The Returner Chapter 230

"Argh, I don’t care no more!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk decided not to give a d*mn anymore.
What was he supposed to do about people busy trying to hurt each other? It wasn’t as if he could summon all the leaders of the world in front of him and discipline them or something.
Not only was such a task rather difficult to do, he didn’t feel like doing it in the first place. When he thought about how huge the aftermath might be, it was only right that he didn't lift a single finger here.
"About what?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Doesn’t matter." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Jeong Hae-Min looked at Yi Ji-Hyuk furiously sucking in the Iced Americano with a straw and tilted her head.
Why was he being so cantankerous today?
Being irritated was like a passive skill to him at this point, but his current mood seemed to be slightly different to his usual temper tantrums. If his usual irritation was based off his laziness/annoyance, then he seemed to be really cross right now.
"Did something happen?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"No, not really." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk grunted apathetically and continued to suck the coffee with the straw, before reaching out to grab a bottle of syrup to pour the golden liquid into the cup.
"….Why don’t you just drink the sugar straight up, instead?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Whatever." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I don’t understand why you insist on drinking the coffee that way. Is it delicious like that?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Yup." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk pulled the straw and just took large gulps of the Americano. Jeong Hae-Min sighed softly under her breath.
"Anyhow. Things are getting really serious, aren’t they? I heard that the situation between China and Tibet isn’t looking too good, either." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"H-mm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Seems like the Tibetans want to start a war for their independence. The Chinese government is trying to suppress them, but the overall combat capability of the Tibetan ability users aren’t a pushover, you know?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Really?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"You didn’t know?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
How could Yi Ji-Hyuk have known?
He didn’t have much of an interest in the ability users of his own country, so it was only obvious that he’d not care at all about the fighting power of other nation’s ability users.
"Well, that’s that. What about the current atmosphere over here?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Jeong Hae-Min sighed grandly, her expression one of concern.
"I think it’s a lot worse than what Mister Choi Jung-Hoon said earlier. Now I can’t even reveal that I’m an ability user in public." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Why? Someone bullied you?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"First of all, the way I’m looked at has changed. We’re only guilty of fighting with everything we have, so I can’t understand why everyone’s reacting like this anymore." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"H-mm…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
This time, it was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s turn to sigh.
What crimes did she and the rest commit, anyway? If being different was a crime, then sure, they were all criminals.
Yi Ji-Hyuk put the coffee cup down and stood up from his chair.
"Where are you going?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"For a smoke." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"But, the movie’s about to start, you know?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"It’s just one cigarette, so I’ll be back before the start." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Hurry up." (Jeong Hae-Min)
Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a groan and made his way to the third floor where the smoking room was.
What a blunder it was, saying yes absent-mindedly when Jeong Hae-Min suggested that they catch a movie together in order to lift up their moods.
He thought that she was just saying this and that back then; who would’ve guessed that she had the drive in her to make it a reality??
He retracted what he said and told her he didn’t want to, but no amount of persuasion worked on her.
When she countered that a man had to keep his word, he resisted with a perfectly-timed reply of him not being a man, only to be shot down by Choi Jung-Hoon’s pointed nagging words of "If you keep sulking over there, you’re going to drag down the atmosphere of the office, so please get out of here."
Yi Ji-Hyuk became depressed by those words and in the end, got dragged out here by Jeong Hae-Min’s hands.
"It’s still so early in the day, so what the heck…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a lengthy groan.
They could watch a movie any time, or not watch one at all, yet what was so bloody urgent that, as soon as she suggested it, she began nagging him like this?
‘Man, so annoying. Seriously now.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk entered the smoking room and pulled out a cigarette.
If he wanted to say no, then he could’ve done so. However, as he was about to reject her, a certain realisation dawned on him.
"Who knew that this would be my first time?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
When he thought about it, Yi Ji-Hyuk had never gone on a date in the modern world. In all honesty, all the relationships he had with ‘women’ were back when he was still stuck in Berafe.
Which meant that this would be his first time going on a date with a human woman. So, how could he say no to that?
Chiieekk…
He lit his cigarette up and looked out through the window, only to be greeted by this bone-chilling wind suddenly blowing inside the smoking room.
"M-mm, well, it is a cold day, so…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk shuddered under the intense coldness of the air.
Maybe, I am dressed too lightly?
No, hang on a minute here. Even then, how can the weather suddenly becoming this cold make any sense? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
After all, he was THE Yi Ji-Hyuk, wasn’t he?
He laughed in the face of the bitter wintry chill blowing in from the North Pole of Berafe, yet for some reason, the chilliness today was seriously hard to bear.
Maybe, his condition wasn’t so good?
Yi Ji-Hyuk pulled his clothes in closer.
*
"…..A date?" (Kim Dah-Som)
Her eyes resembled those belonging to a wild predator glaring at its prey.
In the darkened alley between two buildings, her eyes continued to gleam like a cat.
"….A date." (Kim Dah-Som)
And her voice was chillingly ominous.
This could not be happening - a date….?
To make matters worse, why did he have to go on a date with that foul-tempered, short and old spinster?
This was an insult to her dignity!
"Not a date. Simply watching a movie." (Doh Gah-Yun)
Nod.
She nodded her head after listening to the words coming from her side.
That was correct.
This couldn’t exactly be called a date. If one called a man watching a movie together with a colleague from work an act of dating, then pretty much everything on this world would qualify as one, too.
If one looked at the world in that way, a touch of hand while drinking coffee would lead to marriage proposal, even!
That was why this couldn’t be called a date at all.
Shudder.
However, just what could this strange feeling be?
This dirty, bitter anger akin to someone stealing the ice cream in her hand made her shudder and she just couldn’t stand still.
Across the road, on the third floor of the cafe - she could see Yi Ji-Hyuk by the smoking room with a cigarette hanging loose on his lips. She kept her ultra-sharp eyes on him while submerging even deeper into the darkness of the alleyway.
Since he possessed extra-special perception, she had to tail him even more cautiously.
"No meaning." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Mm?" (Kim Dah-Som)
She looked behind her to find Doh Gah-Yun shaking her head.
"No meaning in tailing him. Nothing would change. We didn’t commit crime. Suggest we join him." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Haht!"
She was right!
Now that she thought about it, what would change just because they were tailing him like this?
Even if she found something she could use, it wasn’t as if she was in a position to demand something from Yi Ji-Hyuk, anyway. Indeed, wasting time like this and increasing ‘alone’ time with Jeong Hae-Min would surely prove to be a big plus for that shorty, instead.
"….Let’s join them in the most natural way." (Kim Dah-Som)
"Reservation complete." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Unni…." (Kim Dah-Som)
This unni, she could get pretty scary sometimes.
Did she plan that far ahead and even reserved tickets for the movie? Why did it feel like that their seating area would also be right next to his?
‘This unni is the most dangerous one.’ (Kim Dah-Som)
When she got technical about it, Doh Gah-Yun was the one who got to spend the longest amount of time with Yi Ji-Hyuk, and it was quite likely that she knew the most about his tastes, too.
Initially, she came across as calm and disinterested in everything, so Kim Dah-Som didn’t mind her all that much, but her recent behaviour suggested that she was not a taciturn, hands-off type girl at all.
Like, for instance, what she did just now….
Unfortunately, Kim Dah-Som couldn’t think of Doh Gah-Yun as an enemy at the moment. Why? An enemy of an enemy was a friend, that was why. For the time being, they had to form a united front here.
"To think that shorty unni would seize the initiative." (Kim Dah-Som)
Kim Dah-Som began emitting a massive amount of chilly aura from her.
"Cold." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"Unni, how about we waltz right into the cafe?" (Kim Dah-Som)
"No good. Meeting coincidentally inside the cinema. Same sitting area." (Doh Gah-Yun)
"That sounds good." (Kim Dah-Som)
Without a doubt, this unni was proving to be a big help right now. She might be a potential competitor down the line, but for the time being, her help was indispensable.
Kim Dah-Som decided to heed Doh Gah-Yun’s advice for the time being.
Rrrr…..
It was then, her phone began vibrating.
With a slightly irritated face, she answered the call.
"Hello?" (Kim Dah-Som)
– "Hey, Dah-Som-ah. When are you coming back home? Your oppa has cooked up a storm for us, so you’re coming home soon to eat, right?" (Kim Dah-Hyun)
"No, I’m not going home." (Kim Dah-Som)
– "Ng?? Dah-Som-ah, what are you talking about, you’re not coming home?! Are you saying that you’ll be later than usual today, right? Right???" (Kim Dah-Hyun)
"I said, I’m not coming home." (Kim Dah-Som)
– "Dah-Som-aaaaah!! Where are you right now?! You are not with a boy, right? Tell me that it isn’t true!! Tell meeee!" (Kim Dah-Hyun)
Click.
Kim Dah-Som ended the phone call right there and then.
And when the phone rang again, she pulled the battery out and with a pair of scarily-burning eyes, she began scanning the building where Yi Ji-Hyuk was.
"I won’t let you go." (Kim Dah-Som)
She was quietly burning up with fighting spirit.
Without saying anything else, Doh Gah-Yun stuck close to her back.
*
"Would you look at those two?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk tutted loudly.
He couldn’t figure out what the heck was inside the heads of those two girls. Did they think he wouldn’t spot them?
Well, if he was an ordinary person, then sure, he’d not have noticed them. However, how could his sensory perception not pick up on them when their fighting spirits had been ignited to that degree?
"Hah…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head helplessly.
He’d been realising this way too often lately, but well, there was not one person with a sane mind around him! Not even one!
No, hang on a minute, that’s not all, is it? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
When he thought about it some more, he should amend that statement by saying that there was not one creature with a sane mind around him, instead.
A Dragon near him was certifiably mad, while his pet Ogre had gone mad and started two-timing his girl, too!
"Ah?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Now that I think about it, where did those two insane Elves disappear to?
You know, Roabell and Rhea? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"I completely forgot about those two." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
What a sorrowful thing it was for those two, being lumped along with other crazies in his life like this.
Maybe I should ask Affeldrichae later.
It’s not as if they have places to visit anyw…. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Mm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his gaze to a corner of the street below.
It had been rather deserted earlier on, yet there was quite a bit of crowd there now. Seeing that there were raised voices too, something must’ve happened over yonder.
"What’s going on?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk narrowed his eyes and concentrated, but his sight was blocked off by the crowd and couldn’t really get a good look.
"What are you looking at?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Mm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Jeong Hae-Min had entered the smoking room after him and peeked her head to look as well.
"What are they doing?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"I dunno." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Obviously, he wouldn’t know what was going on over there. He couldn’t hear the shouts either, since there was some distance between here and there, too.
However, he was sure of this one thing - the atmosphere over there was getting somewhat more heated than before.
‘Haven’t I seen something like that somewhere….?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Indeed, there were scenes filled similar types of atmosphere back in Berafe.
….During the so-called witch hunts.
The atmosphere during when innocent people who did nothing wrong were accused of being evil witches and burned at the stake was pretty much spot-on to what was happening over there. The onlookers would crowd around out of curiosity and soon get infected by this wave of anger, and then not too long afterwards, begin shouting blue murder as if they had met their irreconcilable, unforgivable enemies or something.
The situation before his eyes was exactly that.
He couldn’t be 100% sure of what was going on within that crowd, but there was no doubt that things were in the middle of rage steadily building up.
‘Something might happen at this rate.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
It was only normal for boiling rage to seek out an avenue to vent itself.
The place he was looking at was boiling and seething over unnaturally. One wouldn’t get such a reaction unless someone committed a murder or something in full view of others.
"Wanna go and have a look?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
"Mm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
When Jeong Hae-Min suggested the potential course of action, Yi Ji-Hyuk began tilting his head.
Going there?
Over there?
But, why? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
That wasn’t related to him, so why should he bother to go over there?
"Why should I?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Because, aren’t you curious?" (Jeong Hae-Min)
….Wait, that sorta makes sense, no? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
Regardless of whether that matter was related to him or not, he was still intrigued to find out what was going on over there.
"But, isn’t the movie about to start?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"There’s still some time left, you know. I said that cuz I didn’t wanna see you slink off somewhere to smoke." (Jeong Hae-Min)
"You and your rotten personality…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"What, what?! Why, what now?!" (Jeong Hae-Min)
Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked and turned around so he could take the stairs.
Something was afoot among the crowd over there, that’s for….
Swiiish-!!
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head snapped back towards the window.
His eyes could definitely see the bluish arcs of sparks crackling on among the crowd of onlookers now.
An Ether ability?
He only spun around to look after sensing a chilly vibe on his back, but an ability user was really going to wild over there?
In the midst of all those people?
"God d*mn it!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Goosebumps broke out all over his body.
He seemed to extend forward out of the window as he dashed straight towards the crowd.
Meanwhile, black Mana ever so slightly gathered on his right hand. He quickly reached out and dozens of tentacles shot out from his arm towards the location of the arcing electrical sparks.
Screeching noises of sparks going on frenzy resounded out, but thankfully, the wayward electrical energy travelled down his tentacles and got absorbed into the ground.
"Which crazy as*hole is it this time?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk gnashed his teeth and pushed the crowd away so he could enter their midst.
Fin.
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