âW-When did you get here?â I asked, bewildered.
Woo Ragi answered docilely, âFour hours ago.â 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.
ââŠDid they attach a dressing to me here as well?â I wondered. It was the first time Iâd 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 Ragiâs expression changed minutelyâsome 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. âWhâŠWhat?â
âDonât touch that.â 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.
âExcuse me⊠Have you seen Garam-ie? Did he leave while I was sleeping?â
I couldnât really turn on the TV in this situation, and itâd be weird to eat alone as wellâŠ
I spoke cautiously to Woo Ragi, but, strangely, the swordsman didnât answer even though he heard me. He simply gave me an icy glare, like he was trying to convey, âWhy is this bastard trying to act friendly?â
Normally, I would fidget and fiddle with my cell phone out of anxiety, but I somehow felt weirdly emotional. Woo Ragi, I know youâre always such a jerk, butâŠ
âHey, I want to eat an appleâŠâ I said.
âWhat?â
The fact that heâs ignoring me made me want to drag him into a conversation even more.
I couldnât resist the urge and tried to talk to Woo Ragi. As expected, he gave me a look that seemed to say, âWhat bullshit are you spouting now?â
When our eyes met, I gave him a sheepish smileâthat seemed to only offend him more. Woo Ragi said, with an irritated expression, âSo, you want to eat an apple. What do you want from me?â
âIâm a patientâŠand youâre my servant.â
âDo you want to get beaten?â
âNo, I want to eat an apple.â
ââŠâŠâ 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.
âItâs easy to read his faceâŠâ I grinned and raised my torso up off the bed. Then, making sure the swordsman could see, I whined and lifted the patientâs 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.
âWhatâs this? Heâs become kindâŠâ
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 swordsmanâs 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 quicklyâŠthen, he placed it in his mouth.
âWhatâŠare you doing?â I asked.
He chewed an apple he couldnât 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, âYou really loathe the thought of giving me any?â
âYou should be grateful that I havenât beaten you up.â
âYou cheapskate.â
âHilarious. Did you really stare at this thinking Iâll give it to you?â Woo Ragi giggled while looking at my expression. At that moment, he looked supremely childishâa 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 swordsmanâs face with bloodlust in my eyes. Suppressing laughter, he pulled the basket towards his side and said languidly, âDo you want some?â
âYeah.â
âAsk politely.â
ââŠâŠâ I wanted to shove a mirror into Woo Ragiâs 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 voiceâŠ
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.
âIâm going to tell Dawon what you didâŠâ I mumbled.
âWow, so scary. Make sure to tell him everything.â
ââŠâŠâ I had even taken out my secret card, Seo Dawon, but Woo Ragi didnât 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. âAh, honestly!â
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. âYou eat like a pig.â
âWhy do you always speak like that?â
âI said you look like a pig because youâre eating like a pig.â
âHave you never been sued for slander during your lifetime as a User?â
""
âYouâre really persistent with your quips. Just eat your apple.â Woo Ragi threw the fruitâs 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. âWhereâs Garam-ie?â After eating for a while, I got bored again so I made conversation with the Swordsman who was staring absentmindedly out the window.
âHe went home. Canât you see?â
âWhy didnât wake me up during meal time?â 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, âAre you thinking about eating more while youâre already eating?â
âNo, thatâs not it⊠Argh, Why are you always trying to pick a fight?!â
âFor an uggo, youâre really gluttonous.â
That made me even more upset because the swordsman was so handsome.
Regardless of my anger, Woo Ragi said, âI cut it for you anyway, if you donât eat it Iâll gut you.â 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.
âCome to think of it, Iâm hungrier than usualâŠâ
At first, I thought Iâd 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.
âI want to eat two of the bananas in thereâŠâ
Instead of giving me more fruit, the swordsman took out a black flask from his inventory. âDrink this.â
âWhat is it?â
âChoi Kyungsik said to give it to you.â
âWhat kind of medicine is that?â
âDunno.â
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, itâs not like this is some ready-to-eat hot delivery food or somethingâŠ
âAre you sure this is edible?â I asked.
ââŠâŠâ
I couldnât really blame him for being silent in this situation. The smoke didnât really please me, but perhaps the taste would be fine? I opened the lid and took a quick sniff.
âUrghâŠâ 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 itâs his last line of defense to show that he has no emotions. Heâs such a despicable character (in some sense). But, also, I canât help but notice that he looked worried about Choi Lee-kyungâs woundâŠand 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 âintangible cultural asset masterâ or a master of crafts for an art thatâs 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.