RE: Player again

269

[Chapter 091] [A Promise That Can't Be Kept (3)]

There were many people.

It seemed it wouldn't be easy to properly look around the booths like this.

Moreover, he had to frequently keep an eye on Seo-hyun to avoid getting swept up in the crowd.

In the end, he took special measures.

"Here."

"What do you mean?"

Seo-hyun who was about to take a bite of chocolate banana looked at the hand Eun-ha held out with a blank expression.

Then she sighed and brought the chocolate banana she was holding to his mouth.

"What?" "Didn't you want this because you were craving it?"

"No, give me your hand, your hand."

Somehow they weren't in sync.

Eun-ha took a bite of the chocolate banana she offered and said.

Only then did she understand what he was saying and obediently held out her hand.

He grasped that hand.

She seemed to put strength into the hand she grasped too.

"Do you remember that?"

"What?"

Han Seo-hyun speaking while gently lifting the corners of her mouth.

This time he retorted with a grumpy face.

Regardless, she carefully bit into the half-eaten chocolate banana.

"The day we first held hands." "Huh?"

An out-of-the-blue statement.

He didn't remember.

Eun-ha tilted his head.

She clicked her tongue as if she expected that.

"It was the second time we met. It was also the day I told you to call me comfortably." "...I remember."

Eun-ha finally recalled then.

How many years ago was that?

It was a day when a bitter cold wave was blowing.

At that time, she laughed comfortably under the moonlight.

Shivering from the cold, but holding hands tightly.

There was no way he couldn't remember.

Because he hadn't seen her laugh comfortably since that day.

"...But why?" "Just because."

"......"

"I suddenly thought of it."

All words have meaning, and at the same time have no meaning.

It was something Choksae said before the regression.

Words spoken because they suddenly came to mind.

Just saying something.

Words uttered while recalling memories, looking at the present, and imagining the future.

Her words had some meaning and at the same time had no meaning.

So he pulled her hand.

"We did this too, right?" "What do you mean?" "I mean when I took you around."

"......"

The day he first met her.

At that time, Eun-ha led her who seemed uninterested in the world while looking up at the night sky into the world of food.

Continuously after that day.

Did she recall that too?

She who smiled faintly again opened her mouth.

"You didn't take me around."

"Then?" "I followed you. And we weren't holding hands then, were we?" "The situation is the same now as it was then, so what."

"No, it's different from then and now."

Han Seo-hyun said firmly.

Looking at him with a coy gaze.

"Because you and I weren't anything to each other then. I was Han Seo-hyun, and you were Noh Eun-ha, right?"

Eun-ha was momentarily at a loss for words.

That was true.

At that time, Eun-ha who didn't know her background treated her comfortably.

That hadn't changed even now.

But the treatment that came from recognizing and not recognizing her background was slightly different.

Now there was a low wall between the two.

One that could be jumped over if they wanted to.

But one that shouldn't be jumped over.

Neither he nor she wanted that.

One had a long way to go, and one had heavy responsibilities to bear.

"...Okay, I got it."

Eun-ha put strength into the hand he was holding.

Her hand that he once thought resembled his own.

Her hand that now reminded him of Ha Baek-ryeon.

"Today I'll show you around the academy to your heart's content. Seo-hyun, you just need to trust me and follow."

"...Alright, I look forward to it."

Han Seo-hyun bursting into laughter.

Eun-ha took her around every nook and cranny.

They even played a game of throwing water balloons to hit students who became targets.

At that time, she threw water balloons forcefully at Jin Parang without being conscious of the gazes of people around.

Jin Parang who initially caught them proudly ended up gasping at Han Seo-hyun's unexpected skill.

"You seemed like you wouldn't be good at this, but you throw well?" "Don't you know?" "Know what?" "Kids like us are educated from birth on what angle and where to hit to make it hurt even when slapping the cheek."

"...Is that really true? I thought it was just a rumor..."

"Yeah, it's a lie."

"......" "Why is your face like that? You often lie to me too."

"When have I?" "All the time. You can't fool my eyes."

As they were walking, she suddenly pulled him close.

Her face came into view.

Eun-ha reflexively avoided her gaze.

For some reason, he couldn't stare into her eyes up close.

As if she was looking right through him.

That kind of feeling.

Somehow it feels like I lost?

Then he felt indignant.

He was someone who had staring contests with monsters.

But to not be able to meet her gaze up close.

He glanced at her walking with a satisfied look.

Then he pulled her close.

She who was startled blinked while looking at him.

This time she avoided his gaze.

"Does this mean I won?"

"...You're a kid. A child."

"What are you saying. You're a kid to me too."

"Did you forget I'm your noona?"

"Being young isn't judged by age."

Eun-ha giggled.

He whispered softly towards her glaring with a blank face.

"─It's judged by who has a more relaxed mind."

"......"

The more relaxed one's mind is, the better one's peripheral vision becomes.

32 years of life in his previous life.

14 years of time in this life.

Eun-ha who was living his second life couldn't be said to have a mental age of 46, but he had a much wider view of his surroundings than others.

He saw more and knew more.

A life that was like weathering storms honed his observational skills and broadened his perspectives.

That's why he could be relaxed.

"...Alright, then with that relaxed mind, won't you escort me somewhere else?"

"Where do you want to go? Or is there something you want to eat?"

"You should decide that."

"Okay, then let's end with this." "Want to get scolded?"

The two went around many other places too.

They were teased by Yeo U-bi at the booth where Yoo Nam-hoon and Yeo U-bi were said to be working.

They went to see the ridiculous appearance of Gong Baek-gi dressed as a ghost at a booth.

They met Shin Seo-young along the way and heard her say to enjoy themselves.

Besides that, they went around every corner of the academy and had new experiences from things they saw every day.

"...Of all things..."

"What's wrong?"

Then Eun-ha clicked his tongue saying "oops" as he made his way through the crowd.

Red hair was visible in the distance.

It was Twelve Seats Kang Hyeon-cheol.

"...There are really so many people. The lecture is over so I should quickly return to the clan..."

"How can you just go! Since you came to the academy cultural festival, what's wrong with looking around?"

"I hate crowds."

Plus Twelve Seats Park Hye-rim too.

People recognized the two and parted left and right to make way.

Then Eun-ha who was holding hands with Seo-hyun made eye contact with Kang Hyeon-cheol.

"...Huh? Hey! Choco Pie kid!"

"Let's quickly run away."

"What's with that all of a sudden..."

There was no time to explain.

It was obvious it would be extremely annoying if caught by Kang Hyeon-cheol.

He didn't want to fight with him on the cultural festival day either.

So Eun-ha pulled Seo-hyun and entered the crowd.

"Hey! Choco Pie kid! Where are you running away to now! You just made eye contact with me!" "...Ignore him, ignore him." "What is this."

"Even though I cherish you so preciously! Why! What's lacking about me that you're doing this! Do you think being is common!?"

"What are you doing all of a sudden!? Can't you see people are flustered right now!? Please stop doing such embarrassing things!"

"Hey! Choco Pie kid!"

Fortunately, Kang Hyeon-cheol couldn't part the crowd due to his fame.

People who didn't know anything misunderstood that he was trying to do fan service when he suddenly entered the crowd, and screamed kyaa kyaa.

In the meantime, Eun-ha was able to safely escape from him.

The problem was that Han Seo-hyun was glaring with a sharp gaze.

"Don't you see I'm wearing heels?" "Who told you to wear heels?"

"......"

"...Sorry. Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's the first time I've run like this wearing heels." "Let's rest for a bit over there."

It happened to be quite far from the area where the cultural festival was in full swing.

As a result, there weren't many people around.

Eun-ha took her to a bench on a walking path.

"Want me to massage your feet?"

"...It's okay, don't."

Fortunately, her anger seemed to have subsided.

Eun-ha who sat next to her quietly looked around at the forest scenery.

Soon he rolled his eyes and saw she was also looking around the forest that hadn't yet been colored by autumn leaves.

"Where is this?" "It's where I sometimes come for walks. Every morning I walk this path to go train at the training building over there."

"What kind of training?"

"It's different each time..."

It was different from exchanging messages.

Han Seo-hyun seemed curious about Eun-ha's academy life and quietly listened to his story.

Then after listening to the story, she shared her thoughts.

"...It sounds fun." "What's fun about this? You need to do morning runs like other kids every day to understand."

"I can say it's fun because I can see it from afar."

Eun-ha burst into laughter at those words.

She seemed to find her own words funny too and was trying hard to hold back her trembling lips.

That's when it happened.

"─Found you! Eun-ha!"

He never thought someone would come to the walking path that had no connection to the cultural festival.

He had just barely avoided the ugly squid, but another squid popped up.

Eun-ha frowned seeing the Class 6 president running over gasping for breath.

Since Seo-hyun said her feet hurt, he couldn't run with her either.

In the end, he decided to wait for the president to arrive while leaning back on the bench.

"Why? What's the matter? I told you I'm not grilling gun-mandu anymore."

"G-Gun-mandu is fine now...!"

"Huh? Really? Then why were you looking for me?"

"Well..."

The Class 6 president wiping away sweat with the back of his hand while gasping for breath.

While doing so, the president was glancing at Seo-hyun sitting next to him.

Eun-ha who naturally pulled her closer urged the president.

The president's story after catching his breath was simple.

Asking him to participate in the Hunter division competition.

"Why me? You can just send out the remaining people."

"The kids are lying in the infirmary after eating food Min-ji made, and people are lined up in front of the booth so we can't pull anyone out." "Kim Min-ji, you really..."

Eun-ha sighed.

Why does Kim Min-ji's cooking skills not improve at all, but rather get worse over time?

But he couldn't grant the Class 6 president's request because of Kim Min-ji this time either.

He hadn't even rested properly from grilling gun-mandu during the cultural festival period.

He had no intention whatsoever of giving up his rest time.

"Eun-ha, please..."

"Find someone else."

"But it's perfect for you! It's a competition where you just need to shoot like at the last closing party!" "Not interested."

Anyway, there wasn't an artifact he was particularly interested in as the winning prize for this division competition.

Eun-ha had no interest.

It was something he had no interest in, but─

"─I want to see it."

Seo-hyun who had been silent until then opened her mouth.

He who was about to get up from his seat turned to look at her with a dumbfounded face.

"No, why?"

"I want to see you shoot too. I've never seen what your skills are like until now."

"......" "I heard about the closing party too. Since I wasn't there then, I'd like to see it now if possible?"

Han Seo-hyun showing an interested look.

It was a request from his sponsor.

Eun-ha sighed.

Still holding her hand.

☆

Academy middle school Hunter division competition.

There were no surprises.

Students heard Eun-ha was participating and didn't doubt his victory.

He pulled the trigger while drawing people's attention without anyone called a rival.

Even Choi Jun-ho who was expected to be a strong candidate for victory didn't come close to his level.

[─Middle school Hunter division competition winner.

Class 1-6 Noh Eun-ha. Noh Eun-ha, please come up to the stage now.]

Clan officials who came to discover promising talents at the cultural festival were watching the comprehensive ability competition and high school division competition.

So there weren't many officials who knew about Noh Eun-ha who won the middle school division competition.

Looks like Yeon-hwa noona won.

He who returned to the waiting room after receiving the award checked the message Eun-a sent.

It seems Yeon-hwa won the comprehensive ability competition for the second year in a row.

The photo she sent showed Yeon-hwa swinging a spear on an ice rink.

Eun-ha who sent a message to Yeon-hwa via Pine Talk moved to find Seo-hyun.

"How was it?"

Seo-hyun was waiting in the VIP viewing room allocated by Sirius Group.

She who could see the test site up close welcomed him who entered carrying the award and prize with a soft smile.

"You looked cool, really."

"That's a given. Aren't you hungry? I received a flyer on the way, it seems they're selling tteokbokki, sundae, and kimbap outside. Should we go eat that?"

"Do you never think about anything but food?"

Seo-hyun scolded him like that but still got up from her seat.

Now she held out her hand as if it was natural without even saying anything.

Eun-ha also grasped the hand she held out and left the VIP viewing room.

It was almost evening now.

Dusk was falling.

Eun-ha led her while thinking about what events there would be at the academy in the evening.

The two who took the elevator to the 1st floor and were about to go outside the building─

"─Eun-ha!! I saw you do well! You were so cool... oh, Han Seo-hyun?"

"Huh? 'Eun-ha'?"

"Hah..."

Ended up making eye contact with Choi Ga-in running over with a glad face from far away.

"─Who's that?"

Seo-hyun asked in a thorny tone.