Chapter 56 – Classic drama tropes

"Daddy! You win!"

Lee laughed as he scooped Evandel up into his arms, nuzzling his cheek against hers. "That's right! Daddy won! Praise Daddy more~"

Evandel giggled and hugged Lee's face. "Bestest Daddy! Strong!"

"That's right~"

It was a private party room at a cafe on Cube's campus. Noon.

Yeonha had arranged the reservation ahead of time, since that was roughly when everyone's duels ended.

Originally, the plan was to include Suho with the group too and basically do a debrief... but that guy was apparently motivated and used up his nominations to challenge more people to test his revised sword style.

That left just Lee, Rachel, Evandel, Nayun, Yeonha, and Hajin.

Lee sat Evandel in his lap as he took a seat next to Rachel and said, "Looks like I made it here in time. I was worried that I'd get pulled out until the evening with my duels."

Hajin looked amused as he slid a plate with a burger and fries over to Lee. "Here, fresh from the grill. But also, don't you think it's a bit much challenging all the rest of your nominators into a battle royale?"

Lee took the plate, idly feeding Evandel some fries. Then he said, "You say that, but who's the one who kept attacking his poor opponents in the groin and other intimate areas, making them moan?"

Hajin turned a beet red and he said, "I-It's not my fault people react weird when I attack them!"

Rachel took a fry off Lee's plate and nibbled on it, looking amused. "It looked like a habit though..."

Nayun looked amused too, idly slicing a club sandwich in half. "Mmhm... Just what DO you and Yeonha do at that apartment of yours in Seoul?"

Yeonha turned just as red as Hajin and said, "N-Nothing! Just... paperwork!"

Lee raised an eyebrow and said, "Paperwork? Oh, I bet Hajin's working *something* alright."

Hajin choked mid-sip of a soda.

Evandel giggled and said, "Uncle Haji! Careful!" She squished Aether a bit and made a chibi knight that grabbed a napkin to clean up the mess.

Hajin looked at Evandel, mixed emotions on his face. But then he shook his head and said, "Yeah, Uncle will be more careful, Eva..."

Nayun chuckled and said, "Alright, alright." She reached up to stretch before saying, "We gotta keep it safe. Can't have mama bear here go off the handle." She nodded at Rachel.

Rachel nodded. "Yes. I will not have you continue to teach my daughter bad things. Also, Yeonha." She smiled and tilted her head. "I hope you are prepared. You will be my one and only nomination during this exam period. Tomorrow morning."

Yeonha choked. "W-What? Me?"

Rachel kept smiling and said, "Indeed. And if you surrender, I will have the tabloids put out your real food preferences."

Yeonha gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"

Evandel puffed her chest out and took on a haughty pose, looking down on Yeonha. "Auntie, dared!"

Nayun laughed. "Oh no! Evandel's copying Jonghak now."

Evandel giggled and said, "Mister Jonga, funny."

Lee chuckled and cut a mini burger out from his burger to give to Evandel. "Here, Eva-"

"NOM NOM!" Evandel gasped and quickly snatched the mini burger out from Lee's hand, shoving it into her mouth in one go.

Rachel giggled and grabbed a napkin, wiping Evandel's mouth. "No, Sweetie. You can't just shove it in your mouth..."

"But nom nom!"

"Yes, Sweetie. But nom nom fast means no more nom noms and tum tum hurt."

Evandel paused. Then she gave a sage nod and said, "Fast nom nom, tum tum hurt. No more fast nom nom."

Rachel smiled. "That's right, Sweetie. Now, have some of Mommy's sandwich."

"Kay~"

Nayun watched Rachel interact with Evandel and said, "...You definitely got bewitched."

Lee chuckled as he cut another mini burger out of his burger.

It meant that his burger looked like it was shot through by a few bullets and turned to swiss cheese, but it was worth it for his cute daughter.

After cutting it out and handing it to Rachel to properly feed Evandel, he looked back at Nayun and said, "It can't be helped. Eva is too cute and precious."

Yeonha sipped on a disguised cola in a paper cup and then said, "Even so..." She looked between Rachel and Lee and said, "Isn't it a bit much to publicly declare Eva as Rachel's daughter?"

Rachel hugged Evandel close and said, "Eva is my baby and I don't care."

Hajin sighed. "...It's over. Where did the aloof and cool Rachel I wr- I read about go?"

Lee took a bite from his burger and said, "She vanished the moment I said hi."

Rachel giggled, blushing a bit. But she didn't deny it.

Hajin rolled his eyes and said, "You're just lucky you have a decent face and body, Lee."

"Well, you practically have plot armor with how well things go in your life, Hajin. So..."

Hajin gave Lee a blank stare.

Lee returned the blank stare, playing dumb. "What?"

Hajin frowned and pulled out his phone, typing something into an app.

The others didn't seem to notice. Mostly because Rachel and Nayun were teasing Yeonha about the fact that she was now technically and legally married to Hajin without filing a marriage certificate.

But Lee definitely did notice.

And while he couldn't actually see what Hajin was typing since his phone had a privacy screen on, he could definitely see how Hajin was moving his fingers.

Because of that, and because Lee could roughly see where the keyboard would be, he figured out what Hajin was typing and what he was doing.

===

> Book of Truth, answer my question. Does Lee know I'm the author of this world?

===

Lee tilted his head and carefully watched Hajin's eyes move. As he did, he roughly mapped the way the guy's pupils moved, then traced out the letters... and if he was reading it right, then the response should be...

===

> Lee Shin does not know that you are the author of this world.

===

Lee resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, he tore off a bit of burger patty and fed it to Evandel, who chomped on it and nibbled his finger a bit by accident.

"Oh noes! Daddy, sorry!"

Lee laughed and ruffled Evandel's light brown hair. "It's okay, Eva. As long as you're happy."

Evandel let out a bright smile and said, "Super happy! Daddy, Mommy, big love!"

Rachel smiled and hugged Evandel closer. "Mommy big loves you too, Sweetie."

Evandel giggled and then opened her mouth for Rachel to feed her again, just like a baby bird.

Lee smiled and then glanced over at Hajin, who was still furiously typing. Seeing that, he decided to troll him a bit and said, "Who are you texting, Hajin? An ex?"

Yeonha immediately snapped to look at Hajin.

Nayun let out a scandalized gasp and said, "Marital strife already?"

Hajin blushed and said, "N-No. That's not-"

"Kim Hajin." Yeonha held out her hand. "Phone."

Hajin hesitated. "Yeonha-"

"You married me against my will, so take responsibility. And let me see your phone."

Lee blinked, processing Yeonha's words. Then he laughed and said, "Those are... not the series of sentences I would have ever thought to hear from Yoo Yeonha in this life. But I dig it."

Yeonha blushed but didn't pull her hand back, looking at Hajin expectantly.

Nayun chuckled and looked at Hajin. "Yeah, Hajin. You have to treat *Kim* Yeonha nicely now that you accidentally married her~" She gasped. "Or was it on purpose? Oh no, taking advantage of our Yeonha's clumsiness..."

Hajin blushed and said, "Th-That's not... Argh, fine! Here!" Hajin handed his phone over to Yeonha.

Yeonha immediately started clicking through all the apps and text messages, her dark brown eyes furiously scanning through everything.

Rachel looked at Lee, curious.

Lee blinked. "Hm? Did you want to look through my phone too, Wifey?"

Rachel's cheeks turned red and she let out a warm smile. "No. I trust you."

Yeonha froze. For a split second, guilt and fear flickered on her face at the same time. But then she sighed and handed the phone back to Hajin. "...Put better security on it. And stop leaving our conversations in the open for anyone to see."

Hajin took the phone back and nodded. "I'll be better about it, Yeonha."

Yeonha let out a soft smile at Hajin.

Meanwhile, Nayun sipped on a milkshake and said, "Wooow. Loveydovey already. Did we skip past the misunderstanding kdrama arc?"

"Oh god PLEASE say yes." Lee groaned. "I HATE misunderstanding drama. The will they won't they... I dropped so many web novels because of that."

Nayun laughed and said, "Oh, I bet. You're mister confess on day one, date by the end of the week, and have a kid by the end of the month."

Lee nodded. "As it should be. If you're meant to be, no need to wait. Right, Wifey?"

Rachel blushed and said, "Y-You shouldn't call me that in public, Lee..."

Nayun immediately latched on and said, "But in private it's okay?"

Rachel turned a bit more red and silently nodded.

Nayun tilted her head, not expecting Rachel to fold. And then she leaned back and said, "Wow. The mama hormones do a lot, huh?"

Evandel held up a fry and said, "Bestest Mommy!" After that, she shoved it at Rachel's mouth.

Rachel giggled and then nibbled on the fry and Evandel's finger.

Evandel gasped. "Mommy! No nom!"

"Nom~"

"Noooooo~"

Lee smiled as he watched the girl he loved and the daughter he loved more than life interact. But then he looked at Nayun and said, "Oh yeah, how did your duels go?"

"Hm?" Nayun blinked and said, "They were normal." She chuckled. "Unlike the Sadistic War Machine here-"

"H-Hey!" Hajin blushed. "I'm not like that!"

"...And both you and Rachel." Nayun continued like she never heard Hajin and then shrugged. "I just dueled the people bold enough to challenge me. There were only like, three guys who thought they could beat me since I used a bow." She let out a dark chuckle. "They learned."

Yeonha sipped her soda and said, "By that, Nayun means she shot them where it hurts until they surrendered."

Nayun glanced at Hajin and said, "Well. I was inspired."

Hajin groaned. "...I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Lee looked over from feeding Evandel the rest of his burger and said, "Hajin, buddy. No one asked you to jump to attacking 'that' spot. You did it yourself."

"It was tactical!" Hajin turned an even darker red and said, "How else was I going to break his Qi Reinforcement?!"

Lee raised an eyebrow and said, "You could have just pinned his joints."

Hajin paused, considering that. Then he groaned.

Yeonha paused too and slowly looked at Hajin. "...Kim Hajin."

"...Yes?"

"...Please tell me the first thought in your mind when facing reinforced armor wasn't 'yes, let us attack this man's privates and force him to yield...'"

"..."

Lee laughed. "Okay, you two are perfect for each other."

Yeonha sighed and grumbled, "You are lucky I like you."

Nayun's eyes lit up. "Oho~?"

Yeonha blushed. "I-I didn't say anything!"

Evandel giggled and said, "Rich Auntie said she likeys Uncle Haji!"

"E-Eva! N-No I did not-"

Rachel's blue eyes sharpened. "Are you teaching my daughter how to lie?"

"..."

Evandel looked up at Yeonha with expectant eyes.

Yeonha sighed. "...Okay. Maybe I said it. But only a little! It's still a trial period!"

"A trial- Pft!" Lee doubled over, laughing.

Nayun grinned and said, "That's how all the dramas go~ First a trial period, then a fake wedding, and then a baby just to secure the business alliance-"

"NAYUN!"

Laughter filled the party room as Yeonha desperately tried to backtrack.

===

Meanwhile, in the kitchen.

The upperclassmen Cube Cadets who were manning the cafe between their duels...

"See?! I TOLD you Hajin and Yeonha were married!"

"Dammit... There goes my snack supply funds..."

"We're totally sitting on this information so that we get more money from the bets later, right?"

"Oh, a HUNDRED percent keeping quiet. We'll be rich by the end of the semester!"

...They blatantly eavesdropped on the conversations, and started taking notes and making plans on how to game the Cube betting pool regarding Hajin and Yeonha.