Wijihoyeon’s expression was still gaunt even when she started to eat the meat Lee Sungmin was feeding her. At the different types of food she wanted to eat, she raised her hand to point out the one, then Lee Sungmin would stretch out his chopsticks to grab the food, and carefully put it in her mouth, taking care not to spill it.
Lee Sungmin tried to cover up the nervousness he felt feeding her. He thought that time was moving slowly. No, was it going faster? He didn’t know. His concept of time seemed to break down. His chest kept beating, and his fingertips trembled. He trembled slightly and chopsticks felt clumsy in his hands. And then the occasional eye contact with Wijihoyeon.
“What are you looking at?”, Wijihoyeon said with a giggle.
Lee Sungmin was embarrassed and coughed slightly.
Friendship. Adoration. Promise. Words that reminded him of Wijihoyeon were going through his mind.
“It’s just funny how you take whatever I give you to eat.”
“Really? I’m feeling great.”, Wijihoyeon said as she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, “Phew! I’m stuffed, I ate way too much. I don’t want to gain weight eating like a pig when I can’t even move properly.”
He recalled her lightness when he gave her a piggyback ride. He didn’t think gaining some weight would make much of a difference. Lee Sungmin also put down his chopsticks because he was just as full.
“Are you going to drink?”
“What about you?”
“I’d like a drink.”
Wijihoyeon’s eyes smiled. But, Lee Sungmin immediately shook his head profusely.
“No, your body’s already in a terrible state.”
“What I’m going through is not a disease, but a curse. Drinking doesn’t make it worse.”
“But still…”
“Let me at least have a drink.”
Wijihoyeon extended her slender, trembling hand, to grab the bottle on the table, as she said so.
“I’ve ruined what we’ve been expecting for 10 years. Not only that, but I’ve shown you this shameful state of mine. All this… Made me feel melancholic.”
It was like a blow to his head. Lee Sungmin belatedly realized that he had not given any thought to Wijihoyeon’s heart. The Wijihoyeon, that Lee Sungmin knew 10 years ago, had strong self-esteem but had never shown this side of her. He felt like he was in a dream, seeing this never-before-seen side of her.
Lee Sungmin was going to say sorry again, but he hesitated. In the end, he kept his mouth shut without spitting any words. If he did say anything it would probably be more harmful than helpful.
“You fool.”
When Lee Sungmin brought a bottle of alcohol to the table, Wijihoyeon smiled. She was holding a glass of wine before long. Lee Sungmin slowly poured alcohol into her glass.
“It’s my first time drinking with you.”, Wijihoyeon said in a blank voice,” No…It’s the first time I’ve had a drink with someone else, alone. Yes. I’ve experienced so many first times whenever it comes to you…”
His mind blanked at the words. The powerless voice and faded eyes seemed to show how weak and raw Wijihoyeon was at that moment. To be honest, he still couldn’t get used to the sight. No matter how powerful the curse may be, could it really make Wijihoyeon, who was in the early phases of the transcendence realm, so weak?
[You are being ignorant of curses.]
Heoju murmured.
[If the conditions are met, spells and curses exert more power than magic. Perhaps this curse in particular also has a lot of conditions. Maybe the one who casted the curse is having a hard time, too.]
The words he muttered did not give any comfort to Lee Sungmin even for a bit. He kept trying to come up with ideas to break the curse but, nothing came to mind and it just made him more agitated.
[You son of a bitch. I told you. You have to prune the source to solve the curse. The source itself can solve the curse. I’m not even a sorcerer. Why are you asking me?]
‘Because you pretended to know those kinds of things.’
[I didn’t pretend to know. I told you. You fucking bastard.]
Lee Sungmin ignored Heoju’s swearing and shared another glass with Wijihoyeon. Although Wijihoyeon looked as if she was going to sleep with her eyes closing every now and then, she kept her mind firm and kept talking.
It had been quite a long time. He wanted to know what Wijihoyeon had been doing for the past 10 years. Where did she go? What did she do? What did she see?
Lee Sungmin listened silently to Wijihoyeon’s story. She had traveled all over Eria and didn’t pay too much attention to any kind of direction and wandered to see as much as she could. She said she had met a fairy in the deep woods. And in ancient ruins, there was a secluded master, a wizard wandering in the place. Wijihoyeon went on to tell him about the decade she had gone through.
“Everyone passed by.”
Wijihoyeon’s eyes turned to Lee Sungmin.
It was that sort of thing. A childhood encounter in a memory. Ten years was a long time no matter how one thought about it. During those ten years, Wijihoyeon met many people, but she did not interact with any of them. For Wijihoyeon, the only partner she considered was Lee Sungmin, whom she met and became friends with 10 years ago.
“Is it because I thought you were interesting?”
Wijihoyeon laughed in a split voice, saying so. As she continued to talk, her voice became smaller. The glass was just barely emptied of alcohol. Lee Sungmin reached out and grabbed Wijihoyeon’s shoulder.
“Get some sleep.”
“It’s all right.”
“It’s not okay for you to overexert yourself.”
“Are you worried about me?”
That’s what Wijihoyeon asked. It wasn’t a word that she uttered because she was hurt by her pride. Wijihoyeon’s eyes on Lee Sungmin seemed genuinely curious about it. Lee Sungmin nodded slowly.
Then, Wijiihoyeon chuckled and laughed.