"Here," Wil hands the credit card to the owner and paid the bill.
Handing the receipt, Ma Ling asked casually, "so, how's Hyori holding up lately?"
"Huh! What do you mean?" Wil looked at him curiously.
"Ever since the finals, forget about her part-time work, she wasn't even showing up here to play War Online too. She told that she was taking a break to recover her mental state but it's almost a month since I last saw her before the tournament started. I was worried that she might have broken from inside as all of her hard work was failed before that granddaughter of Hitoshi."
"Huh! Hyori hasn't been coming lately?" Wil was a little bit surprised upon hearing from this Master Archer because he regularly chats with her and she seemed normal as before. He didn't expect she was even staying far from the game too.
Wil decided to drop Mia at the house and go and meet Hyori. However, his sister wanted to tag along.
After all, Hyori wasn't a stranger to her. Despite being the vice guild leader of Scarlet-A, she often tags along with Evie Antolov (Snow Dew) who is Mia's friend and her guild leader at Scarlet-B.
Thankfully, his mother and Rey aren't back yet. So, he didn't bother to call her and just waited in the car for fifteen minutes while Mia went to the apartment, freshen up a bit, change her clothes, and came down with a box.
Scarlet Apartments was in the same neighborhood. So, it didn't long for them to reach the place. Wil also didn't call her beforehand as he knew her classes end up at 12:30 in the afternoon and with her taking a break from Archery, he doubted she will still be at the college, practicing at her club.
*Tring* Trrring*
The door was opened by Hyori's sister, "Eh? Wil-Oppa? I heard that as soon as Oppa returned from Ares city, Oppa shifted to… Ah! Hey Mia, You too are here. Didn't notice you here…"
"Jiwon-ssi?" Wil called her uncertainly as he still couldn't differentiate between the twins.
But, in his experience, only Lee Jiwon would address him or any older person who is an acquaintance intimately like that. So, he felt it was Jiwon. Still, he couldn't get used to that word.
"Where is your sister? I heard that she's still moping after the loss." Wil directly came to the subject.
"Yeah, it really hit her hard, I guess. She's not even eating properly these days." Jiwon let out a deep sigh before she invited them inside. "Anyways, she's busy with studying. I'll go and bring her. Please come in."
Jiwon turned around and walked towards the bedroom while informing her mother about Wil's arrival. Hyunjoo who was watching anime suddenly changed the channel to a music channel and sat properly.
After greeting Hyunjoo and her mother, both of them sat down, and very soon, Hyori also rushed out with a look of surprise. "Wil, what are you doing here? You didn't even text me." "Oh, hey Mia."
"I heard that you are still moping because of a loss. Dropped by to see how you are doing. And my sister also wanted to tag along." After Wil's casual reply, Mia shyly raised her arms and handed the box to her. "Sister Hyori, this is for you. My mom made them."
"Hmm?" Even Wil looked at it curiously as he didn't know what it is. It was only after Hyori opened it Wil realized that it was mochi ice cream that was probably stored in the fridge and Mia brought it without asking their mom.
Because of this reason, Mia took fifteen minutes to come down. After freshening up, Mia opened the fridge to drink cool water and casually opened the freezer but she didn't expect there's homemade ice cream.
Mia had once eaten it before. So, she immediately knew that they were made by her mom. She packed them in an air-tight container, which was placed into a bigger container along with several frozen ice gel packs to maintain the coolness.
Wil doesn't know whether to laugh or cry as she doesn't need to do that but still, he thought it was cute because of her hardwork.
Putting aside the matter, he confronted her about how long does she intend to stay away from the Archery, to which Hyori sighed as she took a seat, "I don't know but when I grab the bow, I will see Sakura. It kinda scares me, you know."
Suddenly, silence filled in the room, and everyone stared at her. Hyori's mother couldn't also help but glance at Wil who managed to make Hyori tell him her worry with a simple question when they were utterly failed all this while.
She realized that Hyori is not a kid anymore. She went through the phase long ago. So, she very well knew that Teenagers and young adults usually share their burden more with friends rather than family.
Upon listening to her reason, Wil took a deep breath and spoke in a serious tone, "Grab your bow and follow me."
"Eh?" Hyori suddenly raised her head as she was taken aback by surprise.
"Yes," Wil nodded while looking straight into her eyes, "I'm going to take a gamble. If this works, you will back to normal but if it fails, you will probably break down and might not continue the Archery. 50-50. Will you trust me and grab this chance?"
As he extended his hand, Hyori didn't even hesitate to grab his hand and stood up.
It was right then Wil suddenly remembered that Hyori's mother was also there. Wil quickly said, "Ms. Lee, if you don't mind, will you also please come with us?"
"Me?" Her mother was even more surprised by Wil's invitation. In reality, Wil didn't actually want to ask her this favor but he thought it would be inappropriate to take a young girl from her house in front of her own mother. It would even seem like he was her boyfriend or something.
To make sure there's no misunderstanding, Wil asked Hyori's mother to tag along. It's not like there would be a problem with it.
Half an hour later;
"So, this is the gamble you are talking about?" Hyori was skeptical as she and Wil were standing apart in the backyard of the training center where only one target is placed at the end of the wall over 60 meters away.
....
"Here," Wil hands the credit card to the owner and paid the bill.
Handing the receipt, Ma Ling asked casually, "so, how's Hyori holding up lately?"
"Huh! What do you mean?" Wil looked at him curiously.
"Ever since the finals, forget about her part-time work, she wasn't even showing up here to play War Online too. She told that she was taking a break to recover her mental state but it's almost a month since I last saw her before the tournament started. I was worried that she might have broken from inside as all of her hard work was failed before that granddaughter of Hitoshi."
"Huh! Hyori hasn't been coming lately?" Wil was a little bit surprised upon hearing from this Master Archer because he regularly chats with her and she seemed normal as before. He didn't expect she was even staying far from the game too.
Wil decided to drop Mia at the house and go and meet Hyori. However, his sister wanted to tag along.
After all, Hyori wasn't a stranger to her. Despite being the vice guild leader of Scarlet-A, she often tags along with Evie Antolov (Snow Dew) who is Mia's friend and her guild leader at Scarlet-B.
Thankfully, his mother and Rey aren't back yet. So, he didn't bother to call her and just waited in the car for fifteen minutes while Mia went to the apartment, freshen up a bit, change her clothes, and came down with a box.
Scarlet Apartments was in the same neighborhood. So, it didn't long for them to reach the place. Wil also didn't call her beforehand as he knew her classes end up at 12:30 in the afternoon and with her taking a break from Archery, he doubted she will still be at the college, practicing at her club.
*Tring* Trrring*
The door was opened by Hyori's sister, "Eh? Wil-Oppa? I heard that as soon as Oppa returned from Ares city, Oppa shifted to… Ah! Hey Mia, You too are here. Didn't notice you here…"
"Jiwon-ssi?" Wil called her uncertainly as he still couldn't differentiate between the twins.
But, in his experience, only Lee Jiwon would address him or any older person who is an acquaintance intimately like that. So, he felt it was Jiwon. Still, he couldn't get used to that word.
"Where is your sister? I heard that she's still moping after the loss." Wil directly came to the subject.
"Yeah, it really hit her hard, I guess. She's not even eating properly these days." Jiwon let out a deep sigh before she invited them inside. "Anyways, she's busy with studying. I'll go and bring her. Please come in."
Jiwon turned around and walked towards the bedroom while informing her mother about Wil's arrival. Hyunjoo who was watching anime suddenly changed the channel to a music channel and sat properly.
After greeting Hyunjoo and her mother, both of them sat down, and very soon, Hyori also rushed out with a look of surprise. "Wil, what are you doing here? You didn't even text me." "Oh, hey Mia."
"I heard that you are still moping because of a loss. Dropped by to see how you are doing. And my sister also wanted to tag along." After Wil's casual reply, Mia shyly raised her arms and handed the box to her. "Sister Hyori, this is for you. My mom made them."
"Hmm?" Even Wil looked at it curiously as he didn't know what it is. It was only after Hyori opened it Wil realized that it was mochi ice cream that was probably stored in the fridge and Mia brought it without asking their mom.
Because of this reason, Mia took fifteen minutes to come down. After freshening up, Mia opened the fridge to drink cool water and casually opened the freezer but she didn't expect there's homemade ice cream.
Mia had once eaten it before. So, she immediately knew that they were made by her mom. She packed them in an air-tight container, which was placed into a bigger container along with several frozen ice gel packs to maintain the coolness.
Wil doesn't know whether to laugh or cry as she doesn't need to do that but still, he thought it was cute because of her hardwork.
Putting aside the matter, he confronted her about how long does she intend to stay away from the Archery, to which Hyori sighed as she took a seat, "I don't know but when I grab the bow, I will see Sakura. It kinda scares me, you know."
Suddenly, silence filled in the room, and everyone stared at her. Hyori's mother couldn't also help but glance at Wil who managed to make Hyori tell him her worry with a simple question when they were utterly failed all this while.
She realized that Hyori is not a kid anymore. She went through the phase long ago. So, she very well knew that Teenagers and young adults usually share their burden more with friends rather than family.
Upon listening to her reason, Wil took a deep breath and spoke in a serious tone, "Grab your bow and follow me."
"Eh?" Hyori suddenly raised her head as she was taken aback by surprise.
"Yes," Wil nodded while looking straight into her eyes, "I'm going to take a gamble. If this works, you will back to normal but if it fails, you will probably break down and might not continue the Archery. 50-50. Will you trust me and grab this chance?"
As he extended his hand, Hyori didn't even hesitate to grab his hand and stood up.
It was right then Wil suddenly remembered that Hyori's mother was also there. Wil quickly said, "Ms. Lee, if you don't mind, will you also please come with us?"
"Me?" Her mother was even more surprised by Wil's invitation. In reality, Wil didn't actually want to ask her this favor but he thought it would be inappropriate to take a young girl from her house in front of her own mother. It would even seem like he was her boyfriend or something.
To make sure there's no misunderstanding, Wil asked Hyori's mother to tag along. It's not like there would be a problem with it.
Half an hour later;
"So, this is the gamble you are talking about?" Hyori was skeptical as she and Wil were standing apart in the backyard of the training center where only one target is placed at the end of the wall over 60 meters away.
....
