I Have A Damn Family Again - Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Diverging Paths (4)

“Sigh…”

“Why are you sighing again?”

“Are you… really sure about this? This seems a bit…”

Even after I explained everything, Harnie still hadn't stamped the collaboration agreement, worried that she was burdening me.

Seriously. This woman, just like that kid, is surprisingly stubborn.

If she was going to hesitate like this, I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“W-What?! Wait, you can’t just…!”

-Thump.

“Well, it’s not perfectly centered, but it’ll do.”

Harnie’s hand had trembled, so the stamp wasn’t perfectly aligned, but it was good enough. She wouldn't complain.

“Ah…”

But our dear fiancée seemed to still be worried about the stamped agreement, a sigh escaping her lips.

I had to reassure her.

“Don’t worry. I’m actually the one who should be thanking you.”

“…”

“Harnie, as you know, there’s something wrong with Shatrain’s soil. Having another territory as a control group would be ideal, and you’ve just solved that problem for me. You’re not just a burden.”

She gasped, her eyes widening, and then quickly turned away.

“…ank…”

“What?”

“Th-Thank… you…”

…Thank you.

Again with that awkward word.

‘I never know how to respond to that.’

Should I tell her that managing two territories simultaneously was actually a better option than managing Shatrain alone, so she shouldn't worry?

Or should I be firm, tell her that since we both benefited from this agreement, there was no need for her to thank me?

Or should I argue that since her collaboration offer had saved me from a potentially disastrous situation, it was me who should be thanking her?

I didn’t know.

I had never been thanked before, not like this.

This simple, awkward word, "thank you," made me uncomfortable. I didn't know how to respond.

So, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Let’s just call it a… transaction.”

“What?”

“We’re engaged, remember? You’re providing me with a control group, and I’m managing your territory for you. It’s a transaction, a fair exchange.”

Harnie turned to face me, her gaze unwavering.

But unlike before, she wasn’t avoiding my eyes. Her violet eyes met mine, their intensity making me uncomfortable.

“…”

She stared at me for a long moment, her lips pressed into a thin line, her hands clasped tightly together.

And then, she turned away, her gaze fixed on some distant point in space.

She hadn’t protested, so I assumed she had accepted my explanation.

And then…

“…eep…”

“What?”

“…eep first…”

“Could you repeat that?”

Her voice was too soft, too quiet. I couldn't hear her properly.

I leaned closer, tilting my head, trying to catch her words.

And then…

-Whoosh!

“Whoa!”

My head was pulled forward, my vision momentarily obscured.

And then… softness. The familiar softness of her lap. Damn it, again with this awkward lap pillow…

“S-Sleep! You need to sleep! You’re going to be managing two territories tomorrow! And you haven’t slept properly!”

“W-Well…”

“Just… be quiet! How do you think I feel, seeing you overwork yourself like this?!”

“You don’t have to worry about that…”

-Squeeze.

As if to silence my protests, she covered my eyes with her hand.

And then, her voice, softer now, almost a whisper, said,

“This isn’t a fair exchange, but… let me do this for you. Let me… put you to sleep like this, every now and then.”

She offered this small, simple request as a condition for their agreement.

“I can’t… I can’t help you with anything else. I’m not a good merchant if I can’t even offer a fair trade.”

“…”

“So… just… close your eyes and sleep for a few hours. And if I come to you like this, just… accept it. This is all I can do for you.”

Her eyes were covered, so I couldn’t see her expression.

But I could feel the tremor in her fingertips, the slight trembling in her voice.

She wasn’t offering a condition, she was pleading, begging me to accept her request.

‘This is awkward.’

She wanted me to stay still.

To close my eyes and sleep.

This small, simple act, she said, was all she could offer.

It was true, I was the one benefiting from this arrangement.

Managing two territories simultaneously, achieving a high score at the symposium… It wasn’t just about trust, it was about her unwavering faith in my abilities.

Normally, I would have readily accepted her offer. Free labor and a guaranteed high score? It was a no-brainer.

But she, Harnie, wasn't thinking about that.

She was too kind, too selfless.

She probably felt guilty, inadequate, for not being able to offer more.

I could have pushed her hand away, looked into her eyes, and seen the truth.

But I didn’t want to.

Her request, her plea for me to rest my head on her lap and sleep… it wasn’t that difficult to fulfill.

And if this small act of compliance could ease her burden, her guilt…

It wouldn’t be so bad.

‘I’ll just sleep for an hour. That should be enough.’

As I closed my eyes, a memory surfaced.

-…Thank you.

‘…Come to think of it, this isn’t the first time I’ve been thanked.’

There was one person.

Just one.

A girl, my friend, had thanked me.

And back then, I had responded the same way.

I had told her it was just a coincidence, a result of our shared circumstances.

…This situation, this lap pillow, the thank you…

It was eerily similar.

The same scenario, the same response.

‘…A perfectly wrong answer.’

It was still difficult.

I still didn't know how to respond, what the right answer was.

As I drifted off to sleep, lost in thought, the darkness enveloped me.

***

“You’re saying… I can’t work on the group project alone?”

“That’s right.”

The teacher, arms crossed, nodded.

“It’s a group project, Min-hyeok. It’s meant to be a collaborative effort. Working alone defeats the purpose.”

“…But what if I can complete it by myself? Isn’t that better than arguing with the others, wasting time, and potentially ruining the project?”

The teacher sighed.

“I understand your point. It’s not uncommon for group projects to devolve into arguments, disagreements, and wasted time.”

“Then…!”

“But that process is also necessary, Min-hyeok. You need to learn how to compromise, how to resolve conflicts. You can’t always solve everything on your own.”

“…”

“Try to find at least one other group member. If you work alone, you’ll get a zero, no matter how good your work is.”

“…Fine.”

-Click.

The door to the teacher’s office closed behind him.

The boy couldn’t understand.

What was so difficult about working alone?

Even if he was abandoned, left to fend for himself, there were countless ways to survive.

He could earn money, he could learn to be self-sufficient. It wasn't that difficult.

Why did he have to go through this pointless process, this forced collaboration, just for a school project?

“Sigh. Complaining won’t solve anything.”

He had to find a partner.

Otherwise, he would fail.

But finding a partner wasn’t easy.

He was ostracized, the most disliked student in the entire school. No one wanted to work with him. And even if he tried to invite someone, they would probably laugh at him, mock him for his audacity.

He had endured countless acts of bullying, countless acts of cruelty, but this… This was a different kind of challenge.

‘What am I supposed to do…?’

As he walked down the hallway, lost in thought, a commotion erupted nearby.

-Slap!

The sound of flesh against flesh.

A familiar sound, a sound that filled him with a sense of unease.

And then, a girl’s voice, sharp and accusatory.

“I knew it… You’re a slut! You’re trying to steal another girl’s boyfriend, aren’t you?”

This voice…

He had heard it before.

It was the girl from that group, the one who had lost a member recently.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Don’t lie, you bitch! We saw you flirting with him! You were practically throwing yourself at him!”

Another girl chimed in, her voice filled with anger.

“That boy… He’s been our friend since we were ten. He was finally starting to open up to us, and then you showed up! You ruined everything!”

“You were practically undressing him with your eyes! The moment you showed him that fabric, he was hooked! He couldn’t even look away!”

“I was just showing him the fabric for the project! What did I do wrong…!”

“You’re still denying it?!”

-Slap!

The sound of flesh against flesh echoed through the hallway.

“You bitch! You’re so good at seducing men! I’ve been flirting with him for years, and he never even looked at me! And you… You stole him from me in a single day!”

“Hey, why are you crying?”

“Because I’m frustrated! I’m so angry! Why would he choose her over me?! And now he’s even leaving our group! It’s not fair!”

“…It’s that fox’s fault. Tsk.”

“She’s notorious for breaking up friendships. She’s a homewrecker.”

“Let’s go. If we stay here, everything we’ve worked for will be ruined.”

He wasn’t watching, but he could imagine the scene.

A group of girls, ganging up on a single person.

“You said you just wanted to focus on your grades, didn’t you? Well, let’s see how you like it when your grades are ruined.”

That was how they forced her out, how they destroyed her.

“…Hello?”

The girl, curled up on the floor, her head buried in her knees, looked up as he approached.

Her hair was a mess, her face tear-streaked, but he recognized her.

It was the girl they had been talking about, the one they had accused of being a slut, a homewrecker.

‘Well… I don’t care about their drama.’

It was absurd, ridiculous, but…

This was an opportunity.

“You need a partner for the group project, right? They all left, didn’t they?”

“…Yeah.”

“Join my group. I won’t ask you to do anything.”

And that day…

He learned her name.

Seo Jieun.

The girl who would later thank him, her voice filled with gratitude, for his unexpected kindness.

***

-Tick. Tock. Ding!

“…”

The chime of the grandfather clock startled him awake.

He opened his eyes, and for a moment, he thought he was back in Jieun’s apartment, his head resting on her lap.

The familiar softness, the warmth…

It wasn’t the ceiling he was looking at, but the soft curve of…

He blinked, the reality of the situation finally sinking in.

-Ding!

▶ Status Ailment: Sleep Deprivation removed. ◀

▶ Status Ailment: Fatigue removed. ◀

[ Sleep Deprivation: 0, Fatigue: 0 ]

He hadn’t needed the status window to tell him he had slept well. The chime of the grandfather clock had been enough. But… he hadn't expected to sleep for five hours straight.

And there was something else that bothered him, a strange sense of familiarity.

“Hmm…”

“…Why does this feel so similar…?”

He carefully sat up, and there she was.

Harnie, asleep on the sofa, her head resting against the armrest.

It reminded him of Jieun, asleep on her couch after he had finished working on their group project.

-...Thank you.

-…Thank… you.

“…Sigh.”

The two voices, overlapping, echoing in his mind… Why did they have to be so similar?

He grabbed a blanket and was about to cover her with it, but then he sighed and stopped himself.

He carefully lifted her into his arms, her body surprisingly light, and carried her to the bedroom, laying her down gently on the bed.

As he watched her sleep, his thoughts a jumbled mess of confusion and unease, he gave up trying to understand.

The word “thank you” was still awkward.

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