After the commotion at the Internet Café, Luke and his friends went to watch a movie as planned.
As the movie ended, a crowd poured out of the screening room.
Among them were Luke, Mary, and Shirud.
“Ugh, the movie was so much fun, right?”
Seemingly pleased with the film, Mary asked with a choked voice.
However, Shirud responded with a strange expression.
“Umm… I don’t know. Was it that tear-jerking?”
“What are you talking about? It was such an emotional movie! Don’t you have any blood or tears?”
Mary got angry at Shirud’s indifferent reaction, feeling insulted.
How could he remain so calm in the face of such a touching story?
But Shirud couldn’t understand it. Wasn’t the story quite predictable?
Of course, Shirud had enjoyed the funny parts in the early to mid-section.
“But the second half felt like it was trying too hard to make the audience cry…”
At Shirud’s comment, Mary frowned and said.
“Shirud, you lack sensitivity!”
But even with Mary’s criticism, Shirud merely shrugged and replied.
“For a Circle member like me, that’s a compliment. Thank you.”
“….”
Well, thinking about it, it was true that Shirud originally wasn’t supposed to have many emotions.
That thought made something in Mary’s heart drop.
Still, she had felt that Shirud had become a bit more stoic lately…
In her contemplation, Mary tried to shift the awkward atmosphere by asking Luke.
“So, how about you, Luke?”
“Me?”
“Yeah! What did you think of the movie? Was it fun?”
“Eh…”
In response to Mary’s question, Luke stroked his chin, thinking.
Well, how should he describe the movie…
“It was fun.”
Yeah, it was fun.
At least it was far better than the terrible horror movie he had seen at Mary’s dorm before.
He could understand why the characters acted the way they did.
With Luke’s answer, Mary smiled broadly and spoke.
“Hehe, right? It was really fun and emotional!”
Suddenly, Mary stepped in front of Luke, looked him in the eye, and then smiled widely as she continued.
“Hahaha! Luke, you cried, didn’t you? Your eyes are all red!”
“Um, this is…”
Caught off guard by Mary’s comment, Luke awkwardly avoided her gaze.
The plot of the movie was roughly about a protagonist who lived a carefree life, not caring about themselves or the world, eventually deciding to sacrifice themselves to save their loved one and their child at the end.
Somehow, that plot resonated with Luke deeply.
The protagonist’s feelings pierced his heart.
Hadn’t he once sacrificed everything for Renie?
Even if it was just a memory from his previous life.
Because of that, a few tears had come out.
Just that.
…But, that story resonated a bit differently with Shirud.
“Luke. Now that I think about it, you’re quite emotional, aren’t you?”
“….”
Luke couldn’t retort to Shirud’s teasing tone and kept silent.
“You’re quite emotional.” Wasn’t that exactly what Luke had said the first time he met Shirud, placing his hand on his heart?
Now having that remark thrown back at him filled Luke with a sense of embarrassment.
Especially now, where he was being more emotionally honest than ever.
“Mages should know how to suppress their emotions, right?”
“….Of course, that’s how it should be.”
“Then why did you cry watching the movie? Seeing your eyes red doesn’t seem like you wanted to cry on purpose.”
“….”
Feeling the cold sweat trickling down his back, Luke stayed silent.
What was he supposed to say about the tears?
Of course, he could control his emotions, but at that moment, he didn’t want to.
At least during the moment he was watching the movie, it felt like he was with Renie.
The expression of Renie that had shone brightly in his last moments before sealing the goddess was so vivid in his mind that it felt almost as if he had returned to that time.
However, it wasn’t something he could bring up with Shirud and Mary.
“….”
As Luke remained silent, Shirud continued speaking.
“Teacher Luke, say something. Why can’t you manage your emotions like I do, huh?”
However, being mocked by his own words seemed to be going a bit over the line of embarrassment.
“Luke, teacher. No, maybe you’re not a teacher? A teacher at least knows how to solve their own problems. So, director? Umm, yeah. Maybe director fits better. Directors can’t kick the ball even, but they can still manage.”
“Ugh…!”
With Shirud’s continuous teasing, Luke let out a small grunt.
He felt slightly dizzy.
Was Shirud always this kind of child?
It seemed as if Shirud had been waiting for the chance to spill out everything that had built up against Luke.
And indeed, that was the truth.
Though Shirud had certainly learned to control emotions perfectly because of Luke, in another sense, Luke was the very one who had made Shirud face emotional trials.
Thus, for Shirud, it was only natural that emotions would pile up.
If it were any other day, Luke would have found Shirud’s rapid-fire speech fascinating and pleased with his apprentice’s changes, but knowing it was meant to tease him, he couldn’t afford to view it joyfully.
“You cried! You cried!”
“Shirud, stop it. Or Luke will cry again.”
“Yikes, you really think he will cry again? Didn’t Luke himself say that mages should know how to control their emotions?”
“You really—”
Despite Mary’s pleas to stop, Shirud kept teasing until Luke finally muttered.
“…Stop.”
“Huh? Director, what did you say? I didn’t hear you because it was too quiet.”
“I said stop, stop it!”
Luke shouted loudly.
And since it was a rare sight for Luke to raise his voice, Shirud was momentarily startled into silence.
However, given Shirud’s personality, he might very well use this outburst to prod the teasing further.
Unfortunately for Luke, there was no means to prove to himself that he could definitely manage his emotions and that this was simply an expression of his feelings due to his will, not a result of failing to control himself.
…And to be honest with himself, he had indeed slightly failed to control his emotions.
He would have ideally responded in a more adult-like manner.
Thus, Luke decided to abandon attempting to rationalize and instead leaned into his emotional side.
“Are you really going to keep this up? Is it that enjoyable teasing your younger sibling now that you’ve become an older brother?”
Yes, he was ten years old.
It was a clear fact that he was one year younger than both Shirud and Mary administratively.
Furthermore, it was indeed wrong to bully someone younger than him, making Shirud’s actions even more improper.
“…!”
Understanding that logic, Shirud had no choice but to close his mouth in shock.
This time, Shirud felt the cold sweat trickle down his back as he thought.
“What is this ‘older brother’ talk? Isn’t this unfair?”
If that was the case, he should have just called him ‘older brother’ when he had the chance, but now that he was grown up, it felt weird saying that!
—–
After playing with the kids, Luke arrived home.
“I’m back.”
“Did you have a good time? You’re a bit late, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I was playing with the kids.”
As Luke offered his usual greeting upon returning home, Yerna, waiting for him in the living room, responded.
“So what did you do with your friends today?”
“We ate, played games at the Internet Café, and watched a movie… Well, that’s what we did.”
“Really? It must have been fun.”
It was indeed fun, and also tiring.
Shirud had truly become quite the mage.
“Then, did you eat dinner as well?”
“Yeah.”
In response to Luke’s answer, Yerna nodded with a smile.
So it seemed like Luke had managed to have a fulfilling day during his break.
Considering he even had dinner with friends.
“Well then, since you just came back, it’s time for a bath, right? Go ahead, I’ve already drawn the water.”
“Wow, really? Thanks, Mom.”
Luke expressed his gratitude with a bright smile.
Even though he had grown so much, Luke’s expression and smile still looked as cute as ever.
Luke was a child who looked great with a smile.
Yerna gently ruffled Luke’s hair and spoke.
“You must be tired, so wash up and get to bed quickly.”
“Okay, I understand, Mom.”
“Hehe, you’re quite the good kid.”
Now that Luke called her ‘Mom’ so consistently, Yerna felt exceedingly grateful and kissed his forehead gently.
“Sleep well, and have sweet dreams.”
“Yeah, same to you, Mom.”
With that, Luke cheerfully finished his bath and went upstairs feeling refreshed.
However, Luke had one task that he always had to do after taking a bath.
This was a task he had never skipped even once, no matter how tired he had gotten throughout his life.
It was, of course, combing his hair.
Always, after drying his hair, it was necessary to straighten the wild strands back into place and apply a potion for maintenance.
Having spent more than a hundred years in total, combining memories from his previous life and this current one, combing his hair was a task Luke had become quite accustomed to, though it didn’t mean it was entirely boring.
Perhaps because of the genetics mixed with Hyun, Luke’s hair had become even curlier and thicker than in his previous life, making the time spent on combing more significant.
So, Luke had developed the habit of sitting in front of the computer and watching interesting videos while combing his hair.
Recently, he felt it was a waste to spend the time just combing in silence, and once he tried it, he found it’s not just boring but also a good way to save time.
Besides, on a tiring day like today, he might fall asleep and end up tangling his hair in the comb.
To avoid such a thing happening, entertaining videos were necessary to keep him awake.
Today too, Luke sat in front of the computer scrolling through videos to watch as he combed his hair.
“Hmm, what should I watch today…”
Luke looked for something fun and educational but found himself inundated with cat videos.
This was a consequence of Luke having exclusively searched for cat videos on the computer, aiming to satisfy his “feline instincts.”
Well, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have thought of looking for anything else and would have just hit play, but perhaps due to his growth, the influence of those instincts felt less intense recently, and he had less desire to find cat videos.
Now, wishing to see something other than cats, he pondered over what to watch instead…
“Oh.”
An idea suddenly came to him.
Shall I look for that stream we talked about at the Internet Café?
