Chapter 177: The Art of not getting hurt in a Conversation
The humiliation stopped her sobbing voice. Afterwards, the rabbit mask didn’t say anything and the rehearsal thus ca to an end.
‘So ti or other’ beca Kaeul’s song.
On the way ho, the kids congratulated Kaeul and noisily praised her, or cursed the rabbit mask. Whenever Yeorum displayed her discontentnt, Gyeoul showed her agreent while Kaeul smiled like a puppy.
However, she sotis turned blank, seemingly worrying about sothing. It was probably related to Jung Yuran.
The Regressor pondered whether he should have a 1-on-1 chat with her or not. If he were to have a chat, it would be in a way that would change her life a little, so he had to be prudent.
In the dormitory, he continued thinking on the sofa when Bom walked up and sat next to him.
“What are you thinking about?”
“About Kaeul.”
“Ah…”
“Bom. Can I ask you sothing.”
“Yes.”
“Should I say it or not.”
Bom widened her eyes.
The question was way too out of context. It might be that Bom felt like an answer sheet for the Regressor.
“What kind of question is that?”
“What would you choose if you had to choose one.”
“You have to say it.”
“Why.”
“Because no-one will know if you don’t say anything.”
“It might be better for to not say it though.”
“…”
Lifting her face up, she stared at the ceiling. It was unclear whether she was thinking about sothing or looking into Providence, but she remained silent for so ti.
“Do you trust ?” Breaking through the silence, she asked.
“Of course.”
“Can you trust us?”
He needed to think about this question a bit, but after thinking about it, he realised that now he could.
“I can.”
“What if I’m wrong? I can’t always be correct either.”
“It’s fine if you’re wrong. I won’t be blaming anything on you.”
“So everything will be your responsibility, ahjussi?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Bom looked at him with a slight pout before opening her mouth with a sigh.
“I think, it’s better for you to say it.”
“Really?”
“Nn… if you’re worried, please console her. If she has to change, please help her and if you treasure her, please give her a quiet hug. That will be the best thing to do. I think.”
Apparently, so green dragons tended to live like a soothsayer in Askalifa. Perhaps that was why, but although the words were like a riddle, the Regressor felt slightly more certain.
“Thanks.”
***
“Hehe. Chirp chirp~”
Chirp chirp!
An afternoon walk with the baby chicken. When Kaeul and the baby chicken were leaving the house for a walk, he followed them outside.
Sitting on a bench, they stared at the setting sun painting the world in orange.
“Did sothing happen? Why did you want to co with us?”
When it was ti to rest after walking for a long ti, the blonde pair of eyes turned towards him.
“Because there was sothing I needed to tell you.”
“Nn? What is it?”
Looking back,
The Gold Dragon of the 4th iteration was also a child. A child that didn’t know anything, that debuted at the age of 18.
The show business in the US was rather rough. Interpersonal relationships there couldn’t even be compared to Lair. Before her na value increased in size, there were questions about a casting couch and after she beca famous, people tried to bring her down.
Unlike hostile comnts that were always shared through the dia, interpersonal strifes tended to happen near her for a set period of ti and the young 18-year old BY used to cry very often.
He could rember her sobbing, ‘I don’t understand why everyone is doing this to ,’ to the counsellor.
However, BY continued contemplating interpersonal relationships by herself. She pondered it and later fixed her words and her attitude. By the ti she reached 25, she wasn’t easily hurt by others when dealing with other people.
She had grown after countless wounds, events and contemplations.
“Can you hold my hand.”
Yu Jitae reached out to the child. Holding hands was sothing a little bit more special to the dragons so a question mark appeared in her eyes.
“Your skin is too rough though…”
“Just hold it for a bit.”
“Okayy…!”
While carrying the baby chicken in one hand, she held his hand with the other hand. Slowly and naturally, the dragon’s mana started seeping into his body and he didn’t stop it.
“Are you worried?” he asked.
“About wat?”
“Her. Jung Yuran.”
“Ah…”
She nodded.
“Yes… a little bit.”
“Because of what she might say?”
“Yes. I didn’t do anything wrong… but… I, did trust her.”
“…”
“Even though now I know that she’s not my friend, there’s still the feeling of betrayal… instead of getting mad, I want to run away if possible.”
The ground hardens after the rain. Only after accepting countless roots that try to pierce into them can people turn strong enough and learn the art of not getting hurt in a conversation.
If she wanted to live on, she had to learn it. Without a doubt, she would cry a lot and feel very hurt like BY.
However, the Regressor didn’t want her to feel such things again. Therefore, he was planning on cheating a little.
“I’ll tell you a story about a girl I know.”
“A girl? Who is it?”
“No need to know. Anyway, she was a softhearted girl. She cried while talking to other people and couldn’t sleep at night after getting swore at.”
“Hehe. She had a weak ntality I guess.”
“She did.”
Yu Jitae brought back the mories of that ti. Her conflict with the manager and the conflict with the company. Conflicts with fans that crossed the line and male singers that had vulgar thoughts. Conflicts with jealous older singers; conflicts with the song writer, choreographer, the vocal coach.
– Sit. I’m telling you to sit.
– Don’t you understand? What I, your employer, is saying?
– Or are you looking down on as well?
As well as the conflict with him.
Although she did go astray a little in the end, BY was very good at forming relationships both on the stage and behind the curtains. Not a single blemish was found from her until her parrot made a mistake.
But that also ant that the dia created false rumours and spread them to push a normal person down the drain.
“…”
With a vacant look on her face, Kaeul imrsed herself into his story. Since she got absorbed in his mories and emotions, Kaeul was able to accept the story despite the Regressor’s words being all over the place.
When the story finally ended, Kaeul asked him with a blank-minded look on her face.
“Who is, that girl…?”
He let go of the child’s hand.
“Just soone I know. Why?”
“I feel so sorry for her…”
“Do you?”
“Yes. She’s pitiful and… it must have been rough…”
She patted the baby chicken that was dozing off. Her imrsion was revealed behind her bright expression and Yu Jitae could see a reflection of the child from back then, which he had long forgotten.
In any case, he had to tie a firm knot right now.
“Can you promise sothing?”
“Sorry?”
“What you’re feeling right now. Don’t bring it back lightheartedly.”
“Uhh… this is a very burdenso emotion so I don’t think I can do that anyway but… then when should I bring it back?”
“When soone is trying to hurt you, or when you have to sincerely say sothing to soone else. Otherwise, you shouldn’t reflect on what you’re feeling right now. Okay?”
In response to his words, Kaeul stared at him with a blank expression. She then slightly lowered her head diagonally.
A condescending gaze and a decadent smile appeared on her face.
Soon, she opened her mouth.
“…Why should I?”
***
“Ayat!”
After receiving a flick to her forehead, she chuckled out loud. “Was that obvious? It was a joke, a joke…! I’ll promise!” She said while lifting her pinky finger. Although he found such things aningless, Yu Jitae still wrapped his little finger around her pinky.
Yu Jitae started paying more attention to Kauel after that, but she was the sa as always and also regained her bright smile like before.
But that didn’t an that she could avoid the inevitable event.
One day, there was a ssage from the society that wanted everyone to gather. Kaeul had to go to the club room and Yu Jitae decided to follow from a distance.
What was to co had co and Kaeul looked slightly anxious on the way there. After arriving at the club room, she was t with Jung Yuran who was chatting with other cadets.
He stood far off in the corridor and stared at the two of them.
He was slightly worried. The pressure felt from a conflict with another person. Being betrayed by a trusted friend, and being put in a situation where she might get hurt even more. Even if she imrsed herself in BY, would she be able to properly deal with it?
Yu Jitae watched with the mindset that he would imdiately leave with her if anything went wrong.
‘You’re right. It was .’
However, the mont Kaeul opened her mouth and the confident expression from the past appeared on her face, his worry disappeared.
Jung Yuran’s expression turned sharp like a blade.
‘You… I didn’t know you were like that. I’m really disappointed, Yu Kaeul.’
She must have said sothing already to the other friends, and the other cadets also didn’t look very comfortable.
‘Then you must have been looking down on a lot whenever I made you sing? Is that what you like doing? Making other people a fool?’
‘What are you saying. When did I do that?’
Perhaps because Kaeul’s expression was unusual and different, people watched with a questioning gaze.
‘I didn’t like you from the start. You should stop acting pretty and foolish. Did you think no-one knew how you were swinging your tail to the boys?’
Jung Yuran seed to be thinking that it was the ti to say everything and revealed everything that was on her mind. However, Kaeul was smiling – it was a scoff as if she knew it all along.
‘I knew it. I just found out how your mind was dirty, but I was a little bit surprised,’ said Kaeul.
‘What?’
It was very obvious now but Kaeul was strange. The cadets that were watching from the side with nervousness also widened their eyes. Her bright tone of voice was still there but that instead made it feel even more bizarre.
‘You didn’t like from the start? Don’t you think it was you who had the victim mindset instead of swinging my tail?’
‘Yu Kaeul. Stop saying nonsense. What do you even know?’
‘Ahh, I see, so that was why. You made sing because you wanted to force into sothing you were good at and look down on ? How sad…’
‘You.’
‘I’m sorry. It’s because I’m not good at reading the mood. If I was, I would have kept on pretending to be a bad singer for you.’
‘You–! Can you shut your mouth?’
‘Stop shouting. Or your mother in heaven might hear it.’
Kaeul’s sudden words that even cursed Jung Yuran’s mother caused the friends to cover their mouths in shock. ‘I think that’s going too far, Kaeul…’ said one of them.
‘Oh so you guys don’t know anything? About what happened between and her at the PR departnt?’
‘Shut up. I told you to shut up!’
She shouted.
‘Listen guys. So what happened two days ago is…’
‘Yu Kaeul! Why are you doing this to …! What, what did I do wrong!!’
It was unclear whether she was out of her mind or embarrassed, but Jung Yuran crouched and started weeping out loud.
Yu Jitae didn’t know why she was suddenly like that, but Kaeul knew instinctively after imrsing herself deeply into soone else, that Jung Yuran was crying intentionally.
‘Kaeul. What happened to you today.’
‘Calm down first… Yuran’s crying…’
‘I think you are both getting too emotional.’
Suddenly, the atmosphere started making Kaeul the bad one. However, it was nothing more than a child’s play to BY who had to survive between the cracks of strong-willed won in the past.
Drop–!
Kaeul threw her drink over the crying girl’s head.
‘Can you guys please step aside? Unless you want to see go crazy.’
The plastic bottle crumpled and the drink splattered. Six other girls that were inside the club room were flustered and didn’t know what to do.
Before they ca to themselves, Kaeul approached the crying child and crouched near her. She then whispered into her ears.
‘Yuran. Should I tell you a secret?’
‘Back then, I was actually recording everything with my watch.’
‘Do you see my left wrist?’
A startled gaze suddenly turned towards Kaeul’s wrist through the gaps between the fingers that were covering her face. Her sobbing voice also ca to a stop. The screen was dark but upon closer inspection, she realised that everything was being recorded even now.
The dumbfounded gaze looked up and t the gold pair of condescending eyes.
Kaeul stared at her with an indifferent expression before whispering into her ears yet again.
‘Half a year is not a short ti right?’
‘Don’t you have a lot of friends that love to blabber. Like you.’
‘Then who do you think I should give the recording to?’
When Jung Yuran raised her head again, she found a pair of pitying eyes looking down at her.
‘Leave the club.’
‘And give up on the singing contest.’
‘Don’t co ever again, unless you want to beco miserable.’
Jung Yuran lowered her hands and there was a look of stupefaction on her face. With an indecent smile, Kaeul placed her lips near her ears and gave her a kiss.
‘It was fun.’
*
“Uhh… I must have been crazy… Like, like…! I wasn’t thinking of saying such shocking things, you know?!”
On the way back, Kaeul jumped up and down.
“What should I do? Ahjussi, don’t you also think I was being too harsh…?!”
“No. You did well.”
“Whaat? I did well? I said super harsh things to her…!”
The Regressor patted her gold hair. anwhile, the baby chicken kept babbling on and on and repeatedly asked if it was okay or not, and he kept telling her that it was fine.
He was completely uninterested in whether others got hurt or not.
He wanted Kaeul to be unhurt,
And today, she didn’t get hurt.
“Next ti, give them a slap as well.”
The Regressor was therefore satisfied.
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