This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 75

As Yoonseo found herself in a confrontation, Baeksulhwa, left alone and contemplating the bitter taste lingering in her mouth, Dogun and Yoonseo had just stepped into the mart after hailing a passing taxi in a hurry to escape the scene.

“Hey.”

At that moment, as Dogun pulled a shopping cart from the cluster, he called out to Yoonseo.

“Uh, yeah?”

“So, what are we making? Do you have a list or something?”

The question that followed was enough to fluster Yoonseo, who had been lost in thought.

Saying it was obvious felt too much like being a dutiful daughter, but the truth was, she didn’t have such a list.

After all, that was merely an excuse to get Dogun out of there in the first place.

“Um… can’t we just make seaweed soup and galbi jjim?”

That was all she could muster at the moment.

The response she got was a sigh filled with disbelief.

“Geez…”

Hearing that made a rebellious spirit rise up in her, but she decided to stay quiet for now.

“But wouldn’t it be better to go with the dishes Uncle likes?”

“Honestly, if I made it, he’d be happy even if the table was filled with weeds.”

“Uh, um… wow… that’s a really unfilial thing to say, but I can totally see him doing that, so I can’t really argue.”

“So, just keep it moderate. Moderate.”

And was that really what mattered right now?

With more than two weeks until Dad’s birthday, what was was actually important was the rumors circulating that day.

Of course… seeing Dogun’s reaction by the school gate had already convinced her it was just ridiculous gossip, but still, she felt she needed to check.

I mean… what could have happened inside that made both of them come out sweating?

“But… how should I even bring that up?”

To be honest, she wanted to grab him by the collar and yell about what they were up to in there.

But she knew that wouldn’t work.

That was why she had ignored Dogun’s chatter about being a dutiful daughter and was buried in her thoughts instead.

After worrying over it for quite some time, a sentence formed in her mind, and she turned to Dogun as she spoke.

“Hey, but are… are you close with that person?”

“Huh? Who?”

Was he really asking out of ignorance, or was he pretending not to know?

Considering Dogun’s tendency to turn oblivious at times like this, it was hard to rule out the first option.

“The one standing in front of your school gate.”

She’d purposely pointed out exactly who to steer the conversation this way, but the response that came back made her unable to suppress her disbelief.

“Ah… Baeksulhwa-senpai?”

Wait, what?

Baeksulhwa-senpai?

Not just any senpai, but to add “senpai” to her name meant they were more than acquaintances; they must have some degree of familiarity… but how did that happen?

She could slowly figure that part out later as she scrambled for her next words.

But before she could speak, Dogun, who seemed to have been lost in thought since her mention of Baeksulhwa, opened his mouth again faster than she could.

“Hey, you know…”

“What?”

“…oh, um…”

What was he trying to say that he was stalling for so long about?

If it had been a normal occurrence, she would have let it slide, but seeing him hesitate was making her anxious instead.

So… discreetly biting the inside of her cheek to hide her worry, she adopted a nonchalant expression and spoke up.

“Stop stalling and just say what you mean.”

As she urged him on, her mind was troubled, wondering if this had anything to do with Baeksulhwa or not—

“Like, you know how there are people who hang around active heroes as their managers? What if that were me?”

“What?”

Dogun’s mouth, which had been tightly shut, slowly began to open, and to her utter surprise, the words that flowed out were exactly what she’d not expected.

At the same time, it was the perfect answer to her recent thoughts.

So… what about after graduating from high school?

What made her think of this suddenly?

Simple.

If she could confess her feelings to Dogun while still in high school and progress to the next level, that would be ideal, but she also needed to prepare for the possibility of failing to do so.

After all… though it hadn’t been very long since she’d woken up from her own delusion, she doubted things would magically change just because she entered high school.

It was only natural to think ahead.

What’s more… once she graduated high school, hanging out with Dogun like this would become virtually impossible.

Dogun would be busy with his own work, and she’d be busy with her own missions.

And if the days of not seeing each other multiplied like that?

There was no guarantee their relationship wouldn’t grow distant as time went on.

‘That’s…’

She didn’t want that.

She really didn’t want that.

That was probably why, upon hearing those words from Dogun, her mind went blank.

And as her head cleared, a scene began to form in that blank space.

So… it was her, confidently passing the hero qualification exam, with Dogun standing beside her dressed in a suit.

What if that happened?

They would definitely end up spending more time together than they do now.

It was almost guaranteed.

Except for missions, heroes and their managers were practically inseparable.

‘A single entity…’

After sharing so much time together like that… she could finally, when the moment felt right, confess to Dogun, and if he accepted it…

‘…No.’

It wasn’t entirely out of the question that Dogun might reject her confession.

Despite all his teasing, he cared about her above all.

So what if he turned her down because he’d feel bad for interfering with the hero he managed?

That’s when she’d slyly suggest they date on the down-low.

Act normally in public and be a couple only when alone… something like that. And by the time they finally retire…

Lost in the peaks of her daydreams, Yoonseo hadn’t even noticed how her face was heating up or what she had been thinking just moments ago.

It was only natural.

After all, in her mind’s eye, she was already picturing her and Dogun getting married and having children.

– Maybe we should name the kid… after one letter from each of our names, like Doyun?

– Isn’t it too early to name them when we don’t even know if it’ll be a boy or girl yet?

– Why? If it’s a girl or boy, either way, if they take after you, they’ll be cute and lovely.

“Ugh…”

And just as her daydream reached its climax, Yoonseo was abruptly jolted back to reality with a scream.

Having never even experienced the sweetness of love before, the vision of her ideal Dogun was more sweetness than she could handle.

Anyway, the moment she found herself back in the real world, staring at Dogun with a puzzled expression, she realized the truth.

Everything that had just flashed before her eyes had merely been her own fantasies.

And at that realization, the overwhelming emotion of embarrassment exploded within her, prompting Yoonseo to point and shout uncontrollably.

“W-Who told you to say that?!”