After a brief commotion, Luche, dressed in a gown, and I, wearing comfortable clothes, sat at the dining table and ate the meal prepared by Hayang.
Yura kept smiling while watching Luche eat, who seemed unable to shake off thoughts about Luche’s reaction. Luche occasionally glanced at Yura, finding her gaze uncomfortable.
“How does it taste? I cooked as usual. Does it suit your palate?”
In response to Hayang’s question, Luche nodded with chopsticks in her mouth.
Hayang smiled, satisfied with this level of response, despite it not being an enthusiastic reply. The overall atmosphere felt like everyone was treating Luche like a younger sibling.
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
Yura, who had been staring at me, turned to me when I spoke. While I understood that Luche and my girlfriends did not have intense animosity towards each other, I couldn’t fathom how this friendly atmosphere had developed.
Although we worked together on missions and met daily, we had been adversaries for years, and our relationship remained antagonistic.
“I brought them along, but I didn’t think they would welcome Luche so warmly. If they become friends, so be it, but I didn’t expect them to show no dislike at all.”
Luche, sitting across from me at the table, looked at my girlfriends. Their gazes also shifted to Luche and then to me. Without any conversation, silence fell between them. Yubin, sitting on the sofa, broke the silence.
“It’s too late to dislike her; we know too much already.”
“Right.”
Yubin agreed with Yura, nodding in response.
Did they mean that despite being adversaries, they felt a sense of familiarity from knowing each other? However, the intensity of their rivalry hadn’t diminished.
During our recent confrontations, there had been intense battles. It seemed something had changed between those encounters.
“When we’re interrogated, we often chat, and during those chats, we decided it wasn’t necessary to consciously maintain our awareness around each other.”
The time I spend with my girlfriends has increased significantly. At the same time, the time they spend together has also increased. Due to various events recently, our conversations never ended, and some of these included discussions about Luche.
“Doesn’t Luche dislike you?”
“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking… How should I put it?”
Yubin struggled to find the right words. Although she was conscious of Luche and engaged in mental battles with her, it wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking.
This statement was confusing to me, and Yubin noticed my confusion, wanting to explain properly.
“Just accept things as they are. Whether you like or dislike her, nothing will change.”
“Right. That’s exactly it.”
Seeing that the explanation wasn’t flowing smoothly, SuA, who was playing a game, added her own explanation. Yubin acknowledged that SuA’s explanation was correct but still didn’t fully understand. Perhaps it was because they had not held positive opinions of each other until recently.
While I couldn’t fully grasp it, it wasn’t something I couldn’t accept.
If my girlfriends thought that way, then that was that. This was the first time I realized how my girlfriends’ views on Luche had changed.
I can’t know every detail of the conversations they have among themselves. Moreover, it’s not necessary for me to know each individual’s opinion about Luche.
“How is Luche?”
I wanted to know what Luche thought about coming home today.
The memory of Luche engaging in a verbal battle with my girlfriends during confrontations was strong. Additionally, when I heard that I lived with my girlfriends, she had seemed upset.
Thinking back, Luche probably didn’t want to come to a house filled with my girlfriends. It seems Luche had also undergone some changes in thought.
“I didn’t think much about it. I wanted to observe the atmosphere and make a judgment. If she still disliked me, I would have disliked her too. If she acted indifferent, I would have responded in kind.”
There was no benefit in constantly harboring negative feelings towards each other. Prolonged mental battles were exhausting, and eventually, she decided to accept things as they are rather than constantly dwelling on them.
There was no reason for the relationship between my girlfriends and Luche to be bad.
Their adversarial relationship stemmed from the factions they belonged to, which meant there was no reason for them to harbor ill will towards each other.
Though there were dating-related issues, Luche had already accepted the situation.
Though the harem situation wasn’t entirely resolved with my girlfriends, there was a willingness to accept it.
While the lack of major upheavals in the atmosphere felt precarious, I believed that if I handled it well, we could develop a good relationship.
“Most importantly, they are people that my seniors like.”
Hearing Luche’s shy remark, I paused with the spoonful of rice halfway to my mouth.
Since they are people whom I like and who like me, there’s no need to hate them. As someone who had once been responsible for Luche’s education and now knew her feelings, I couldn’t help but feel moved.
“Why? Why?!”
Like me, my girlfriends were looking intently at Luche, and she blushed under their focused gaze, speaking loudly and eating her food.
“But why does A like Luche?”
“!”
Luche, who had been quietly observing, coughed suddenly upon hearing Yura’s abrupt question.
“Why do you ask?”
It was unclear whether Luche was embarrassed explaining to me or telling the girlfriends, but her face flushed red. Yura persisted, partly teasing and partly curious, not looking away from Luche.
“I’m just curious. We all have our stories, but I wonder why the people at Spacystro like A.”
Surprised by the pure curiosity, Luche couldn’t raise her voice.
“I’m curious too.”
“Really? Why, Senpai?”
I was equally curious about the exact reason why Luche liked me.
“Because I’m the one involved. And… back then, I wasn’t someone others would like.”
Recalling the past, it was clear I wasn’t someone others would like. It was a sensitive period of my life, marked by extreme sensitivity and aggression, a time when I cared least about others.
Due to the mission failure, the person who performed the wedding ceremony with Esmeralda had died, and the defects in the equipment I used continued to bother me, leading to a change in my role to engineer.
I met Luche quite some time after becoming an engineer, but little had changed since then. I was always on edge about equipment checks, keeping my senses sharp in the hangar environment.
My aggressive behavior had made many people dislike me, so it was surprising that Luche could like me back then.
“That’s true.”
Luche nodded, agreeing that the past me wasn’t someone who could be loved, without hesitation.
“Why? What was A like before?”
Hayang showed interest in my past story, noticing everyone’s focus. Embarrassed to speak about my past, I looked at Luche instead.
Understanding my gaze, Luche sighed deeply and put down her spoon.
“I was incredibly reckless.”
It was undeniable. The hangar work was my top priority, and I didn’t care about anyone’s opinion. It seemed that Esmeralda’s support of my authority at that time also played a part.
“Reckless? Brother?”
They seemed unable to imagine such a scenario, all showing puzzled expressions. Especially Yubin, who had been with me the earliest, found it hard to picture.
“Yes, I was very dedicated back then.”
“It wasn’t just dedication. You’d shout, curse, and throw wrenches.”
Reviewing my past felt like revisiting dark history. My childish past actions were embarrassing.
Even if asked to act that way again, I wouldn’t be able to. Back then, I had a fierce personality.
“Shouting and cursing? A? I can’t even imagine.”
None of them could relate, as they had never seen such behavior. It felt like listening to a completely different person’s story, especially Yura, who looked at me with disbelief.
“Compared to before, you’ve changed a lot now. When we first met during the establishment of Team 3, I thought you were a different person.”
Saying I was a different person felt somewhat unjust.
When comparing my past and the time of Team 3’s establishment, I felt like a different person. Ironically, Luche, who said this, had truly become a different person herself.
“You liked such a fierce brother?”
“No.”
Just hearing fragmented stories about shouting, cursing, and throwing objects, it was clear Luche couldn’t have liked such a person.
Yubin couldn’t understand why Luche liked such a version of me, and Luche firmly stated she didn’t like that version of me either.
“There was a big incident. I tried to sacrifice myself to resolve it, but Senpai saved me. Then Senpai told me I was important.”
Everyone listened intently to this calmly delivered statement. After Luche finished speaking, she lowered her head and continued eating.
“Nothing has changed, whether in the past or now. But weren’t you being too reckless? If someone suddenly offered to sacrifice themselves, wouldn’t anyone try to save them?”
“At that time, I could be replaced anytime.”
“What do you mean?”
Yubin nodded, discussing Luche’s intention to sacrifice herself, and looked confused as she didn’t understand Luche’s answer.
“Luche is a monster born from a bio-robot experiment.”
Seemingly, I hadn’t explained this properly to the girlfriends before, so I decided to explain it thoroughly now.
Luche was a monster, an evolved form of a bio-robot created through cell experiments.
Bio-robots could reproduce at any time, and monsters were the culmination of bio-robot experiments, making them unique beings that cannot be replaced.
Feeling the girlfriends’ discomfort at the mention of experiments, I continued explaining, disregarding their reactions. The experiments conducted on Earth and Spacystro were fundamentally different.
“So, Luche has liked A all this time because A recognized her worth?”
Before drifting from the original topic, Yura returned to the initial question, looking interestedly at Luche. Luche, feeling embarrassed later, blushed and avoided eye contact with anyone, especially me.
Especially when our eyes met, her face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
“It’s not a big deal…”
Hearing Luche mutter to herself, Yura smiled and gently stroked her hair.
“Don’t touch! Why do you keep treating me like a child? I’m older than you!”
“Okay, okay. You’re right. Luche is older.”
Despite Yura’s agitated reaction, the smile didn’t leave her face. Instead, she used Luche’s words to tease her more, treating her like a younger sister.
Although the atmosphere was still awkward, I smiled, thinking that if this maintained, it would be good.
