/
A few minutes later, I pulled away my hand.
“…What happened?”
The board didn’t shine at all. Was it because my ability is too weak?
‘No way…’
It couldn’t be. Even if only a single particle of energy existed, the board would still shine as bright as a firefly. The absence of light means that there is absolutely no energy…
“I am gifted, aren’t I?”
I looked at the skill window that appeared in the corner of my view. Exactly two abilities were registered there, [Information] and [Foresight], but the board still wouldn’t shine.
‘Is there something wrong with the board?’
There was no way Ki Hyun Joo would have sent me a broken one. Well, she didn’t even know how to break it in the first place. It wasn’t something that would break even if cut in half.
“…I really don’t know.”
I sighed and placed the board and its support in a corner of the desk. It’s fine if I didn’t send it back, it’s not like there’s a shortage of these things.
I tried not to think about it anymore, but strangely, I was still on edge. Whatever unnerved me so much hadn’t gone away.
* * *
Since then, I was stuck in my room reading through the notebook that organized the original story over and over again. The messy information scattered around was organized and re-written.
Over and over again, until the routes were dug deep into my brain.
I didn’t keep my notebook away from me for even a second, fearing that someone might steal it.
Such a thing was possible because I stayed in my room, avoiding the outside world.
‘I’ve memorized everything.’
When I’d memorized every single sentence perfectly, I burned the notebook. It was unlikely, but assuming that someone had the ability to restore it, I flushed the remaining ashes into the toilet.
‘To restore it, they will have to find it in our house’s shit box.’
The ash would flow into the septic tank. At that point, I couldn’t help it if someone found out my secret. But it’d be a lot of trouble to go through to do so.
The bathroom’s fire alarm didn’t go off. Instead, the smell of smoke blanketed me. So, I took a shower, changed my clothes, and went outside.
‘What should I do now?’
After the possession, I had gone outside once. But ever since, I kept myself stuck in my room, so I had never done anything outside.
Come to think of it, it was lunch time soon. I usually received it at my door and ate it in my room, but I thought I’d eat it at a restaurant while I was out.
‘But does this body remember where it is?’
‘I should go there,’ as soon as I had the thought, my footsteps automatically headed that way.
“Uh, hello…you?”
“Hello, Young Master.”
“Umm.”
When I entered the restaurant, I saw Jung Yi Joon holding a hamburger and fries that looked handmade. Guessing at the tray in front of the door, I guess he was going to take it out.
When the employee in the restaurant greeted me, I greeted him with a nod.
“I’d like to have lunch.” I said.
“I’ll get it ready. What should I prepare? Today, we have Korean and Western dishes.”
“Something Western.”
“I understand, what’s the main…?”
“Meat. I don’t need it to be grandiose, I’d rather have hamburger steak. And only soup, salad and tomato pasta.”
I wanted to eat hamburger steak because when I passed Jung Yi Joon, his food smelled good. The waiter who took my order disappeared into the kitchen while I sat at the table.
‘Huh?’
I thought he had already left, but Jung Yi Joon was still standing by the door. He may not like something, because he stood there with a puzzled look on his face.
‘Um… It wasn’t my intention, but maybe it’s because I ignored him.’
He didn’t seem to like it (whatever that was), so he’d stopped what he was doing.  Probably because he thought I was just going to leave after talking with the waiter.
As soon as I considered talking to him, the waiter returned.
“First, I’ll give you soup and some bread as a starter.”
The waiter put down the soup and bread in front of me and went back to the kitchen. When the waiter left, I raised my head to talk to him, but found the tray in front of me empty.
“What are you looking at?”
Instead, it was Jung Yi Joon who sat down across from me with a snarl and a frown.
“…I thought you were leaving.”
“What? You want me to leave?”
I didn’t say that, but…
Jung Yi Joon opened his eyes wide and exhaled harshly at my words. I felt like his eyes would pop out of his face if he opened them any wider.
“I didn’t tell you to leave. What are you looking at me for?”
“…Fucker.”
Hmm, Jung Yi Joon was really a hard person to deal with. No matter what he did, he’d still find a way to get worked up. He picked up the cup on the tray and chugged his coke. Was he thirsty? Even though the carbonation would burn his throat, Jung Yi Joon drank endlessly.
…You’re not going to belch, are you?
I was eating the soup slowly, ripping the bread into small pieces before eating it.
‘Does this body remember…’
To be honest, ‘I’ had no upper-class knowledge. I only learned table manners a little at Home Ec when I was in school.
While the memories of Ki Yoon Jae were in my head, there’s a difference between knowing how to do something in theory and having actually done it. But despite my worries, this body remembered quite a lot.
‘Like the location of the mansion rooms. What kind of tableware do I have to use? And Ki Yoon Jae’s handwriting…’
‘I’ had ordinary handwriting. It wasn’t bad or anything, but Ki Yoon Jae’s handwriting was perfect. Unlucky guy. Except for being incompetent, he had too much going for him.
I sighed because I was a little upset, and Jung Yi Joon’s eyes narrowed again.
“Damn, what is it now? You don’t want to eat with me, do you?”
Jung Yi Joon picked a fight with a very angry expression. He’s really exhausting to deal with. When did I say I didn’t like you? I tried to flip through Ki Yoon Jae’s memory, but even he had never said anything like that to him.
“…When did I say so?”
I honestly asked him back out of curiosity, but to Jung Yi Joon it must have sounded different. His breathing became more and more labored, and he clenched his teeth and stared even harder at me.
“You think I don’t know because you won’t just say it?”
“…”
“Every time, every single time! You look down on me, as if I’m insignificant! You’re ignoring me on purpose!”
Tears welled up under Jung Yi Joon’s eyes. Man, what the hell is going on…
I was worried that his face would turn beet red from anger, even after all his yelling, and a valve in his heart would burst from his high blood pressure.
“You’re wrong.”
“What?”
“I’ve never once thought ‘I hate you’.”
I thought he’d get annoyed at my words, but Jung Yi Joon’s face turned blank when I spoke my mind.
“And you’re too tall for me to look down at.”
“…Huh?”
“You are mistaken.”
Or maybe it wasn’t a mistake… Ki Yoon Jae may have really looked down on him before, and it probably wasn’t -just- Jung Yi Joon… Anyway, I had never looked down on him, so I wasn’t lying.
At my words, Jung Yi Joon was lost in thought. It was as if he thought I was trying to mess with him.
Oh, but I had more to say.
“And one more thing.”
“…”
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“The raid. That day… You saved my life.”
Jung Yi Joon’s eyes widened as if he heard something impossible.
“I should have told you back then, but I couldn’t.”
“That’s…”
Jung Yi Joon opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. But when the waiter returned with my food, he shut his mouth. The silence continued until the waiter left with my empty dishes.
“…Are you feeling well?”
After the waiter left, Jung Yi Joon finally spoke. He murmured, saying, “Wasn’t he sick enough to not come out of the room for a few days?” He seemed to be making excuses that he wasn’t worried to make it appear like he was just casually asking.
I feigned ignorance, just saying that I was okay now.
“I see.”
His face, which had always been unhappy, turned gentle like a sheep. Jung Yi Joon ate silently without any more loud interruptions.
‘He’s a big lummox, and as soon as our eyes met, he immediately wanted to pick a fight. So, I was worried that he was just a foul-mouthed bully.’
""
Now, Jung Yi Joon looked like a 16-year-old baby. He nibbled on a hamburger that, at first, seemed like he could eat it in a few bites. And then, he ate his french fries slowly. Even after he’d finished, Jung Yi Joon drank his coke, sip by sip, until I’d finished eating. When I wiped my mouth after finishing my dessert, (a big bowl of sherbet,) I stood up, and Jung Yi Joon stood up too.
“Where are you going?” Jung Yi Joon asked.
“I’m going for a walk.”
When I left the restaurant, he followed me. I was a little encumbered with him on my tail, so I asked if there was anything he could do -somewhere else.- I ran away as he got angry again. Apparently, I pushed another one of his mysterious buttons.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do!”
“Uh…”
“More than you!”
I had nothing to say about Jung Yi Joon’s definitely-not-angry departure while he stormed away, stomping his feet.
Anyway, I thought I parted with any variables when I went outside, but yet another one suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Hyung!”
“Hyun Seo!”
It was Ha Hyun Seo.