“If it were me, I’d always stay by the protagonist’s side.”
Why does he have to look at me when he says things like that?
It really felt like he was saying it to me, and I almost got touched.
Ban Eun-hyeol was the first to stand up and head outside, speaking as he went.
When I looked at the screen, I realized the movie had already ended, and the ending credits were rolling.
“Did I make a mistake suggesting we watch a movie?”
Because I was watching Hero Water, I ended up hearing my friends’ opinions, which I hadn’t expected.
I’d always been curious how they’d react if something similar to my situation happened to them, but I didn’t think I’d hear it like this.
“Still, I’m glad I listened.”
Even though it wasn’t everything, at least I learned that they might actually listen to me instead of just criticizing.
Just knowing that made me feel a little more at ease.
Maybe it’s because I want more, but hearing them say they wouldn’t distance themselves from me makes me think it might be okay to share my secret.
I quickly shook my head to get rid of those dangerous thoughts and ate my lunch.
With the conversation from the theatre and all the complicated thoughts, I honestly couldn’t tell if my food was going down my nose or my mouth.
“Dan-a, Dan-a, why can’t you eat today?”
Han Ji-bin, who was sitting next to me, asked with concern.
He must’ve noticed how little I’d been picking at my food.
“Maybe it’s because your house is so big and echoey? It’s unfamiliar, so I can’t eat.”
I joked around as I quietly set my spoon down.
I wanted to eat more, but I had a bad feeling I’d get indigestion if I did.
Just then, Yeon Ha-yeon, who had been listening, suddenly leaned over from across the table.
“So when you couldn’t eat much at my house, was that because of the same thing?”
Her words made me remember the time I went to Yeon Ha-yeon’s place.
Back then, we weren’t very close, and I’d gotten dragged along almost by accident.
The intimidating atmosphere made it impossible to eat.
“Especially those fingernails…”
I was about to take a big spoonful of doenjang jjigae when I suddenly remembered the moment I saw the picture frame across from me.
If I recall, it was a frame with blood-stained fingernails on display.
The shock of it made me lose my appetite back then.
Thinking about it now, my appetite disappeared all over again.
“Your house is… surprising in a lot of ways.”
I brushed it off and drank only water.
I felt like I shouldn’t eat anything else.
After the meal, my bad feeling about getting indigestion quickly became reality.
“How much did you even eat to get indigestion? Good grief.”
Ban Eun-hyeol handed me some digestive medicine, scolding me.
I managed a weak smile, my face turning pale.
“You used to eat so much for someone with such a small body, I always wondered where it all went.”
“Yeah. Dan-a, weren’t you always the one who ate the most out of all of us?”
“If you get indigestion from eating so little, it’s a good thing you didn’t eat more.”
They must’ve seen how much I usually ate to be this concerned.
Worried about how pale I looked, my friends told me to lie down and rest for a bit.
I saw them off as they headed to the game room and lay down on the guest room bed, my mind swirling with all sorts of thoughts.
‘I should just get some sleep.’
Maybe it’d be better to nap and clear my head. I closed my eyes.
I wonder how much time passed.
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
Knock, knock—
“Are you asleep? Can I come in?”
Ban Eun-hyeol’s careful voice came from outside.
I opened my eyes halfway and looked at the door, calling out for him to come in.
The door opened, and Ban Eun-hyeol peeked inside before walking in slowly when he saw me lying down.
“Is your stomach feeling any better?”
“Eh, so-so. I guess I need to wait a bit more for the medicine to work.”
“How do you get indigestion from eating so little?”
Not sure if he was worried or scolding me, I gave him a sullen look.
Ban Eun-hyeol clicked his tongue and looked away.
But instead of leaving after checking on me, he kept hesitating like he wanted to say something.
Just as I was about to tell him to spit it out if he had something to say, he finally spoke.
“Uh. So… how did things go with Do Ihyeon?”
“With Do Ihyeon? Ah, right.”
He seemed curious about what happened after he left me at the aquarium.
Why is he so obsessed with my conversations with Do Ihyeon?
I don’t even know how many times he’s asked about the important things Do Ihyeon and I have talked about.
‘Since he asked how it went, I’ll just tell him the result.’
If he asks about the details, I’ll have to tell him to stop asking.
Thinking that, I recalled the conversation I had with Do Ihyeon that day.
“No matter what you are, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“You trust me?”
Yeah.
Thinking back, those were really reassuring words.
Whether it was saying my identity didn’t matter, or that he trusted me.
I summarized the conversation for Ban Eun-hyeol, who looked anxious.
“It went well. It ended better than I expected.”
“It went well?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Suddenly, Ban Eun-hyeol’s expression darkened even more than before.
He froze in place, his pupils shaking, then started pacing around the room like a nervous puppy.
“Hey, say something!”
“You two… are you dating, then?”
“Huh? With who? Me and Do Ihyeon?”
Even though my question was full of disbelief, Ban Eun-hyeol nodded stiffly.
“Why would I date him? Where did you get that idea?”
As I denied it, Ban Eun-hyeol’s face brightened instantly.
I had no idea where he’d gotten such a ridiculous question, and all I could do was laugh.
Now that I think about it, every time I said I had something important to talk about with Do Ihyeon, Ban Eun-hyeol always reacted badly.
“Wait, did you misunderstand when I said I had something important to talk about with him?”
“How could I not? The situation looked like it.”
“What situation?”
“Isn’t going to the aquarium together, just the two of you, basically a date?”
I was at a loss for words at Ban Eun-hyeol’s question.
Honestly, I can’t say the thought never crossed my mind.
But it wasn’t that I thought of meeting him as a date; I was just worried that all the female students at the aquarium would see us and misunderstand.
I was so dumbfounded I could only gape.
Even if it could be seen as a date, why was Ban Eun-hyeol so concerned?
So what if it was a date?
So what if it wasn’t?
“Then what about when you brought ice cream and we ate it together in front of my house? We sat on the swing, just the two of us. Was that a date, too?”
“Uh…”
Ban Eun-hyeol, who had seemed a little upset earlier, now looked completely flabbergasted.
He just opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, then finally blurted out,
“Does that really count as a date?!”
“By your logic, it could.”
“How do you feel about it?”
He stammered, asking me in a much softer voice than before.
I wondered why he was acting so strange today, but I just answered casually.
“Me? Of course it’s not a date.”
Maybe because he’d been so emotional today, he just nodded and left the room after leaving a short message.
“Okay, get some sleep. Call me when you feel better. I’ll come get you.”
With Ban Eun-hyeol’s last words, the door closed quietly.
It had been so noisy just a moment ago, but now that it was suddenly quiet, my eyelids started to droop.
I soon fell into a deep sleep.
***
Time really flew by like an arrow.
After spending an amazing two days at Ban Eun-hyeol’s house, it was finally a regular weekday afternoon.
The Blood Scent Guild’s lounge, which had been quiet for a while, was bustling with guild members again.
“Finally, the boss is back in action.”
“You have no idea how boring it was during exam season. I need to see the boss’s exploits every day.”
“I even brought a camera this time so I can record it properly. I’ll keep it forever.”
What’s with this atmosphere?
Other than brief greetings, this was the first time I’d gathered and chatted with all the guild members, but it was nothing like I expected.
Yeon Hyeonggwang called Yeon Ha-yeon the boss, and since Yeon Ha-yeon had experience ruling as a boss, I thought it would feel like some kind of gangster organization.
But this wasn’t a strict hierarchy—it was more like…
‘Is this a Yeon Ha-yeon fan club meeting?’
Did I accidentally walk into a fan club instead of a guild meeting?
Was today’s gathering not for guild members but for fans?
I glanced at Yeon Ha-yeon to see how she’d react to all this, but she seemed used to it and didn’t show any special response.
“Time to go out and kill things again.”
She only said those chilling words as if it were nothing.
“Yeah, that’s Yeon Ha-yeon for you. I wish it was vacation forever.”
One guild member, looking deeply moved, started fangirling, but quickly shut up under Yeon Ha-yeon’s fierce glare.
‘Telling someone who lives for studying that you wish vacation lasted forever…’
Yeon Ha-yeon was probably just hoping to finish senior year and go off to university as soon as possible.
“Wait a second…”
Suddenly, a wave of anxiety washed over me.
-Of course, Yeon Ha-yeon will go to Seoul National University, and the others are all good students too, so they’ll probably go somewhere similar…
And me?
Just as exam season ended and I was about to start full-fledged guild activities, I was suddenly hit with a sense of crisis about my grades.
Clap clap—
Clap clap
“Alright, first I’ll give a quick briefing on the items we won at our guild’s auction.”
Just then, Yeon Ha-yeon’s clapping brought my drifting mind back to the present as she began to talk about the guild’s upcoming schedule.
The guild members, who’d just been joking around, immediately became attentive.
My first dungeon raid with them was scheduled for exactly one week later.
During that week, I got used to the Blood Scent Guild and worked on getting in sync with the other members.
Unlike the days when I had to be careful hiding my identity, now that I could use my whole body, the days passed quickly.
On the day of my very first dungeon raid, I was practically kidnapped by Yeon Ha-yeon first thing in the morning and dragged to the entrance of the dungeon.