NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38.2
“I, I will definitely repay the money…”
“No, really, you don’t have to repay it.”
“No, it’s okay… I earn forty thousand won a day…”
How much would I need to earn each day to repay the debt before I die?
I closed my eyes tightly, overwhelmed with futility, as I calculated.
Even if I earned a hundred times my current income, it would take a century to repay the sum.
✱✱✱
The next morning, after waking up, Sophia found Gyeoul squatting in the garden with a haggard face.
“Uwaaa.”
Gyeoul let out a small sound, a mix of a scream and a sigh.
Whatever the reason, it was pitiful to watch.
“Gyeoul, what happened?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing happened to me…”
Nothing happened?
Clearly, something did.
Sophia looked around to find the reason and noticed Yeoreum, lying on the grass with a similar expression.
Yeoreum lay spread out as if she had reached enlightenment.
“Yeoreum.”
“…Yes?”
Her response was delayed by about three beats.
It was as if she was cursed with slowness.
Sophia could sense that something had happened between Gyeoul and Yeoreum.
“What exactly happened that both of you are in this state?”
“…Last night, I told Gyeoul about the Beast King Benediction.”
“…Why?”
“Yes. Gyeoul kept asking, so I had no choice but to tell.”
Oh no.
She was supposed to keep the item a secret, but she ended up revealing it herself.
Sophia could guess what had happened between them without hearing the entire explanation.
“Gyeoul must have insisted on repaying it.”
“Yes. I tried to convince her almost a hundred times that it’s not necessary to repay, but she insists on doing so no matter what…”
“Hmm…”
A normal person would be grateful when told they don’t need to repay the money.
Why does that child insist on repaying it?
Perhaps…. Gyeoul had some trauma buried deep within.
A trauma related to delayed payment…. Which…. leading to a violent beating.
‘Poor kid.’
Tsk.
How did such a good kid end up in this situation?
“I thought our relationship had improved with this incident, but we’re back to square one.”
“Now it’s become a relationship between a creditor and debtor.”
“Yeah.”
Even in a simple friendship, the dynamics change the moment money gets involved.
For a ‘special relationship’ like Gyeoul’s and Yeoreum’s, it was bound to get even more complicated.
“Haah!”
Thump! Thump!
Yeoreum, lying on the grass, abandoned all pretenses and pounded the ground with her fists.
She even tore out a handful of grass in frustration.
She regretted telling her about the Beast King Benediction, thinking it would have been better to become distant rather than reveal it.
At that moment, Gyeoul approached Yeoreum with small steps.
“Um, excuse me…”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been thinking…”
“Thinking?”
About what?
Could it be that she’s going to say she can’t repay the debt?
Yeoreum got up from the grass with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“I was thinking, maybe I could sell tea here.”
“Sell tea…?”
“Yes. You said my tea has a buff effect, right? I can make money by selling it.”
It was a discussion about how to repay the debt.
Yeoreum wanted to plead with Gyeoul not to repay the money, but knowing her stubbornness all too well, she just nodded in agreement.
“Okay. That’s a really good idea.”
Now that it had come to this, she thought they should sell Gyeoul’s buff at the highest price possible.
She felt like a ruthless debt collector, resorting to any means necessary to get the money.
No, not just a feeling – that was actually the case.
Yeoreum seriously pondered when her karma would be cleared.