By Zephyria Meanwhile, the children who had directly experienced the power of the Vermilion Bird God were busy talking about ‘Exorcist Ki Jae-eon’ all day long. Among them were those who treated him like an invisible man, thinking ‘Ki Jae-eon is ignoring the main office and us!’, and those who spread rumors, claiming ‘Ki Jae-eon was badmouthing us on the phone’.
But now it was different.
The lips that had only contained all sorts of negative words had changed one hundred and eighty degrees, praising Ki Jae-eon so much that their mouths were dry.
“I almost went to register our marriage for real.”
“He’s really the national representative of the Exorcist world for no reason.”
“Why does the sun rise when Jae-eon hyung is here?”
It was then.
One of the children, who had been sitting at the very end and silently keeping his place without participating in the conversation, opened his mouth as if he had made a decision, “Hey guys.”
“……Exorcist Ki Jae-eon, I mean.”
He also mentioned ‘Ki Jae-eon’.
The children listened intently, their eyes shining.
That’s because the children were currently filled with respect for Ki Jae-eon to the tips of their heads, so much so that…….
For example, even if they said something nonsense like ‘Ki Jae-eon is actually a fan of toe socks’, they would get a positive response to the level of ‘Actually, I also have a toe sock fetish’.
In other words, they were as high as they could be.
The children waited for new nonsense to come out.
However.
“If I apologize…… Would it be shameless?”
An unexpected remark came out.
The atmosphere became quite quiet, as if cold water had been poured on it.
The children glanced at each other, pursing their lips. Not a single one of them opened their mouths easily. Even the excited look had completely disappeared.
“Hey…… You…… What, now…… Something like that…….”
One of the groups that used to badmouth Ki Jae-eon whenever they had a chance spoke in an embarrassed tone, and right next to him, a voice supporting him hesitantly flowed out, “Min-ji’s words aren’t wrong.”
Silence again.
It was quiet except for the sound of someone smacking their lips.
“Honestly…… It’s awkward.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I was believing in Jae-eon hyung?”
“Don’t lie.”
It was when the children were each adding a word. One of the children, who had been eating snacks, frowned slightly and opened his mouth.
“But guys, being saved is being saved, and having a bad attitude was a fact. I don’t know why we’re suddenly becoming the bad guys. Can’t we just be grateful for what we’re grateful for, and say what’s not?”
“Isn’t it obvious that it’s ridiculous to ignore the fact that he ignored us all this time and suddenly come up to us and say thank you?”
“No, what I’m saying is why are you guys framing us as if we’re bad?”
“Who’s framing you~.”
The atmosphere gradually became sharp.
The children pointed fingers at each other and raised their voices.
“Honestly, there are some who crossed the line.”
“Hey, did we openly bully him or what? We don’t have to force ourselves to be friends!”
“Guys, don’t fight!”
“Isn’t it enough for only the people who want to apologize to apologize? Why are you creating an atmosphere that forces us to!”
In the end, it became a chaotic mess.
So, a few days after the Poor little cutie incident.
Even though he summoned the Vermilion Bird God through Ahn Seo-myeong, it was inevitable that his body would be strained…….
In the end, Ki Jae-eon, who was groaning under Master Young’s care, miraculously regained his strength on the second day.
And the first thought that came to Ki Jae-eon’s mind when he came to his senses was this.
‘I’m hungry.’
Yes, rice.
Not porridge…… Rice.
He wanted to eat rice.
Ki Jae-eon slowly got up in a disheveled state. His hungry stomach growled loudly.
-‘If you get indigestion, there’s no answer. You have to eat porridge until your fever goes down!’
Master Young, who only fed him porridge with a strict expression, talking about digestion.
Thanks to that, Ki Jae-eon was able to feel his appetite for the first time since returning to the past.
“Lunch box…….”
Unusually, he smacked his lips.
Ki Jae-eon, who had waited until the dormitory was quiet, as he did every time, carefully stepped down the stairs when the time came.
‘I’m used to this now.’
It was when he was smiling inwardly to himself and opened the refrigerator door with a thud.
“Huh……?”
Around the black lunch box, there were many foods placed all around. From small candies to quite expensive brand cookie boxes, fruits, jellies, etc., the colors were so colorful that it looked like the black lunch box had been decorated beautifully.
Ki Jae-eon was flustered and looked inside the refrigerator.
There were more than enough empty spaces.
What is this……?
First of all, he was hungry, so he carefully took out only the lunch box. But perhaps because there was so much stuff packed in, pieces of paper came out with it and fell to the floor.
He picked up one of them that had fallen under his feet. Before he could even flinch at the rustling- the cold touch of the paper, Ki Jae-eon’s eyes were drawn to the dense writing.
“……Thank you for saving me……?”
Ki Jae-eon’s eyes widened.
Surprisingly, it was a letter. A letter of gratitude to Ki Jae-eon.
Slowly, with a newly turned gaze, he finally saw the colorful papers.
Ki Jae-eon carefully unfolded each and every piece of paper.
[Jae-eon hyung!]
[To Exorcist Ki Jae-eon…….]
[Jae-eon oppa!]
[Mr. Ki Jae-eon]
[Hey you.]
[Can I call you Jae-eon? lol]
……Letters calling Ki Jae-eon by many names, etc.
But they all had one meaning.
[Thank you.]
That’s right.
That was……. The reason he endured even in the pain that wished for death.
“Aunt scolded me not to pile up too much in the refrigerator.”
“It’s not decreasing at all.”
A week after they expressed their feelings with letters.
The children were depressed as they looked at the snacks that Ki Jae-eon hadn’t even touched.
That’s because their relationship was still the same.
At least he seemed to have collected all the letters they had put in…… But they couldn’t exactly expect a reply.
“I wonder if he even read them?”
“Byeong-gyun hyung even wrote down his Byulsta ID.”
“You keep crossing the line?”
It was around the time when the children were murmuring.
“I guess it’ll be hard for him to forgive us easily. Honestly, we changed too much like flipping our hands.”
“It’s just his personality? Look, having a bad attitude is a fact.”
Opinions about Ki Jae-eon were once again divided.
One of the
“Then create an atmosphere of respect. Look at what you guys are doing. You’re looking at us like we’re really bad people. We’re uncomfortable with that, okay? Do we have to be sorry? Don’t force us.”
“Oh, I get it.”
“No, look. Why is this something to fight about?”
“Who’s nitpicking when I said I get it?”
“Then are you talking the same way you usually do now?”
The atmosphere became cold.
On the verge of explosion.
It was a precarious moment where a dogfight would break out as soon as anyone opened their mouth.
From afar, Ahn Seo-myeong walked out yawning with a yawn.
Hmm, he looked like a cat that had just woken up, with a disheveled bird’s nest, as if he hadn’t fully woken up.
If you were to bite his white and soft cheeks, it would smell like warm sunshine… He looked savory.
Ahn Seo-myeong leisurely ignored the hyungs and noonas who were openly fighting and poured himself a glass of water.
Glug, glug.
Ahn Seo-myeong emptied a cup of water coolly, placed the mug on the table, and opened his mouth calmly.
“He just seems clumsy.”
The children’s gazes all turned to Ahn Seo-myeong at once. However, he continued speaking slowly with his characteristic indifferent face, without any particular agitation.
“It could be something that’s burdensome to him, personality-wise. Even someone who tried to jump in front of a train himself… Ah, pretend you didn’t hear that. Anyway, he doesn’t seem to have a strong mentality, so everyone be careful-.”
“What? Hey, what did you just say?”
Thump.
One of the children jumped up and interrupted Ahn Seo-myeong.
He had the face of someone who had heard something he shouldn’t have, and the other children blinked repeatedly.
“…Burdensome?”
“No! Before that!”
Ahn Seo-myeong lowered his gaze as if thinking for a moment about what the other person wanted.
Unable to endure the brief silence, the children exchanged glances. It was as if their eyes were asking, ‘Did you hear that too?’ Among them, there were some who looked like they were thinking, ‘No way.’
But for some reason, they were anxious.
Ahn Seo-myeong scanned the tense children, then shrugged his shoulders and asked, “That he tried to jump in front of a train?” It was as if he was asking if that was what they were asking about.
Tried to jump in front of a train…?!
They hadn’t misheard.
“What are you talking about?”
“N-no way. Why would you make such an unlucky joke…”
However, Ahn Seo-myeong didn’t give any answer.
Sometimes silence means affirmation. That was the case right now.
“…Is it true?”