Chapter 85: Cheese in the Trap
Jade scratched the side of her head, her curiosity drowning out her anger, and signed:
«Who was that…?»
Zayn drew a shallow breath, then looked back at Jade and slowly signed back:
«I want to know that too.»
«What did she say?»
After a brief pause, Zayn replied:
«That she is a friend of… ‘Unnie’.»
«What?»
«I am as confused as you.»
Fall of Babel hadn’t translated the word, which meant it was probably a language-specific honorific without a direct equivalent.
‘But I feel like I’ve heard it before…’
He had told Claire that he’d read a lot of comics as a vain excuse for his goblin-slaying aptitude, but in truth, that was a white lie. Between work and college, he’d never had the time. Still…
‘I think that’s where I’ve seen it before, though. In a comic.’
Zayn sighed, lowered his hands, and watched the freckled girl disappear through the entrance.
‘She’s… suspicious.’
As he scratched his head, one possibility immediately came to mind.
He had only a single lead: when they’d first met, the girl had gone straight to Hae-ryung’s door.
Zayn and Jade ordered food and drink, passing the next few minutes in idle conversation. Jade’s annoyance soon faded, replaced by hunger when Martha set their food before them.
As they ate in silence, more members of Camelot descended into the tavern. They had nearly taken over the lodging side of Old Maid, with every available room occupied by one of them.
Zayn didn’t know most of them particularly well, but before long, two familiar faces came down and joined him and Jade.
‘Amaya and Ruby.’
The moment they sat down, Jade signed to them:
«Zayn is bullying me.»
Ruby knocked her knee against the underside of the table.
“What?! Y-you—!”
She launched into a three-minute-long tirade about how Zayn should get on his hands and knees to apologize. Zayn ignored her demands, answering each one with a defeated sigh. Her hounding stopped only when he began signing:
«Ruby says she dislikes the showers here, so she stopped using them altogether. She wears socks to bed. She only has two pairs of underwear. She has a foot fetish.»
Frantically waving her hands, Ruby screamed:
“Gah— Stop, stop! He’s lying, Jade, lying!”
«Sorry, I got it wrong. She has a hand fetish!»
Ruby’s furious gaze snapped to him.
“Zayn!”
Jade giggled at the whole debacle causing Ruby’s anger to fizzle and allowing Zayn to focus on his food.
Once Zayn had finished eating, he stood to leave. Before he could walk away, Amaya, who had merely watched the fiasco unfold, narrowed her eyes and whispered coquettishly:
“We still haven’t had our little discussion.”
Zayn shook his head and headed toward the stairs.
“Yeah, yeah. After the trial…”
Just before he reached them, he heard Ruby ask:
“What the heck was that about?!”
He hung his head as he climbed.
‘I want to know that too.’
At the top of the stairs, he stopped before the first door, took a deep breath, and knocked three times.
When no one answered, he knocked again in the same measured rhythm.
This time, a quiet groan came from within, followed by a loud thud. Silence fell briefly before a series of uneven footsteps approached the door. At last, it was flung open.
Hae-ryung stood there looking disheveled, dressed in nothing but a thin black T-shirt and underwear. Her hair was all over the place, and her usually serious eyes looked dead. Her pale skin seemed even paler than usual. Behind her, clothes lay strewn across the floor, and the sheets hung off the bed.
She managed only one word:
“Oh…”
Then she promptly slammed the door in his face.
‘Uh…’
Zayn stood there awkwardly, listening to her shuffle around inside.
He hadn’t talked to Hae-ryung much, mainly because she was a Disaster. He wanted to know as little about her as he did the others and had kept his distance… for obvious reasons.
But…
During the month they’d spent together, she’d seemed like the neat, organized type. One someone could depend on and trust.
Oddly, she was like a female version of him… or, rather, the person he’d been before he got that awful task.
At least, that had been his impression. Now…
‘Should I… knock again?’
Before he could, the door opened once more, revealing Hae-ryung fully dressed and looking as she usually did. Her hair had been neatly combed, her outfit was modest, and she had even put on socks.
The room itself wasn’t spotless, but the clothes were gone and the bed was made.
Hae-ryung narrowed her eyes, her expression plainly saying, ‘Get on with it.’
Zayn averted his gaze and asked:
“Uh… can I come in?”
She tilted her head.
“…Sure.”
Hae-ryung stepped aside, opening the door wider for him.
Zayn forced a smile as he entered, and she shut the door behind him.
‘Okay… I didn’t think this through.’
Once they were alone, she locked eyes with him as though challenging him to a staring contest.
Awkwardly, he asked:
“Did I wake you up?”
Without hesitation, she answered:
“Yes.”
“Should I… come back later?”
“No.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
At last, Hae-ryung sat on the edge of her bed and asked:
“Why are you here?”
Zayn gulped.
‘Why am I… intimidated?’
“I, uh… wanted to ask about a short girl with black hair and freckles. I think I saw her stop by your room. Do you know her?”
After a slight tilt of her head, Hae-ryung replied:
“I do.”
“Well, I’m curious about her.”
Hae-ryung slowly shook her head.
“I wouldn’t recommend it… I don’t think she swings that way.”
Zayn sighed.
“No… That’s not what I mean. She’s weird. I just want to know…”
Recognition crossed Hae-ryung’s face.
“Oh, is she stalking you too?”
“Ack— what…?”
‘Too?!’
Zayn shook his head, blinking rapidly.
“What do you mean by… ‘stalking you too’?”
‘And why did you say that so casually?!’
Hae-ryung sighed.
“Yeah. Ever since we got here, she’s been following me around. Showing up at random.”
“Did you answer the door… thinking I was her?”
“Mhm.”
‘Someone is stalking her, and she would open the door so woefully underprepared?!’
“You should… be more careful.”
With a flat expression, she replied:
“Okay.”