Dormitory... Dormitory? Applications Still Open?
“Dormitory... dormitory? They're still accepting dorm applications?”
“Didn't I tell you before? A few rooms are empty, so they're recruiting more applicants.”
“Oh.”
“You haven't been paying attention in homeroom at all, have you?”
Ha Ye-jin narrowed her eyes at me. Behind her smile-filled face, a faint chill lingered. She always hid her true feelings behind that smile, at least as far as I could tell.
“I have been listening, just not that closely. Sorry.”
I tried to make an excuse, but it felt lame, so I just apologized outright. Ha Ye-jin kept smiling without a change in expression.
“No need to apologize. I know plenty of kids don't listen anyway. Anyway, if you want to move in, I'll write you a recommendation letter and handle the paperwork—”
Ha Ye-jin continued her explanation. Considering my family situation, the fire, and various other factors, I qualified for top priority dorm admission. With just her recommendation, I could move in today if I wanted. Of course, if I didn't, there was no obligation. Standard stuff like that.
“Alright, I'll think it over and talk to my dad. Oh, and how's your health?”
Ha Ye-jin, who'd been rattling off the formal details, suddenly asked as if it had just occurred to her.
“Yeah. I was outside at the time.”
“What were you doing out there at that hour?”
“Study room.”
I lied calmly.
“Ah. Well, glad you're okay. Go back to class and pay attention. Come find me once you've decided.”
“Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
I bowed my head and turned to leave the staff room quickly, but Ha Ye-jin stopped me. Her face looked a bit troubled as she hesitated, lips twitching, before finally speaking.
“Don't resent them too much.”
“Pardon? Ah... yeah. Thank you.”
I understood her meaning a beat late and nodded.
“If anything's hard, just tell me. Florence has better welfare than you'd think. Scholarships, counseling, that sort of thing.”
I nodded again in response and left the staff room. Florence really did have good welfare. The fact that I could even enroll here was thanks to it, so that said it all.
Resent them. I mulled over Ha Ye-jin's words as I walked down the hallway. She probably meant not to resent God even if reality was tough. Of course, I didn't resent God, and no matter what happened, I never would. Blaming others for misfortune was cowardly—especially if that 'other' was God. Thinking misfortune came from God and happiness from your own efforts was the height of arrogance and cowardice.
When I entered the classroom, Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok greeted me. Jeong In-ah looked worried; Gu Jun-hyeok, oddly troubled.
“What'd the teacher say? Something wrong?”
“She said go for the dorm if I want. The rest was chit-chat.”
“Ah... good. I thought you were in trouble.”
“What'd I do wrong?”
“Oh, right. I mistook you for Gu Jun-hyeok.”
Jeong In-ah let out a relieved sigh and nodded. Gu Jun-hyeok, who'd been listening, stared at her in disbelief.
“Why drag me into this outta nowhere? That's ridiculous.”
“You only go to the staff room to get scolded anyway.”
Jeong In-ah said it casually.
“No, that's... not entirely true. I go for other stuff sometimes.”
“Like what?”
“Uh, cleaning?”
Gu Jun-hyeok mumbled awkwardly, and Jeong In-ah laughed like she'd expected it. He scowled.
“Hey, don't laugh. Feels like you're mocking me.”
“I am mocking you. You nailed it.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Twang. Gu Jun-hyeok twisted a single strand of Jeong In-ah's hair and yanked it out. She let out a small scream and clutched her head with both hands.
“You psycho...! What the hell!”
“Huh? Did you just swear?”
Gu Jun-hyeok dangled the hair and taunted her annoyingly. Jeong In-ah's face twisted, shifting between laughter and fury. She was so mad she couldn't even control her expressions.
Gu Jun-hyeok just grinned. They glared at each other in silence, a chill radiating from their eyes.
“You'll start fighting again. What's with you two this early?”
I intervened before it escalated. When those two fought, I was the one stuck in the middle suffering.
Jeong In-ah glanced between me and Gu Jun-hyeok, then sighed deeply and hung her head.
“Fine, no fighting.”
“Okay. Truce! But from up here, your part looks a bit thin. Going bald?”
“Ah... you. Come here.”
Jeong In-ah shot up from her seat and marched toward Gu Jun-hyeok. He hopped back, keeping distance.
“Nah, not going. You think I'll come just 'cause you say so?”
Instead of apologizing, he provoked her more. Jeong In-ah advanced with a stone-cold face.
“Hey... cut it out.”
Even my second warning didn't faze her. I gave up and sat back to watch. No point intervening; it'd be embarrassing to get between them anyway.
She chased; he retreated. A silent pursuit unfolded.
Bang!
Their movement halted abruptly—thanks to Kim Jin-seo storming in through the back door like she was out for blood. She strode straight to me.
“Out.”
“Huh? What the—”
She grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the hallway. The noisy classroom fell silent at her entrance. Everyone stared, but before I could register, I was out the door in her grip.
“The fire. Your house?”
Her face was stiff, her gaze piercing like a blade as she scanned mine. Dark circles under her eyes. Tired, red-rimmed.
I nodded reluctantly.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Why didn't you pick up?”
“Battery died, so it was off.”
“Ah...”
Kim Jin-seo rolled her eyes around. She'd probably called while it was off. Missed calls don't show if power's out—on my old model, anyway.
“Hospital?”
“No need. I was outside when it happened.”
She nodded slightly in relief but stayed tense.
“...Outside where?”
She asked carefully, head tilted innocently, but her eyes bored into me.
“Study room.”
Same lie as with Ha Ye-jin. Exam period made it believable.
“Which one?”
“Near home. By the park.”
“Yeah?”
Kim Jin-seo pressed her lips tight and fell silent. Her face remained blank. Unlike her smiles, her serious look was kinda scary—no intimidation needed; you just looked away. She got serious around me a lot.
After a pause, she smirked.
“Guess I misjudged you.”
She walked off fast—faster than most running. Seemed pissed, though her face didn't show it clearly.
Gu Jun-hyeok, who'd watched from behind, approached grinning with his hand over his mouth.
“What was that? You screw up?”
“No idea.”
I laughed awkwardly. Misjudged me? Why was Kim Jin-seo mad? I thought we were getting close. My imagination?
“Maybe she just doesn't like me.”
Not impossible. Gu Jun-hyeok tilted his head, face oddly scrunched. How did he even make that expression?
“What kinda nonsense is that? If she hated you, why come to the classroom?”
“Then why act like that?”
“Beats me. Anyway, be nice to her. If you keep this up, I can't go to the gym anymore.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Gu Jun-hyeok scratched his head, eyes darting. He looked conflicted, though about what, I couldn't say.
“Dunno. Some deep, profound causal connection or whatev—urk!”
Mid-sentence, he collapsed. Jeong In-ah glared at him furiously.
“Hey. I said come here.”
“Wait, hold on. This ain't right. A kick to the shin?”
“Pulling my hair was fine?”
“What was I supposed to do about your bald spot—”
Crack. Jeong In-ah kicked his leg again without letting him finish. The sound was brutally destructive. They brawled for a while after that, and embarrassed to be around it, I slipped away.
*
“Chapter 22, consisting of 404 verses in Revelation. This section requires particular caution in interpretation—”
Just before lunch, the last morning class. Subject: Biblical Understanding, specifically the 'Interpretation of Revelation' unit. Pre-lunch timing meant low focus.
“Alright, present on the two perspectives for interpreting Revelation... What the hell? Everyone's face-down showing off their scalps? Where's the class rep?”
“No class rep yet, sir.”
“No rep? Oh... Charity Class, right. Figures.”
Bae Seong-hyeon, the former rep, had been stripped of his mark and expelled, so Charity Class still had none. The teacher raked back his bangs in frustration.
“Diagnostic exam subject this year was Biblical Understanding, yeah? Right?”
He furrowed his brow, recalling. Florence rotated diagnostic subjects yearly; this time, it was Biblical Understanding. If it'd been something like Divine Dynamics, I'd have struggled even for 300th. My first place was pure Legba—weak on sciences.
“Kinda late to bring up diagnostics, but whatever. There's a first-place diagnostic kid in this class, right? Stand up.”
I'd felt uneasy when diagnostics came up, and sure enough, he called me. I raised my hand cautiously and stood.
“Student, name?”
“Do Seon-woo.”
“Right, yeah. Do Seon-woo. Remembered the surname, not the first name. Anyway, two main perspectives on Revelation. What are they?”
Luckily, I knew.
“World-centered and church-centered.”
“Good. Explain the differences?”
“First, world-centered—”
I aimed for brevity but got wordy. World-centered sees Revelation as direct prophecy ignoring historical context; church-centered considers history, etc.
“Whoa, stop there.”
The teacher cut me off at the climax, looking satisfied.
“Do Seon-woo, right? Trying to teach my whole class?”
“Pardon? Ah... sorry.”
“Kid, what sorry? Saves me work. Good job, sit down.”
The Biblical Understanding teacher was notoriously stingy with praise—this was high commendation. I bowed and sat, then jotted words rising in my mind on my open Bible: 'prophecy', 'interpretation', 'method', 'perspective'. I combined them to organize swirling thoughts.
“Some kids only care about 'Divine Dynamics' or 'Holy Materials' and ignore the Bible. Even miracle recreation they love stems from Biblical Understanding—”
'Divine Dynamics' was Divine Dynamics. 'Holy Materials' short for Holy Material Studies. The teacher lamented students obsessed with sciences, neglecting humanities, and continued.
I focused solely on sorting ideas.
Prophecy. I organized thoughts triggered by the word. Baron Samedi's words were prophecy too. Not grand like Romanica's Revelation—just 'today's prophecy'. Short, fragmented. But useless. Always vague, blurry.
“As you know, Revelation's prophecies are super vague. Scholars talk metaphors, but I dunno—”
Revelation's weren't clear either—far vaguer than Baron Samedi's. Every line, word a metaphor. Yet interpreters decoded it. So Baron Samedi's should be easier—hundreds of times over. His were intuitive by comparison.
Satanists had openly torched my house. Time to not just accept prophecy, but interpret and use it. Passively drifting would get me killed before I acted.
[Even if interpretable, what's the point? Baron Samedi isn't some convenient guy who shows up when you want. You know that.]
Legba was right. Baron Samedi's prophecies weren't on-demand. He came unbidden, ignored when wanted. But exploitable. Prophet-Loa dynamics. With the right words, I could slip a tiny shackle on the free-spirited baron.
“—That's it. Revelation today; next, Genesis review. Bring your Bibles. Rest up~”
Class ended amid my deliberations; lunch began. Drowsy Jeong In-ah and openly sleeping Gu Jun-hyeok snapped awake, shuffling out like zombies.
“Hey, snap out of it. Wake up.”
Gu Jun-hyeok aside, Jeong In-ah's zombie walk tugged at me, so I shook them awake.
(To be continued in the next chapter)