01. A sword for you (9)

Turn back time for a while, when Kim Yi-jin went up to his room first.

Yoon Seo-hee was left alone in the living room with Lee Jin’s grandfather.

“Seo-hee. If you don’t mind, would you like to talk to this old woman for a while?”

“Oh, yes.”

“The tea must have cooled down. Give me another drink.”

“Thank you….”

Seohee thought while sipping warm green tea.

‘That’s awkward….’

Of course, I think Lee Jin’s grandfather is a good person.

Even though it must have been abruptly late at night, she willingly took her grandson’s friend home without showing any displeasure, gave her a room, and was even treated to warm green tea.

She could feel her grandfather’s heart for her grandson.

It is a very harmonious family. So she wondered if she could be here.

“Yes, aren’t you in trouble because of Lee Jin-i?”

“No, rather, I am being helped by Jini Lee.”

“Heh heh. You don’t have to hide it in front of this grandfather. That guy’s personality is perfect for being misunderstood somewhere. He must have been the one who first brought up the words to go home. Were you very upset?”

“Ah, ahahahaha….”

I was stabbed to the point. Seo-hee didn’t have the courage to face her grandfather’s eyes, so she sipped green tea while avoiding his gaze.

When Kim Yi-jin invited her to come to her house, Yoon Seo-hee made up her mind.

The determination to subdue anyone if they do anything nonsense.

She has never experienced what it means for a man of her age to invite a woman to his house late, but to her knowledge she knows. That’s why she first heard it, she didn’t know herself, she had this idea.

‘Are you trying to do something to me?’

It’s a possibility I don’t want to think about, but… I know the odds of that are very low, but….

If Kim Yi-jin was such a dangerous guy, she thought of ending the relationship early.

Fortunately, there was a grown-up named her grandfather at her house, and Kim Yi-jin just wanted to bring her friend to her house with pure intentions. It was all her misunderstanding.

Yoon Seo-hee relieved her of her worries about losing her precious friend, which greatly relieved her.

“I’m sorry. He doesn’t have friends of the same sex, let alone of the opposite sex, so he lacks that kind of notion. I’ll tell you later.”

“Oh, it’s okay! Not to that extent. She gradually gets a sense of what kind of girl Lee Jin-yi is….”

“So what? Good luck then.”

Lee Jin-yi’s grandfather smiled kindly, as if he was relieved only then.

“The elderly are lacking in many things to raise a child alone. She said, if he did something wrong, she’s my fault too.”

At those words, Yoon Seo-hee carefully put her words into her mouth, which she had kept in her doubts, but she couldn’t bear to bring them out. It was too wide for the two of them to live in, but it didn’t look like anyone else was living in it, so a natural curiosity arose.

“I… As expected, Lee Jin-yi’s parents are… ?”

“When Lee Jin-yi couldn’t even walk, she passed away heartlessly. He can’t even remember the faces of my parents.”

Lee Jin’s grandfather, eh tsk tsk, lightly clicks her tongue and passes the green tea to her bitter face.

“Leave the bastard alone and go away on his own, and there are no evil parents.”

A tone that seems to be reprimanding Jin Lee’s parents. However, it was not dissatisfaction with her parents who left her child behind, but deep longing and regret for her child and her daughter-in-law who died at a very young age.

“I see. Jini too….”

Yoon Seo-hee nodded her head slowly. And she remembered her own, one and only family, who was not in this place. She is the person who only wonders if she really cares about her.

“Oops. You said useless things when you get old. Wasn’t that fun?”

“Oh-no! It can’t be! I am enjoying listening to it.”

Yoon Seo-hee hurriedly waved her hand and strongly denied it, but she couldn’t fake the old man’s insight.

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Jin Lee’s grandfather, for unknown reasons, noticed that she was in a slight depression and naturally changed the subject.

“Heh heh. Thank you for your words. Yes… By the way, Jinyi Lee is making her sword?”

“Yes. I’m working hard enough to deserve it. I don’t know how to pay off this debt.”

“He won’t think he’s cleared his debt. He’s not a profit-and-loss guy.”

“But it’s a matter of my feelings. Even if she says Jinyi Lee is fine, she wants to give back what she received.”

What Yoon Seo-hee received from Kim I-jin was not only a promise to make her a sword.

On that day, Yoon Seo-hee’s patience had already reached its limit.

Lee Hyun-woo’s gang’s bullying in the shadows and the students around him. There is no one to ask for her help and her bullying towards her is getting worse by the day.

He was holding out with only the vengeance that he would repay him someday, but even that hope was stolen by Lee Hyeon-woo in a despicable way.

Her teeth trembled at her own helplessness. Is it possible to be helpless like this? If leaving the academy after receiving a failing grade is my predetermined future, I’d rather.

Yoon Seo-hee was thinking of going to find Lee Hyeon-woo that day, regardless of what she was. If he was expelled anyway, it would be better to beat him until he was half dead.

She would have been if she hadn’t met Kim Yi-jin.

“Hmm….”

At Yoon Seo-hee’s words, Lee Jin’s grandfather pondered for a while, as if thinking about something, and then she looked at Yoon Seo-hee with her warm gaze and smiled kindly.

It was her grandfather’s smile as he looked at her granddaughter-like child.

“You are such a sincere child. Jinyi Lee met her friend well.”

“That, not that much….”

Yoon Seo-hee avoided her gaze, blushing as if she was ashamed. She realized for the first time that she was weak to this type of person. I think it would have been like this if her paternal grandfather had been there, so I want to pamper him without realizing it.

I was envious of Kim Yi-jin. Sincerely.

“Heh heh. Didn’t she say she wanted to pay the debt? Thinking of her grandfather, I think that opportunity will come unexpectedly soon.”

“Yes… ?”

Yoon Seo-hee looked puzzled as if she didn’t understand the meaning of her words.

“I think Lee Jin-i will need your help as much as Seo-hee needs Lee Jin-i’s help.”

“Couldn’t be? There is nothing I can do for Lee Jin-yi.”

Even now, it is a one-sided situation. Even if she helped in collecting iron sand, that’s what she was originally supposed to do.

Lee Jin’s grandfather said, shaking her head leisurely.

“He is now blocked by a wall he built himself. He needs an opportunity to move forward, and I think you, Seo-hee, can be that opportunity.”

“… ….”

Yoon Seo-hee had feelings for those words.

That serious profile of her, unaware of the passage of time, devoted to collecting iron sand.

I don’t understand why you work so hard, maybe… Did Kim Yi-jin have a reason to be desperate?

I wondered why. She wants to know more about a person named Kim Yi-jin.

I want to talk more and spend time together.

I want to meet him.

“Seo-hee.”

“Nehye… !?”

Yoon Seo-hee was taken aback by her soft voice calling her name, so she shrugged her shoulders and twisted her tongue like an idiot. It was because the thought that had just occurred to her made her feel ashamed.

Crazy, crazy. How long has it been since we met, are you already thinking about that?!

That kind of thing requires spending more time together and getting to know each other….

I made a really stupid noise. She was ashamed to look at Lee Jin’s grandfather, but luckily, her grandfather was just making an expression as if he was looking at her granddaughter’s cute tricks.

“Please take good care of Jini Lee.”

“…… Yeah.”

Seohee went upstairs, cooling her hot cheeks with the back of her hand.

–

“… Then, can I come in?”

I couldn’t hide my doubt at Yoon Seo-hee’s question. Suddenly in the middle of the night?

It was sudden, but she couldn’t stand Yoon Seo-hee in her 1,000 years, 10,000 years hallway, so she opened the door first.

“… Come in.”

“Thank you. Excuse me for a moment.”

Yoon Seo-hee came into my room in the comfortable pajamas I saw in the living room. She looked around her room and spoke in a light tone.

“This is Lee Jin’s room. There is nothing.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have anything….”

As she thought, my room is just a bed, a closet, and a work desk. I didn’t even have that common computer. I can search for pretty much anything with my smartphone, and I spend most of my time in the studio anyway.

Even so, it feels very strange to have someone other than my family in my room for the first time. I hope you don’t stare too hard….

“But what are you doing late at night?”

“Just? I’m curious what you’re doing Oh, is this the blueprint?”

Yoon Seo-hee strides inside as if she had found the blueprint on her desk. I caught my breath.

“Hey, wait… !”

I forgot to put the drawings away before entering the room. I quickly tried to dissuade her, but I couldn’t beat her A-rank agility.

“Wow… ! Great! Jin Lee, you draw very well, right?”

The blueprints in Yoon Seo-hee’s hands. She goes through her drawings one by one and continues with a brief admiration.

“I drew a lot in a short period of time. But why did you stop drawing?”

As she said, all the drawings were unfinished. There was not a single thing drawn properly, such as missing the blade or leaving the bottom completely empty.

I didn’t want to show this unfinished work… She replied with a deep sigh.

“That, because of the handle….”

“A handle?”

“Because I don’t know your hand size… I was thinking about how to draw it.”

“Ah… hand?”

An awkward silence continues in the passing gaze.

Yes. He must have been disappointed because he was bluffing and making porridge by himself.

I didn’t have the courage to face Yoon Seo-hee’s eyes, so I avoided her gaze for a while, then glanced at her and checked her expression.

Yoon Seo-hee wasn’t as disappointed as I expected.

No, I don’t know why, but he looked very nervous.

Yoon Seo-hee put on her expression of hesitation for a moment, but then she spread her right hand out to me as if she had made up her mind.

“Then… Did you touch….”

“What?”

I looked at her white hands.

The back of her hand was shining white in the twilight moonlight coming down from her window.