Chapter 368: Bittersweet Date

I was walking hand in hand with Haru on a street in Seoul.

“Hmph~”

A huge city spread out under the blue sky.

Shops lined up, the latest songs blaring from street speakers, in the middle of a crowded downtown area.

The two of us, unmasked and dressed in plain clothes, were walking down the street together, as if we were ordinary lovers.

Stardus next to me seems to be in a good mood, smiling…holding hands with Haru.

‘…..’

Even though her face was hidden from prying eyes with an anti-recognition device, the charm she exuded with her flowing blonde hair and blue eyes was enough to make people on the side of the road stop and stare.

…No, I even turned on cognitive impairment so they can’t hear us talking, so how can they see this way?

Of course, I was walking down the street with my heart pounding, holding her warm, soft hand.

…Although, as a villain, as an avowed Stardus fan, I felt a tiny bit guilty for holding hands with her without a conscience.

“…Egotistic, do you want some ice cream?”

As she looked up from holding my hand and spoke with such sparkling eyes, I realized that it sounded like a good idea.

“Okay.”

And so we went to get ice cream.

Soon after, we each got an ice cream cone and sat down on a nearby bench to eat.

Unlike me, who usually ordered vanilla, she ordered mango flavored ice cream.

“Mango flavor. Do you like fruit flavors?”

I asked her as she ate the bright yellow soft cone.

Of course, it’s no secret that Haru likes sweet things, but I asked because I’ve never seen her order mango flavor in the original.

She smiled and replied.

“The mango reminds me of you. Isn’t Mangostick your nickname?”

She smirked as she said that.

…No, you mean that nickname has become so famous that even Stardus knows it? I thought no one else used it except for my fan cafe.

I felt a little embarrassed, but then I realized how cute it was that she was ordering mango-flavored ice cream because she remembered my nickname.

“Haha, yeah. That’s what some people call me.”

I replied with a knowing smile.

It’s a sunny day and everyone else was out doing their own thing.

We were just like any other normal people, enjoying our time together.

Of course, it was time we had to work very hard for.

…Right now, in the neighborhood next door, my Ego Squad heroes and the Cathedral army are engaged in a fierce battle. Well, technically, they’re ‘pretending’ to be fighting…

Anyway, it was strange to see people going about their daily lives peacefully as if nothing was happening, even though the city next door was in such a state.

I wonder if there will ever come a day when Korea’s sense of safety will disappear? Of course, if one of those fighters comes right now, everyone will run away quickly…The only difference was that quite a few people were standing and watching my broadcast on their smartphones….Not exactly a positive difference.

Just as I was thinking about that, a cold sensation on my cheek brought me back to my senses.

I turned my head to see Haru smiling at me, running her palm over my face.

She smiled mischievously, then grabbed the ice cream with the same hand that had touched my cheek, took a bite, and asked me.

“Egotistic, what are you thinking?”

“Oh. Nothing much, more like…”

I was annoyed that I was thinking to myself, but then I smiled mischievously and asked her.

“Why did you call me Egostic earlier, weren’t we supposed to call each other by our names?”

“Uh, did I…Did I?”

She flips her hair back in embarrassment at my words.

…That side of her was new even to me, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Don’t laugh… Hmph, I guess I’m just used to calling her Egostic. Da-in, Da-in…”

“Yes, Haru.”

We laughed at each other as we said that.

…Then, as if she was suddenly curious, she asked me.

“By the way, Da-in, how old are you? Come to think of it, I didn’t even realize how old you were.”

“Oh…”

And so I told her my age.

“…! You’re one year older than me, right?”

“Yep. Haha, didn’t you know that?”

“Of course I didn’t…! I thought we were the same age until now. Ugh… What should I call you from now on?”

She was conflicted like that.

…Then she raised her head slightly, met my eyes, and asked cautiously with a slightly reddened face.

“…Da-in oppa?”

“Uh-huh.”

And at her response, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

…No, this is so awkward. I never in my life expected to be called “oppa” by that Stardus. It was even embarrassing.

She must have sensed something in me, because she started gesturing in embarrassment.

She turned mischievous, held up an ice cream cone to me, smiled mischievously, and said.

“What’s wrong, Da-in oppa or Egostic oppa?”

“Stop…stop it.”

“Yes oppa.”

“….”

After a bit of banter, I finally settled on just talking as usual.

“…Still! You’re older than me, but it’s strange that I talk to you informally and you treat me with respect. Just talk to me comfortably.”

“Hmm…”

I was torn, but I finally gave in and said,

“Okay…like this?”

“Yeah! Look. It’s good.”

“…Like that?”

“No, it’s the other way around!”

Haru said with a smile on his face, and I couldn’t say no more.

…Actually, this was kind of awkward, too, but whatever. If she wanted to.

Of course, I wasn’t used to it yet either, so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and work it out over time.

So we finished our ice cream and decided to get up.

“What flavor is that?”

Halfway through, she asked about my ice cream and took a bite.

After that, when I took a bite of her ice cream, I didn’t know why, but the sight of Haru’s cheeks turning red was also cute. For reference, the ice cream tasted like mango.

Afterward we wandered around the city again, hand in hand, and took our time. We went to the park, walked around, went to the shopping center…

Our focus was on one thing, the conversation, because we had so little time together to talk like this and there was so much we didn’t know about each other.

“Egotistic… No, Da-in, so those four PMC kids from Seola. You’re their teacher, right?”

“Haha, yeah. I didn’t mean to deceive you, but…”

In this way, she asked me a lot of questions, and I answered them all as kindly as I could without hurting her feelings.

…I was so excited, I didn’t even realize it.

I didn’t realize that every time the word Seo-a came out of my mouth, she began to grip my hand tighter and tighter, and her expression grew darker and darker.

We wandered around like that, and then we moved to the sky to have a more comfortable conversation.

There we were, lying among the clouds in the blue sky, enjoying the cool breeze as we chatted.

Lying in my arms, supported by the clouds in the sky, she sat snugly in my arms. With me hugging her from behind.

And that’s how we were, smiling and talking.

“Yeah, that’s why I was raising PMCs with her.”

“Heh…”

And there she was, in my arms, listening quietly to me.

As I finished my last word she stirred in my arms and turned.

She was in my arms, looked up at me, made eye contact with me, and opened her mouth.

“By the way, Egostic…”

“Yes.”

“You. What the hell is your relationship with her?”

The way she asked me that, with dead eyes and an expressionless face made me feel like the temperature around us had dropped by about 10 degrees Celsius.

I didn’t know what was going on.

My superhuman intuition, which I didn’t even know existed, began to whisper urgently to me.

‘Hey, shit. You’re fucked. Think fast.’

What the fuck?

In an instant, I’m in the biggest crisis of his life.

I don’t know what was wrong with me, but for some reason I felt ominously like if I said the wrong thing here, I would be split down the middle into ego/stick, so I started rolling my head frantically.

Meanwhile, of course, she was still talking.

“Hmph…From the sounds of it, you and Seola have known each other for a lot longer than I have. How long has she known who you are? Recently or a long time ago? Oh, and by the looks of it, she knew all your names before I did?”

She says this with her arms around my neck, breathing shallowly in front of my nose, looking into my eyes.

…Her body is now completely pressed against my chest, and I’m only breaking out in a cold sweat, even though I would normally be embarrassed.

For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t be able to speak properly here.

My mind raced even faster than usual.

I took a quick, deep breath…and then smirked.

Sounding confident, I told her.

“Stardus. It’s a misunderstanding.”