The Goal is the Ending Fairy - Episode 29

After steeling myself for the confrontation, I arrived at the designated location. 

 

I scanned the area, but Cha Sihyun was nowhere in sight.

 

How absurd – calling someone out and not even showing up. Fresh anger bubbled up inside me.

 

“…right?”

“Ah, no…”

 

Voices drifted through the air.

 

A distant conversation, though the words remained unclear.

 

Following the sound, I soon spotted the speakers.

 

One was Cha Sihyun, who had summoned me here…

 

…and the other person caught me completely off guard.

 

‘Chae Seonha…?’

Indeed it was.

 

My mind raced to process this revelation as I pressed myself against the wall. I’d only peeked out briefly before, so they couldn’t have noticed me.

 

Carefully extending just half my face again, I studied the pair.

 

The situation became clear. Cha Sihyun must have called us both here.

She had to know about the tension between Chae Seonha and me… What game was she playing?

 

‘What are they discussing?’

 

Their words were lost to the distance.

 

From what I could tell, Cha Sihyun seemed to be trying to persuade Chae Seonha of something. But Chae Seonha’s body language radiated resistance.

 

I weighed my options…

 

Revealing myself now would make it impossible to understand their true intentions. Better to wait.

 

Fortunately, I knew exactly what I needed for situations like this.

 

While some have Dora*mon, and others have Pika*hu…

 

‘Helper.’

 

I have something equally reliable.

 

>Helper: [Charging|▶▶▶|Complete!]

>Would you like to summon Helper?

>YES

 

Helper materialized instantly, appearing right before my eyes.

 

[What can I do for you?]

 

I jolted when it thrust its face – no, monitor – directly in front of me.

 

Stifling a startled yelp, I grabbed its scruff and spun it around.

 

Then I gestured toward the distant pair.

 

“Go listen to their conversation.”

 

[Huh?]

 

When I whispered the command, Helper displayed a question mark.

 

Upon spotting the two figures I pointed to, it gave a solemn nod of understanding.

 

Helper began creeping toward them with exaggerated stealth, like something out of a spy film.

 

‘What a drama queen.’

 

I watched with mild exasperation.

 

Just as it seemed to be making progress, Helper froze mid-step.

 

Suspended in the air, it slowly turned back to face me.

 

‘Hey, what are you doing?!’

 

Even as I mouthed urgent encouragement, Helper only managed awkward hand-waving.

 

It looked unnaturally tense, almost frightened, fidgeting in place.

 

What had gotten into it?

 

As I pressed my forehead in confusion, Helper actually began retreating.

 

[D-Dan-ah nim…!]

 

It shot back like a rocket, wrapping around my neck. Its usual vibrant display had gone ghostly pale.

 

Even as I tried to pry it loose, it clung desperately, whimpering.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

When I finally managed to push it away, its monitor was flooded with crying emoticons. I’d never seen it behave like this before.

 

When I pressed for an explanation, it darted another glance past the wall, checking on Chae Seonha and Cha Sihyun.

 

“Why are you acting so strange?”

 

[Shh…!]

 

I’d kept my voice low, but still…

 

Helper pressed a finger to my lips as text scrolled across its monitor.

 

They couldn’t possibly hear us from here. What had it so spooked?

 

[We made eye contact…]

 

“Huh?”

 

[I made eye contact with them! ㅠㅠ!!!!]

 

Even the text displayed instead of its usual voice made little sense.

 

‘Made eye contact with who?’

 

When I opened my mouth to ask, Helper had another panic attack, forcing me to mouth the words silently.

 

[!!!!!!!!!!!]

 

“…?”

 

Helper’s message cut off abruptly, replaced by a flood of exclamation marks.

 

Its monitor now showed nothing but the frantic punctuation.

 

‘…Ah.’

 

The meaning behind those exclamation marks suddenly became crystal clear.

 

[Dan-ah nim, behind you! Behind!!!]

 

Helper stared past my face in terror. Its reaction told me everything I needed to know.

 

“…What are you doing here?”

 

A shadow had already fallen over me before I could process the warning.

 

“…Oh. You should have said something if you were here, Dan-ah.”

 

The second voice completed the set.

 

My neck creaked as I turned it stiffly, forcing my body to follow.

 

Subtlety was pointless now. Cha Sihyun and Chae Seonha stood directly before me.

 

I faced them both, my expression a portrait of someone caught red-handed.

 

“Why are you sneaking around like a rat, eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?”

 

“Seonha, language.”

 

Though Chae Seonha launched straight into attack mode, Cha Sihyun’s sharp tone cut her off.

 

“…I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, sorry.”

 

Their suspicion was justified, so I awkwardly rubbed my neck. (Though if we’re being honest, suspicion had graduated to fact.)

 

“If not eavesdropping, then?”

 

“I saw you two talking so I was just waiting.”

 

“…”

 

Their reactions split in opposite directions.

 

Cha Sihyun’s face said ‘Ah, I see,’ while Chae Seonha remained stone-faced.

 

Still, I pressed on with my excuses.

 

“And well… it’s not like I wanted to listen? What can I do if I happen to overhear?”

 

“…Dan-ah?”

 

Cha Sihyun cut in, her tone thick with sarcasm – she must have realized I was stirring trouble.

 

“Just say it straight, you just happened to overhear that stuff. It’s not like I wanted to listen.”

 

The words Chae Seonha had once thrown at me now came full circle.

 

Her brow furrowed deeply as she recognized her own words being served back to her. Was I being petty?

 

But I was just following her own advice.

 

“Hey, you…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Girls…”

 

I arched an eyebrow as Chae Seonha advanced. Cha Sihyun sweated nervously between us.

 

After maintaining her intimidating glare for a moment, Chae Seonha finally backed down at Cha Sihyun’s intervention.

 

Seems she had run out of accusations.

 

“Don’t worry, I couldn’t hear the details anyway.”

 

Thanks to a certain someone.

 

[!]

 

After shooting Helper a quick signal while the others weren’t looking, I returned my attention forward.

 

Helper, flinching at the subtle gesture, scrambled to hide in the nearby bushes.

 

“So.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why did you call me?”

 

Time to address the heart of the matter. I crossed my arms.

 

“You called both of us here, right?”

 

When I nodded toward Chae Seonha, she fixed Cha Sihyun with a pointed look.

 

“Tell her. What you were discussing with me.”

 

“Um…”

 

Out with it already.

 

Despite Chae Seonha’s prodding, Cha Sihyun hesitated before slowly beginning.

 

“…Dan-ah, you said it yourself.”

 

“Said what?”

 

“That you wanted to make up with Seonha.”

 

“…?”

 

Me?

 

The conversation had taken such an absurd turn that I could only point at myself in bewilderment. Cha Sihyun responded with a silent nod.

 

‘I said that? When?’

 

How had she drawn that conclusion from anything I’d said?

 

Breaking from my daze, I combed through our past conversations…

 

‘What is she talking about?’

 

Nothing could have possibly given that impression.

 

I turned to study Cha Sihyun’s face. My confusion must have shown clearly because she only smiled in response.

 

“I…”

 

“Forget it.”

 

Chae Seonha’s voice sliced through my attempted response.

 

“That’s why I said I’m leaving. She clearly has nothing to say.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s so obvious. Cha Sihyun, how many times are you going to fall for her tricks?”

 

So this was what they’d been arguing about.

 

Running frustrated fingers through her hair, she shot Cha Sihyun a glare before turning that same cold look on me.

 

“Her wanting to make up with me? As if.”

 

“Seon…”

 

“Seo Dan-ah. Do you even remember why we fought?”

 

Her eyes could have frozen fire.

 

‘Would I…’

 

If she hadn’t just mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known we’d fought at all. I thought she simply hated me without cause.

 

“Hey.”

 

My silence drew her closer. This time Cha Sihyun couldn’t intervene fast enough.

 

Chae Seonha seemed to take my quiet as confirmation of her accusations.

 

She wasn’t entirely wrong.

 

“You were the one who pushed me away first.”

 

“…”

 

“Wasn’t it?”

 

I had no idea what she was talking about…

 

Raw emotion roughened her voice as she continued this bewildering confrontation.

 

Each accusation brought her another step closer.

 

“You ghosted me first, and now you want to make up? Don’t mess with me.”

 

“Chae Seonha, wait…”

 

“Honestly, you probably don’t even want to debut, right? If you did, you wouldn’t have just stayed silent without saying anything to me.”

 

That struck a nerve.

 

The unfair accusation nearly pulled a heated response from me.

 

‘…If you knew my situation, you wouldn’t dare say that.’

 

Instead, I forced myself to take a steadying breath.

 

Then I pushed back the shoulder that had invaded my personal space. We needed to have a rational discussion.

 

“Chae Seonha. Let’s calm down and talk…”

 

“Don’t get comfortable just because things have quieted down lately.”

 

But my counterpart, blind to my internal struggle, only narrowed her eyes further.

 

“I won’t believe anything until you say it with your own mouth.”

 

…Oh, is that so.

 

I wasn’t completely certain, but I suspected this connected to the rumors about me.

 

The ‘false rumors’ that had recently died down – the ones I’d never publicly addressed.

 

I honestly hadn’t given them much thought since they’d stopped affecting my daily life.

 

This seemed to be the root of everything.

 

‘…Wait.’

 

Though I couldn’t guess why Cha Sihyun wanted us to reconcile… wasn’t this actually an opportunity?

 

Since things had come to this point, I might as well clear up her misunderstanding and make peace.

 

I hadn’t felt any urgency to make up with Chae Seonha before because I’d been certain she wouldn’t make the debut lineup.

 

But circumstances had shifted.

 

With debut members suddenly dropping out, those empty spots needed filling.

 

And someone as talented as Chae Seonha would definitely be in consideration.

 

“And what’s with you, Cha Sihyun? Are you and Seo Dan-ah plotting to make a fool of me?”

 

“Ah, that’s not it.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

“First…”

 

But that’s when everything derailed.

 

Just as I prepared to break into their exchange…

 

“…!”

 

A screen materialized beside Chae Seonha.

 

And it contained…

—– —–

>Yeah, what are you gonna do about it, b*tch?

>What do you know to be running your mouth?

—– —–

…a choice screen.

 

‘What is this…?’

 

A choice screen appears now, of all times?

 

I had so many things I wanted to say – ‘Let’s calm down first,’ ‘Let’s have a rational discussion,’ and more. I had proper explanations ready.

 

But what was this garbage?

 

I could only blink helplessly at the options. Both seemed designed purely to antagonize.

 

True, the choices had never been particularly helpful…

 

But this was excessive. Every response would just escalate the conflict!

 

“Say it. What’s first?”

 

“…Well.”

 

My sudden pause drew a quizzical look from Chae Seonha.

 

>(If you don’t choose within 5 seconds, a random choice will be selected!)

 

And now this popup materialized above the choice screen.

 

‘System, you absolute bastard…!’

 

Before I could even weigh which option might be marginally less terrible, the countdown began.

 

Everything felt so oppressively rushed.

 

>5… 4… 3…

 

“W-well… that is…”

 

Pure panic reduced me to stammering.

 

>2

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>1

 

…I couldn’t decide.

 

>What do you know to be running your mouth (◁Selected!)

 

I chose the option without explicit profanity, hoping it might be the lesser evil.

 

‘This was honestly my best possible choice.’

 

The choice screen vanished with an air of smug satisfaction…

 

“What do you know to be running your mouth?”

 

The confrontational words I’d dreaded tumbled out. Even after speaking them, the hostile tone made me cringe.

 

When I glanced at my opponent, shadows had descended across her features.

 

‘…Hmm.’

 

I quickly averted my gaze.

 

Though I couldn’t make out her expression clearly, I knew it had to be thunderous.

 

Cha Sihyun, still beside me, gripped my shoulder. I felt the slight pressure of her attempted restraint, but…

 

Her expression, visible only from my angle.

 

It made me question whether I’d interpreted her intent correctly.

 

“What do you know about what I’m thinking or how I feel?”

 

…Meanwhile, my traitor mouth continued running without permission.