41. Si-jun Said He Hates Chicken!
41. Si-jun Said He Hates Chicken!
41. Si-jun Said He Hates Chicken!
It was time to head back to the dormitory.
I watched Na Yu-na leave for her class, then turned and walked down the hall toward my own.
Click. Click.
My counseling session with Shin Si-hwa had just ended, and the students' next period was just beginning.
Only the sound of my own footsteps echoed through the corridor.
As I walked that silent hallway, I caught glimpses through the windows of students heading out for outdoor training.
'That class is...'
The first-year students were divided into classes A through E.
The letters weren't about grades—they were just labels.
But to maintain a degree of separation, the top-ranked students were split apart.
Those top students, naturally, had the highest scores and the most significant roles in V. AGE.
Among the students in Class B, the one who drew my eye was, without a doubt, the first-year top seat—a character on the level of a main heroine.
'Lee Seol-ha.'
Lee Seol-ha, with her dark navy hair cut short to her shoulders.
Since Yu Ha-yeon had forfeited the top seat, Lee Seol-ha had ended up with the scholarship, and her pride couldn't tolerate that fact. She resented Yu Ha-yeon for it.
She looked exactly like her V. AGE illustration: sharp features, an intense expression.
Lee Seol-ha, who'd grown up poor but carried a fierce pride.
I stared at her for a long moment, and she must have sensed my gaze, because she suddenly spun around and met my eyes.
"..."
'Who's this guy staring at me?' That's exactly what her look said.
Lee Seol-ha held my gaze for a beat, then promptly turned away and disappeared toward the training grounds with the other students.
'That glare is something else...'
We'd only exchanged brief eye contact, but I had a feeling that if she'd been standing in front of me, she would've planted her fist right in my face.
I was bound to meet her properly in the next episode anyway.
Getting familiar with her now wasn't a bad thing, from my perspective.
'She couldn't see my face, after all.'
I had my hat pulled down low, so from her end it was a one-sided staring contest.
'I'll probably run into her during the next episode.'
Most V. AGE episodes came with set strategies.
If you had a certain character's ability, you could clear it easily; without them, the same episode could become a real struggle.
That's why every episode had essential characters for the optimal route.
For the next one, Episode 2, the character most likely to shine was Lee Seol-ha.
If I could borrow her strength in Episode 2, the odds of reducing student casualties would be extremely high.
'But will she cooperate?'
That was the biggest problem.
Lee Seol-ha had issues beyond just her pride, which made recruiting her as an ally incredibly tough.
I mulled over those thoughts about Lee Seol-ha as I reviewed my plans for the day.
Hm...
There was nothing.
'Nothing left to do, so I guess I'll head back.'
Quietly, I passed the school chairwoman's office and picked up my pace, eager to get back to my room.
***
Being alone in a room like this is incredibly lonely.
When there's no one around me, I often start feeling uneasy.
"But... I've got my bunny. So it's okay..."
I can hold on!
Si-jun told me that if I wait patiently, I'll get a reward for being a good kid.
He said it's even better than the times when sweet snacks come out, and it makes the empty feeling inside me feel full.
"Hehe... I'm so glad I came out of the hideout! If I'd stayed there, I never would've known about things like this! Yu-wol is such an idiot!"
Han Yu-wol was incredibly scary, and her ears were sharp, so this was the first time I'd ever badmouthed her out loud.
Was this how the main character felt in that fairy tale, the one with the king's donkey ears?
My heart felt so much lighter after letting it out.
But.
"If this is such a great place... why does Grandpa and those old men want to destroy it...?"
This part confused me so much more than anything Si-jun had tried to explain.
The people outside are trash.
The people outside are bad people who only want to use you.
That's what Grandpa always told me.
But now that I've actually met them, I don't think they're bad people at all.
"Just looking at that red-haired lady and Si-jun, they're really nice... except for that black-haired girl."
That lady with the red hair and the things much bigger than mine.
Si-jun called her "Teacher."
"I want to have the same teacher as Si-jun too... I want to do the same things as Si-jun..."
But there was one woman my radar kept picking up.
The black-haired woman stuck to Si-jun's side like glue.
If I asked my bunny about her, I'm sure the bunny would say she's a bad woman.
Anyway.
I just had that feeling.
"What do you call stuff like this again...?"
Sense?
Instinct?
I think it had a name like that.
I couldn't quite remember.
"Anyway, Si-jun! When are you coming back!"
Waiting is hard!
I'm not very patient.
Holding things in is what I'm worst at, and waiting is my second worst.
"I really want to do that thing already..."
The waiting had worn me out, and I couldn't take it anymore.
With a serious look, I stared at my white rabbit doll.
"Rabbit. From today onward, you are Si-jun. Got it?"
I'd always meant to give the rabbit a name but kept forgetting. Today, I decided his name would be "Si-jun."
"Okay, Si... Si-jun...! Are you ready...!?"
Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded as I remembered the feeling from before.
This is Si-jun. This rabbit is Si-jun.
Right away, I pressed my lips to Si-jun's.
"Si-jun...!"
I kissed him while replaying the memory, but all I felt against my mouth was a soft, fuzzy texture.
It was on a completely different level from Si-jun's moist, warm lips.
"Th-This isn't right...!!"
I really do need Si-jun.
The only thing that can fill this feeling is Si-jun.
"Sii... when are you coming back...? Si-jun...!!"
Being a good kid.
It wasn't as easy as Si-jun made it sound.
***
"What the—she's asleep."
When I left the dorm room earlier, Ban Ha-na's eyes had looked incredibly anxious.
But now, she hadn't even noticed I'd come back; she was fast asleep with her fluffy rabbit doll tucked under her head like a pillow.
Soft, steady breaths.
Ban Ha-na seemed deeply asleep, little puffs of air escaping her lips.
I hadn't been gone that long, so if she was already out this hard, she must have dozed off not long after I left.
I could piece that much together from the clues.
"She probably hasn't eaten lunch yet..."
We'd just gotten by with toast for breakfast, so Ban Ha-na had to be pretty hungry.
I had no choice: I resolved to prepare lunch for her.
First, I needed to check what ingredients we had.
I opened the fridge to find out.
"...It's totally empty."
My dorm fridge was bare.
The only usable things were eggs and a few drinks.
Nothing you'd call a meal.
'Was I really living this sloppily...?'
My dinners were just bread to get by; the only proper meals I ate were at the academy cafeteria.
Now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense why I had such a scrawny body.
'And I barely have any money. Nothing I can do about it.'
In this situation, treating Ban Ha-na to a proper meal was impossible.
It was too late to hit the cafeteria, too.
Only one option remained for me.
'Chicken prices have been going up lately, so it's expensive...'
I picked up my phone from the charger and opened the delivery app.
I wasn't sure if it would suit Ban Ha-na's palate, since she'd grown up eating only high-quality meats, but I'd never met anyone in my life who hated this food. I went ahead and placed the order.
***
The delivery arrived. I unfolded a portable table on the floor to set up the meal, and Ban Ha-na, drawn by the smell, began to stir awake.
"Mmm... Si-jun...? What's that smell...?"
"Oh, this? It's something called chicken."
"Chicken...?"
Chicken.
A food that almost everyone loves, deep-fried chicken that very few people dislike.
What I personally considered the soul food of Korea. Chicken.
It was more than enough to wake up Ban Ha-na from her deep sleep.
She rubbed her eyes, got up from the bed, and sat down daintily in front of the chicken.
Having lived only in the secret hideout, Ban Ha-na seemed to be seeing delivery food for the first time. I opened the packaging and showed her exactly what it was.
"This is deep-fried chicken. It's one of my favorite foods."
"If... If it's something Si-jun likes, then I like it too! I wanna eat it!"
Steam was still rising from the chicken, so I grabbed a sheet of aluminum foil from the kitchen area and wrapped it around a steaming drumstick.
"It's hot, so eat it slowly."
"I'm not stupid! I'll eat it slow!"
You do realize saying that just makes you sound more childish, right, Ha-na?
But maybe it was because I'd learned about Ban Ha-na's hidden past—today, I didn't feel like teasing her at all.
Ban Ha-na's pink eyes widened into circles as she stared at the steaming chicken.
"Whoa..."
She picked up the drumstick and examined it with a look of wonder.
If she'd never been kidnapped by Shin Hae-il and had grown up in an ordinary household, would she have reacted like this?
'Let it go. Just let that past go.'
I'd learned about Ban Ha-na's history and now I couldn't stop thinking about it, almost to the point of wishing I hadn't heard.
Her reactions left a faint, bittersweet ache in my chest.
What I was looking at right now was just Ban Ha-na.
I decided to set aside my assumptions and see her as I had at the very beginning.
Once I'd made that resolve, I looked at Ban Ha-na again.
She was gently blowing on the drumstick.
"Phew... phew..."
Ban Ha-na was blowing cool air to take the heat out of the drumstick.
Once it had cooled off a bit, she took a bite.
Crunch.
The crisp texture of the fried coating as it crunched between her teeth.
The warm, juicy meat inside.
Ban Ha-na's eyes flew open as if she'd just fully woken up, and she began scarfing down the chicken in a hurry.
Ban Ha-na was eating with total concentration.
I felt a little bad interrupting her focus, but I decided to ask how it tasted.
"Ha-na. Is it good?"
"It'sh sho good! Si-jun! Si-jun, you gotta eat it quick too! I might just eat all of it! This tastes like a villain...!!"
Completely unable to control her own hand, Ban Ha-na kept tearing into the chicken with delight.
On the days Yu Ha-yeon and I used to order chicken together, I'd eat all the drumsticks and she'd eat the breast meat; it was a dream combo.
But that wasn't the case here, so all I could do was watch as Ban Ha-na demolished the drumsticks.
Yeah, go ahead, Ha-na. Eat up.
Just watching you eat makes me happy.
"I hate chicken. You can eat all of it, Ha-na. Just take it slow so you don't get sick..."
Why do mothers always say they hate their favorite food?
I suddenly found myself sharing a strange sense of kinship with those mothers.
As I watched Ban Ha-na happily eat with sauce smeared on her lips, I started to feel a bit of regret.
'Ah. I shouldn't have given up my sense of taste.'
Why did I have to go and give up my sense of taste?
Chicken that I couldn't taste at all. To me, it was nothing more than a source of protein.
"It'sh sho good! Hehe...!"
"Yeah, I'm glad you like it..."
As Ha-na tore into her second drumstick, eating so happily, all I could do was watch.