Chapter 98 Ch. 98 .｡.:✧ Swamp - 5 ✧:.｡.—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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I grabbed the water cup.
The force of my grip sent ripples across the calm surface, and water flowed over my hand.
Just as she had done, I lifted the cup and gulped down the water.
The coldness of the water flowed down my throat, waking up my mind, which had been in a state of confusion all morning.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked at her, speaking directly.
"Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"I'm not a father, and I'm not at an age to be called 'daddy' by a grown woman. More importantly…"
"Why are you my daughter?"
"I'm not asking you to be my legal father."
She muttered discontentedly, pressing her index fingers together.
"Still no. To be honest, the title 'daddy' is burdensome. I'd rather be called 'ajusshi'."
"Ajusshi sounds too distant…"
"And you don't think that distance is exactly the right distance?"
I put force into my words, speaking more strongly.
My view of her as someone pitiable, anxious, someone I wanted to take care of and comfort, hadn't changed.
I was also not unaware that my actions had triggered her obsession.
But her obsession was just beginning to sprout.
That's why I was trying to draw a clear line from the beginning.
It's okay to be obsessed. It's okay to rely on me to a certain extent.
But I'd appreciate it if she respected the line I drew. If she crossed that line, our relationship would be ruined.
My job was to engrave this message into her.
I hadn't finished calculating whether I could control her or not, but I still wanted to at least try.
If I didn't even try, I would face a similar end in this dimension as I had in the past.
"…Is it really not okay?"
As expected, her toned-down voice pressured me.
I tried to ignore her words and reached for the ramen that had arrived at the perfect time.
"Enjoy your meal."
I lifted the noodles and blew on them.
I put the freshly made, firm ramen straight into my mouth.
Slurp!
With a satisfying sound, the rich flavor of the ramen spread throughout my mouth.
It's been a while since I had ramen, so it seemed even more delicious.
"Aren't you eating?"
After a few bites, I looked at her.
I knew. I knew she was upset. I was asking even though I knew.
I thought that if I acted this nonchalantly, she might change her mind a little.
You know that thing? It was a case from a dog training program.
When they show aggression, if you show fear, they tend to become more aggressive.
Let's keep drawing the line like this.
This was the survival method I had chosen in this dimension.
Whether it was effective or not, Ga-ram looked at me, holding a fork and knife.
I gave her a quick glance and then buried my head in the ramen bowl again.
Part of it was to avoid her gaze, and part of it was that the ramen was damn delicious.
Ga-ram stared at me for a few more seconds before starting to eat.
We didn't say a word to each other while eating, so thankfully, I didn't get indigestion.
After eating, we got takeout coffee and headed to Ga-ram Fitness.
I had only heard a rough account from Ho-chul, so this was the first time I saw how badly the gym was damaged.
"Oof…"
And the sight was disastrous.
The mirrors on one wall were all shattered, and I don't know what was thrown, but two treadmills were destroyed.
Only one of the ceiling's fluorescent lights was intact, so when I turned it on, it actually created a haunted house-like atmosphere.
The documents on the desk were all torn and scattered on the floor, and I didn't even expect the broadcast camera to be intact in the first place.
It looked as if someone had done a midnight run.
"Heh…"
The word 'a complete mess' wasn't enough to describe this scene, and a hollow laugh escaped me.
"Um…"
As I was worrying about how to clean this up, Ga-ram gently grabbed my arm.
"That…"
Fidgeting, she avoided my gaze and swayed from side to side.
"You're not mad, are you?"
Her wavering gaze shifted between my face and the trashed gym.
"There's nothing to be mad about, right? It's not my gym."
Why would I be upset when it's your gym that's a mess?
"Hehe, that's a relief."
I don't know if she'd been shot in the head, but my brow furrowed slightly at her off-kilter reaction.
Patience. The other person is sick.
Careful of the glass and fluorescent light fragments, we moved our feet, pulled up some chairs, and sat down to assess the situation.
"First, let's take this opportunity to remodel. Ho-chul has already put up a notice about being closed for remodeling, so just send a separate text to the members."
"Yes."
"I'll pay for the remodeling costs for now. It happened because I dragged you into broadcasting."
"Not all of it. Just pay me back 10% later."
"Yes."
"First, I don't know much about workout equipment or things like that, so please make a list of all the equipment you want to replace this time."
"Yes."
"Is there a separate place to get gym supplies? Maybe we should use safer mirrors. Are there things like tempered mirrors?"
"Yes."
"...."
"Ga-ram-ssi."
"Yes?"
She, who had been repeating the same word like a cheap voice-recording doll, looked at me when I called her name.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Yes? What do you mean?"
I let out a long breath and crossed my legs.
Perhaps because I had lost more weight than before, it was a bit easier to cross my legs.
"What are you doing right now? Just repeating 'yes, yes' like that."
"Ah, that's… Dadd… Boss, you know better. I'll just do as you say…"
"Look here, Choi Ga-ram-ssi. This gym is your business. I'm just the landlord."
Suppressing the nasty words that rose to my throat, I spoke as gentlemanly as possible.
But the unrefined emotion of reproach was still there, making her flinch.
"I'm… I'm sorry."
She was trembling like that, so I couldn't say more.
It's a really strange feeling.
I scratched my head and told her the reality.
"Ga-ram-ssi, I can't always be by your side helping you. So please be more proactive. Honestly, it's a good opportunity. A chance to make the gym better. How can you be so passive?"
As if reasoning with a stormy teenager, I persuaded her again, gently.
I explained for a long time how good this opportunity given to her was.
"Boss."
Of course, I wasn't sure if Ga-ram properly understood my words.
She slowly reached out and placed her hand on top of mine.
"Don't say things like you can't be by my side anymore, or that you'll leave."
As if remodeling was the last thing on her mind, she aggressively latched onto something else.
"If you say things like that, I… I might just die."
Looking at Ga-ram's bizarre expression, which was neither smiling nor crying, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
There's a saying that if you fall into a swamp, you should stay still.
Because the more you struggle to get out, the deeper you sink into the swamp.
This was the thought I had while posting the recording of my call with Hana on the internet.
And my dull head only now realized that this saying applied equally to me.
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