The Dead Bird
Han Min-ha desperately tried to pull her skirt back down, but Yoo Hee-won grabbed her wrist and squatted down in front of her.
"Ah... don't look..."
Yoo Hee-won stared straight at Han Min-ha's panties and tilted her head.
"Hee-won..."
Yoo Hee-won released Han Min-ha's hand with an expression that still looked puzzled. Han Min-ha quickly pulled her skirt down and backed away.
Han Min-ha hesitated over whether she should tell Yoo Hee-won what Song Do-yun had done to her. If she did, how would Hee-won react? Would she storm off to confront Song Do-yun right away, or would she say it wasn't her business? Or maybe...
Even if Yoo Hee-won took her side, Han Min-ha wasn't confident she could handle the aftermath. Hee-won wouldn't be by her side all day, and given Song Do-yun's personality, she wouldn't back down easily. If Yoo Hee-won acted on what she heard right now, it would only be like pouring oil on a fire.
And the biggest reason of all: Han Min-ha didn't have the courage to confess the absurd humiliation she'd suffered to anyone. It had been so shocking that she couldn't even bring herself to mention it.
So Han Min-ha shook her head.
With that, Yoo Hee-won flashed a grin and headed into the dormitory. Han Min-ha followed after her with quick, short steps, pressing down on her skirt the whole way.
And Song Do-yun watched it all from a second-floor window.
Now she's even showing her panties and openly flirting...
Song Do-yun no longer expressed her intense emotions by smashing things. Instead, she simply resolved to carry out the sinister plan she'd been building in her mind.
You started this first, Han Min-ha...
Song Do-yun wore a chilling, damp smile and bit down hard on her thumbnail.
And so it began that very night.
After enduring brutal physical training as part of the top elite group led by Yoo Hee-won, Han Min-ha dragged her exhausted body back to her room. The season had shifted from late spring to early summer, so her entire body was drenched in sweat.
The moment she entered the room, she threw off her gym uniform and headed straight into the bathroom for a shower.
With the showerhead running over her head, Han Min-ha let out a long sigh.
After that incident, Song Do-yun hadn't shown any particular reaction toward her. On the contrary, she had been unusually friendly, taking care of Han Min-ha with genuine-looking concern and a warm tone. Han Min-ha never imagined the cold Song Do-yun could act so convincingly.
But she won't keep wearing that mask forever...
Song Do-yun is misunderstanding my relationship with Hee-won. She probably thinks I'm a lesbian trying to seduce her sexually.
But where on earth did that misunderstanding even start...
Judging from how she mentioned the kiss on the cheek and the face stroking, it must have been... that day when I sneaked out to find Professor and Hee-won grabbed my collar and whispered in my ear. She must have seen that. And the cheek stroking happened in front of the dormitory...
That really was just innocent physical contact with no meaning behind it...
But Song Do-yun would never listen to any explanation. If she were the type to understand after hearing an explanation, she wouldn't have called her a... a... a who...
Han Min-ha didn't want to think about it anymore. Every time she remembered Song Do-yun walking with her arms crossed, spewing those vicious words, it felt like her mind was shattering.
Han Min-ha sighed again. Her terribly weak mentality and timid, introverted personality made Song Do-yun an opponent she could barely handle.
Wait a minute... I can understand her mistaking me for a lesbian, but why does she hate me enough to want to kill me over it?
It's probably... because Song Do-yun likes Hee-won. Not as a friend... That's why she's trying to trample me like this. From her perspective, it's like I'm trying to steal the person she has a one-sided crush on.
The third sigh. If things turned out like this, it would really become difficult...
Anyway, Hee-won and I are both Professor's guidance students, so whether we like it or not, we have to keep interacting. And I like Hee-won. Ah, of course as a friend. But the blinded Song Do-yun won't leave me alone.
Should I really tell Hee-won...? No... that wouldn't be a fundamental solution... Ah... seriously... my head hurts...
I finally made a friend and even awakened my aura, but now I'm tangled up in such a headache-inducing mess...
Her mind only grew more troubled from all the thoughts swirling around. It would be better to get out quickly, lie on the bed, scroll on her phone, and fall asleep.
Han Min-ha, who had just finished showering and was drying her body with a towel as she stepped out of the bathroom, suddenly froze at the sight before her.
A lukewarm breeze blew in through the broken window. The floor, bed, and desk were covered in glass shards. And in the middle of that mess lay the corpse of a bird with its head smashed open, bleeding...
Han Min-ha screamed and collapsed to the floor.
"Hmm... this is really strange..."
Bae Ye-bin, the assistant teacher who happened to be on dormitory duty that day, narrowed her eyes. Right now, Assistant Teacher Bae Ye-bin and Han Min-ha were in the dormitory management office, rewinding the CCTV footage.
The external CCTV covering the area where Han Min-ha's room was clearly showed a bird suddenly flying in and smashing the window.
Watching the footage replay over and over, Han Min-ha had no choice but to agree. It wasn't as if someone had deliberately broken the window and thrown a bird in—someone with ill intentions toward her, like Song Do-yun. If anything, it was fortunate.
"Ah..."
It was an extremely awkward situation. Han Min-ha didn't have any friends she shared a room with. If she had to name one, it would only be Yoo Hee-won. But... if the two of them slept in Yoo Hee-won's room right now...
Fortunately, she had avoided the awkward situation. Han Min-ha packed only the bare necessities and moved to the room Assistant Teacher Bae had told her about.
Lying on the chilly bed that hadn't been used in a long time, Han Min-ha kept picking up and putting down her phone repeatedly. But she still thought it would be better not to tell Hee-won. If she was a little more careful, Song Do-yun would probably calm down too...
Having conveniently distorted and rationalized the situation like that, Han Min-ha fell asleep with a slightly eased mind.
And a few hours after she had fallen asleep, the sound of a window shattering rang out as a dead bird fell onto Han Min-ha.
I headed to the dormitory early in the morning after hearing the news. In the management office, the maintenance staff who had come in and Assistant Teacher Bae, who had been on night duty, were reviewing the CCTV footage.
Assistant Teacher Bae greeted me and stepped aside. On the monitor, the scene of a bird flying into the window was playing on repeat.
The staff replayed both the first and second incidents for me. A bird suddenly striking the window from outside the CCTV's monitoring range. I carefully examined the other parts of the footage, but there were no particular anomalies.
If a bird had flown into one of the many rooms but specifically targeted the two rooms where Han Min-ha was staying, it couldn't be a coincidence. There was no clear evidence that it wasn't a coincidence, but it would be just as foolish to dismiss it as one.
It was clearly done intentionally by someone... But Han Min-ha didn't seem like the type to earn someone's malice through her actions. Hmm... What could it be?
I moved to the duty room attached to the management office. On the simple bed in the duty room, Han Min-ha was curled up under a blanket.
I took out the lecture schedule from my pocket and saw that there was still some time before Han Min-ha's first class. I pulled up a chair and sat in front of her.
Han Min-ha avoided my gaze and trailed off. Even without hearing the answer, her expression, tone, and eyes told me everything. So there really was something. Was that why she had been so spaced out during the guidance meeting? Han Min-ha earning someone's grudge... This is unexpected.
Han Min-ha kept refusing to speak, lowering her head. Though her mouth said there was nothing, her entire body was answering my question. It was one of two things: either she had been threatened not to tell anyone, or it was something so unbearable that she couldn't even bring herself to say it out loud.
In truth, if the other party reacted like this, I would normally stop pressing at this point. My personality is such that I don't interfere in other people's business, and the side effects of my Mental Barrier only reinforce that. But if that person is my guidance student and the daughter of my former colleagues, the story changes.
With her head lowered, Han Min-ha silently shook her head.
"Hic..."
At those words, Han Min-ha covered her mouth and let out a sob. It seemed the shock had been quite severe. I reached out and lightly tapped the bed.
Han Min-ha bit her lip hard, deeply conflicted. After a long moment, she finally opened her mouth.
After quietly listening to Han Min-ha's entire story, I opened my mouth with a faint smile.
Han Min-ha hesitated before speaking.