I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 187: Because that’s romance (1)

It’s not unusual for some people to have dinner early.

Da-eun, who had left the house relatively early, well before noon, returned home only after lunch time had long passed.

And she came back with Yuki.

The moment she stepped inside, Da-eun let out a deep sigh and headed straight for the kitchen.

“Did you eat well while I was gone?”

“Yeah.”

“Heh. Our Kana’s all grown up.”

“...”

Worried that I might not be Korean, Da-eun first asked about the meal, then opened the fridge and pulled out three bottles of drinks.

She handed one to Yuki, one to me, and twisted the cap off the remaining bottle, gulping it down in one go— gulp gulp —and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Ahhh..."

After finishing the drink in an instant, she noticed the drink in my hand that still hadn’t been opened and asked me:

“Want me to open it for you?”

“No.”

Clink!

Like the others before me, I twisted off the cap and brought it to my mouth. A strong orange scent wafted up.

Instead of chugging it, I sipped from it, and Da-eun, who had been watching me, smiled faintly.

What could be so amusing?

“Why are you smiling?”

I asked, pouting, but Da-eun only kept smiling without answering.

And now, even Yuki was staring at me intensely.

“Is it funny?”

“Hah! The bad-girl Kana... Ugh, my high school PTSD...”

“Shudder. So scary.”

“Yuki, you should definitely avoid acting.”

“....”

After hearing Da-eun’s words, Yuki’s expression seemed to darken slightly.

She probably wasn’t actually trying to act, so it was probably just my imagination, but still...

She’d read a Korean textbook with more sincerity than that; there was no way she was acting.

“....”

As I muttered, Yuki’s expression grew even darker.

“...Kana, you really went too far this time.”

“...Me?”

What did I do?

Da-eun pointed at me with her finger, nodding with a resolute face.

Then she told me I should apologize to Yuki.

“Ah, sorry...?”

Since Da-eun spoke so sternly, I apologized absentmindedly, not even knowing what I did wrong.

...But what did I actually do wrong?

Da-eun didn’t give me an answer.

I gave up, took a sip from the drink, and when the bottle was almost empty, I finally spoke.

“So, what happened?”

I knew there wasn’t a big issue, but the extent of what I knew was just that.

“I handled it smoothly. Although I’m not sure if he’d think it was smooth.”

“I think it was smooth enough. If we showed him the taste of a fist, he wouldn’t dare approach again.”

“That’s too violent... As civilized people, shouldn’t we use the law instead of our fists?”

“...”

“Don’t think of it as ‘really?’”

Da-eun had clearly read Yuki’s changing expressions.

After a brief exchange of teasing between Da-eun and Yuki, Da-eun cleared her throat and then calmly began explaining what had happened.

“...That’s how it went.”

Da-eun finished her story.

“Hm.”

I fiddled with the empty bottle, though the contents were long gone, and the faint chill on the surface remained.

It really was smooth.

...That was my thought after hearing the whole story.

Here’s what Da-eun had explained:

The man who took our pictures and posted them online eventually confessed that he had been stalking us after being pressured by the residents.

However, during this process, it was revealed that he had taken pictures of Yuki and other residents as well, so just confessing didn’t absolve him from the criticism.

Da-eun forgave him under the condition that he delete the post and write an admission of the manipulation of the post.

When I asked if there was a reason to forgive him, she answered:

“I just wanted to handle it quietly... I know it sounds strange to say this after making a big deal out of it.”

Well, she said that.

Even though it was noisy in real life, the goal was to quietly handle it on the internet as though nothing had happened.

So, she had him write the post and promised to forgive him once he signed an agreement to never repeat such behavior again.

“If things get tricky, I have the recordings.”

Da-eun shook her phone.

“And I’m the one who forgave him, not anyone else, so he’ll be too busy dealing with this to think of anything else for a while.”

“Hmm. He was really about to be torn to pieces.”

“...When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound like a joke.”

“It wasn’t a joke?”

“...Anyway, Kana. Solving everything by force isn’t the best approach. Have you heard of 'soft power'? It means that gentleness can overcome even the strongest force. Sometimes, persuading people with kindness is better than coercively punishing them. In fact, our country’s law is based on rehabilitation.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“You look like you have some complaints.”

“I don’t have any complaints.”

I only had some small questions.

But even those were cleared up as Da-eun explained, so I was fine.

Da-eun smiled brightly at my answer.

“That’s a relief!”

“So, are we going back to the gym now?”

Just as our conversation was about to end, Yuki, who had been anxiously waiting by the side, suddenly interrupted.

“I was bored being by myself. There’s so much I want to ask.”

“You’re something...”

“Da-eun, you should learn from this.”

“...Huh? Am I weird?!”

Da-eun, looking shocked, turned to me after hearing my comment and was startled.

“Of all things, Yuki is better at training than you.”

“Mm-mm.”

“Is it really that so...?”

“No, ‘is it really?’ It’s a fact. ...Well, she’s definitely improved a lot compared to before.”

“It feels like I’m being given medicine with poison... But that was a compliment, right?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s fine then.”

With a light remark, Da-eun stretched her body.

As her stiff joints cracked, a scream escaped her mouth, and at the same time, she let out a scream of her own.

“It’s all because you don’t exercise.”

“I do enough!”

Da-eun, who had been irritated by Yuki’s words, suddenly turned her gaze.

She looked at me, then at Yuki, then back to me again before lowering her head.

“I want to say it's comfortable, but I can’t say that in front of these two. Is this what it feels like being stuck in the middle of a gang’s tattoo?”

“Hang in there.”

“Don’t comfort me... If I need comforting, I want Kana to comfort me.”

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She gave me a glance filled with quiet expectation.

Of course, I wasn’t going to respond to that look.

It wasn’t even something worth comforting.

Instead, I ignored Da-eun’s pout and got lost in my thoughts.

‘...I feel like I’m forgetting something.’

It wasn’t that important, but it didn’t feel like something I could forget so easily.

A strange feeling.

“Kana?”

“...”

“Hey~ Kana? Can you hear me?”

“...”

“Want a snack? Want some chocolate?”

“...Do you really think I’m a dog?”

“I told you earlier, I’m not.”

“Then why do you treat me like this...”

“It’s just affection.”

While the two of them were whispering, I kept thinking.

“...Ah.”

Finally, I recalled what I had been forgetting, and I couldn’t resist pulling on Da-eun’s sleeve, who was still bickering with Yuki.

“Da-eun, Da-eun.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s go out.”

“...Huh?”

It was such an unexpected statement that even I was surprised, and when Da-eun heard it, she just blinked, her eyes wide open, and didn’t respond.

Then, suddenly, she pinched her cheek and—

“Ouch...!”

She hugged her bright red cheek, groaning.

“...Was it a dream?”

“If you wanted to confirm it, you should’ve just asked. I can do it for you.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”

Hmm. I felt like I’d heard something similar earlier.

Tilting my head, I casually said:

“...Don’t you want to?”

“Want to? I just... I was surprised because I didn’t expect Kana to make the suggestion first. ...I must’ve been really frustrated.”

“...?”

Suddenly, Da-eun patted my head.

Actually, I didn’t mind her patting my head because it was normal for her.

She wasn’t being rough or inconsiderate, and it felt nice as her soft hand brushed through my hair, relaxing my mind.

But what was strange was the look she gave me while patting my head, filled with both pity and sympathy.

“It wasn’t that frustrating.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know how you feel, Kana.”

“...If you’re thinking something weird, that’s definitely not it.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m sorry for making you go through this because I’m useless... Sorry.”

Yeah, I totally didn’t know that.

If she was going to say that, she should’ve stopped with the sorrowful eyes.

My body floated, my feet dangling in mid-air.

“Kana.”

“...Yeah.”

Did I really need to say this while being hugged like this?

Without saying a word, Da-eun hugged me tightly and whispered with a soft laugh.

“Shall we move? To a house with a garden, where the air and water are nice?”

“...Huh?”

“Let’s do that? Okay, sure!”

“...No, wait a second.”

Da-eun acted like she was about to rush out of the house to find a real estate agent.

I had no idea how she came to that conclusion, so instead of trying to figure out what was going on in her head, I stopped her from walking toward the door.

‘Was this what it felt like when I asked to go out?’

Reflecting, I quickly shook my head.

...It wasn’t quite like that.

I wasn’t on the same level as Da-eun, after all.