Chapter 7. Who is the Popular Guy in the Seven Stars?

After accepting the Sernitas, the Celestial Realm didn’t bother Chi-Woo for a while. Thus, Chi-Woo was able to spend peaceful and leisurely days as he wished. Then, one day, he woke up in the middle of the night and went outside early in the morning. He visited his mentor’s burial site and tended the gra.s.s around it before offering alcohol and food. It was noon when he returned home.

He didn’t see his father. These days, his father had been using his inherently superb physical abilities to establish himself as the ace of the construction site where he worked. Meanwhile, Chi-Hyun had finished his basic education with online lectures and pa.s.sed the GED. Now, he was looking for academies offering a well-rounded range of courses because he wanted to receive lectures in person rather than online. Chi-Hyun’s academic enthusiasm also seemed to have influenced Chi-Woo’s father, and Chi-Woo’s father began looking for special academies that gave out certificates at the end of courses.

‘Should I also do something—?’ Chi-Woo wondered and spotted Choi Lo-Ra watching the TV while sitting on the sofa. She didn’t even glance in his direction even though her master had come home.

—Magic girl~! Magical beam~!

It seemed she was fixated on a j.a.panese animation where the main characters changed into magical girls. Chi-Woo observed Lo-Ra quietly, and then his eyes widened. After looking intently at the TV, Lo-Ra suddenly jumped onto the top of the sofa. Then, she stretched out her hand like she was grabbing onto a magical wand and twirled her arm around. It seemed that she was mimicking the way a magical girl transformed. She twirled around while humming.

“…Ah.” Then, when she spotted Chi-Woo watching her from the other side of the room, she flinched and stopped moving. A strange silence flowed between the two, and both of them stared at each other.

“Ah!” Seeing Chi-Woo suddenly run away, Lo-Ra chased after him in shock, but she couldn’t stop Chi-Woo before he started knocking hard on Chi-Hyun’s door.

“Ahahaha! Chi-Hyun! Chi-Hyun! Come out for a sec! Quickly! Ha! Ha!”

“What? What is it?...Hm?” Chi-Hyun opened the door and saw his brother laughing his heart out while Lo-Ra desperately dragged him back. “What happened?”

“No! This kid just now—no, no. You should see it in person. Hey, show Chi-Hyun what you just did.” Chi-Woo kept pus.h.i.+ng Lo-Ra to act like she was changing into a magical girl again, but Lo-Ra pretended to not know what Chi-Woo was saying and looked far off in the distance with a distracted look on her face. Of course, Chi-Woo wasn’t the type to back down like this. Even though there was no need for him to go to such length, he used the infinite loops inside him to recreate the scene he just saw and showed it to Chi-Hyun. Chi-Hyun smirked after seeing the live recreation.

“How cute. I guess a kid is a kid.”

“No, that’s not it. Isn’t it hilarious? You know what she was like on Liber—?”

“Youuu!” As Chi-Woo laughed his heart out again, Lo-Ra couldn’t bear it any longer and rushed toward him.

“Hey! Look at this kid. You’re gonna attack me now?”

“Youu!”

“What, look at her? Is it because you became a magical girl now? Huh? Ahahaha!”

“Youu! Youuuu!” Lo-Ra clenched her teeth and swung her arms around like a windmill toward Chi-Woo.

“Urgh! As expected of the magical girl, Choi Lo-Ra! She’s too strong! Uggggh!”

Chi-Hyun couldn’t help but laugh seeing Chi-Woo fall while pretending to be a monster. Lo-Ra stopped when she saw even Chi-Hyun laugh out loud, and eventually, her already red face turned another shade deeper, and her gaze wavered. She was so angry about the situation that she began to tear up. In the end, she burst into tears and was about to explode when two women pushed the door wide open to check the commotion outside.

Elrich saw Chi-Woo laughing on the ground. On the other hand, Chi-Hyun had very quickly disappeared from the scene as soon as he saw the two come out and quietly shut his door. Elrich then spotted Lo-Ra crying with her lips quivering and immediately a.s.sessed the situation.

“What are you doing to Lo-Ra?!” She shouted at Chi-Woo while wrapping her arms around Lo-Ra.

“No, we were just playing.” Chi-Woo raised himself up and quickly made excuses, but of course, the excuses didn’t work.

“How could you call this playing?!”

“It’s true. You should ask Chi-Hyun. Right, hyung?” Chi-Woo looked toward the door and flinched to see that Chi-Hyun was nowhere in sight. All he saw was a tightly closed door. Feeling greatly betrayed, Chi-Woo quickly said, “Actually, it was Chi-Hyun who made me do this.”

—I’m in the middle of studying.

Chi-Hyun’s voice came from inside the room. He seemed to be telling Chi-Woo to stop his nonsense.

“Just quit it! And hurry up and apologize to Lo-Ra right now!”

“Ah, why? It’s normal for a brother to play with his younger sister.”

“Chi-Woo!” Elrich yelled sternly, and Chi-Woo flinched. He was at a terrible disadvantage where his opponent sneakily pulled the mom card, and his ally, who had laughed along with him, betrayed him. Since the situation reached this point, there was only one thing he could do, which was to make a strategic retreat. If one asked why he didn’t employ the thirty-six stratagems of war, Chi-Woo would answer that it was so that he could tease Lo-Ra again.

“I will go out and come back after a bit. Ah, I’m going to have dinner too.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“My friends want to meet up. So, see you!”

“Are you serious now!?” Elrich yelled at Chi-Woo to at least apologize before he left, but Chi-Woo didn’t give her a chance to go further and disappeared in less than a blink of an eye.

“I think it’s likely he really had a meeting he promised to join. There’s the Seven Stars’ reunion, where those who followed Chi-Woo back on Liber routinely meet,” Evelyn explained with a dry smile and comforted Elrich. Then, after hugging and softly comforting the crying Lo-Ra, Elrich sat at the kitchen table and sighed deeply.

“Sigh…I’m the one who gave birth to him…but I don’t know what to say. I’m almost embarra.s.sed to see you both.”

Evelyn smiled as Elrich lamented. Then, she said, “It’s fine. I actually like him like this.”

“Even if you are just saying that to comfort me, thank you. A man should be more serious and trustworthy, but Chi-Woo is…”

Evelyn was about to say something, but closed her mouth again. Though she didn’t plan to disagree with Elrich, there were also negatives to being too serious. Being extreme in anything always came with a problem, and Evelyn didn’t feel the need to say that Chi-Woo’s current self was much better than when he was at Liber.

‘At the time…he really left no room to let people in.’ Evelyn recalled the days she followed Chi-Woo on Liber and sighed. Elrich also let out another sigh while patting her chest.

“Well, I’m glad that he has you. Who would want to marry him after seeing him act like that…it really is worrisome. So worrisome.”

“Hm…I would have to disagree with you on that.”

“Hm?”

“Chi-Woo was really popular back on Liber.”

“What? No way. You don’t have to lie to make me happy.”

“No.” Evelyn shook her head as Elrich waved her hands in denial. “I’m telling the truth. You know I’m not the type to say empty words.”

“Uh…is that so?” Elrich blinked hard hearing Evelyn talk so seriously. Then, of course, she got curious about her son—in particular her youngest son’s love life. “Why? What happened?” Elrich showed utmost interest in the topic. “Don’t tell me he went around hooking up with different girls like a playboy?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t have even brought up this topic if that was the case.” Evelyn snorted at the suggestion. “It was the opposite, actually.”

“Hm? But didn’t you say he was popular?”

“Ah well, what happened was…”

***

When asked, anyone would say that the Seven Stars were the most well-known figures in Shalyh. And in the city, there was a structure that looked reminiscent of a star, which the buhguhbus had made with utmost effort and care. Its exterior made onlookers gasp instantly in awe, but it also had an equally impressive interior. And among the facilities inside, everyone agreed that there was one that was superior to the rest: the bas.e.m.e.nt bathhouse.

As Chi-Woo had always placed great importance on cleanliness and hygiene, he requested the buhguhbus to create a bathhouse for them; and with their pride as masters on the line, the buhguhbus put so much attention on the bathhouse that it almost seemed a little excessive. And perhaps because of that, the bathhouse, especially the one for the female members, continuously saw visitors.

But for some reason, this great bathhouse was quiet today. It was because the Seven Stars’ members, who rarely gathered unless there was a meeting that Chi-Woo organized, were all here for some reason. There were Evelyn, Eshnunna, Hawa, Ru Hiana, Yeriel, Yunael, Apoline, Teresa, Aida, Shersha, and Astarte. One could say that all the female members of the Seven Stars had gathered.

Thus, the bathhouse was silent because many of those who weren’t in the same teams weren’t close to one another. An awkward atmosphere flowed between them before someone suddenly coughed.

“Um, hey everyone~” The high-pitched voice that broke the silence belonged to Teresa. Though it took considerable courage to speak first in this situation, she didn’t plan on losing this rare opportunity to have some girls’ talk.

“There’s something I’m curious about. Can I ask?” Teresa looked around the room pleadingly as if she was asking someone, anyone to answer her.

Fortunately, Yunael obliged. “What is it?”

People’s opinions on Teresa weren"t bad. She was undoubtedly skilled since Chi-Woo had chosen her as one of their members, and she also had a friendly personality and called all the other female members ‘unnie’.

“Now that you bring it up, it hasn’t been long since you joined us. Why? Do you want to hear about the history of the Seven Stars?”

“Oh, come on. Not that stuff.”

“Then what do you want to know?”

“Oh, you know~”

“Yeah, so what is that?”

“For instance~” Teresa continued while twirling her hair, “A hot romance that blooms on the battlefield?”

“Romance?” Yunael frowned. “Seriously? Why the h.e.l.l are you going on about romance all of a sudden? Do you see the situation we are in?” As Yunael said, Liber was a world where it wouldn’t be strange if everything fell to doom the next day. Thus, there was not a hint of something like romance anywhere.

“Ah, but still. You know what happens when well-bodied men and women are living under one roof~” Though Teresa wasn’t wrong, this also depended on the organization. An organization often followed the tendencies of the leader who led it. Thus, the Seven Stars followed Chi-Woo’s example.

“Men and women, my a.s.s. What utter nonsense.” Yunael’s response was understandable. They needed to have some leisurely time for romance to bloom, but Chi-Woo had never had a moment of rest ever since he entered Liber. Because there were many places that needed his help, he always rushed straight to the sources of the problems nonstop. Thus, no romantic pa.s.sion rose among the men and women who followed Chi-Woo when they already felt out of breath just following Chi-Woo in his continuous advance.

“And you think you can do romance alone? You need a companion for something like that,” Yunael snorted, and Teresa’s eyes sparkled.

“Aren’t there a lot of good guys available though?”

“A lot? Who are you talking about?”

“Let me see. Yunael, you seem quite close to the guy named Jin-Cheon,” Teresa said and snuck a little jab at Yunael.

“What?” Yunael immediately looked disgusted and raised one eyebrow. “Hey, you are crossing the line.”

“What? Was that not the case?”

“Do you really think I"ve got something going on with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d? You know we are not that close yet. How can you talk so rashy?”

“Whoah, calm down. Calm down!” Yeriel raised her hands with a smile while Yunael shot out her anger like a cannon. With this, Teresa understood that Yunael didn"t perceive Jin-Cheon as a potential lover in any sense. It was evident by her reaction just now, but Teresa didn’t want the conversation to end there.

“Well, but there are also other guys.”

“Who!”

“For example, there’s Mr. Ru Amuh.”

“Ru Amuh?” Yunael’s rage quelled a bit, but that wasn’t the response Teresa hoped for. “Hm…well, that guy is better, but still…I’m not really interested.”

“Why? There’s no need for me to go on about Mr. Ru Amuh’s face, and he also has superb skills.”

“I admit that. But how should I say this? He’s too perfect and diligent that he doesn’t interest me.”

“I get what you mean. He’s quite boring as a person. Always so serious,” Yeriel added her two cents after listening to the conversation quietly, and Yunael nodded while clapping.

“I agree. Rather than someone who stirs the heart, it feels as if I’m seeing a well-sculpted art piece—nothing more or less than that.” Of course, there were also differing opinions.

“What? What’s wrong with Ru Amuh!” Ru Hiana also broke her silence and retorted.

“What about you, Ru Hiana?” Teresa sensed that the room was getting more heated and made Ru Hiana her new target.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Ah, don’t pretend to be clueless. I know you’ve spent a long time with Mr. Ru Amuh.”

“You are treading on dangerous territory here.”

Teresa thought Ru Hiana would surely have something with Ru Amuh, but her predictions were off the mark again.

“You can’t talk about family like that,” Ru Hiana said calmly like she was only telling the truth, and Teresa tilted her head. Ru Hiana appeared completely disinterested. Teresa was a bit taken back as someone who prided herself for her great instinct regarding matters of the heart. Furthermore, she was stunned that Ru Amuh would gain a reception like this.

“Then, what about Mr. Emmanuel?”

“Ugh!” Yeriel scowled as soon as Emmanuel’s name was mentioned. It seemed the thought of having anything to do with him disgusted her.

“Why? He’s handsome and has the n.o.ble air of a prince. And he’s always so polite.”

“He acts like that because he’s in front of the boss, but usually…uuuugh! No! h.e.l.l no!” Seeing Yeriel respond so aggressively to her ex-fiance, Teresa smacked her lips. Besides Ru Amuh, Emmanuel was also a man who shouldn’t have triggered such a negative response anywhere. Who would talk so harshly about a rising star of the Celestial Realm and a member of the Eust.i.tia? Why were they reacting like this?

Teresa wasn’t so obstinate that she couldn’t guess the reason for their responses. One’s evaluation of an individual always depended on who they were comparing the person to. And now that everyone’s focus was on her, Teresa revealed the true reason she brought up this conversation.

“Then, what about Chi-Woo?” As soon as she mentioned his name, Teresa clearly sensed the atmosphere change.