Free Web NovelRoy held out something sweet: yanggaeng.
Also known as Park Yeonwoo’s personal Churu!
The reaction was as expected. Recognizing the yanggaeng at a glance, Yeonwoo’s eyes trembled.
“This is yanggaeng made by the most famous wagashi master in Seoul.”
“......!”
“Isn’t it sick? Look at this color, it’s insane!”
To be exact, Roy hadn’t gotten it himself; Taeeon had gotten it for him.
At Roy’s offhand “I want to eat some really good yanggaeng,” Taeeon had even skipped class and done an open-run to buy it and bring it to him.
“This is something you absolutely can’t get without an open-run, but I’ve got a ton.”
Every time Roy wagged his tongue, Yeonwoo’s pupil-quake got worse.
“If you don’t mind, I want to eat it together with you, hyung.”
“......!”
“As expected... You think I’ve got grandma taste, right? Forget it. I’ll just—”
“Ah, no! Who says I’m not eating!”
When Roy moved to take the yanggaeng back, Yeonwoo shouted and grabbed his wrist.
“Ma! Who the hell gives food and then snatches it back, that’s dirty!”
“You were acting like you wouldn’t eat it.”
“When did I ever!”
So it’s that precious to him.
Desire filled Yeonwoo’s eyes as he stared at the yanggaeng.
“Then are you going to eat it?”
“Well, since you say your wish is to eat it with me......”
Maybe because it was awkward to switch attitudes after ignoring him all this time, Roy could see Yeonwoo’s eyeballs roll around under the thin fabric.
About to burst out laughing at the sight, Roy bit down on his lips to hold it in.
“Ahem. You kept ignoring me.”
“Yanggaeng did nothing wrong.”
Even as he said it, Yeonwoo seemed to hear how ridiculous he sounded and deliberately looked away.
He looks like the type who’d only ever seek out steak, and yet yanggaeng is his soul food.
Since he was raised by his grandparents, Yeonwoo’s tastes were on the old-fashioned side.
They’d stuck together since trainee days, so Roy already knew the hyungs’ eating habits by heart.
And that wasn’t all. Yeonwoo also held the absurd creed that everyone who likes yanggaeng is a good person.
Sure enough, the compliments for Roy started up again.
“You’re kinda okay. I didn’t like you before, looking like some gisaeng’s pretty boy.”
Who’s the one who actually looks like a gisaeng’s pretty boy...
Roy clenched his teeth and forced a smile.
“Ha ha. You like yanggaeng too, hyung? That’s rare.”
“There are people who don’t like yanggaeng?”
There are. Right here.
For the record, Roy didn’t like yanggaeng. But if it’s for the goal, sometimes you have to be willing to sacrifice your taste buds.
“Still, you’re the first who ever asked me to share something like this. My heart thumped a bit.”
Like one of those lines, you’re the first woman to slap my cheek.
Why are you getting heart-thumpy, you lunatic...
Should he call him simple in a good way, or just plain dumb.
“But is this really that famous? Feels like a waste to eat it.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got a lot. If you want, I could give you all of it.”
“S-something this precious...!”
“Yeah. I’ve got plenty in the dorm. But there’s a condition.”
“What is it? I can do anything. Just say it.”
Yeonwoo looked at him with a solemn face.
“Eat meals with me.”
And that’s how the outcast duo of Seoul Awakeners High School was born.
✧
These days, Jegalbi hated how Roy ran to the third-year classroom every lunch.
He’d pitied the kid for eating alone and kept him company, and now the brat had made a new friend and dumped him.
So then who’s the outcast now?
“Shut up!”
When Bi shouted into the air, his friends glanced over and murmured.
‘This idiot dares to repay grace with spite?’
He should’ve known from the entrance ceremony when the kid blabbed about comrades.
Bi’s feelings were thoroughly hurt.
Meanwhile, Roy—who didn’t have Galbi in his sights at all—was withering day by day.
The survival prelims were now only a week away. But Roy still hadn’t brought up even the S of to Yeonwoo.
Because of Yeonwoo’s status ailment.
‘Why won’t it dispel?’
Playing the self-declared barnacle on Yeonwoo, Roy followed him whenever he had a chance and locked him in a prison of praise.
You’re the best, hyung!
You’re a genius, hyung!
You were born to be loved, hyung!
But every time, Yeonwoo ended the conversation with “Are you crazy.”
He even broke his promise to himself to avoid using it on people and tried Godslighting, but for some reason the skill wouldn’t manifest either.
‘Don’t tell me even the one remaining skill is locked?’
No way...!
At the thought that he might really have become F-grade now, he himself was on the verge of falling into a status ailment.
That day too, after the two of them finished lunch first, they headed straight to the school rooftop. To have post-meal yanggaeng time.
It was also the time of day Yeonwoo looked forward to most.
But unlike the 100% happiness of Yeonwoo, for Roy this was the most miserable time of the day.
Ugh. Tastes bad.
Biting off a sparrow-sized nibble of yanggaeng, Roy knit his brows and held his breath.
But whenever he felt Yeonwoo’s gaze, he quickly fixed his expression and forced a smile.
“Ahh~ this is so good, for real.”
“Right! But is it okay for you to give me this much? I feel kinda bad mooching every day.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Put that away.”
Like handing over a bribe, Roy set an extra piece of yanggaeng on Yeonwoo’s stomach.
Then, sneaking a look, he decided to be brave today of all days.
“Hyung, do you... have a life goal?”
“Out of nowhere?”
At Yeonwoo’s suspicious look, Roy hurriedly continued.
“No, I mean, me? My wish is, you know, to make a name for myself once as an awakener. Ha ha!”
“Is that so. I think you’ll do well. But what grade are you?”
“Uh... F?”
A brief silence fell.
“......Is that so. No! You can do it! Who knows, maybe you’ll suddenly reawaken and hit SSS-grade.”
There isn’t even such a grade.
Not noticing Roy’s cold stare, Yeonwoo kept laughing, slapping Roy’s shoulder.
Then he suddenly put a status ailment over his head and fell into gloom.
“Still, that’s better than me with my death date already set.”
“What?”
Roy, twisting his body from the sting where he’d been slapped, straightened at the next words.
“Wow. Everyone’s blabbing it. I’m an awakening addict. You didn’t know? They say not even an S-grade healer can fix this.”
Yeonwoo acted like someone who’d already given up on life.
He’d been the brightest of them all... Faced with a weakness he’d never seen before, Roy was at a loss for how to react.
“Don’t say stuff like that. Maybe there’s a way.”
“No. I looked into everything. There’s a reason it’s called a rare disease.”
“No there isn’t! Why would you die, hyung!”
When Roy barked and sprang up, Yeonwoo’s eyes went wide.
“Ma, you scared me. I was surprised.”
“You won’t die! You won’t die! I’m telling you, you won’t!” ƒrēewebnovel.com
“Got it, punk. I won’t die. This kid’s funny. Do you want me not to die?”
“Is that even a question? Who wants someone to die!”
At that moment, the status ailment floating above Yeonwoo’s head flickered like it had static.
“Is that so. I told you, everyone who likes yanggaeng is kind.”
Yeonwoo gave a faint laugh and patted Roy’s head. Then, as if thinking it over, he casually added,
“Do you want to be my little brother? You’re small, but the more I look at you the cuter you seem. I always wanted a punk like you who doesn’t listen.”
“Am I an object? Get lost.”
“Your nasty temper is exactly my style. There’s fun in breaking you in.”
“You sure talk a lot for someone about to die.”
Amused by Roy’s reactions, Yeonwoo scratched under Roy’s chin to tease him.
“Here, puppy~”
“Get your hand off.”
Roy slapped Yeonwoo’s hand away and glared, sharp.
After hearing what was really in Yeonwoo’s heart, that act-like-you’re-relaxed attitude rubbed him the wrong way. He looked like he had no regrets left in this world.
Which only made Roy angrier.
“Hyung, don’t you have anything you want to do before you die? ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ You’re a man—shouldn’t you at least leave your name behind before you go?”
“Is that so.”
“Yeah! So start thinking from now.”
“Is that so.”
“Is that so, is that so, damn it with that ‘is that so’! Eeeek!”
Roy clawed at his hair in anguish.
Whatever he said, it was always “Is that so, is that so!”
Then, snapping his eyes up and whipping his head to the side, he heard a calm voice continue,
“To be honest, I do have one wish......”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“To wear a gold medal around my neck once before I die. That was my wish... but I can’t do it now. So I said I didn’t have one.”
The moment he heard that, Roy felt like his insides collapsed.
“If I’m going to die anyway, I wish I’d awakened a bit later. Back then. I was really confident about that gold medal.”
Miming drawing a bow, Yeonwoo smiled brightly.
But Roy couldn’t smile with him. He couldn’t even guess at what was inside Yeonwoo, who’d lost his dream overnight.
How much had he cried alone to be able to say it this calmly now?
Holding back tears by a thread, Roy asked,
“Why did you want to win a gold medal?”
“Because it’s cool. With the taegeuk on my chest, doing gukwi seonyang.”
“It’s gukwi seonyang.”
“Right. geugi seonyang.”
You can’t even pronounce it and you’re talking about uplifting national prestige.
Biting his lip and choosing his words, Roy suddenly had a great idea. Something perfect for Yeonwoo and for himself.
“Hyung! There is a way! You can uplift the nation even if you’re not a national team athlete!”
“Is that so.”
“Yeah! Make a name for yourself as an awakener! Honestly, isn’t this side more about national prestige than the nat team?”
After the appearance of blood fiends, the number of awakeners was basically national power.
The existence of awakeners wasn’t just personal strength; it was a metric symbolizing a nation’s standing and power.
“A gold medal’s nice too. But the people would rather you erase one blood fiend than bring home one gold.”
“I know that too. But you think that’s easy.”
Maybe remembering facing a blood fiend, Yeonwoo shuddered and grimaced.
“You haven’t seen one, right? I never want to face something like that again. Just thinking about it’s horrifying.”
If only he’d died then, he wouldn’t be mocked now. He admitted he honestly regretted it a little.
“I’m just going to spend the time I’ve got left stuffing myself with yanggaeng.”
“Hey, stop! I told you to quit with the dying talk, didn’t I? If you die, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell and drag you back!”
“Ma! You’re a funny bastard. Why would I go to hell? Where are you going to find someone as kind as me!”
“Is your conscience in the gutter? You going to stamp a nail in your grandma’s heart and still think you’re headed to heaven?”
Now that he said it, it made sense, and Yeonwoo couldn’t refute it.
“Ao, you little peanut. Spit your curses, why don’t you.”
Clicking his tongue at Roy who wouldn’t yield a single word, Yeonwoo flopped down on his back.
The weather was really nice.
He was about to put aside the headache of his worries and chew the remaining yanggaeng when, under the clear sky, Roy’s face suddenly popped into view.
“Move.”
“Hyung. It’s not too late yet.”
“You’re really tenacious, huh.”
Yeonwoo shot him a look that said knock it off. But Roy had the feeling that if he backed down now, nothing would work out, so he held his ground.
“Seriously, just trust me this one time, okay? If it goes well, you could become a national hero. I’ll help you.”
“Not interested.”
“You said you wanted the taegeuk on your chest. Honestly, this isn’t something you can do just because you want to, right? Think about it. Only the chosen get to do it.”
At that moment, Yeonwoo’s status-ailment marker flickered.
Certain he’d hit the mark, Roy rode the momentum and worked his silver tongue even harder.
“Isn’t it too much of a waste to die like this? Who knows? Maybe your health suddenly gets better while we’re at it.”
“......”
“There just happens to be a good chance too. I heard the Big 3 guilds are doing some survival program—let’s go on it together.”
“Go where?”
“Go and land a huge hit on the ones who were happy you crashed and burned, Park Yeonwoo! You won’t get yanggaeng in hell, and wouldn’t that be too unfair? The only crime you’ve ever committed is living really hard.”
As if even the sky was helping, Roy’s skill activated.
【Casting skill ‘Godslighting’.】
“So let’s get revenge.”
“......Revenge?”
“Yeah, revenge! Let’s show the ones who made your life hell what’s what!”
In that instant, Yeonwoo’s eyes flashed with frenzy.
“Revenge...!”
At the same time, a status window popped up before Roy’s eyes.
【Status ailment of companion ‘Park Yeonwoo (C)’ has been lifted.】
The third victim of Godslighting was born.
