Chapter 40: Put your mind at ease.

Even though I seemed to have slept well, my mind was hazy like fog.
From the moment I opened my eyes, no will or motivation arose within me.

Today, too, I greeted a new day, swallowed by the desire called ‘laziness’.

‘Should I get up… or not….’

Although I had woken up and opened my eyes,
I was already contemplating whether or not to get out of bed.

Slide—

So, I turned my body sideways to lie down, just enough to see the inside of the room.

“Eeek!”

Lee Hyejin, whose face was just placed at the end of the bed, wore a gloomy expression.
Our eyes met immediately, and I let out a scream.
It was a moment where I almost fainted and fell back asleep right after waking up.

Thump, thump.

My heart pounded madly from the sudden shock.
My body trembled uncontrollably, as if I had encountered a ghost.
Then Lee Hyejin sighed deeply and said.

“Ah… Angel, you’re awake….”

It was a greeting that somehow seemed very lacking in energy,
quite different from her usual self.

‘W-why is she acting like that…!’

But I had no room to worry about her right now.
Someone was sleeping, and she was just lying beside them with only her head showing, staring blankly.
It was a terrifying sight, as if I had walked into a horror movie.

Because of that, I stared at her with wide eyes, trembling,
and this time, Park Gyutae spoke from behind.

“Hey, why are you scaring Angel first thing in the morning? Angel, don’t mind her. It’s nothing.”

“N-nothing!? After enjoying such a fun event, leaving me out!?”

“No… you voluntarily opted out, didn’t you?”

“I-I naturally didn’t know they would do something like that!”

Park Gyutae picked up a small bottle of water on the table and added.

“Well, it’s not over anyway. We have to keep doing it for a while.”

“… Really?”

“Yeah, and move your head. You’re scaring Angel.”

“Huh…? Oh, honestly! How can you say that when Angel and I are so close? Right?”

Lee Hyejin stared at me and smiled brightly,
and I slightly shook my head.

… No. I’m scared.
Please move away right now.

Then she opened her mouth wide with an incredibly shocked expression.

“W-why are you suddenly like this, Angel…?”

“Why? Because she was naturally surprised.”

“No, no… this isn’t that simple… Ah, I get it….”

Lee Hyejin continued to murmur to herself, bowing her head deeply, ignoring Park Gyutae’s words.
She suddenly turned to Park Gyutae, who was currently drinking water, and said.

“… I, I heard everything…. Senior… you hugged Angel, didn’t you…?”

“Phew!”

At her words, Park Gyutae spat out all the water he was drinking.

“Cough… cough, cough, cough….”

He kept coughing, as if he had choked,
and Lee Hyejin continued speaking as if nothing happened.

“Right…. This is definitely because of Senior. Senior stole my Angel…. And so cowardly, when I wasn’t around….”

“Cough, cough… Hey, hey… cough… What are you talking about, you…!?”

Park Gyutae was utterly horrified.
He glanced at the camera on the ceiling and quickly corrected himself.

“Don’t say things that will make people misunderstand! Angel just said she didn’t want to walk, so I carried her!”

“That’s the same thing! I’ve never even hugged her that intimately! How dare you, Senior…!”

“…… No, she’s gone crazy again…. I didn’t hug her intimately either! I tried my best not to touch her…! Oh…!?”

Park Gyutae, full of embarrassment, and Lee Hyejin, gritting her teeth and growling.
As I watched their bickering, now in a calm state, a thought naturally came to mind.

‘…… I’ll just sleep more.’

Well, it wasn’t like I felt sleepy right away, but.
Anyway, I just wanted to stop being involved.

So, when I subtly turned my body to lie on my other side,
Lee Hyejin, discovering this, whispered from behind me in a very desperate voice.

“Angel, I want to hug you too…! Please…!? Please let me hug you too…! I can do better than Senior…! Please!”

… Those were unnecessary words; there was no need to hear more.

It had already been a week since ‘laziness’ truly manifested in the Korean Angel.
Despite a considerable amount of time having passed, no progress was seen.

In a situation that could be called a national emergency,
the Korean leadership finally set a date and filled the research lab’s conference room.

“Is Angel’s condition still not good, Director?”

“… I’ve been submitting reports, haven’t I? And as I’ve told you many times, that’s her normal state. Her previous state was a bit peculiar.”

“Haha, my eyes are a bit dim. But, hmm… if that’s her normal state….”

A deeply wrinkled old man stroked his chin with a troubled expression at Choi Eunju’s words.
He seemed to have much to say but couldn’t bring himself to voice it.
He merely glanced around and then closed his mouth again.

Choi Eunju, recalling the old man’s usual words, actions, and values,
could easily guess what he had been trying to say.

‘Angel’s value is falling, something like that.’

For the record, the reason Choi Eunju could guess the unsaid part of the sentence was simple.
There were currently two types of people in this conference room,
and the old man was consistently among the latter, not the former.

What are the former and latter, then?
The former are ordinary people who cherish Angel terribly, common everywhere.

The latter also cherish Angel, but
they aim for a thorough symbiotic relationship, giving what’s due and receiving what’s owed.

In other words, the old man had kept his mouth shut, being conscious of the former group.
Choi Eunju, on the other hand, believed that the latter type of people were actually essential for Angel,
but the remark he was about to make subtly bothered her, causing her to frown slightly.

After all, a symbiotic relationship is a symbiotic relationship.
And presumptuously judging Angel without knowing anything about her
was another realm of matter that was difficult for her to tolerate as the research director.

So, Choi Eunju exhaled briefly,
then handed out the prepared materials and began her explanation.

“Well, first, I know what you’re worried about. You’re thinking that since she’s too lazy to even use telekinesis, she might not be able to play any role as an Angel in the future, right?”

Choi Eunju naturally scanned the individuals her remark applied to.
Those who met her gaze flinched in surprise and subtly averted their eyes,
and her words continued.

“But so what? Did you seriously plan to keep bragging to the whole world that we’re stronger than the US with that? Everyone’s misunderstanding something, Angel isn’t our possession. If she were to go to another country, how would you handle the repercussions then?”

Scrape.

Choi Eunju, having distributed all the materials, pushed her chair back and sat down,
and a middle-aged man hesitantly opened his mouth.

“B-but… you clearly said that it would be beneficial to confirm her superiority in power during the folk village incident, didn’t you?”

“Yes? That’s right. And it was beneficial, wasn’t it? Isn’t it enough for the news that there’s a Korean Angel stronger than the US and Japan to have spread worldwide?”

“… T-that’s…”

“Oh? Or did I perhaps add an explanation that we should profit based on that power? That’s strange? I distinctly remember saying that simply confirming it was the most natural and cleanest way to end it?”

“…….”

At Choi Eunju’s mumbling, which sounded like talking to herself from the middle onward,
a sense of embarrassment suddenly appeared on the faces of everyone in the conference room.
Because it was true that both the former and latter groups had naturally been using Angel.

Therefore, Choi Eunju clicked her tongue inwardly,
and presented them with a bomb that would surprise them.

“For your information, I don’t know how the news got out, but it’s already spread worldwide. That the Korean Angel no longer uses telekinesis. No, that she has no interest in anything around her in the first place.”

“… What!? That!?”

“N-no, how!?”

As expected, the effect was immediate.
The conference room instantly became chaotic, and everyone started making a fuss.

It was natural.
Not using telekinesis meant
falling to the very bottom in the Angels’ power rankings.

Well, it wasn’t as if Angel would fight according to human commands, of course.
But still, given humanity’s characteristic of liking to compare and rank,
the ‘ranking’ itself was a very important factor in many ways.

That’s why everyone was making a fuss over the losses that would follow from that,
and Choi Eunju looked at them before slamming her palm hard on the table.

Smack!

“……?”

Thanks to that, the conference room fell silent for a moment, and all eyes turned to her.
Choi Eunju did not miss the timing and spoke.

“Alright, everyone. Calm down. So, I’m going to make a good proposal.”

“… A proposal?”

“Yes, let’s stop the cliché of emphasizing military power. While that is certainly an important factor, our Angel actually has a much more incredible weapon.”

Everyone tilted their heads at Choi Eunju’s words.
They asked with uncertain expressions, wondering if such a thing existed.

“An incredible weapon? What is it…?”

“That is, she’s incredibly cute.”

Everyone was flustered by Choi Eunju’s incredibly confident words that followed.

“… Huh?”

“Think about it. Not using telekinesis means, conversely, she’s the safest Angel in the world, right?”

“… Uh, … hmm?”

“But, our Angel already had a worldwide image of being gentle and cute, didn’t she?”

“…….”

“In other words, being lazy is not a minus, but rather a plus factor, depending on how you think about it.”

“Hmm… If I… think about it carefully, that… makes sense.”

Unbeknownst to them, the Korean leadership was nodding their heads.
They listened to Choi Eunju’s words as if enchanted, and the conversation, out of nowhere,
suddenly veered into expounding on Angel’s charm.

Thus, Choi Eunju completely dispelled the impious feelings the leadership had about Angel today.
They even completely forgot why they had come,
and returned, each carefully holding one of Angel’s photo cards close to their chest.

And Choi Eunju looked at their retreating backs and mumbled.

“How dare those old farts who know nothing about Angel even utter her name?”

This match was her complete victory.