“Did Jae-wang look for you, Yoon Si-hoo? I think it’s best to avoid the hallway for a while.”
“Really? Thanks for letting me know.”
The rumor that Lee Ha-ru and Seo Yu-na fought after the midterm exams quickly spread throughout the academy.
The complaints of the 1st Grade Class C students about Seo Yu-na grew day by day.
Eventually, pressured by the kids, Lee Ha-ru met with her privately to give her a warning as the class leader, but he didn’t disclose what happened there.
It was certain that a fistfight had broken out, but if that were the case, then both sides’ parents would be summoned immediately, and that was what Lee Ha-ru feared.
Si-hoo wasn’t one to take rumors at face value, but still, no smoke without fire, right?
He genuinely wanted to avoid any contact with Seo Yu-na.
“Are you Yoon Si-hoo?”
But in the tug of war of patience, Seo Yu-na emerged victorious.
To hide the fact that he had been deliberately avoiding her, Yoon Si-hoo spoke calmly.
“Yeah, so?”
“You placed first this time, right?”
“Uh? Yeah.”
“Let’s redo the ‘Record of Magic’ exam questions together from the beginning.”
But the words that came from Seo Yu-na were unexpected.
She wasn’t teasing him.
She genuinely wanted to review the exam problems with him.
So Yoon Si-hoo chose to lie, saying he had left his exam paper at home.
It seemed silly to discuss the midterms with a total stranger.
“It’s okay. I’ve memorized all the questions. You did too, right?”
But she didn’t give him an escape route.
This was their first meeting.
*
“It’s already the last one. Objective question number 18.”
“It was the problem of choosing a magic circle with a casting mana amount greater than 110/3 and less than 290/7, right?”
“I couldn’t solve it because I ran out of time. Which one did you choose?”
“Number 1.”
“That’s the correct answer, right? How did you guess?”
Yuna grabbed Si-hoo by both shoulders and made a fuss.
Every time Si-hoo got the answer right on a question Yuna had wrong, she always waited for his explanation like this.
The week of strange activities that happened every break ended today.
She had never missed a day coming to the front of Class A, and Si-hoo couldn’t quench Yuna’s enthusiasm.
“By the way, you should be looking for a magic circle that has a mana consumption in the low 40s. Ignore the high 30s.”
“Why? 37, 38, or 39 could also come up, right?”
“If you do prime factorization, it results in very large prime numbers. Then how could the magic circles in options 1 to 5 be this simple?”
“What’s prime factorization?”
“Um, so…”
Ding-dong ding-dong
The bell rang, signaling the start of the last class on Friday.
But today, Yuna couldn’t return to class.
She couldn’t postpone learning about that ‘prime factorization’ concept until next week.
On the other hand, she felt like a puppy eager to go back before the teacher arrived, it was almost pitiful.
“So, do you want to come to my house later? I’ll teach you after school.”
“Uh…?”
Yuna froze in place at the casual remark she threw out.
*
“Si-hoo, what’s going on? Bringing friends home to study?”
“Oh, it’s just that I think I did a bit poorly on the midterms, so I wanted to review together. I think it’ll help me place first again in the finals…”
“Your friend’s name is Seo Yu-na, right? Where does she live?”
“Um… I…”
“Could you please leave? We’re starting right now.”
“She really does fuss a lot. Well, study hard.”
The door closed, and Si-hoo let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t that he was lying to his mother explicitly, but for some reason, a part of his heart felt guilty.
Neither Si-hoo nor Yuna had ever invited a friend over or been invited to a friend’s house before.
Besides, they were both in the pitifully naïve and shy age of 1st grade, so this situation felt awkward.
“Thanks… for not telling my mom where I live.”
“It’s strange that my mom is asking that outright.”
“…”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“No! Not at all.”
Yuna hurriedly shook her hands.
There was nothing wrong with the cushion she was sitting on.
When she first entered Si-hoo’s room, she could somewhat understand what Ha-ru had said.
The room was slightly larger than her own house.
Here, there was no need to fold blankets or clear away clutter to study; there was a bed and a desk spacious enough for one person to lie down comfortably.
“So, shall we start studying?”
“Yeah…”
“Can you start by teaching me prime factorization?”
Prime factorization was something usually taught in middle school in other schools.
Si-hoo could handle such difficult concepts with ease.
Unlike with Ha-ru and Kim Han-gyeol.
The knowledge Yoon Si-hoo had built was like a towering mountain.
As Yuna’s head became messy, her ears couldn’t find a spot to absorb Si-hoo’s explanations.
“Are you listening?”
“Are you seriously thinking about this when you take the midterms, Yoon Si-hoo?”
It was a question that held a hint of skepticism.
She couldn’t follow what he was saying with her own brain.
Every time Yuna felt the gap between them, she became dizzy.
“No?”
But Si-hoo’s reply was surprisingly negative.
“To be honest, I also guessed number 18.”
“What?!”
“Why?”
“Wasn’t everything you told me based on what you solved?”
“You also guessed both 16 and 17, didn’t you? I can guess one right too.”
“I didn’t know that kind of stuff…!”
Tears welled up in Yuna’s eyes.
But she didn’t feel sad.
Rather, the ridiculousness of the situation made her shake off the tears and even let out a small giggle.
“I almost mistook you for a robot or something!”
Crying and now laughing.
Si-hoo was taken aback by her unusual display, but at the same time, he felt her humanity, and the corners of his mouth naturally went up.
Si-hoo thought Yuna looked pretty when she smiled, and her red hair was charming too.
She had a type that was popular among both boys and girls, so he couldn’t understand why she was being bullied by the other kids in class.
Instead, he felt a touch of regret, as today might be the last chance to talk to her.
“Thanks to your help, I think I’ll do well in the finals.”
He wanted to talk just a little longer.
Si-hoo inquired subtly.
“Now that we’ve finished the exam, are you going home?”
“What do you mean?”
Yuna pulled out two books and a bundle of exam papers from her backpack.
“The Basics of Runes! We’re supposed to do this next, right? Please help me out.”
Cheerfully insisting that they start, she pressed Si-hoo for it.
Thank goodness.
“Yeah, I’m counting on you too.”
*
“Ugh…”
“Are you awake? If you’re feeling dizzy, you can stay lying down or leave without any notice. The homeroom teacher has given permission.”
Seo Yu-na’s field of vision saw translucent bugs wriggling on the pure white ceiling.
Rubbing her eyes once more, the bugs vanished, and she soon realized that she had awakened in the infirmary.
It felt like she had experienced both a bad dream and a good dream, but the details were fuzzy.
“Should I just go?”
“Yes, thank you for taking care of me.”
She packed her backpack and outer clothes, not forgetting to thank the school nurse before checking the time.
[14:50]
It was a late hour when most kids had already left school.
COUGH COUGH.
Suddenly, she coughed and felt her heart sink, thinking she might be reliving the nightmare of carelessly drinking a potion; thankfully, it didn’t feel as bitter as the medicine.
Moistening her dry lips with her tongue, memories of when she fell ill surfaced, making her face flush.
[Seo Yu-na, can you hear me?]
[From now on, I’m going to make you bite my finger. Don’t say it hurts if you bite down, okay?]
When something invaded her mouth, fear struck her heart.
It felt like a kind of fear one might experience when a dentist’s unknown tools invade during a blind moment.
But soon a magical energy spread through her body, and Yuna’s pain faded.
‘It felt like all the pain was just a dream.’
[Just a little more. You’ll be fine.]
‘What on earth was that…?’
The hand caressing her face felt so warm, like her mother’s… and she missed it so much.
Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought.
‘I must be feeling dizzy because I haven’t eaten enough lately. I should eat more for lunch from now on.’
Crossing the school garden, Yuna stood before a lilac flower bed someone had tenderly planted along the school building.
Those were the flowers planted by 1st graders with their parents during the entrance ceremony.
In the same spot, there was a flower Yuna had planted the previous year.
She had carefully planted it together with her brother, wishing to graduate safely from the academy.
But the lilacs bloom intensely in spring, showing their fragrance, and as summer passes and winter arrives, they leave no trace behind.
And that place would be replaced by the wishes of the new first graders next year.
As one gets used to their daily life and settles down, they often forget their original purpose.
So, Yuna now disliked the lilacs that spread a piercing scent.
“@%$# &&@ %@# you! Are you crazy?!”
The sudden shout was enough to pull Yuna out of her thoughts.
From the building across the flower bed, a faint light seeped out.
It seemed she was drawn into that building, almost like being hypnotized.
Perhaps it was the fragrance of the lilacs that had her enchanted.
Curiosity and a slight desire for rebellion.
Since she had already skipped class once, she felt no hesitation in her steps.
Yuna was able to witness a scene where a secretary sister left the room with a frown after the shout.
‘Did someone scold the high-ranking officials of the academy?’
But there was still a presence in the room.
[It seems a remarkable talent has entered the academy after a long time, haha!]
The room was structured with another room inside.
Yuna pressed against one wall, straining to listen in on what was being said inside.
As the original room had been divided by a soundproofing wall, the voices reached Yuna’s ears without filtration.
[Student, but what kind of medicine did your friend take to use anesthesia magic?]
[She ingested a potion unknowingly.]
“…!”
It was NoName’s voice.
‘Why is NoName here?’
[Potion…? Is it the kind that the military wizards drink?]
[You’re saying the same thing as Professor Chun. Yes, that’s correct.]
[Ah…]
‘What’s a military wizard?’
Unfortunately, Yuna couldn’t comprehend all the words coming into her head.
The conversation was cut off there.
Yuna was worried that she might have been found out and struggled to calm her pounding heart.
[NoName student should also… study hard at school.]
‘If this goes on, I’ll get caught! Where can I hide…?’
Yuna quickly squeezed her small body between the stacks of empty mandarin boxes intended for recycling.
Soon, the door to the counseling room opened, and a scary-looking uncle stepped out, fumbling in his pocket for a cigarette.
Yuna finally sighed with relief.
“How unfortunate it is to be terminally ill.”
But the words muttered by the middle-aged gentleman were enough to trigger her buried trauma.
“Terminal…?”
