Chapter 431 - Side Story. Lily Of The Valley (5)
The school gate, where rain was pouring down.
"Seo-eun, you didn't bring an umbrella. I came to pick you up."
Han Seo-eun was startled to see her brother Da-in waiting for her with a black umbrella and a smile.
'How did he know when I didn't say anything...?'
Did her brother notice she'd left her umbrella in the entryway? Still, she never expected he would come all the way to school to pick her up... Her heart fluttered slightly at the thought.
Before Seo-eun could even open her mouth...
...her friends beside her excitedly stepped forward first.
"Oh! Are you Seo-eun's brother Da-in? Nice to meet you! I'm Ma Yeon-ji, Han Seo-eun's best friend!!"
"Hehe. Hello. I'm Shin Do-yeon, Seo-eun's friend. I've heard a lot about you."
Yeon-ji, with her rain-soaked red bob sticking to her face, greeted him with sparkling eyes.
Do-yeon smiled sweetly, looking at Da-in with curious eyes.
...Watching her embarrassing friends, Han Seo-eun suddenly remembered.
Come to think of it, since she'd been keeping him secret, her friends had never seen her brother before...
No wonder they were reacting like this.
Before Seo-eun could scold her friends out of embarrassment,
Da-in laughed and spoke kindly to them.
"Ah. You're Seo-eun's friends? Nice to meet you, Do-yeon and Yeon-ji. So you're the good friends Seo-eun brags about every day. I'm Da-in, Seo-eun's brother. It's nice to finally meet you in person."
"Brother! When did I ever do that?!!"
...At his words, Seo-eun couldn't help but blurt out with reddened ears.
Hearing her friends laughing beside her, she knew she'd be teased about this for at least a week...
'But seeing Seo-eun's brother in person... I understand why she was like that, right?'
'I know. He's so handsome. There's something about his... aura? He has this way of drawing people in. When he called Seo-eun earlier, I thought it was a scene from a drama.'
...No, correction. They were already quietly whispering and teasing her. What if her brother heard them? Were they crazy?
Just as Seo-eun decided she needed to escape this situation quickly, her brother spoke up at the perfect moment.
"Seo-eun left her umbrella at home this morning, so I came in case she'd get rained on... Seo-eun, do you want to go home with your friends?"
"No! I'll go with you, brother!"
Startled by Da-in's words, Seo-eun hurriedly moved to his side, getting wet in the rain.
She heard voices behind her saying things like 'Wow, look how fast she ditched us' and 'I didn't know Seo-eun hated getting rained on that much~' but she ignored them...
After joining Da-in under his umbrella with slightly flushed cheeks, Seo-eun suddenly came to her senses and looked up at her brother.
"But brother, where's my umbrella?"
"Hm? Oh, I only brought this one. Let's share it."
"What??"
Thump.
At Da-in's words, spoken with a kind smile, Seo-eun's heart raced for a moment.
But her clever mind immediately deduced the truth.
'Ah, he's probably planning to teleport us home quickly anyway...'
There was no need to bring two umbrellas if he was planning to teleport them home right after meeting her. That would be just like her brother.
Though Seo-eun quickly realized this truth,
...her friends obviously had no idea about this hidden fact.
The result was the squealing girls behind them.
"Seo-eun's friends, it was nice to meet you today. Come visit our home with Seo-eun sometime."
"Really? It's a promise!!"
"Hehe, yes. I'll look forward to it. Seo-eun, see you tomorrow~"
"Haah... sure. See you tomorrow."
After casually waving goodbye to her friends, Seo-eun walked away with Da-in.
They passed through the school gate together.
In the alley where light rain was falling,
Seo-eun walked with her shoulder pressed against Da-in under one umbrella, and with her ears still red, she grumbled to her brother.
"Seriously, brother, you could have at least called before coming. Who just shows up like this out of nowhere?"
"Haha, sorry, sorry. I only realized it was raining during your school dismissal time, so I rushed over. Did you dislike it? Should I not come next time?"
"...No. That's not it. I'm... I'm thankful."
Growing embarrassed as she spoke, Seo-eun fidgeted with her school uniform.
Da-in looked at her fondly and then extended his hand toward her.
"Here."
And.
Han Seo-eun could easily guess the meaning of that outstretched hand.
An empty street, and rain still falling.
He probably meant for her to take his hand so they could teleport home together right away.
But.
"No."
"Huh...?"
Seo-eun shook her head, looked up at her brother with a smile, and said:
"It's been a while since we've had a rainy day like this. Let's walk home together today. We can stop by a bakery on the way and buy some toast too."
She didn't want to let go of this moment just yet.
After she made her request, even creating a reason (?) for why they should walk home,
Da-in.
Tilted his head, smiled quizzically, and said:
"What are you talking about?"
"Pardon?"
"I was just suggesting we hold hands and walk home together. Side by side."
"Ah, yes... What?!!"
Caught off guard by Da-in's sudden attack, Han Seo-eun nearly jumped.
As she stammered "Uh... uh..." in response to his unexpected words,
Da-in, finding her reaction cute, chuckled and lowered his hand, saying:
"I'm kidding, just kidding. Seo-eun, your reactions are always so entertaining."
"......"
"Alright, like you said, let's walk home today. The sound of rain is quite atmospheric. Ah, if I'd known we'd do this, should I have brought another umbrella?"
"...Hmph. It's fine. You're just teasing me."
Da-in just laughed at Seo-eun's words as she puffed her cheeks with a reddened face.
'...Darn it.'
I'm the fool for expecting anything, you fool.
With a sulky face, walking under Da-in's umbrella,
Seo-eun decided to just go for it and linked her arm with Da-in's.
"Hm?"
"L-let's go like this. My shoulder is getting wet because the umbrella is small when I'm away from you. Hmph."
For reference, Da-in's umbrella was actually quite large, designed to accommodate both of them.
But Da-in just smiled and nodded slightly as if to say "Is that so?"
And so they walked through the alley with linked arms.
The pattering sound of rain on the umbrella. Water flowing down the ivy on the stone wall beside them.
Under the gray sky, feeling her brother's body heat against her arm, made more noticeable by the slightly chilly air.
Han Seo-eun unconsciously sighed, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly as she thought:
Surely.
These memories with her brother would be unforgettable for the rest of her life.
***
After bringing Seo-eun home,
I was sprawled on the sofa, drinking mango juice.
"Brother. Can I eat this ice cream?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Thanks~"
I smiled at the sound of Seo-eun's voice from behind me.
This morning, I had left the house after seeing that Seo-eun had forgotten the umbrella I'd placed by the entrance so she wouldn't forget it.
Unexpectedly meeting Seo-eun's friends was a nice surprise. I'd seen them in photos Seo-eun had shown me, but seeing them in person confirmed they seemed like good friends.
'Especially Seo-eun was cute too...'
When I joked about holding hands, I thought she'd get angry and say "Do you still see me as a child?" but my joke must have been too effective because her flustered reaction was amusing.
Anyway, speaking of that...
'Mango...? While I'm drinking juice. Maybe I should check out my fan cafe.'
The thought suddenly occurred to me, so I turned on my smartphone.
Come to think of it, I'd only seen what Seo-eun showed me; I'd never visited it myself.
I wonder what kind of people like me. I decided to check out the popular posts category of the fan cafe.
*
[Egostic <<< The really annoying thing... real fact]
Streams only once every 4 months.
This is seriously unacceptable... How can someone be like this? There are so many people waiting for his streams.
It's nice that he keeps to the 4-month interval precisely, but he doesn't seem to care about the 50 million Team Mango members who are desperate.
You're the only villain in the world who streams now... Please just stream more!!!]
=[Comments]=
[The fact is Egostic streams as a hobby]
[Honestly he should stream once a week lol this is really not okay]
[These days his streams get simultaneously translated into 13 languages as soon as he goes live lol]
[Personal opinion) If Mango doesn't stream, shouldn't the Association let Stardust broadcast instead? Seriously don't know]
*
*
[Summary of Egostic's current feelings that only Team Mango doesn't know]
???: I already stream 3 times a year
I give you a full dopamine recharge every time I go live
I'll be streaming again soon anyway
I've done everything! Just everything!
If I stream often, you complain about streaming often
If I stream occasionally, you complain about streaming occasionally
What exactly do you want me to do?
=[Comments]=
[You've never streamed often, damn it]
ㄴ[lololololol]
[Damn it, stream often and then talk!!! Who's complaining!!]
[????: The problem is you've done everything, you should have never streamed like me]
ㄴ[Damn it, Stardust, is that you again...]
[We worship the New Mango... please save our streaming schedule...]
*
"...."
Looking at this parade of jokes I barely understood, I quietly closed the cafe tab.
Still, I get what the people in this cafe want to say. They probably want to watch my streams more often...
'...It'll be ending soon anyway, right?'
I'm running out of tech-based villains within my knowledge of the original work.
According to my plan based on the original world where abilities still exist... I would have streamed steadily for years, but now it's almost over.
Originally, I was broadcasting as a warning to other villains that I would come for them if they acted up, or mostly featuring Stardust as my opponent, so I don't really understand why people are so enthusiastic about it.
Still.
Bzzzz
"Speak of the devil... I guess I will be streaming soon."
I smirked as I looked at the incoming call on my smartphone.
There it was.
[Shin Ha-ru]
The name of Stardust, the last remaining hero in the Republic of Korea.