Chapter 11 - What Do You Mean, Oppa and I Are Fated Not to Be Together?

Since their reunion after twenty-five hundred years, every moment she spent with Minjun had felt like a dream. She had waited for this moment longer than any ordinary human could imagine. How could she not be happy?

And she thought that happiness would last. Why wouldn’t it? Two lovers who had missed each other had found each other again, and nothing stood between them. All that remained was to enjoy a happy life together, free of worries.

Or so she had thought. In the middle of training, Minjun suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed.

“Oppaaaa! Oppa! Oppa! Minjun, Oppa! Wake up, Minjun!”

Sia cried his name at the top of her lungs, shaking his unconscious body again and again.

‘After everything it took for us to find each other again!’

At the same time, she cast every healing spell she knew on him.

“I—I need to see if he’s breathing.”

With trembling hands, she felt for Minjun’s pulse. It was faint, but thankfully it was there. That was all she could say for certain. He showed no sign of waking, and even she could not tell exactly why he had collapsed or what condition he was in.

‘A chronic illness? No, Oppa never had one. Is there some other problem I don’t know about? No, that can’t be it either. Then why did he collapse? The healing spells aren’t helping. No, it’s worse than that—his condition is getting worse.’

If she had not been a dragon, the shock might already have made her faint. Barely holding herself together, Sia tried to find the cause, but no matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind.

“Before—before he gets any worse...”

She had to do something. Anything. Her ability to think rationally was slipping away. Hands shaking violently, she began pulling every healing-related artifact and potion she could find out of her pocket dimension.

But was that the answer? Judging by Minjun’s condition, she feared they might do nothing—or even cause adverse effects.

Then what about dragon speech?

“I don’t have time to think.”

One powerful spell of dragon speech might be better than a handful of inadequate artifacts and potions. She opened her mouth to speak the words that would wake Minjun.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

An unfamiliar voice called out to her. Sia turned to see who had spoken—and found that he was not unfamiliar to her at all.

“Wh-why...”

He was someone she had never imagined meeting here on Earth.

“Grandpa, why are you—”

Her grandfather, the former Dragon Lord who had vanished just before she turned a thousand, stood before her. Rokan was here.

“Shasha. Are you worried about that man?”

Sia—or rather, the red dragon Shasha—nodded vigorously.

“Then step away from him for now. I’ll take care of the rest.”

* * *

Before I lost consciousness, I’d wondered if I was about to die. But since I’d woken up, I seemed to be alive, at least. Though all the strength had drained out of my body.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat up.

“Where am I...?”

I’d expected to wake up to the sight of a hospital room. Instead, I was somewhere that wasn’t the training ground where I’d collapsed, a hospital, or even my home.

Where on earth was I? The place was a cavernous space so huge it would put most indoor arenas to shame, but it didn’t seem to be an ordinary cave. There was furniture in it, so someone probably lived here.

‘Wait. Where’s Sia?’

She’d definitely been beside me before I passed out. Now I couldn’t sense anyone here, let alone her.

“Sia! Sia!”

Panic rising, I called her name as loudly as I could. What if she’d disappeared again? She couldn’t have. Not after everything it had taken for us to meet again.

“Your name was Minjun, wasn’t it? I see you’re awake.”

An unfamiliar voice spoke. I hadn’t sensed anyone nearby, yet a man who looked to be in his forties stood over me. Strangely, he had red hair and red eyes like Sia’s.

“Your eyes are darting around. You must be terribly confused. Of course you are. I would be too, in your place.”

“Who... are you?”

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t work it out. Other than his hair and eye color, I had no clue who he was.

“I’m Sia’s grandfather.”

“... Pardon?”

Her grandfather? Both her grandfathers had died before she became an adult. But if he was her grandfather...

“Sir, did you perhaps—if you’ll excuse me—reincarnate too—”

“What are you talking about?”

Then what was going on? He was far too young to be a grandfather. Judging by his looks alone, I’d have believed he was her uncle.

But there was something I’d overlooked. Reincarnated as a dragon, Sia had red hair and red eyes. Her grandfather had the same. And that strange, overwhelming presence I felt from him could only mean one thing.

“Are you—a dragon?”

“It took you long enough to realize. Yes, I am a dragon, just as you think.”

He laughed heartily.

“You must have plenty of questions. What would you most like to know?”

I had questions about everything, but what I wanted to know most was where Sia had gone.

“Sia. Where is Sia right now?”

“Underground. Don’t worry; she’ll be up soon. My granddaughter has been terribly worried about you.”

“Phew. Thank goodness.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, though until I saw Sia for myself, I couldn’t shake my unease completely.

“You still seem worried.”

“How could I not be? Sia must have been startled when I collapsed...”

“More than startled. She was in a panic.”

“Ah. All I did was make her worry.”

I’d been training perfectly well, only to collapse without warning. Of course it had frightened her.

“Then, sir, how did you—”

THUD. THUD.

Just as I was about to ask my next question, a deafening noise rose from the ground. Thinking the cave might be collapsing, I hurriedly looked for somewhere to take cover. Sia’s grandfather, however, merely smiled.

“Shasha. I know how you feel, but didn’t I tell you your boyfriend still needs to rest?”

THUD. THUD. THUD.

“Somehow you’ve grown even more impatient since I last saw you two thousand years ago. Shasha, I know you’re anxious, but wait a little longer. Didn’t I ask you to give me a moment?”

He spoke gently, as if soothing an impatient granddaughter. Maybe Sia really was somewhere below us.

Shasha, though? She hadn’t told me herself, but it seemed Shasha was the name she’d been given after reincarnating as a dragon.

“As you can see, my granddaughter is very worried about you.”

Did that mean Sia was responsible for those heavy tremors? I still didn’t understand everything, but if her grandfather said so, it must be true.

“I intended to let you two meet after we’d talked for a while and you’d had time to rest and recover. But my granddaughter seems too anxious to wait.”

He placed a hand on my head and began muttering in a language I didn’t understand.

“There.”

I didn’t know what magic he’d cast on me or what had changed, but he declared it done and called for Sia.

“Shasha. You can come out now.”

RUMBLE!

The ground suddenly split open, and someone emerged from the crack. It was Sia.

“Oppaaaa!”

The instant she came out, she raced toward me at what felt like the speed of light and threw her arms around me.

“Oh, wait. I might be suffocating you. Oppa, are you okay? Are you awake now? How do you feel? You collapsed so suddenly—”

“I’m okay. I’m okay. Calm down.”

She was beside herself, apparently afraid something terrible might have happened to me. I patted her back and did my best to soothe her.

“You really are okay, right? Grandpa, my Oppa is going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“As you can see. He just needs a little rest.”

Her grandfather looked at us fondly. We’d only met today, but I could tell how dearly he cherished Sia.

“Though speaking of Oppa... Shasha, you’re over twenty-five hundred years old, and that young man you call Oppa is only twenty-five by the reckoning of this world.”

“Grandpaaaa!”

“Ho ho.”

He was teasing his granddaughter. Sia puffed out her cheeks in a sulk.

‘Should I tease her too?’

Now that Sia was twenty-five hundred years older than me, I wondered how she’d react if I called her Grandma.

But...

“... Oppa? What are you thinking?”

Something told me I shouldn’t. The moment I turned toward her to make the joke, a sudden chill ran through me.

“N-nothing. I was just thinking you and your grandfather seem close.”

“Oh. I thought it was something else.”

Thankfully, she didn’t press me.

“Then let’s leave as soon as you feel better, Oppa. We said we’d go on a date after training. Is there anything you want to do?”

“Hmm, let’s see. I probably shouldn’t overdo it yet. How about we stay home, order delivery, and spend time together?”

There didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with me, and everything seemed to have worked out. I thought all that remained was to go home and enjoy a quiet date together.

But then—

“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s something you two need to know.”

Sia’s grandfather, who had been watching us quietly from behind, cut in.

“You two are fated never to be together.”

“... What?”

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears. How could there possibly be such a thing?

“Grandpa, wh-what on earth do you mean...?”

“Shasha, I understand that you want to spend every moment with your boyfriend. But if you do, the man you love will keep suffering episodes like today’s. And perhaps—”

Her grandfather, who had been looking at Sia, slowly turned his head toward me.

“He may even die.”