Chapter 77
Posted by ? Views, Released on January 2, 2025
, “Should I call you Domi too?”
“…If you’re planning to kill me, then sure.”
“Hmm, we used to do even more than that. Remember when we got covered in mud and washed together?”
“T-that was a long time ago.”
“I’m still okay with it now.”
Her face was completely red as she said that.
She, who had slightly distanced herself from me, asked me.
“Sh-shall we?”
I unconsciously swallowed my saliva.
“…Stop teasing me. I might run away.”
“Not yet, right?”
The word “not yet” stabbed at my heart.
Just moments ago, Baekseolhyang, the chairman of the World Returner Association, had suddenly reverted to my childhood friend Jin Seolhyang, and I couldn’t gather my thoughts.
At the same time, it was ridiculous how she, who had felt so distant just moments ago, now felt so close right in front of me.
Her silver hair and eyelashes shimmering in the sunset.
Her sapphire-like eyes looking only at me.
Her cheeks, more vivid than the sunset, and the sweet scent tickling my nose carried by the wind.
And even the nervous, anxious heartbeat I could feel through her hand holding mine.
All of it pointed to one thing.
Seolhyang liked me.
Because to her, I was both the past and the present.
Just as I had been to her.
Because to her, I must have been the happiest memory from the past she had lost.
Recalling that time, I couldn’t help but wish to reconnect with those memories.
“Ha-chan.”
I could feel the anxiety in her touch.
She and I had already walked different paths for a long time.
I felt sorry for her, but it was a memory I had forgotten until today.
“I might not be able to live like before, but can I live with Ha-chan again?”
So Seolhyang must have been anxious.
What if I had forgotten her forever?
What if it was just her own memory?
That must have been why she had held back until now.
So, to shake off her anxiety, I firmly held her hand.
As Seolhyang trembled slightly, I spoke to her.
“We can live together. It’s not that hard.”
Hearing my words, Seolhyang’s eyes widened.
“Then at the company too…”
“No, not that. Chairman.”
“That’s too much.”
Seolhyang puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
She, who had always shown a perfect image, now seemed to have reverted to her past self, Jin Seolhyang.
“How did your last name change?”
“My mom remarried.”
As a child, I didn’t know why Seolhyang had to transfer schools.
Because I was too young to understand the adults’ conversations.
“The person my mom remarried had the last name Baek. So we changed our last names too. My mom really liked him.”
“And now?”
“They’re both doing well. After I returned, my stepfather helped a lot in creating the association.”
So it was only Seolhyang who had been caught in the dimensional shift.
Seeing Seolhyang, who had survived and returned after being caught in a dimensional shift at such a young age, my heart ached.
“I’m sorry. If only I had known sooner.”
So I blurted out my words in a ramble.
Thinking that if I had remembered and found her sooner, I could have done something for her.
“What are you sorry for?”
Seeing me like that, Seolhyang raised her other hand and warmly placed it over mine.
Then she brought it to her face and held it as if it were precious.
“I told you, right? That I regained stability through the game. I was always being helped by you, Ha-chan.”
“But all I did in the game…”
“It was good because you were unchanged. To me, you were the most precious and happiest memory.”
I couldn’t say anything.
“Back then, I couldn’t get along with anyone. My dad went to jail after hitting me and my mom, and my mom, who divorced him, was busy working every day to feed me.”
Seolhyang’s eyes closed as if reminiscing.
“I had no strength. Even though the places where my dad hit me had long healed, they still hurt, and I was always alone when I came home.”
To a child, parents are everything.
Seolhyang’s life without parents must have been so painful and lonely.
“Before I knew it, being alone became normal. I didn’t know how to make friends, and I couldn’t complain to my working mom. My mom must have been so worried about me.”
That past was a pain that would never disappear for her.
“But then I became friends with a kid next door. Well, more like the kid approached me first. He was so bright that at first, I avoided him, but he kept chasing after me persistently.”
“Sorry. You should have been prettier. Even kids like pretty things.”
“Hahaha, you’re so cheeky. But as that kid kept ringing the doorbell every day, before I knew it, we were going to school together, sitting next to each other, playing pranks, eating lunch together after school, and playing so much that we didn’t even notice the day passing, and then we’d fall asleep together.”
Seolhyang slowly lowered her head and leaned it on my shoulder.
“That was so happy. I, who didn’t even know what loneliness was, started waiting eagerly for that time when I wouldn’t be lonely without that kid. I started looking forward to tomorrow.”
Her voice, wet with tears, trembled.
“Every day, things changed. When I woke up in the morning, I prepared to see that kid, and going to school together. To me, it was so precious and huge, it was salvation.”
I raised my hand and patted the back of Seolhyang’s head.
At my action, Seolhyang rubbed her cheek against my hand and let out a small laugh.
“If it weren’t for that day, I wouldn’t have been able to survive until now. The fear, the hardship, the exhaustion, all of it was filled again just by remembering that day.”
I looked up at the sky.
Before I knew it, the night sky, where the sun had completely disappeared, came into view.
“I like you.”
And then, Seolhyang’s suppressed voice reached my ears.
“I liked you so much back then, and even now, I really like you, Ha-chan.”
The night breeze brushed past us.
As the streetlights turned on one by one, I met Seolhyang’s eyes as she lifted her head.
The emotions in her eyes were so vast and precious.
I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
Her face slowly approached.
The heat from Seolhyang’s face, now so close, reached me.
And just before our lips touched.
Seolhyang stopped.
“And I know it’s not the time yet.”
At that moment, I felt a soft touch on my forehead.
As I finally came to my senses and flinched, Seolhyan
You can get fewer ads when logging in and remove all ads by subscribing for just $2 per month.
My Gaming Friends Are Returnees, And Are Obsessed With Me
My Game Friends Are So Obsessed With Me, 내 겜친들이 귀환자인데 집착함
Status: Ongoing Type: Web Novel Author: fig flower, muhwakkochlan Released: 2023 Native Language: Korean
After dropping out of college due to a false s*xual harassment accusations, I immersed myself in gaming.
However, for some reason, my friends are extraordinary.
…And why are they so obsessed with me?