“No. I still can’t cry. Let’s go out. We slowly have to prepare for the elimination mission.”
Elimination mission. Whenever she heard it, it gave her the chills, but today it was more than usual.
As they got out to the hall, Anderson and Jo Minjoon were talking about something. Chloe put a faint smile and approached them.
“What are you talking about?”
“What should we be talking about? It’s obviously about the elimination mission.”
Anderson replied with a casual voice. Kaya frowned.
“Do you always have to talk like such a jerk?”
“I don’t think that it’s something I should hear from you. And, do I have to act in a tragic way like a protagonist of a new-school drama?”
Kaya and Anderson growled and glared at each other. Chloe coughed and said.
“Guys, I have something to talk with Minjoon……. Can you give us some space?”
“Talk about what?”
“If she asks for space, she doesn’t want to tell what it is. Don’t act so tactless and come.”
“………I will be going first.”
Kaya glared at Anderson and moved her feet. After they both left, Jo Minjoon looked at Chloe’s face with a strange expression.
“Talk about what?”
“……..I’m sorry.”
“If that’s what it was about, there’s no need for you to be sorry about. Rather, I should be the one to feel sorry. You picked me, but I lacked too much. I’m sorry.”
Chloe bit her lips and lowered her head. And after that, he could only see the crown of her head and her nape. A skin that wasn’t all white maybe due to her having mixed blood. The moment Jo Minjoon slightly turned to look away, Chloe opened her mouth.
“You won’t hate me, right?”
“Why would I?”
“Even if I beat you in this elimination mission……..”
“Chloe.”
Jo Minjoon cut Chloe’s words. Chloe turned to look up with uneasy eyes. He didn’t know what to say at that moment, and let out a sigh. And after a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.
“I’m not that childish. If I get eliminated, it will be because of my skills. It’s not your fault. So don’t think about that. If I beat you, will you hate me?”
“Never.”
“I’m the same.”
“……..Yeah. You will.”
She did nod and show a faint smile, but on her face, it still had some darkness and sadness that couldn’t be expressed in any way. He wanted to ask her why she was like that, but he thought that at the moment he asked that, Chloe would crumble, so he couldn’t open his mouth.
But in an instant, Chloe’s expression changed. Just like she wore clothes made by gentleness, her face became soft and tender in an instant. It was the face of the Chloe he knew.
“Let’s go in. The mission, we can’t avoid it.”
“……..You aren’t overdoing yourself, right?”
“Of course I am. There’s no time where I acted without overdoing it in a mission. And today is the same. The both of us can’t win but…… At least, we may all be able to smile. So let’s work hard for that.”
If you failed, won’t it be normal to cry instead of smiling? He thought like that, but he didn’t point that out.
“Right. Let’s smile.”