Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 318 (Part 1)



318 (Part 1)

<319 Hearing Cheol Ji-seon. (2)

As soon as I heard this story I was momentarily stunned.

‘What is he saying right now?’

I couldn’t comprehend the words that Cheol Ji-seon had just spat out while eating.

Shin Seong asked me to help him kill him.

It was none other than Cheol Ji-seon who had just said that.

For some reason Cheol Ji-seon was asking me to eat together.

He had even broken his promise with Mo Yong-hee to come here.

Perhaps because of that it was unexpected information.

And then the question arose.

‘Why?’

It wasn’t that I didn’t expect it.

It was that Cheol Ji-seon was saying this to me.

That alone was something I never anticipated.

‘Why?’

Why on earth?

I tried to recall the reason but nothing specific came to mind.

I knew that Jang Seon-yeon had approached Cheol Ji-seon with knowledge.

I had learned that from the information provided by Pae Woo-cheol in the past.

Even if Pae Woo-cheol hadn’t told me I had already anticipated that part.

Was Jang Seon-yeon going to make a move on me?

If I remembered my past life it was an obvious fact.

If there was something different.

The target back then wasn’t me but Jang-ryong.

Compared to Jang-ryong who didn’t react much at all.

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I was responding very clearly to him.

The difference was.

It was only when I was just over twenty that the situation before the magical realm unfolded.

It had become a possibility to bring it to the present.

Of course whether Jang Seon-yeon would act as expected was not a confirmed matter.

But seeing the current situation I could predict that it wouldn’t be long.

And.

‘Rather I’m hoping for that.’

I hope.

That he would wait for the right moment to make a move on me.

For that to happen it was right for Jang Seon-yeon to approach Cheol Ji-seon.

The catalyst for everything.

The dagger was held by Cheol Ji-seon.

It was just a question.

Even considering all of that.

The fact that Cheol Ji-seon was talking to me about Jang Seon-yeon was.

A situation I couldn’t understand.

With that thought in mind I asked.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we’re friends…?”

The words that popped out of Cheol Ji-seon’s mouth in response to my question.

It made me chuckle inwardly.

Friends?’

Did he really think we were friends just because he called me that?

.

….

..

It was laughable; we probably weren’t.

I wanted to keep him close out of necessity.

Did he think of me as a friend? That too was unlikely.

“Yeah we’re friends. Friends.”

After putting a side dish in my mouth and swallowing it.

I looked back at Cheol Ji-seon.

Between his somewhat trembling eyes an unknown emotion passed.

“But that’s not a reason to tell me right now is it?” “ ”

“I feel like there should be a more solid reason. What could it be?”

If Jang Seon-yeon approached Cheol Ji-seon in the same way in my past life.

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There would have been a reason for Cheol Ji-seon to side with Jang Seon-yeon.

What he might have given him was uncertain.

But what was the reason for him to abandon that in this life and tell me like this?

Just because we’re friends?

‘I’m not an idiot with a flower garden in my head.’

It was a story with too many problems to believe easily.

Cheol Ji-seon’s eyes shook greatly at my question.

I could somewhat feel how much he had struggled to say that.

But that didn’t mean I would let it slide.

Just as I was about to dig deeper.

“…You who heard the story.”

Cheol Ji-seon fixed his trembling eyes on me and spoke.

“I didn’t ask what that meant; I asked why you’re telling me.”

“…Huh?”

It was a somewhat unexpected remark.

But.

“It means you already knew this story….”

“…!”

It was a sudden revelation.

I widened my eyes slightly at Cheol Ji-seon’s words.

It was a mistake.

What Cheol Ji-seon was mentioning was undoubtedly my mistake.

But Cheol Ji-seon who was now bringing up that mistake looked a bit different.

‘What’s with this guy?’

Had I underestimated him too much?

“How are you so sure?”

“I’m not sure. It’s just my delusion. But….”

His trembling gaze gradually calmed down.

“I’m starting to think it might not be a delusion.”

“…Oh.”

“You hated Shin Seong. Almost to the point of disgust.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because no one in this Shin-ryong Hall is unaware of it.”

It was a fact.

The story that I had gone to Cheol Ji-seon’s place caused chaos and had a nerve-wracking confrontation with Shin Seong had spread throughout the hall in just a few days.

Because of that.

I had heard all sorts of things like Jin-ryong feeling inferior to Shin Seong.

It was a ridiculous story. If there was any truth to it.

“Yeah I hate that bastard. But what’s the problem with that?”

“There’s no problem. It’s just a story that helps with your current choice.” Choice Cheol Ji-seon said that.

“Just because I hate that guy doesn’t mean that’s a reason for you to tell me.”

“Seol-bong.”

I listened closely to the word he brought up in response to my words.

“Dok-bong…. Geom Mu-hee Jang-ryong Geom-ryong….”

“What are you doing right now….”

“Even with the already noisy descendants of the Sword Lord…. and the Two Dragons.”

Through the trembling fingertips of Cheol Ji-seon.

There was an incomprehensible chill.

“They are your acquaintances. Even one of them would be an outrageous character. Yet you are at the center of it.”

I wondered if he had done some background research.

But he was just stating what was visible.

The important thing was why he was saying that in front of me now.

Cheol Ji-seon’s eyes had stopped trembling at some point.

“Every rumor about you is terrifying. It’s all fear. Not to mention your face.”

“Hey why is my face coming up in this? Do you want to die?”

“…Sorry.”

I was listening well but I suddenly got angry.

“Even in such situations strangely enough your surroundings are filled with neat and amazing people….”

“What’s that? My rumors are crap but it’s strange that my acquaintances are neat?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

“Then what do you want me to do….”

“Even with such people around you the same rumors keep spreading. It’s very strange.”

With the fingertips tapping the desk.

And the gaze looking at me felt out of place.

“On the contrary the rumors about Shin Seong are so severe that it’s strange if you’re involved with him.”

The more I spoke the more Cheol Ji-seon seemed to become a different person.

If it was cold it could be seen as cold.

If it was stiff that word would fit too.

“The biggest reason is…. the fact that you keep me by your side.”

At Cheol Ji-seon’s words I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.

“Why is that?”

“…Even during the entrance exam and even now you try to keep me by your side.”

Interesting.

I thought he was just a pathetic guy with power.

I wondered when he had started seeing things like that.

“Shin Seong is wary of you and he’s asking me to help him kill you. In that situation you’ve been trying to keep me by your side. It seems I have some value to you.”

“When did you start thinking like this? Since when?”

“Since Shin Seong…. mentioned that to me.”

So it hadn’t been long ago.

It seemed that Cheol Ji-seon was much smarter than I had expected.