The Entrance Ceremony
I panted heavily, staring straight into the strange woman's face as I cautiously floated my guess. "Haa... haaa... Hey... That was your Individuality, right?"
She flinched. For a split second, the muscles in the strange woman's face twitched faintly.
"Siwu."
I flinched this time. My body reacted on its own. The strange woman—no, the crazy bitch—called my name and took one slow, deliberate step toward me. I matched her pace, retreating backward just as slowly.
The people around us sensed the abnormal atmosphere and began to gather, forming a circle with us at the center. It created a small empty space like a miniature stadium. It reminded me of elementary school, when kids would fight and spectators would swarm in, forming a ring around the brawlers.
"Siwu..." She called my name again. The fact that she even knew it sent chills down my spine.
"I'll make you an offer," she said, stopping in her tracks. I kept my eyes locked on her, staying tense and ready.
"Even if I told you not to talk, you'd still do it anyway. Go on, say it."
I provoked her just a little.
"I will never give up on you."
A shiver ran through me. Her completely unromantic love confession didn't make me feel embarrassed—it made my legs go weak. The intense determination in her voice, the absolute refusal to let me go.
"Whether you run back to your home country, flee to Manchuria, or escape to Taiwan, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth and drag you back."
"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?"
She ignored my curse and kept talking.
"So if you give up right now and come to me, I promise I'll treat you as kindly as I can."
"......"
"I'll only make babies with you ten times a day."
"Fuck off and make them yourself."
She acted like she'd made a huge concession by limiting the sex to just ten times a day. Her so-called consideration made my reflexive rejection fly out before I could stop it.
"I can't make them by myself."
"Anyway, let me ask you one thing. When the hell did you see me that you're this obsessed?"
"Today. First time."
"What the hell???"
Her shocking confession left me reeling.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Yes. Perfectly sane. You need me."
She'd only seen me today, yet she'd used some weird ability to try to claim me, stolen my first kiss, and now this psychotic woman was making my head spin. In my previous world, I'd been desperate for a girlfriend, sure, but I'd always dreamed that my first kiss would be with a girl I truly liked. That grand dream had just been shattered into a million pieces.
"Fuck... and why the hell did you kiss me?"
"Because I love you..."
"It was my first time..."
"Hm?"
"It was my first time, you crazy bitch!!!!"
My scream filled every corner of the subway car. Most of the people around us didn't seem to understand Korean, so they just tilted their heads in confusion. ...It was probably for the best that they couldn't understand. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing.
"It's okay! It was my first time too! So we just exchanged first kisses, right?!"
The moment the crazy bitch heard me, her face lit up with a huge, beaming smile. She couldn't contain her flushed cheeks and pressed both hands against them.
"Then... we haven't made any babies yet, right?"
"What?"
Her expression changed again. This time, she wore a creepy, unreadable smile.
"Right?"
"N-no, actually... Fuck, I've done it a ton..."
"No. I know. Our Siwu is still a virgin."
I tried to deny it, but the crazy bitch spoke as if she could see right through me, nodding confidently.
"Let's go home quickly. We have so much to do."
She started walking toward me again, slow and steady.
"Our Siwu seems like he needs a lot of training... He's been swearing at his big sister nonstop."
"I've never had a sister like you. You're insane..."
"See! Just like that!"
"S-stay away!! I said stay away, you f—"
The distance between me and the crazy bitch was shrinking.
"Shut up."
Now all traces of her smile vanished, replaced by a face full of pure rage as she closed in.
"How dare you swear at your big sister? Such bad manners..."
Without realizing it, my face went deathly pale. I could feel it even without looking. An unknown aura radiated from her, overwhelming the air around us. The other passengers on the train started to look terrified too.
"Fuck, this is pissing me off."
"You're the one swearing, you bitch!!"
"A big sister can swear at her little brother... or rather, her future husband. What's the problem?"
Logic no longer worked. She'd already decided I was her future husband.
Suddenly she stopped advancing and held out her hand.
"If you take this hand within ten seconds, I'll train you with pleasure instead of pain."
The crazy bitch spoke as if she were offering some kind of special discount.
"No... Hey, there are way better guys than me, right? It doesn't have to be me, does it?"
"Ten."
"If you look around a bit, you can definitely find a great boyfriend!!"
"Nine."
"Come on, seriously, can't you just let me go? I have a lot of things I need to do!"
"Eight."
"Goddammit..."
At that moment, the doors opened. I'd already noticed the train slowing down. That crazy bitch was too lost in her delusional parade to realize it, which was a huge relief. In races like running or speed skating, the start determines half the outcome. I already knew the train was arriving at the next station. I'd already mapped out my escape route in my head, so the moment the doors opened, I naturally dove between the passengers' legs, crawling as fast as I could on all fours toward the exit.
The crazy bitch seemed startled and started chasing me late, but by the time she pushed through the crowd of passengers, I had already burst out of the train and was sprinting away.
She must have instinctively realized she would lose me at her current speed. Instead of trying to push through the crowd, she gave up and shouted at my retreating back from between the passengers.
"Siwu!!!!"
I kept running but glanced back over my shoulder.
"See you later?"
A chill ran down my spine, goosebumps spreading across my skin.
The doors are closing. Please be careful. The doors are closing...
The train carrying the crazy bitch closed its doors and departed. Only then did I finally feel safe. I stopped running, stood in place, and caught my breath.
"Haaah... haaaah..."
Was I out of breath because I'd sprinted too hard, or because that bitch scared me so much I could barely breathe? I figured it was probably both.
...
...
...
After all the twists and turns, I was now riding a city bus headed for Gyeongseong Academy's main campus, just one stop away. Thankfully, the only other person on the bus was the driver. Since the entrance ceremony was about to begin, most of the new students had probably already arrived at school.
I had nearly missed the ceremony entirely and almost ended up in some unspeakable situation after being caught by that woman. Still, I'd barely managed to make it just in time.
"Haa... I don't have any information at all..."
I'd pulled out my admission notice to try to gather even the bare minimum of information needed to survive the next four years at Gyeongseong Academy, but...
Class: Undecided
Assigned Dormitory: Undecided
"Why is everything undecided?"
It seemed the country had made a rushed decision, so the school hadn't been able to prepare anything either. Well, I had only found out a week ago myself. I had considered looking up information about Gyeongseong Academy on my phone, but...
"That fucking... goddamn bitch..."
When I checked my phone after getting off the train, it was practically destroyed. The screen was shattered and it wouldn't even turn on.
"Haa... What the hell am I supposed to do now..."
The next four years looked bleak. As I sighed and looked out the bus window...
The heavy rain was pouring down from the sky. It felt like even the heavens had abandoned me. And the timing couldn't have been worse. The moment the downpour started, the bus began slowing down to stop at my destination.
"This is it..."
The bus came to a complete stop.
The rain was coming down in buckets.
"It's really pouring like shit."
I stepped down the stairs and off the bus. The vehicle roared away with a loud engine noise, disappearing down the road and leaving me behind.
The unpleasant sensation of my clothes and shoes getting soaked. I was already in a bad mood, and now the weather wasn't helping at all...
I started running to minimize how much more rain I got. I'd heard somewhere that when it rains, running makes the raindrops hit a larger surface area of your body, so you actually get wetter than if you walked. But in the end, I remembered the ridiculous conclusion that running to arrive faster meant getting less wet overall.
With my phone broken, I couldn't even check the time. I just had to run.
In the distance, I could see the school building. Along the path to the main gate, banners reading things like [Congratulations on Your Admission] were hanging here and there. Of course, I didn't have the time or luxury to read them carefully, so I just hurried my steps.
..... I was already completely soaked.
... After running for about five minutes?
"Haa... haa... Finally, I can see the main gate."
Thankfully the path was straight, so I didn't have to worry about getting lost on unfamiliar roads, but the distance had been quite far. Only now was the main gate coming into view.
Gyeongseong Academy. The large characters carved into the massive stone monument caught my eye. I didn't know Chinese characters, so I couldn't be sure if it actually said Gyeongseong Academy, but it probably did.
As I got closer to the gate, I could faintly make out two security guards wearing raincoats.
"Haa... haa... This feels like I'm about to get stopped..."
I had a bad feeling. For various reasons, they probably wouldn't let a suspicious person in. It made sense, since supposedly no male student had ever been admitted to Gyeongseong Academy before. Still, my ominous premonition turned out to be wrong.
Panting, I stopped in front of the main gate.
"So it's you? The male new student."
"Y-yes... haa... haa... ugh..."
One of the guards spoke to me. Maybe because I'd been running nonstop, my stomach churned and I felt like throwing up.
"Hey, hurry inside. The main gate got flooded with calls asking if the male new student had arrived yet. If you sprint to the ceremony hall, it'll take a little under ten minutes, so you'll probably make it just in time."
Without even having time to reply to the guards, I started running again. Thankfully they weren't crazy. Though I did feel their strange stares on my back.
...
...
...
To get straight to the point, I ultimately couldn't attend the entrance ceremony.
The ceremony hall the guards mentioned was for Class A. I didn't know what class I was in or even what the classes meant, so I tried to go in anyway, but I was told this by the staff:
"You're not on the Class A list? As far as I know, the two male new students are both in Class C."
"What??? There's a C too? Then... where's the C ceremony hall?"
"In terms of direction, it's completely opposite from here across the campus. By car, it would take about... twenty minutes?"
"Twenty minutes by car..."
It was hopeless. I didn't have the ability to teleport, so arriving on time was impossible.
Looking like a drowned rat, I sat on a bench under a suitable tree near the Class A ceremony building. It was positioned to avoid as much rain as possible.
I could hear someone speaking into a microphone inside the building. The sound was faint from outside, so I couldn't make out the content. It seemed like someone was giving a speech.
"Haa... What the hell am I doing here..."
No matter how prestigious the school was, I hadn't come here because I wanted to. If I could, I'd go straight home, take a hot shower, lie in bed, and fiddle with my phone. Suddenly, my mother's face flashed through my mind.
I pulled the broken phone out of my pocket. Click. I pressed and held the power button. As expected, no response.
"We were supposed to stay in touch..."
There was no way to contact her right now. Not unless I borrowed someone else's phone...
I started shivering.
"Ah... shit... it's so fucking cold..."
My body was trembling. It was early March, and with the rain, today's weather was even colder. On top of that, I was completely soaked...
After stopping my run and sitting down to rest, it seemed the heat from my body had dissipated. Once that warmth left, the cold came rushing in as if it had been waiting.
"Want to use my phone?"
Someone spoke as if they'd read my mind with telepathy, extending a phone over my shoulder—the exact thing I needed most right now. It was a really nice model. Looked like someone who made good money.
"Huh? Who... are y... ou......"
"Have you already forgotten your sister's face? Our Siwu?"