Fusion Blessings and Frozen Friendships
"You know you've got morning practice today, right? Work hard and have a great day! Oh, In-ah, swing by the office for a sec."
Once Ha Ye-jin's morning briefing wrapped up, Jeong In-ah shoved her chair back with a screech and stood. She left the classroom. Several students, including me and Gu Jun-hyeok, stole glances at her. She had been noticeably down all day, and everyone seemed wary, almost scared.
"So, what'd you fight about?" Gu Jun-hyeok sidled over and asked casually.
"Said the wrong thing."
"What'd you say? I've never seen In-ah that pissed. It's next-level."
"Dunno. Get lost..."
I was sleepy and drained anyway, but more than that, I just wasn't in the mood to talk. I didn't answer and just face-planted onto my desk. Even so, Gu Jun-hyeok kept yapping without tiring—why we fought, what I said, don't poke her today or you're dead, etc. Meaningless chatter.
"Not gonna spill, huh? Guess I'll just ask In-ah myself."
I stayed slumped without responding, and finally, he gave up and headed out. A few minutes later, there was a crash from the hallway. Gu Jun-hyeok stumbled back in, limping.
Looked like Jeong In-ah had decked him.
"Said you were gonna ask. Why'd you come back beat up?"
"She wouldn't answer, so I kept pushing, and bam—she swings out of nowhere. What's her deal?"
Gu Jun-hyeok grumbled while rubbing his shin. Right then, Jeong In-ah, who had been out, returned to the classroom. Her face screamed serious anger. Would she cool off by the end of the day? Hell, she might ignore me forever. The thought left me a bit down, my mind a tangled mess.
"Look at that face. She could kill someone. You're screwed."
Gu Jun-hyeok alternated glances between her and me, grinning like it was hilarious. No worry, just pure amusement.
*
Morning practice was at the Holy Training Ground. I went with Gu Jun-hyeok; Jeong In-ah teamed up with her other friends. She had tons beyond us—plenty of people to hang with, and she'd be fine without me.
"What makes you think you're so special?"
Her voice echoed in my ear suddenly. To her, I was nothing. Dispensable.
While walking, Legba cleared his throat with a rumble.
[No need to be so pessimistic.]
He continued.
[That's how human relationships work. Chase 'em, they run; let go, they come back. Focus on your own shit.]
My heavy mood lightened a tad. Not joyful, but better.
We arrived at the Holy Training Ground. It was packed. Other classes besides Charity were there too. Right on time, Ha Ye-jin beamed and spoke up.
"Hello, everyone~ Today's practice is a joint session for Purity and Charity Classes. Lots of teachers are out on dispatch lately, so combined practices are ramping up."
She rambled on. Demons and magic beasts were popping off nationwide, so some teachers were dispatched for support. School was short-staffed, hence more joint sessions. Stuff like that.
"Why do Satanists always unleash magic beasts and demons? Got nothing better to do?"
Gu Jun-hyeok muttered to himself. Didn't seem like he wanted a reply, so I stayed quiet. Ha Ye-jin was mid-chatter when she checked her watch and gasped.
"Oh no, can't drag this out. Sorry! Straight to the practice explanation. You're all here to create a Fusion Blessing Circle."
She drew four blessing circles in the air while explaining. They intertwined with their differing strokes, merging into one. The radiant holy light pouring out was blindingly brilliant.
Fusion blessing.
Fusion spells were cult-leader exclusive for me, but fusion blessings were doable by archbishops and up.
[Spell circles are way harder than blessing circles.]
Legba murmured low.
Spells were tough to master and hard to spread to regular followers. Blessings were simpler, allowing advanced stuff like fusion to propagate widely. Another reason Voodoo lost the Holy War.
"That's the gist. Assuming you all get it, moving on! Oh, right—this is group work. Teams of four. Collaborate to deploy a fusion blessing circle, then present on it! Time to assign teams!"
Ha Ye-jin was huffing just from announcing. She seemed extra scattered today. She caught her breath, then fumbled something from her pocket. Looked like a laser pointer, but too big; too small for a beam projector.
She injected divine power into the mystery device.
Flash!
Light burst out, forming a hologram floating in the air.
"Whoa~ So cool. Tech's advanced a ton. Back in the day, holy artifacts were all combat-focused, but now—"
It was a holy artifact. Ha Ye-jin gushed over progress with a speech. I ignored her, staring blankly at the hologram.
Team 46: Ha Dae-su, Yoon Woo-jin, Jeong In-ah, Do Seon-woo.
Of all the luck—teamed with the girl I'd just fought.
Gu Jun-hyeok, peering beside me, patted my shoulder. He grinned ear-to-ear.
"My condolences! Good luck!"
He bolted toward his team like it was escape velocity. Left alone, I scanned around. Jeong In-ah stood arms crossed, looking pissed. Her glare could cut glass. Approaching felt awkward; not approaching felt worse.
"Do Seon-woo, right?"
While I dithered, two Purity Class students approached. Name tags read 'Ha Dae-su' and 'Yoon Woo-jin'. Our teammates.
Ha Dae-su had long hair and a rough, menacing face; Yoon Woo-jin short hair, neat and tidy. Polar opposites—easy to tell apart.
"Everyone—! Time limit's 150 minutes—! Pick your presenter and leader—! Go!"
Ha Ye-jin added as we exchanged quick greetings. Unlike Kim Bok-dong, her voice was soft; some kids tilted heads, confused. She yelled till she was gasping, head down like her stamina tanked.
Why not just use a mic?
"She's fun. Your homeroom teacher?"
Yoon Woo-jin asked with a smile. His tone felt mocking, but probably just habit. I nodded; he smirked with one corner of his mouth, same as before.
"Where's Jeong In-ah? Isn't she in your class?"
Ha Dae-su craned his neck, puzzled. His shaggy long hair swayed. Speech rough around the edges.
Yoon Woo-jin and Ha Dae-su were total opposites in looks, speech, everything.
Then footsteps thudded behind Ha Dae-su.
"Right here. Why?"
Ice-cold tone. The decent vibe froze solid. Jeong In-ah stood arms crossed, leg cocked, scanning us one by one. Her gaze on me was arctic.
"No time for chit-chat. Let's start."
We rushed greetings and prepped to draw the fusion blessing circle.
*
"I'll be leader and presenter. Cool?"
Before seriously drawing, in our team huddle, Jeong In-ah declared boldly. Makes sense—the better you grasp basic blessings, the better at fusion. She topped us in blessing knowledge. No one objected.
"Keywords: 'wide-area', 'recovery', 'mental'. Practical focus, big picture—"
She explained: deployment charts, circle intersections, joints. Gibberish to me. I nodded occasionally, faking comprehension.
"Ha Dae-su, sketch the deployment chart simply as I said. Yoon Woo-jin, remember those blessings? Assist. And Do Seon-woo."
She assigned roles smoothly, then hit my name and paused. Her fiery eyes cooled.
"...Figure something out yourself."
She whipped her head away awkwardly. Tone neutral-ish, but the words stung. Anger softened a bit, but not gone.
My role: "figure something out." But the team progressed fine without me. Nothing for me to do.
"Hold up. What about the presentation outline?"
Ha Dae-su asked mid-sketch, puzzled.
"No need. I'm presenting."
Meaning: It's all in my head—no outline required. From her, no one questioned. Her expertise was known.
"Yoon Woo-jin, add one more low-grade blessing."
"Ha Dae-su? Cross-check circle and chart. Brief any errors."
"Ah, wrong here. Yoon Woo-jin, help fix."
Jeong In-ah commanded everything, handling key parts herself. Team 46 was basically her solo show.
Angry Jeong In-ah oozed charisma—sharp, no flubs, unlike usual.
Standing idle felt off, so I helped Yoon Woo-jin with circles. But I wasn't helping; things warped worse when I touched.
"Do Seon-woo, don't touch there."
Yoon Woo-jin warned, patience gone. That mocking smirk lingered.
"Sorry."
I backed off quietly. Obvious—I couldn't handle basics, let alone fusion.
Deflated, I dazedly watched them hustle. Team flowed without me. Maybe better that way.
I was filler. Dispensable.
Better to bounce than loiter uselessly.
"Gonna hit the bathroom."
No one acknowledged, deep in work. I slipped out slyly.
Gu Jun-hyeok was there, fussing with his hair in the mirror.
"Whatcha doing?"
He jumped, turning.
"You scared me. Why're you here... Wait, you get 'ditched' too?"
"Ditched? What?"
"Group work splits kids three ways."
He held up three fingers.
"1. Leader directing roles."
Folded one by one.
"2. Workers doing assigned tasks. 3. Useless stragglers. Us."
Spot-on, but stung. Also weird.
"You handle blessings fine. Why straggler?"
Me, sure—can't do blessings. But Gu Jun-hyeok was solid, near Jeong In-ah's level in class.
He grinned dopily.
"Our team has another level. That all-white girl. Sung... Sung Myung-jun?"
"Seong Ha-yeon."
"Yeah, her. Says she'll handle it solo, rest do nothing."
How she becomes Sung Myung-jun, no clue. His naming was quirky.
"Something like, 'You idiots won't get what I say.' Kinda rude. And why formal speech?"
He mimicked her tone and face. Pro-level.
"She's been like that since middle school."
"Same school? Must've sucked."
He shook his head.
Seong Ha-yeon was consistently arrogant—but skilled enough. Probably solos fusion. Earned her pride.
Still hated her. Visceral repulsion.
"You look awkward anyway. In-ah didn't assign shit, so here you are. Obvious."
Nailed it. Bugged? Eavesdropper?
I smiled bitterly, finished up, headed out.
"Yo, stay. No point going back."
He kept messing his hair—fix, ruffle, repeat. Wiling time away.
"No one wants us. Shellfish here, kill time."
True. Useless return; unwelcomed.
But couldn't hide in john.
"Hate freeloading."
"Not freeloading—no license. Rookie driver crashes. Staying put helps."
"Still feel weird idle."
"You'll have jack to do anyway."
He pouted. I ignored, returned.
Team still grinding circles. Barely noticed me.
"Ah, Do Seon-woo. Help connect here. Keeps tangling weird."
Yoon Woo-jin asked occasionally. I poured effort in.
But rare. Otherwise, unneeded.
Time dragged. Two hours felt eternal.
*
"Time's up! Leaders, front. Draw lots for order~"
150 minutes done, presentation time. Leaders shuffled forward. Lots drawn—classic, fair.
Jeong In-ah's: '24'. Mid-pack.
"Nice draw."
"Yeah, perfect middle."
Yoon Woo-jin and Ha Dae-su praised her luck. Ideal—not too early, not late.
But her face stayed grim. She stared at '24', muttering.
"Who goes before matters."
No time to parse—Ha Ye-jin called from back.
"One minute per team. Then one minute Q&A. Good answers get bonus; bad, penalty! Non-presenters can respond!"
She had a mic now. Way more comfy. Added, "Should've used this sooner~"
"First up... Team 49! Presenter?"
Ha Ye-jin scanned. 49's presenter raised hand hesitantly. She handed mic. He paled, sighed, cleared throat.
"Team 49 presenter, Jeong Chan-hee. Our fusion blessing circle, first—"
One minute flew. Seemed easy at first, but 49's showed otherwise. Had to condense essence. Poor talkers overtime-penalized. Some rushed or skipped, finished.
Team 3 did. But no perfect.
"Why the low-grade circle bottom-left? Intent?"
"Uh, accident in making—"
"Joints feel loose. Intentional?"
"Not, minor error, but overall no issue—"
"So total accident? Any intent?"
Team 3 presenter panicked under questions—all Seong Ha-yeon. Her precise jabs cornered them.
"Can't answer, so some deduction. Q&A weak, but presentation good! Nice work~"
"Y-yeah... thanks..."
Team 3 bombed her questions. Presenter spaced out, then sobbed. Seong Ha-yeon sneered pityingly.
22 teams passed. None perfect—overtime or Seong Ha-yeon strikes.
"Next?"
Post-22, 23rd. Then us.
Jeong In-ah breathed deep, tensing.
Someone raised hand calmly.
"Us."
Soft voice, but clear, certain. All eyes turned.
"Ah..."
Jeong In-ah, prepping, sighed vaguely at her.
Her earlier words echoed: who goes before matters.
(To be continued)