Chapter 489. Toward the End (2)

Chi-Woo was angry. The more he thought about it, the more enraged he became. Who did this law of causality think it was that it dared order him around? After finding out the one responsible for the dreadful life he had led in his youth, Chi-Woo couldn’t hold back anymore. It was the same this time too. Because Chi-Woo didn’t do what it told him to do, it took Philip away. At this point, the universe’s will was no different from a G.o.d who raised h.e.l.l when someone destined to be a shaman didn’t live a spiritual life.

Though Chi-Woo wasn’t rebellious by nature, he was certainly not a pushover who only listened without resisting. Who cared if the universe’ will turned its back on him? This was what he wanted. Recalling all the times he was screwed over by the universe’s will, his opponent had crossed the line way more than three times. Thus, there was no way Chi-Woo could compromise.

“You asked if my goal was revenge,” Chi-Woo said. “Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.” He would become great and greater still so that a mere existence like the universe’s will couldn’t look down on him. He would become so great that the law of causality wouldn’t dare to even touch him. Then, he would have his revenge. He would forcefully give a body to the universe’s will and have it born as a living creature. Then, Chi-Woo would make it live the same despairing life he had lived while losing the many people it loved. Chi-Woo would make it repeat a painful life like that forever.

Only after making it go through the cycle of death and rebirth a thousand times would Chi-Woo be satisfied, but in order to fulfill this goal, he needed to become an existence who had no equal in the universe. Byeok didn’t even need to ask if Chi-Woo was being serious because the answer was clear from the rage burning up in him.

“Then, the answer is decided.” Byeok smiled. “You have to win even while bearing all the disadvantages.”

Chi-Woo nodded. It was what he had decided to do since Chi-Hyun gave him the warning. He would put an end to his battle with the universe’s will on Liber. He didn’t know how long he would have to fight from now on, but he couldn’t whine about the difficulty of it already.

“But it really solidified my resolve after talking to somebody. Thank you.” Chi-Woo nodded and walked away.

“Let me ask you one more question.” Chi-Woo turned around when Byeok spoke up. “Do you regret it?”

“Sorry?”

“Do you regret taking Flora in?”

“No, not at all,” Chi-Woo immediately responded. “I’m actually grateful. I want to thank her for holding on and not dying before I got to meet her.” This was what Chi-Woo genuinely thought. If it wasn’t for Flora, Chi-Woo would still be in the dark about who his true enemy was. And it was thanks to her that he gained another goal and all the reasons to fight and become stronger. Perhaps that was why Chi-Woo’s downcast and empty expression recovered its usual vitality. There was also more strength to his steps now. It felt as if the Chi-Woo that everyone knew had returned.

Though Chi-Woo couldn’t see it because he was turned away from her, Byeok was smiling wider than she had ever smiled while looking at him. Then she waited for Chi-Woo to disappear into the Seven Stars headquarters before speaking again.

“Did you hear all that?” Byeok turned to one of the pillars supporting the ceiling. A girl eventually emerged from behind the pillar and showed herself. It was Flora.

“I’m sure you’ve seen and heard him,” Byeok said and let out a long sigh after seeing Flora’s cautious nod. “So stop blaming yourself. That guy is actually grateful to you instead.”

Flora blinked hard in surprise. Though she had never spoken or expressed her emotions until now, her eyes seemed slightly misty as she looked at the spot Chi-Woo had disappeared from.

***

The dreary atmosphere at the Seven Stars headquarters soon lifted and was replaced by the usual vigor. Chi-Hyun and Byeok hadn’t been the only ones worried about Chi-Woo. With the start of those two, the rest of the Seven Stars members gained the courage to approach Chi-Woo. One day when Chi-Woo was catching up on work, he heard someone knocking on his office door.

“Come in.”

Somebody opened the door and walked in cautiously. The sound of footsteps slightly overlapped, indicating that there were two people coming in. Thus, it didn’t seem like Eval Sevaru. Chi-Woo looked up and saw Eshnunna enter with Hawa.

‘This is quite unexpected.’ Since it was an unlikely pair, Chi-Woo was a bit taken aback.

“Excuse me…” Eshnunna hesitated with an amicable smile and put down the small bowl she was holding. “D-Drink this, sir.” The smell of warm tea wafted up to Chi-Woo, and he looked back at Eshnunna confusedly.

“I heard that this is good for clearing your head and calming your mind. And…” Eshnunna said while looking a bit fl.u.s.tered.

Chi-Woo wondered why Eshnunna was giving tea to him all of a sudden, but he decided to accept it since she had brought it all the way here. “Okay. Thank you.” With that dry response, he pushed the teacup aside and was about to resume his work when he caught sight of the anxious look on Eshnunna’s face. Chi-Woo then realized that it was unlikely Eshnunna had come simply for the purpose of giving him tea, so he lifted the teacup to his mouth and gestured for her to sit.

Eshnunna and Hawa finally sat down in relief. As if they had planned on it beforehand, they put as much distance between them as possible. Chi-Woo was taken aback once more. “How come you two came in together but are sitting so far apart..?”

The two quickly sat right next to each other as if they were saying, ‘We don’t fight anymore. Our relations.h.i.+p is perfect. Ho ho.’

“So.” Chi-Woo put down his tea cup and interlocked his fingers. “What are you two here for?”

For a moment, the two simply glanced at each other wordlessly. They hadn’t come because they had a particular business to ask Chi-Woo about. It was understandable that Chi-Woo would be surprised by their behavior, not knowing that the two visited him after losing a battle of rock, paper, and scissors against the rest of the Seven Stars members.

‘What are you stalling for? Quickly tell him.’

‘You go first.’

‘I set the stage for a conversation by giving him tea.’

‘It’s disgusting for you to act like you’ve done your part after doing something so trivial.’ The two exchanged their feelings with their gazes alone for a while.

“…I wanted to pa.s.s on G.o.ddess La Bella’s message.” In the end, Hawa opened her mouth. “She asks you to visit her if you’ve settled your feelings…”

“Ah.” Chi-Woo realized then that he needed to calculate how many merits he had earned from his war against the Abyss. Perhaps La Bella was planning to promote him if she was giving the message through Hawa. He had been neglecting that with his mind occupied by Philip and the law of causality.

“I see. I will go visit her soon.”

Then, the conversation cut off again. When Chi-Woo gave them another strange look, Hawa and Eshnunna glanced at each other again. Hawa’s gaze seemed to be saying it was Eshnunna’s turn now, and Eshnunna seemed to be wordlessly asking Hawa if she was serious and cursing at her, but Hawa simply shrugged. In the end, Eshnunna had no choice but to reveal the true purpose of their visit with a smile.

“Are you all right, sir…?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…not so long ago…” Eshnunna hesitated, and Chi-Woo exhaled deeply.

“Are you talking about the time I cried?”

Eshnunna was grateful that Chi-Woo brought it up first, but she didn’t know what to say after that.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Did you come here to ask me that?”

“Ah…”

“Are you curious why I cried? Did you come here to fulfill your curiosity?”

“S-Sorry?” Eshnunna stammered, fl.u.s.tered.

“That’s not it, sir,” Hawa quickly replied.

“No, how could you ask that…” Eshnunna also belatedly expressed her hurt feelings.

“Then, what is it?”

“I was just…worried about you.” Eshnunna decided to speak honestly at this point. “I couldn’t sleep because I’m so worried about you…”

Chi-Woo remained nonchalant.

“So, I was wondering if there was anything that I could do…”

Chi-Woo was about to say that there was nothing for her to worry about when he stopped himself. He suddenly remembered the request Philip had earnestly made about Eshnunna when they were talking about Seven Stars in his dream.

[I know you are not the type to trust a person again after they betray your trust.]

[Well, I know Eshnunna was the one in the wrong at that time, but…can’t you let go of it once for my sake?]

[Of course, I’m not saying you should just let it go. I’m only asking you to give her one more opportunity even if she has to pay the price for her mistake.]

It appeared that Eshnunna had been on Philip’s mind as he was leaving because they were of the same blood. Thus, Chi-Woo swallowed the words he was about to say and instead responded, “Hm, well, thank you for your consideration, but…” He rolled his eyes and smiled. But that smile disappeared in an instant, and after contemplating for a moment, he said, “If that’s how you two feel…there is something you both could do for me.”

Chi-Woo’s voice lowered as he fixed them a look. “But are you guys…serious?”

“Ah yes! Ask us to do anything.”

“You shouldn’t be so quick to agree.”

After hurriedly nodding, Eshnunna flinched when she heard the warning from Chi-Woo.

“Once I say it, you guys have to fulfill it. This is how serious this task is.” Chi-Woo’s expression was more solemn and serious than at any other time. “Will that really be fine with you both?” He leaned into the chair and stared piercingly at them. “Can I really…make this request to you?”

Both Hawa’s and Eshnunna’s faces hardened. This was a task even Ru Amuh, Chi-Woo’s right-hand man, knew nothing about. They didn’t know what exactly was going on, but Chi-Woo had mourned with many tears and wanted their help now. And the important part was that Chi-Woo had asked them to fulfill this task instead of Ru Amuh.

‘This is an opportunity,’ Hawa thought. ‘An opportunity to recover the lost trust and become Chi-Woo’s closest aide.’ Eshnunna thought likewise. Until now, Chi-Woo had been someone who solved all problems alone without asking for others’ help. A hero like that not only showed his tears, but was making a request to them now. As someone who had been saved by Chi-Woo before, Eshnunna couldn’t refuse this request even if he told her to cover herself with oil and jump into a pit of fire.

“Yes, I’ll do it!” Hawa shot up from her seat pa.s.sionately.

“Me too!” Eshnunna also got up and straightened her back with her hands clasped together.

“Good. Then…” Chi-Woo nodded. “Show me some aegyo.” [1]

“…”

“…”

The room was quiet for a moment, filled with indescribable stillness and silence. While both Eshnunna and Hawa looked confusedly at Chi-Woo, he gave them a demonstration by doing the act himself and getting into the pose.

“Hawa, like this, you can act like this. Eshnunna can go like this. See how cute it is? Okay?”

After finally regaining her senses, Eshnunna managed to mutter, “Ah, what?”

“What…are you doing right now?” Hawa asked in a baffled tone.

“What do you mean? You guys said you would do anything.” Chi-Woo tilted his head.

“Are you kidding me?” Eshnunna immediately shot back. “There’s a limit to how much you can tease a person! How can you behave like this to someone who came all the way out of worry for you—!”

“I got it, so why don’t you try first?”

“I won’t!” Eshnunna shouted in rage.

“Do it.”

“Don’t want to,” Hawa refused. Now that she thought about it, Chi-Woo had always been a guy like this. She remembered all the nonsense he pulled while they stayed at the cave, and she couldn’t help but shudder in rage in remembrance of the memory. She had forgotten because he had been behaving himself. Thus, Chi-Woo’s attention turned to Eshnunna.

“No!” As soon as they met eyes, Eshnunna screamed. “I can’t. No, I won’t! Never—!” She would rather die than do something like aegyo.

“I told you. You can’t refuse.”

“You deceived us. That was an unfair contract based on unreasonable grounds and no proper justifications. I can’t acknowledge it!” Eshnunna argued with some sort of logic.

“That’s true.” It seemed that Chi-Woo admitted that much. “A proper justification…” Relief flooded over Eshnunna until Chi-Woo continued speaking.

“That reminds me…do you remember the contract we made before?”

“?”

“You know, at the border fortress. Don’t you remember?”

Eshnunna’s eyes turned wide. With her good memory, she remembered the time when Chi-Woo left to go to the Evelaya Volcano to retrieve goods for them. She had told him that she would grant any request if he came back alive at that time.

“I will use that request now.”

“W-W-W-W-What! How the h.e.l.l—!” Eshnunna’s face turned bright red, and she yelled back in shock. “Do you realize that you are crossing the line right now?!”

“That’s enough. Even if she promised that time—!”

The two who had been in conflict with one another now yelled back in unison.

“Crossed the line.” Chi-Woo stroked his chin. Eshnunna wasn’t wrong. Since he didn’t like irrational things and crossing lines, he was also careful not to break them. But of course, there existed exceptions; for instance, when he was the victim of someone else’s wrongdoings, he didn’t hesitate at all to pay the other person back in the same way.

“If you are talking about lines…you two are the ones who crossed it first.”

Hearing this, both Eshnunna and Hawa became quiet because they knew instantly what Chi-Woo was talking about. Recalling the memory alone gave them shudders; it was the first time Chi-Woo had ever insulted and scolded them. But they couldn’t question why he was bringing up something that happened in the past now. Though they had gone over that incident somehow, Chi-Woo never officially gave his forgiveness. There was a time when he didn’t even spare them a glance. They could only bring up the incident in a joke after some time had pa.s.sed, but at that time, Chi-Woo’s rage was real.

“Well…if you don’t want to, it’s fine.” Chi-Woo shrugged nonchalantly and returned to his doc.u.ments. Hawa gritted her teeth, while Eshnunna clenched her eyes shut… Yes, although she didn’t want to admit it, considering the kind of person Chi-Woo was, he was letting them off easy by offering to erase their past wrongs with just one aegyo.

A great amount of time later, Eshnunna opened her mouth slightly. “…it.”

“Hm?”

“Fine! I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it!” Eshnunna said, and Hawa thought she had no choice but to do the same now. She clenched her teeth, balled up her fists, and raised them to her cheeks. Eshnunna also raised her trembling index fingers to her face. Soon afterward, Hawa glared at Chi-Woo with her balled-up fists beside her face like a baby kitten with her claws out.

“Kuh…” She kept gritting her teeth like she was asking why in the world Chi-Woo would ask her to do something like this. And Eshnunna, with her index fingers poking both her cheeks, lowered her eyes like she was dying of embarra.s.sment.

“…” As someone who had grown up with strict discipline as the princess of a country, this was unimaginable. She had never even done aegyo to her father! As someone who had always lived a strict, solemn, and serious life, she felt like this was a dream rather than reality, having to act cute in front of some guy.

“What a magnificent sight.” Chi-Woo clapped for them. “It’s to the point that I want to record it in a drawing and show it to everyone.”

“Stop your nonsense,” Hawa said sharply.

“That’ll never happen,” Eshnunna said firmly.

“Who knows?” Chi-Woo smirked. Only time could tell whether their firm refusals would hold true.

1. Acting cutesy. There are some cutesy behaviors that go through trends. Some people do it to show affection to lovers, family members, friends, and so on, but sometimes, aegyo can also be used as a punishment for those unwilling to do it. ☜