42. It's Not a Joke. I'm Serious.
42. It's Not a Joke. I'm Serious.
42. It's Not a Joke. I'm Serious.
The days kept passing. My semi-cohabitation with Ban Ha-na continued, and before I knew it, a week had gone by.
Finally, the day came for me to return to the academy.
I put on my school uniform for the first time in a while, packed my nutritional supplements, and headed out. Ban Ha-na stood beside me, clearly proud of her own uniform.
She looked at me, practically bouncing. "Si-jun! How do I look? Pretty, right?"
"Yeah, you look pretty, Ha-na. The other students are going to feel inadequate."
"Hehe... Right? I'm way prettier than the others!"
Honestly, they'd probably find her adorable rather than intimidated.
But sometimes a little white lie was necessary to keep society running smoothly.
Ban Ha-na, starting early as a teacher-recommended student, was scheduled to be placed in Shin Si-hwa's class.
She was probably put in Class A because Shin Si-hwa wanted to take responsibility for the incident that had tormented her own parents. That sounded exactly like something Shin Si-hwa would do, given how soft-hearted she was.
The fact that Ha-na could even enroll with such an unclear background was probably also thanks to Shin Si-hwa.
Considering how much Shin Si-hwa had covered up, it wouldn't have been surprising if she'd been dismissed from her teaching position. Being grateful to her was only natural.
First things first. Let's get to class before I'm late.
Showing up late on my first day back wasn't an option.
I picked up the pace.
But then—
"Ha-na. You can't go out this way."
"Oh, right!"
This was the men's dormitory.
Ban Ha-na promptly vanished through the space hidden behind the mirror.
And so, I finally headed to the academy after what felt like forever.
***
Ban Ha-na was a brand-new student, so she had to report to the faculty office where her homeroom teacher, Shin Si-hwa, was waiting.
I could still picture Ban Ha-na's face as she waved her hand wildly at me. 'See you soon, Si-jun!'
I stopped in front of my own classroom, the one labeled Class 1-A.
The moment I walked in, if the room was quiet, it would get noisy; if it was already noisy, it would get even noisier.
But if I was afraid of that, I wouldn't be me.
Whatever reaction they threw at me was their business, not mine.
I slid the door open with confidence, like nothing had ever happened.
The door rattled open.
Alright. Bring it on.
I'll field any question you've got.
I'd steeled myself, but when I actually entered the room, the scene before me wasn't what I'd expected.
Nobody paid me any attention at all.
...What's going on?
When those reporters had swarmed me, I'd thought I was a celebrity.
So what was with this reaction from the students?
Dry, indifferent reactions—they wouldn't even meet my eyes. They were conspicuously, unnaturally unresponsive to my presence.
In that strange atmosphere, the only person who spoke to me was Yu Ha-yeon.
"Han Si-jun! Over here! Did you forget where your seat is or something?"
The prime suspect for creating this situation was waving at me from across the room.
I caught a few stolen glances from the students who used to be hostile toward me. They were checking Yu Ha-yeon's reaction.
There was no way this was happening without Yu Ha-yeon having done something first.
I quickly sat down next to her and whispered, "Hey, Yu Ha-yeon! What did you do to make everyone act like this?"
"Nothing much. I didn't say anything, really. I just told them not to bother you. Something like that?"
She told them not to bother me, and now not a single person would even talk to me?
It seemed like Yu Ha-yeon had left a significant portion of that conversation out.
I mean, it's nice that she told them not to bother me, but...
What kind of method did she use to make every single person try this hard to ignore me?
As if she'd read my mind, Yu Ha-yeon whispered back to me.
"Curious? Want me to tell you?"
"...No."
I was probably better off not knowing.
Just like knowing about future events brought me trouble, some things in this world were better left unknown.
And right now, this situation was definitely one of them.
Yu Ha-yeon propped her arm on my side of the desk and flashed me a mischievous smile.
When she made that kind of expression, the truth was always better off buried.
Yu Ha-yeon giggled. "Hehe. It's been a while since we sat like this, huh?"
"Yeah, it's been almost a month, right?"
Two weeks kidnapped by villains, one week of rest from school—three weeks total. My time away from school was pushing almost a full month.
To avoid flunking out, I needed a certain level of written exam scores and practical performance. Missing a month in these circumstances could be pretty fatal.
Well, I'll manage somehow.
I could handle the written exams with my knowledge from V. AGE, and for practicals, I'd picked up quite a few abilities. Unless my luck was terrible, I didn't have anything to worry about.
My skills had reached a point where concerns about failing were no longer necessary.
Just then, a group of students walked over to me.
"You guys are..."
Their faces were familiar. How could I forget them?
They were the members of my old group.
Actually, the only face I really remember is Ahn Ji-ho.
Ahn Ji-ho, with his talent as a B-rank Tank, had stuck in my memory.
My old group members abruptly started apologizing to me.
"We're sorry! We misjudged you!"
They hung their heads, saying they'd misunderstood me.
Maybe it was because I'd helped them so much with our group project. They were apologizing for spreading weird rumors about me—that I seduced women, stole other people's girlfriends, and was normal in the morning but turned into a wolf at night.
They were confessing that they'd contributed to spreading those ugly rumors.
Should I accept their apology or not?
I was a little torn.
To be honest, I didn't usually care what other people thought, but being randomly cursed at by passing students had been a little annoying.
Could just refuse to accept it and yell that I'm going to steal their girlfriends after all...?
A bit of mischief sparked in me, but I decided to use this opportunity to reinvent myself.
They were apologizing to me, and once word got out that I'd accepted, those ugly rumors would likely die down.
I decided to forgive their past mistakes.
"I'll accept your apology. But... it feels a little insincere, don't you think...?"
Were they just apologizing with empty words?
The faces of my group members started to lift as they caught the implication in my tone. Panic was written all over them.
As the mood took a slightly colder turn, Yu Ha-yeon nudged me. "Han Si-jun. Don't tease them for no reason."
"Alright, alright. It was a joke, guys. Just a joke. Don't take it so seriously."
The moment I called it a joke, their stiff expressions finally relaxed.
My words had contained a tiny grain of sincerity, though.
I looked at their relieved faces and nodded. "Let's get along from now on."
But was a misunderstanding really that easy to resolve?
Shin Si-hwa's misunderstanding about me was seemingly impossible to ever fix, no matter what.
A suspicion crossed my mind, and I glanced over at Yu Ha-yeon beside me.
"...?"
She just smiled brightly and tilted her head as if to say, 'What's up?'
Something felt off.
I decided to voice my curiosity to the group.
"...Hey, did Yu Ha-yeon do something to you guys?"
They flinched.
Seeing that, I could guess that Yu Ha-yeon had indeed worked her magic on them, too.
As if confirming my guess, Ahn Ji-ho glanced nervously at Yu Ha-yeon before shouting back at me on behalf of the group.
"N-Nothing happened at all! Everyone's apology was sincere...!"
Interpreting Ahn Ji-ho's flustered voice: Something did happen, but the apology is sincere.
That was the translation.
What on earth did you do, Yu Ha-yeon.
I looked at Yu Ha-yeon with eyes that demanded an explanation.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Han Si-jun?"
"No reason. Just thinking it's been a while..."
Why was it that her smile was always the scariest thing about her?
Yu Ha-yeon's smiling face radiated an unspoken 'Do you really need to know that?' so strongly that I just brushed it off.
Once I accepted their apology, the students started drifting back to their own seats one by one.
"Um, excuse me..."
Then, a bespectacled female student who looked like a model student approached me.
She was the one with talent as a Healer. Her name didn't come to mind, but her actions sure did.
The one who screamed, 'Am I going to get pregnant?!' just because my hand touched her, treating me like a criminal.
That girl. The one whose name I couldn't remember.
She must have read the 'Who are you?' in my eyes, because she started introducing herself.
"It's Park Ji-woo... Park Ji-woo."
"Ahh... Right. I know you. I remember."
Her eyes clearly showed she didn't believe a word of it.
Were my lies always that obvious?
She lowered her voice so the other students couldn't hear and directed a whisper at me and Yu Ha-yeon.
"G-Good luck with your relationship...!!"
"Thanks, Ji-woo~ We'll be very happy together!"
"..."
She and Yu Ha-yeon must have been close, since she seemed to be acknowledging our relationship.
But I never saw the two of them talking while I was still at school...?
It was a little puzzling, but they must have gotten closer during the three weeks I was gone. Friendship doesn't depend on time; if you click with someone, you can get close fast.
I decided to chalk it up to that and not dwell on it.
Once all that had passed and the classroom atmosphere had settled, Yu Ha-yeon's slender hand came to rest on top of mine, which was already on the desk.
Just like that, she began to lace her fingers through mine.
"Han Si-jun."
"Hey... you..."
"You'd be in serious trouble without me, huh?"
She smiled softly and squeezed my interlaced fingers tighter.
As if she would never let this hand go again.
As if I wouldn't be able to escape anywhere.
Was she always this forward...?
I put on a relaxed front and answered Yu Ha-yeon.
"You'd be in serious trouble without me, too, you know."
"...Maybe I would."
Huh.
Normally, this was the part where Yu Ha-yeon would fire back, 'I'd be just fine without you, actually.'
Instead, a faint, bittersweet smile flickered across her face for just an instant.
"That's why..."
It was only a moment. Yu Ha-yeon's usual smile returned, and she moved our intertwined hands just a fraction.
Then, in a voice that was like her usual self, but subtly, strangely different, she whispered to me.
"...That's why you can't go anywhere. I'd be in serious trouble."
There was a playfulness mixed in her voice, but sincerity, too.
A thin smile lingered on her lips as she added one last thing.
"It's not a joke. I mean it."
"Yu Ha-yeon, you..."
We had agreed to practice dating, but Yu Ha-yeon had apparently decided to start acting like it for real. Her frank words caught me so off guard that I couldn't hide my embarrassment.
Yu Ha-yeon's lips were smiling, but her eyes held a deep, unwavering seriousness.
She sat there at her desk, looking at me, and spoke.
"We're not just childhood friends anymore. We're lovers now, right?"
Lovers before childhood friends.
Yu Ha-yeon was holding my hand tightly, like she'd never let me slip away.
It felt like a silent message: Don't run away from me.