I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 190: Plan? What is that? (2)

"Can Kana stop the wind from blowing? Or stop the flow of water?"

"..."

"People’s hearts are the same. Even if the head says no, the heart feels otherwise. Sometimes we do foolish things, and sometimes we fall in love at first sight. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."

Da-eun spoke with a slightly melancholic smile.

"Even if that causes fights, hatred, and sometimes we turn away from someone we were once close to, as long as there’s a heart, there can be salvation."

"...Da-eun."

"If there's no heart, there’s no discord, but I believe a world where everyone makes decisions only with logic would be a cold, heartless one."

Fighting, making up, hating, loving.

That, I think, is what it means to be human.

"So, I believe that wandering wherever my heart takes me, without a fixed plan, is one of the beauties of travel. The heart is a blessing, a miracle given to humans."

When Da-eun finished speaking, none of us could say anything.

Was it because her words resonated with us?

Or was it because of the bittersweet smile on her face that made us unable to speak?

No.

"You're making having no plan sound like some grand thing."

"Yup."

If all of that was her response to the question about the plan, who would believe it?

I, for one, couldn't understand it.

"...Did you not hear everything I said?"

"I heard it. Very well."

"Then how can you react like that? How touching my speech was...!"

"...Touching?"

I wouldn’t say it was touching, but it was certainly impressive.

For someone to be able to say something like that meant they must’ve been thinking this way for a while.

Or maybe they had seen it somewhere.

After all, crops don't just grow in a field where no seeds have been sown. Da-eun must have learned a lot.

In other words, her long-winded speech didn't leave me with any feelings beyond that—neither awe nor disdain.

"And it's not that I don't have a plan! 'Let’s just wander around and do whatever comes to us!' That's the plan!"

"...Well, I guess that could be a plan."

I didn’t particularly mind there being no plan.

After all, this whole trip was decided impulsively, and there hadn’t been much time to prepare.

And, having left all the details to her, it wasn’t really my responsibility. I wasn’t the type to make detailed plans, anyway.

"I didn’t say anything, but now you’re speaking like this, Da-eun."

"...Ugh!"

"Do we have a place to stay?"

Yuki casually asked Da-eun, who had invited her along and was therefore unaware of the details.

"I've prepared the basics—accommodation and a rental car. I've also looked up places to visit. Well, more like I’ve been here before, so I know the area."

"So, you do have a plan."

"I’m the one who’s prepared, Shindaeun! But I haven’t decided on any specific things to do. We’ll just do whatever comes to us as we wander around."

"I agree. What about you, Kana?"

I nodded quietly.

It wasn’t like we were here for some grand adventure, and the trip itself had been an impulsive decision.

So, in a way, Da-eun’s idea of doing whatever felt right at the time seemed to fit the purpose of the trip.

"...Exactly! That’s exactly what I was thinking! I had such a hard time deciding, and you two just criticize everything..."

"Your voice is shaking."

"And we didn’t criticize you that much."

"Why does everything match perfectly when it’s time for me to be the bad guy? Am I public enemy number one?!"

"You're not a public enemy, just someone with questionable behavior."

"That's harsh! You two have been leaving me out and criticizing me..."

"That’s because—"

That’s because Da-eun is the one who always says strange things.

If it were Yuki speaking, the focus would be on her instead.

I wanted to say that, but...

"I’m upset!"

Da-eun suddenly shouted, cutting me off.

She ran off quickly and jumped into the car parked in the airport parking lot.

Poking her head out, she said,

"Unless you apologize to me right now, I’ll leave you both behind this time!"

"What?"

I might give up on the world, but I won’t let the world give up on me.

Those kinds of words came from Da-eun as her eyes narrowed with determination.

Suddenly abandoned by Da-eun, Yuki and I exchanged looks.

‘Why is she acting like this?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You’re the one living with her. Shouldn’t you know?’

‘It’s Da-eun.’

‘Ah.’

We exchanged glances, but the meaning behind them seemed to click together.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but in that moment, it felt like our thoughts had aligned.

"Sorry."

Yuki apologized, but there was one problem—her apology was clearly lacking sincerity.

I could feel it, and there was no way Da-eun wouldn’t pick up on it.

"It’s not sincere!"

As expected, Da-eun’s fury was only fueled by that.

Honestly, I didn’t think she was really upset.

I had seen something similar online—this kind of playful WWE-style drama.

"Don’t just apologize, do it with sincerity!"

"Sorry."

"...Just adding one more word doesn’t make it sincere!"

"...I’m sorry?"

"So, saying it longer doesn’t make it a sincere apology! An apology needs to come from the heart!"

"That’s too picky. What kind of apology do you want?"

As if waiting for exactly that, Da-eun slammed the steering wheel.

Beep!

"Ah?!"

The horn blared, and Da-eun jumped, which was very typical of her.

"...Ahem! As I said earlier, what I want is a sincere apology."

She cleared her throat, then cast a quick glance at us.

"...And Kana’s aegyo is what I consider a sincere apology."

"I’ll just stay upset forever. Let’s go, Yuki."

See? This is WWE.

It wasn’t even real anger; it was just a hidden agenda, so there was no need to apologize.

I decided to ignore it and walked away from Da-eun.

It wasn’t worth listening to anymore.

"...?"

I thought Yuki would stop reacting, but she seemed unusually quiet.

When I looked up, I saw Yuki thinking for a moment.

"Well, I’m a little interested in that too."

"..."

Uh-oh.

It looks like Yuki is also affected by Da-eun now.

"Right...? It’s so cute even when she’s just standing still. Don’t you wonder how much cuter she’d be if she actually did aegyo? It’s not just me, right?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"...When did you start caring about stuff like that?"

"I’ve always preferred beautiful and cute things over ugly ones. And in that sense, Kana’s about... hmm."

Yuki raised her thumb up.

Looks like I’m the target now.

But...

Da-eun’s infection is incurable, but slowing down the progress of those infected is easy.

"The walk to the accommodation would be good exercise, wouldn’t it?"

"...!"

Yuki flinched.

But it seemed like that wasn’t enough. She quickly masked her unease and pretended to be calm.

Looks like I need to apply a bit more pressure.

"If you walk to the accommodation, I might give you a reward."

I lowered my voice slightly from my usual tone.

At that, Yuki started trembling.

"I’ll go-"

Thunk!

"I want to go too!"

Da-eun, who had been sitting in the car, jumped out.

"I’m going to get a reward from Kana too! So say the same thing to me... Why are you only saying that to Yuki?!"

...Well, that wasn’t expected.

Fortunately, we didn’t end up walking, and the car we rented was still intact.

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I suppose the rental company was okay with it since they got their money.

But, now that walking was canceled, Yuki looked a little disappointed, while Da-eun was totally unfazed.

‘...Did she really want me to say that?’

She wanted me to say the same thing to her as I did to Yuki, so I did.

‘...Why does she like this?’

‘Ah, even the service...! Thank you, thank you.’

Honestly, I felt a little annoyed at that moment.

Why would she want to hear something like that?

I just couldn’t understand it.

"I’ve been thinking."

Da-eun, who had handed over the driving to the car’s autopilot, looked over at me from the passenger seat.

"I think we should see Hallasan now that we’re in Jeju. What do you think? We can go tomorrow morning since it’s already late."

"Hallasan?"

"Yeah. It’s the highest mountain in our country, and the view is amazing. It would’ve been better if we came in spring, but oh well."

"Mm..."

Hallasan, huh.

It wasn’t like I didn’t know about it.

It was just more of a reflex to ask.

"If you like it, sure."

Climbing a mountain wasn’t going to be a struggle, and since the purpose of the trip was to have fun together, I nodded without any hesitation at Da-eun’s suggestion.

"What about you, Yuki?"

"...Do whatever."

Yuki’s voice came from the back seat, a little grumpy.

She didn’t seem to dislike the idea, though, so she gave her approval.

"Great! Then let’s wake up early tomorrow and hike!"

Da-eun said enthusiastically.

It was an impulsive decision, but...

‘...It’s not a bad idea.’

Maybe going with the flow like Da-eun suggested won’t be so bad after all.