Cherry Blossoms Bloom with the Exam - 2
Baek Seol-hee stood there in a daze, wearing a leather apron. The people she'd seen on her way here had all been dressed in either checkered patterns with horn-rimmed glasses or formal suits, which made Yoon Seo-yeon's flashy outfit stand out even more.
'Ah, at least she takes out her piercings while working.' Seeing that the earrings that usually dangled from her ears were missing, it seemed she removed them during work hours.
Yoon Seo-yeon looked up at me with eyes that seemed to ask why I was even here. This girl hadn't checked her messages.
"I left you a message. Didn't you see it?"
"What? When? Yesterday?"
"Yesterday."
"I passed out right after finishing work yesterday. I was exhausted."
Yoon Seo-yeon scratched the back of her head. Boris, who had been watching our reunion with amusement, spoke up in a playful voice.
"Is this gentleman perhaps Seo-yeon's boyfriend?"
"No, he's not."
"Absolutely not."
"You two are really in sync."
Our answers came out almost simultaneously. Me and her? To me, Yoon Seo-yeon was less of a member of the opposite sex and more like an annoying older sister. Having grown up together, we'd seen way too much of each other's embarrassing sides.
Boris chuckled and continued.
"Yoon Seo-yeon. You mentioned last time that you wanted to learn about engraving, right?"
"Yes, I did."
"It just so happens that Mr. Ha Hyun-do here has requested an engraving modification. I called you because I thought it would be a good opportunity for you as well."
"Really?! Thank you so much!"
"There is one condition, however."
"A condition? I'll do it! I'm confident I can handle anything!"
Yoon Seo-yeon blurted out her words like a machine gun, clearly thrilled. Hey, how can you say okay without even hearing what the condition is?
I felt a headache coming on. Come to think of it, Yoon Seo-yeon was exactly the type of person who was easy to scam. Once she got fixated on something, her eyes would glaze over completely. She looked like she belonged at a fancy party in that outfit, yet getting strong-armed by street vendors and coming home with armfuls of junk was an everyday occurrence. I even remembered the really bad days when she'd come home with both hands full of random trinkets and get scolded by her mother.
"The condition isn't anything difficult. You just need to sign a confidentiality agreement."
"I'll do it!"
"I like how decisive you are. Then let's move to the workshop. You go ahead first. I'll change into my work clothes and head down."
"Understood. Which floor is the workshop on?"
"We'll be conducting this in Yoon Seo-yeon's workshop, so she can show you the way."
"Alright, let's go! Since you're here, I'll show you my workshop too!"
Yoon Seo-yeon, excited at the thought of learning a new technique, grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the office. The fingers wrapped around my wrist felt slender and soft. Was this where Yoon Seo-yeon's craftsmanship came from?
With that thought in mind, the two of us stepped into the elevator, and silence fell between us.
"......"
"......"
What should I even talk about? I was rolling around as a wannabe Hunter, and Yoon Seo-yeon was busy with her professional life. Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask.
"Hey, Yoon Seo-yeon."
"What."
"Didn't you say you started your own business?"
"It got acquired through a merger. Things weren't looking too good."
Yoon Seo-yeon hesitated for a moment, her lips twitching, before she spoke again.
"I see."
I didn't press any further. It was her first time starting a business, so there must have been all sorts of incidents and accidents. The effort it must have taken for Yoon Seo-yeon to find a way out in that situation was probably beyond what I could imagine. She could have survived if she only looked out for herself, but she was the type who couldn't bear to see her own people left out in the cold.
"Must have been tough."
"Yeah, it was tough."
Yoon Seo-yeon continued while looking out the window.
"But I think it turned out for the best. The people I worked with got better jobs, and I got a chance to grow too."
Her eyes didn't waver. It seemed like she was reflecting on all the storms she'd weathered until now.
Ding.
After a brief silence, the elevator stopped.
"Let's go. There's a lot to prepare. Boris is pretty demanding."
"Oh right, you really need to fix that habit of saying yes without even hearing the conditions."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Yoon Seo-yeon waved her hand dismissively as she stepped out of the elevator.
What she'd said about Boris being demanding was true. The playful demeanor he'd shown in the office completely vanished, replaced by sharp, biting criticism as he pushed Yoon Seo-yeon. His skill at driving her hard was truly impressive. It just went to show how serious he was about his work. Knowing that, Yoon Seo-yeon followed his instructions without any resistance.
Boris had given me a three-day deadline. While the elf engraving system had been somewhat deciphered, it would still take some time. Since I didn't have any immediate use for it anyway, I told him to take his time and returned to my studio apartment.
After taking a shower, I sat down at my desk to prepare for midterms, but for some reason, nothing was sticking in my head today. I closed the textbook and threw myself onto the bed. The old frame creaked as it barely supported my weight. As I surrendered myself to the soft blanket, a pleasant drowsiness wrapped around me. My eyes slowly began to close on their own, but the buzzing vibration of my phone chased the sleep away.
It was a message from Ji-ah.
After finishing my conversation with Ji-ah, I added the appointment to my alarm. I figured I just needed to head to the meeting spot by around 4:20. While picking out the textbooks I'd need to bring to the library tomorrow, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
......
I had a dream.
Around me lay the shattered debris of concrete buildings. Acrid smoke filled my nostrils, and my vision was obscured by dust swirling in the wind. The sky was dyed pitch black. The sight of exposed rebar jutting out between concrete slabs like bare bones. And the main gate of Jangwon University, tilted at an angle after one of its pillars had snapped.
The broken gate of Jangwon University was what told me this situation was a dream.
I could feel the sensation of stone fragments under my feet, but they didn't hurt. I checked my hands and feet. When I looked down, I saw my body had become translucent. I was wearing the exact same loungewear I'd had on before going to sleep.
Then, a sudden loud roar from somewhere made me lift my head. Far off in the direction I was looking, the sounds of battle echoed. Black storm clouds rumbled in the sky, spitting out lightning. The thunder that followed the flashes of electricity pounded against my ears. Explosions continued without pause.
The sounds of battle were definitely getting farther away. That made sense. I was powerless and weak, after all. But for some reason, I felt like I had to go there.
The me in the dream began to walk. Even as I approached, the sounds of battle didn't stop. Someone's screams. Shouts. Before long, the battlefield came into view.
Three people were creating those battle sounds.
A person in some unknown black form was floating in the sky, looking down at the other two. And Ji-ah, collapsed in her combat uniform while sparks of lightning crackled around her. A bright red pool of blood was spreading across the ground where Ji-ah had fallen, growing larger than her own body. Even from this distance, the metallic stench of blood hit me like a wave.
The last person stood protectively over Ji-ah, covered in blood. His entire body was in tatters, proving just how fierce the battle had been, yet his eyes still burned with fierce determination. It was Ha Hyun-do.
"Haaahk!"
I bolted upright, gasping for breath. My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
'What the hell was that dream?'
It was too realistic to just brush off as a random nightmare. The sight of Ji-ah collapsed in that pool of blood. Even the metallic smell of blood that had filled my nostrils. My head hurt.
When I checked the clock, it was earlier than my usual wake-up time. I didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep, so I got up and stretched my stiff body. It seemed better to move around earlier than usual today. I needed to clear my complicated thoughts.
I went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on myself from early in the morning. It felt like it loosened up some of the tangled mess in my head. Forcing my brain, which had just woken up, into alertness was making my mind clearer.
That refreshing chill was enough to think about the dream that had complicated my head since morning.
'Was it just a random dream?'
That was honestly the most likely answer. Just a weird dream caused by sleeping poorly. If I let it go like that, nothing would happen. If I weren't an Awakened, I probably would have dismissed it that way.
The problem was that I was an Awakened.
Partial future foresight through dreams had already been reported in academic circles. Among the named figures from the Great Awakening, there were even people whose special ability was outright future foresight.
But the probability that such future foresight would suddenly manifest in me? Even at a low level, future foresight was an extremely rare type of special ability. I couldn't say it was zero, but it would be incredibly low.
'Should I consult with the professor about this?'
The only person I could trust in a situation like this was my advisor. If it was Professor Baek Seol-hee, who had plenty of experience in the Hunter industry, she might be able to give me appropriate advice.
In the end, it seemed I couldn't come to a conclusion on my own and had to seek help from someone else. Since I didn't have plans to meet the professor today, I'd bring it up during our next consultation.
After organizing my thoughts, I looked at the mirror in front of me. The face of a man with a completely stiff expression stared back. For now, I turned the cold water back to warm.