Chapter 8 - Oppa, Which Bitch Was It?

SLICE

Minjun’s sword pierced another lizardman’s neck. It was a clean strike that the Minjun Sia had known a year ago could never have pulled off. Watching him, she felt something strange.

‘It’s... not just the sword.’

His physical ability, technique, instincts—every part of his fighting had improved noticeably. Minjun himself might not realize it, but Sia was a dragon. She could tell he was performing beyond anything that should have been possible.

‘How is this happening?’

Long ago, in the world where she had lived, she had seen people wield Dragon Bone Swords. Their swordsmanship varied, but they had all drawn out the swords’ power in the same way: by stimulating the blade to release the power inherent in its dragon bone.

Minjun, however, was drawing out the sword’s dormant power in an entirely different way. She had been unsure at first, but seeing him use it again confirmed it.

‘I’ve... never seen anything like this.’

A mere human wasn’t ‘borrowing’ the dragon’s power within the sword. He was using it as though it were his own. His control was still clumsy, but Sia was certain of one thing: if the dragons learned of this, it would cause an enormous stir.

While she was still trying to make sense of it, Minjun finished the fight and turned toward her.

“Sia.”

“...”

“Sia, what are you thinking about?”

“Huh? Oh. Nothing.”

Her reaction was suspicious to anyone with eyes, but Minjun didn’t press her.

“Let’s rest a bit before we go.”

“Mm. Okay.”

She looked calm on the outside, but her mind was racing.

‘I’ll have to look into it soon.’

She wanted to investigate the secret Minjun carried without even knowing it himself.

* * *

They cleared the gate without difficulty. Minjun defeated every lizardman inside on his own, without Sia’s help, with a performance far beyond anything he had managed before.

Even so, now that they had emerged from the gate, he still couldn’t figure out what the power Sia had mentioned was.

“I’ll figure it out someday, right?”

“Of course. For today, let’s just be happy you discovered a talent.”

A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step, after all. Minjun decided to forget about both that power and the Dragon Bone Sword for the rest of the day. He could think about them tomorrow, after they had enjoyed the rest of their date.

By the time they left the gate, it was growing dark.

“Shall we go get dinner?”

“Sure. I’m hungry anyway. Is there anything you want to eat, Oppa?”

“Anything’s fine with me. What about you, Sia?”

“Hmm...”

After thinking for a moment, Sia answered in an innocent voice.

“Can we have tteokbokki again?”

They had eaten tteokbokki for lunch, but apparently that hadn’t been enough for her.

But it was only yesterday that he had wept before her grave, regretting that he hadn’t shared tteokbokki with her more often while she was alive.

“Why not? If we order a few side dishes too, that should be good.”

“Oh, I love that. Let’s do it.”

They headed to a different tteokbokki restaurant from the one they had visited at lunch and placed their order.

“Hee-hee.”

Sia cupped her chin in both hands like a flower and gazed at Minjun like a sunflower facing the sun.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You, Oppa.”

“You’re so cute, Sia, I could just bite you.”

“If it’s you, Oppa, you can eat me up all you want.”

Their sickeningly sweet exchange would have made anyone else cringe, but neither of them so much as blushed.

After they chatted about this and that for a while, Sia excused herself to go to the bathroom.

“Don’t cry just because I’m gone for a minute, okay, Oppa?”

“Oh no. I can’t promise that.”

Once she had left, Minjun gazed fondly in the direction she had gone, happily replaying the day’s events in his mind.

Meanwhile, two women at a table diagonally across from him kept glancing his way as they talked.

“Yeonju. Turn your head just a little and look at that guy.”

“The one in the black hoodie?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh... He’s handsome.”

Jeong Minju and Hwang Yeonju whispered quietly enough that no one else could hear them.

He was strikingly good-looking, with a nice voice. More than anything, even from watching him briefly, they could tell how much he loved his girlfriend.

“I wish I had a boyfriend like that.”

Minju genuinely regretted that he was taken. Otherwise, she would have asked for his number already.

Then Yeonju said something out of the blue.

“What if I ask for his number?”

“What the hell, you crazy bitch.”

Naturally, Minju thought she was joking. But Yeonju looked quite serious.

“Wait. You’re not... serious, are you?”

“Of course I am.”

“You’re insane. Didn’t you just see him talking to his girlfriend?”

“That’s what makes it more fun, bitch. And she’s away from the table, isn’t she? If I’m going to ask, it has to be now. Want to bet? If I get his number, you buy the drinks later.”

Yeonju had always been boy-crazy, but she usually respected at least some boundaries. This time, she had skipped over that line as lightly as if it were a jump rope.

“Come on, even you can’t do this.”

Going up to a man who had been all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend moments ago to ask for his number? She must have lost her mind. But Yeonju had the nerve to say to Minju:

“Scared?”

“What?”

“Scared you’ll lose. Just watch. I’ll be back with his number in no time. Don’t forget you’re buying drinks.”

“Hey! Hey, Hwang Yeonju!”

Minju tried to stop her to the last, but Yeonju got up and walked toward the man anyway.

“She’s going to get herself in serious trouble one of these days.”

Yeonju had always been a bit nuts, but Minju hadn’t realized she was this crazy. She sighed too softly for anyone else to hear.

Yeonju, meanwhile, strode confidently up to Minjun.

“Excuse me—”

She stopped beside him and spoke.

“Could I have your number? I don’t usually do this, but you’re exactly my type.”

“...?”

The moment the woman asked for his number, Minjun couldn’t hide his surprise.

‘Hasn’t she been sitting over there this whole time?’

She wasn’t far away. She must have seen him and Sia flirting. And she was asking for his number anyway?

“I’m sorry. I have a girlfriend.”

“I know, I know. But we could just be friends—a guy friend and a girl friend. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“... Sorry?”

He had expected her to leave, but she held out her phone to him again, subtly drawing attention to her bust.

‘... Has the world gone mad?’

She wanted to be friends with a man who had a girlfriend, even if she couldn’t be his girlfriend herself? That made no sense.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that would be possible.”

“Oh, come on. If giving me your number makes you uncomfortable, I can put mine in your phone. Can’t we even do that?”

When someone turned you down, didn’t you normally give up after trying once or twice more at most? But she clung to him like a leech, refusing to leave without his number.

She really was a crazy bitch, Minjun thought.

“I’m not giving you my number. Please don’t make this any more difficult for either of us.”

His tone was much sharper than before. Yeonju shrugged as if she had lost interest and returned to her seat.

Minjun frowned as he watched her go. The whole thing had happened while Sia was away, and it left him uneasy.

Just then, Sia returned, carrying an unfamiliar shopping bag in one hand.

“Sorry I kept you waiting, Oppa.”

But as soon as she entered the restaurant, she paused.

‘... What’s with the atmosphere in here?’

Sensing a subtle shift in the room, she quietly opened up her senses. At once, she began to hear people whispering.

“Wow, unbelievable. Who asks for a guy’s number when he has a girlfriend?”

“Right? No matter how much I liked a guy, I could never do that.”

“I heard her say she’d settle for being his female friend if she couldn’t be his girlfriend. Wow...”

“What’ll happen if that guy’s girlfriend finds out?”

“What do you think? We’ll grab some popcorn.”

No matter how quietly they whispered, there was nothing a dragon like Sia couldn’t hear.

“Oppa.”

For an instant, the air around them seemed to freeze.

“Oppa, is there something you’re hiding from me?”

“Hiding? Sia—”

“Which bitch was it?”

Her eyes had lost their sparkle. She stared at Minjun with a vacant gaze.

“Which bitch tried to get your number, Oppa?”