I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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Brown hair. Eyes that have a slight red tint.

Yoo Seo-Ah sat on the bed, swinging her legs back and forth.

She looked cheerful.

Han Si-Hoo had returned to the dorm, but she didn’t notice.

Just as he was wondering whether to greet her, Yoo Seo-Ah spoke.

“Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad.”

She was still faintly smiling.

It was an ordinary statement for her.

So, her expression didn’t change.

“…Si-Hoo?”

She finally noticed him.

Han Si-Hoo wondered if he had misheard.

It wasn’t just the television’s sound playing tricks on him.

He had to say that dying wasn’t an option.

-“I’m sorry, please kill me.”

It was a bad memory.

Just as his mind was starting to blur, he snapped back to reality.

“Welcome back.”

The conversation with Seo-Ah had ended.

The drugs Si-Hoo had brought from home were now in his possession.

He could forcibly take them away or restrict their use if necessary.

As long as he had the drugs, Seo-Ah had no choice but to listen to him.

But that wasn’t right.

It was no different from the doctor.

There were many things to ask.

So many, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

He was scared of what Yoo Seo-Ah might say.

He even wondered if she was aware of the state of her own house.

She hadn’t realized the glass had been broken when he first mentioned it.

Han Si-Hoo’s mind swirled with thoughts of the bad things that could have happened to Seo-Ah.

Even when he tried to stop, the thoughts wouldn’t go away.

The messed-up house, the scars on Seo-Ah’s body, the drug addiction.

No way… because of ■■, or something like ■■■ happened…

That couldn’t be it, right?

The worst-case scenarios raced faster in his mind.

Han Si-Hoo wished his thoughts were just delusions.

He walked out to the living room.

His throat felt dry, so he drank some water.

Seo-Ah was staring blankly at the television again.

Since she had taken the drug once, she hadn’t asked for more.

She seemed to have some level of restraint.

Though he wasn’t sure if sticking the syringe in several times a day counted as restraint.

She must have her own limits.

Si-Hoo hated himself for letting Seo-Ah end up like this.

He also hated the other factors that had messed her up.

That doctor, that villain.

He had to deal with him.

Si-Hoo would handle it himself.

Last time, he couldn’t properly fight back because Seo-Ah was there, but next time, he would handle it.

There couldn’t be another situation where Seo-Ah was taken as a hostage.

“But why Seo-Ah of all people…”

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out the doctor’s motive.

If the doctor had wanted to, he could’ve killed Seo-Ah right in front of Si-Hoo’s eyes.

Knowing that, Si-Hoo had acted carefully.

The doctor had even allowed him to rescue Seo-Ah.

As if the purpose had been to get Seo-Ah addicted in the first place.

It was like he was mocking him, saying, “What were you doing while your childhood friend suffered?”

A truly vile action.

So, what Si-Hoo had to do was clear.

Get information.

First, he needed to investigate the drugs he brought.

He had already taken a sample and given it to Lee Yu-Ram.

He just needed to wait for a response.

…But it was too quiet.

Had there ever been a time this quiet while living with Seo-Ah?

She was sitting motionless, staring at the screen with a faint smile.

He wasn’t sure if her eyes were focusing.

Maybe it’d be good to talk.

What did they usually talk about?

While Si-Hoo was pondering this at the desk,

Buzz.

His phone vibrated.

[Rena: Si-Hoo?]

[Rena: How’s it going?]

[Rena: Are you okay?]

She was the one who accidentally attacked Seo-Ah.

She must be struggling with her own guilt.

She was probably burdened by the fact that she had stabbed an innocent civilian.

“…Ha.”

He wasn’t okay.

But he couldn’t blame Rena for it.

She had stuck to the basics of handling a threat.

[I’m fine.]

Since they were to the same Academy, Rena would likely meet Seo-Ah again.

That would probably happen.

He couldn’t imagine how Seo-Ah would react when that happened.

No, he could guess.

“…Damn it.”

Seo-Ah flinched, startled.

Thinking Si-Hoo’s words were directed at her, she lowered the volume of the television.

“…S-sorry. Did I bother you?”

“Huh? No, I wasn’t talking about you, so don’t worry. I’ve never thought of you as a bother. Just make yourself comfortable.”

“Okay.”

Still conscious of him, Seo-Ah slightly raised the volume again.

Seo-Ah was still mindful of Si-Hoo.

He wished she’d just relax, but she didn’t seem to feel completely comfortable.

What should he do?

How could he repair his relationship with Seo-Ah?

They were best friends, after all.

Even if their relationship was damaged, if he could just restore Seo-Ah’s condition to normal…

-Buzz.

His phone vibrated again.

[Yeon-Hwa: Thanks again.]

[Yeon-Hwa: I left a gift. Did you get it?]

Oh, the gift.

The paper bag was still unopened.

He had saved Yeon-Hwa from danger in a recent dungeon in the city.

It wasn’t strange to receive a reward, but with Seo-Ah around, it felt a bit awkward.

[Yeon-Hwa: Some girl took it for you. Can I ask who she is?]

This was hard to explain.

[She’s a friend.]

He replied as he opened the gift bag.

There were some simple snacks inside.

[I got the gift. Thanks.]

That should do it.

“Ah.”

He remembered he had brought something for Seo-Ah.

It was a ribbon he had found at her home.

He had just grabbed it on impulse, but now that things had calmed down, he wanted to give it to her.

“Seo-Ah.”

“Yeah?”

He would have to give her a real gift later.

This felt like recycling a gift, so he didn’t want to call it a gift.

“Here’s something for you.”

He handed it to her playfully, as if it were just a joke.

They used to do this a lot.

Giving something back that had already been given, like a game.

He spoke lightly, bringing back those old memories.

“Huh…?”

Seo-Ah hesitated as she took the black ribbon.

“Where should I put it?”

Good question.

Si-Hoo hadn’t thought that far.

Her Academy activity uniform didn’t have anywhere to attach it.

If only she had her school uniform.

School uniform.

Right.

“…Let’s go buy some clothes.”

“Outside?”

“Yeah.”

Now that he thought about it, he had originally planned to buy her clothes.

He hadn’t bought them earlier because he didn’t know her size.

It would be better to take her along.

“Where do we buy clothes?”

She asked again.

“There are some stores inside the Academy that are open even during vacation.”

Si-Hoo answered.

There were plenty of clothing stores within the Academy’s grounds.

“We should also get your uniform fitted.”

“Okay.”

Yoo Seo-Ah nodded.

“Let’s grab lunch while we’re out. I’ll get you something to wear first.”

***

Han Si-Hoo offered to buy me some clothes.

I felt a little guilty about how much I was getting from him.

I hadn’t done anything in return.

I felt like I was being a burden.

I also needed to return the money he had given me for the drugs.

“There’s hardly anyone here.”

On the way to the clothing store, I hadn’t seen more than three people.

And they all seemed to be Academy staff.

“It’s because it’s vacation.”

“That’s a relief.”

[Warning – External stimuli may reduce available time.]

I said it as a joke because it had been a while since I’d seen that message.

The more I interacted with people, the quicker the drug’s effects wore off.

No one liked feeling bad.

Since I had to get my uniform fitted, I’d just pick out some clothes and head back quickly.

When vacation ends, there will probably be more people, so I’ll need to come up with a plan.

Maybe I should refuse to attend class.

“There’s no staff here either.”

“It automatically charges you through your device, so during vacation, they just leave the stores open.”

“That’s amazing.”

I had always known there were clothing stores in the Academy, but I hadn’t expected them to be unmanned.

I hadn’t imagined such an advanced payment system.

It made sense.

This was an institution that trained the nation’s top talent, so this level of technology was expected.

“The uniforms are over there, sorted by size.”

The uniforms were mostly monochrome with red accents.

The ties and skirts had a light checkered pattern.

I remembered how I had been hit in the stomach by someone on the street.

They had been wearing this same Academy uniform.

What if I ran into them here?

Would they recognize me?

If they did, what should I do?

Forget the bad memories.

I refocused on choosing a uniform.

“Why are there so many uniforms?”

There were way more than I expected.

Does everyone get their uniforms here?

“There are lots of students who ruin their uniforms during sparring.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Even if it’s not during sparring, there’s a lot of rough activity here.”

It made sense. Students were constantly fighting with swords and spears while using magic. There’s no way their uniforms could stay in good condition.

The Academy wasn’t exactly a peaceful place.

It was an institution created to deal with monsters that appeared constantly.

As I browsed the uniforms, something strange caught my eye.

There were strange numbers written on the clothing tags.

Were these performance stats for the clothes?

As expected from an Academy full of Awakeners, even the uniforms were special.

“How much is one of these?”

I asked while inspecting the uniforms.

They looked expensive, but none of them had a price tag.

“Each Academy student gets five uniforms for free.”

“And for the sixth one?”

“You either buy it at a high price or wait until they give out more.”

“Got it.”

I had to be careful not to tear my uniform.

Although I doubted I’d be doing anything rough enough to tear it.

I remembered someone saying they’d take my convenience into account.

Special class, was it?

It really was special.

Even if they expected me to fight like the other students, it would be a problem.

Unless I took the 100-hour drug again.

I still had lingering memories of the euphoria from back then.

“Did you pick one?”

“Yeah.”

I picked one that seemed to be the right size.

A skirt and a pair of pants.

“You can try them on over there.”

“Okay.”

I went into the changing room to try on the uniform.

As I was changing, I realized something was missing.

I should probably get some underwear, too.

I’d have to ask Si-Hoo to buy me some.

I quickly checked if the uniform fit.

It did.

Now I just needed to get some other clothes.

Stuff I could wear daily.

I looked for something suitable, checking the price tags.

Clothes that were too feminine didn’t feel right.

I didn’t think they suited me.

I picked clothes that wouldn’t be inconvenient when using a syringe.

In case of emergency, I’d need to inject myself over the clothes.

Anything too thick wouldn’t be good.

I chose a shirt and a simple pair of pants.

Si-Hoo seemed to zone out when I picked out underwear.

“What should I wear?”

I wasn’t sure.

There were a lot of different kinds of underwear, but I didn’t know much about them.

Wouldn’t anything be fine?

The lack of staff was a problem.

“Uh, yeah… I guess…”

Si-Hoo was really flustered.

I guess he wasn’t much help in this area.

It’d be weird if he was, actually.

I didn’t care, though.

“I’ll just pick something random.”

“Okay.”

I ended up picking something simple.

Wearing long sleeves covered most of my scars, so that was a relief.

I wasn’t an expert on fashion, but looking in the mirror, I thought I looked decent.

“I’ll pay you back later.”