01. A sword for you (7)

“… Hey, Ijin Kim. Why are you doing this?”

“What?”

“You work too hard. It’s been a while since we’ve met, and we’re like strangers… ! What am I even doing like this? Are you sorry for me?”

I was a little taken aback by her grumpy expression and rising voice.

Are you mad? Why are you angry

Did I do something wrong?

I haven’t made friends since I was young, I knocked on iron alone at home, and it’s been a long time since I didn’t have a proper conversation with anyone other than my family. So it was very strange for someone to push such deep emotions on me.

It was okay until normal conversation. But maybe it was because I had very little emotional exchange with others, and I was not good at explaining my feelings or my true intentions.

What should I do if that makes me angry?

Usually, I wouldn’t have bothered at all. I didn’t care what other people passing by thought of me.

So, is Yoon Seo-hee a foreigner? Is it okay that she doesn’t care about her like she always did?

My answer was no.

“… I’m sorry. You said something strange about the subject of help. Like you said, I’ll go first.”

“Wait, wait.”

Thinking that I shouldn’t let her go like this, I turned to her sad face and grabbed her.

I feel like I have to say something, but my head feels like it’s going to explode.

Instead of picking up thoughts that were wandering here and there without being organized, I took out the sentences that came to my mind without thinking about anything.

“Yoon Seo-hee, I… I like making swords. He’s the only one who knows It was purely nice that I could be of help to someone with my sword-making skills.”

I’m not sure if this is the right answer even though I spit it out myself.

But she couldn’t quit now, and she thought she needed some more explanation, so she calmly continued.

“I am not forced to do something I hate out of compassion. I’m not that nice As you said, if it was a raw man, he wouldn’t have cared.”

“Then what… ?”

“Is your friend a stranger?”

Churning the river for a few hours is something I can’t do for a stranger, but I can do it for a new friend.

I don’t know what kind of debt Yoon Seo-hee considers this, but I’ve been working on this kind of work like breathing.

Even if she wasn’t there, even if she didn’t have any particular reason, she might have been digging sandworms here today.

Because it was like that before.

If this hadn’t happened, I’d be stuck at home over the weekend, hammering on iron as I always do.

Because it’s always been that way.

So this is no big deal to me, and if it helps a friend, that’s all the better.

“And I told you. I will do my best.”

I put a stick with a magnet into the sand. It is a motion that has been repeated hundreds or thousands of times so far.

“You should do your best.”

“… ….”

I don’t know if Yoon Seo-hee was convinced after hearing my true heart.

However, complex and subtle emotions that are difficult to describe were revealed on her face.

I know that expression.

Her grandfather often made that face when he looked at me and sighed that I was the only one in the world to be stubborn.

“… Earlier, you heard that the kids from class 1 got together and took the materials.”

“Um.”

I did. It happened in the principal’s office. Why are you suddenly bringing that up?

“Until now, I was the only target of bullying by Lee Hyeon-woo. But he takes the materials and doesn’t let me book the studio… It was clearly aimed at you.”

“Is that so?”

“Is that so? It’s not! If you get bullied because of me, do you think it would make me feel good to see that?”

I haven’t seen Lee Hyun-woo’s face, so there are still many things I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s already interested in me.

From the beginning, I threw a net targeting Yoon Seo-hee, and in the midst of that, I felt like I was in a situation where I was caught in a trap, but I guess she had a different idea. Did she think I was being targeted because of her?

I nodded calmly.

“Say yes.”

“What? What does that mean… “

“Anyway, people see me as a geek. It’s not the first time I’ve been bullied.”

It happened when I was in elementary school. He doesn’t talk to people well, always goes straight home after school, and doesn’t have any kind of exchange with his peers, so it was only natural that he looked different among them.

And foreign things are easily rejected.

I suffered from low-quality bullying for quite some time in elementary school, and I learned that if you don’t care too much about people, they do happen.

Fortunately, as I gained muscle and grew taller, those things gradually disappeared.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I couldn’t. No matter how weak the Awoken is, it’s a simple thing to do with one or two children. Even I would avoid someone carrying a knife at school.

Yoon Seo-hee’s expression distorted, perhaps because she was angry at my words instead of relieved. She wanted to use her pretty face so harshly.

“You think your locker could be robbed and your stuff gone like I did? Couldn’t it be okay?”

“Am I okay?”

“Ah- ni! Therefore! Seeing that, my insides aren’t okay!”

She pounded her chest as if she was about to explode.

I’ve thought about it before, but when Yoon Seo-hee is in a bad mood, her way of speaking and her behavior become extreme. Because of her long-standing bullying and the circumstances surrounding her self, she’s usually quiet, but in fact, I thought this might be closer to her original personality.

I laughed lightly at her appearance and took out her words.

“What do you think? He said you would beat them all up during the final exam.”

“…… Uh?”

“You said you would step on it properly again? If he gets hit by you again, he’ll be a little quieter too. Then you just have to wait a week.”

I make a sword.

Yoon Seo-hee wins.

Wasn’t she doing this from the beginning?

“… Did you take it seriously?”

‘Even I’m not sure….’ The afterwords that followed sounded very small and faint, close to self-talk. If I hadn’t read her mouth, I wouldn’t have heard what she said. But I deliberately passed it off as if I hadn’t heard.

“Of course not. You will fight with the sword I made for you.”

Actually, it’s a bluff. I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to make the sword properly.

But she said it in a confident voice on purpose to make her resolve for her sake as well as for myself.

Because I definitely wanted to complete this time.

“…… Give it up.”

“What?”

Yoon Seo-hee still held out her arm with a displeased expression.

However, for some reason, that expression seemed to hide his embarrassment, unlike before.

“Give me that stick. I will too.”

“Suddenly what? No. You go home The bus is cut off.”

“Is it too late? Don’t talk, give it up. If you’re going to do it, I’ll do it too.”

“Are you going home? The moon has risen already!”

“Is that what you mean? Profit… !”

The two of us quarreled over a stick on the spot.

However, there was no way I could match the speed of the agility rank A, and in the end, Yoon Seo-hee quickly grabbed the stick in my hand.

“Got it! … Oh.”

Pajijijik!

“Whaaa!!!!”

“Kyaaa!!!”

The front of your eyes is dyed pure white and flashes! Then, with the sound of electricity bouncing, an intense current flowed through my body. I lost control of my body and fell backwards at the feeling of my muscles contracting uncontrollably.

I thought I was drowning in the water, but fortunately Seohee Yoon quickly grabbed my waist as I fell.

“Oh, what should I do! Sorry!! I must have used the skill without even realizing it! I can’t control my emotions well… !”

Yoon Seo-hee You… It was a lightning-type awakening….

“Lee Jin-ah, are you okay? It’s okay right? Aren’t you dead?! Go ahead, ambulance! I’ll call an ambulance right away! “

“… No it’s okay. Stay alive. I am fine.”

Fortunately, the time I was electrocuted must have been brief, and my limbs’ senses soon returned. I moved my numb limbs around and slowly got up.

It’s fortunate that Yoon Seo-hee knew how to control it, but her Han River almost turned into the Jordan River. I thought she was really dying

“Uh… ? Are you alive this is weird I used up quite a bit of energy… I was really worried that I was going to die….”

“… ….”

I think I heard something very ugly just now, but I deliberately pretended I didn’t hear it. It wasn’t like that on purpose, but I didn’t want to press against it, and it was just as long as I was alive.

“Hmm?”

I looked down when I felt someone pulling my back.

At first, I thought it was Yoon Seo-hee, but it wasn’t. No one was holding my waist, but I could definitely feel the pulling force.

Is it a ghost? Telekinesis Awakener?

No, that’s not it. The sandalwood pouch hanging from my waist was being pulled. It was the work of the magnet of the magnet rod submerged under my feet.

“Seo-hee. Would you mind lifting that bar for a second?”

“Huh? Like this? Whoa, what! Why is this?”

When Yoon Seo-hee lifted the stick, black sand iron clung to the magnet, which was clumped together in a large lump. That was about half of what we had collected so far.

I see. As she lifted the rod, the force of the iron pouch at her waist reversed. It must have been attracted to that magnet.

“I think the magnetism of the magnet has become extremely strong because of your skill.”

“Really? I’ve never been like this before….”

Belatedly discovering another way to use the skill, or Seohee Yoon’s skill has evolved anew.

Either way doesn’t happen often, but it’s not very rare either. The academy’s teaching is that even F-rank skills can evolve into S-rank someday if you practice them consistently.

“Anyway, it went well. Awesome. Thanks to you, iron sand harvesting will be very fast.”

With this level of output, it is possible to fill the desired amount in just a few hours.

I felt better because I thought I had earned a day even if I couldn’t do it.

“Really? Was I helpful?”

“Uh. A lot of.”

Yoon Seo-hee seemed to be very happy to be of help, and smiled.

It was the first time she saw her shy smile.

The sky, which used to be indigo blue, is now completely darkened and dyed black. Even if it was soon July, spending the night soaked in sweat and water was perfect for catching a cold, and there was no need to overdo it anymore.

“Let’s go back now. It’s too late.”

“Yes. I really have to go now.”

The two of us walked out to the riverside and wiped ourselves with a towel.

My gym uniform was so dirty that I couldn’t use my hands, and the towel I had brought was already full of iron powder, so no matter how carefully I wiped it, the black marks on my skin couldn’t be erased.

Today, when I go home, I must take a bath.

–

It was well past 9:00 when I walked out of the school gate with weary steps.

By this time, no students had left the school, so the surroundings were dark and very quiet. Since tomorrow is the weekend, there will be no one left as long as the teachers are busy.

Of course, the bus has been cut off for a long time. Even though Yoon Seo-hee suffered so much today, she still had to walk from school to the station, and from there she had to take the subway to go home.

His clothes and even his skin were covered in black iron powder, so dirty that a beggar would treat him as his older brother.

“Lee Jin-ah, I’ll go.”

“… Are you going to walk?”

“Ugh… I can’t help it. I don’t even have money to take a taxi. I don’t think I’ll give you a ride with this mogolo.”

Yoon Seo-hee slowly waved her hand and said goodbye to me. Looking at her back as she moves further and further away through the dark night streets, I-

“Do you want to go to my house?”

The unthinking words came out of her mouth.

Familiar silence continued with her astonished expression as she turned around.