"Here...have a brain~🤗"
ON TO THE STORY:
Tsukiko cocked her head to the side, visibly confused.
"What night? I don't...", she trailed off as she realized he was asking about that night. The very night she had fought for her life. At first, she wanted to brush it off and swiftly change the topic, but the moment she looked at his face, and that worried expression on his face, she just couldn't!
He was genuinely worried about her, she couldn't just do that to him, it'll make him worry even more!
"Why are you asking about this all of a sudden?", she said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Well...", he started. "That day, I rushed in to save you from the lost soul, but I never really understood what had happened. Just how did you end up going from lying on a hospital bed, to fighting an evil entity like The Soul of the Lost?
Hearing him voice his concerns, Tsukiko didn't respond for a while before finally speaking. She told him everything that had happened that day, from the very beginning to the very end. Jae-sung listened to her attentively and fell into deep thought afterwards. Tsukiko began to grow worried herself. Just what did he make of this entire thing, it surely didn't feel like something all that serious to her, though it can be said that while she hasn't had many experiences that place her directly in the face of danger, she always reacted to them in a way that could be considered by some as careless and some as optimistic.
She never treaded too much on such things and always said things like "Oh it's fine" or "It's not too bad" and in some other cases she'd say, "At least I'm alive". Now the last statement REALLY made people mad. They thought that she'd probably end up in the same situation again and said she was nonchalant about her own life. Of course, the people who said these kinds of things about her were "taken care of" by the Kurosawa family.
...
What are you thinking about?
No one died.
Sheesh, you have an overactive imagination mate.
They would NEVER do anything to hurt people, they only scared them a bit, that's all.
So, Tsukiko's never-ending saga of concerning optimism continued and it spreads its wings once more.
"Don't think too deeply about it Jae-sung, I'm fine now. Besides I wasn't even that hurt", she said warmly, trying to somewhat comfort him and make him drop the matter entirely so they could keep talking about Usagi-chan. Unfortunately, there were no further discussions concerning her and Tsukiko's effort to smooth over this matter had actually achieved the opposite effect. Jae-sung went quiet for a long time before finally speaking.
"You weren't hurt?", he said darkly, his eyes obscured from view. Tsukiko, still smiling, flinched at his tone of voice and started to nervously sweat. She didn't know what he was going say next, but it surely wasn't going to be commending her on her high pain tolerance and bravery and boy was she right.
Jae-sung turned to her, his eyes still couldn't be seen, but if they could, they'd probably be muddied with all trace of mirth erased. Now Tsukiko was even more worried, and she sweated even more furiously.
Much to her dismay, Jae-sung's question lingered in the air for what felt like an eternity. He didn't speak, make any gestures or even move. Tsukiko had even begun to doubt that he was breathing. She felt like asking him why he looked so disgruntled but didn't fearing that she just might spur his anger even further. After all, she had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with her.
So, she could only sit in silence until finally, he spoke.
"Tsukiko, you can't say something like that to people, it'd only make them even more worried".
Huh?
Huhh??
Just what was he talking about???
All that just for him to say this????
"You're worried....about me??", she asked, visibly confused, pointing to herself.
Jae-sung lifted his head and stared straight at her. His eyes could clearly be seen now. They were red around the rims and held a very pained expression that had a mix of worry and anger.
Tsukiko's eyes widened in surprise.
"You say you weren't hurt, but you got even sicker and more tired after that. It took you two whole weeks to be released from the hospital and you're still not well enough to go to school. So I honestly doubt that you weren't hurt."
Oh
That's why
Now she understood how he had been feeling. Someone you know was thrown into such a dangerous situation and kept insisting they were fine even though they weren't. If this someone happened to be very close to you, perhaps like a sister or your wife, you'd find it to be absolutely distressing to the core, so of course she knew how he must have felt.
Although, it certainly wasn't the right time to think about this, Tsukiko couldn't help but feel like she had gotten closer to Jae-sung.
And that made her feel very happy.
But for now, she had to make sure she did un-close to him!
"Jae-sung, I'm sorry but, I really didn't mean to make you worry like that. It's just, I can't be anything but optimistic. When you've got kidnapped parents, optimism's all you got", she said, smiling sadly at him.
Jae-sung noticed this and his darkened expression became softer, and he smiled at her. He knew about her missing parents; he and Hirano had a long talk while she was still unconscious. At this point, he practically knew everything about Tsukiko, he also learned that Hirano loved his sister very, very much. He especially enjoyed gushing about her, and he did so without showing any restraint.
Jae-sung could understand. Having Tsukiko as a sister, must truly be a nice feeling, especially when she looks at you with her beautiful eyes, a smile forming on her face as she called out to you. This was what Hirano had told him.
Putting that aside, Jae-sung looked at the girl in front of him, nervously scanning through face trying to see what he was feeling he couldn't help but sigh resignedly.
"I know, but please, be more careful. After all, you have a lot of people who'd worry about you if anything happened to you", he said with a fond smile on his face.
She replied with an even brighter smile, "I know, I'll be more careful next time".
Jaesung, "Can you promise me that?"
Tsukiko, "I promise."
She held out her pinkie finger and Jae-sung did the same. They locked their fingers and formed a binding, unbreakable contract; a pinkie promise.
Though Tsukiko didn't let go just yet and held his hand with both her hands.
With a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes, she said to him:
"Thank you, for worrying about me."
Author-san:
Your girl's STILL sick but here's chapter 14 for my lovelies~
I also heard of an anime character with the same name as Tsukiko...👀
Well, since I'm still sick, do any of ya'll have anything that could make me feel better?<33
YOU ARE READING
Lucid Dreams of Late: Luckless Trinity
FantasyA Korean transfer student, a girl obsessed with inventions and someone who lost her parents many years ago are thrown into chaos as they're attacked time and time again by mysterious forces. Join them, as they investigate, hoping to find the perpetr...
