Chapter 150
Time flew by, and the weekend had already arrived before I knew it. The dormitory was empty during the weekend. It was because the students were either visiting their parents’ homes or studying at the library since it was exam period.
I also had some time to spare, so I tried to study, but the words didn't register in my mind. I couldn't fall asleep when I tried to go for a nap, either. With nothing else to do, I had no choice but to fiddle around with Voodoo stuff. It was then that I received a call from Ji-Ah. It had been a long time since I last received a call from her. Or maybe this was the first time? Anyway, I answered the call with a glad heart.
—Is the dormitory livable?
Ji-Ah asked me without any greetings. I recalled the incident where I was late yesterday and told her about it. I slept until eleven o’clock because no one woke me up, and it was only then that I could go to school.
She listened to my story with great joy.
—It seems like you can't wake up without me.
"You’re not entirely wrong, but... do you really have to phrase it like that?"
The reality was that I never woke up late when Ji-Ah was around. Usually, I could wake up on time by myself, but when there were times that I couldn’t wake up on time, Ji-Ah would come and wake me up. Thus, what she said wasn’t entirely wrong, but I didn’t like the way she phrased it.
Ji-Ah didn’t bother to respond to my question, and she changed the subject instead.
—Your stamina was probably reduced due to the incident where you got seriously injured and had to be hospitalized. That’s why it’s harder for you to wake up, right?
"That seems to be the case. I haven’t really been exercising lately either.”
—It’s good to exercise, as long as you don’t push yourself too hard.
“Indeed.”
—Just remember not to push yourself too hard. That’s the important part.
Ji-Ah emphasized the part about not pushing myself too hard. Maybe it was because of my serious injury last time, but it seemed like Ji-Ah's concerns had grown even stronger. The injuries I sustained back then had been severe enough to kill me had I not formed the Contract of the Dead in advance. Thus, it was understandable that she was worried.
Thanks to the Contract of the Dead, only the Loa and I knew that I barely survived. I thought about telling Ji-Ah and Uncle, but I decided not to tell them because nothing good would come out of it. There was no reason to tell them, and even if I did, they wouldn’t understand.
—Please be healthy.
"Alright. I’ll be healthy."
Perhaps she didn’t feel satisfied even after saying that, so she added a few more words before hanging up. Her concerns were so extreme that it felt annoying at times, but I was still grateful that she cared about me.
As a result, my plan for today was to resume exercising. I had taken a break for a while now. It was the weekend, and there was a high possibility that the practical exam would require physical activity, so I wanted to warm up my body in advance.
While heading to the gym, Legba said, [There is not a single call from that Jin-Sung guy.]
After confirming no one was around, I replied, "Uncle has always been like that."
Uncle was never one to worry. Even if I was in extreme pain or injured, he believed everything would be fine as long as I was alive. He said that pain would go away after taking medicine, and injuries would heal over time. Therefore, he said that everything was fine as long as I didn’t die. Those were the words that remained in my memory.
[Still, he’s supposed to be your last remaining family member, and yet...] Legba said while vigorously clicking his tongue. Eventually, he trailed off and stopped speaking.
Within the abrupt silence, I heard a cat’s meow echo from the distance.
***
Jin-Seo was facing an unexpectedly strong enemy. When trying to approach, the distance between her and the enemy did not decrease, and even when bending down and requesting negotiation, they completely ignored her. Among all the enemies Jin-Seo had encountered so far in her life, they were the most agile and cunning.
"Meow─"
The opponent was none other than a cat. Jin-Seo tried to imitate the cat’s meow to close the distance between them, but the quick-witted and shrewd cat never let her get close. At first, Jin-Seo carelessly let her guard down due to the cat’s seemingly cute and innocent facade. But once she faced the cat properly, it clearly could not be underestimated. She had no choice but to lure the cat with food...
Jin-Seo took out a snack from her pocket. She always carried something with her in preparation for moments like this. However, the cat didn’t even glance at Jin-Seo, and it instead headed toward a man who happened to be passing by.
"Ah," Jin-Seo sighed.
The cat rubbed its head against the man's leg and even rolled over to show its belly. It was clearly a sign of intimacy. The man crouched down and stroked the cat. At the man’s touch, the cat shoved its head into the man’s hand and purred. The identity of the man who easily captured the cat's heart and even seemed to be taming it, despite the cat’s complete hostility toward her was...
"Sun-Woo..."
It was him, the person who hadn't shown his face or contacted her in the past few months. He hadn't done anything wrong, but for some reason, seeing his face made her angry. While she was thinking this, Sun-Woo continued to calmly stroke the cat’s belly. He even held the cat in his arms. She couldn't forgive him...
Jin-Seo confidently approached him. As she approached, the cat in Sun-Woo's arms raised its fur as if startled before running away. Sun-Woo watched the retreating back of the now-distant cat with a sense of regret and then lifted his head after belatedly noticing Jin-Seo's presence.
"The cat seems to dislike you."
"Ha."
Jin-Seo was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh. The remark had been so astonishingly shameless that she completely forgot about her anger. She hadn’t even hoped for words such as “I missed you” or “It’s good to see you.” It would have been enough if he had just said something like, “Long time no see.” However, Sun-Woo failed to utter such simple greetings.
"Is that all you have to say?" Jin-Seo asked sarcastically with her arms crossed.
Her tone of voice clearly indicated that she was angry. This should have been enough to make any normal person flustered, but Sun-Woo calmly smiled and said, "Why? Did you want me to say I missed you?"
"Huh? No, um..."
"Then?" Sun-Woo asked.
He continued to smile, but there was an iciness in his tone that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Instead of responding, Jin-Seo silently observed Sun-Woo’s face for a while. There wasn’t anything noticeably different about him, but it seemed like he had lost some weight, as if he hadn't been eating properly since being discharged from the hospital.
However, she didn’t want to express any concern for him. He prematurely left the hospital without saying a word and then disappeared without any contact for months. Whether she was concerned about him or not, he would do things his way, so worrying about him was a waste of time.
“...How is your body holding up?”
...But she decided to ask anyway. This was not her being concerned—this was just her asking a question that should be asked as a matter of courtesy.
Sun-Woo grinned and said, "I'm healthy."
"I suppose you would be. Since you were discharged early."
"Why did you ask?"
Jin-Seo abruptly blurted, "Just because... I’m annoyed."
Sun-Woo had a clueless expression on his face as if he had no idea why she was annoyed. He stared at Jin-Seo’s face for a while before suddenly standing up and walking away.
Jin-Seo walked alongside him. Sun-Woo tilted his head as if he was curious.
"Why are you following me?"
"I was originally going to go this way."
Originally, she planned to go in the opposite direction, but there was no need to tell him that. While silently walking, she saw a cat jump into the bush.
There were many cats in Florence Academy. They would occasionally catch birds from the barn, which made them unpopular among the teachers, but they were popular among the students. Some of the playful cats even had names given to them by the students. They were typical names such as Cheese, T’ekaaluk[1], and Butterfly.
Sun-Woo watched the cat hop into the bush and said, "Were you playing with the cat earlier?"
Jin-Seo trembled after getting startled by his question.
"Did you hear me?"
"What?"
Jin-Seo pretended like she didn’t care as she casually replied, "No... it's nothing. I wasn’t playing with it. I just thought it was cute, so I watched for a bit."
Fortunately, it seemed like he didn't hear her imitating the cat’s cry.
Sun-Woo nodded slowly.
"Looks like you like cats."
"Because they are cute."
"But the cats don’t seem to like you."
"...Are you doing it on purpose?"
Sun-Woo just smiled faintly without bothering to answer her question.
“Oh, you’re really good at imitating the noise that cats make when they cry.”
She thought he hadn’t heard it, but it seemed like he did. Whatever. She just had to feign innocence.
“What are you talking about?”
Jin-Seo smiled as if she had no idea what he was talking about as she denied his allegations. However, Sun-Woo looked at her as if he found her denial amusing.
He laughed and said, "You imitated it earlier. It sounds almost the same if you close your eyes and listen."
"Sh-shut up."
"With that level of skill, even the cat’s mom would be fooled, hmph—”
Jin-Seo hurriedly covered Sun-Woo's mouth.
"Stop talking now."
Jin-Seo couldn't even lift her head due to the overwhelming embarrassment. The only thought in her head was not to let this guy speak anymore.
After she saw Sun-Woo struggling to breathe, Jin-Seo finally removed her hand. Sun-Woo rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand as if to check whether his mouth was still attached.
“Why are you overreacting so much?” Sun-Woo asked.
“You really annoy me...” Jin-Seo said.
Jin-Seo felt like she would be in a losing position if she said anything else, so she decided to keep her mouth shut. Sun-Woo smiled in satisfaction and walked away without saying a word.
The two stopped in front of the gym. Before walking into the gym, Sun-Woo paused for a moment and then turned to face Jin-Seo.
“By the way, where exactly are you heading? Did you come to work out too?" Sun-Woo asked.
Jin-Seo had been following Sun-Woo without much thought, and she was taken aback. She had already finished her workout in the morning. However, she didn't feel comfortable parting ways with him like this. The anxiety of not knowing when they would meet again after today overwhelmed her.
Sun-Woo probably wouldn't suddenly disappear or die while working out, but her anxiety remained.
"Yeah... That’s good. I was planning to work out, too. Shall we do it together?"
"Is there really a need for us to work out together?"
"...You might get hurt if you do it alone. It's been a while since you've done so."
"Ah, are you offering to help me?" Sun-Woo asked.
Looking at Sun-Woo’s shameless face, Jin-Seo's anger immediately surged. However, she tried not to show it.
"...Yeah, I'll offer my assistance. So, go ahead," she said.
"You really don’t need to do this. But thanks anyway," Sun-Woo said with a smile as if he was mocking her.
Jin-Seo couldn’t help but clench her teeth. Originally, she wanted to ask why he hadn’t contacted her all this time. She also wanted to seek revenge for the frustration she had felt during that time. However, during their conversation, she failed to bring up the topic, and Sun-Woo's words easily swayed her. She always thought Sun-Woo had a slightly mischievous side, but it seemed to have become even more pronounced.
Was he intentionally trying to annoy her...?
She didn't dislike the change, but for some reason, it irritated her because it felt like she was losing. But it was okay.
She could seek revenge from now on.
1. Merchants in Elder Scrolls typically say, “Take a look,” and a bunch of Korean users seemed to like the way Khajiit said it, so they gave him the nickname of T’ekaaluk. Later, people began to associate T’ekaaluk with cat-like characters in video games, and then they later associated it with cats in real life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yD7MB3TiA0 ?
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