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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Near my house, there was a small park that was quite far from the road and had low accessibility, known only to those familiar with the area.
In the empty park.
Si-hwa and I were sitting side by side on a bench.
Only the sound of crickets filled the silence between us.
“…Since when did you know?”
Unable to meet her eyes, I asked her.
“I noticed something strange when dealing with the student council incident, but what really confirmed it was…”
She didn’t finish her sentence.
There was no need to say more.
Just as I had, it was clear that Si-hwa had learned the truth through our coordination in the dungeon.
“…Honey.”
Si-hwa called me again by the title she had taken away from me.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t call me that…”
In reality, we weren’t husband and wife now, not even lovers.
Just a bit closer than strangers.
We were just ordinary school friends.
“…Choi In-wook.”
She turned her head to look at me.
The me reflected in her eyes had a pained expression.
With her single word “honey,” I couldn’t help but recall the painful memories of my previous life.
The days when I was her husband and then wasn’t.
“…Let’s start over.”
Si-hwa placed her hand on top of mine.
“This time…”
She paused for a moment.
“It’s different. This time, I can really do better.”
“What’s different?”
I opened my mouth after silently listening to her words.
“The reason you… The reason you could approach me like that was…”
It was painful to admit, but I had to.
“Because we thought we had no memories of each other.”
Her blue eyes trembled.
“Perhaps, as you said, we could have been happy again. We could have loved each other. If one of us didn’t know anything.”
“No. We can do it. Why can’t we? We have another chance…”
Her voice, sorrowful and desperate, echoed through the park.
But I had to say the unsaid words from my previous life.
“Si-hwa.”
I softly called her name and stroked her blue hair.
“I… It was so hard for me.”
“I’m truly sorry for not revealing everything to you before we got married, but.”
“From the day you left me, my world was hell.”
Si-hwa bit her lip tightly.
“After quitting my hunter activities, all I did every day was blame myself.”
“Why was I so stupid not to bring it up to you first?”
“Why did I mistakenly think you would accept all of me?”
“Why did I become alone again?”
“Why… was I born with this damn body?”
I felt a growing lump in my throat.
“There were many days when I thought about just dying.”
Si-hwa’s eyes turned red.
“…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry about that…”
She apologized to me.
But it was too long and too painful to simply melt away with an apology.
“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you say let’s start over.”
This was the right decision.
“Si-hwa.”
Si-hwa didn’t answer and kept her head down, staring at the ground.
“In this life, let’s wish for each other’s happiness.”
“There are many great men besides me.”
Before I could finish speaking, Si-hwa abruptly stood up.
“…I’m leaving.”
Her face, which I couldn’t see because she had her head down, was covered in tears.
“Si-hwa…”
Although I wanted to hug her, seeing how distressed she looked…
It was something I shouldn’t do.
…Because we’re strangers now.
I just watched her back as she walked away.
* * *
Si-hwa didn’t attend the regular student council meeting on Wednesday morning.
The president asked me to inform Si-hwa of the notes, so I went to her classroom to find her.
“Is Yoo Si-hwa not here today?”
“Yoo Si-hwa… She’s not here. I haven’t seen her today.”
Even though it was almost time for attendance, she hadn’t arrived.
Was it an unexcused absence…?
Since the Hunter Academy wasn’t a compulsory education course, it wasn’t a big deal, but Si-hwa’s behavior was quite unexpected as she valued her grades.
But I knew better than anyone the reason behind it.
Honestly, before leaving the house in the morning, I had contemplated several times whether to skip the student council meeting.
I had no idea what kind of expression to face her with.
It’s uncomfortable to be with an ex, let alone a divorced wife.
I felt suffocated.
Why skip class when you could just skip the meeting…?
I felt sorry and worried at the same time.
Unable to meet Si-hwa, I made my way back to my classroom.
“Hi. Ha-rin.”
“Hmph!”
It seemed Ha-rin still held a grudge against my attitude at the restaurant yesterday.
“I’m sorry about yesterday.”
I slightly bowed my head and apologized to her.
“…Are you sincere?”
She glanced at me sideways.
“Yeah. Really. In return, I’ll treat you to something delicious next time.”
Ha-rin seemed to want to answer freshly, but her lips weren’t cooperative at all.
“Hmm… Well. I’ll think about it.”
Think about what?
She can’t resist delicious food.
Ha-rin loved eating delicious food.
Of course, there aren’t many people who don’t like delicious food, but she had more interest in food than the average person.
Perhaps because of that, her cooking skills were also outstanding.
Honestly, I was surprised when I first tasted Ha-rin’s food.
I thought she wouldn’t have any cooking experience or sense since she had someone cooking for her at home.
But Ha-rin balanced the flavors perfectly without looking at a recipe, as if she were the winner of a Korean food survival show.
I remembered the day I was dumbfounded by the more than 10 side dishes, like a king’s meal.
[Ha-rin. Did you attend a cooking academy?]
[Hohoho. The basics of being a good wife and wise mother is a delicious meal, isn’t it?]
She answered while placing a well-cooked white fish on my spoon.
[By the way, it’s really delicious. How do you make it so well so quickly?]
I asked, stuffing my mouth with the fish that melted in my mouth.
[That’s… It’s all the practice I’ve done to feed my husband and children well!]
A satisfied smile appeared on Ha-rin’s lips.
“So what are you going to treat me to?”
Ha-rin asked me with curiosity, despite saying she would think about it.
“Do you have a menu you want to eat?”
Since she ate well without being picky, it was rather difficult to choose what to treat her to.
“Hmm~ I~”
Ha-rin seemed to be genuinely pondering, taking quite a while to answer.
“Ah! Let’s go near In-wook’s house!”
“…Our house?”
Why? I wondered why she wanted to go near my house when she had her expensive neighborhood.
“Yeah! When we had pair meetings and yesterday’s meal, it was all near my neighborhood.”
Indeed, it felt like I was the one who mostly went to her.
It was a convincing reason for now, so I nodded, but near my house…
Ah. Should we go there?
“Okay. Then I’ll invite you next week.”
“Yay!”
Ha-rin smiled brightly as if she had never been upset.
Soon, the class began.
Today was a practical training day.
Usually, many students don’t like practical training that much, but Ha-rin seemed to be in a great mood.
“So I’m humming~”
Humming a tune, I followed the homeroom teacher’s instructions and moved to the training ground with her.
Gathering us in the center, the homeroom teacher began making announcements.
“Well. As you all know, the midterm evaluation is not far away!”
Indeed, it was time to start preparing.
What was the first semester midterm evaluation…?
“The first evaluation is a pair battle.”
Only after hearing the homeroom teacher’s words did I remember doing such a thing.
Well… I couldn’t even remember who my first pair was, so there was no way I could remember the content.
“Each of you has been training together for about a month, so I think you’re all familiar with each other’s characteristics and combat styles.”
“Of course, since it’s a mock battle between students, not monsters, any attempt to harm or aim for the opponent’s life is strictly prohibited.”
“Naturally, a healer team will also be observing our evaluation right next to us to prepare for emergencies.”
“And, hmm…”
The homeroom teacher flipped through the file in his hand, checking if he had missed anything.
“Well… I think that’s about it… Oh! And yes. The winning pair can participate in the inter-class pair battle as our class representatives!”
…Was there such a thing?
Maybe I didn’t remember because I didn’t come in first place.
Until my first year, I was just an average honors student, so I never had overwhelming skills or won first place.
But now, if I put my mind to it, those kids who haven’t even received a rank yet…
I glanced around at our classmates.
As expected, there didn’t seem to be any useful talents.
Except for Ha-rin right next to me, there wasn’t a single person who showed promise.
At this rate, I thought we would probably become the class representatives.
After finishing the explanation, the homeroom teacher said he would give us time to come up with strategies for each pair.
Moving to a corner of the training ground, I thought we would naturally come up with a strategy to win, but…
“In-wook.”
“Yeah?”
Ha-rin seemed to have something to say, fidgeting her lips.
“If it’s okay with you…”
What was she hesitating so much to say?
“Can we lose the pair tournament just once this time?”
…What?
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