Chapter ss90: Side Story 90 - What If Story (5)

Time passed as the sun set and the moon rose. The time we spent here turned from hours to days.

We had been stuck here for four days now according to our smartwatches. The rain stopped after a day, but it was immediately followed by snow afterwards.

I moved about the snow-white fields. I figured it was a waste of time to just sit around and do nothing, so I went out to hunt monsters in the field while Yoo Yeonha studied the accounting book I gave her.

"... You have to get out to use that," I muttered and threw down the remains of a wild boar in front of the shelter.

Yoo Yeonha was busy typing on her hologram keyboard, but glanced at me and said, "We will get out. Also, I'm already expecting all sorts of scenarios and making preparations for them every day since we got stuck here."

"That's amazing, but what about food? Are you going to eat?"

"..."

Yoo Yeonha looked at the wild boar I caught. The wild boar's thick muscles looked quite tasty even before it was butchered.

She gulped and said, "Give me thirty minutes."

I started to skin the wild boar and butchered it. I cut off a juicy chunk of its belly and grilled it on top of the campfire. Then I ground some herbs I found in the field to season the meat, cut it into a steak, and plated it.

Yoo Yeonha was already at the table licking her lips.

"Let's eat," I said.

"Alright," she immediately replied.

It was snowing outside, but we didn't mind as we sat across from each other and enjoyed our meal. I grilled the remaining meat after she slurped hers up and started eyeing mine.

Today was quite peaceful just like the blanket of snow outside.

Yoo Yeonha finished her meal and took a shower before she sat on the bed and said, "You know..."

"What?"

"..."

I paused the game I was playing on my smartwatch.

She seemed interested in the game.

"Is it fun?"

"I just play it for a bit before going to sleep. Why?"

"Well, nothing much... just that... my hair's all tangled up, so..." she said as she brushed her fingers through her wet hair.

I scoffed in disbelief. I offered to do her hair for her three days ago, but she refused.

"You want me to brush it for you?"

"Well... only if you want to..."

Yoo Yeonha pursed her lips while feigning ignorance. I conjured a brush with stigma and she looked at it with eyes full of anticipation.

Seuk... Seuk...

I brushed her long, flowing hair. I was her personal hair stylist for around ten minutes and finally stopped after her hair dried.

"It's time to sleep," I said.

"... Okay, good night," she replied with a hint of regret in her voice.

She stiffly lay down like Dracula, but it didn't take long for her to curl up like a shrimp. It seemed that our beloved supreme team leader had a very bad sleeping habit. She slept like a newborn baby and I was worried that her back would be uncomfortable once she woke up.

I used to watch her sleep simply because she amazed me, but I noticed her hands were trembling this time and cold sweat was forming on her forehead.

"Ah... ughh... Let go..."

It looked like she was having a nightmare judging from how she kept biting her lips and moaning.

I gently held her trembling hand.

"..."

Then, her cold sweat dried up and her expression also loosened. The moonlight shone down on her.

"Huff... Huff..."

I smiled while watching her peacefully sleep. I figured that getting stuck here wasn't really a waste of time in the end.

I would definitely find a way back, so I didn't mind spending a bit more time with her alone.

And... the entrance appeared the next morning because of that thought.

***

Yoo Yeonha spotted the entrance first while brushing her teeth in the morning. She immediately called me and we hurriedly packed our belongings before heading out.

"See! I told you we would make it out!"

"Yeah, but..."

The first thing we did as soon as we got out after six days was to check our smartwatches.

"This is... amazing..."

Our smartwatches were filled with all sorts of gossip.

[Yoo Yeonha chose to elope instead of facing the mounting pressure?!]

[The team leader of Essence of the Strait eloped with her bodyguard?!]

[Was there an accident during the survey or did they really elope? Essence of the Strait filed a missing person report and is now searching.]

[The vice guild master of Essence of the Strait hopes Yoo Yeonha is safe.]

Yoo Yeonha called her father while I was busy reading the articles. I could hear him from the phone.

— Yeonha! Hey! Where have you been this entire time? Did you really elope?!

"No... what do you mean elope? I'm not dating anyone right now."

— Are you sure?! Do you know how worried your mom is? Are you together with that mercenary right now?! The entire family is...

I bitterly smiled.

Yoo Yeonha's family was one of the most prestigious families in South Korea. Ironically, it wasn't strange to call them nobles.

Anyways, the issue was that I was just a mercenary compared to them.

— Put that mercenary on the line if he's there! Hurry!

"Ah, I don't want to. I'm going home soon, so hang up!"

— What did you say?!

Yoo Yeonha was actually breaking out in cold sweat while speaking on the phone. Meanwhile, I hopped into the SUV that was still parked. There were quite a lot of footprints around that probably belonged to journalists.

"Sigh..." Yoo Yeonha let out a sigh of resignation as she hopped into the back seat.

I switched on the SUV's ignition and asked, "So what do you plan to do now?"

"We will proceed as planned. I sent the file to my close subordinates and Falling Blossom too."

As expected of our beloved supreme team leader, she was quite fast with her actions. She looked resolute and her tightly shut lips showed her resolve. Was she Gyebaek[1] or something?

"I guess things are going alright," I said and stepped on the accelerator.

"Yes, everything is turning out well thanks to you," she replied.

Those were the last words she said as she closed her mouth again. I kept stealing glances at her through the rearview mirror, but I already knew what she wanted to say.

The SUV didn't shake even once while we descended the mountain, but that wasn't a good thing at all as the deafening silence was further amplified.

"So... I was thinking..." Yoo Yeonha said in a trembling voice.

I feigned ignorance and replied, "What?"

"Our contract... What do you think if we end it here? There's no truth to the scandal... but... I don't think we should be seen together from now on. I mean, it's going to cause harm to you as well so..."

Yoo Yeonha was Yoo Yeonha as expected. She didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

I nodded in response. I wasn't surprised at all and already expected this even when we were stuck in the field. She mentioned that she was drafting various scenarios for when we managed to leave.

"Don't mind me—"

"I'll definitely reward you handsomely for the accounting book."

I was fine until she said those words. I felt somewhat offended and tightly gripped the steering wheel.

I didn't do that expecting a reward. Of course, I found all sorts of excuses to give her, but I was just doing what I wanted. There was no price tag behind my motive...

"Is that so?" I replied as calmly as possible.

It would just look like I was throwing a tantrum if I raised my voice. More importantly, the fact that she only thought to reward me rubbed me the wrong way.

However, I completely understood. I understood her because she was Yoo Yeonha. After all, repaying her debts was her life motto.

"You should be prepared to give me one of your subsidiaries," I joked.

Yoo Yeonha laughed at my joke. She seemed to loosen up and leaned forward, "You're already one of our shareholders, no?"

"You knew?"

"Well... I'll reward you with ten times what you hold right now. Oh right, what do you think about setting up a premium furniture brand? I'll support you to the fullest if you do."

"Will you model for the ?"

"Hmm... Only if I like the product."

Yoo Yeonha placed her hands on her chin and brightly smiled.

We reached an urban area and it was amazing how we were already surrounded by reporters. I had no idea how they found out, but they rushed at us like a horde of zombies.

Yoo Yeonha put on her sunglasses when the cameras came rushing towards us.

"Thanks for your hard work."

"Yeah, you too."

"Don't bother coming out. I'll handle it myself."

Yoo Yeonha opened the door and left the SUV. She was instantly swarmed by the cameras. A camera tried to take a picture of me through the SUV's window, but the tint was simply too dark for them to get a good shot.

I had no idea where this bitter feeling was coming from. I could smile and all, but I only sighed for some reason.

Then, I suddenly felt embarrassed. I had no idea why and couldn't even laugh about it. Was I a teenager going through puberty or something? Why was it so hard for me to admit it?

I slapped my cheeks as I looked at Yoo Yeonha disappearing into the sea of reporters.

***

["I will definitely reveal the corruption." Essence of the Strait, Yoo Yeonha.]

[The vice guild master of Essence of the Strait says the numerous news articles exposing his misdeeds is a cowardly and malicious political slandering campaign.]

Yoo Yeonha went on the offensive this time. It seemed that the time she spent trapped in the field had helped her.

She was known as a ruthless and emotionless person, but the six days she spent trapped in the field labeled her as a lovestruck young woman who eloped with her lover. She denied all the rumors about eloping, but it wasn't all bad as this helped to tone down her cold image.

A week passed since the incident and Yoo Yeonha was now holding a press conference.

She traced the details in the accounting book and already gathered enough evidence. She formed an airtight case against those involved. The only thing left was to expose this to the public.

"I stand here today as a whistleblower. I am prepared to dirty myself for the sake of cleaning our beloved guild..."

Yoo Yeonha stood her ground and exposed the numerous corruption and scandals within the guild in front of the barrage of camera flashes.

Bribery, blackmail, raiding of unreported dungeons, embezzlement, and dozens of other cases were exposed. However, she didn't release all of it and kept some bullets for later. She planned to strike the vice guild master hard if he ever decided to refute the allegations made against him.

However...

"What happened to the bodyguard in your scandal? I heard the bodyguard named Kim Hajin was terminated last week!"

It was ironic that the reporters were more interested in gossip rather than the truth.

Yoo Yeonha looked at the reporters who asked the question and let out a sigh, "Firstly, that was not a scandal. We were trapped in the field and he upheld his duty to protect me while we were trapped."

"We heard you gave a lot of privilege to that bodyguard! There are reports that you lived in the same house too!"

"There are more than three hundred staff living in our mansion. He was just another one of our staff."

The camera flashes continued.

"Secondly, we did not terminate him. His contract ran out. Our terms of contract were until the auction. I will no longer be answering questions related to this matter," Yoo Yeonha said and went back to the main topic.

The press conference continued for quite a while after that. There was a lot to be said and asked.

Questions about Kim Hajin popped up from time to time. They wanted to know if the adjutant was helpful in the field, why she chose him as her adjutant, did the adjutant confess to her in the field...

— The press conference has concluded.

Yoo Yeonha left the press conference while reiterating the names of the reporters who asked those silly questions. She gritted her teeth in anger while vowing to exact revenge against them as she hopped into her limousine.

"Welcome, ma'am."

That person wasn't in the limousine today. That person always sat beside her in the backseat, but was no longer there. He was replaced by another bodyguard.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you," Yoo Yeonha replied.

The new bodyguard was a knight called Rain. She was a newly scouted hero by Essence of the Strait who was an expert in wielding the shield and sword. Not to mention, she was a hero personally trained by Yoo Yeonha's father, Yoo Jinwoong.

"Please rest well," Rain said.

"Yes, I will," Yoo Yeonha replied with a smile before she looked out the window.

The moon was shining brightly as the limousine silently sped through the night.

Yoo Yeonha told herself that this was the best outcome. Truth be told, Falling Blossom had suggested keeping Kim Hajin around to improve her image. However, Yoo Yeonha didn't want to do that. She didn't want to be so cruel as to keep him by her side when she knew she couldn't give him any confirmation or assurance.

Not to mention, she wasn't prepared to face the scandal head-on just yet. There could be short-term benefits in keeping him around, but there were bound to be bigger issues later on once word got out.

She was certain that both of them would end up hurt if that happened.

"Haa..."

But why... why did she feel frustrated? She felt stuffy inside as if a huge rock was pressing down on her stomach.

Yoo Yeonha leaned against the window and calmed herself down.

'I don't know my own heart yet. I don't want to be the one waiting even if I did. I have something more precious even if I have to wait.

My life is filled with ambition that I sometimes question if I was born for the sole purpose of being successful.

I was filled with a competitive spirit and ambition ever since I was a child without even understanding what those were, and those feelings created the Yoo Yeonha of today.

I didn't do anything to satisfy others, not for my family, but for myself and myself alone.

That's why I can't abandon my ambition. Giving it up will confuse me and make me lose my path. That's why keeping him far away from me is the right choice...'

Yoo Yeonha steeled her resolve and closed her eyes. She slowly fell asleep, but suddenly saw his face.

She looked at him and realized she was probably dreaming right now.

1. A general in Ancient Korea. More info here: ☜