The Support Ate it All

Hong Yeon-hwa and Go Hyeon-woo each bought a cup of coffee and sat down to talk.

For the most part, Hong Yeon-hwa did the talking, while Go Hyeon-woo simply listened, occasionally adding brief responses like “Hmm”, “I see”, or “Is that so?”

At first, the slightly awkward atmosphere made Hong Yeon-hwa cautious with her words. But once the conversation started flowing, she spoke with ease.

“—So I was like, ‘If they’re not dating this person or that person, then who do they even like?’ So I asked if they had someone in mind.”

“Hmm.”

“And they said there were a lot. And that they were a greedy person.”

“I see how it is.”

Go Hyeon-woo slowly nodded his head.

At the same time, he thought to himself.

He had vaguely sensed for some time that things would turn out this way.

It would undoubtedly be a difficult path, but for some reason, he felt that if anyone could make it work, it would be Kim Ho.

Before long, Go Hyeon-woo asked the most crucial question.

“Then, what does Miss Hong want to do?”

“Well…”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s words trailed off.

Her lips parted slightly, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer.

That, in itself, was as good as an answer, so Go Hyeon-woo spoke in her stead.

“You haven’t quite made up your mind yet, have you?”

“…Mhmm.”

In truth, that was the root of all her worries.

Go Hyeon-woo tried to put himself in her shoes.

The safest choice would be to maintain the status quo.

Doing nothing. Changing nothing.

But when has the human heart ever been that simple?

Even if she had decided to maintain the status quo, the fact that it kept weighing on her mind was proof enough that she was struggling with it.

A thought suddenly crossed Go Hyeon-woo’s mind, and he let out a wry smile.

I’m really not in such a different situation myself.

Lately, Han So-mi had been calling him out much more frequently.

Most of the time, they trained in swordsmanship together, but there were also occasions when they simply idled away the time.

As someone destined to inherit the sacred relic of his sect, he felt he had to grow stronger as quickly as possible. At times, he couldn’t help but think that spending time like this was a waste. ŕÅƝꝋＢÈṢ

Even so, whenever Han So-mi called, he found himself following along, pretending to be reluctant.

Bringing the topic back to Hong Yeon-hwa.

Go Hyeon-woo thought to himself.

Things should follow their natural course.

No matter who Kim Ho chose, whether he chose them all or whatever outcome resulted, Go Hyeon-woo was determined to support them all the same.

That was precisely why he wanted to avoid getting directly involved.

But at this rate, things will just keep dragging on indefinitely…

In the end, he had no choice but to say something.

Simply listening to her worries and leaving would feel too insincere.

After carefully choosing his words, Go Hyeon-woo finally spoke.

“I hope you understand that I can only offer you advice in the most general sense.”

“Mhmm.”

Hong Yeon-hwa nodded her head readily.

She wasn’t entirely convinced that advice from someone so proper and upright would be helpful, but there was no harm in listening.

You never know.

Go Hyeon-woo continued.

“If nothing is certain, why not introduce small changes little by little? Until at least one thing becomes clear.”

“That makes sense… but how?”

“How about showing goodwill?”

By treating the other person kindly, she could gauge their reaction.

If they responded positively, she could continue treating them well, and if things progressed smoothly, that would be ideal.@@novelbin@@

On the other hand, if their reaction seemed indifferent or unfavorable, she could always revert to maintaining the status quo.

It was something Hong Yeon-hwa had considered at least once during her deliberations, but hearing it from someone else gave it a different weight.

“Goodwill… It does sound like a good idea. But how exactly?”

“That part is entirely up to you, Miss Hong. I don’t even know who the person in question is.”

“…That’s true.”

In truth, Go Hyeon-woo was already 100% certain it was Kim Ho, but he deliberately pretended not to know and stepped back.

Not only was it better for Hong Yeon-hwa’s mental well-being, but keeping this level of distance also helped him avoid getting too deeply involved.

Before long, Go Hyeon-woo smiled faintly.

“That’s as far as my advice goes. I’m not sure if such a theoretical answer was of any help.”

“No, it helped a lot. Thanks.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Then, I’ll be off now. Thanks for the coffee.”

“Mhmm, see you later.”

After sending Go Hyeon-woo off, Hong Yeon-hwa fell into a new dilemma.

She had settled on a direction, but how exactly was she supposed to express this so-called goodwill?

Change, goodwill, reaction. Change, goodwill, reaction…

Like a dog chasing its tail, she spun in circles on the spot.

Passing students gave her strange looks, but she didn’t notice.

After wandering in thought for a while, something suddenly came to mind.

…Cookies?

She recalled how, when they had gone to a bakery in the downtown area, Seo Ye-in had bought a set of new cookies.

At the time, Seo Ye-in and Kim Ho had exchanged a few words.

– For research.

– She bakes them for me sometimes. They’re good.

Cookies might just be…

The perfect way to show goodwill in a subtle way.

Since Seo Ye-in baked for him often, it wouldn’t seem strange if she did it just once.

Of course, she would need a natural excuse rather than outright saying, “I baked these just for you!”

Besides, Hong Yeon-hwa took great pride in her cooking skills.

She was quite good at following recipes, so her success rate was ninety-nine out of a hundred.

Hong Yeon-hwa felt herself leaning more and more toward the idea.

…Should I give it a try?

Practice over the weekend and maybe on Monday?

If Hong Ye-hwa found out about this, she would probably clutch the back of her neck and collapse.

***

Since we had cleared the Sapphire Temple quickly, I could have gone back down to the underground floor if I wanted.

However, at the moment, strengthening my foundation was more important than finding hidden pieces.

Besides, finals were just around the corner.

So, for the remainder of the raid week, I spent my time at the training center, honing various spells.

Monday.

As usual, just as I was about to head out for breakfast before school, a message popped up.

[Hong Yeon-hwa: (sneaky puppy emoji)]

[Hong Yeon-hwa: (tail-wagging puppy emoji)]

[Kim Ho: ?]

[Kim Ho: (tail-wagging puppy emoji)]

Why was she texting me this early in the morning?

The reason turned out to be simpler than I expected.

[Hong Yeon-hwa: Have you eaten?]

[Kim Ho: Just about to go.]

[Kim Ho: Wanna go together?]

[Hong Yeon-hwa: Yeah.]

[Kim Ho: Student cafeteria?]

After sending the messages, I started walking toward the cafeteria.

After waiting for a little while, Seo Ye-in arrived first.

She lazily waved her hand from a distance, so I greeted her back and asked,

“How much battery do you have left?”

“Thirty-five percent…”

“What were you doing yesterday?”

“Slept…”

Considering it was Sunday, she had probably slept almost the entire day, yet her battery was only at thirty-five percent.

That was like pouring water into a bottomless jar.

But Seo Ye-in was a naturally passive sloth.

Ever since I learned that she could cultivate mana even while sleeping, I had come to accept it with a much more generous mindset.

I asked another question.

“You still can’t do it?”

Seo Ye-in shook her head.

What she couldn’t do…

Was opening the random box.

I had taken the B-rank Chaos Box and asked her to open it, but she had been reacting the same way since last week.

Seo Ye-in spoke in a drained tone.

“It’s just one of those days….”

“Is that so.”

So there were unlucky days too.

I had already confirmed that her Lucky Charm ability functioned more like a rechargeable resource, but it seemed it couldn’t be activated at will.

Well, there’s no rush.

It wasn’t like I urgently needed the contents of the random box.

Not to mention, I had no idea what would come out of it.

It was better to wait until the right moment.

Just then, I caught sight of a head of red hair in the distance.

I waved my hand broadly in the air, and Hong Yeon-hwa quickly trotted over.

“Ah, hey….”

“Hey. Let’s eat.”

Breakfast was simple. It was salad, scrambled eggs, bacon, and mini sausages.

After finishing the meal, I sat back and sipped my coffee when Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly started rummaging through her inventory, pulling out a small paper bag.

Inside were cookies in a variety of bright colors.

“I just thought of it and decided to try making some… Ended up with a few extras… If you don’t mind….”

“Really? Thank you.”

At first glance, they were perfect.

Round, small, and neatly made. They looked cute.

The different colors probably weren’t from artificial coloring but rather from a variety of ingredients.

“…….”

Seo Ye-in seemed to be curious and stared intently at them.

Hong Yeon-hwa held out the paper bag as if telling her to try one.

Seo Ye-in picked a red cookie, while I chose a green one.

As I examined the cookie up close, a thought crossed my mind.

Is it green tea flavored?

Green tea was a common ingredient in all sorts of desserts, so it wouldn’t be surprising.

There were green tea cakes, after all. So why not cookies?

With that thought, I took a bite of the green cookie.

And immediately, my face stiffened.

No, this is not green tea.

A sharp, tingling sensation spread from the tip of my tongue, clearing my sinuses in an instant.

Somehow, the taste felt familiar.

One thing was certain; this was definitely not green tea.

“…….”

Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa watched me anxiously and was closely observing my reaction.

Did she really need to be this nervous over leftover cookies?

Before sharing my thoughts, I asked,

“What flavor is this?”

“H-Huh? Uh, it’s… wasabi…”

I had a feeling.

Since Hong Yeon-hwa liked spicy and intense flavors, she had made the cookies that way too.

Wait a minute.

The next moment, a realization struck me like lightning.

I quickly pointed to the red cookie Seo Ye-in had been nibbling on.

“What about that one?”

“Inferno pepper…?”

“…Oh no.”

I hurriedly snatched the cookie from her, but it was already too late.

Seo Ye-in’s gray eyes were widening by the second.

“……! ……!”

“Drink some water—no, milk! Hurry!”

***

After the chaos settled, Hong Yeon-hwa who was completely flustered kept apologizing.

“I’m sorry, really, I am.”

“……”

When she took a step forward, Seo Ye-in took two steps back.

When she stepped forward again, Seo Ye-in pulled out a frying pan.

A clear warning. Come any closer, and she’d swing.

It seemed she had earned some serious resentment.

“Assassination not allowed.”

“I swear, I really didn’t know….”

Hong Yeon-hwa looked like she was about to cry.

She probably felt a little wronged.

There was no way she could have expected that Seo Ye-in couldn’t handle even the slightest bit of spice.

At the bakery in the downtown area, when Seo Ye-in had shown interest in the Hellfire Gratin, I had stepped in to stop her.

But since Hellfire was a dish that even I and most people struggled with, it was hard to gauge her spice tolerance based on that alone.

Besides, from Hong Yeon-hwa’s perspective, things like wasabi or Inferno Peppers didn’t even count as spicy. So she had baked the cookies with little thought, assuming they would be mild.

Seo Ye-in probably had some idea of this, but the sheer intensity of the Inferno Cookie’s flavor must have been overwhelming.

It seemed it would take some time for things to go back to how they were between them.

Hong Yeon-hwa turned to me and apologized as well.

“…Sorry.”

“Why me?”

“Didn’t it… taste bad?”

“No, it’s actually not bad.”

In fact, I was still eating the spicy cookies.

I was already on my third one.

At first, I had been caught off guard because cookies were supposed to be sweet, but the more I ate, the more I realized they were actually pretty decent.

Of course, I wasn’t exactly picky about food; I could eat just about anything.

“….…!”

I wasn’t sure how she took that, but Hong Yeon-hwa looked so moved that her eyes welled up with tears.