LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 206
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“This weather is seriously unpredictable.”
Recently, it’s been pretty chilly, so I layered up more than usual, but now I’m sweating like a fountain in this muggy heat.
I rolled up my sleeves and took off my outer jacket, draping it over my arm, but the heat just wouldn’t budge.
In the end, the man gave up on chasing away the heat and resigned himself to it.
‘What are you gonna do if you don’t accept it? What can you do anyway?’
Just to mock that man, the sun beat down fiercely on his head.
Beads of sweat made his shirt cling to his back like some awkward second skin.
The damp fabric made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, but he couldn’t just strip off his clothes in the middle of the street.
Of course, that’s something he wouldn’t do even at night.
He always harbored a desire to boost his profile, but he didn’t want to be known for something like this.
“If I had known it would be like this, I should’ve driven.”
‘It’s not that far, so walking is good exercise. If not now, then when will I work out?’
The man recalled being told by his doctor during his last health check-up that he should get some exercise.
He knew that the kind of ‘exercise’ the doctor meant was not just a little stroll today…
But then again, it’s better than doing absolutely nothing, right?
To put it bluntly, it was a minimal act of conscience to alleviate his guilt.
Thus, the man set out with high hopes but now bitterly regretted his past choices.
“I’m really dying here, seriously…”
If it were high summer, he would’ve bolted back home without a second thought.
“But it was him who forgot the appointment! Why am I going through this torture?”
…Something’s off.
He frowned at the sudden realization.
As the saying goes, there’s a person who drops the mess and another who cleans it up—it was just that, wasn’t it?
Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner?
“…Haaa. I’m exhausted.”
That’s because he hadn’t slept properly, after all.
As he mumbled to himself, he let out a yawn that could tear his face in half.
A person’s appropriate sleep time is about 8 hours.
However, today his sleep time barely reached half of that.
Given he hadn’t slept well, it was only natural for his brain to be a bit fuzzy.
The reason he didn’t drive over was partly due to that.
Better not to risk an accident while still groggy behind the wheel.
“I should’ve just taken a taxi.”
But he had already walked too far to grab a taxi.
Is it really worth taking a taxi just for a 5-minute ride?
From his perspective, that would be a ridiculous waste of money.
Some might say that if you earn a lot, why not save it?
But money is just a matter of personal choice, right?
So the man had no plans to convince those types of people.
“Phew… finally here.”
A mix of trivial thoughts and nothingness.
Lost in thought, he found himself in front of his destination.
Along with the doctor’s advice to exercise, seeing his bulging belly in the mirror while showering had triggered a sense of crisis in the man, prompting a vow.
He decided he needed to work out.
So he asked the fittest person he knew for workout help.
That’s how he ended up here, standing in front of the gym.
By the way, the man who confidently declared he would exercise gave up on his fitness dreams within just 3 days.
“Building a gym for exercising? Crazy.”
Even thinking back, it felt downright insane.
The man, looking utterly defeated, walked toward the gym.
If he couldn’t reach him through the phone, the chances of finding him here were very high, and that’s why he came.
To pull the stubborn fighter stuck in the gym out.
“Is he inside?”
He was sure he’d be in there.
With that certainty, he pressed his ear against the door.
“…In movies, people can sense each other like this.”
Sure enough, movies are just movies.
The man awkwardly pulled away from the door and knocked.
Knock, knock!
His knock was slightly stronger than usual, producing a heavier sound than a typical tap—
“…Why is there no response?”
With silence returning, he squinted again.
Could it be that he really wasn’t in there?
…That can’t be true.
As he was about to knock again, he realized the door had slightly opened with his last knock.
‘Why is the door unlocked today?’
Then again, it wasn’t surprising—he was a guy who cared about nothing but training.
“I knocked, okay?”
Shrugging, he opened the door, and the air trapped inside the gym hit his face.
The mix of peculiar warmth greeted him as he stepped inside, making it easy to spot the person he was searching for.
The gym wasn’t that expansive that he couldn’t find someone standing right in the middle.
The man, with a scowl, started to approach the figure standing awkwardly when he suddenly—
“…Huh?”
He halted, realizing something he hadn’t noticed earlier.
The person he was looking for.
The woman awkwardly stuck in front of Yuki was a familiar face he recognized.
It was Joanie, the rising star of the broadcast industry who had suddenly bulked up recently.
…Could it be that she forgot about today’s appointment and made another plan instead?
“Hey, you….”
He hesitated.
Feeling a flicker of annoyance as he took a step forward, Yuki oddly shifted her body.
Normally, she would’ve shamelessly asked him, ‘Why are you here?’
Did she realize what she had done wrong?
But that didn’t seem to be the case as she didn’t appear to feel guilty at all.
The man felt something odd but strode confidently toward Yuki.
As he did, Yuki’s body grew increasingly stiff and awkward.
“…Why are you here?”
Yuki asked the exact question he had anticipated, but her voice was unnaturally stiff and awkward.
“What’s that behind you?”
“…Nothing at all.”
“I told you before, don’t think about lying. You’re not a good liar.”
If she had handled it casually, it would have slipped by without a problem.
But the attempt to hide it was so obvious that he couldn’t pretend not to notice.
This was practically a silent call for help, wasn’t it?
“Did you hide a corpse or something?”
“What?”
“I mean, I could totally see that being a possibility for you.”
…Whatever, who cares.
The man avoided her glaring eyes and subtly turned his head away.
In any case, she was definitely hiding something.
Narrowing his eyes, he caught a glimpse of something pink peeking out from where Yuki couldn’t cover it, and he muttered without realizing it.
“Pink?”
Flinch!
Yuki reacted with an intensity he had never seen before.
“Pink? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“…You’re really terrible at acting.”
If she was going to act like that, she might as well have said nothing at all.
While he was staring at Yuki with disappointment, a small sigh suddenly broke through the tension.
“Ugh… what a surprise.”
“Huh?”
The gentle voice that followed the sigh made his eyes widen.
It was a voice oddly familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.
A strong déjà vu echoed in his mind.
However, he couldn’t ponder its origins.
“Step aside.”
Even before that, the owner of the voice stepped out from behind Yuki.
Slowly, as she revealed herself, what first stood out was the soft pink hair shimmering under the gym lights.
Next came a tiny physique that made sense given Yuki was blocking it.
No matter how generously you looked at it, it was too small to be considered adult-sized.
Thinking it was a child, he raised his gaze a bit higher and met a pair of sharply shining pink eyes.
“…Huh?”
In that moment, the only sound he could make was a short, shocked exclamation.
* * *
Unsure whether she was standing or sitting, Da-eun finally sat down on the floor.
After watching the man freeze like a statue, Yuki awkwardly pushed him down before he could speak.
“…Is this some kind of hidden camera show?”
There was suspicion and doubt laced in his voice.
That was a perfectly reasonable reaction.
“Da-eun acted like this too.”
Of course, Da-eun had a more dramatic reaction, but the essence was the same.
“When did I ever make such a foolish face!”
“Wow. Are you really calling someone foolish to their face?”
“…N-No, that’s not what I meant…”
Realizing her mistake upon hearing his words, Da-eun cautiously glanced at the man.
It wasn’t unreasonable to think he might react badly to something like that.
But the man, who was on the receiving end of being called ‘foolish face,’ didn’t seem to care at all.
“But are you okay? Showing up like this.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage somehow.”
Though it could’ve been easy to take off without revealing herself, she felt that since she knew Yuki, it wasn’t necessary.
Moreover, if Yuki was the type to host people for exercising, she probably wasn’t a bad person.
“What were you gonna do if something went wrong?”
“Then…”
“…Then?”
“….”
“…Hey, Kana? You’re not having any terrifying thoughts, right? Like… you won’t slice anyone up or anything….”
The man ignored Da-eun whispering in her ear.
There was something else on his mind that concerned him more.
‘I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.’
Why does she look so familiar…?
Not exactly her face, but still, something about her felt oddly known.
Almost like someone he had run into numerous times.
“…!”
Ah, I got it.
Finally recalling, he snapped his fingers.
“The person who harassed me.”
She was the one who visited him several times when he lived on the mountain.
And she was also around when the knights came searching for him.
Only then did it make sense why her face felt so unfamiliar.
Back then, with Edel’s annoying comments, he had to focus to react correctly, missing out on noticing her completely.
But nonetheless, thanks to the entrenched habit, he was able to recognize her.
“…Huh?!”
The man, who had been frozen in shock, leaped up as if stung by a bee.
“Wh-What are you talking about? When did I ever harass you?!”
He appeared genuinely flustered, stuttering his words.
Creek.
Turning her head as if she were a rusty marionette, Da-eun faced him.
“…Harass?”
Finally, her voice emerged with enough eeriness that I almost flinched.
…Did I say something I shouldn’t have?
A quick thought crossed my mind, but I shook it away.
After all, she really had come to harass me.
So I had nothing to be ashamed of.
Yep, that’s right.
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