Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Again, it was hard to completely dismiss it as mere baseless rumors, as there were about seven of them who came. That was what it seemed like. It was maybe back when I was in my 3rd year of middle school.

“I guess you could say I won.”

There was a fight. It wasn’t anything remarkable, just the usual scuffles among children our age. It ended quickly because the security guard came before anything could happen.

Still, could I say I had won since I had managed to knock down at least three of them? Back then, I was overflowing with youthful vigor.

– “Did you win against Jungyeong too?”

Was this another probing about whether I had hit him?

I scratched the back of my head wondering what to say. No matter how you look at it, how could I beat a child? Of course, I couldn’t claim that I had convinced him with words alone. It was true that I had unintentionally intimidated him.

“What’s with all the winning and losing talk?”

– “Then why would Jungyeong apologize to me? The other children only talk about how good senior is at fighting.”

“They’re always talking about fights. With several dan ranks I can at least handle high school students. There’s something called experience that comes with age.”

I had 10 years of experience, and it would be really unreasonable to put me in the same conversation as a teenager. Furthermore, I now had the fitness of a 19-year-old.

– “Senior is only a year older than me but always talks about the difference in age.”

“Just wait until you’re in your 3rd year of high school. There’s a big difference.”

Although I had passed it off nonchalantly, Cha Yeowoon made a disgruntled noise. It was strangely cute how he pouted.

– “If you’re not going to give me a straight answer, fine. I’m going to sleep.”

“Cha Yeowoon, are you upset?”

– “I need to go to bed early for training in the morning.”

It hadn’t even been a few days since the award, but he seemed to be returning to training right away. It was natural for an athlete to lose form if they took a week off, but nevertheless, I felt sorry for him.

“Take it easy. Try to take care of your body.”

– “…You’re talking like a grandmother even in moments like this.”

“What? Hey, what do you mean grandmother…”

Before I could properly protest, the call was abruptly disconnected.

“Ah, this child.”

While mumbling about the disconnected call, a response came from somewhere else.

[ Calculating Cha Yeowoon’s favorability. ]

All of a sudden…

Nevertheless, when the alarm sounded, my expectations rose.

Really? Maybe? Last time, it jumped from negative 20 to negative 10 in one shot, so would it suddenly go to zero now? Then we could start going to school together starting tomorrow.

[ Favorability: -7 ]

The number that appeared was cold as if to mock my expectations.

“The favorability only went up by 3 points?”

Cheap. Cha Yeowoon, a real cheapskate.

In front of me, who had burst into a hollow laugh out of disbelief, along with the familiar sound effect, another message appeared.

[ Mission: Make Cha Yeowoon happy. ]

Up to this point, it was a familiar message.

However, the message didn’t end there.

[ Penalty: Death ]

“Hm?”

Suddenly, one more line was added.

[ Remaining Time: 300 days ]

“Huh?”

And another line.

“What?”

Dumbfounded, I reached out toward the transparent window that had appeared. Of course, my hand just went through it as if I had touched a projected image.

“Am I going to die?”

It was currently April, and 300 days would be 10 months. Roughly February.

An incredulous sigh escaped my lips. What was this?

Were my days numbered?

* * *

[ Favorability: -7 ]

Cha Yeowoon was cold.

Like most rooftop apartments, his place was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. When it was cold outside, it felt even colder inside, and when it was scorching hot outside, the apartment was like an oven.

The rooftop room was freezing cold in early April. At night, there was a draft and he had to wrap himself in a blanket.

It seemed colder because he was alone in a home where two used to live. He had always been sensitive to the cold, so his grandmother would always make sure to provide him with extra knitted socks and an electric blanket.

However, the cheap electric blanket had broken a few weeks ago, and today the wind was particularly harsh. He layered two blankets and prepared to sleep.

“Goodnight.”

He said goodnight to a photo of his grandmother as he covered himself with the blankets. The silence that followed felt cold.

As he huddled beneath the blankets, his phone, which he had placed near his bed, vibrated. A text had come through from one of the few contacts he had saved.

The sender appeared on the popup. It was his senior, Tae Myeongha. He had wondered why he had even bothered saving this person’s number after finding it in the teachers’ office yesterday. Why had he gone to such lengths? Thinking back to the person running away from him, heat welled up inside him.

[Tae Myeongha] : Goodnight, Yeowoon^^

Below the text was an emoji of an animal falling asleep under the covers.

“A rabbit? Doesn’t really suit him.”

He smiled as he continued to scroll down and at the thought of sending something cute.

In the darkness, he stared at the softly glowing screen before slowly closing his eyes. Somehow, the electric blanket against his back felt warmer than before.

He didn’t think it was so bad.

That there was someone to say goodnight to before bed.

* * *

Negative 7.

It was truly an ambiguous number.

As if both good and bad things could happen. Yet, it was too early to feel relieved.

Did the ominous word ‘death’ literally mean death? What would happen if I died here?

Would I return to the world I originally belonged to? That was a possibility, but I didn’t want to test it.

Furthermore, even if I could truly go back, I couldn’t leave Cha Yeowoon like this.

“Haa…”

“If you sigh, your good luck will escape.”

“It’s not good luck; it’s your grandson’s life, Grandma.”

My grandmother had said a sudden change meant that the person’s days were numbered. Maybe that had been foreshadowing? She would frequent the shaman house, could she have brought back something unclean? When I stared at her with dubious thoughts, her face crumbled.

“Why are you talking nonsense again at the dining table?”

Afraid she might hit me with a spoon, I quickly served the rice. The food I had cooked today was delicious. There was a sense of fulfillment in preparing the meals at the table.

“Did you say Grandpa was your first love, Grandma?”

“What nonsense is that all of a sudden?”

“At some point, Grandma fell for Grandpa. When was the moment the affection meter shot up and the determination to get married struck?”

Ask an adult around you if you didn’t know something. I did what I was taught as a child.

I thought my grandmother would tell me to stop talking nonsense, but when I brought up Grandpa, her eyes became deep.

“When the 6.25 War was happening, your Grandpa brought refugees all the way here one night. He appeared on our backyard wall the next morning.”

“6.25 War?”

“That was when the war was approaching our neighborhood. It was beyond words. I heard that in the neighborhood above ours, their eldest was shot and killed.”

“He got shot?”

“So with the sound of gunfire coming from the village entrance, your Grandpa grabbed my hand from the wall that morning…”

“Grandma. I’ll just hear the rest some other time. I have to go to school.”

As much as my life was at stake, a wartime romance involving gunfire seemed a bit too much.

The problem was asking my grandmother in the first place. I wasn’t going to date Cha Yeowoon, so why would a first-love encounter matter?

After swiftly washing the dishes and brushing my teeth, I grabbed my bag and contemplated my situation.

To avoid dying in February of next year, I needed to increase Cha Yeowoon’s favorability.

But now, bad things would happen whenever I was close to him.

I had thought about various strategies, but for now, I had one plan.

The so-called if-you-can’t-meet-in-person-send-your-feelings-by-text, Dokidoki Dove of Love tactic.

As soon as I got on the bus, I texted Cha Yeowoon.

[Tae Myeongha] : Good morning ㅎ

[Tae Myeongha] : Yeowoon^^ Did you sleep well?

I checked my phone, but there was no reply. As expected of Cha Yeowoon, it wasn’t easy.

[Tae Myeongha] : I’m in class now

[Tae Myeongha] : Enjoy your class~

I sent a text even while sitting in the classroom. As expected, Cha Yeowoon didn’t reply. I didn’t know if it was fortunate or not that I kept checking my phone repeatedly.

“Oh, why didn’t he reply?”

Yesterday, he sent me a text first, so why? I hadn’t ignored him, so why was he ignoring me? Was sending texts too old fashioned? Was this not how teenagers communicate these days?

What was I like when I was 19? Back then, it was all texting. And even then, I wasn’t on friendly terms with my friends.

I had no choice but to ask children that were Cha Yeowoon’s age. At least I didn’t have to risk my life confessing to him as an army descended to get his attention.

“Gyeonghun, how do you communicate with your friends?”

Ahn Gyeonghun was the only peer I could ask. He, who still shrunk his shoulders when I pulled up a chair next to his desk, opened his mouth while hesitating.

“I-I don’t have any friends…”

Ahn Gyeonghun’s cheeks reddened.

A sudden sense of embarrassment shook my conscience. Did I inadvertently bully him just now?

“You have me, me.”

Friends. Him and I. We were friends. Just in case he was scared, I smiled brightly and pointed back and forth between him and myself.

His pupils shook as if there was an earthquake. Did I make another mistake? In the context of the back and forth, it should have meant we were friends…right? Right?

“Let’s exchange numbers.”

I handed Ahn Gyeonghun my phone, not really caring, and he took it with trembling hands.

He politely typed his eleven digits. As I saved it, I felt slightly awkward. I had somehow ended up getting Ahn Gyeonghun’s number instead of trying to figure out how to target Cha Yeowoon.

“Are you really okay with being friends with someone like me?”

“Why? Do I need a license to be your friend? Sorry. I do have a driver license, but there’s no Gyeonghun friend license.”

“Th-That’s not it, it’s weird that you want to be friends with someone like me.”

“Don’t say that.”

I blurted out without thinking. My voice was deep, and my pronunciation was strong due to my grandmother’s influence. At times it would sound blunt even to my own ears. Ahn Gyeonghun was practically petrified.

“No, I’m not mad…You shouldn’t say that about yourself like that. Others will look down on you. Even if others aren’t a problem, you shouldn’t think of yourself that way.”

I felt embarrassed after saying something so cliché. If I had said this at my original age and not in my school uniform, he would have accused me of being old-fashioned.

Still, it was important to have at least one person in your life who could tell you these trivial things.

Whenever someone uttered these embarrassing clichés, though it might seem like nagging, it had a way of prompting deep reflection. That was how it was for me.

“If anyone bullies you, let me know. We’re friends.”

Feeling embarrassed, I handed back the phone and added a recovery message. Now not only Ahn Gyeonghun’s ears but his entire face seemed to be red.

Oh, the atmosphere was weird.

“Anyway, did I send the texts without much room to reply?”

I was about to show Ahn Gyeonghun the texts, but before I could, the alarm went off.

[ 20m to Love Supremacy Zone. ]

It was Cha Yeowoon.