episode_0080

80

“Wh…What does that mean?”

Si-woo says to Seul-gi in a seemingly flustered voice.

“What’s the surprise? You said you wanted to know why Se-hee unnie became like that in a day, right?”

Seul-gi continues speaking calmly, as if it’s nothing.

“Well…”

“Give me your hands~!!”

Seul-gi said, placing both hands on the table with her palms facing up.

Si-woo hesitates for a moment, then places his hands on top of Seul-gi’s palms.

“I think something happened to Se-hee unnie after she fell asleep yesterday~! We’re going to check it out together from now on~! You have to concentrate! Nothing will be revealed if you’re not honest with yourself!”

Seul-gi says, urging Si-woo, who was looking at the divination with a light heart.

“U…Uh…”

Si-woo was answering, feeling the soft touch of Seul-gi’s hands holding his.

**

Who is a human who has never given or received a gift?

Is it possible that there is a human in the world who has never watched a video?

Si-woo himself may be fitting freely associated memories to words that were blurted out carelessly.

Perhaps Seul-gi actually possesses a special, high-level technique that allows her to read the other person’s non-verbal expressions or clues through the words she scatters like bait…

Magic… or superpowers…

Such convenient tools of fantasy cannot exist in the real world.

Si-woo thought that there was no way Seul-gi could know about the sexual relations he had with Se-hee noona yesterday.

Yet, deep inside his heart, anxiety and doubt churned incessantly…

Si-woo falls into a feeling as if he has become lost.

“Something is appearing~”

Seul-gi is saying to Si-woo in an excited and exaggerated tone, as if she is fixated on the crystal ball.

“Wh…What is it?”

Si-woo asks Seul-gi in a tense voice.

“It looks like a square machine? It also looks like a lock…”

Seul-gi mutters quietly to herself, almost inaudibly.

Seul-gi briefly raises her head and looks at Si-woo.

“Si-woo, look closely too~!”

Si-woo looks at the crystal ball that Seul-gi is looking into.

Dust-like particles of light were filling the abyss-like space inside the crystal ball, moving around chaotically.

In an instant,

the image of numbers faintly drawn and disappearing comes into Si-woo’s eyes.

Si-woo’s face hardens as if he is startled.

What the small pieces of light had drawn inside the crystal ball

was an arrangement of familiar numbers that Si-woo knew.

Corresponding to Se-young’s birthday…

The password for Si-woo’s smartphone that he had recently set…

“How is it? Does it seem like an answer?”

Seul-gi, now wearing a soft smile, asks, making eye contact with Si-woo.

**

Did Se-hee noona check my smartphone while I was sleeping last night?

How did Se-hee noona know that Se-young’s birthday was the password?

More than that, how does Seul-gi know that?

Could it be that Seul-gi really saw what happened yesterday with her superpowers?

Si-woo was struggling to process the questions that were not being organized in his head, with a surprised expression.

Seul-gi, seeing Si-woo in confusion, pulled the hands she was holding as if she understood, causing Si-woo’s body to lean forward.

Slightly lifting her buttocks and leaning her body forward, Seul-gi brings her lips to Si-woo’s ear.

Seul-gi whispered in Si-woo’s ear.

‘It will definitely be okay~ Mom, Se-jin unnie, Se-hee unnie, Se-young, and… us too…’

A familiar whisper, as if experienced somewhere…

Si-woo’s head goes blank, and he couldn’t think of anything else.

“That’s all I can tell you right now~!! I’ll charge extra if I do more~! Good work~”

Seul-gi smiles kindly at Si-woo, looking him in the face.

**

Opening the curtain and glass door and coming outside, Cheol-jin was standing, seemingly waiting for his turn, being guided by Yoo Ye-na teacher.

“How was it? Was it fun?”

Cheol-jin’s still vibrant voice…

“Huh?…Uh…”

Si-woo answers blankly.

“Why? Did the person you’re going to marry in the future have an affair or something?”

Cheol-jin throws a silly joke at Si-woo.

After attempting a few more mischievous jokes as if teasing the dazed Si-woo, Cheol-jin disappears into the room with the blackout curtains.

Si-woo felt like he had a dream.

It was too accurate for Seul-gi to have just made up anything, Seul-gi knew Si-woo’s situation too accurately.

Especially the number that was shown in the last crystal ball was something that could not be hidden even if he tried.

He tried to calm his confused mind, but the agitation in his mind did not subside easily.

“How was the crystal gazing? Seul-gi is famous among the teachers for being good at divination!!”

Yoo Ye-na teacher says, as if boasting about her niece’s skills.

“Ah…uh…yes… It was…good.”

Si-woo didn’t know what to say first, so he opened and closed his mouth, barely managing to spit out the words.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good?”

Yoo Ye-na teacher asks Si-woo, looking worried.

“Um…i…is it real?”

Si-woo asks Yoo Ye-na teacher out of the blue.

“What are you talking about~?”

Yoo Ye-na teacher playfully teases Si-woo with a mischievous tone.

“I mean…inside…Seul-gi…”

Si-woo was struggling to list the words that were not organized in his head.

At that moment, Yoo Ye-na teacher raises her index finger to Si-woo’s lips.

And stops Si-woo’s words that will follow.

“We decided to keep everything we talked about inside a secret, right~? Did you hear?”

Yoo Ye-na teacher said in a detached tone, as if understanding what Si-woo wanted to say.

“B…But still!!!”

Si-woo was looking at Yoo Ye-na teacher as if appealing for something.

“Now~ calm~ calm~”

Yoo Ye-na teacher comes forward and hugs Si-woo tightly with both arms and strokes his back as if soothing a young child.

Yoo Ye-na teacher’s voluminous breasts touch Si-woo’s chest.

Amidst the confusion, Si-woo felt a sense of comfort from the unfamiliar yet familiar embrace, and he seemed to calm down a little.

**

Si-woo returns to the headmaster’s office and sits awkwardly on the sofa, waiting for Cheol-jin.

Yoo Ye-na teacher brings Si-woo a glass of water, then takes her seat in the desk chair and organizes documents.

Time passes silently for a while.

After the intense embrace where their bodies were in close contact, the air between the two people feels different from before.

It seemed impossible to mention what happened with Seul-gi in the room with the blackout curtains anymore.

Instead, Si-woo tries to start a conversation on a different topic.

“Is Se-young doing well with her psychotherapy? Was it hypnosis counseling?”

Si-woo said cautiously, gauging her reaction.

Yoo Ye-na teacher looks at Si-woo and smiles slightly.

“Yes~ She’s receiving psychotherapy along with magic lessons~”

Yoo Ye-na teacher answers kindly.

“Does Se-young perhaps learn how to hypnotize people too?”

“She will learn the basics from now on~ It’s like a stage performance combined with psychology.”

“It’s not dangerous, is it?”

Si-woo talks about something that he is usually concerned about.

“Dangerous? Hehe~ What kind of dangerous thing~?”

Yoo Ye-na teacher asks Si-woo back with a playful tone, like before.

“I mean, making her do strange things while she’s hypnotized…”

“Well~? What could that be~?”

Yoo Ye-na teacher says, tilting her head as if she doesn’t know such things.

Si-woo’s face turns slightly red at the teacher’s coquettish head tilt.

Si-woo begins to worry that his vague concerns or suspicions might hurt Yoo Ye-na teacher’s feelings.

Si-woo had been thinking that the random whispers that Se-young sometimes tried on him might be related to hypnosis lessons.

-Especially after hearing the strange rumor about the academy from Cheol-jin in the morning, and after seeing Seul-gi’s suspicious crystal gazing just now-

Yoo Ye-na teacher notices Si-woo’s thoughts and straightens her posture, saying.

“You don’t have to worry about that~ You can’t make someone do anything they don’t want with hypnosis.”

“You can’t make someone do anything they don’t want to?”

Si-woo asks, repeating Yoo Ye-na teacher’s words exactly.

“Hypnosis is like making someone else open the refrigerator door~ without giving an order or a request. Even if they open the refrigerator door like that, you wouldn’t think they’re hypnotized, right? You’d think they’re opening the refrigerator door for some external reason.”

“I guess so?”

“Si-woo, can you make someone else open the refrigerator door without giving an order or request?”

“Well? Is there a way?”

“If it were me, I’d subtly let them know that there’s food they like inside the refrigerator. Especially if they’re hungry…”

“Ah~!”

“What we do during hypnotherapy is find hidden desires in the unconscious and help them achieve them. It’s like subtly letting them know that there’s food they like inside. In the first place, if there’s no food they want inside, you won’t be able to make them open the refrigerator door. So, you can never make them do something they don’t want.”

Yoo Ye-na teacher’s explanations continue, reassuring Si-woo…

Si-woo seemed to be falling into a dreamy mood while listening to Yoo Ye-na teacher’s gentle voice.

Si-woo imagines Yoo Ye-na teacher’s voluminous breasts inside the refrigerator.

In a slightly drowsy sensation, Si-woo wonders if Yoo Ye-na teacher might be hypnotizing him.