Chapter 164
‘Sis, I'll be out for a bit. I won’t be going far...’
‘I won’t ever stand in front of you again... No, I won’t even appear in front of you. So, please...’
‘I can't forget... You...’
It was a dream. She knew it was a dream. Voices that she wanted to forget, or couldn’t forget, or voices that she wanted to forget but couldn’t, would occasionally come to her in her dreams. When those voices resounded out from the darkness, she had no choice but to curl up and wait until the voices subsided.
"Ah..."
Eventually, she escaped from the dream. Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat. It was chilly and her head hurt a bit. She remained curled up in the same position that she was in her dream.
After just barely managing to lift her heavy body, In-Ah stood up. Although she felt a little sick, she couldn't afford to skip school again. She had already missed a lot of days, and above all, today was the day of the practical exam.
"Achoo! Ah, argh..."
She barely managed to finish her preparations as she sneezed and wiped her numb nose. She then went to school. The classroom was unusually quiet today. Everyone seemed to be tense because of the practical exam.
Sun-Woo was also there. He usually arrived late or barely on time, but he came early today for some reason. His face was pale, and his eyes were wandering aimlessly. Even at a glance, it was clear that he looked incredibly tired.
Tap.
He seemed to be lost in his own world. In-Ah lightly tapped his shoulder with her finger. However, Sun-Woo didn't react and he just continued to stare into space. She wondered whether he really didn’t know that she had touched him or if he was just pretending not to know.
She couldn't hold back and raised her voice.
"Hey!"
Sun-Woo finally turned his head.
"What’s wrong with you... Huh...?"
In-Ah playfully teased him like usual, but her voice trailed off once she saw his expression. Her desire to joke around disappeared. Sun-Woo's eyes were tired, his lips were dry, and his complexion was pale. He looked like a corpse.
"...Did you not sleep well last night?" In-Ah asked cautiously.
Sun-Woo nodded.
"A bit."
"Did you really get any sleep? How much did you sleep?"
"Um... a bit?"
In-Ah pouted and said, "Come on, give me a straight answer."
Sun-Woo chuckled.
"Maybe it's because I was nervous... I couldn't sleep. But I'll be fine."
"What is there to be nervous about? You're going to do well anyway."
In-Ah forced herself to smile brightly to try and cheer him up. Instead of responding, Sun-Woo lowered his head and let his gaze fall to the ground. He seemed to be lost in thought.
After finishing his thoughts, Sun-Woo looked up and said, "I have to do well. I can't make any mistakes today."
There was a faint smile on his lips. However, his icy gaze fixed on the distant mountains made his smile seem eerie and strange. In-Ah unknowingly felt fear as she gulped.
"Are you... really okay?"
"Yes. Because I can't make any mistakes today..."
"..."
In-Ah didn't quite understand what he meant by “I can't make any mistakes today,” but she nodded and stepped back for now. Sun-Woo's condition seemed much worse than she initially thought. It seemed better to just let him rest instead of bothering him with unnecessary words.
Not long after, Teacher Ye-Jin came into the classroom.
"We will be conducting the practical exam at the test center instead of at school. So, everyone—"
"Achoo! Argh..."
“...Please go to the sports field.”
Ye-Jin finished her brief announcement and glanced at In-Ah before leaving the classroom. In-Ah had unintentionally interrupted Ye-Jin because of her sneezing, so she blushed and lowered her head.
*
There were buses lined up on the sports field. Jin-Seo got into the designated vehicle without much thought. For some reason, the buses were randomly assigned instead of being divided by class.
For example, a few students from the Class of Kindness, the Class of Patience, and the Class of Charity were on Bus 1. On Bus 2, there were a few students from the Class of Chastity, the Class of Charity, the Class of Diligence... and so on. Due to the unnecessarily complicated arrangement, the sports field was chaotic.
"Ha..."
Jin-Seo sighed as soon as she got on the bus. She disliked crowded places so much that she would purposely choose the times with the least number of people when attending mass. As soon as she sat down, she leaned her head against the backrest and closed her eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, her dizziness subsided.
It hadn’t been this severe before. She had been experiencing dizziness more frequently lately. Maybe it was because of her diet. It was then that someone spoke to her.
"Is anyone sitting next to you?"
Jin-Seo briefly glanced at the person's face and shook her head.
"No."
"Can I sit here then?"
"Do as you wish..." Jin-Seo said as she turned to gaze out the window. It didn't matter who sat next to her. Now was not the time to care about such things.
The female student sitting next to her was someone she only knew based on her facial characteristics. She didn't care to know the name, personality, or other characteristics of the girl sitting next to her. Jin-Seo didn't make an effort to become close with her classmates. She continued to maintain this attitude ever since the day one of the students mistook her kindness for affection and suffered a terrible incident as a result.
"I’m nervous. Are you too?"
"..."
Jin-Seo didn't answer the question and just stared out the window. The girl smiled as if she hadn't expected a response in the first place, and leaned back against the backrest without saying anything else. Silence filled the air.
As time passed, more people boarded the bus. Some students happily chatted with their friends, while others, like Jin-Seo, knew no one and ended up gazing sadly out the window.
Jin-Seo closed her eyes tightly and tried to sleep. The noise of the students talking prevented her from falling asleep. She couldn't understand why they were so excited to take an exam.
"Why are you sitting there?"
"What does it matter? There's no other seat anyway."
At that moment, the familiar voices of a boy and a girl could be heard. Jin-Seo opened her eyes and discreetly turned her head to look at them. Sun-Woo and In-Ah were sitting side by side, arguing with each other.
In-Ah took a seat by the window. Then she glanced at Sun-Woo and said, "Do you want to switch seats?"
"No... I’m going to sleep anyway."
Sun-Woo shook his head. He then leaned back and closed his eyes. It seemed like he wanted to go to sleep right away. In-Ah looked at Sun-Woo and tapped him on the shoulder. Sun-Woo opened his eyes with a slightly annoyed expression.
"What is it?"
"If you're going to sleep, switch seats with me. It's more comfortable if you sleep while leaning against the window."
"I’m fine though..."
Sun-Woo reluctantly got up and switched seats with In-Ah. Jin-Seo stared at the two of them intently, but Sun-Woo didn't notice her gaze at all.
Actually, In-Ah noticed her gaze. In-Ah’s eyes narrowed slightly as soon as her eyes met Jin-Seo's. Then she quickly turned her head and avoided eye contact as if nothing had happened. Before Jin-Seo could wonder about In-Ah's strange behavior, the driver’s limp voice echoed through the speaker.
—All seated students, please ensure your seat belts are on...
Soon, the bus departed. It was no longer possible for Jin-Seo to see Sun-Woo because In-Ah had switched seats with him.
"What the...?"
Jin-Seo glanced in In-Ah’s direction and tilted her head. She felt annoyed, but she couldn't figure out why. Moreover, exhaustion prevented her brain from functioning correctly. She was currently unable to deeply think about anything.
Suddenly, the student sitting next to her turned her head and asked, "Is there a problem?"
Jin-Seo intended to distance herself from the overly friendly student. So, in a deliberately cold and distant tone she said, "Why do you keep talking to me?"
Jin-Seo's words and tone were icy.
However, as if the student had expected such a reaction, she snickered and nonchalantly replied, "Because we're not friendly with each other. So I’m trying to be friendly with you from now on."
Jin-Seo looked at the student with a perplexed expression on her face. She couldn’t believe such a strange person existed. In this situation, most people would get scared or would back away after getting flustered.
"It looks like Sun-Woo is also taking the same bus as us," the student said without any hesitation.
Jin-Seo stared at the student with furrowed eyebrows.
"How do you know him?"
"It would be strange not to know him. He’s really famous.”
"Famous... why?"
“Are you asking me because you really don’t know?” the student asked as if she was surprised.
Of course, she considered him to be somewhat famous. He had good grades, achieved a lot of feats outside of school, and above all, he was the Holy Name of Charity. But she never thought that he was famous enough for people to say that it would be “strange not to know him.”
He was unique, but he wasn’t the type of person to stand out that much.
"During the incident at the school last time, he died and came back to life thanks to a 'miracle'... Anyway, there were even news articles about that. Did you really not know?"
"Ah..."
She knew about the incident that occurred last time, but she was unaware that there were news articles about it as well. She didn’t have the leisure to go around checking news articles at the time. Her father’s illness worsened to a serious extent and Sun-Woo wandered between the boundary of life and death while unconscious. It had been impossible for her to stay sane during that time.
The student continued, "At the beginning of the semester, he received an award at the same time as you. I was able to briefly talk to him last time as well.”
"What did you talk about?"
Jin-Seo glanced sharply at the student. The student smiled and clapped her hands.
“He was standing in front of our classroom looking for you, so I told him to wait.”
“...”
“But he said that he was busy, and then he just left. He’s a really bad person,” the student said while playfully thrusting her finger in Sun-Woo’s direction.
Jin-Seo secretly sighed with relief. Her body had unconsciously turned toward the student sometime during the conversation, so she once again turned her body to face the window. Then she crossed her arms and looked outside.
“He’s not... he’s not a bad person.”
Then, she subtly defended him. No matter how she thought about it, he wasn’t the type of person who could be labeled as bad.
“He is a bad person. He just needed to wait a little bit.”
“Wait for what? It’s not like I’m special to him or anything,” Jin-Seo said with a resigned smirk.
Then she glanced briefly toward In-Ah. Only her curly brown hair was visible, and it was impossible to see what the two people were doing.
"Why are you talking like that?" the student said with her brows furrowed as if she was displeased.
The bus had already entered the highway. It endlessly continued to move forward, but it was impossible to know where it was going.
Jin-Seo stared out the window with her tired eyes and said, "There's no need for him to wait, right? He just needs to call."
“Isn’t it good to see each other and catch up for a bit?”
"What are you talking about?"
"Huh? I mean, aren’t you two..." the student mumbled.
Then, after glancing around to check if anyone was listening, she leaned in close to Jin-Seo's ear and whispered, "...Aren’t you two dating? That's what I heard."
Jin-Seo turned her head in surprise.
"What? That’s nonsense."
"You aren’t? If it's because of the rules, you can just tell me. Yu-Hyun from the Class of Humility also—"
"No. Who on earth said such a thing?" Jin-Seo asked in disbelief.
The contents of the rumor weren’t important. It was unpleasant to know that baseless rumors were circulating about her. And it was possible that... the content of the rumor might be unpleasant for Sun-Woo.
"Oh, you really aren’t? Sorry, I didn't know. I just assumed because I heard..."
"So, who did you hear this from?" Jin-Seo questioned.
The student bowed their head deeply in response. Jin-Seo already had a sharp demeanor, but since she was shoving her face in front of the student while glaring at her, it was impossible for the student not to feel scared. The student became frightened and closed her mouth, but Jin-Seo seemed determined to glare at her until she answered.
The student reluctantly said, "I, um... it was the kids from Su-Ryeon's group..."
"Su-Ryeon," Jin-Seo repeated the name that the student had uttered.
Su-Ryeon was the type who was well-connected and very talkative. Her words had a greater impact on rumors than other people. Since Su-Ryeon was the origin of the rumors, they would not die down unless Su-Ryeon personally declared the truth.
"I understand for now. And you... don't believe what they say from now on."
It seemed necessary to go directly to Su-Ryeon and request an explanation later.
The student nodded after hearing Jin-Seo's request.
"Okay."
"Still, it's fortunate that it’s not a bad rumor," Jin-Seo said while sighing softly.
It would be best if a rumor didn't spread, but if a rumor had spread, at the very least, she had to avoid having a bad rumor spreading at all costs. In her opinion, this wasn’t categorized as a bad rumor. However, she didn’t know what Sun-Woo would think.
"...Actually, there is a rumor going around that Sun-Woo is two-timing, but that can't be true, right?"
"Stop talking nonsense."
"Yeah, I also didn’t think that was true!"
Jin-Seo leaned her forehead against the bus window and tightly closed her eyes. She was annoyed at Su-Ryeon for spreading such a ridiculous rumor, but she also couldn't understand why people believed those rumors at face value.
"But then... What's your relationship with him?" the student cautiously asked.
It seemed like she was asking what their relationship was if they weren’t lovers. She had never really thought about it, so she found it difficult to answer.
‘Do we really need to be in some sort of relationship?’ she wondered.
"Well... I don't really know either," Jin-Seo muttered in a small voice after some contemplation.
She thought back to how she had held his hand a few days ago. His hand had been as cold and as firm as ice. It felt like his hand would break if she gripped it too tightly. But she also felt like he would run away and disappear if he let go, so she was unable to let go of Sun-Woo’s hand at the time. She had said that she was tired as an excuse to do so.
Looking back now, she didn't know what she was thinking at the time.
"Then, what kind of relationship do you hope for?" the student asked innocently.
Her tone made it clear that she had asked the question while expecting a specific answer. Jin-Seo felt slightly uncomfortable but she still earnestly contemplated the student's question.
‘What am I hoping for?’
She wasn’t just hoping to be by his side. But she never particularly thought that she wanted to do something with him. What she was hoping for from him was probably...
“Are you not going to answer?”
"...Shut up. I’m going to sleep."
"Alright," the student replied in a cheerful manner.
She no longer asked annoying questions or talked about unnecessary topics. Jin-Seo leaned her forehead against the bus window and closed her eyes. She had a headache. The questions that the student had asked were floating around in her mind.
*
—We have arrived at the test site. All students, please disembark in an orderly manner. I repeat...
Upon hearing the announcement, I opened my eyes.
I had definitely slept, but it didn’t feel like I had slept at all. It was like time had passed by after I closed and opened my eyes for a moment. The fatigue weighing down on my consciousness was still there. Well, then again, it would have been unreasonable to expect that a few hours of sleep would help me recover from days of accumulated fatigue.
While regaining my senses and reiterating the plan that I had devised, In-Ah asked, "Are you awake?"
There was a weird smile on her lips that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. After seeing me nod, she continued, "You slept like a rock. Were you tired?"
"Yeah..."
I tried to pretend like I was fine, but my throat was clogged up so I couldn't speak properly.
In-Ah chuckled.
"Seems like it. Let's go out for now!"
In-Ah jumped up from her seat. I followed her. My body felt heavy as if I was wearing clothes drenched in water, and my steps felt around five times heavier than my body. Both mentally and physically, I was not in a state to take the exam using normal methods.
[But aren’t you planning to take the exam using abnormal methods in the first place?] Legba said.
"..."
I continued to follow In-Ah without responding to Legba's words. I got off the bus. The students who had gotten off the other buses stood in place, mesmerized by the view of the scenery.
I, too, also looked at the scenery. I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the truly magnificent landscape. It was a barren wasteland where not a blade of grass would grow. Dozens of houses were placed on top of this barren wasteland. However, all of the houses emitted a creepy atmosphere as they were either broken or worn out. Scattered debris of broken buildings, furniture, and dishes were littered around next to the houses as if proving that people once used to live in this village.
—The place you are all currently looking at is the test site where you will take your practical exam.
As a teacher started speaking through the microphone, a commotion spread amongst the students. I continued to look around the scenery of the test site without paying any attention to the commotion.
—Supervising teachers and ‘no entry’ tape will be placed at the boundaries of the test site, and upon leaving the boundaries of the test site...
The huge village, which was filled with densely scattered dead trees and dilapidated houses, was surrounded by an even larger mountain range. And what was most eye-catching of all was the hole in the center of the village.
The center of the village had a large pit, almost as if a meteor had landed and formed a large crater. All the students here probably knew about the incident that formed the pit.
—...Furthermore, as I’m sure you students all know, this was the scene of a battle between one of the Satanist executives known as Wrath.
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