vividly.
"Y-You just now... That was..."
First kiss.
Seeing fumbling with my words and touching my lips, Shin Se-hee frantically waved her hands with an even redder face.
"N-No! T-That just now! Um, it just happened by accident—no, not by accident, it was deliberate, but...!"
The calm and elegant deanor she usually carried had completely vanished. She clutched her cheeks with both hands and shook her head vigorously.
"Agh... This is so embarrassing, I feel like I’m going to die... I-I’ve never done anything like this before."
The light of the setting sun pouring through the restaurant window illuminated her reddened face even more vividly.
"Um, well... I also..."
I tried to string so words together, but my mind had gone completely blank, making it impossible to form a coherent sentence.
Silence followed. In the quiet, only soft jazz music played in the background, as neither of us dared to look at the other, both blushing deeply.
"S-So, uh, the food’s probably cold by now! L-Let’s eat first!" "Y-Yeah, yeah. Sure, let’s do that."
We hurriedly returned to our seats. Though it felt like we should say sothing, the awkwardness kept us from speaking.
Clink, clink.
The only sound in the otherwise still space was the faint scraping of utensils on plates.
"Um, Jin Yuha."
"Sh-Shin Se-hee."
Our voices overlapped.
"Ahem, Shin Se-hee, you go first."
"Well, uh, what were we talking about again? Oh, right! I wanted to hear more about the world where you used to live!"
Eager to dispel the awkwardness, we continued speaking, our faces still red.
I talked about my past world and how I had lived there. Though I’d ntioned it briefly before, today I delved into more concrete and realistic details since I couldn’t fully explain the unique situation of being transported here before.
"It must have been tough living like that in the past."
"Yeah, kind of. Back then, there wasn’t anything like mana to help turn my life around.
Unlike here, where getting into Velvet Academy was a ga-changer."
"So, in your world... there were no hunters? No monsters or demons either?"
"Nope, it was a world without mana. The level of civilization was about the sa, though." "Sounds like it must have been a peaceful place."
"Hmm, not exactly. Money ruled the world instead of mana, and there were constant wars between nations because of conflicting interests... Not so peaceful."
"A-a world where the roles of n and won are reversed?"
"Yeah. n were physically stronger than won, so n went to the army, n were more active, and won were better at managing daily life. Even online, most crude comnts ca from n."
"Wow... This finally explains the distance I felt with you and the way you act..."
"Huh? My distance? My behavior? Was sothing wrong?"
"Jin Yuha, did you have a girlfriend back then?"
"No, I didn’t. Sotis I’d get calls from won I wasn’t close with, but they always said weird things." "Weird things?"
I frowned, recalling those won whose nas I could no longer rember.
"Yeah. Things like, ’The light bulb in my house is broken, can you co fix it?’ or ’My cat is cute, do you want to co see it?’ or ’Don’t you want to do sothing more fun than gaming?’ There was even soone who insisted on teaching how to cook and kept pestering . They were all weird."
Indeed, they were all strange.
If their light bulb was broken, they should have called an electrician. Why call ? I wasn’t a technician. What would they do if I got electrocuted?
Sure, I liked looking at cats, but I preferred watching them online rather than in person.
As for doing sothing "more fun" than gaming, I was a bit tempted, but knowing that woman liked clubs and parties, I declined. Being an outsider by nature, I wasn’t a fan of such places.
And the cooking thing... Even thinking about it now made annoyed. Who was teaching who?
As I recounted all these events, Shin Se-hee’s expression darkened.
"So it wasn’t about distance; it’s just how you were..." "Huh?"
And so, despite our continued inability to et each other’s eyes, we awkwardly carried on with our conversation and al. Oddly enough, the awkwardness wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
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