Soyeon's Room
Whoosh.
I could hear the sound of running water.
Where am I?
Who am I?
This was Soyeon's room.
It was about a one-and-a-half-room setup, and fairly spacious. The interior was packed with girly things, so the fact that I'd stepped into a woman's room hit me right in the face.
How long had it been since I'd last been in a girl's room?
At least two years, I figured.
So it wasn't unreasonable that I was tense—no, wait. That wasn't it at all!
I had no reason to be tense. Or at least, I had no reason to feel this kind of tension—the man-and-woman kind.
So how had things ended up like this?
I'll wash up first.
Huh?
I mean, I haven't been able to shower for three days, so… just wait a little, please.
Washing up inside a Gate had been nearly impossible. A face rinse was about the best you could manage, so I understood the urge. My own body was itching for a scrub, too.
But walking into the bathroom at a moment like this felt weird, didn't it? You bring a guy into your room and then say, "I'll wash up first"?
Right? Or was it just me?
Click.
The water stopped, and Soyeon closed the bathroom door and stepped out. The sound of the water and the door had been so similar I'd wondered what was going on—until I saw how she was dressed.
Soyeon was covering herself with a single large towel. The legs visible beneath it were white as polished jade, and her cheeks, faintly flushed from the heat, were so pink they looked adorable. Her damp hair still held beads of moisture, and those big eyes of hers wandered everywhere, trying to avoid mine—naturally stoking every male instinct I had.
"Ahem, ahem."
Soyeon cleared her throat and sat down in front of me. Between us there was nothing but a small table and that one towel.
At this point, couldn't I get away with just about anything?
"Um, uh…"
Soyeon's head lifted a fraction, met my eyes, then dropped again. She couldn't finish the sentence. Instead, her face, her neck, and her bare shoulders turned a deep, vivid red.
If I wasn't imagining things, the meaning of all this was crystal clear.
This girl had fallen for me.
A natural outcome, right? I was the likable type, my height was decent enough, and on top of that I was a Keeper with a guaranteed future. She even suspected I might be the world's first mage.
Ah, this was why being impressive made life hard. People just wouldn't leave you alone.
…Saying that out loud would be disgusting, so I'd stop. A frog that forgets it was once a tadpole. Just a few days ago I'd been a total loser, pure and simple.
Anyway, I had no idea what chain of thought had led Soyeon to give me her heart. The one thing I was sure of was this: right now, I felt nothing of the sort for her.
Someone might argue that even without feelings, the body can always move forward—but that wasn't an option either. Keira was waiting at home.
Keira wasn't my girlfriend, but leaving her behind to start something with Soyeon here still felt wrong, didn't it?
"Ahem. First of all—thanks."
"…For what?"
"For matching my story without saying a word about what happened inside."
"Ah, that… I just got the feeling you wanted to keep it hidden, Senior."
"Exactly. You read that perfectly. Pretty sharp, aren't you?"
"I've heard that a lot since I was little."
At the half-compliment, Soyeon lifted her head and beamed. She would have been cute under normal circumstances, but given how she was dressed, the impact was something else entirely. Male instincts detonated, trying to force romantic feelings into existence.
No. Hold it together. This was not the place for that.
"That's why I came—to talk about it."
"Me too. I've got a lot of questions."
"Then ask first. I'll answer everything."
"Okay. Then, Senior—that ability of yours. Is it magic?"
The slight lift in Soyeon's voice was no illusion. This world had been waiting for magic. Not just for the romance those two syllables carried, either. The world was hungry for the secondary knowledge that came with it.
Thanks to Keepers with the Refinement skill, the world could already process Mithril magically. People expected magic to bring that same kind of new knowledge—because magic always came paired with a new understanding of the world itself.
"Yeah. Magic."
"Really? Real magic? So you can teleport, fly through the sky, turn people into frogs—stuff like that?"
"I don't know about going that far… I only just got it, after all."
"Then what kind of magic can you use right now?"
"Blinding someone, making the floor slippery, draining life force… and of course I can throw fireballs or bolts of lightning, too."
"Whoa…"
Soyeon stared at me with her mouth slightly open, eyes full of pure admiration. It felt good. Being able to pull that kind of reaction out of someone—maybe I was an attention-seeker after all?
"As my proficiency goes up, I'll be able to do more varied things. If I keep researching magic, I might even make a discovery that leaves a mark on the world."
"Of course you will! You're going to be the world's first mage, Senior!"
World's first. Or world's greatest. Just hearing those titles made the heart race. The day my name could wear one of them without it sounding strange—it really did feel like a dream.
"Something like that. Which is why—"
"Yes, yes!"
Adorable. If Soyeon had ears or a tail, they'd be standing straight up right now, wouldn't they? With a reaction like this, she'd go along with whatever I said.
"I'd like you to keep the fact that I use magic a secret."
"Why? Because the attention would be too much?"
"Exactly. If I reveal I'm a mage now, interest will pour in from every direction, and I don't think I have the capacity to handle that yet."
"True… I'd probably feel the same in your shoes. You're not some attention-seeker, and too much focus would just be exhausting. But you'll reveal it eventually, right?"
"It'll probably happen naturally, won't it? As I keep working as a Keeper, situations where it inevitably gets out are bound to come up."
"I'm sorry. It's my fault that—"
"No. How is any of this your fault? I did it to survive. And if you hadn't been there, I'd be dead. Thank you—I mean that."
I really did. Without Soyeon's telekinesis, I would have been torn apart by that dog. The reverse was true for her, too. Without me, she would have died as well.
"Ah, no. You did more than I did, Senior…"
Whether she was just weak to praise or not, Soyeon—who had been talking just fine a moment ago—ducked her head with her ears dyed red all the way to the tips.
"So you'll keep the secret, then?"
"Huh? Ah… what happens if I let it slip?"
"Hm? That…"
Honestly, I hadn't thought that far. The mood hadn't seemed like the kind that would throw a challenge like this. What was I supposed to do? Threaten her? Grab some kind of leverage?
If it was leverage, there was something right in front of me that would work perfectly. Pull that towel off and take a photo… no. Absolutely not.
"Would you come to kill me, or something? Or…"
Kill her? What kind of delusion was she spinning? And why had her face been steadily getting redder this whole time? She was going to make me start having weird thoughts!
"No. Of course I wouldn't do that. I'd just… be sad, I guess? I trusted you and asked you for this. That trust would be broken."
I said whatever came to mind, without any concrete alternative. But maybe that had been the right answer after all?
"…"
Soyeon had completely zoned out. Her eyes were hazy—what was she even looking at right now? She was facing me, but I was pretty sure she was seeing something else entirely.
This felt like the second time she'd fallen for me… what exactly had I done?
"…Soyeon?"
"Ah—yes!"
"Your answer?"
Soyeon lowered her head again. The fact that she couldn't hold my gaze for even a second was kind of cute.
"Of course I'll keep it. No matter what happens, I'll protect it. I swear I'll protect it."
The answer felt a little over-the-top, but given the situation, that level of resolve might have been exactly right. I couldn't impose any real sanctions, so I had to take her determination at least.
"Well then…"
Business was finished and I'd gotten my confirmation, so I started to stand. Soyeon lifted her head.
"Huh? You're leaving already?"
She looked a little flustered. Wait—if I wasn't going home right now, what was she planning? What did this girl want to do?
"Yeah. I should get home and wash up too. Three days without a shower has me feeling pretty grimy."
"R-right. You should wash up, Senior. Then I…"
Afraid of whatever was about to come next, I cut her off fast.
"I'll head out. Contact me next time. We've got more mining to do."
I said only what needed saying, stood up, and opened the door. Her answer reached me just as I stepped out, right before the door closed.
"…I'll call you!"
I'd expected a dejected voice, but it was surprisingly energetic.
Still—should I even meet her again? If I did, things would probably only get worse…
I didn't know. I'd think about it when the time came.
In the taxi home, I fell into a deep sleep. Honestly, a lot of exhausting things had happened.
Lee Jungmin's first impression hadn't been anything special.
"Ordinary," maybe?
Being a Keeper already put him far from ordinary, but Soyeon herself was a Keeper now, so even among Keepers, ordinary was still ordinary.
Working in the same space for two days, Soyeon had learned that Jungmin was a decent person. But that was as a human being, as a colleague—not as a man.
Decent height, a likable face. An appearance that looked neither particularly styled nor neglected—not bad, but not a selling point either. His easygoing personality was charming, but nothing about it made her heart flutter.
Then the dog appeared in the mine shaft, and everything flipped.
"Soyeon, get clear!"
"Soyeon, throw a rock!"
"Soyeon!"
"Soyeon!"
"Soyeon!"
Soyeon was seized by Jungmin's forceful shouts. She had never heard anything like them. Everyone around her spoke gently. She had the face of a model student, so there had never been much reason for anyone to raise their voice at her in the first place.
Maybe that was why his shouts—packed with raw emotion in a life-or-death moment—drove straight into her heart. On top of that, Jungmin was the man who had saved her life. In a pitch-dark mine shaft where red eyes radiated killing intent, he had stood against that malice with his meager strength and protected her.
She didn't think she would ever forget that sight for the rest of her life.
So she had invited Jungmin to her home. What she had been hoping for, even she couldn't say. Jungmin charging in with those commanding shouts? Or Jungmin protecting her while shouting?
What Jungmin actually showed her went completely against her expectations.
I'd just… be sad, I guess? I trusted you and asked you for this. That trust would be broken.
At that soft voice, an explosion went off inside her brain. Every hormone hit peak secretion; neurons fired information back and forth. She couldn't think a single thought—she could only stare at him.
He's a clean person. And I was harboring dirty thoughts about him…
She was ashamed. Her head had been full of nothing but ulterior motives. Even so, when Jungmin stood to leave, fear seized her all at once. Had she done something wrong? Did she have no appeal as a woman? If she let him go like this, she might never see him again.
But Jungmin, as if he knew exactly what she was worrying about, left her with one last line.
Contact me next time.
A single warm sentence, soothing her wounded heart. Soyeon lingered in that warmth, then answered a beat late.
"…I'll call you!"
Next time, she swore to herself, she would catch him for good.
Hah.
What was that? A dream, right? It had to be a dream.
"We've arrived."
Soyeon had shown up in the dream, and it had been somehow terrifying. I couldn't remember the details, but my chest felt cold. And a certain part of me had shrunk a little, too.
…What the hell had that dream been about?
"…We've arrived."
"Ah—yes."
I paid the fare and got out of the taxi. Just a weird dream. More important was how Keira was doing at home.
She was fine, right? My very own otherworlder?
