ReLife Player

Unlocked chapter (7/13)

[Stars, stars, stars].

After what seemed like forever, the first semester came to an end.

It was summer vacation, and Eunha was lazing around the house.

Today, he hadn’t gotten up until late in the afternoon and had spent the whole day in his pajamas.

«Hey, Eunha, do you want some merona?»

«Just some.»

«Unnie, I want one too!»

After dinner, Euna rummaged through the fridge, still in her pajamas.

The fact that she was back home until the start of the next semester only made it worse.

She would wake up slowly, lying on the floor staring at her phone, or calling her friends at night.

Eunha could hardly believe his sister was on the phone every night.

«Euna, you’re going to be a high school student next year, shouldn’t you stop walking around in your pajamas?» mom asked.

Eunha and Eunae are copying you.»

«Mom, I’m not going to a high school, I’m entering the high school Player Academy next year.

And it’s okay to walk around like this. You don’t know how comfortable and nice this is….»

Euna turned 16 this year.

It was the age when she was getting out of her parents’ arms and becoming more independent.

She handed the ice cream to mom and pouted her lips.

«Eunha and Eunae think so too, don’t they?»

«…Uh…, um….»

Eunae nodded, feeling good just because Eunha had shoveled ice cream into her mouth.

Eunha, on the other hand, had to look at his mom, who was folding laundry right next to him.

«Does Eunha think so too?»

«Uhh….»

«Eunha?»

«…….»

I was stunned, caught between my mom and sister.

No matter whose side I took, I wasn’t going to make it out alive.

Dad, help me…!

…Eunha, I’m sorry.

Eunha sent his dad a saving glance, but he turned his head away without a moment’s hesitation.

He was abandoned by his father.

«Eunha, come here.»

Then, Euna pulled out her trump card.

Lying on the sofa, she extended her long legs.

She tapped her leg, which was clearly visible under her shorts, with the hand that was not holding the marona.

«Aren’t you going to sit on your sister’s legs today?»

«…Sorry. You know how much I love mom, right?»

Eunha was determined.

After confessing his love to his mom, Eunha sits over Euna’s legs.

The soft skin made him feel soothed, and the coolness cooled the midnight heat.

Turning his face to the side, he ate his merona.

«Eunha took over the pillow, so I took over the wife’s pillow…Uh… Yes?»

«I don’t like your beard because it hurts.»

«That’s right, Daddy’s beard hurts.»

«Daddy’s beard hurts!»

Mom said.

Dad, who had been silent, tried to make her feel better and got a slap on the wrist from the women in the house.

Even Euna, who had been arguing with her mom over Eunha only moments before, pinched him.

Eunae was especially bad.

His younger sister, who woke up to dad’s beard every morning, vehemently agreed.

«Haa…, they said it’s useless to raise children with a wife…. Do I have to listen to this because of my beard?»

Dad sighed heavily.

Euna and his mom were stuck on their phones like they had always been.

«Mom, you need to cover this place with your hand.»

«This?»

«Like you have a headache!»

«I don’t know what you mean. I’ll take a picture with my lips like I always do.»

«Me too! Take a picture of me too~»

The three of them, including Eunae, took picture after picture in the same pose, not sure what to do.

Eunha, who was not interested in taking selfies, hugged Euna’s leg with one arm and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Euna secretly took a picture of him.

It was time for the family to spend their time that way.

«Eunha’s mom, it’s Minji’s mom, please open the door!»

There was a loud banging on the front door.

The family poked their heads out of the living room, startled by the sound.

«What’s going on at this hour?»

The call from outside was uncharacteristic.

Confirming it was late at night, dad frowned.

«I’ll go out, I think something’s happened to Minji’s mom.»

«I’ll go with you.»

His parents got up from their seats.

Turning on the lights in the hallway, they walked to the front door.

As soon as they opened the door, Minji’s mom panted inside.

«What’s wrong, did something happen?»

«I’m sorry for knocking on your door so late at night, but…, is my little Minji here?»

Minji’s mother looked around the house anxiously.

When his dad said no, disappointment flashed across her face.

Then her eyes locked with Eunha, who had poked his head out into the hallway to see what was going on.

«Eunha, have you heard anything from Minji?»

«Contact? I haven’t gotten any of that.»

«Well, then…. Hasn’t Minji been acting a little strange lately, like she wants to leave somewhere or something….»

What are you talking about?

Why are you asking me that?

Shouldn’t you know better than me?

Eunha pressed his lips together.

It was clear that something had happened to Minji.

Otherwise, there was no reason for her mother to drop in on her like this.

«…No, there was nothing like that, Minji, she was just as usual.»

I calmly collected my thoughts and said.

I hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Minji lately.

Sometimes she looked like she was lost in thought, but she was always like that.

Of all his friends, she was the one who took the future most seriously.

It was not uncommon for her to suddenly become lost in thought.

I couldn’t find anything strange about her.

«Where did she go then….»

Minji’s mother muttered in an irritated voice. She crossed her hands in front of her chest.

«What the hell is going on, did she just disappear without a word?»

At this point, anyone could have guessed.

His mom hugged her and asked what had happened.

Minji’s mother was shaking for a while, but then she nodded as if she had no choice.

«She…, she got into a fight with me and left and didn’t come back.»

☆

Eunha is a moon that lights up the night sky.

A moon-like being that seems to exist right next to you, but is actually 380,000 kilometers away from Earth.

Minji knew that there was a sense of distance between her and him that she could never reach even if she tried.

Even though other children may be vaguely aware, she has been clearly aware of it since childhood.

No Eunha is less now, but…, he didn’t show interest in others before.

There was a time when she thought Eunha was scary.

He was the same age as her, but he acted very mature and seemed out of this world.

She was also creeped out by the fact that his face remained expressionless when dealing with other people, but he smiled whenever he saw his family.

I don’t know why.

I just remember that his smile was somehow unnatural.

«He’s just…, I don’t know.»

Still, she didn’t give up her place as his childhood friend.

He was indifferent to everything, and she was intrigued by him.

‘Hey, Mukminji, are you eating again?’

‘Don’t call me Mukminji!’

I don’t know why.

I really don’t know why.

But when he was looking at me, he was looking at me with a spoonful of interest tucked into his indifference.

It was a very strange sensation to know that he was interested in me, when he didn’t seem to be interested in anyone else.

Like being recognized as special.

And the more I got to know him, the more I realized how special I was to Eunha.

«…The moon is so bright.»

Minji sat on the slide at the park and looked up at the starry moon.

Eunha was the moon.

Gently illuminating the night sky.

Her friends were stars.

Shining brightly in the moonlight.

They were the ones who cared about Eunha.

They were the ones who took Eunha’s attention.

Including herself.

«Well, there are a lot of stars tonight.»

I gave up counting the stars wrapped in the moonlight one by one with my fingers.

I wondered if the night sky was so clear.

«Or is it just darker tonight than other nights?»

It was hard to tell which stars were shining in which way.

It’s as if the starlight is eaten by the starlight.

«…….»

The joy of being considered special by someone is indescribable.

It makes you want to hone in on your uniqueness so that you can shine as brightly and beautifully as a jewel.

You want to be the brightest star in the sky, and you want to be the moon that lights up the night sky.

That’s right.

I want to be like a Eunha.

I want to stand side by side with him.

How to explain these feelings, she didn’t know.

«I’m…, normal.»

Minji murmured as she gathered her legs.

Ordinary.

The star that had once been recognized as special to the moon was losing ground to newer stars over time.

The more people who learned his charm gathered, the more ordinary she was.

‘Lies. Eunha and the kids are playing with Seona. You’re not copying him, are you?’

Her mother said one day.

At that time, Minji responded reflexively, but she was not sure about her answer

‘Minji, stop crying, stop yelling, and look at your mom. Isn’t it true that the kids are playing with Seona so you have no choice but to play with her?’

I want to become a shining star.

Not just any shining star, but one embraced by the moonlight.

I wanted to be special, not like other people.

That’s why I might be following the cranes to avoid falling from the moonlight.

‘…Please, write down your name!’

That’s what happened this time.

I helped Seona because I felt sorry for my friend, but I also felt compelled to help her because I knew that if I didn’t do anything, I might not be able to stand by his side.

And I realized.

I realized that one day I might not be able to stand by his side.

I had to have the strength to shine brighter than the other stars.

‘Mom. I don’t want to go to middle school, I want to join the Player Academy.’

‘Are you crazy! I’m trying to find a middle school with a good admission rate, so don’t say things like Player Academy and do as you’re told!’

When I decide to become a player, it’s not just because I want to shine.

I also wanted to get away from my parents’ shadow.

‘Minji, you just need to listen to your mom. You’ll go to a good school, get a good job, meet a good guy there, have kids in a nice house, and live happily ever after.

You may not like it now, but you’ll thank me later, so listen to me.’

Of course, the future my parents are designing for me will be a stable and happy one.

«But… it’s not really me.»

The future her parents envisioned was not a future for Kim Min-ji, but a future for anyone else.

It could be any star in the night sky.

She wanted to be a star that shines until the end, like a dying star enveloped in her own light.

She wanted to leave not just her name in this world but her existence, Kim Minji.

‘I absolutely can’t allow you to become a player! How could I let you…! I’ve raised you with so much effort…! If you make a mistake, you could end up dead!’

‘Mom, I want to live doing what I want to do! Even if I regret it later, I want to regret after doing it, not regret for not doing it!’

‘That’s because you haven’t really experienced regret yet! If you have talent that could make you an outstanding player, who knows! But you don’t have any talent like that!’

The reason she left home today was because she and her parents were arguing about her future.

The arguments between myself and my parents were endless, like parallel lines that never crossed each other.

Finally, I had enough and left home.

In the middle of the night.

«Ah…! I got bitten by a mosquito.»

There were a lot of mosquitoes in the park.

After scratching her arm frantically, Minji realized that she had been bitten and deployed the barrier.

The mosquitoes couldn’t penetrate the barrier.

«What can I do, I can’t stay here…, my mom and dad must be worried….»

I had to get back home.

My parents would be worried.

But it would be ridiculous to go home now.

They’d look at me and say, «What kind of a player is that, unable to do anything on her own?»

…I’ll go in after mom and dad fall asleep.

Even though she set up the barrier, the buzzing sound nearby was still loud.

Her neck itched.

She scratched it, and it suddenly swelled. She didn’t know if it appeared before or after she made the barrier.

She felt incredibly lonely.

Minji buried her head in her knees.

Hoping that this unusually bright night would pass.

«─What are you doing outside instead of going in? How about it? Isn’t it tough when you leave home?»