The School I Began Attending Again
"A strong and powerful morning!"
The moment I opened my eyes, I shook off the blanket and sprang out of bed, yanking the curtains wide open.
Originally I would have gone downstairs to check the weather on the morning news, but this had become my habit now.
"Clear skies. Today's Yuri is going to be bright."
Unless it was winter or the rainy season, I saw the sunny version of Yuri the most anyway.
Even this past weekend, I'd spent the daytime with the sunny personality and the evening with her original one.
Though we'd only talked through text messages while I was at my grandmother's house, the conversation never once broke off.
Still, her original personality seems reluctant to meet me in real life just yet.
That personality only becomes active after sunset, from seven in the evening onward.
She stays indoors, spending her time staring blankly at the TV or the computer.
Above all, because the social anxiety remains fully intact in that personality, face-to-face conversation is difficult, so chatting is the only option.
The fact that she can even send voice messages is only possible because I'm her childhood friend.
In other words, there was still a long way to go.
"Noah! You're heading to school today, right? Are you up~"
"Yes, Mom! I'll be right down!"
The school uniform I hadn't worn in years felt strangely tight.
"It really hits me how amazing it is that college students can wear whatever they want..."
"Hehe, you've never even experienced high school yet you're already dreaming about college life?"
"Ahaha... Hello, ma'am. I'm Han Noah, the new transfer student."
After arriving at school and waiting in the staff room, my homeroom teacher arrived.
A woman with black hair and glasses.
She was taller than I expected.
At my current middle-school height of around five-foot-eight, our eye levels were almost even.
And that person was suddenly staring straight into my eyes.
"Um... Teacher?"
"....Ah! Not bad eyes. How interesting. You look a little dense, but those eyes seem to belong to an adult."
"Is that a compliment?"
She let out a small snort of laughter and gave my back a light pat.
"Of course! Nice to meet you. My name is Seo Hye-na. The nickname the class I taught last year gave me is Lamia!"
"The snake from Greek mythology?"
"I heard kids these days don't read books, but you know it well. People say my impression is exactly like a snake. What do you think, Noah?"
She even took off her glasses and smiled sweetly.
The affinity collector who's always at school, unconsciously making the boys' hearts flutter.
Of course, since my heart already belonged to Yuri, I was undefeated by any temptation.
"I'm not sure. Honestly, isn't sticking their tongue out more of a snake's trademark than their face?"
Thump!
The teacher lightly flicked my forehead.
"What are you trying to make your teacher do~ Let's go. It's almost time for morning homeroom."
I followed after my teacher as she picked up her tablet and stood first.
Slide!
"Good morning, everyone. Take your seats. How did the blind date go, Seong-tae? If you don't want to be thrown out the window, keep quiet~"
Ms. Hye-na skillfully took control of the noisy classroom atmosphere.
After finishing the simple morning check-in, she glanced at me standing in the hallway.
"And we have a transfer student. He was studying abroad in the States and ended up joining you all in April?"
"Let's greet him warmly. Noah, come on in!"
From now on, I had to get along with a bunch of third-year middle schoolers with my twenty-three-year-old mind. If that wasn't shameless, I didn't know what was...
"Whew... Let's do this."
Clack!
The moment I entered the classroom, every eye turned toward me.
Roughly twenty-eight or so students.
Maybe because this was the time period I'd regressed to, the class size was quite large.
I stood beside the teacher while receiving all those gazes.
"Want to introduce yourself briefly?"
"I'm Han Noah. Even though I'm joining late like this, please take care of me."
Three seconds.
They say that's all the time needed to decide a person's first impression.
So I offered a friendly smile and greeted them confidently.
Having worked all kinds of part-time jobs during college, I'd done everything from restaurant service to tutoring to call centers.
"What do you think, Ha-rin? Rate him out of five."
"...Four and a half. His face isn't bad. He's a bit short, though."
"That's the highest score. And that height isn't bad at all. Your standards are high because your ex was a high schooler."
"Shut up, Yoo Ye-eun~"
Hmm, nice. They're acknowledging me.
Even though I'd only overheard one group's conversation, it seemed like a decent debut.
"Good. Now that introductions are done... Ara's seat is empty, perfect. Noah, you'll take that spot."
The seat the teacher pointed to was the very back by the window.
The classic spot where the transfer student protagonist always ends up in anime.
Not bad. I hope my desk partner Ara is a nice kid.
When I walked over, my partner's face came fully into view.
"Yep, yep! My last name is 'Han' too! I'm Han Ara. Please take care of me, Noah~"
Her impression was incredibly gentle.
So much so that I could instinctively tell she was a good person.
But it was unusual that she was using polite speech.
Was she like one of those well-bred young ladies from novels?
Still, I should respond to kindness with kindness.
"I'll be counting on you too. Teach me a lot, Ara."
"Hehe, you can call me 'noona' if you want?"
Hmm... She was going to be difficult in a different way.
Throughout the entire break, Ara talked to me without pausing for breath.
My hobbies, what happened while I was in the States, even my preference in writing instruments.
If I borrowed an expression that would become popular in a few years, she was truly the embodiment of E.
Not the E that the Commissar purged, but the MBTI E.
On top of that, during class I spent time skimming through the textbooks I'd just received that morning.
The morning at school flew by in the blink of an eye.
"Yes! This concludes the school tour with the rooftop as our final stop! Any questions~"
After lunch, Ara had given me a personal tour of the school.
True to her role as class president, she hadn't let me out of her sight for a second.
Thanks to her, I was able to get a general feel for how the school operated.
"No, that's plenty. Thanks, Ara. You couldn't even eat with your friends because of me. I owe you one."
"It's nothing~ Here, a gift for completing the tour successfully, Noah!"
What she placed in my hand was a refreshing mango juice.
The yellow color sparkled even more brilliantly in the sunlight.
"You said you were going to the store earlier. I'll enjoy it."
"Hehe. Then I'll give you some free time now. There are twenty minutes left of lunch, so enjoy!"
She left me alone on the rooftop and headed down first.
"She's strangely good at reading the room. Did she see me get a text from Yuri in the art room earlier?"
Anyway, there was no reason to turn down this golden opportunity.
Leaning against the railing, I checked the message from my childhood friend.
Even this is just like a puppy.
Still, it was fortunate that the sunny Yuri made sure to take care of physical activity like this.
If she could just eat a bit better on top of that, she'd become much healthier than she was now.
I wish you'd come to the school where I am...
I typed it and immediately deleted it.
School was the place that had driven Yuri to isolate herself.
Even though the school I was attending now was different, the very concept of school would still be a burden to her.
"That was close. I almost said something cruel without thinking."
Yuri's various personalities shared memories, but not in real time.
They were usually asleep, and only when they took the lead could they see what the others had done.
But the original was an exception.
She could watch from deep inside or communicate in real time with whichever personality currently held control.
When I heard about this over the weekend, I had no idea what she was talking about.
"....Ha?"
I never expected something like that to come from Yuri's original personality.
Then again, she did say she watched a lot of TV and browsed the internet, so it made sense.
Still, I instantly understood what kind of personality it was.
Wasn't that basically like prophecy?
In the sense that she could sense the weather in advance, it was the same as seeing the future.
"That's amazing...."
Just then, the clock on my phone struck one.
Lunch ended at one ten, which meant it was time to head back down.
I let out a small chuckle at the last message, then pushed myself off the railing.
Just as I was about to head back to the classroom.
Creak.
"Found you. I was wondering where the transfer student went. Ha-rin, he's over here!"
Suddenly a girl with short bobbed hair pushed the door open and popped out first.
Yoo Ye-eun
I only remembered after seeing her name tag.
She was one of the kids who had been scoring my appearance during my introduction earlier.
And the one who appeared right after her.
"We looked for you forever. Good thing we came all the way up to the rooftop."
Jeong Ha-rin
With her short skirt and a mature figure and face beyond her years.
Without needing any explanation, it was clear they belonged to the popular crowd at school.
Put nicely, they were the "in" group.
Put badly, they were probably the school bullies.
"Transfer student. Can we talk for a second?"
Jeong Ha-rin placed her hand on my chest and licked her lips.
