“Ten years ago, or even just five years ago, I could have stayed up all night without any problem…”
Ti is so cruel. So cruel…
Muttering that, Da-eun had dark circles under her eyes.
…It’s amazing how dark circles can appear that quickly.
Seeing her in such a state, I found myself asking her without thinking.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Kanaya's worried about ... This is really precious, isn't it?"
"Stop talking nonsense. If you’re really tired, just sleep so more."
"No, it’s not that."
Da-eun shook her head.
"I'm not that tired."
"That’s completely unconvincing. You know that, right?"
"...Is it really that obvious?"
"It really is."
Da-eun, unable to believe what I said, touched her face before rushing off to the bathroom.
After a while, the loud noise from inside the bathroom cald down.
Soon, Da-eun walked out with a dazed look on her face.
"...It really was that bad."
"I told you."
Did she not believe ?
I unconsciously pouted at the thought.
"I-I didn’t not believe you…!"
"But you didn’t believe ."
"It’s not like that?!"
"What do you an by ‘not like that?’"
"...What are you two doing?"
Yukki, who had been yawning widely, glanced at us with a confused look.
Ignoring her, Da-eun and I kept arguing.
"You looked a little tired, but I thought you were exaggerating..."
"Then you didn’t believe , right?"
"I-I didn’t think I was being a bad adult by not believing you...! I thought maybe you were just joking around. ...Ugh, if it wasn’t for what I heard earlier this morning—"
"Earlier this morning?"
"...Ahem! Forget it!"
"Uh-huh."
Her reaction seed suspicious.
Did they talk badly about while I was sleeping?
I didn’t want to believe they would do sothing like that, but seeing how quickly Da-eun denied it made want to probe further.
"Alright, like I said, my appearance isn’t exactly flattering! So, is the story over now?!"
"...I didn’t say it like that."
"Ugh, anyway! You were right, I was wrong! That’s all that matters, right?! Am I wrong? Tell I’m wrong again! No, that’s not it!"
"Yeah, uh-huh…"
I started to wonder if I had eaten sothing strange at dinner last night.
At this point, I felt like questioning was the least I could do.
But despite that, I hesitated and took a step back, under pressure from Da-eun’s intensity.
…What else could I do?
With veins showing in her eyes, dark circles hanging beneath them, and her face pale like soone sick, how could I possibly not run away when she was approaching with wide, crazy eyes?
Of course, if I had a sword and could swing it, I wouldn’t have been scared.
"Do you know what you need to live? Sunlight? Water? Carbs? No!"
Muttering like a madwoman, Da-eun rushed to the kitchen.
She opened the fridge and—
"What modern humans need is caffeine! Ohh, caffeine...! My life, my soul, my blood...!"
She shouted as she pulled out the coffee that had been resting in the fridge.
"Shouldn’t she go to the hospital instead of hiking up Hallasan or sothing?"
"I think so too."
Yukki, who had been silently watching Da-eun’s behavior, murmured quietly.
Yukki’s worldview was very different from the typical Korean mindset, but she knew she was different from others.
Though this was just my guess, I didn’t think it was far off, given that she only acted within the rules set out for her.
The thod Yukki used to deal with stalkers wasn’t really breaking the rules either, was it?
If I had to analyze it…
"Socialized beast?"
Yeah, that seed right.
Quite ferocious, but knowing when to show her teeth, so she wasn’t much of a threat.
But Da-eun was different.
I knew she wasn’t serious, but seeing her act like this once in a while made wonder, ‘Was I wrong all along?’
Gulp, gulp…
"Ahh…!"
As Da-eun downed the whole bottle of coffee, she threw it down with a satisfying gesture.
Anyone who saw that would think it was alcohol, not coffee, by how dramatically she drank it.
"Shin Da-eun, fully resurrected!"
"That’s impossible."
Without thinking, I reflexively made a snarky remark.
How could drinking one coffee, even if it was right after drinking it, suddenly make her feel better?
"Why do you think it’s impossible?"
"Why?"
"Aha, Kanaya, you haven’t tried coffee yet, right? So you wouldn’t know."
"...‘Aha’?"
Da-eun’s eyes curved into a mischievous shape.
"You know, these days coffee works so well. It’s basic to wake up imdiately after drinking it, and if you drink more than two cups, you won’t need sleep for the day."
"Stop lying."
"Really though?"
"You always say you’re tired after drinking coffee."
I rembered clearly that she used to complain about being tired after drinking coffee.
However, Da-eun didn’t flinch despite my skeptical look.
"That’s because I diluted it. If you drink it straight, it’s so strong that I can’t sleep properly."
"...Stop lying."
"Really though? ...Wait, didn’t we just say the sa thing earlier?"
I couldn’t shake the feeling she was ssing with .
Even though I thought that, Da-eun’s bold attitude made think, ‘Could it be true?’
...Science and dicine on Earth are certainly better than in Silya, aren’t they?
We’ve invented all sorts of dicines, and even so things that are borderline torturous tools, so surely there’s an effective fatigue reliever out there.
When I thought this far, Da-eun’s face, which had looked like she was on the verge of dying earlier, now seed more like a normal person.
Thud—
"...What’s this?"
Suddenly, Yukki’s hand appeared on top of my head.
I glared at her, and Yukki, surprisingly, pulled her hand away without resistance.
"Don’t be fooled. It’s obvious that’s a lie."
"...Huh?"
"Well, the products she ntioned do exist, but the kind of effect she’s describing is only in stimulants or high-caffeine products. The kind of cheap coffee you buy at a convenience store definitely wouldn’t have that effect."
"...Liar! Kanaya, you’re not believing her, right?"
"..."
"Why are you so silent? Choose! Yukki or ?"
"If I had to choose—"
I lifted my foot and took a step toward Yukki.
"Of course, Yukki."
"...No way!"
Thud!
Da-eun collapsed like a doll with its string cut.
"We’ve spent so much ti together, how could you do this to ?!"
"Who tried to fool first?"
"You can’t prove that Yukki’s words are true, can you?!"
"Isn’t that basically admitting that what you said was a lie?"
"..."
Da-eun fell silent, her eyes spinning.
I, as if I had turned into a mute, spoke casually to her.
"Think carefully."
"What, what do you an?"
"If I find out later that what Da-eun said was a lie..."
"Find out…?"
"-I won’t sleep with Da-eun anymore."
...
I shuddered, my body shaking.
I never imagined I would say such things.
It’s honestly embarrassing... but there was a reason I said it.
"..."
Da-eun stood frozen, mouth agape, as if in shock. She was the perfect example of soone who’d just been hit with a huge shock.
If I could shock her with my brief embarrassnt, that would be enough.
"Is she dead?"
Yukki placed her hand on Da-eun’s shoulder and shook her back and forth.
Da-eun, who had been frozen like a stone statue, finally ca back to life.
"-I’m sorry, I won’t lie to Kanaya again! Please take back what I just said! I won’t lie again, I’ll eat vegetables too! Please, you know soone who has felt warmth can’t live without it… Soft and warm Kanaya... I can’t lose you..."
"What’s with that last part?"
"...Did you understand that?"
"When you live with Da-eun, you get used to this kind of thing."
"Must be tough."
Once again, a hand slowly rose above my head.
But this ti, I didn’t brush it away.
As Yukki had said, it really was tough living with Da-eun, so I figured I could accept this small comfort.
"...That spot should have been mine."
Ugh...!
Da-eun glared at us with envy, chewing on a handkerchief.
Where did she even pull that handkerchief from?
Most of Da-eun’s words I treated as nonsense, but I couldn’t deny that she was thoroughly prepared.
Even though I still couldn’t understand why she went that far.
"Are you really okay with not sleeping?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just nap on the way. That’s what the self-driving feature is for! It’s such a great feature, it didn’t exist before... It’s such a sha. Right?"
"...What?"
It didn’t seem like just the driving was the problem.
I was doubtful if I could even hike the mountain with all this exhaustion.
But since Da-eun said it was fine, I nodded reluctantly.
"Alright, then let’s go!"
Da-eun exclaid energetically.
Of course, no answer followed.
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