My Childhood Friend’s Stock Will Never Fail Chapter 58

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The next class was beginner combat training.

 

I was sitting blankly on a bench when Jooyoung approached me, looking unusually clean-faced without a single bandage for the first time in a while.

 

“Ah, it’s completely summer now.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Today’s class was focused on individual training in preparation for the upcoming final exams, so the atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Sitting side by side with Jooyoung in the shade, I naturally asked,

 

“Looks like you haven’t been getting hurt lately.”

 

“Ah, well, my mom had my fortune read.”

 

Once he started talking, Jooyoung began chattering away.

 

Apparently, when his fortune was read, he was told to be careful around balls and water. He had really gone out of his way to avoid them, and as a result, he hadn’t gotten injured.

 

That fortune-teller really was something.

 

“That’s good.”

 

“But Yoohee, are you worried about something? Your face looks… Ah, don’t misunderstand. I mean, you look a little worse than usual. Not that you look ugly or anything.”

 

“…….”

 

“Come on, tell me about it. I’ll listen to everything. We used to be an unbeatable duo, remember?”

 

Jooyoung’s joking tone brought back memories of our days as a disastrous duo.

 

Back then, we had to risk our lives over something as simple as a dodgeball. It was the kind of past I could laugh about now.

 

“There is something. But just hypothetically. I mean, purely hypothetically.”

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

“What if… I mean, what if I disappeared? What do you think would happen?”

 

“What?”

 

Jooyoung widened his eyes as though I had just said something completely ridiculous.

 

“Why would you say that?”

 

“I mean, just hypothetically. You never know what might happen to someone. And disappearing doesn’t necessarily mean something bad. Maybe I’d just go somewhere very far away.”

 

It was a worry that had weighed heavily on my heart ever since Min-hwan appeared.

 

Becoming a Constellation with him meant leaving this place.

 

But I couldn’t make such a decision easily.

 

A world without scenarios was an enormous advantage, but this was the world where I had lived my entire life as Yoohee.

 

My family. My friends.

 

And above all, Joohoon, who cared about me so wholeheartedly.

 

Yes. Whenever I thought of Joohoon, I found myself hesitating over the decision.

 

Was it simply because he was my childhood friend?

 

The sensation of his lips against my cheek suddenly came back vividly.

 

I pictured the unusually red, moist-looking lips I had noticed whenever he drank something.

 

The moment I realized my heart was beating unusually fast, my face flushed bright red.

 

“I don’t know… No matter what, I’ve never once imagined you disappearing.”

 

“Who’s disappearing?”

 

Just then, a familiar voice came from not far away.

 

I turned my head and saw Seohyunho standing beneath a lush ginkgo tree, dressed in his summer uniform.

 

“So who’s disappearing?”

 

Seohyunho asked as he strode toward the bench.

 

I could feel Jooyoung beside me tense up in fear under his overwhelming presence.

 

“I was just talking with a friend.”

 

“What kind of conversation makes you sound that grim?”

 

Standing in front of Yoohee, Seohyunho casually cast a glance at Jooyoung.

 

It was a clear signal for him to get up.

 

But oblivious Jooyoung simply scratched his neck while remaining seated.

 

“Ah, h-hello, senior. I guess this is the first time we’ve actually had a conversation like this, haha.”

 

“……”

 

As if to make Jooyoung’s friendly greeting even more awkward, Seohyunho completely ignored him.

 

He silently watched him like a lion observing a herbivore, then spoke in a frighteningly dry voice.

 

“Could you give us some space for a moment? Over there would be fine.”

 

He pointed with his chin toward another bench some distance away.

 

Jooyoung’s face flushed with humiliation at being so thoroughly ignored, and he got up from his seat.

 

His thoroughly dejected back looked almost pitiful.

 

“I only asked him to move.”

 

Seohyunho sat down in the spot Jooyoung had occupied and casually crossed one leg over the other.

 

He looked so confident and arrogant that I wondered if there was anyone in this world he was actually afraid of.

 

“So what was that conversation about earlier?”

 

Seohyunho was more persistent than I expected.

 

“It was just… a hypothetical.”

 

“Don’t dodge the question.”

 

“I-I’m serious.”

 

Seohyunho gave Yoohee a suspicious look.

 

Then he turned his gaze toward the distance.

 

“Well, wherever you went, I’d find you anyway.”

 

“What? What did you just say…?”

 

“Since you brought it up, where are you going for your summer vacation training?”

 

Seohyunho changed the subject so quickly that Yoohee was caught off guard.

 

As she thought over his words, her face gradually grew paler.

 

Because Seohyunho’s question reminded her of a problem she had completely forgotten.

 

‘……That’s right.’

 

Every summer vacation, the academy sends its students to centers across the country for practical training.

 

The purpose was to enter gates alongside Awakeners who were actually active at those centers and develop a sense for real combat.

 

I vaguely remembered receiving a notification about the practical training at some point, but…… I must have been too distracted searching for Ppiyagi to pay attention.

 

“I haven’t applied yet.”

 

“What?”

 

Seohyunho looked at Yoohee with an expression that seemed somewhat incredulous, then shook his head.

 

“Did you apply, Senior?”

 

“Well, assignments are on a first-come, first-served basis.”

 

She had expected him to say that he didn’t care where he went, considering his personality, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

 

Come to think of it, in the original story, he had gone with Gayoung, but now he would be going with someone else.

 

“If they weren’t separated by grade, I would’ve gone with you.”

 

At Seohyunho’s offhand remark, Yoohee looked up at him questioningly.

 

It really hit her that things had changed from the original story. And yet, a C-rank Guide and an S-rank Esper……

 

Unless their matching rate was exceptionally high, it was an absurd combination.

 

“Why? You don’t want to?”

 

When Yoohee didn’t answer, Seohyunho’s black eyes flashed.

 

Even now, he still had that air about him—as though if someone dared say they disliked him, he could easily beat them half to death without a second thought.

 

“That’s not it…… An Esper as amazing as you, Senior.”

 

Yoohee answered softly, and the corners of Seohyunho’s lips stretched into a long smile.

 

There was such childlike, innocent pride in that smile that Yoohee could only stare blankly at him for a moment.

 

Seohyunho could make an expression like that……?

 

Crash!

 

Just then, accompanied by a loud clatter, baseballs came rolling all the way to Yoohee’s feet.

 

“Ah, sorry! I’ll pick them up.”

 

Minhwan hurriedly gathered the scattered baseballs and approached them.

 

‘Minhwan……?’

 

Startled, Yoohee got up from the bench and helped him collect the baseballs, prompting a chorus of disgruntled complaints from the Constellations.

 

[Some Constellations grumble that their mood has been ruined by the unwelcome intruder.]

 

Even so, Yoohee couldn’t simply pretend she hadn’t seen Minhwan, so she helped gather the baseballs scattered across the ground.

 

After placing the last baseball into the box, she asked Minhwan,

 

“Are you taking these to the storage room?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then let’s go to—”

 

She was about to suggest going together when Seohyunho suddenly stepped in front of her.

 

“Same class?”

 

“…….”

 

Minhwan merely dipped his head slightly, just enough to be noticeable.

 

Somehow, the gesture seemed strangely arrogant, and a cold sweat formed down Yoohee’s back.

 

Seohyunho might have mellowed out compared to before, but wasn’t that kind of attitude a little dangerous?

 

Seohyunho turned toward Yoohee.

 

“You stay here.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I’ll go.”

 

With that, Seohyunho picked up another box and began striding ahead.

 

Minhwan had no choice but to awkwardly follow after him.

 

“What the…….”

 

Yoohee tilted her head as she watched the backs of the two men carrying one box each toward the storage room.

 

The two of them…… nothing’s going to happen, right?

 

“Hey.”

 

In front of the storage room.

 

At Seohyunho’s ominous voice, Yoohee, who had followed behind them, jumped and hid behind a tree.

 

She had been cautiously following them because there seemed to be something strange between the two.

 

‘Did they notice me……?’

 

Fortunately, Seohyunho’s next question wasn’t directed at Yoohee.

 

“The baseballs earlier. That wasn’t an accident, was it?”

 

“I don’t know what you mean.”

 

Despite the menacing question, Minhwan answered in a calm voice.

 

His face was hidden behind his hair, so Yoohee couldn’t tell what expression he was making, but at the very least, he didn’t seem intimidated by Seohyunho.

 

“……Oh, really?”

 

Seohyunho asked again with a mocking laugh, sending a chill down the back of Yoohee’s neck.

 

No, when did these two even meet for the atmosphere to become this hostile?

 

“What should I do? I’m not letting you leave until you tell me everything.”

 

Seohyunho stepped into the open storage room and set down the box. Then he tilted his head toward Minhwan, signaling for him to come inside.

 

“Ah…… Well, sure.”

 

Minhwan didn’t refuse and calmly followed him inside.

 

Yoohee, watching them, was the only one who was getting increasingly anxious.