I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss

“I became a childhood friend of the middle boss”

Chapter 11.1

Training

I wondered if I had overworked myself with the Gift.

I couldn’t move very well, and whenever I tried, I could feel a throbbing pain.

Eventually, I had to return home that day, half-carried by my father.

Naturally, my mother, who was waiting for us at home, questioned us.

-I’m glad you’re not seriously injured, but what the hell did you do to her that she can’t even lift the cutlery?

-Ah, you… No, honey, it was not like it was all that….

-You need to be honest. Otherwise, I won’t be here tonight.

As my father had predicted, he was killed by my mother for endangering me.

-You, too.

-I was wrong.

Of course, I was scolded, too.

But she didn’t scold me for not being well enough.

-I wanted to see the goblins too… I’m sneaky and cheesy.

Meanwhile, Ye Eun-yi grumbled at the dinner table when she heard the story later.

Knowing that my father and I had to cheer her up with a cake we bought when we got home.

If a cake could make her feel better, it was a bargain.

And….

-And….

-Oh my God, it’s 38 degrees.

The day after the actual game.

I had a terrible body ache.

I woke up that morning with a heavy body and chills.

My fight-or-flight instinct had kicked in, drawing on strength I didn’t normally have.

I hadn’t realized that my fight-or-flight instinct was so strong.

‘I shouldn’t do anything that maximizes my avoidance instinct.’

I felt like my body wouldn’t survive if I didn’t moderate my gifting.

I spent the rest of the day being nursed back to health by my family.

“After….”

I took a full day of rest.

My condition was much better than the day before.

My temperature was back to normal, and it wasn’t hard to move my body.

But I couldn’t feel pure joy at the situation.

‘The weekend is gone,’

I thought.

Before I knew it, the week had begun.

Monday morning.

After spending all of Sunday in bed and not having a weekend that felt like a weekend, I had to go to school, even though I didn’t want to.

‘If I had a fever, I could have skipped school today….’

Who in the world likes going to school?

At least I didn’t.

The same was true for me in my previous life.

As a kid, I hated going to school, and as an adult, I hated going to work.

I was very depressed, especially on Mondays at the beginning of the week.

‘Come to think of it,’ I thought, ‘if I add my past life, I’ve been to elementary school twice.

Damn, I thought to myself.

Although the memories of my past life made it easier to understand the lessons, I didn’t like the thought of it.

“Ha….”

Class 3, 5th grade, Laon Elementary School.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I took my seat and immediately slumped down on the desk.

I wondered if it was because I still had some energy.

Or maybe it was because I was at school.

I couldn’t get up.

I sighed as I lay there.

Just then, I heard a thud from the seat next to me.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“Oh… the sky. Hi.”

I lifted my head.

I looked up to see Sky, who had her bag on my desk, looking down at me with concern.

I smiled bitterly at the sight of her, the first time I had seen her in two days.

Then I invited her to sit down.

At my gesture, she took out the books in her bag and sat down.

“I was a little sick yesterday,” she said, “I had a bad body ache.”

“Suddenly? What happened? Did you take medicine? Are you okay now?”

Yeon haneul asked, alarmed.

Her red eyes widened and her ears perked up.

She was so surprised that she bombarded me with questions.

I felt unnecessarily flattered by her unexpected reaction.

“I had a practice over the weekend.”

“Battle? What’s that?”

“Fighting monsters.”

“Oh…. Is it okay to do that at our age? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Well, I’m a member of the Shinigami school. All my cousins my age have done it, and I’m the only one who hasn’t yet.”

“Still… it must have been dangerous. Did you get hurt anywhere?”

“A few scratches, but most of them healed with healing magic.”

“Why most of them? Can’t you heal them all with magic?”

“Well…. Healing magic is kind of like borrowing future healing abilities. So you shouldn’t rely on it too heavily, and if it’s something that doesn’t interfere with your daily life, you should wait for it to heal naturally.”

“Let me see.”

“…Here.”

Yeon haneul leans over to me.

She looks me over as if to make sure I’m not hurt.

I couldn’t help but show her the scar on my arm.

It was shallow and long.

Yeon haneul dabbed at the wound and opened her mouth.

“I have some bandaids and ointment in my bag. Do you want me to put some on it?”

“No thanks, the wound is healed. You carry that stuff with you anyway?”

“I get hurt pretty often.”

“….”

“Not so much these days.”

Though she avoided elaborating, I could vaguely recognize the reason for her frequent injuries.

I think the bullying stopped when she started hanging out with me in fifth grade, but she used to get hurt while being bullied.

I decided to ignore her out of respect for her not wanting to talk about it.

Just then, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a band-aid and ointment.

“Come here. I’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It’ll heal faster this way, come on.”

She sounded like she was scolding me.

I couldn’t resist her anger and gave her my scarred arm.

She grabbed my arm and started applying ointment to the wound.

“You’re supposed to sterilize it.”

“It’s an open wound, what’s the point….”

“Shit. Listen to me.”

“Okay, my arm, you take care of it.”

I don’t need to put it on.

I stare down at her with bunny ears and a lowered head.

She was so focused on looking at the wound that she didn’t even feel my gaze.

Not long after that…

“Okay, that’s it, done.”

Yeon haneul opened her bent upper body.

The wound had a band-aid with a white rabbit on a pink background.

* * *

“So what happened to your body?”

“Well, there’s….”

And then again.

I briefly told her the story of how I got the bumps.

When she was done, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad to hear you’re okay, though. Fight more carefully so you don’t get hurt in the future. How are you feeling now?”

“How do I look to you?”

“You look a little groggy.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

“Did you take your medicine?”

“I took them in the morning. This is for lunch.”

“Don’t forget to take them later.”

“Well, you can remind me then.”

“No….”

Almost slumped over the desk, I pulled the pill out of my pocket and shook it.

Yeon haneul, who had opened her book to read for the ordinance, glared at me with her mouth pursed.

Then her expression softened as if she couldn’t help it.

“Okay, I’ll remember that.”

“I’ll be grateful if you do.”

“Tell me more if there’s anything I can do. I’m listening to you ‘just for today, especially’ because you look like you’re hurting.”

Just today, especially…

Burying my head in my pencil case, I take note of the words that the pale blue sky has forced out.

My gaze soon traveled to the rabbit ears that were making their presence felt atop her head.

“….”

The moment.

Curiosity and mischief welled up in me.

“So.”

“Yeah, if you want a favor, just say the word.”

“Then let me touch your ear.”

“…What?”

Yeon haneul set the tip of her chin up, smug that she was going to grant my request.

Immediately, she realized what I had said and paused as if her thinking had stopped.

She stared at me with a blank stare.

“Zee, what did you just say?”

Embarrassment was evident in her eyes.

“I said let me touch your ear.”

I found this reaction amusing, so I decided to push through.

I figured it was a case of better safety than sorry.

“My, my ears? Why?”

“I thought touching them would give me strength.”

“….”

“I’ve been thinking about it since I first saw it, I want to touch it.”

“Is this what you and I met for?”

“She said. I met you because you’re you, why would I want to touch your ears, and if you have ears, Monsil has ears.”

“….”

“Can I touch it?”

I blush in surprise.

She grabs her long ears with both hands and sticks them to her head.

I fought back the urge to laugh at her reaction.

On the other hand, I had to feel sorry for her.

‘If she’s that shy, I’ll have to give up touching her.

Maybe I should have gotten to know her a little better.

I decided that the next time she said something, I’d pretend it was a joke.

But what she stammered out was not what I expected.

“Ma, if you let me touch you….”

“….”

“Are you sure you can do that?”

“Uh… of course, right?”

“Why is that a question?”

“Because I haven’t touched it yet.”

“….”

“No, I’m sure you’ll feel stronger if you touch it.”

Yeon haneul’s expression crumpled.

I quickly changed my mind and tried to change her mind.

It worked.