Moon Phase (4)
“Haaack! Haaack!”
Jeon Chayeon dropped from the iron bar below, braced her hands on her knees, and panted heavily.
“Not bad, right? Pretty good effect, huh?”
“You motherfucker… what the hell did you do to me?”
Chayeon glared at Ju Jihyo, the full force of her eyes drained of everything.
Even without the height difference, bending over made her neck feel like it was being snapped.
“What the hell are you saying?”
“What do you mean?”
While he held her waist and rocked her, she tried to pull her hands free from the bar, but for some reason they were stuck fast.
Twisting her elbows and shoulders only made her struggle uselessly. In the end she had no choice but to let him drag her along.
“You fucking—”
“Is this what you’re talking about?”
Chayeon thrust her arm out just as Ju Jihyo opened his palm.
At the same moment, her hand stuck to his like opposite poles snapping together.
Ju Jihyo laced their fingers together.
“Your hands are so soft.”
Because of the height gap, Chayeon ended up with her arms raised high and her armpits exposed.
“Small and cute.”
“Let go. You damn—”
“I’ll let go, just wait.”
As soon as Ju Jihyo released her, Chayeon was shoved backward like something had pushed her.
Her right foot, which should have been planted, hung in mid-air and lost its balance.
Thud.
She landed on her butt in an utterly undignified heap.
Fortunately her body was light, so the impact wasn’t terrible, but—
‘Holy shit…!’
The mental blow was worse than the physical.
She’d been toyed with mercilessly by some unknown weird ability.
Her face burned with shame.
“We’re on the same team. We should know each other’s abilities, right? I went first and told you mine, and it’s Attraction and Repulsion. I can push or pull people or objects. Like this.”
Ju Jihyo’s black pupils glowed red in the center.
In that instant Chayeon’s body rose on its own and was sucked straight into his arms.
“Wow~”
She could feel his arms wrap around her back from behind.
“L-let go… you bastard… just stop.”
“Doesn’t it feel warm?”
“Warm? It’s disgusting. Just get off me.”
She’d been trying to pry him away since the beginning, but escape was impossible.
An absurdly strong force kept dragging her body toward him.
Paak!
Chayeon’s body was flung backward again.
Her flailing limbs were pulled back in by the same force.
She was hugged again.
Shoved away again.
Pulled in again.
The world spun. She felt dizzy.
“Aigoo, I went a little overboard, huh.”
Chayeon was shoved far by the intangible force and flew straight back at Ju Jihyo again.
Ju Jihyo bent his waist to meet her.
Their heads were at the same height.
That bastard… no way!
Evaporate! Disappear!
Fortunately, Chayeon’s fear didn’t come true.
Instead, Ju Jihyo pulled her close and lifted her chin with one hand.
She could feel his breath and the snake-like eyes staring straight into hers.
“I find it adorable when people with strong personalities act like this.”
“…”
“Fuck. Truly disgusting.”
Even the demon she’d managed to catch somehow, and now she was being toyed with by some minor shit.
Pathetic.
She felt the subtle trembling of a powerless female body.
It wasn’t fear.
But why was she trembling?
“Don’t be scared. Your heart will grow weak if you keep this up.”
Ju Jihyo let out a playful laugh and released her.
Chayeon, who had been frozen like metal equipment, staggered backward as the hold broke.
“It looks like it’ll be hard to get friendly with you today. Since we have time, let’s get to know each other properly from now on. I’ll head in first.”
Ju Jihyo turned away and left, stopping to pick up a water bottle, then waved without looking back as he strolled out of the gymnasium.
“I… I…!”
Chayeon kicked the empty iron bar for a long time.
***
The next day Chayeon was locked in her room.
She had planned to train outside like yesterday, but switched to home workouts instead.
She didn’t want to run into that fucking bastard even once.
Days passed. The weekday finally came.
Chayeon climbed to the third floor where the third-years lived and entered the assigned class.
She froze in place.
“Oh, you’re here.”
A tall man who had been talking with others turned to her and spoke.
There was no doubt—Ju Jihyo.
“Oh~ Is that the new student who moon-phased with you?”
“Yes, senpai. I’m Jeon Chayeon.”
“Not as petite as I expected.”
Three men, including Ju Jihyo, approached her.
“Why didn’t you come yesterday? We waited.”
Ju Jihyo smiled wickedly.
“Why the hell…”
Chayeon was about to say they were in the same class when the man who had just shaken her hand cut her off.
“Nice to meet you. Jeon Chayeon, right? Even as a first-year you’ve got amazing talent. Ah, now you’re a third-year. I’m Exst.”
The man who had spoken to her earlier and another with a similar vibe continued.
“I’m Stra.”
Strange names.
Chayeon extended her hand, but they didn’t take it and just stared blankly. The man looked embarrassed and pulled back.
“Haha, no game, huh.”
“Chayeon’s really shy.”
“Pretending to be close and calling us that’s ridiculous.”
“If you get too embarrassed, your talk gets rough. Please understand.”
Ju Jihyo stepped between the two men and her.
“You still look young, so it’s fine. We rushed in too quickly.”
“Don’t be scared.”
Exst and Stra nodded as if they understood, but then the classroom door opened and a familiar face entered.
Seohee.
“Hmm? Still standing around? What are you doing?”
At her words, the people scattered around the room sat down one by one.
Once Ju Jihyo and the other two moved away, Chayeon found an empty seat nearby and sat.
“As you already know, two students have been promoted to third-year today. As your seniors, please take care of them.”
After Seohee finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
Chayeon didn’t avoid the gazes and checked their faces one by one.
The biggest difference from the first-year class was the age range.
Unlike the first-years who still looked like kids, the students here were mixed in age.
Exst and Stra looked like early twenties at first glance.
“I’ll pass out the notices. Please take one.”
Seohee waved her hand. More than twenty sheets of paper floated from the podium and flew toward the students.
Chayeon grabbed the one flying toward her.
‘Ranking Match Application Form’
“Everyone knows the Ranking Match starts from next week, right? The two new students should have received the notice too. Participation is free, but if you don’t join, your rank is recorded as the bottom. The other rules are briefly explained—read them.”
As she said, the notice explained the Ranking Match briefly.
“Then mark whether you’re participating below. I’ll collect them all in one minute.”
People grabbed pens as soon as Seohee finished.
Chayeon checked ‘Not participating’ without hesitation.
“Collected.”
In the blink of an eye, the papers on the desks floated up and gathered in Seohee’s hands.
“One not participating, the rest all participating.”
Seohee tossed the papers into the air.
The bundle of papers vanished in front of their eyes as if they had been moved somewhere else.
“Until the Ranking Match ends, it’ll only be theory classes. Enjoy the time.”
Right after Seohee spoke, the classroom was empty of people.
Soon another teacher entered and the first class began.
***
Chayeon felt nothing drastically different about becoming a third-year.
Instead, the weight of various liberal arts subjects she couldn’t understand why they taught had decreased, and practical theory classes were more interesting.
It was fine.
The problem was still Ju Jihyo’s presence.
Just knowing he was in the same space as the person who had reached the maximum distaste score inside her made her mood sour.
If it was just that, it would have been okay.
The real issue was that the moment Ju Jihyo passed by, she froze like prey in front of a predator.
It felt like her female body was warning her head.
He’s dangerous.
Thankfully, after the first day Ju Jihyo showed no sign of approaching her.
Other students often approached her, but she always answered appropriately and sent them away.
Exst and Stra often spoke to her too.
She later learned they were brothers.
‘Hey, Heukgu.’
He stopped talking after the day she told him she was going to sleep.
Was he hibernating in the autumn, or had he died or was alive? She didn’t care much.
Five days passed. The weekend came again.
‘You can run from poop, but you can’t keep running forever.’
Chayeon tightened her neck muscles while wearing her gym uniform.
She had bought the item on the way back yesterday to prepare for facing Ju Jihyo.
Her body was just a petite girl with bare hands, but things changed if she held a blade.
“I’ll smash your head in.”
If she played around like last time, she would break the clay pot right there.
She was putting on her shoes when her phone vibrated.
[Chayeon, is it time now?]
Chat from Seohee.
[Arena, she woke up.]