Chapter 41 - Oppa, Look Forward to Your Gift

The night before Minjun received his mother's call, Yuna sat in the break room at her shop, fiddling with her phone. “Did Minjun forget to call?” She had given him her business card before they parted and told him to get in touch, but days had passed without a word. They had known each other for so long. She would have thought he'd call at least once to say hello, if only because running into her had been such a pleasant surprise.

As Yuna saw it, there were two possible reasons: either he'd lost her card and couldn't contact her, or... his girlfriend had stopped him from calling. Yuna thought the latter was much more likely. 'She's so uptight.'

Having spent nearly half her life in the United States, Yuna had an American mindset and couldn't understand it. Over there, it was common for men with girlfriends to hang out with other women, and the reverse wasn't strange either. 'All I want is for us to be friends.' Was even that off-limits? Anyone with a Confucian mindset would probably click their tongue and say she had a demon in her head for thinking that way.

To ease her frustration, Yuna opened her phone's gallery and looked at old photos of herself with Minjun: pictures from when they modeled together as children, even one of her kissing him. 'That's just mean.' She'd made her feelings so obvious, yet he'd never noticed. Minjun really was oblivious when it came to things like that.

She gazed at the old photos with a strange look in her eyes and fell back into thought. If she hadn't emigrated, perhaps it would have been her beside Minjun instead of Sia. 'There must be some way.' She'd only just reconnected with him after all this time. She couldn't let that connection slip away.

As she pondered, Yuna suddenly thought of her mother. Hadn't she said she would arrive in Korea the day after tomorrow and stay for a month or two, both to visit her daughter and to ease her homesickness? 'Mom was awfully fond of Minjun, too.' It had been over twenty years, but Yuna remembered one thing clearly: her mother had said she wanted Minjun as a son-in-law. She must have been joking, of course, but she'd liked him enough to say it. Their families had even taken turns looking after each other's children whenever the need arose. Surely her mother would be curious to see how Minjun had grown up.

'...Not a bad idea.' Even to Yuna, it seemed like a pretty good plan. Once she'd roughly organized her thoughts, she ran through it in her head. 'Just wait, Minjun.' With her plan in place, she called her mother at once.

* * *

“When I'm free...? I'm not sure. Mom, something's come up. I'll call you back later.” I hurriedly ended the call and checked Sia's expression. I hadn't even put my mother on speakerphone. An ordinary human could never have heard her, but I set aside any innocent amazement about how dragons really were different. What mattered right now was that Sia had heard every word.

[“Oppa.”] Her voice was cold as ice, and the chill in her eyes sent a shiver down my spine. It was nothing like the Sia I knew. When had she reacted like this before? Right. Not long after we reunited, when she learned some crazy woman had tried to get my number. Sia had been exactly like this then, from her voice to that icy stare. Which meant this was—an emergency.

[“Your mother said for you to get together with her and that woman for a meal?”] Sia pronounced each word slowly and distinctly. Her uncharacteristically stiff tone gave me goose bumps. “... Yeah.” She'd heard it all, so I couldn't lie. [“Then are you going?”]

... There was no easy answer. The best I could think of was to agree to the meal, then reassure Sia that I would never keep in touch with Yuna afterward. But that was only a fallback, hardly an ideal solution. There was no telling whether Sia would accept it. She might trust me, but she couldn't trust Yuna. What the hell was I supposed to do? Figuring I might as well take the plunge, I decided to tell Sia the truth.

“Honestly, something about it bothers me, so I don't want to go. But Mom seems to really want to see Yuna too.” I briefly mentioned how Yuna's mother had looked after me when I was little. “If it were up to me, I wouldn't go. I'll do my best to talk Mom out of it... but if I have no choice, I'll make sure what you're worried about doesn't happen.” I spoke as carefully as I could, watching Sia's reaction the whole time. Her expression hadn't grown worse, but perhaps it wasn't the answer she'd wanted. She stared at me with her lips pressed tightly together. That was even scarier. Maybe I should tell Mom that hunter work was keeping me too busy and find some way out of going after all...

Just as I thought that, Sia finally broke the terrifying silence. [“I suppose there's no place for me at that table.”] “Uh... no, I guess not. I'd like you to come with me if you could.” Silence fell again. After a while, Sia spoke as though she'd made a difficult decision. [“... It can't be helped. Go.”] “Really?” I hadn't expected that. But then I noticed her lips trembling. “... Maybe I shouldn't go after all.” [“No. Just go. I can't cause trouble for you and your mother-in-law because of me. You said it's been twenty years since you've seen them.”] Now her voice was trembling faintly too. [“So it's okay, Oppa. I'm going to get back to what I was doing. Get plenty of rest.”] Before I could say another word, she ended the call.

She'd said she was fine, but she looked worse than I'd ever seen her. I considered calling her back, but... perhaps it would be better to leave her alone and give her time to collect her thoughts. “Haa.” I let out a frustrated sigh. I had a bad feeling that Yuna was up to something. Anyway, after turning it over in my mind, I finished the porridge Sia had made for me and was putting away the bowl when Rokan came to see me.

“How are you feeling?” Rokan sat on the edge of the bed and looked me over. “A little tired, and my body feels a bit heavy, but otherwise I'm fine.” “Don't even think about pushing yourself.” Even if I wanted to do anything, I couldn't without a sword. Come to think of it, what had happened to the Dragon Bone Sword I'd left with him?

“Ah, Rokan. Sorry to hurry you, but... how is the sword coming along?” “The sword? I'll do my best, but it probably won't be the same as before.” He reached into the air, took out the broken Dragon Bone Sword I'd handed him yesterday, and placed it in front of me. It was still in the same condition as when I'd given it to him. “I've seen many Dragon Bone Swords, but never one damaged this badly.” “Never...?” “No. Dragon Bone Swords are much tougher than you think. Even if dragons set out to break one, it wouldn't be easy to damage it to this extent.” He added that the visible damage wasn't all of it. The sword really did seem to be in serious condition.

“Could it be because I struck the emperor's sword with it...?” “I can't say that had no effect, but it wasn't the direct cause. My guess is that the sword was subjected to more strain than it could bear.” “Strain?” “Dragon speech.” When I looked puzzled, Rokan explained. In short, while I was trapped in that space, I'd unconsciously wrung every last bit of power from the sword in my attempt to use dragon speech. That had let me draw the dragon power within it to its limit for a short time... but the price was the damage it had suffered. “Much like the state you were left in after wielding that power.” He wasn't certain yet, but he thought the explanation was probably right. It would also explain why I'd been unconscious for three days and still hadn't recovered my strength: the aftereffects of using dragon speech before my body was ready.

“So... I was only able to use dragon speech because all the conditions lined up perfectly and I got lucky?” “Yes. The environment was probably another significant factor.” Hearing him put it that way left me oddly deflated. So I was still a long way from being able to use dragon speech fully without outside help. “Still, you did well. Whatever the circumstances, the fact that you managed to use dragon speech even once matters.” More than that, he said he was deeply grateful I'd made it back alive.

“I'm only telling you this now, but when Shasha learned you were trapped in the gate, she fainted on the spot.” “... Oh.” She'd fainted? Imagining it made my heart ache. If I'd taken much longer to return—or never returned at all—Sia might have... I didn't even want to imagine it. I felt sorry for worrying both her and Rokan. As I silently dwelled on what Sia must have felt, Rokan pulled me into a warm embrace. “If you'd given up instead of fighting desperately, Shasha would have felt as though she'd lost her whole world. So thank you. I'm proud of you.” He patted my back gently, then put the broken sword back in his pocket dimension.

“I plan to visit that place you told me about soon.” “The dungeon probably belongs to the guild, so...” The words 'you won't be able to just walk in' rose to my lips, but I realized I was worrying for nothing. What couldn't a dragon like Rokan do? “... Never mind. I spoke without thinking.” “In any case, I may find another clue there to help you bring out your power.” With that, he left a potion by my bed as he had yesterday and stepped away for a while.

Alone, I drank the potion in one gulp and stared at the large, dark screen—the one I'd used to video-call Sia for so long before Rokan arrived. '...Will Sia be okay?' I hoped I was wrong, but she was probably terribly upset right now. I felt awful for hurting her over this, and that guilt soon turned into resentment toward Yuna. 'Seriously, Yuna.' If I didn't contact her, why couldn't she just take the hint that I wasn't interested? Why make such a big production out of it?

* * *

Immediately after ending her call with Minjun, Sia stared blankly at the dark screen, her eyes unfocused. 'That woman must have arranged this.' When Minjun failed to contact her after she'd given him her number, she'd surely devised a plan to create another opportunity. She must have engineered a situation where Minjun would have to see her again, hoping to use it to sidle up to him. In fact, Sia's guess was very close to the truth. 'She got me.' If Sia told him not to go under these circumstances, she'd look unreasonable. That made it all the more infuriating. She could see so clearly that Minjun was trying not to make her anxious, while that woman was trying just as hard to find a way into his life.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Minjun. She just didn't know what that woman might do next. How could she keep her from coming anywhere near him? As anxiety began to consume her, her composure slowly slipped. To regain it, she took a deep breath, picked up the bone she'd prepared for the Dragon Bone Sword, and began shaping it more precisely. For now, she would trust Minjun. After the meal, she could find out exactly how that woman Yuna had flirted with him and work out a more detailed response. Worrying wouldn't change anything at the moment. She would focus on making the sword. Her hands worked busily over the bone.

Sia began to think about the sword's design. Since it would be the only one of its kind in the world, shouldn't it look special too? 'What would make it stand out?' Perhaps she could engrave Minjun's initials on it. No—she could engrave her own name alongside them as its maker. It was common enough for a fine sword to bear its maker's name. Or perhaps she could carve both their likenesses into the hilt. Anyone who saw it might think she was joking, but she was entirely serious. Even if it was only in this small way, she wanted the world to know that she and Minjun were a couple. 'I'm sure Oppa will like it too, right?' Humming to herself, she continued shaping the bone. It seemed likely to become an unforgettable gift for both of them, in more ways than one.