Chapter 117 – Up (1)

I swallowed my saliva and checked the messenger that had arrived once again.

Just one letter floating on the cell phone screen.

That one letter made me break into a cold sweat without even realizing it.

She waited for two minutes, holding her phone, wondering if she would send another message.

No other messages came from Jiyeon Lee.

… Let’s calm down.

I already checked the message, and two minutes have passed.

I had to reply to anything as quickly as possible.

I secretly cursed the developer who added the message confirmation function and chose an emoticon that would be good to send when it was unclear to reply.

An emoticon of a cute character throwing a heart came to mind.

The number 1 did not appear next to the message.

When I saw that scene, I unconsciously raised my head and let out a deep sigh.

… You were watching.

It was natural, but I felt dizzy.

First, she felt like she had to leave the chat window before Jiyeon Lee sent her reply, so she was about to quickly touch her phone…

She was startled when she saw the phone screen flip and vibrate.

It was a call from Jiyeon Lee.

Unlike her body, which was tense and stiff, her head began to move like crazy.

… Just wait 10 seconds and receive it.

She took deep breaths repeatedly, measuring the time with the smartwatch on her wrist to make an excuse to get out of her drinking party and answer her phone.

After exactly 10 seconds, she put the phone to her ear and spoke as if nothing had happened.

“… Hello?”

[…]

Jiyeon Lee’s voice could not be heard.

“… Jiyeon?”

She seemed to faintly hear a brief gasp through the phone.

[… Where is it?]

Her voice was so cold that it seemed as if cold was coming out of the speaker.

… Let’s calm down, Kim Cho-in…, I’m doing this all for Jiyeon… !

She gathered her thoughts once again and continued her words slyly.

“… She came out for a moment and answered the phone. She said that the new actors were making a fuss about going to the second round, so she had no choice but to come along, and what did they drink…”

[I asked where you were.]

While she was casually spouting the lie she had concocted in an instant, Jiyeon Lee cut her off.

I was startled by Lee Ji-yeon’s cold tone, but once again, I gathered my thoughts and ignored his words.

“… Sorry, I’m near Cheongdam, I’ll be there soon…, If you’re tired, sleep first.”

Surprisingly, there were no lies this time.

[… If the date changes, and you come back, take care of it, I have something to do, so come quickly.]

“… Huh! Sorry for being late, I’ll get in as soon as possible… “I love you.”

After making a sound on the cell phone, the call was disconnected.

Fortunately, Jiyeon let it go without saying anything.

Even though I can provide photos and locations, I wondered what would happen if they made a video call, but fortunately they didn’t ask for anything like that.

She felt a little guilty for tricking Ji-yeon like that, but since she was doing this all for Ji-yeon, she thought there was nothing she could do and walked towards her convenience store.

While I was thinking about a drink to buy for Ga-eun, I suddenly heard Ji-yeon Lee’s last words.

… But what are you doing?

*

The sound of the lock being unlocked was heard.

I carefully opened the door and went in…

“… Huh?”

Baek Ga-eun was lying down on the porch.

Startled, he hurriedly approached her and shook her awake.

“Go, Ga-eun!! Baek Ga-eun!!”

When Baek Ga-eun was turned over, she was moaning softly with a pained expression on her face.

She wasn’t unconscious, but it seemed like she was having a nightmare.

It was only after holding Baek Ga-eun, who couldn’t wake up from her sleep, and trying to wake her up several times, that Baek Ga-eun’s eyes opened slightly.

I saw that her eyes were open and spoke urgently.

“Ga-eun, come to your senses…”

Baek Ga-eun, who opened her eyes while being held in her arms, rolled her eyes here and there and then looked at me.

There was a faint heat in Baek Ga-eun’s gaze as she looked at me without saying a word.

As I continued to talk to her and check on her condition, she whispered softly.

“… “Oppa.”

I held my breath and listened to little Baek Ga-eun, and as she stared into my eyes, she blinked several times and continued speaking in a faint voice. 〉

“… This…, It’s not a dream… ?”

I was a little embarrassed by Baek Ga-eun’s words.

Isn’t that what she said earlier when she fell asleep in the car and woke up?

I couldn’t tell if she just couldn’t believe that Baek Ga-eun was in my arms, or if she said this because she couldn’t tell the difference between a dream and reality.

I tried to hide my agitation and spoke carefully to Baek Ga-eun, who was looking at me.

“… It wasn’t a dream, why on earth were you passed out here…, Are you okay?”

Baek Ga-eun, who was quietly looking up at me, slowly stood up and told me that she was okay.

But it didn’t look good to me at all.

Her condition was so bad that she, who usually drinks a lot, appeared drunk and collapsed in the front door without even taking off her shoes.

When she thought about letting her into her house, she stretched out her hand to Baek Ga-eun’s leg and said,

“… “I’ll take off her shoes, just stay still.”

“Oh, brother, I have the shoes…” .”

I ignored her embarrassed words and grabbed her ankles and took off her sneakers.

Pretending not to notice Baek Ga-eun’s embarrassed reaction, he helped her and entered her house.

I made Baek Ga-eun sit on the living room sofa, fed her the electrolyte drink I bought, and sat next to her.

If my guess is correct, Baek Ga-eun seemed to have dreamed of her past again, and if that was true, the situation was quite serious.

As I guessed earlier, it means that she has nightmares that affect her reality every time she sleeps. If that’s the case, then she really thinks that she might soon completely regain her memories of the Demon Lord. 〉

… It can’t go on like this.

No matter what, I had to find a way, and in order to find her way, understanding Baek Ga-eun’s condition was a priority.

She glanced at Baek Ga-eun and saw that her body, which had been drenched in cold sweat, was shivering as if she was getting chills.

I gently placed my hand on Baek Ga-eun’s back and said,

“… Ga-eun.”

She flinched at my touch and answered quietly.

“… Yes.”

“… I want you to be honest… What on earth happened?”

Baek Ga-eun could not answer, and after hesitating for a while, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“… Lately, I haven’t been able to sleep.”

… It’s probably the influence of a dream.

“I wonder how long I haven’t slept…”

She hesitated for a moment and answered quietly.

“… “I didn’t sleep.”

“… Huh?”

… Not sleeping?

I couldn’t help but be shocked by Baek Ga-eun’s answer.

If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean that I spent the rest of the day without sleeping?

Before I knew it, she had lowered her head and was wriggling with her hands neatly placed on her legs.

I reached out to Baek Ga-eun’s hand, which was playing, and gently grabbed her hand, turned her body towards me, and spoke in the most friendly tone possible.

“… Is it by any chance a nightmare about me coming out?”

Still keeping her head down and avoiding my gaze, she answered in a faint voice.

“… Yes…”

… I didn’t sleep because I didn’t want to have nightmares.

The situation was not as good as I thought.

If Baek Ga-eun goes to bed, she has a nightmare, and if she doesn’t sleep, she doesn’t know when something like today will happen.

No matter whether she chooses to sleep or not, the vicious cycle will only repeat itself, so it won’t be long before Baek Ga-eun’s mind is ruined.

Without trying to show my agitated feelings, I moved my fingers and gently stroked Baek Ga-eun’s hand and said,

“… Ga-eun, if it’s okay…, Can you tell me what kind of dream it is… ?”

Baek Ga-eun seemed to think for a moment after hearing my words, and then she slowly raised her head and looked at me.

Her beautifully organized hair was disheveled and slightly covered her Baek Ga-eun’s eyes.

There was a strange fear in her gaze as she looked at me through her pure white hair.

She stared at me with her shaking eyes, hesitated several times, and then carefully opened her mouth.

“… Well, that…, With my brother… It was a dream of dating…”

Just as expected…, It was similar to the dream Hyeon Hayeon had.

It was similar to the past record of me being taken away by a hero, a saint, and an archmage, except that the demon king did not appear.

Baek Ga-eun, who finished her sentence slowly, suddenly started shaking her hands and slightly avoided my gaze.

“… Ga-eun?”

Baek Ga-eun was puzzled by her behavior and called her carefully, and she poured out her words as if she was having a fit.

“… I’m sorry, it was just a dream…, It’s not something that really happened…, Because I like it so much…, I can’t even get out…”

It wasn’t until she heard her apology that she came to her senses.

Only now did she understand what Baek Ga-eun was afraid of.

… Baek Ga-eun was worried that I would hate her.

Because I had drawn a line, I couldn’t do this or that, and I was devoting a lot of time to Hyeon Ha-yeon.

In that situation, Baek Ga-eun’s past dreams were too fatal.

In a situation where I was just watching the person I like move on to someone else, both in my dreams and in real life, and even though it would have been inconvenient for her to go crazy from extreme stress, I was so surprised that she conveyed her feelings for me, and at the same time, I felt so sad.〈 Br〉

I said, holding her hand tightly as if conveying my feelings.

“… No, Ga-eun, it’s okay.”

Maybe it was because she was stimulated by my comfort, but I pulled her into my arms and hugged her, even with tears in her eyes.

“Huh, oh, brother…, Ugh…”

When she came into my arms, she burst into tears and hugged me tightly, shedding all the tears she had been holding back.

“… It’s okay, it’s okay…”

To soothe her, I gently stroked her and soothed her…

…

…

When she came to her senses, she was sitting facing Baek Ga-eun, holding her hand.

… Huh?