Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 3 Part 9

Sehan felt a strange tickle in his chest whenever he saw this side of Yuju. She was a distraction, disrupting his chain of command at every turn. Yet this unfamiliar human was not entirely unpleasant.

Sehan knew well how to manipulate human emotions, often targeting their greed and sense of inferiority. It was the easiest and fastest way to elicit reactions.

However, Yuju was emotionally stable, a rarity among thousands of people. Perhaps because of her strong values, she didn’t move according to his thoughts.

‘Don’t you find it burdensome to live like that? Everyone… only follows you, sunbae-nim.’

At first, he felt displeased. It was ridiculous that she could feel so much sympathy and pity for him without knowing his true feelings.

‘Can I help you with something?’

‘It’s fine.’

‘I always feel like you’re the only one doing the work. I know you’re busy being a 4th year student, but….’

Next, curiosity arose. She seemed observant yet oblivious. He never wasted time on trivial matters. The misunderstanding might have arisen due to his role as the student council president at the time, but he was merely collecting and organizing relevant materials for the tasks at hand.

‘Wow! Is Sehan sunbae treating us again?’

‘Choi Sehan! Choi Sehan!’

‘I had already paid… It’s a student council gathering, so I thought we’d use the student council funds to cover it.’

The climax was when Yuju, who was in charge of finances, used the student council funds. People who were jealous and resentful subtly started to distance themselves from her.

Sehan wanted to find out more about the situation, so he asked Yuju to have coffee with him. Once again, the bill had already been paid. Sehan thought that Yuju must know why the rumors were circulating, but she was still standing firm.

‘I’ll take care of it. You’ve always been the one treating, after all.’

However, when Yuju smiled and handed him the cup with a straw, her small hand even inserting the straw, his heart fluttered strangely. It was a different kind of consideration.

That day, the coffee tasted strangely sweet.

The cafe where they had coffee together, the smell of coffee, the straw she inserted for him – every time he encountered these everyday things, he was reminded of Yuju.

The coffee that should have been bitter tasted strangely sweet. He realized he was thirsty and parched.

Sehan didn’t think of that feeling as love. It was a massive yearning that made his throat dry. Like any ordinary person, he began to crave what he was lacking.

Yuju was what he lacked. With her, he could be complete. He had finally found the missing piece.

***

In conclusion, there was no one who wanted to be left alone. There was no paradise anywhere here, and those who became inhabitants of a true paradise believed in sticking together with their kin for safety.

Yuju told those people that they had made their choices, so they should also take responsibility for them. Even if the valley became more dangerous, she firmly established that it should not be blamed on Sehan’s mistakes.

They got into their cars and moved towards the valley.

Conflict arose once again. It was because of Gangsik’s gun. Among the four, excluding Hae-jun and Sehan, there were differing opinions about who should have the gun.

Hansol argued that since he had never caused any problems before, he should be the one to have it. Hyeong-jin and Yeonji’s arguments were not significantly different.

Yuju had little interest in guns. It was something she couldn’t handle, and she had no bullets to practice with. She worried that having it would be a mistake and might hurt people unintentionally.

Those who were concerned about a big fight decided to determine the owner of the gun through a vote and agreed to vote again every three days.

In this vote, the gun went to Yeonji. Yeonji received three votes. Hansol, Hyeong-jin, and Yuju each received one vote.

The six of them, including the person with the gun, formed teams of two to explore the area. Yuju naturally ended up in a team with Sehan.

“Was it you, Sehan? The one vote you gave me.”

“Isn’t it a bit much to inquire about the votes?”

Sehan spoke with a stern voice. It sounded angry. Yuju, who was rummaging through the bushes with a long stick, widened her eyes and turned to Sehan.

“Now you’re finally showing interest in me.”

He playfully smiled and pulled Yuju close.

“You scared me.”

“You were so intensely staring at the bushes that it made me jealous. I played a little prank.”

Then he playfully nibbled on the back of Yuju’s neck with a dissatisfied expression.

“Why did you give your vote to that girl, Yuju?”

If Yuju had voted for herself, she would have tied with Yeonji with two votes each, and then they would have voted again. At the very least, Hyeong-jin wouldn’t give a vote to Yeonji, so if Sehan voted again for Yuju and Yuju for herself, the probability of Yuju getting the gun first would be higher.

“After eliminating the less credible people, Yeonji-ssi was the only one left.”

“Do you mean the process of elimination?”

“Yes. Yeonji-ssi clearly shows her emotions. I thought she would be easy to read. There’s no reason for her to harm us when Hyeong-jin-ssi is here.”

“I underestimated you. I thought you threw the sympathy vote to that relatively weak woman.”

“No, that’s not it. You told us not to trust people.”

Yuju didn’t trust Yeonji. Her basis was Sehan and herself. Among the three of them, Yeonji, with clear resentment, was the one she found somewhat trustworthy.

“Well, I guess what you did, Yuju, was a backup plan, not the best one. If you had a good weapon, you should have kept it for yourself.”

Sehan evaluated Yuju coldly while glancing at her with a slight smile. He wasn’t happy that the gun went back to Yeonji.

Yuju had to know that Yeonji was no different. She was also one of the people who shunned Yuju at first.

“On the second round, I’ll do that.”

“The second time?”

“Yes. If I had taken it from the beginning, wouldn’t people be more wary of us? We need to give them some space to believe it’s fair. In reality, my vote is like having two votes.”

Yuju pointed back and forth between Sehan’s chest and her own. Feeling a little dazed, Sehan laughed at the way things were unfolding.

“So, you saw it coming?”

“Is that how it seems?”

With a smile, Yuju once again took the lead and started clearing a path through the bushes to make their way forward.

At that moment, Sehan should have stopped, but he was intoxicated by the sweet sensation and left her alone.

“Ahh!”