The Morning After and the Price of Pride
[Ding-ding-ding~ Good morning~ Ding-ding-ding~ Pa-pa-pa pa-pa-]
I reached out to the head of the bed and fumbled to turn off the alarm. For some reason, the phone wasn't where I usually left it before sleeping, so it took me a while to silence the noise. I really hate that part of the melody... Wait, when did I even fall asleep? I had no memory of it, like a blackout after a night of heavy drinking. Feeling disoriented, I slowly opened my eyes.
...It’s an unfamiliar ceiling. To think the day would actually come where I’d have this thought. When I first fell into this world, the first thing I saw was my own body engulfed in flames, so I hadn't had the luxury of pondering such clichés.
As I sat up, I noticed curtains drawn around me. Given that the last thing I remembered was receiving the Mana Herb from Leonor and smoking it, I was likely still within the school. Seeing the bed behind the partition, I assumed it must be the infirmary.
I pushed the curtain aside to find a girl dozing off, leaning against the back of her chair. Judging by the white coat, she was the school nurse. I put on my shoes, which had been placed under the bed, and stood up. Sensing the movement, she jolted awake in a panic.
“I wasn't sleeping! I wasn't! I was just... meditating for a moment!”
I understood, but I really wished she’d wipe the drool from her mouth before talking to me. I stared silently at the clear imprint of the chair’s texture on her cheek. Realizing what I was looking at, she wiped the saliva from her chin with the back of her hand and let out an awkward, sheepish laugh.
“Hehe, you’re up? I heard the situation from the girl who brought you in. You shouldn't inhale so deeply the first time you smoke a Mana Herb. Even if it’s good for the body and has no major side effects, it’s meant for mental stabilization. If someone without a tolerance inhales more than the recommended amount at once, they end up just like you—all loopy.”
I could piece together the situation. Leonor must have brought me to the infirmary after I got completely high on the herb. Still, the fact that I had zero memory of it bothered me. I didn't do anything embarrassing to Leonor, did I? I had a deep-seated fear of blackouts.
Back in my old life, when I first started drinking with friends after getting a fake ID, I didn't know my limits and drank way too much. I woke up the next day with no memory of the night before. When I asked my friends what happened, they all started laughing until their sides split. One of them pulled up a video from our group chat. It was the legendary clip titled, ‘The Adorable Little Spirit.’
I still can't forget the shock of seeing that video. Something that looked like me, clinging to people and whining, “Hwee-eng~” How was I supposed to know my drunk self was that horrifying? If there’s one moment in my life I want to undo, the first is leaving that comment on the final chapter of ‘Academy’s Holy Swordsman,’ and the second is being recorded in that video. If I could go back, I would never drink until I blacked out again. Ever since then, that video became a recurring topic whenever we drank, and I had to work so hard to fend off friends who kept trying to force-feed me alcohol just to see it again.
“Oh, come to think of it, the student who brought you here left her number on your phone, saying to text her when you woke up.”
I checked my phone and found a new number in my previously empty contact list. Did she add it while she was setting my alarm? I thanked the nurse and left the infirmary. Checking the time, I saw that classes were almost over. If I’d been asleep from lunch until now, that was quite a long nap.
On the way to the classroom, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Leonor. I kept it safe and simple:
A reply came back as if she had been waiting for it. It included a video attachment.
With a sense of impending doom, I clicked the video with trembling fingers.
- *“Senior~ Hug me~”*
- *“What are you doing? Taking a picture? Hehe, cheese~”*
- *“I’m sleepy... I wanna go night-night...”*
In the video, a girl was acting all cute toward the person holding the camera. Under normal circumstances, it would be cute enough to make me smile like a proud father. It would have been perfect if the protagonist of the video wasn't me.
...Should I just kill myself? I don't want to die, but I was feeling that desperate. I glanced at the hallway window. The infirmary was on the first floor, and the first-year classroom was on the second. Jumping wouldn't even kill me... The shame was enough to make me lose my mind. And why did she send this video? I thought about it, but only strange ideas came to mind. The combination of an embarrassing video and a blonde, tanned delinquent... there was only one conclusion.
I started to fear what might happen after school.
When I returned to the classroom, it was still class time, and all eyes turned to me as I entered through the back door. I hoped I hadn't been branded a delinquent who skipped class on a whim. I bowed my head slightly to the history teacher to apologize for the interruption and took my seat. Sylvia turned toward me and whispered in a low voice.
“...I already told the teachers that Scarlet was feeling unwell and resting in the infirmary.”
That was a relief. I bowed my head slightly to show my gratitude, and she primly turned her head away. For some reason, the tips of her ears were slightly red. But how did Sylvia know I was in the infirmary? Did Leonor tell her? I guessed that must be it.
After sitting for a while, the class ended, and it was time for the homeroom wrap-up. Eve walked in and looked at me with a smirk.
“Ms. Evande, did you get some good rest? Be careful next time, okay?”
She seemed to know why I had gone to the infirmary. Well, she was the homeroom teacher, so she must have heard from the nurse. It probably went something like, ‘She’s a student in your class, right? Well, she tried smoking for the first time and inhaled too much smoke at once, so she collapsed!’ How embarrassing.
After homeroom ended, I nodded to the kids who asked if I was feeling better and headed toward the snack bar. With every step, my delusions ran wild. In my head, I could see Leonor smiling viciously, telling me to behave myself if I didn't want the video to spread. Was I going to be forced to do terrible things from now on?
I was shivering as I arrived in front of the snack bar when something cold suddenly touched my cheek. “Hick?!” I jumped in surprise and turned around to see Leonor holding a soda can. She held out the drink that had just touched my cheek. As I took it, bewildered, she pulled her phone from her pocket, shook it, and gave me a playful, mischievous grin.
“This is a reward for showing me something good. I like cute things, and thanks to my junior, I have something to watch before bed now. It’d be a waste to keep such a good thing to myself, wouldn't it? What should I do?”
Ah... ahhh... Feeling my face turn red with shame, I knew I was stepping into the abyss, but I uttered the fated line anyway.
“...What do I have to do for you to delete it?”
Ah, I said it. From here on, I wouldn't be able to refuse Leonor’s requests, and I’d be forced to do unspeakable things until I was a mess, eventually giving up and becoming hers... I waited for her request, feeling like it was all over. She pondered for a moment, then, as if something had occurred to her, she blushed with anticipation.
“Then, will you call me ‘Big Sister’ from now on?”
“No way. Spread the video if you want.”
I hardened my face and refused flatly. No matter how cool Leonor was—the kind of woman who made you want to call her ‘Big Sister’—I was older than her! I couldn't say that even if a sword were held to my throat. A man has his pride. I’d rather be called ‘Nge-vande’ by everyone!
“Hey, are you mad? I never actually intended to spread the video, so calm down... Is it really that bad to call me ‘Big Sister’?” Leonor asked, looking dejected. I knew she wasn't the type of person to force someone to do something they truly hated. She was just playing around, and seeing someone who usually looked so cool become so deflated at my words was actually kind of cute. Was this what they called gap moe? Of course, I still had no intention of calling her that.
“I have no intention of calling anyone ‘Big Sister’ unless they are my family.”
“...Did something bad happen to your sister?”
I didn't want to call anyone that unless it was a situation where it would be strange not to, like if Scarlet Evande had a sister. I meant it in that sense, but seeing Leonor ask so cautiously, I realized she had misunderstood, so I answered to correct her.
“It’s not like that. I don't have any family to begin with.”
I said it with a smile, thinking, ‘I don't have any family who could suffer bad things, so it’s fine!’ Leonor’s face tightened as if she were holding something back. Confused by her reaction, I tilted my head, and she suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Junior, did you say your name was Scarlet? Why don't you join our club?”
Club activities... I hadn't thought about it at all, but she asked with such an earnest expression that I decided to at least hear her out.
“What kind of club is it?”
“It’s a cooking club. We borrow the cafeteria kitchen every Friday evening to cook. Since it’s only for people who feel like it, there are hardly any members, but I just thought we could cook together and maybe have dinner...”
The mention of dinner made me suddenly interested. Wouldn't it be nice to eat something other than bean sprouts once in a while? Just as I was tempted, she continued.
“The annual membership fee is 100,000 gold, but I’ll pay it for you, so why don't you join?”
If it were free, I might have considered it, but hearing there was a membership fee made me hesitate. My remaining living expenses were 23,000 gold, and 100,000 gold? I couldn't easily take on a debt that was, theoretically, four months of my survival money. I shook my head, held out the soda can she had given me, and said:
“I don't like being in debt, so if I ever feel like joining later, I’ll pay the money and join officially. You don't have to give me this drink, either.”
“No, I get not wanting me to pay the fee, but why refuse even this... Fine. If that makes you feel better, I can't help it. If you ever need help, let me know. See you next time.”
Taking the soda can back, she wore a bitter expression. Perhaps because I had refused the club activity, she said her goodbyes in a regretful voice and left. Did she really want me to join that badly? I hadn't really thought about club activities, but thinking I couldn't join because I had no money made me feel a bit down. Should I... try to earn some money?
I decided to think about it once I got home.
*
As soon as I got home, I searched for ways to make money on my phone. I excluded jobs that required long hours and those that overlapped with school time. I looked for daily tasks I could do. While filtering through them, one thing caught my eye: Superpower Demonstration. Among the preferred qualifications listed, it said ‘Academy students preferred.’ It required demonstrating my superpower for about two hours, and the daily wage was a whopping 120,000 gold. I wondered if there was ever a job that paid so generously—60,000 gold per hour.
I didn't know exactly what the job entailed, but I couldn't miss an opportunity like this. I immediately wrote up my profile and sent an email to the contact address. Not long after, I received a confirmation text. It told me to come to OO Park by 8:00 PM tomorrow. It was the same park I had visited before. Feeling lucky that the location wasn't far from home, I sat down on the bed, and felt something rustling in my pocket. I pulled it out—it was the chocolate I had received from the class representative in the morning. It had been in my pocket all day, so it was almost melted and distorted in shape. I paused for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
“Sorry, Representative. I can't eat this.”
I opened the refrigerator door and tucked the chocolate away in a corner where it wouldn't be easily seen. After dinner and changing my clothes, I lay down on the bed. Since I’d be rich by tomorrow, maybe I’d be able to afford more than just bean sprouts.