Preparations (1)
Something wriggled against my chest.
"Mmm…"
Warm sunlight filtered through the window and brushed against my eyelids. Vitality slowly seeped back into my hazy mind. Still half-drowned in drowsiness, I rolled over and burrowed deeper under the covers.
"Mm…?"
Someone's voice reached my ears. At the same time, I felt something against my chest — incredibly soft and plush. Warm. In the chilly autumn air seeping through the window cracks, simply holding it was enough to make me happy.
"Mmnn… …?"
I shifted, pulling the soft something closer into my arms. When I wrapped both arms around it and drew it near, I thought I felt it flinch.
"…?"
Even so, still drunk on sleep, I savored the sensation. I stroked it with my hand and nuzzled my face against it. A sweet scent reached my nose, and a smile rose unbidden to my lips. My hazy mind grew intoxicated with happiness. Soft, plush, and warm. If only mornings like this could go on forever.
But I couldn't stay like this forever. I was human, after all — I couldn't sleep forever.
"Mmm…"
"Mm…?"
Leaving the regret behind, I slowly opened my eyes. The familiar scenery of the room filled my vision — and then my eyes met a pair of sky-blue ones staring right back at me from inches away.
"…Ah."
A beat late, my brain registered the situation. Close enough that our breath mingled. Our legs tangled together. A small body nestled in my arms, my hand stroking her back. Cecilia, who seemed to have just woken up herself. It didn't take long for her blank face to flush with panic and embarrassment.
"…Kya?!"
"Guek."
She shoved me hard in the chest, and I went flying backward. A moment later I tumbled off the bed, my back slamming into the floor with a thud.
"Ow."
"I-I'm sorry, Eunhyuk! Are you okay?!"
In a voice thick with panic, Cecilia peeked over the edge of the bed. It hurt, but I gave a little wave to show I was fine.
What a chaotic morning.
"I'm really sorry. Really…"
"It's fine. Anyone would panic."
Having weathered the morning's chaos, we were now at breakfast. Cecilia chewed on a mouthful of rice, her head bowed in shame.
"You're not hurt anywhere? It didn't hurt too much…?"
"I'm perfectly fine, so don't worry. The bed wasn't that high to begin with."
I answered lightly and shoveled a big spoonful of rice into my mouth. After chewing for a moment, a thought occurred to me and I added,
"Well, if we're keeping score, I should apologize too. Waking up to find yourself suddenly being held like that — you must've hated it, right?"
What would it feel like to wake up and find someone unexpectedly hugging you? Terrifying, probably. Even if I'd gotten permission the night before, she'd been drunk at the time. I should have been more careful in the morning. We weren't exactly a couple or anything…
"Not really…"
"Hm?"
Cecilia spoke up then, chopsticks still in her mouth, her face faintly pink.
"…I was just startled, that's all. I didn't hate it or anything…"
"R-really?"
I felt my face start to heat up again. As the atmosphere threatened to turn awkward once more, Cecilia quickly pulled herself together and spoke up.
"And, right! What are we doing today?"
"H-huh?"
"Transfer prep. You said you'd help me, remember?"
I nodded along with her.
"Ah, yeah. First we should look into the system, right? Unho sent over a file around yesterday, so we can start by reading that."
"Mm-hmm."
"And then grocery shopping. Indoor shoes and a school uniform… do we even need those? Not sure. We'll have to check on that too."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Writing supplies, books. Since it's a transfer, you'll need all sorts of things to match the other students."
"Mm."
"Pencils, erasers, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, markers, highlighters, colored pencils, a compass… brushes and paints? Counting them all out, that's a lot."
"…"
"For books, textbooks and a few notebooks… oh, and some plastic document sleeves would be nice too."
"…All of that today?"
Cecilia's expression had taken on a faintly overwhelmed look as I talked. I gave a short laugh and answered,
"Still, better to get it done as soon as we can."
"Mmm, true. Finish fast and rest, at least that way—"
"Because once you start preparing, something else always turns up. Always."
At my follow-up, Cecilia's mouth fell open. Recalling how hard my parents had worked during my own school enrollment days, I spoke with a faintly amused feeling.
"School is a real pain in the neck, you know."
"I-I'll do my best."
Cecilia answered, her lips trembling. There was no longer any awkwardness left in her voice.
"Let's see…"
I opened my laptop and went into the inbox. Beside me, Cecilia was leaning in toward the screen.
"No matter how many times I see it, it's amazing… How do you use it?"
"Well, basically you click the mouse and use the keyboard—"
"Mouse? Click? Keyboard…?"
"…I'll explain properly later."
As we chatted lightly, I found what I was looking for. The email Unho had sent yesterday. Attached to it was a file titled Detailed Information and Guidelines Regarding the Otherworlder Transfer System.
"That's a long name."
I muttered and clicked the mouse. A few taps later the download finished, and the file opened almost immediately.
"Hmm."
"Ooh…"
Cecilia let out a small sound of wonder as she looked at the screen. I was looking at the same display, squinting slightly at the tiny text. The file was a perfectly ordinary document of the kind I'd seen a thousand times. Page one was the title, page two the overview, page three onward the table of contents…
"Item one on the table of contents: list and introduction of schools scheduled for transfers…"
I scrolled down. Both Cecilia and I widened our eyes and studied the page that appeared carefully.
"…That's a lot."
"That's a lot. Thirty-nine schools nationwide, total first-round transfer capacity of 1,361…?! That's a lot of schools and a lot of people!"
The unexpectedly large numbers made me raise my voice in surprise. What caught my eye among the text, though, were the two words "first-round."
"First-round…? This isn't the whole thing?"
The numbers really were bigger than expected. At this scale, it made sense that protests would break out and the police would be running around…
"The whole thing still feels suspiciously fast, though…"
"Fast?"
"Of course it's fast. A transfer this massive in just a few weeks? Under normal circumstances, it'd be impossible."
This wasn't something you could sum up with a simple "they rushed it." Without some serious backing, it was nearly impossible — and this wasn't even a war. Of course, there wasn't much I could figure out about it right now…
"…The school you'll be going to is this one."
I pointed to one corner of the screen, and Cecilia followed my gaze.
Pyeongdong High School. About a twenty- to thirty-minute walk from here. An awkward distance — not so far you couldn't walk it, but for now, public transit seemed the better option.
"Co-ed, private. Transfer year scheduled for first year…"
It didn't match her age, but well, it made sense. Since the goal was social training, the more years of attendance the better. Still, I doubted her age would keep her from fitting in. Honestly, looking at her, she wasn't all that different from a high school student — inside or out.
"…? What?"
"Nothing, never mind."
I quietly withdrew my lingering gaze and scrolled down to check the other pages.
"The school facilities are… not bad. No, they're excellent, actually?"
"Th-these are all buildings? Schools are this big?"
Looking at the photos that came up, neither of us could hide our surprise. It was a considerably large school. The buildings themselves were big, and there were plenty of attached facilities.
"Huge auditorium, and looking at the size of the cafeteria there must be a lot of students. Club building, gymnasium, science lab, computer lab. What's this — a swimming pool??"
It really was enormous. I'd wondered how a private school had ended up shouldering something this big, but now it made sense. With facilities and a scale like this, of course the higher-ups wouldn't want to waste it.
"I-isn't it too big…?"
A slightly frightened voice reached me then. It was Cecilia. Looking through the photos one by one, she was shaking her head faintly as if she couldn't believe it.
"The schools I know aren't like this…"
"What kind of schools do you know?"
"W-well, a few small buildings with kids gathered close together for class, that kind of…"
She seemed to have been picturing something like a little plank-board schoolhouse. I gave a wry smile and added an explanation.
"Schools this big are rare, but around here most of them are just a little smaller than this."
"Really…?"
"Yeah. Our place… well, not this room, but this whole building — at least two or three times that."
"…!"
Cecilia's mouth fell open at my words. It was a moment that drove home, once again, just how different our common sense was.
"Let's go out a bit later. I'll show you a few different schools in person."
"O-okay. Please take care of me…"
Cecilia answered in a voice that had shrunk as small as it could go. The formal politeness she'd tacked on made me snort with laughter.
"Whyy…"
"Nothing, never mind. Shall we look at the other sections?"
Gently coaxing the frightened Cecilia along, I scrolled further down the page.