Chapter 314

Chapter 314

Knock, knock.

Ji-Ah knocked on Sun-Woo's door while holding snacks.

She didn't know who her parents were. She had no other family members either. Therefore, she didn't know what it felt like to lose a family member. Instead, she could only guess.

Some people were like family to her too, like Jin-Sung or Sun-Woo for example. Although she couldn't call her family, Soo-Yeong had also become someone precious to her now.

When she thought about what it would be like if one of those precious people died, Ji-Ah felt sad. However, because Jin-Sung, Sun-Woo, and Soo-Yeong were related to her by blood, she couldn't fully understand Sun-Woo's feelings.

Knock knock.

Sun-Woo didn't react after hearing Ji-Ah's knock. She knocked again, but there was still no response, so she just opened the door wide.

"I'm coming in," she said as she entered Sun-Woo's room.

His room was neatly cleaned. She could hardly smell anything bad. His bedsheets were neatly arranged. His usually messy desk was neatly organized. Sun-Woo sat in front of his desk and was quietly reading a book.

Sun-Woo was fine these days. To be more precise, he appeared to be perfectly fine. She didn’t know what he behaved like outside, but in front of people like Ji-Ah, Jin-Sung, Soo-Yeong, Soo-Hyun, and Anna, he seemed fine.

But to Ji-Ah, Sun-Woo looked even more precarious than before.

"Cult Leader," Ji-Ah called out to Sun-Woo.

Finally, he turned his head toward her. He stared at Ji-Ah for a while without saying anything. His gaze was somewhat eerie.

Ji-Ah walked over and placed snacks on Sun-Woo's table.

"Would you like some?"

"What is this?"

"They are cookies. I just made them."

Sun-Woo stared blankly at the cookies in the container.

"You can make cookies too?"

"I learned recently. I thought it would be good to make this and that, so I learned how to make a variety of different things."

"Oh... I'm sorry, but I don't think I can eat it. My digestion hasn't been good lately," Sun-Woo said.

Recently, Sun-Woo hardly ate any food. Even when he did eat, he barely ate about one-third of what others ate. Even then, it seemed like he was unable to digest what he ate properly, as he occasionally vomited.

When Ji-Ah asked Sun-Woo if he was okay, Sun-Woo always said he was fine. He just said that he had temporarily lost his appetite.

Ji-Ah tried making porridge and rice gruel for Sun-Woo, but he couldn't digest them properly. At this point, it wasn't the food that was the problem.

"How have you been lately?" Ji-Ah asked.

Ji-Ah knew that Sun-Woo wouldn't eat the cookies. Still, she had baked the cookies as an excuse to start a conversation with Sun-Woo.

These days, Sun-Woo seemed perfectly fine on the outside, but at the same time, he didn’t seem fine at all. He seemed to be extremely tough on the outside, but Ji-Ah felt like he would completely fall apart if there was even a small crack. Therefore, Ji-Ah found it difficult to approach him without creating such a pretext.

Sun-Woo stared at Ji-Ah silently. Ji-Ah met his gaze without avoiding it and stared straight back. He had been expressionless all along, but he closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then smiled faintly.

"I’m fine. How about you, nuna?"

"I'm neither good nor bad," Ji-Ah said.

She hesitated to say more. She wanted to say something else, but her lips wouldn't part. What should she say? Ji-Ah was quick-witted, so she could mostly figure out the truth behind Sun-Woo's words. Nevertheless, Sun-Woo’s lies sometimes deceived her.

Sun-Woo was good at lying, but the current Sun-Woo couldn't even lie properly. He couldn’t even properly lie even though the lie was just a simple ‘I’m fine,’ and he was trembling so much that it looked like he would break down at any moment.

Ji-Ah thought about what to say. She pondered and hesitated several times.

After some contemplation, she gathered her courage, no, she gathered her audacity and finally said, "Shall we go out together?"

***

Many things were happening in Romanican society. Demons and demonic beasts no longer appeared, but the problem was the people.

In-Ah believed that Sun-Woo was in a very bad state. He would sometimes mistakenly think that he had said things he never said, and he sometimes mistakenly believed he didn’t say something that he had previously said.

And she didn’t know exactly why, but it seemed like he wanted to escape somewhere.

In-Ah had planned this trip for Sun-Woo. However, now that Su-Ryeon knew about this trip, In-Ah's plans had practically gone up in smoke.

Su-Ryeon was extremely talkative. She would chat about the existence of the trip here and there, and contrary to In-Ah's plans, unwanted guests would intrude on her trip.

"It's nothing special. I was just talking about which sea is pretty, that's all," In-Ah awkwardly lied to Su-Ryeon.

Su-Ryeon looked at In-Ah with a strange look and then smiled slyly.

"You were talking about going on a trip with Sun-Woo. I heard everything, you know?" she said.

"..."

‘Darn it, she heard everything.’

In-Ah cursed internally and said, "Y-yes. But it's not a trip. We’re just going somewhere close for fun. It doesn't have to be the sea, just anywhere..."

Su-Ryeon completely ignored In-Ah’s words. Instead, as if suddenly remembering something, she said, "Oh, now that I think about it... It would be fun if we all went on a trip together. Shall we gather everyone and go to the beach?"

Meanwhile, In-Ah's face got stiffer and stiffer. Due to Su-Ryeon’s intervention, In-Ah's plans were completely crumbling apart.

Su-Ryeon immediately went to gather people. The first person she sought out was Dae-Man.

"The beach? Sounds good! My pecs have really developed lately. I can say that my body is in optimal condition for a beach trip."

"I didn't ask about that~ Anyway, you're coming, right?"

"Of course!" Dae-Man readily agreed.

Next, she went to find Jin-Seo.

"Sun-Woo is coming?" Jin-Seo asked.

"Yes!"

"Why is he coming? No, in the first place, he’s..."

"Anyway, come! Sun-Woo is coming!"

There was no need to hear Jin-Seo’s response. If Sun-Woo was coming, Jin-Seo would definitely come.

Su-Ryeon then went to find Ha-Yeon. However, Ha-Yeon was not at school today as she had gone to work at the Central Priesthood. Unable to find Ha-Yeon, Su-Ryeon went to find Min-Seo.

"The beach? What are we taking?"

"Hmm, a train?"

"A train... How much is the ticket?"

"I don't know. Should I pay for it?"

"If you’re going to pay for it, I’ll definitely go."

Min-Seo readily accepted Su-Ryeon's offer to pay for the train ticket.

Su-Ryeon returned to In-Ah’s classroom. "Hey, In-Ah! About six people have gathered, including you and me!"

In-Ah's face darkened so much that it couldn't be any darker.

After glaring at Su-Ryeon sternly, In-Ah let out a dry laugh.

"I never said I would take you with me."

"Huh? So you were planning to go alone with Sun-Woo?" Su-Ryeon innocently asked.

If she truthfully answered that she had been planning to go alone, it would seem suspicious. In-Ah had no other choice. Eventually, she nodded and reluctantly said, "No, well... whatever. Just do what you want..."

In-Ah was already in a state of resignation.