Chapter 16: Eyes on Me

It seemed that the situation a moment ago had been quite embarrassing, as the delinquents approached with exaggerated strides.

It seemed that I had become their new target, replacing Yeon Ha-yeon.

“What were you doing, hiding like a rat?”

I was about to make a quick decision and melt into the shadows when suddenly one of the delinquents quickly approached and grabbed my arm, glaring at me viciously and shouting.

“What do you think you’re doing, trying to use a skill?”

It looked like he was Awakened, since he snatched my hand just as I was about to use a skill.

The other delinquents were just standing there, so he was probably the only Awakened in the group.

The situation shifted from some normal students being harassed in an alley to a spectacle of Awakened ones facing off against each other.

When the Awakened delinquent slapped my hand away, I heard a disturbing cheer from the others, clearly convinced their friend was going to win.

‘How am I going to deal with this?’

Thanks to closing a lot of gates, I hadn’t regained my skills, but my physical abilities were pretty decent by now.

I was in good enough shape to easily overpower the Awakened delinquent in front of me.

Standing silently with my head down, the Awakened delinquent, thinking I was scared, sneered and spoke in a mocking voice.

“What rank are you?”

Wow, I actually heard that.

Putting aside the fresh feeling of it, it was a question I really didn’t want to answer, so I decided to just run.

I planned to dart around the delinquents blocking half the alley.

But as soon as I braced my legs to spring forward, the Awakened delinquent blocked my way.

He stood tall, arrogantly glaring down at me with a sneer.

When I moved one step to the right, the delinquent mirrored me, moving to the right as well, and when I moved left, he mirrored that too.

It was really irritating.

If he were truly Awakened, he should know this small interference wouldn’t stop me from getting through.

But maybe he still had the habit of bullying people before his awakening, from the time when he used to harass random students.

“Do you know who I am? I’m the 98th-ranked Hunter from the prestigious Ganjigong High… Hey!”

I didn’t need to hear more of that self-introduction, so I quickly dashed out.

I covered my face with both hands, just in case they might come after me later after recognizing me.

To stop me, one of the delinquents, who had been standing the farthest away, stepped in front of me and tried to block my path.

Thud

“Ugh!”

Did you think I’d be stopped by that?

I grabbed the delinquent’s hand reaching for me and, with a little force, shoved him aside.

His body was thrown back, crashing into the wall with a dull thud.

“Don’t stand there!”

Do you think I’ll stop just because you tell me to?

I ran, dodging the delinquents chasing after me.

As I got farther away from the Awakened delinquent, who had been running at me like he was about to kill me, I gradually started slowing down.

I was running with my face covered, and I could feel people staring at me strangely.

Back when I wasn’t possessed, I never would’ve attracted these kinds of looks on the street, and it hit me hard.

Meanwhile, a large billboard caught my eye.

It displayed a recent fashion photoshoot featuring the Four Heavenly Kings, shining brightly on a giant screen atop a building.

Sigh…

Seeing that made me sigh involuntarily.

***

After school, the substitute homeroom teacher’s final bell rang, and Ban Hyeol was walking home alone for the first time in a while, separated from her friends, who had always been by her side.

Han Ji-bin had begged her to go to the PC room, but for some reason, she felt like returning home quickly today, so she left alone.

Feeling disappointed, Han Ji-bin lay down in protest, but Eun Ba-da and Ji Kang-han took him to the PC room.

It was just as I was about to pass by the alley near the school on my way to take a shortcut.

“Hey, wanna take a look at us?”

The tone was rude, and it was grating to my ears.

As I turned my gaze toward where the voice came from, I saw a daring delinquent trying to drag Yeon Ha-yeon into the alley.

‘Is he out of his mind?’

I thought Yeon Ha-yeon could handle it on her own, and half of me didn’t care about what was happening in the alley.

I was going to walk past them.

However, the delinquents didn’t seem completely stupid.

They immediately recognized Yeon Ha-yeon’s face and quickly lowered their heads.

That wasn’t too interesting to me.

“Hey, what’s that?”

One of the delinquents shouted in a much angrier tone and went toward a pile of trash that had collapsed.

I didn’t know who was behind them, but I thought if there were other students like them, a fight would break out.

But then, a familiar silhouette of a girl in a Gamsung High uniform came out from the alley.

She was the former number one in Gangnam’s rankings, the top student at Gamsung High, and now the number one Hunter in South Korea.

A sense of duty, rather than a sense of justice, suddenly rose within her.

To think these punks dared to touch a student from Gamsung High, where Ban Eun-hyeol was the top student, was like challenging her directly.

Ban Eun-hyeol turned around to confirm the delinquent’s face and walked toward the alley.

‘She looks familiar.’

That small, slender body and wavy brown hair.

It was a common appearance, yet strangely familiar.

It was a bit frustrating not to be able to see her face since she had her head down.

Just as I was trying to get a better look, I faintly sensed magic energy coming from deeper within the alley.

“What is this? Trying to use a skill here?”

Was she Awakened?

It didn’t seem like the person I had imagined.

Ban Eun-hyeol shoved his hands deep into one of his pockets and walked toward the alley with heavy footsteps.

Just as I was about to tell the delinquents to stay still if they didn’t want to get hit, the girl who had been bowing her head suddenly raised both hands to cover her face and dashed out at high speed.

Meanwhile, the delinquent trying to block her got thrown into a wall, which was a bit funny.

“Don’t stand there!”

The delinquents, especially the one who was Awakened, chased the girl fiercely.

However, the girl, who kept her face hidden, was much faster.

Before I even had a chance to intervene, the situation was already over.

I leisurely followed the delinquents from behind, planning to warn them to stay away from other students from my school if they caused trouble again.

At that moment, I noticed a particularly noticeable pink backpack.

The bag was swaying from the girl’s back as she ran in the distance.

The brand was common, but the bright pink color was unusual.

Ban Eun-hyeol would discover that familiar backpack the very next day.

After arriving late to school, she opened the back door and sat down as usual, attracting everyone’s attention.

But something caught her eye on one side of her vision.

‘Pink?’

The color that strongly drew her attention was hanging from a hook near the front door, beside a desk.

“Whose seat is that?”

When she asked Han Ji-bin, who followed her inside, the answer came quickly.

“That? That’s Dana’s seat!”

“Dana?”

A voice filled with annoyance escaped from my mouth.

That was when it started.

Even though I wasn’t really paying attention to the class, for some reason, my gaze kept wandering to the front.

***

Sizzling.

Cold sweat was dripping down.

‘Why… is he looking at me like that?’

The number of eyes on me doubled throughout the day.

One was Yeon Ha-yeon’s, and the other was… his.

‘What’s his deal?’

It was Ban Eun-hyeol.

If you were being watched by two of the top students, both tied for first place, it could get pretty intimidating.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know why Yeon Ha-yeon was looking at me; I just couldn’t understand why Ban Eun-hyeol kept staring at me like that.

Wasn’t he supposed to dislike me?

He was sitting in the back, arms crossed, with his gaze fixed on me.

The pressure from it was unbearable.

His expression was constantly furrowed in annoyance.

Maybe he hated me so much that he was scowling and glaring at me like that?

“Hey, hey. Doesn’t Eun-hyeol seem a little intimidating today?”

“Did you notice? Even with that scowl, he still looks good. I’d love to be caught in that frown.”

“Right, right?! But doesn’t it look like he’s staring at you?”

While class was going on, my friends were whispering and looking at me.

“Why, why?”

“Because it looks like Eun-hyeol’s been staring at you.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced behind me, then waved my hand under the desk, signaling a firm “no.”

My friends tilted their heads, unsure, but seemed convinced, though still a little uncertain.

Tap, tap.

“Hey, keep it down!”

The teacher hit the chalkboard with a tap, turning toward us, and thankfully, the whispers stopped.

But the two pairs of eyes on me didn’t.

After hearing my friends’ gossip and feeling those two gazes, I bolted to the bathroom as soon as the break started.

The next class was gym, so at least I had that to look forward to.

I usually wore a T-shirt under my school uniform, so all I needed to do was pull on gym shorts under my skirt.

But I needed an excuse to leave my seat, so I used gym class as a reason.

“Ah!”

As I finished changing into my gym uniform and stepped out of the bathroom, a large shadow suddenly loomed above me.

I yelped in surprise when I saw Ban Eun-hyeol standing there, his arms crossed, blocking my way.

“Did something happen yesterday?”

What was he talking about all of a sudden?

I looked up at him with confusion.

He clicked his tongue and muttered, then passed by me.

“Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t have happened.”

What wouldn’t have happened?

I couldn’t understand what he was mumbling about, and the “yeah, I guess” part really bugged me.

I seethed in silence and walked back to the classroom, only to find someone sitting in my seat.

“Oh, Da… Dan-ah.”

“We’re going to head out first!”

My friends, who had been staring at Yeon Ha-yeon sitting in my seat, quickly ran out of the classroom.

“Wait a minute!”

My arm reached out helplessly, but it just fell limply at my side. Yeon Ha-yeon came up to me with a serious look and crossed her arms.

“Dana.”

“Uh, yeah?”

She, taller than me, leaned down slightly