This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 540

[Yoonseo’s Perspective]

Every time this kind of situation arises, I find myself imagining what could have been.

What if that day, back when I still knew nothing, I hadn’t bumped into Dogun who suddenly popped out from around the corner?

Of course, since it never happened, imagining it isn’t as easy as it sounds, and maybe that’s why the outcomes vary wildly each time… But there is one constant: if I hadn’t had that epic headbutt moment with Dogun that day, many parts of my life would have changed.

For starters, there wouldn’t have been any chance of becoming close friends with Dogun like we are now.

Honestly, that’s just how it had to be because the reason I even thought, “I want to be friends with him,” was that even during a moment when I almost passed out, I was oddly fascinated by how calm and mature Dogun seemed.

I’ve never shared this with him, but unlike someone who burst into tears right after bumping into me, Dogun’s composure was downright impressive.

So much so that I actually wanted to be friends with him… Who would have thought?

Not only did we reunite the very next day at the new kindergarten I started attending, but we also ended up becoming friends and have known each other for over ten years.

In that sense, little seven-year-old Yoonseo, who merely thought, “I want to be friends with him,” could never have imagined what lay ahead.

She wouldn’t have guessed that in the not-so-distant future, she would come to like Dogun as more than a friend… And eventually, she wouldn’t have known that those feelings would blossom into something more.

Still, here I am, sticking to Dogun like glue and not letting go.

Looking back now, it makes me a bit proud.

If there were a way to go back in time, I’d want to pat the head of seven-year-old Yoonseo and praise her for that.

After all, back then, Dogun was unexpectedly easygoing, not stopping anyone from coming or going.

Moreover, he had such strikingly good looks for a boy, making him quite popular among the girls at kindergarten… If I hadn’t clung to his side back then, who knows? Maybe some other girl would have taken the spot of being his childhood friend.

And then there’s the thought that if I hadn’t gotten close to Dogun, I wouldn’t have moved to a place right next to his house. I might have ended up dragged off to some institution where kids with extraordinary talents got trained as soon as they awakened their abilities.

And if that were the case… Not only would I have lost my spot as Dogun’s childhood friend, but all the memories piled up next to him would have gone up in smoke.

Would that kind of life have even been happy?

Honestly, I had my doubts.

It was unavoidable since, like I just mentioned, it’s something that never happened.

But one thing I can be sure of is that I wouldn’t have been as happy as I am now.

Despite knowing each other for over ten years, I still get butterflies because of the person that is Dogun.

Thinking about this makes me want to give that seven-year-old Yoonseo even more credit.

Of course, I was in quite the grumpy mood back then due to suddenly moving, full of complaints with my cheeks stuffed, so even if I were to sincerely praise her, I’d likely just come off as whiny… But my heart truly feels that way.

“By the way…”


Thinking about seven-year-old me reminds me that Dogun was really cute back then.

It’s not like he was popular among the girls at kindergarten for no reason.

At that age, everyone was pretty much bound to respond honestly to looks, and compared to the other boys who were muddy from playing outside, Dogun had such fair skin that he looked like a precious young master from a fairy tale.

His behavior was so mature and composed for someone just seven years old, which surely sparked that longing kids have to admire adults.

Just imagine it.

A cute kid acting all grown-up… How would that look to the girls his age?

“Now that I think about it, that was the hardest part…”


That is, keeping my place next to Dogun.

After his awakening, rumors spread around, and everyone would just scatter if you gave them a little scare. But back then, we were all on pretty even ground, so I had to rely on pure physicality to hold my ground against the other kids.

Somehow, I managed to do it.

Anyway, while I was reflecting on those rather hazy memories of being seven, I found myself wondering.

If, and I emphasize if, everything worked out in the end and Dogun and I got closer… What if down the line, I had a child that carried Dogun’s blood? Who would they resemble?

“They say firstborn sons tend to resemble their mothers…”

It’s a common saying, but judging by photos of celebrities’ kids or retired famous heroes… It doesn’t sound far-fetched, does it?

Because often, you look at them and think, “Ah, they’re definitely so-and-so’s child.”

It’s truly the power of genes, I guess.

In that sense, I imagined a bit.

“A son who looks like me…”

That could be adorable in its own way.

Since I’m not too shabby in the looks department, he’d surely be cute… But even now, I’m starting to sweat a little and feel fatigue creeping in just thinking about how wild little Yoonseo’s temperament was.

Just looking at the pictures in the album, the ones where my cheeks puffed up with air are far outnumbered by the ones where I didn’t look like that.

Thinking about the possibility of him inheriting that temperament…

“…Definitely, the firstborn should be a daughter.”

Of course!

They say raising a daughter is useless compared to having a son, but if I had a daughter, I could play with her as much as I wanted.

Plus, if she inherited my beauty and Dogun’s personality… She’d probably be making boys cry from an early age.

And thinking back on something Dogun casually mentioned once, he seemed to lean a bit more toward preferring daughters.

“If it’s a daughter… What should I name her?”

Should I take a character from our names and make it Doyun? But that kind of sounds like a boy’s name…

Since this isn’t the first time I’ve let my imagination run wild, I had previous candidates waiting in the wings, but today they just didn’t resonate with me.

“What would be a fitting name for an Oh?”

Since it was break time, I sneakily pulled out my mobile phone that was tucked away in my pocket and searched for “pretty baby names.”

Unfortunately, while the names I found were pretty, they felt too common to catch my interest.

Who knew that coming up with a name would be this challenging?

I wondered if my mom and dad went through something similar, along with Dogun’s Auntie.

I thought they definitely must have, and that only made me admire those three a bit more.

It couldn’t be helped since both Yoonseo and Dogun are pretty solid names.

“If I ask my mom, will she tell me?”

Curious, I shot a quick text her way, but the reply I got was far from what I wanted… It was a ridiculous question if I had gotten into some sort of trouble with Dogun.

Thanks to that, I ended up sweating a bit while trying to explain that it wasn’t anything like that.

“Oh right… my name was given by my grandmother…”

So, should I do the same and ask my mom to name my future child according to family tradition…?

I must have been lost in thought for a moment.

Having received the lunch I ordered, Dogun returned to the training ground with Baeksulhwa… And as soon as he returned, I gazed at him while he started setting everything up before I opened my mouth.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“How do you feel about the name Doyun?”