The Heavenly Killing Star has disappeared.
The morning sunlight warmly filters through the window, and the sound of birds chirping can be heard. My physical condition feels oddly good, and it seems like I had a deep sleep.
Usually, in this situation, I’d be late for work.
My brain froze for 30 seconds before I jumped up, checking my phone to find an endless list of missed calls.
What can I even say as an excuse? I was planning to finish my novel and play just one game before sleeping, but I couldn’t even play one game and ended up sleeping late.
In a tight match where I was supposed to show off and win, it was just too hard. I’m sorry, but aside from that last game, how was I supposed to know all the others were troll games?
Should I say I was sick? Or maybe I could say I fought with my girlfriend, drank, cried, and fell asleep? But that’s a terrible excuse. Everyone in the company knows I don’t have a girlfriend.
Should I just wash up first? No, since I’m late already, maybe I should eat first. My head’s in a chaotic state of destruction this morning.
I was feeling that perplexing emotion right now.
‘Where did she go?’
I got up from my spot and approached where the Heavenly Killing Star had slept last night. Just in case, I looked around, but only the neatly laid blanket remained.
The bedding is unnecessarily military level neatness.
“Hmm… Where did So-hee go?”
She might be hiding to watch my reaction.
Where do assassins usually hide? Straw piles, rooftops where eagles perch, and under the bed, of course.
Is she hiding under the bed?
Just like kids feel safe in the wardrobe, there’s a saying that assassins feel safe under the bed too. I lay flat and looked carefully under the bed. If we made eye contact, it could get awkward for both of us.
At that moment, I’d become the caring brother who warmly understood the Heavenly Killing Star’s peculiar sleeping preferences.
“Not here.”
She’s not under the bed. No matter how I looked around, I couldn’t figure out where she went.
She’s watching me, huh?
This girl, not just yesterday but doesn’t seem to stick to her resolutions for long. Kind of like someone who pays for a year’s gym membership but only goes a few times in January.
‘Did she go to the bathroom?’
The guest room has a chamber pot, but no matter how much of a Heavenly Killing Star she is, I doubt she’d want to do such things in a place with a guy around, unless she had some particular taste.
She didn’t even go to the bathroom yesterday from what I saw. They say beautiful people only eat dew and don’t use the restroom, but she had something spicy yesterday.
Looks like it took a day for her body to react. It takes time to get old stuff out.
The villain of the martial arts dating sim, the Heavenly Killing Star.
Dealing with constipation as a chronic illness. Note to remember for future settings.
———–
After waiting for the Heavenly Killing Star to return, but seeing no sign of her, I decided to step outside the door.
“So-hee?”
I opened the guest room door and cautiously called out, just in case she was waiting outside, pretending to look for her older brother.
She wasn’t outside either. Should I check the bathroom on the first floor?
Just as I turned my body towards the staircase leading to the first floor, I saw the Heavenly Killing Star’s back on the first floor.
Even from behind, I recognized her instantly since she was wearing the same outfit from the first day, complete with a conical hat. When did she change out of her ninja outfit?
The Heavenly Killing Star was hunched over, seemingly engrossed in something.
“So-hee, Ok-bun!”
I called her Ok-bun since there could be people eating on the first floor.
Upon hearing “Ok-bun,” the Heavenly Killing Star turned to look at me and quickly bowed her head again.
She looked like a high schooler who sneaked out to a PC room was found by her homeroom teacher. It’s probably just my imagination.
“Ok-bun, what are you…?”
[Don’t come down. Stay up there.]
Wow, it’s been a while since I heard that Transmission Obstruction technique. The Heavenly Killing Star said that one line and turned her body away from me.
What’s going on?Curiosity piqued, but I didn’t want to provoke her, so I returned to the guest room.
———-
“I’m back.”
After a while, she opened the guest room door and walked in.
“I couldn’t find you for a while because you weren’t up. What were you doing on the first floor?”
“Here. Eat this.”
She stretched out her hand, holding some snack food. Was she gone to buy my breakfast?
“You ordered food from the inn. Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
Why is she suddenly being so nice? Is there some kind of plot? I hope there’s not a confession drug in it.
Feeling suspicious, but not wanting to show it, I accepted the Heavenly Killing Star’s food and placed it on the desk in the guest room.
“This looks delicious. Let’s eat together, So-hee.”
I offered her one of the snacks. You should also eat the confession drug.
“I’m not eating.”
She shook her head and sat back down in her original spot.
Please tell me it’s not a confession drug.
I’m someone who’s terrified of what dark secrets I might spill if I undergo sleep sedation. Of course, after that one experience where I turned into a tentacle monster girl, I decided to go for regular sedation next time.
I debated for a bit, but not eating the food would raise suspicion, so I just went ahead.
I ate while watching the Heavenly Killing Star. She seemed really fascinated by how I was eating.
Is it weird for someone from the same peninsula to find it interesting that someone is eating alone?
一Hey, the senior is eating alone.
一Eh, who eats alone? Something must have happened to the person they were supposed to eat with.
一Don’t try to act like you know. They probably want to eat together.
So what’s wrong with eating alone? Eating alone can help with digestion and save time. And if you want to converse, just make it less noisy.
Just because it isn’t like it’s someone else’s business. If the timing for returning to school gets messed up, it’ll be just like me.
“I ate well. So-hee, come to think of it, how much is this? I’ll give you the money for what you paid.”
Fortunately, there wasn’t any confession drug in the food. Could it be she got it for me as a goodwill gesture since I took care of her yesterday? Yet, it’s better not to get into debt.
If I keep being nice to her unilaterally, she might feel guilty when it comes time to attack.
“…”
Upon hearing that, the Heavenly Killing Star averted her gaze, looking as if she was hiding something. Huh? What’s going on? Why’s she avoiding me?
Earlier, too, she looked away when she saw me on the first floor.
Suddenly, memories of my conversation with Jeong So-i the day before at the guest room door came to mind.
‘I don’t have any money.’
Could it be…
I hurriedly searched my wallet.
It’s gone.
“So-hee?”
“Here.”
Turning around, I found the Heavenly Killing Star sitting right behind me. She handed me my wallet.
She really goes through a lot.
Receiving my wallet back from the Heavenly Killing Star felt lighter than it had yesterday. There’s no way the weight could have decreased just from snacks.
Pretending to maintain a neutral expression, I checked the contents of my wallet. Thankfully, the valuable coins were still there. But the weight in my wallet was indeed lighter than yesterday, indicating she must have bought the same snack.
I shouldn’t get angry. I tried to look as neutral as possible and stared at her face.
As I examined her face closely, I noticed some red sauce smeared on one cheek.
You ate it, didn’t you?
As I continued to stare intently at that part of her face, the Heavenly Killing Star seemed to sense something amiss and wiped at the area I was looking at. Naturally, her palm was stained with red sauce.
“Ah.”
Ah?
Aaaah?
Is it just going to end with an “ah”?
Heavenly Killing Star Cheon So-hee, do you have no conscience at all?
“So-hee.”
As an older brother disguised as her childhood friend, I have to point out her mistakes and move on.
I lowered my voice and called her name. Big brother is a bit angry. It doesn’t seem like you bought and ate some tteokbokki, so what exactly did you eat?
As I shot her a suspicious glare, her head lowered, and she confessed.
“I saw something called cup-bokki being sold downstairs, so I tried it.”
Ah! So that’s what you bought. It’s a school lunch snack. If you pair it with fried food, it’s deadly.
“Um.”
It seems there’s more to confess. As I continued to glare at her with an angry expression, the Heavenly Killing Star spoke again.
“… I ate three of them.”
The Heavenly Killing Star was visibly flustered and couldn’t meet my gaze.
No wonder my wallet felt overly light for just one snack. But since I’m pretending to be angry, at least she seems to realize she did something wrong.
For that price, she could have just ordered tteokbokki. But still, to take my money and not order real tteokbokki, just getting the cheapest cup-bokki shows she considered my finances.
Even though that makes it all pointless due to succumbing to temptation.
But still, this isn’t a major incident. It’s not like she spent a lot of money, and that kind of spending is something I can overlook as an allowance.
“Next time, you shouldn’t do that. If you tell me, I’ll buy it for you.”
I ended my words with a small smile to lighten the mood.
“Okay.”
The Heavenly Killing Star nodded obediently.
I tucked my wallet back into my pocket and laid out the work clothes I’d wear today on the bed.
I need to start working again today.
But now that I think about starting work again, a sense of worry arises.
‘Is it really true that the Cheon Sal-pa has disappeared?’
Suddenly, what if they come back and take all the money I made from the Gan-Suja and in the marketplace?
Memories of that day come to mind. The chase, me being dragged like a dog, the indifferent gazes of the crowd, the pounding that was so bad it got me dizzy, the rain soaking into my wounds.
“Haa.”
I couldn’t hold back a sigh. Is it really okay to go back? Should I just move to another town?
“Why?”
The Heavenly Killing Star, hearing my sigh from behind, asked.
“Oh, never mind. So-hee, it’s time to go to work.”
I need to maintain my composed older brother persona in front of So-hee. There’s no need to show her the worries of a common person making ends meet.
I hurriedly put on my overcoat.
“Is it because of the ruffians mentioned in your diary?”
“So-hee, come to think of it, you saw that diary, huh. That’s not something for you to worry about. I have to go out to work today, so you should stay here…”
“If you’re worried about that, I’ll help you.”
The Heavenly Killing Star interrupted me, saying something completely unexpected.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’ll be your bodyguard.”
