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Chapter 262
“W-When did you get here?” I asked, bewildered.
Woo Ragi answered docilely, “Four hours ago.” Then, he looked at me for a moment. As his eyes scanned over me, his brows furrowed noticeably when he looked at my nape.
Surprised, I inadvertently followed his gaze and pressed at that area with my hand; I felt a throbbing pain. When I looked down, I saw an unfamiliar gauze attached to the skin near my collarbone.
‘…Did they attach a dressing to me here as well?’ I wondered. It was the first time I’d ever seen it. Woo Ragi approached and reached out his arm, as if he were about to touch my hand.
I inadvertently backed away from him. As soon as I did so, Woo Ragi’s expression changed minutely–some incomprehensible, strange emotion. Then, he neatly retrieved his hand, as if he had abandoned all thought of touching me. I was left standing there, bewildered. “Wh…What?”
“Don’t touch that.” Woo Ragi sat on the chair normally utilized by the nurses and stared resolutely away. The servants were probably taking turns to watch over me, but… I was still unfamiliar with Woo Ragi, so I felt very awkward and shy.
“Excuse me… Have you seen Garam-ie? Did he leave while I was sleeping?”
I couldn’t really turn on the TV in this situation, and it’d be weird to eat alone as well…
I spoke cautiously to Woo Ragi, but, strangely, the swordsman didn’t answer even though he heard me. He simply gave me an icy glare, like he was trying to convey, ‘Why is this bastard trying to act friendly?’
Normally, I would fidget and fiddle with my cell phone out of anxiety, but I somehow felt weirdly emotional. Woo Ragi, I know you’re always such a jerk, but…
“Hey, I want to eat an apple…” I said.
“What?”
The fact that he’s ignoring me made me want to drag him into a conversation even more.
I couldn’t resist the urge and tried to talk to Woo Ragi. As expected, he gave me a look that seemed to say, ‘What bullshit are you spouting now?’
When our eyes met, I gave him a sheepish smile–that seemed to only offend him more. Woo Ragi said, with an irritated expression, “So, you want to eat an apple. What do you want from me?”
“I’m a patient…and you’re my servant.”
“Do you want to get beaten?”
”No, I want to eat an apple.”
“……” Woo Ragi was momentarily struck speechless; he looked me up and down. It was as if he was wondering whether or not an imposter was wearing my skin.
‘It’s easy to read his face…’ I grinned and raised my torso up off the bed. Then, making sure the swordsman could see, I whined and lifted the patient’s table attatched to the bed.
Woo Ragi looked at the table; sure enough, he looked as if he was going to beat me up.
Of course, I thought the swordsman would curse at me, but Woo Ragi unexpectedly took an apple out of the fruit basket and silently placed it atop the bedside table. Then, he took out a finger-sized, thin dagger from his inventory and began to peel it.
‘What’s this? He’s become kind…’
Surprised by his unnatural docile attitude, I looked at the swordsman. I observed him carefully, trying hard not to admire his features. Even though he was just peeling an apple, the swordsman’s unrealistic appearance made me feel like I was an audience for a master performing his cultural arts. 1
I stared blankly at the shadows cast by his eyelashes; my mouth watered slightly when I saw the apple pieces lying side by side on the plate. The swordsman took a neatly cut slice and lifted it quickly…then, he placed it in his mouth.
“What…are you doing?” I asked.
He chewed an apple he couldn’t even eat and spat out the mushed remains in the trash can.
Even after seeing my incredulous reaction, Woo Ragi silently took another apple slice and chewed it in his mouth. I felt annoyed to see the half-eaten apple slices being thrown away, “You really loathe the thought of giving me any?”
“You should be grateful that I haven’t beaten you up.”
“You cheapskate.”
“Hilarious. Did you really stare at this thinking I’ll give it to you?” Woo Ragi giggled while looking at my expression. At that moment, he looked supremely childish–a low-quality human being.
I gave and simply reached out for the fruit basket. I was hungry; I might as well eat the remaining apple, skin and all.
However, when I reached out, the fruit basket suddenly retreated backwards. I tried to follow it with an outstretched hand, but it retreated again.
Temper rising at his mockery, I glared into the swordsman’s face with bloodlust in my eyes. Suppressing laughter, he pulled the basket towards his side and said languidly, “Do you want some?”
“Yeah.”
“Ask politely.”
“……” I wanted to shove a mirror into Woo Ragi’s face to show him his own expression. It would be impossible to not get furious at the combination of such a malicious expression and elegant voice…
I gave up and continued to glare at him; Ragi, that bastard, began to spear all of the fruits in the basket, one by one.
My stomach rumbled as the sweet smell wafted through the air (and he definitely heard it too), but that guy refused to give me any. He just piled fruits on the small plate, like a cake, and acted as if he was going through them all away into the trash bin.
“I’m going to tell Dawon what you did…” I mumbled.
“Wow, so scary. Make sure to tell him everything.”
“……” I had even taken out my secret card, Seo Dawon, but Woo Ragi didn’t even lift an eyebrow.
But a few minutes later, the fruit plate was placed atop the side table. Half amazed, I reached out; once again, though, the plate retreated again. “Ah, honestly!”
Woo Ragi giggled and finally handed me the plate; finally, I was able to dine on the fruit. Woo Ragi stared at me eating. When our eyes met, he spouted provocative fighting words. “You eat like a pig.”
“Why do you always speak like that?”
“I said you look like a pig because you’re eating like a pig.”
“Have you never been sued for slander during your lifetime as a User?”
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“You’re really persistent with your quips. Just eat your apple.” Woo Ragi threw the fruit’s peel at me and smacked me right on my forehead.
I was incredibly frustrated and melancholy, but I was so hungry. The fruits were cut into bite-sized pieces as well. So, I decided to endure. “Where’s Garam-ie?” After eating for a while, I got bored again so I made conversation with the Swordsman who was staring absentmindedly out the window.
“He went home. Can’t you see?”
”Why didn’t wake me up during meal time?” I was a bit curious; Kim Olim and Garam-ie unconditionally woke me up at those times to hand me the medicine that came with my meal.
Woo Ragi was momentarily struck speechless, then said in a despicable tone, “Are you thinking about eating more while you’re already eating?”
“No, that’s not it… Argh, Why are you always trying to pick a fight?!”
“For an uggo, you’re really gluttonous.”
That made me even more upset because the swordsman was so handsome.
Regardless of my anger, Woo Ragi said, “I cut it for you anyway, if you don’t eat it I’ll gut you.” I glared, picked up my laid-down fork, and began devouring the fruit again. The fact that the fruit was so disgustingly delicious made me sorrowful.
‘Come to think of it, I’m hungrier than usual…’
At first, I thought I’d have leftovers, but I was still a little hungry even after I finished the fruits. Watching Woo Ragi out of the side of my eye, I glared at the fruit left in the basket.
‘I want to eat two of the bananas in there…’
Instead of giving me more fruit, the swordsman took out a black flask from his inventory. “Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Choi Kyungsik said to give it to you.”
“What kind of medicine is that?”
“Dunno.”
His answer was pretty flippant, but I still took the flask.
The issue, though, was the appearance of the potion. It was colored black, and a cloud of dark smoke was rising from the opening. Honestly, it’s not like this is some ready-to-eat hot delivery food or something…
“Are you sure this is edible?” I asked.
“……”
I couldn’t really blame him for being silent in this situation. The smoke didn’t really please me, but perhaps the taste would be fine? I opened the lid and took a quick sniff.
“Urgh…” My expectations were betrayed, and a horrible smell pierced my nose. It smelled like three-days-old, rotten socks were left in a smoker.
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TL: Honestly, Woo Ragi insults people like it’s his last line of defense to show that he has no emotions. He’s such a despicable character (in some sense). But, also, I can’t help but notice that he looked worried about Choi Lee-kyung’s wound…and how he did eventually cut all the fruits into bite-sized pieces for our hamster.
Still. Be nice!
Footnotes
The original word used here is ‘intangible cultural asset master’ or a master of crafts for an art that’s been registered with the UNESCO world heritage organization. These sorts of people are often given funds to continue practicing their arts and given an exemption from military service.