Don't Close Your Eyes
It was a morning of steady, soaking rain.
The downpour had left the roads more clogged than usual.
"…Ugh. Completely jammed…"
I clicked my tongue at the sluggish crawl of traffic and, pretending to glance around, stole a look at the passenger seat.
"……"
Nakyeong sat with her arms folded, staring coldly at the gridlocked road ahead.
All because of Choi Yeonjeong.
Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
After I'd come home from meeting Yeonjeong and Hwang Areum, Nakyeong had been waiting by the front door, asking what had happened.
It wasn't anything I needed to hide, so I'd told her straight — that they'd offered to cast me on a show.
The moment she heard it, she blew up.
"What? A broadcast?"
She'd started raging on the spot.
"I look away for one second and now it's TV? Ha… Why don't you just go advertise that you're her husband while you're at it? At this rate you'll be stamping a marriage certificate for content, huh?"
She was already in a foul mood over the YouTube videos; the idea of getting tangled up even deeper was the last straw.
"Does that woman have no shame? Dead people don't get a say, is that it?!"
Everything she'd been bottling up came pouring out. She'd been ready to storm off and confront Yeonjeong right then and there.
I'd spent the rest of the night sweating bullets just trying to hold her back.
In the end, sharing a bed had bought me a temporary ceasefire — and that was how we'd arrived at this morning.
I still have to do something about this.
Privately, I'd been leaning toward accepting the show. Hoping I might still talk her around, I ventured a careful word.
"Hey… Nakyeong."
"……"
She didn't so much as acknowledge me, eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Nakyeooong."
I gave her tightly crossed arms a gentle tug, a silent plea not to shut me out.
At that, her eyes flicked sideways — a sharp, icy warning.
"…Don't."
I flinched, sealed my mouth shut, withdrew my hand, and stared out the window instead.
Exactly like her mother.
Experience had taught me that in moments like this, the smart move was to surrender cleanly. Digging in only ever ended badly.
For example…
Waking up with your arms and legs severed by a teleportation spell.
Tch. Looks like this one's a lost cause…
In the end, I had no choice but to abandon the idea of the show and keep driving in silence.
"……"
Soothing an angry Nakyeong…
Take it slow.
I'd have to wait until she cooled off a little.
"Hey, Lee Sin-a. What's with her today? Why's her energy so weird?"
"What are you talking about? I'm the same as always!"
"Must've eaten something funny."
Laughter from Lee Sin-a's clique rang loud through the lecture hall.
Cheon Seo-hui, whose mood had been foul since morning, lay slumped over her desk with earphones jammed in her ears.
Good days had always been rare for her — but today was especially wretched.
And at the center of it, of course, was Han Dohyeon.
"……"
She still couldn't shake the image of Dohyeon and Yeonjeong being so cozy together.
They'd looked close enough that no one would have blinked if someone said they were dating.
She'd even seen the two of them in her dreams.
So she'd woken up already at rock bottom — and bad luck, as they say, never comes alone.
Of all days, Han Dohyeon's class was scheduled for today.
…Maybe I should just leave early…
Seo-hui felt a rare, fierce urge to go home and quietly let out a sigh.
"Hello, sir!"
"Dohyeon-ssaem, good morning!"
"Yeah. Good to see you all."
In the end, class time arrived whether she wanted it or not.
Forcing her feet to carry her into the training hall, Seo-hui found herself watching Dohyeon as he exchanged greetings with the other students.
"Ssaem! Did you go to Japan?!"
"You're dating Yeonjeong-ssaem, right?!"
Sure enough, the kids crowding around him were buzzing about the newly uploaded Japan travel vlog with Choi Yeonjeong.
"Dating? We're not dating. It's nothing like that."
"Come on, ssaem!! Who shares a bed with a female friend?! That makes no sense!"
"Right? If my boyfriend did that with a girl friend, I'd stab him on the spot!"
"You're already past the 'maybe' stage!"
To teenagers with hormones raging, the relationship between their approachable homeroom instructor Han Dohyeon and the towering celebrity Choi Yeonjeong was the most electric gossip imaginable.
"Quit making a fuss and get ready for class."
Dohyeon, who dealt with the same circus every single lesson, looked thoroughly fed up as he waved it all off.
"……"
Watching him and the kids, Seo-hui felt a strange little twinge of envy.
The way they spoke to him so freely. The way they could ask about Yeonjeong without a second thought.
These kids who casually did the things she never could — she envied them. Just a little. A tiny bit.
"Wow. Dohyeon-ssaem really has it rough."
"At this point, isn't Yeonjeong-ssaem the one we should feel sorry for?"
"I think so too."
"She's definitely the side chick."
While Dohyeon caught his breath after the latest round of chaos, Seo-hui carefully approached and offered a quiet greeting.
"…Hello."
"…Hm?"
He turned, saw her face, and lit up with a bright smile.
"Ah. Seo-hui, you're here!"
It was a gentle smile he never showed the other students.
As if that weren't enough, he leaned in and whispered a word of encouragement in a soft voice.
"I'll give you some feedback later — it's been a while. So give it your all today. Fighting."
For a moment, Seo-hui felt a flicker of happiness at being treated specially…
But negative thoughts immediately began to coil around it.
…He must smile at Choi Yeonjeong like that too, right?
She couldn't bear to face him any longer. Without a word, she fled.
"What's with her this time…?"
"……"
Seo-hui found herself thoroughly pathetic.
"All right. Let's work hard today!"
"Yes, sir!"
Class began.
As always, Seo-hui simply waited for someone to come to her.
She always waited until a partner was left over, or accepted whoever approached first.
"Hey, Cheon Seo-hui!"
Fortunately, just as expected, a girl walked over and spoke up without hesitation.
"You're sparring with me today. Cool? Hehe."
Jo Juhyeon. Slim build, short-cropped hair — one of the hangers-on who trailed after Lee Sin-a.
…What's wrong with her?
Something about her seemed off today.
Pupils blown wide, cheeks faintly flushed, a dopey grin like someone who'd had too much to drink.
She didn't look sober by any measure.
"You in or not? Huh?"
Not that it was Seo-hui's problem.
Sparring was sparring, one way or another.
"Fine."
"…Hehe…"
And so the match with Jo Juhyeon was set.
Seo-hui took a suitable spot, gave her sword a light swing, and sized up the girl across from her.
Two daggers… Dual blades, then.
Juhyeon's specialty was dual-wielding short blades, using her long limbs to dart in, strike, and peel away — a style that slowly wore an opponent down.
Against Seo-hui's two-handed sword, she was a relatively annoying matchup.
"Hss… Hooo…"
"……"
They agreed on a start time by the training hall clock and settled into their stances.
I have to take her down.
Crouched low, coiled to spring, Juhyeon drew a deep breath and locked her eyes on Seo-hui.
Her head was flooded with nothing but the thought of beating Cheon Seo-hui.
If she could beat her this time…
I can climb higher.
Escaping Class 13 — the so-called idiot class — would be as good as guaranteed.
Now!
The instant the agreed time hit, Juhyeon exploded forward at terrifying speed.
"……"
Seo-hui watched her approach with calm focus, then shifted her stance to meet the attack.
"Hehehehe…!"
Juhyeon charged in, laughing out loud at the raw power and speed surging through her body.
I'm faster!
…Or so she thought.
Clang! Clang! With the barest of movements, Seo-hui's blade intercepted every strike in a heartbeat.
She tracked the trajectory to the last instant, read the path, and blocked a full beat early — cutting off the next attack before it could even begin.
"That all?"
…Huh?
Startled by the taunt, Juhyeon instinctively put some distance between them.
"Hooo…"
Then she forced the initiative back and launched another assault.
"Aaaah—!"
But it made no difference.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
No matter how many times she tried, the result was the same.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Juhyeon couldn't break Seo-hui's guard even once.
No.
"Opening."
Instead, every exchange left her open to a counter that could have ended it.
"?!"
It meant every attack, every feint, every move she made was being read.
Th-this can't be real…
Faced with an overwhelming gap she'd never experienced before, Juhyeon's mouth fell open.
She'd always been one of the stronger fighters in Class 13, thanks to her specialty.
And more than that…
Right now, she was operating far beyond her normal limits.
All thanks to the "power-up drug" she'd bought from an anonymous student.
I even took that expensive stuff… and I can't land a single hit? Me?
Stunned, Juhyeon stared at Seo-hui with a blank face.
With the drug in her system, she'd at least expected to take one round.
But—
"……"
The girl leaning casually on her sword hadn't broken a single sweat. She just watched, indifferent.
A wall.
She was a wall Juhyeon could never cross — not even if she died and came back.
"Th-this doesn't make any sense…"
"……?"
"This is so fucking unfair!!!"
Juhyeon screamed at the top of her lungs and charged.
"Aaaaaaah——!!"
But Seo-hui wasn't about to fall for a frenzied rush.
"…What's wrong with you?"
Clang! The attack was brushed aside with ease. Juhyeon stared at her, hollow-eyed.
…And then—
"You took it too… didn't you?"
"…What?"
"You took the drug too, you fucking bitch."
Hatred boiled over past any control.
"Yeah… I knew it. You've been weird ever since you suddenly got good, you know that?"
"What are you…"
"Don't play dumb, you idiot. You thought I wouldn't notice? Huh? You're the same kind of trash as me."
In the Academy's lowest ranks, where geniuses were everywhere — for a girl who had always felt the ceiling of her own talent while watching the real prodigies — Cheon Seo-hui was…
"Feel what I'm feeling."
…pure evil.
Black mana flared from the tips of Juhyeon's daggers.
"…!"
Startled by the ominous energy, Seo-hui scrambled backward.
The other students felt it too.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Jo Juhyeon's lost it…!"
"Shouldn't someone get a teacher…?"
"Ah — he stepped out with another instructor a minute ago!"
Of all times, Dohyeon had briefly left the hall.
"Heh… hehe. Hehehehe."
Black mana poured off Juhyeon's entire body as she let out a grotesque laugh.
This is bad.
Sensing how wrong things had gone, Seo-hui drew up her own mana and reset her stance.
And in that instant—
The laughter cut off. Juhyeon vanished from sight.
"!"
A cold sensation pricked the back of her neck.
Clang! Seo-hui swung on pure instinct and blocked — then stared in shock at Juhyeon, who had somehow appeared behind her.
She got faster…?
Simply using mana couldn't explain a speed like that.
"Now you're slower than me."
"!"
A twisted grin. Juhyeon vanished again.
Clang! Clang!
"Kh…"
Unable to keep up, Seo-hui could only sense the killing intent and block on instinct.
I-if this keeps up…
She was hanging on by sheer stubborn defense when—
"What do you think you're doing over there!"
A teacher from another department, summoned by the students, appeared.
"Stop this at once!"
Weapon drawn, he moved to break up the fight.
But—
"Get the hell out of my way!!!"
Before he could even act, the black tip of Juhyeon's blade carved across his chest.
"Guh…!"
"Kyaaaaah!!! Teacher!!!"
"Hey, Jo Juhyeon!!! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Stop it already!!!"
Blood spilled. The training hall dissolved into chaos.
"……"
From a distance, mixed in among the other students, Lee Sin-a quietly watched Juhyeon.
"Keh… kehkeh…"
Having cut down an innocent bystander, Juhyeon turned her head with pure delight and locked eyes on Seo-hui once more.
"……!"
Seo-hui's eyes flew wide. She went rigid at the sight of the blood surging from the teacher.
The trauma of the day her father had stabbed her left arm came flooding back.
Right then—
"Looking somewhere else?"
Juhyeon's voice was suddenly at her ear.
"?!"
A jolt of terror. Seo-hui tried to raise her sword in time—
The killing intent…
For a split second, she couldn't decide where to guard.
From head to toe, from every direction, thick murderous intent crashed over her all at once.
"Kihik…!"
The black tips of Juhyeon's blades drove in from both sides, aimed at her throat.
Ah.
Sensing defeat in the oncoming black steel, Seo-hui squeezed her eyes shut—
CLANG——!!!!
The crash of steel on steel, and a low voice cut through.
"I'm pretty sure I taught you not to close your eyes when you fight."
"!!!"
Seo-hui's eyes snapped open. She stared blankly at the back in front of her.
"T-Teacher…"
It was Han Dohyeon.