CH 40

21. Adaptation (2)

The corners of his mouth trembled.

For a moment, harsh words pushed through Ye-Hyeon’s tongue, but he could barely control his anger.

Ye-Hyeon forcibly raised the corner of his mouth and nodded lightly.

“Of course, I know. I want to get more training, so I’m looking into it.”

Shin Do-Gyeom clicked his tongue.

Even if he stabbed aggressively, the counterattack did not return.

“I thought you broke some arrows earlier, are you okay?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

The short reply coming out of Shin Do-Gyeom’s mouth was very awkward.

Last week, while chatting around a bonfire, the story of age came out.

As soon as Shin Do-Gyeom knew that Ye-Hyeon was the same age as him, he spoke informally.

The title, which was “you” a minute ago, quickly changed to “hey.”

Ye-Hyeon opened his mouth wide at the excessively harsh tone that came in without even having time to prepare his mind.

“If you pick one, you should let it go, too.”

Shin Do-Gyeom said a word, looking at the frozen Ye-Hyeon with a sour look.

Ye-Hyeon used to imagine his fast heartbeat at the thought of calling Shin Do-Gyeom, who he had admired so much,

“Do-Gyeom. I’ll put it down slowly.”

However, Ye-Hyeon had no choice but to refuse with tears in his eyes.

Peace is barely maintained by responding to one-sided disputes with one-sided patience, and it was clear that if they responded equally, they would have a great fight.

Far from being a friend, Ye-Hyeon will be an enemy.

As if Shin Do-Gyeom was looking for a quarrel, he looked up and down at Ye-Hyeon with a cold look.

Now Shin Do-Gyeom didn’t seem to want just to hide his dislike.

On such a subject, the level of affection gradually increased and has already surpassed 10 points.

Shin Do-Gyeom’s affection rose out of nowhere, just as his intimacy suddenly went down.

When Ye-Hyeon wakes up and rubs his eyes, while eating, when stares blankly into the air because he is tired during the break.

The only thing in common was when Ye-Hyeon was quite alone.

‘Does it mean I have to keep my mouth shut?’ Ye-Hyeon tilted his head.

‘Shin Do-Gyeom and Kwon Joo-Ho, why don’t you like what I say? You don’t like my voice? Or is it just that you don’t want to hear me say something because you don’t like me?’

Before returning, Ye-Hyeon often heard that his voice was neat.

Ye-Hyeon doesn’t know what it means to have a neat voice, not an appearance, but it seemed to be a compliment when Ye-Hyeon looked at the nuance.

Unlike the intimacy that falls quickly even if you barely raise it, the affection level has never dropped.

Everything that Ye-Hyeon tried to get close to was a failure. His affection went up in an unconvincing situation, and his motivation was dampened.

“Excuse me. Why do you keep bothering Ye-Hyeon?” Yoon Seung-Jae, who found Ye-Hyeon and Shin Do-Gyeom in the distance, ran in a single step and blocked Ye-Hyeon.

The conversation wasn’t even audible, but he sounded confident that Shin Do-Gyeom had bothered Ye-Hyeon.

“You have a guard dog.”

Shin Do-Gyeom hated Yoon Seung-Jae as much as he did with Ye-Hyeon.

Shin Do-Gyeom deliberately looked down at Yoon Seung-Jae, who was shorter than him, with his head raised.

“Do it moderately when you say things. I’m telling you because you’re stupid, but Ye-Hyeon is our party leader If it wasn’t for you…”

“Yoon Seung-Jae, stop it.”

Yoon Seung-Jae wriggled his eyebrows because he didn’t like it. When Ye-Hyeon smiled and tapped his back, he pouted.

“Are you fighting again?” Baek Hae-Won approached, shaking his head as if he could not stop him.

“If you still have the energy to fight, can we stop resting and start?”

“No!” Ye-Hyeon hurriedly denied it and grabbed Yoon Seung-Jae’s arm.

It was too much to just follow the party with his terrible physical strength, even though he is doing nothing.

Ye-Hyeon headed to the lake and peeked at Kwon Joo-Ho, who was a little far away, and Shin Do-Gyeom, who was turning his back.

It’s already been a month since they formed the party, but everyone played separately like water and oil.

Thanks to Baek Hae-Won’s mediation in the middle, they remained in a poor state. It was clear that without Baek Hae-Won, it would have already been a catastrophe.

However, Baek Hae-Won was not an official party member.

Baek Hae-Won didn’t say it himself, but the time to be together will be about a month or two at the longest.

Although Ye-Hyeon is a leader, he did not have the charisma to lead the extraordinary members. He was not good enough for them to trust.

It was already dizzying to think about dealing with Yoon Seung-Jae, Shin Do-Gyeom, and Kwon Joo-Ho alone.

‘Whether he is a target or not, I want to catch Baek Hae-Won at all costs…’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

No matter how steep the growth of the three was, they had to move around the lower gate for the time being.

He doesn’t know if it’s temporary help for two or three months, but it was a waste of time for Baek Hae-Won, who could seek an S-class promotion right away.

“Since you come to the party, shall we negotiate as actively as possible when the association needs it?”

Unfortunately, Baek Hae-Won is not the type to prioritize efficiency, so it was a possible method.

‘If he is aiming for growth, he wouldn’t have offered to help or mentor them in the training center!’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Baek Hae-Won did not enter the dungeon and seemed to work at the association on his day off.

His first impression of Baek Hae-Won was devoted to the association’s work.

Ye-Hyeon thought he should talk about the association.

“Aren’t you angry?” Yoon Seung-Jae grumbled.

He was frustrated to be beaten by Shin Do-Gyeom.

“We are going to travel in the future, it’s good to get along well. What’s the point of fighting?”

“Is a relationship that important? Am I just going to be beaten?” Yoon Seung-Jae crumpled his face.

“You’ll know when you grow up.”

“Don’t treat me like a child.” Ye-Hyeon pushed Yoon Seung-Jae’s forehead, which was against him, and fell with a weak smile.

“Oh, I don’t know.”

Ye-Hyeon told Yoon Seung-Jae as if he had mastered communicating, but in fact, Ye-Hyeon was troubled because he didn’t know what to do in the future.

Relationships were complicated.

Ye-Hyeon almost missed the time when he had to work well without having to get close.

Ye-Hyeon took out his cell phone from a bag on his waist.

“Are you reading the messages again?” Yoon Seung-Jae put his chin on Ye-Hyeon’s shoulder and asked.

His shoulders were heavy, but Ye-Hyeon did not push his head.

He was the most comfortable with Yoon Seung-Jae among all the party members.

Except for the rising affection, it was rare to have heartburn, and it was possible to control it as before.

Instead of answering, Ye-Hyeon tilted the screen and showed it.

It was a message that showed concern and affection for Ye-Hyeon.

When Ye-Hyeon was having a hard time or was depressed, he used to take out his sister’s text and read it.

Now it’s hardened like a habit, so Ye-Hyeon unconsciously takes out his cell phone during every break.

Ye-Hyeon was happy to see his sister because she seemed to be healthy.

Ye-Hyeon took a picture of his sister for the first time last holiday.

“… Look over here.”

Ye-Hyeon’s sister, who had been staring at his brother, who had been hesitating since the evening before, opened her eyes wide and laughed as if she was surprised by the words that he said.

Ye-Hyeon, who was pushing his cell phone because it was something he had never done in his life, heated up from his ears to his neck.

Still, Ye-Hyeon was able to capture his sister smiling brightly in pictures.

“I’m going to film a video next time.”

‘It would be more embarrassing than the picture, but I wanted to have it.’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Ye-Hyeon realized this only after his sister collapsed.

There was not a single thing left to remember his sister in the desolate house.

There wasn’t a common photo taken together.

You never know that despair unless you go through it.

‘She’ll be fine. I’ll protect you no matter what!’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Ye-Hyeon clenched his teeth. But he also knew that everything would not work out well just by making a promise.

Ye-Hyeon intended to leave as many records as possible to overcome his anxiety.

You don’t know how much Ye-Hyeon regretted being a blunt brother to his sister.

“I wanted to give her a trip that she couldn’t do because she was working, feed her a lot of delicious things, and give her only good things.”

“Hmmm…”

Yoon Seung-Jae might tease him, saying, “You really love your noona.” but whenever he heard about Ye-Hyeon’s big sister, he became quiet.

“Sometimes I begged my sister to tell me about her.”

Seung-Jae was said to be an only child, but he seemed to have a desire for brothers and sisters.

Ye-Hyeon did not bother to talk about his parents or his poor circumstances.

It wasn’t something to brag about, and there was nothing good about talking about hard things.

“Is this your sister? You look a lot like her.”

Seung-Jae seemed to have seen a picture of Ye-Hyeon’s sister while he was raising the screen.

Yoon Seung-Jae bent down and put his face on the phone and alternated between the screen and Ye-Hyeon.

“It’s not that familiar. She is much prettier.”

“Really? She just looks older than you.” Yoon Seung-Jae ended up talking blandly.

Baek Hae-Won got up from his seat since they are about to start again.

“I’m going to wash my face.”

Ye-Hyeon scooped clear lake water and poured it on his face.

The cool water drove away the drowsiness.

Wet hair fell gently and tickled Ye-Hyeon’s forehead.

Yoon Seung-Jae, who was watching from the side, thought about it for a moment and carefully opened his mouth.

“…Ye-Hyeon, can I tell you one thing honestly?”

“What is it?”

Ye-Hyeon looked at him anxiously, wiping the drops of water falling from his cheeks with the back of his hand.