Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ The Thing I Wish To Show (4) ༻

Back when I first met the bastard, it was around the time when I just became the Young Lord of the clan.

And it was the first time I made an appearance in the Dragons and Phoenixes tournament.

Though these events took place a few years after, unlike my current life after regression.

Usually, upon becoming the Young Lord of one’s clan, the treatment shifts from being viewed as a young prodigy to being seen as a prominent member of the world with considerable influence.

And because of this useless pride I had, I was stubborn and didn’t attend any young prodigy meetings.

But me becoming the Young Lord of the clan was unofficial to begin with,

And since I was never one to leave the clan, I had to start making connections.

One might wonder how I could meet people and become friends with them with my shitty personality back then.

But what else could I do? That was what the clan ordered me to do.

I may have had a better physique back then, but my mindset was far from ideal.

My stupid pride and the weight of the responsibilities that would eventually fall on my shoulders were enough to cause turmoil for a young man like me.

Around this point in time, I was only regarded as a troublemaker, but the rumors about me when I approached my twenties were quite different.

Shanxi’s Evil Spirit.

Gu Clan’s Disgrace.

I became known by such names, so it was a completely different situation from now.

This was why I couldn’t have a normal time at the banquet meeting.

Honestly, I have vague recollections of that day.

I wasn’t even sure if Wi Seol-Ah, Tang Soyeol, or Moyong Hi-ah were even there.

And Yung Pung, the Water Dragon… What about the Lightning Dragon?

I honestly couldn’t even remember if there were any familiar faces there.

It really showed that my state of mind wasn’t quite right at the time.

However, there was one thing I clearly remembered.

– Nice to meet you, Young Master Gu.

That bastard’s hand.

His eyes that formed crescents, creasing into a smile.

And his voice that pretended to be kind and righteous.

I remembered all of those clearly.

– My name is Jang Seonyeon.

It wasn’t because I felt anything special.

And it definitely wasn’t because I was moved by a guy approaching me who was all alone.

No way I’d be touched just because a guy came up to me.

There was only one reason why that ordinary situation never left my memory.

– Undeservingly, I am called the Rising Star.

That was what made me hate him.

******************

The day of the tournament finals had arrived.

The time was around sunset.

One might wonder why the fight was scheduled for such a late hour, but the reason for it was because that was when the people of Hanam were most energized.

And thanks to that, I was able to have a good meal and a nap before heading to the fight, which I welcomed.

“Give it your all, Young Master!”

Wi Seol-Ah shouted energetically.

I didn’t know if it was because she had a good lunch, but she seemed brighter than usual.

I stared at Wi Seol-Ah for a bit, then patted her head.

“Oough…”

“I’ll try.”

I didn’t know about giving it my all.

I wasn’t even sure if he was worth my full effort.

“And why would you come to see me in such cold weather like this?”

Because it was the middle of winter, the cold air was intense.

Just leaving my hand out of my pocket sent a sharp sting through my fingertips.

“But…”

“What do you mean, but?”

Wi Seol-Ah looked at me with those eyes from time to time.

It felt like I was staring into the eyes of a mother who just sent her child away to school.

She seemed younger and more carefree to anyone’s eyes, so why was she looking at me like that?

I knew that we didn’t have a conventional master-servant relationship, and she was merely maintaining formality with me, but it still felt strange to see her like this.

“I almost thought you were my mom for a second.”

“…Wha?”

After hearing her respond with confusion, I smirked.

‘Oh wait, I talked about Mother.’

Then I was surprised by what had just escaped my lips.

It was because I spoke about my mother with my own mouth.

Perhaps, I forgot about it now?

‘No, I will never forget it.’

That wasn’t the case.

Because it was something I couldn’t afford to forget.

As this was something I needed to ask Father about in the not-so-distant future and a story that I wanted to see the end of.

Despite being windy out, I stared at Wi Seol-Ah’s face.

Then I moved my hand from patting her head to her hair accessory.

Due to the cheap material of the item, the texture wasn’t the most pleasing.

As I fidgeted with it, Wi Seol-Ah quickly stepped back, creating some distance between us.

“Hmm?”

When I looked at her, wondering why she was acting that way, Wi Seol-Ah hurriedly covered her head with her hand.

Especially the part where the hair accessory was located.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m not going to give it…”

“Give what?”

“It’s mine…! The thing Young Master gave me… it’s mine.”

Did she think that I was going to take back the hair accessory I had gifted her?

Wi Seol-Ah glared at me fiercely, which seemed out of character for her.

I responded while looking at her.

“I’m not taking it. Where would I even use that?”

“Y-You could give it to another person.”

“…Do you think I would give a used hair accessory to another person?”

What kind of cheap action was that?

“It’s important to me…”

I had nothing to say after watching her protect the hair accessory with everything she got so that it didn’t get taken away.

What was it to her anyway?

It was just some random gift I got her back in the streets.

I wasn’t sure if it was Wi Seol-Ah’s reaction that made me feel this way, but it was hard for me to meet her gaze.

I was going to let out a fake cough, but a voice interfered.

“…Me too.”

Namgung Bi-ah said with tired eyes, looking as if she had been lost in thought.

Upon seeing her, I spoke after letting out a sigh.

“I told you to go sit down and rest.”

“…I am resting.”

“Who would think you’re resting right now, idiot?”

Why did she come all the way here when she had a perfectly fine spectator seat?

Especially when she was a patient.

“It’s fine…”

“Well, then is there something that isn’t fine?”

“…”

After hearing my question, Namgung Bi-ah started to think hard.

Why was she even thinking about that…

Namgung Bi-ah, who remained silent for a moment, spoke after she was done thinking.

“…I’m hurt…”

It wasn’t so much that she was done thinking, but more like she gave up.

Now she was using her patient status as a shield.

A smile involuntarily escaped me.

This was a smile that formed due to how absurd this was.

And where did Tang Soyeol go in the midst of all this?

Did she leave to visit the Snow Phoenix again?

It seemed like Tang Soyeol had been paying frequent visits to Moyong Hi-ah in recent days.

“What? Do you want me to do something about it? Do you want me to blow on it?”

“…Will you?”

“Are you insane…?”

She was taking it seriously when I said it as a joke.

I had to go up to the fight stage soon, but now I felt like I would lose due to the headache that had crept in.

And it wasn’t as if I could give a patient a bonking.

As I stared at her, Namgung Bi-ah wiped away her disappointed expression and leaned her head toward me.

“What?”

“…Pat me…”

“Why do you seem to get younger as time passes?”

Her child-like acts had increased recently.

Comparing her to my past life, it felt like she had undergone a complete transformation.

Just a few months ago, she would only shyly lean her head forward when embarrassed, let alone ask me directly to pat her. However, now, she was just bluntly asking for it.

Of course, it was partly my fault for indulging her without much protest.

‘I would’ve passed out in shock if it was me in my past life.’

I would have probably said something along the lines of ‘What the hell is this crazy bitch saying,’ while frowning.

Perhaps, subtle changes like these can accumulate and reshape one’s mindset.

“You said you were going to show me something last time, right?”

I asked while gently brushing her white hair.

Namgung Bi-ah flinched after hearing my words.

At the same time, I noticed a slight reddening of her face.

“…Oh.”

No response came from her.

The only thing I got back was her reddening ears.

I moved my hand, which had been brushing her hair, to lightly grasp her ear.

It was warm.

Especially, considering the chilly weather.

“…Sorry.”

Namgung Bi-ah then suddenly apologized.

What was she apologizing for?

I looked at her with slightly shocked eyes.

“I didn’t get to show you…”

Oh.

Was it because of that?

Namgung Bi-ah seemed to be thinking that she wasn’t able to show me anything because she was defeated.

She really didn’t know herself at all.

She showed me many things, so how could she say that she didn’t?

Namgung Bi-ah showed me that her potential was limitless.

She showed me how much she could improve all by herself.

Not that Namgung Bi-ah was someone who needed protection in the first place.

I never once considered her to be incapable of standing on her own.

Did she know?

Even now, she was referred to as the Sword Dancer, or the Young Sword Queen.

Though her most popular title right now was the Zenith of Beauty or whatever.

Despite her defeat, Namgung Bi-ah gained a ton of things.

Possibly even more than me.

“I saw a lot, so don’t worry.”

I never really consoled anyone, so this was the best I could come up with.

“I watched everything without missing a moment.”

I watched so closely that I learned something new about her.

As such, I really hoped that she would stop making that expression.

“So stop making that teary face and go rest. It’s cold.”

Her injury might have been minor, but that didn’t mean she should be moving around like this.

I could just tell that she was using her Qi to protect her body right now.

It was quite stupid of her to do that as she didn’t have an overflowing amount of Qi,

I thought about scolding her for a moment, but it seemed like I didn’t have time for that.

I had to go up soon after all.

“Take her with you to sit down.”

In the end, I grabbed Wi Seol-Ah and instructed her.

Because if I didn’t do that, she probably wouldn’t have left.

“Hngh… I want to watch here too…”

The problem was that Wi Seol-Ah never really listened to me.

But thankfully, I had a solution for situations like this.

“Should I call Hongwa?”

“I’ll leave… Sis, let’s go.”

Wi Seol-Ah always listened to Hongwa.

After watching them leave with disappointed expressions, I started to make my way up to the arena stage as well.

There was no end to one’s thoughts.

It might be slow, but it would still crawl endlessly to reach the end.

Since Namgung Bi-ah tried to show me something…

It meant that it was my turn to answer back to her.

When I climbed up the arena, I saw Jang Seonyeon, who had arrived before me.

I could’ve sworn he got a good number of injuries during his fight against Namgung Bi-ah, but he seemed to be in better shape than I had expected.

Then, our eyes met.

The bastard smiled slightly while looking at me before addressing me.

“Nice to meet you.”

– Nice to meet you, Young Master Gu.

It was just a casual greeting, but why was it that I was hearing it alongside the voice I heard in my past life?

The situation was different; I was younger compared to back then, and even his voice was more high-pitched now.

So why did it sound just like back then?

“So we meet. I didn’t expect this when we first crossed paths.”

“I did.”

Jang Seonyeon tilted his head after hearing my response.

“You’re saying you knew we’d meet in the finals?”

“Yeah, I already knew.”

I should probably show respect right now, but it was hard for me to do so as I had no respect for him to begin with.

But more than that…

I simply loathed the idea of showing any formality to this bastard.

“The situation was set up this way, you know? This was all planned.”

“Hmm…”

I was a little harsh there.

Jang Seonyeon would’ve made it up to the finals no matter what the bracket was.

‘Unless he met me in the first fight.’

It was just that the bracket was designed to attract the most attention to him.

it was bound to happen.

“May I ask for a reason?”

Jang Seonyeon asked.

“What reason? About how I’m so certain?”

“No.”

“Then what.”

“Why does Young Master Gu harbor such hostility toward me?”

It was an extremely chilly question.

And even during this, he didn’t erase the smile off of his face, which was really annoying.

“I didn’t do anything for Young Master Gu to have any hostility toward me.”

“Right. You didn’t.”

“Then, I can’t help but wonder why Young Master Gu despises me. I really don’t understand.”

It was the truth.

The bastard didn’t do anything to me.

At least not yet.

I suppressed the killing intent that kept trying to escape my body and spoke.

“Am I not allowed to hate you?”

“I can’t really do much about someone else’s feelings, but it’s just a little sad for m- “

“You hate me too.”

Jang Seonyeon shut his mouth when I cut him off.

He probably fell silent not because I cut him off, but because of what I said.

“Am I wrong?”

“…How come you think that way?”

I noticed a crack in Jang Seonyeon’s smile.

Why did I think that way, you asked?

It was simple.

No matter how much I looked at it, it was obvious that I was the one he despised the most.

I could discern his thoughts and actions by recollecting my memories of my past life.

The Abyss Transportation Incident that occurred in my past life.

When the young prodigies who had come to participate in the Dragons and Phoenixes tournament were taken away into the Abyss, this was widely acknowledged to be a natural disaster…

But that wasn’t really the case.

The one responsible for this occurrence was Jang Seonyeon.

His goal was likely the Water Dragon.

The bastard hated the Water Dragon with a burning passion.

His intense hatred had driven him to cause such a massive catastrophe.

Unfortunately, by the time I had pieced together the truth about what had transpired in the future…

It was already too late.

“Stop trying to be nice, it makes me sick. Let’s just stop talking.”

“Hm.”

“I tried my best to accept you, but it really wasn’t easy. So you should stop as well.”

I did try.

I tried to hold back and even tried to ignore him,

But when I thought about it, I really didn’t have to.

It simply wasn’t in my nature to do so.

I felt like I could only endure if I talked shit to him.

“Young Master Gu.”

It seemed like maintaining his composed facade was becoming increasingly challenging, as his smile gradually disappeared.

He seemed fine at first, but it seemed like he had reached his limit now.

“Nice expression. Live with that expression. It’s more comfortable for me too.”

“…How could a bloodline member of a noble clan make such a mistake?”

“I’m actually gonna make an even bigger mistake right now. Hey, I came here with approval; the approval that I can cause as much trouble as I want.”

Oh, of course, Father didn’t give me the approval.

But it should be fine. The Second Elder would take responsibility for it.

Due to my persistent arguments, Jang Seonyeon let out a sigh in the end and adjusted his posture.

“I admit it, Young Master Gu. You have great talent as a martial artist.”

“Many do say that.”

I was a little embarrassed saying it with my own mouth.

But it seemed like he didn’t care about what I just said, because that bastard didn’t stop talking.

In proof of the current cold weather, steam billowed from his mouth.

“You may have outstanding talent, but your humbleness seems to be quite lacking in comparison.”

What he was saying was true, but was it because those words came out of that bastard’s mouth?

A smile involuntarily formed on my lips.

It almost felt like I was watching someone’s embarrassing past.

“And?”

“The humbleness you lack, I pray that you find it in this fight.”

What he meant just now was that he would teach me it.

I had many things to say in response, but I chose not to bother.

Just by looking at the blatant, sickening mindset that was infused in his eyes, it was enough.

I actually preferred it this way.

“I’m glad.”

“…?”

Jang Seonyeon became confused by my sudden remark, but he didn’t flinch.

It seemed like he had learned something from his fight against Namgung Bi-ah.

“I was a little worried, you see.”

As I was speaking, I heard the voice of the judge announcing that it was time for the fight to begin.

– Finals, Gu Clan’s Gu Yangcheon versus…

“I was worried about what I would do if you were a nice guy at this point in time.”

“What are you suddenly… “

“It’s nothing, I just had something on my mind. But I met you and it all cleared up nicely.”

– Taeryung Clan’s Jang Seonyeon.

“Oh, I’m going to say this now, just in case, but…”

– Begin.

“I have no intention of holding back, so you should use everything you can from the start. Don’t try to do something pointless like feeling me out first.”

“What are you trying to say…!”

Pow!

“Ughh…!”

As Jang Seonyeon was in the middle of speaking, he let out a groan due to the sudden impact he felt.

At the same time, Jang Seonyeon’s vision started to change.

Along with the sensation of his body being lifted into the air, he felt intense heat surrounding him.

He didn’t even have the time to register the pain in his chest.

Because it wasn’t just a single impact.

Slam-!

The second impact followed and Jang Seonyeon’s face planted into the arena stage.

One could gauge the magnitude of the impact from the rocks flying through the air and the cracks forming on the arena stage.

In the midst of all this, Jang Seonyeon was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend what kind of movement I made for him to end up this way.

After all, it all happened in an instant.

He put aside the pain and tried to force his shaky body to get up…

But he heard a voice right in front of his nose.

“First…”

The voice echoed as if it was inside a cavern.

And the rough and brutal emotions it carried left Jang Seonyeon utterly perplexed.

“Should I start with the arm first?”

When I calmly uttered these words…

Jang Seonyeon was confused as to why he suddenly felt a chill running down his spine.

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