NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 115
Throb, throb, throb.
‘Why again…?’
When I woke up this morning, my ankle was fine.
I felt a bit of discomfort, but there was no pain, so I could practice as usual.
But now, the pain I was feeling made my eyes water a bit.
“Hold on, just hold on.”
I wanted to collapse and scream, but I held it in.
I forced myself to perform the movements while pretending nothing was wrong with my painful ankle.
However…
“Wait…, you…”
Yoo Seol immediately stopped practicing as soon as my body became a bit unsteady.
“Is it hurting again? Your ankle.”
“……”
She shot me a look that clearly said she knew this would happen.
I tried to keep a calm expression and continue practicing, but…
“No, it’s not! …Just don’t worry about me and practice again…, ouch…!”
Before I could finish, Yoo Seol quickly bent down and poked my ankle, causing me to let out a short scream.
Seeing that, she sighed and said,
“Practice is over for today.”
…It was the reaction I expected. I immediately shook my head firmly.
“No, I’m fine to keep going.”
“What do you mean? You think you can practice with that ankle? Just go back to your room right now…”
“No way!”
My adamant refusal surprised Yoo Seol.
I didn’t hide my rising emotions and shouted at her.
“I know my body better than anyone else! If I say I’m fine, who are you to stop me from practicing? …Let’s start again.”
I knew that my attitude was stubborn.
But…
“After understanding the truth in the morning, I can die in the evening.”
This saying was not without reason.
Right now, I felt more immersed in practice than ever and could feel myself growing.
Ankle pain?
Sure, it hurt, but I couldn’t let this burning desire to practice win.
This level of pain…? It was worth enduring.
If I’m willing to endure, why should a third party interfere?
“If you’re not going to practice, I’ll do it alone. Step aside, I’m turning on the music.”
But…
♬♬-! ♩♩♩♩-!!
Thud.
♬♬-! ♩♩♩♩-!!
Thud.
“Ugh, seriously…”
Whenever I tried to resume practicing by playing the audio, Yoo Seol kept turning it off, interrupting me.
When I glared at her with frustration, she glared back and asked,
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m practicing. Han Si-woo said we lack detail. I need to practice pronto.”
“Don’t you remember that Producer Han Si-woo told you not to be hasty?”
“I’m not hasty! So let me practice…”
“You’re more restless than a cat on a hot tin roof!”
“What can I do? There’s less than a week until the competition!”
Yoo Seol looked like she was digging her heels in, so I couldn’t contain my frustration anymore.
I shot her a sharp glare and continued,
“If I practice now, I think I can show a better side during the competition! Why do you keep stopping me?”
“If you push yourself while your ankle hurts…”
Then, I couldn’t hold back my excitement anymore…
“Ah-ha! You’re trying to stop me from practicing so you can win, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you trying to pull some dirty trick like when you sent Yoo-jin down last time?”
“……!”
I had said something I shouldn’t have.
Upon hearing that, Yoo Seol’s eyes wavered.
Then she glanced at a camera left in the corner and warned me,
“Watch what you say.”
“Why? Did I say something wrong? Didn’t you send Yoo-jin down to save your vote count? How can you guarantee you won’t do it again?”
“……”
“If that’s not the case, then let’s practice again right now.”
Ignoring Yoo Seol’s warning, I trampled on her feelings.
Even if it meant breaking her down, I wanted to continue practicing.
And if my intentions worked out…
“…Do as you wish.”
Yoo Seol looked like she would cry any moment and stormed out of the practice room.
Bang.
“……”
I stared blankly at the spot where she had been.
Her expression just now…
It was the first time I’d seen that after getting to know her.
‘Could it be… she was really hurt?’
I felt a pang of regret but quickly steadied myself.
‘…But I wasn’t wrong, was I?’
I turned on the audio and resumed practicing alone.
But…
Was it because Yoo Seol wasn’t here?
I couldn’t recapture that live-growth feeling I had earlier while practicing.
Instead…
Throb, throb, throb, throb.
The pain was much worse than before, stopping me from focusing on my practice.
On top of that, Yoo Seol’s expression kept flashing in my mind.
“…Damn it.”
In the end, I barely managed to practice a few times before collapsing to the floor.
The empty practice room felt strangely hollow.
I lay back and recalled what I had said to Yoo Seol earlier.
“Was I wrong? Didn’t you send Yoo-jin to help your vote count? How can you guarantee you won’t do it again?”
I shouldn’t have said that…
Yoo Seol probably wanted to practice more, but she suggested stopping for my sake.
Her expression was cold, yet she worried for me… and I ended up hurting her.
It was regretful, but I couldn’t take back what I’d said.
I felt my head start to ache and closed my eyes.
‘None of this would’ve happened if my ankle hadn’t been hurt…’
Even though I had slept a lot yesterday, my body was still fatigued.
As I closed my eyes, it felt as though a wave of sleepiness washed over me.
‘If only my ankle hadn’t been hurt…’
I resented Namgung Soo-ho, who had caused this to my ankle, and slipped into a brief sleep.
“Ugh, there’s blood coming from my thigh… it can’t get worse…”
“……?”
“I’ll stop the bleeding myself… with my hands.”
“…What?”
When I regained consciousness, Namgung Soo-ho was right in front of me, and I realized I must be dreaming.
‘Did I fall asleep cursing Namgung Soo-ho, and now I’m dreaming of this bastard?’
But no matter what, luck was on my side.
I immediately thought of how to beat him up, but…
Throb!
“…Ouch.”
Even in the dream, my damn ankle was causing trouble.
As I tried to get up, I lost my balance due to the pain in my ankle and fell over.
And then he…
“It seems you hurt your ankle… poor thing…”
“……”
“If you just stay still… I’ll rub it gently for you.”
“…You crazy bastard.”
“Just close your eyes. It won’t be as bad that way.”
Namgung Soo-ho approached with an increasingly red face.
Seeing his expression awakened the fear deep in my heart, leaving me paralyzed.
‘S-Soo-ho…!’
I called for him, but it was a dream, so he didn’t respond.
“I-I love you…, uh, I mean… I love you, Ye-rin…”
Just as Namgung Soo-ho’s hand drew nearer, and I squeezed my eyes shut…
Bang.
“…!”
Suddenly feeling a cold sensation, I woke up and thankfully realized it was reality.
“Huff, huff…”
Turning my gaze toward the cold feeling that had woken me from the nightmare, I found…
“……”
“…Sister.”
Yoo Seol was staring at me silently, holding an ice pack against my swollen ankle.
Before Na Ah Ah’s fourth competition, in Yoo Seol’s mother’s hospital room.
“I didn’t debut all this time because of my mom… I just didn’t have the skills. So please wait a little longer. This time, I’ll do everything I can to win.”
Squeeze.
Yoo Seol’s mother grasped her hand tightly in response to her words.
Then…
“No… my daughter… you’ve never been lacking in skills. I believe you can win. But Seol…”
Yoo Seol’s mother said with tear-filled eyes.
“There’s no need to win by doing bad things…”
“……!”
“Our Seol is such a good girl… But if you do bad things for my sake… it would hurt me even more…”
“……”
Yoo Seol understood what her mother meant.
It was about the time when Yoo Seol sent Seo Yoo-jin down for her own victory.
Her mother, who had only been lying in bed, had noticed that fact.
“How did you know…? That I did something bad?”
“…I can tell just by looking at your face. You’ve been struggling a lot.”
“……”
I tried my best to hide it, but I guess a mother can’t be fooled.
Sigh.
As Yoo Seol lowered her head, her mother hugged her shoulders and said,
“Seol, I want you to become an idol. I remember how happy you were dancing and singing as a child.”
Drip, drip.
Something was strange.
I thought all my tears had dried up, but as soon as mom held me, tears began to flow.
“Let’s go back to the old days, Seol.”
“……”
“Let’s forget everything, including me and your father. Let’s return to the time when we only thought about dancing and singing all day long.”
“……”
“I know how amazing you are… You can achieve what you want without doing bad things.”
“……”
“So promise me, Seol… don’t hurt yourself or others anymore. Let’s compete based solely on our skills… based solely on our skills.”
“……”
“Can you promise that…?”
Her mother said this while extending her pinky to Yoo Seol, as if treating her like a child.
Seeing that, Yoo Seol thought,
‘I can’t go back to those days.’
That young, naive version of herself no longer existed.
That innocent child who once made pinky promises couldn’t return now that her hands were stained dark and dirty.
But…
“I promise…”
She could promise not to do anything dirty in the remaining competition and compete solely based on skills.
Squeeze.
As Yoo Seol locked her pinky with her mother’s, her mother smiled brightly, crying like never before.
It was a long-time-seen happy smile from her mother.
“Our daughter… the most beautiful daughter in the world…”
In that moment, as Yoo Seol was engulfed in her mother’s smile, she felt as if she had returned to her happiest moment.
Brush, swoosh.
Yoo Seol rubbed my ankle with the ice pack and said with an expressionless face,
“Yeah, I sent Seo Yoo-jin down for the votes. I’m a bad girl. But I have no regrets about anything I did.”
A lie.
Back then, her eyes were filled with immense guilt as she saw Seo Yoo-jin in the bathroom.
Although she acted tough now, it was clear she suffered privately.
“…But I made a promise.”
“……”
“I’ll compete solely on skills for the remaining competitions, for that promise.”
As Yoo Seol’s gaze lifted slightly, there was deep determination in her eyes.
“I’ll beat you fairly with my skills.”
“……”
“If you push yourself with your ankle like this, it might backfire during the competition. Resting is also for the competition.”
Her words somehow made my heart race.
“If I beat you with my skills, but you’re not at 100% condition, what does that even mean?”
“……”
“..So hurry and get better. Make it worth me stomping on you.”
As she said that while rubbing the ice pack, her movements were surprisingly gentle.
…As if she truly wanted me to recover.
So, I bowed my head and shared my true feelings with Yoo Seol.
“I’m sorry. I actually felt the same as you.”
“…What?”
“I wanted to beat you with my skills… But my ankle keeps getting in the way. I wanted to practice, even if I had to ignore it, just to beat you.”
“……”
“So I got worked up and said some harsh things to you. I’m really sorry for hurting your feelings.”
“…No, you weren’t wrong, so it’s okay.”
After she bitterly replied, Yoo Seol casually said,
“If you truly want to beat me with your skills… then we have the same goal.”
“…You could say that.”
“Then let’s both do our best.”
“……!!”
“Let’s both do our best.”
It was just a normal and cliché phrase.
But because Yoo Seol said it…
Thump.
I felt the sense of bonding I had felt while practicing before come back.
At the same time…
‘I want to win. I want to subjugate her. I want to have her beneath me.’
A desire to defeat her and thoroughly trample her like the first time I met her…
‘I must… absolutely win this competition. I want to prepare for the stage more perfectly and… I want to stomp this person down.’
My heart was enveloped.
At that moment,
Ding.
The now-familiar sound effect signaled the Status Window.
I turned my head toward the sound, and the Status Window lit up.
[You have met the conditions to unlock a skill-!]
[Sky Demon Martial Arts 2nd skill unlocked-!]
‘…What?’
A new Sky Demon skill was welcoming me.
[Sky Demon Martial Arts 2nd Skill: Sky Demon Moon Shadow Step (天魔月影步) – Using this skill significantly increases your dance stats! It will cause people to mistakenly think your appearance stats have dramatically increased! It greatly boosts people’s immersion towards you! It alleviates your physical status abnormalities! It synergizes with the first skill, Sky Demon Enchantment (天魔幻惑), for greater effects! (Can be used once per day)]
This skill could lead this competition to… my victory.