FTE 018

I was puzzled as I removed the security to go to the open training room. At first, it seemed understandable due to Chae Won-u’s tone but after some time, I couldn’t understand why he had gained so much hostility. Well, he could be somewhat cute if you watched him…

“Hyung!”

Exactly as the door opened, my eyes met with Chae Won-u. Then Chae Won-u waved his hand and ran towards me like a large dog wagging its tail. A large dog indeed…

“Hand! Hand, hand! Hand!”

Something with blood flowing from his hands…

I avoided Chae Won-u, who seemed ready to pounce on me at any moment, and exited into the hallway while closing the door behind me. There were thumping sounds from inside. Soon, Chae Won-u’s voice came through the single frequency earphones that could only be used over short distances. This was a waste of technology!

—Hyuuung~. You’re too much.

“What’s that thing in your hand?!” I urgently asked, leaving Chae Won-u outside. Even without seeing his face, I could tell by his tone that he was grinning broadly.

—It’s a training monster’s lung!

Did I accidentally enter a blood sausage restaurant? Did I order intestines there? Chae Won-u’s voice sounded so cheerful it made my head spin with confusion. I could practically hear him ordering, ‘Extra lung, please! And slice it thick…’ Bullshit.

“Wash your hands first before we meet, okay?!”

I only eat an actual blood sausage, you know?!

***

A foul odor emanated from Chae Won-u. Alongside this unpleasant smell was the sweet scent of cherry candy, which he seemed to have tried hard to use as cover-up. The two scents were horribly mismatched yet oddly suited him.

Blood and cherry candy… It wasn’t difficult for me to imagine Chae Won-u with blood-soaked hands, innocently insisting, “This is just melted cherry candy,” despite his blatant lie. He’s like a walking weapon emitting a sweet aroma.

“It has three lungs.”

“Huh?”

Chae Won-u brought me back from my thoughts.

“I caught it earlier. In the dungeons I’ve explored so far, I hadn’t seen one with three lungs before.”

“So you checked out of curiosity?”

“Yes, it indeed had three lungs.”

“…..”

He was joking… but…

“It also had gills.”

“I don’t want to imagine what it looked like. No thanks. I shouldn’t think about such things before eating.” As his descriptions became increasingly detailed, my stomach started to churn. I waved my hand to stop Chae Won-u.

Chae Won-u took out hand cream from one of the many pockets of his military pants and carefully applied it. It smelled like cherry candy as well. The unpleasant odor gradually disappeared. Perhaps due to the immediate beautification of the past, it seemed more like a fishy smell than a bloody one. This creature must’ve been amphibious.

Chae Won-u kept glancing at me before suddenly squeezing out a lot of hand cream. It was clearly excessive for just himself.

“Hyung.” Chae Won-u shyly called out to me. I thought I knew the reason why.

“I squeezed too much hand cream. Can you take some?”

“Where did you learn this?”

“I saw it on my phone while trying to learn about dating.”

“I’ll have to confiscate your phone, Chae Won-u-ssi.”

“But I also watched it on my tablet.”

“And the tablet too?”

I should’ve put parental controls on them. With a sigh, feeling like a guardian rather than a partner, I took the hand cream from Chae Won-u’s hands. The sweet and sour scent transferred to me as I carefully applied it between each finger. Then the dining hall started to come into view at the end of the winding corridor. There were several large men present—those guys who had picked a fight with me earlier. Unfortunately, we encountered them while I was with Chae Won-u. Things shouldn’t become more troublesome now, especially since we need to eat dinner.

“Do you want to have ramen again tonight?”

However, Chae Won-u continued chatting obliviously.

“I’ll try to eat it spicy today.”

“Chae Won-u-ssi.”

“You want to die?”

“Let’s pretend to be awkward for a moment,” I quickly whispered and walked slightly ahead of Chae Won-u. I stiffened my expression to look uncomfortable. Normally, they would see Chae Won-u being aggressive while I was passively caught up in it, but these guys seemed like low-grade thugs who might mock us with their ‘artistic’ perspective. My intuition rarely proved wrong.

I gently pushed Chae Won-u from behind.

“Please go first.”

Contrary to my worries, Chae Won-u cooperated smoothly. He stepped three paces ahead as if ignoring the men nearby and swiped his card at the restaurant entrance. All we needed was for the door to beep open, allowing us to proceed without incident. It should’ve been that simple, yet…

“Hey, monster.”

It should’ve been so simple!

“You called me?” Chae Won-u replied with a gentle tone similar to when he spoke to me. The man frowned and nodded.

“You came with a goldfish poop?”

He was referring to me. It felt unjust. I wasn’t the ‘goldfish poop’; it was him. So why did I suddenly become the ‘poop’? However, I didn’t want to escalate things and pretended not to hear, looking away.

“Yeah, he’s my partner.”

“Since when do you deserve a partner?”

“Why not?” Chae Won-u countered with a grin.

“Well, this bastard is slowly dropping formalities now?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Chae Won-u asked innocently.

I discreetly swiped my card again. Maybe they would let us pass without further issue?

“But I’m several years older than you…!”

“Wanna compare ranks?”

Chae Won-u put his hands in his pockets and took one step forward. Despite being physically smaller, Chae Won-u’s height made him look down at the other man, whose face twisted in irritation.

“Then I have the advantage.”

His smirking tone was even more annoying. I sighed inwardly. He was reliable when on my side but infuriating when opposing me.

“…Will you tell your shit what kind of monster you are?”

“I don’t like being called shit.”

I meant he was the one acting like crap, not me. However, it seemed my voice went unheard. Chae Won-u raised his index finger and firmly pressed it against the man’s shoulder. With each press, a circular droplet appeared behind the man.

“What’s this about me? Then I’ll stay right here.”

“……”

The water droplet hanging from Chae Won-u’s finger was becoming increasingly sharp. I called out to him in a low voice:

“Chae Won-u-ssi.”

At my quiet tone, Chae Won-u lowered his finger, and simultaneously, the water droplet fell harmlessly onto the floor with a splash. The man finally realized what had been happening behind him and scowled at the sound.

“You looking for trouble again?”

Contrary to my expectations, the man reacted quite reasonably. Chae Won-u stared at him before suddenly poking himself in the cheek with his index finger.

“And if there is trouble, so what?” With his finger still pressed against his cheek, he grinned widely, making dimples that looked cute…yet utterly annoying, leaving me too exasperated to be angry.

After a brief silence, I realized that this gesture was one Chae Won-u had been advised to use against people provoking him.

“Chae Won-u, have you gone mad?” The man’s voice sounded incredulous and stunned. Chae Won-u turned his head towards me with twinkling eyes.

“…Forget it. Crazy bastard. It was a mistake trying to talk to you.” He roughly brushed past Chae Won-u as if avoiding something filthy rather than fearing him. Although momentarily pushed back, Chae Won-u barely flinched compared to the size of the other man.

Once the man was out of sight, Chae Won-u entered through the glass doors, which kept opening and closing due to my presence near the sensor.

“It works well just like hyung said.”

Chae Won-u smiled while twirling his index finger. I awkwardly followed with a smile.

“Still, don’t touch me…”

“Why?”

For your social dignity? For my social dignity connected to yours…? No matter what reason I gave, Chae Won-u wouldn’t be convinced. Gradually, I was learning how to handle him. In the manual I was mentally drafting, which someday I wanted to pass on to Chae Won-u’s successor guide, this moment required me to say:

“I only want you to look at me…” 

It brought tears to my eyes. Writing this manual felt emotionally draining. Chae Won-u grinned widely and nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, by the way, didn’t you use your ability during training earlier?”

I asked while chewing on some food. The reason this suddenly came to mind was because Chae Won-u brought water differently than before. It was strange for someone who could create a certain amount of water and freely use their ability in daily life to act like an ordinary person.

“I didn’t use my ability,” Chae Won-u replied with a puzzled expression.

“Why not just make it?”

“It isn’t difficult. Do you want to try next time?” I waved my hand dismissively. By the third reassurance that everything was okay, any eerie feeling about Chae Won-u had faded from my mind. He handed me a glass of water, which I accepted without suspicion and drank. Chae Won-u leaned back with his arms crossed over the dining table and smiled.

“Refreshing?”

“Yes.”

“The water I extract is clean but tasteless, as they say.” At that time, Chae Won-u hadn’t drunk the ‘extracted’ water so I couldn’t agree or disagree about the taste.

“It seems like reality can’t be matched after all.”

“Does it matter if it’s real or fake? The components are the same and in a situation where the tap water can become polluted at any moment, your existence alone is valuable, Chae Won-u-ssi.”

“Really?”

“Of course. A person will die if they don’t drink water for three days.”

“If every drop of water in this world disappeared for three to four days, I would only extract water for hyung.”