Chapter 174 : Relationship (2)

Ho-cheol couldn't say anything.

No, forget about answering, he didn't even have the confidence to turn his head back and meet Ye-jin's eyes.

After parting his lips for a moment, he covered his eyes with his hand.

“I was just simply……”

He, who had been about to say something, clamped his mouth shut again.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no room for an excuse.

“This is crazy.”

Come to think of it, Ye-jin's statement wasn't that sudden.

After the relationship between Ye-jin and Smiley became clear, Ho-cheol had been subconsciously avoiding Ye-jin.

Not only in his Monday lecture, but also in his Saturday physical training special lecture, or even when he happened to run into her while wandering around the academy, he was busy brushing her off and running away.

It wasn't unreasonable for Ye-jin to take it that way.

It was shocking.

And more than that, it was embarrassing.

“What the hell is a teacher doing to a student.”

Ho-cheol, in his own way, had been hiding the secret of her birth from Ye-jin out of consideration.

The reason was clear.

Ye-jin might be hurt if she found out the truth, and that information was more than enough to change her life completely.

That change could by no means be seen as positive.

But come to think of it, those were all just Ho-cheol's predictions and imaginations.

It was nothing more than trying to hide the most important information in her life with a prediction that hadn't even happened, and that he couldn't even be sure would happen.

Most importantly.

That secret was no reason for Ho-cheol's attitude towards Ye-jin to change.

Ho-cheol wiped his face.

Then he slapped his own cheek hard.

Jja-ak—

He barely turned his head and looked at Ye-jin.

“It's terrible. And I'm completely fed up.”

“……I-I'm sorry. I won't say that again.”

Ye-jin was startled and dropped her fingers from his sleeve.

But before her hand could go down, Ho-cheol snatched it again.

Then he forcibly pulled her hand and held it.

“Keep holding on. The part about being fed up was about me as a person.”

He, who had completely turned around, sat down on the bench again.

“I was a fool. What was important was now, and it was you in front of me, not a person who had been dead for 10 years.”

Who did he think he was to arbitrarily decide to hide the truth from the other person?

His hazy head, his uneven breathing, only after realizing what was important did it become so calm.

He could feel it instinctively.

This was the last chance to turn back the fate that was slowly going astray.

Ho-cheol reached out his remaining hand and placed his palm on Ye-jin's cheek.

The tears that had been welling up were now flowing endlessly.

Ho-cheol wiped away Ye-jin's flowing tears with his thumb.

In the past, at the facility, he had wiped away Ye-jin's tears.

The tears, much colder than then, were like a sheet of ice.

There were far more tears flowing than Ho-cheol could wipe away.

Before he knew it, they were flowing down his fingers and soaking his wrist.

He apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

Ye-jin's eyes widened in surprise.

So much so that even the tears that had been flowing continuously, no matter how hard she tried to hold them back, stopped.

It wasn't that Ho-cheol's apology was surprising.

He was an adult who would readily admit it if he was wrong.

It was just the uncomfortable feeling towards her that Ye-jin had been feeling from Ho-cheol recently.

That sense of distance that had been so palpable just a few minutes ago was now completely gone.

“I will never hurt you like that again.”

In fact, she was puzzled.

If it was an emotion that would disappear so easily, why had he treated her with such an attitude?

Perhaps because that question was revealed on her face, Ho-cheol let out a sigh and gave the answer to that question.

“At the beginning of the semester… I asked you, right? If you had any family members who were heroes.”

“I remember, sniffle I remember.”

Ye-jin answered, making a sniffling sound.

Honestly, she wanted to just nod her head because her throat was completely hoarse, but Ho-cheol's hand was still on her cheek.

It was so warm that she didn't want to move at all.

“It's an extension of that. A very personal reason. And…”

Ho-cheol's hand flinched for a moment.

He had felt it several times, but there was nothing as heavy and scary as the truth.

Hesitantly, he said.

“If you want, I can explain all the personal reasons. You have a relationship to it to some extent too. But I don't recommend it.”

It should have been like this from the beginning.

It wasn't right to just hide it, but to leave the choice to her.

What was he so afraid of?

“It's dangerous. There are some things in this world that you can't guarantee your life just by knowing.”

“That has… sniffled a relationship with me?”

“Yes.”

Ye-jin thought.

He was not a person who would make empty words.

Judging by the fact that he had expressed it as knowledge that he couldn't guarantee her life, it could really kill her.

But just from the faint information he had leaked so far, she could well guess that this was the story related to her real family that she had been so curious about.

In the end, with a determined expression, she sniffled once more and said.

“I still have to know.”

“Is that so?”

Looking at the sniffling Ye-jin, Ho-cheol let out a long breath.

“Then…”

He stood up from the bench.

“Let’s go.”

“Uh, sniffle where to?”

Ho-cheol thought for a moment and then said.

“The beginning and the end.”

After a long drive, the place they arrived at was a place Ye-jin had never expected.

A spacious plaza.

In the center of the sparsely populated plaza, a bronze statue of a person stood firmly.

The statue, illuminated by the streetlights, sparkled.

“This is…”

Ho-cheol tilted his head towards the statue.

“That statue. You know who it is, right?”

“How could I not? In the first place, the name of the plaza is Smiley Plaza.”

If you didn't know, you were a spy.

No, it was a hero that even a spy couldn't not know.

It wasn't just because she was an S-rank No. 1 hero.

In modern history, experts had chosen The Sun as the strongest hero, but there was a separate best hero.

Smiley.

Although her actual period of activity was less than 10 years, it was the common opinion of not only experts, but also citizens, that a hero who could surpass her would not appear for the next 100 years.

The lives she had directly saved easily surpassed ten thousand, and there was not a single person who had not been saved at the scene she had arrived at.

This was beyond a simple achievement; it was in the realm of a miracle.

“But why Smiley?”

Ye-jin couldn't understand or guess at all why Ho-cheol had come here.

“Smiley. That's the person who left you at the facility when you were young.”

Whether she was his real sister, or a distant relative.

There was no way to know that much, but at the very least, it was certain that she was the direct guardian who had left Ye-jin at the facility.

“……What does that mean?”

Forgetting even her usual nonchalant reaction, Ye-jin muttered in a fluster.

Honestly, if it hadn't been for the situation from before, wouldn't she have considered it a months-late April Fool's joke?

No, even now it just felt like a lie.

“Is that really true?”

Ye-jin asked back, even though she knew there was no reason for Ho-cheol to lie.

“I did a genetic test, so it’s certain. Most importantly, you two look a lot alike. How surprised must I have been to ask such a thing back then.”

At those words, Ye-jin's expression suddenly became strange.

The statue in front of her, and of course, the face of Smiley she had seen in her textbooks, could not be said to resemble Ye-jin, even in empty words.

“To say we look alike is a bit… other than the hair color, not at all…”

“The face known to the media, the press, and the public was a fake.”

“How do you know that, Professor?”

“I told you. It’s a complicated personal matter.”

Ho-cheol looked around and then plopped down on a bench that faced the statue directly.

Ye-jin also sat next to him with small steps.

“But even if I hide it, I don’t lie.”

“I believe you, Professor.”

She couldn't feel it at all, nor did she understand it.

But if Ho-cheol said so, then that was that.

However, if she were to believe his words, she would have to face an even more terrible truth.

And Ye-jin, who was mulling over that truth, muttered as if she couldn't understand at all.

“If Smiley, such a great hero, was really my guardian…”

She looked at Ho-cheol and asked.

“Why did she abandon me?”

“She didn’t abandon you.”

Ho-cheol answered firmly.

“She was trying to protect you.”

Although Smiley, who knew the truth, was dead, Ho-cheol could still be sure.

“Protect me? What irresponsible words!”

Ho-cheol let out a long sigh.

He was not in a mood to be misunderstood due to a lack of explanation.

He explained in as much detail as he could.

“Publicly, Smiley was killed by a villain… but in reality, it was an incurable disease. A terminal illness that could never be solved by modern medicine.”

Ho-cheol had also gone around and gotten the rainbow cosmos and had tried to find a cure in all directions, but in the end, he had not seen much effect.

“If she hadn't quickly erased the information and left you at the facility, what would have happened after that is obvious. Just look at Da-yeon.”

Even though the Sword Demon was alive and well, kidnapping incidents occurred almost every quarter, and assassins came looking for her.

And if it were the already deceased Smiley, there would have been no minimal shield.

The Association's protection?

Smiley was not so naive as to believe that.

“Since there was no one to trust, and she knew she was going to die soon, that was the best Smiley could do. It's not that she abandoned you, or that she was irresponsible.”

Ho-cheol reached out and placed his hand over Ye-jin's.

“Not the Smiley known to society as a hero, but the Smiley I saw and knew, she would have shed tears of blood while leaving you at the facility.”

At Ho-cheol's heartfelt defense, Ye-jin looked up at the statue with a complicated expression.

A ‘family’ that had not even a faint trace in her memory.

To think that that was an S-rank No. 1 hero.

Honestly, it was difficult to even believe it, let alone feel it.

It just felt like a malicious joke.

The first emotion that came to mind was resentment.

It was resentful that she had abandoned her and left her at a facility.

But the object of that resentment had been more worried about her than anyone else, and the fact that she was already dead made that resentment meaningless.

In the end, she couldn't hold back her emotions and shouted as if exploding.

“Then she should have at least sent a lot of money to the facility! How much trouble did the director and I go through!”

That was something even Ho-cheol honestly wondered about.

Smiley must have had a lot of money anyway.

But if you were to look for the most likely possibility.

“She must have been betrayed.”

Since the connection with Ye-jin couldn't be revealed, she would have had to mix up the flow of funds in a complicated way so that it would eventually go to the facility where Ye-jin would grow up.

But that kind of support could be swallowed up at any time if even one person in the middle had a bad heart.

That was simply Smiley's fault for not having a good eye for people.

“……That kind of.”

Ye-jin lowered her head deeply.

So I had a family too.

And now I really don’t.

With those two thoughts, tears welled up again.

Ho-cheol stood up from the bench.

“Right. Your feelings must be complicated.”

It seemed that she needed some time alone here.

“I’ll step away for a moment. Get a hold of yourself.”

But Ye-jin grabbed the sleeve of Ho-cheol, who was about to move away again.

“I was…”

She said to Ho-cheol, tearfully.

“I was always alone when things were hard. Every time, I wished someone would be by my side. They didn't have to help. Just being by my side was enough.”

Ho-cheol sat back down on the bench.

Ye-jin silently buried her face in Ho-cheol's chest.

He reached out and stroked Ye-jin's back.

“It’s okay.”

Like when he had heard her true feelings at the facility, Ho-cheol comforted her softly.

And with that one word as a trigger, the emotions that she had been holding back until just now exploded.

Ye-jin burst into tears again.

For a long time, as if she were pouring out all the emotions that had been building up.

Until Ho-cheol's shirt was completely soaked.

After sobbing her heart out in Ho-cheol's arms for nearly an hour, a completely exhausted Ye-jin blew her nose long and hard.

Rubbing her reddened nose, she stood up from the bench.

She muttered.

“I’m hungry.”

“Ah. Right.”

At the unexpected comment, Ho-cheol looked at her, surprised.

Did she overcome it better than he had thought?

Or did she pretend to?

Either way, it was highly likely to lead to a big change.

In the first place, it would be stranger if she didn't change.

I'll have to keep an eye on her for a while.

“Right. Let’s get something to eat on the way back. Did you say you wanted to eat raw fish last time?”

Whenever she had a chance to get a meal from Ho-cheol, Ye-jin would pursue food she had never eaten in her life.

Well, since she wasn't asking for an outrageously expensive menu, Ho-cheol had no burden in buying it for her.

“Then, is it okay if I'm a little selfish?”

“Well, I feel sorry too. So yeah.”

Ye-jin, with her hands behind her back, seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then said cautiously.

“Ramen.”

This was also an unexpected menu.

I was trying to treat her to something nice, and she asked for just ramen?

“Right. If you want to eat it. But it's hard to find such snack bars these days. I'll have to look for one.”

“No. Of course, I…”

Ye-jin suddenly stepped forward.

She stood right in front of Ho-cheol and lifted her head.

She looked up at him, just below his chin, and said.

“I want to eat the ramen you make, Professor.”

“Hmm?”

Regardless of whether Ho-cheol was flustered or not, Ye-jin did not care at all.

In fact, until now, she had harbored a strange hope.

Although she had no memory of them, that a family existed somewhere, and that she could go to them.

But now she has realized.

She was truly alone.

Of course, there was the director of the facility, her mother and siblings.

But it was a little different from the image of a family she wanted.

But it was okay.

If she didn't have a family.

“Eating is forbidden in the dorms outside of meal times. It's okay to eat at your dorm, Professor, and then go back, right?”

Then I’ll just make one.