Re...union (2)
Re...union (2)
The Confession Necklace acting up on its own was nothing new.
It was a mischievous artifact that spilled its owner's embarrassing inner thoughts the moment a gap appeared.
I couldn't count the number of times this necklace had made things awkward for me.
[Yes]
[Nice to meet you]
[Miss Lee Ha-sol]
'Huh?'
This time was a little different.
'Nice to meet you instead of hello?'
All the outbursts the Confession Necklace had shown before were about revealing my true feelings.
Looking at the necklace and revealing my fantasy of strangling it to death, or exposing my observation that Baek A-rin had a large chest, that sort of thing.
But now?
I could say without a doubt that this wasn't a thought I'd had. It wasn't an embarrassing memory, nor one I'd buried and refused to recall.
Literally speaking, a thought I'd never had came out of the necklace.
Question marks abounded in my head.
"...It really is Ha-yul."
[Yes]
[I'm Lee Ha-yul─]
[...I am.]
The woman, Lee Ha-sol, blinked as she murmured. As if reacting to her, the necklace answered on its own again.
I snatched the necklace up and blinked.
'What is this?'
Pulling myself together, I observed the person named Lee Ha-sol once more.
The first and strongest impression that came to mind was 'light green.'
Hair that was neatly trimmed and draped over one shoulder, and a pair of clear, bright eyes.
All of it was a light, vivid green.
Coincidentally, the main color of her cadet uniform and accessories was also in the green spectrum, making her overall palette harmonize beautifully.
Her whole appearance was flawless. Her features were round yet distinct, and the curves of her body under the uniform were easily discernible.
Even among superhumans, she had a uniquely striking appearance.
'Where have I met her before?'
In other words, she was a person hard to forget once encountered. I, having the Authority of Observation and Knowledge, was especially sensitive to that.
How could I forget someone with such a dense innate talent?
Meaning, if I didn't know her, it wasn't just that I hadn't met her—she hadn't even registered in my perception.
But it was clear that she knew me.
It wasn't because of my fame. Her eyes held surprise and delight, as if she genuinely had a bond with the person named Lee Ha-yul.
Lee Ha-sol, who had been shyly covering her slightly open mouth with her hand, trotted toward me.
She even gently extended her hand to me.
My body didn't flinch at the approaching hand.
No wariness arose. I should have at least considered the possibility and been on guard, but my instincts had already concluded there was no threat at all.
Her hand touched my cheek.
- Squeeeeze...
[?]
She pinched my cheek with her fingers.
I noticed the corners of her eyes curving up.
"Ha-yul! Why haven't you contacted me all this time!"
[Mwe?]
"Don't give me that 'Mwe?'! Do you know how shocked I was when I heard the news! First, there was a fire at the Director's, and then I hear you ran away...!"
I was suddenly being scolded.
My cheek was stretched out long like a piece of dough. Her skill at stretching it without causing pain was impressive. It definitely felt like I was being chastised, but there was no physical pain involved.
'Ah.'
But I could roughly grasp the situation.
The words Director, fire, and running away.
At the same time, I recalled the personal details I'd checked in the past.
Ilbo Orphanage.
One of the orphanages this body of mine had lived in, in this world.
[That's...]
"Yes! Speak! ...You managed to get a nice necklace. Now you don't have to carry around a notepad everywhere you go─"
[Were you and I previously acquainted, Miss Lee Ha-sol?]
"─that's so convenient... I'm sorry, what?"
The problem was that I had no memories of that period.
The words she'd been speaking cut off abruptly. The hands that had been stretching my cheek also stopped.
Lee Ha-sol's eyes opened wide. An emotion of a different texture from before was held within them.
"...Excuse me?"
Consternation spread from between her lips.
.
.
.
"Memory... loss...?"
Her light green eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
That was Lee Ha-sol's reaction to my explanation. Her face cracked apart as if the world had collapsed, and I felt an unnecessary pang of guilt.
"F-from when... no, until when? Back then... have you forgotten all your memories of the orphanage...?"
Just as I'd expected, Lee Ha-sol was a connection from my past orphanage days.
To be precise, she was someone who knew the empty shell from before a soul had taken up residence.
Meaning, she was a person with no connection to me, the soul who had properly entered this body.
[Yes... um, most of them...]
"That can't be... Just a moment ago, you said you were glad to see me, didn't you?"
Her trembling hands came up to rest on my shoulders. Urgency was dripping from the eyes that stared straight down at me.
I wanted to give her a good answer, but unfortunately, what I could say right now was fixed.
[I'm not sure about that either. The necklace, the artifact, it reacted on its own.]
"Such a thing..."
Dark clouds spread thickly over her earnest expression. She seemed to be restraining her emotions, but I could clearly observe the emotional turmoil throughout her entire body.
'Were we close...?'
I fidgeted with my fingers as I gauged Lee Ha-sol's mood.
The record from before this soul had entered the body. I had looked into it briefly, but hadn't paid it much mind.
To be exact, I'd dropped my interest in it later on. I'd already found out how I had arrived in this world, after all.
'But to think there was a bond like this...'
I should have looked into it more closely. It was a relationship where she'd react that strongly, so it was probably something I could have figured out by looking into it.
It was clearly my mistake.
"Ha-yul, are you..."
A brief moment passed.
Though the time was short, Lee Ha-sol had managed to compose herself quite well.
Eventually, after pressing down a sigh, Lee Ha-sol parted her lips.
"First of all, Ha-yul... are you really the Lee Ha-yul who used to live at Ilbo Orphanage?"
[Yes.]
Ilbo Orphanage.
It was the name of the last orphanage I had been in, both in the previous world and in this one.
The people might not be the same, but the name of the orphanage hadn't changed.
"...Then it's alright."
[Pardon?]
She had a point.
Though this is a world where spirit and flesh are separate concepts, memories remain in the physical body after all.
"Look at the world we live in these days. You can definitely get them back."
A world where unique abilities ran rampant. There was bound to be a way to recover a single memory.
Having said that, Lee Ha-sol forced herself to make a resolute smile.
[...Yes, I'll try to find a way to look into it too.]
"Yes, thank you."
It was hard to outright say something that would pour cold water on her while facing that smile.
As I hid my complicated expression and answered positively, Lee Ha-sol also held a small smile.
"Heh, but still... I do like this you better."
[Pardon?]
"I can really feel your emotions now. Flustered, apologetic, embarrassed... Back then, you were always so expressionless, it was really hard to read you."
The two hands that had been on my shoulders came up and gently stroked both of my cheeks.
She swept over them as if checking the texture, cupped my cheeks softly, and kneaded them a little...
When I rolled my eyes around wildly under my eyelids, her touch moved to the corners of my eyes this time.
"And your eyes... you still can't see? Whenever I hear news about the Special Admission Cadet, they say you sometimes go around with them open."
[Ah... generally, I can't see, that's correct. But I have a detection ability, so I get by just fine.]
"That's a relief. Then you won't need anyone to hold your hand anymore. And thanks to the necklace, you don't have to bother carrying a notebook around. And since you're a superhuman, I guess you don't get sick so easily either..."
The emotion seeping from her touch was warm. The soft and buoyant sensation gently settled onto my cheeks.
Even if I suspected it was a lie meant to lure me in, this feeling made it impossible to doubt its authenticity.
In many ways, it was a complicated sensation.
"And the burn on your arm has healed cleanly too."
Her touch descended to my right arm. As if handling a fragile work of art, her fingertips carefully brushed over the skin.
[Yes... Anyway, Miss Lee Ha-sol.]
"Ahaha, I see you at least remember to put 'Miss' after a name by default."
[Er... I suppose so... Anyway.]
I gently pulled away from Lee Ha-sol's touch and pointed to the outside of the alley.
[If you want to arrive at the Freshman Welcome Party on time, I think you should get going soon?]
"Wel-come... party? ...! Ah!"
Lee Ha-sol, who had been wearing a wistful expression, straightened up with a start.
The chest that had been tantalizingly close, hovering right in front of my nose, retreated.
"I totally forgot! I almost caused trouble from the very first event... Ha-yul, thank you for telling me!"
[Yeah, yeah... but it's not too late yet, so take it slow.]
And don't go crashing into innocent people like a certain someone...
I cut off the last trailing remark before it could come out.
"Ah! Right, right, your contacts!"
Lee Ha-sol, who had been hurriedly straightening her clothes, let out an exclamation, tapped her smartwatch, and held it out toward me.
It was a smartwatch in synchronization mode. I brushed my own smartwatch against it in response.
- Ding!
[Contact 'Lee Ha-sol' has been saved.]
"Done! Later, I'll definitely contact you!"
[Yes, yes... don't rush yourself too much, okay...]
Whooosh! The surrounding wind coiled around Lee Ha-sol.
A small gust blew.
Lee Ha-sol, having shot out of the alley in one burst, kicked off the ground repeatedly as she headed toward the banquet hall.
[...I said not to rush.]
I sighed deeply as I observed her figure instantly growing distant.
My head was spinning.
It felt as if a storm had suddenly swept through and disappeared.
'Lee Ha-sol, huh...'
It wasn't a name I didn't know at all. It was the name at the very top of the new student list posted on the Siyoram announcements.
I hadn't expected her to be someone this body had known personally.
'Memories.'
To be precise, the body's memories.
I hadn't bothered trying to find them, but now that I knew there was a bond like this, I couldn't just ignore it.
And a method that might retrieve those memories had surfaced in my mind.
The Authority of Knowledge.
Especially when it came to problems regarding memory, the Authority of Knowledge would be a great help.
In other words, my list of things to do had increased.
Sighing deeply, I stroked the Confession Necklace.
[...Senior, I can sense everything even if you're hiding.]
At the voice of the necklace, a presence nearby flinched.
How could anyone hide a presence that prickled so blatantly?
A moment later, from around the corner where Lee Ha-sol had dashed out, someone popped their head out.
It was Senior Daera, who had been hovering nearby, flustered, for the past few minutes.
Why was she here? She had definitely left much earlier than I had.
[Why do you have that expression on your face?]
But Senior Daera's expression was extremely peculiar. Her narrow, blue eyes were fixed on me, piercingly sharp.
"...Junior Disciple, just how many women are there, exactly?"
[?]
[It's not like that.]
Despite my denial, Senior Daera's suspicion didn't easily clear up.