Ch.8076 – A Day in the Life of Lee Haru

“Miss, how are you finding academy life?”

The hesitant driver finally broke the awkward silence.

“Fine.”

“No particular difficulties?”

“No.”

But with Ha-ru’s curt reply, the conversation ended as if it had never begun.

Ever since the mistress passed away before winter’s end due to her weak health, the driver had been concerned about the young lady who was no longer her cheerful self.

At Vice Chairman Lee’s request, he personally drove his daughter to the academy each day, but there had been no improvement in the situation over the past few months.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Um… Miss?”

“Yes…?”

“There are always people around you willing to help, so—”

“If that’s what you’re going to say, I’ll just get out. Thank you for driving me today.”

“I apologize… Please take care. I’ll be waiting at the same back gate at dismissal time.”

The girl who stepped out of the car filled her lungs with fresh air.

However, the walk to school wasn’t as exciting as she had hoped.

Since “that day,” Lee Ha-ru’s world had suddenly turned black and white.

Nothing was fun anymore, nothing energized her.

The only things Ha-ru could still feel attached to were her academy friends.

“Hi, Ha-ru! I’ve been waiting for you.”

Jeon Nu-ri waved as she approached.

They had been in the same Class 1-C last year and were best friends.

Ha-ru finally relaxed her stiff expression and returned the greeting.

“Wow, you use a driver instead of a self-driving car? Samjin Group really is different!”

“It’s just because my dad insists. It’s so uncomfortable having two people in the car.”

“But there’s something romantic about it. In dramas, all the rich girls have their own drivers.”

“That’s just in dramas. It’s not like that in real life.”

She knew Nu-ri was just joking anyway.

With a grandfather who was a university hospital director, Nu-ri was also considered wealthy by academy standards.

Though Ha-ru hadn’t intentionally sought out friends of similar status, she felt more comfortable with Nu-ri because she disliked the distance created by wealth disparities.

“Ha-ru, you seem really different from before.”

“Me? How am I different?”

“Hmm… how should I put it. You used to be such a chatterbox, but lately you’ve gotten so quiet, and also… yeah, you’ve become chic.”

“Chic…?”

Ha-ru made a puzzled expression at those words.

“Yeah! Like Resa from Frozen 4!”

“I haven’t seen that movie, so I don’t know.”

“What? You haven’t seen it? Resa is Queen Elsa’s daughter who was amazing at ice magic since childhood. She’s super pretty but never smiles, so everyone in the palace tried everything to make her laugh. So what they did was—”

“Stop spoiling! I might watch it later, so no more!”

“Anyway, that sister is super chic. Always expressionless but incredibly cool…”

“Like NoName?”

Ha-ru and Nu-ri exchanged glances.

Nu-ri made a thoughtful sound and shook her head after pondering deeply.

“Name is expressionless, but it’s kind of ambiguous to just call her chic. It’s a bit complicated, but if you’re cool-chic, then Name would be more like… cutie-chic?”

“What’s cutie-chic?”

“Well, the opposite of cool is hot, so maybe hot-chic? But that sounds weird, like Hot Six! Hehe, I don’t really know either. It’s just a thing, you know.”

Nu-ri giggled as if something was terribly funny.

Ha-ru tried to match her mood with an awkward smile.

The mention of Name seemed to remind Nu-ri of something else, and she excitedly shook Ha-ru’s hands.

“Name has been smelling really nice lately! Should I ask what perfume she uses? Even though she’s in the next section, I keep getting distracted during class.”

“You’re right, I could smell apple scent all the way to my seat.”

“Right? You smelled it too. It’s not just any apple. It’s like apples soaked in sugar and honey—an incredibly sweet apple scent.”

“You can tell all that? You’re like a bloodhound!”

“I guess I am. My mom tells me that all the time!”

“Oh… yeah… your mom…”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

Ha-ru’s heart sank at Nu-ri’s casual comment.

Nu-ri looked concerned as Ha-ru’s complexion suddenly worsened.

Screeeech—

“Not again…”

A disorienting sound rang in her ears.

It wouldn’t normally be this loud, but today it was particularly unbearable.

Ha-ru crouched down on the street, clutching her head and taking deep breaths.

“One, two…”

SCREEEECH—!

“Ugh…!”

“Ha-ru! Are you okay?”

The ringing in her ears grew louder, and her head felt like it was about to split open.

Nu-ri asked frantically.

As far as Nu-ri knew, Ha-ru had always been a healthy and energetic girl who had never suddenly collapsed like this before.

“Lee Ha-ru! What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

“No. I’m not in pain… The sound… cover my ears.”

“Your ears? Like this?”

“It still hurts… I can still hear the sound.”

Despite Nu-ri’s clumsy attempt to cover Ha-ru’s ears with her hands, it didn’t seem to help.

As the situation appeared to be getting serious, Nu-ri was debating whether to ask a passerby for help or call an ambulance when, fortunately, some classmates were seen walking down the same road.

“Hey, Nu-ri! And that must be Ha-ru next to you? What are you doing sitting there?”

Seo-ri and Ji-hye were approaching, followed by Yu-na and Name.

“Hi, everyone… but Ha-ru seems to be in a lot of pain right now…”

“Ha-ru’s in pain? Ha-ru, are you okay?”

Seo-ri rushed over to check on Ha-ru’s condition. But there didn’t seem to be anything visibly wrong.

“I was thinking about calling an ambulance… even though Ha-ru keeps saying she’s fine.”

“Maybe we should call one anyway…?”

Ji-hye timidly offered her opinion. Yu-na, seemingly uncomfortable with the whole situation, kept her distance and just watched.

“Let me see her.”

Finally, Name stepped forward.

“Lee Ha-ru, where does it hurt? Is it your head?”

“The sound… it’s too loud… please…”

Ha-ru replied in a pained voice.

However, they were standing in a quiet place, not even near a main road.

[2nd Circle Cast: Diagnosis]

Even using magic to find the cause of her pain, Name couldn’t discover anything.

When Name shook her head, the girls’ expressions grew more serious.

“It’s okay, I have an idea.”

Nevertheless, Name remained calm and wrapped her arms tightly around Ha-ru’s trembling body.

Suddenly, a golden aura flowed from her body, enveloping Ha-ru completely.

Ha-ru opened her eyes, feeling as if her black and white world was suddenly brightening.

Beep—

The unpleasant ringing gradually subsided.

As the warm energy circled Ha-ru’s body, her complexion began to improve.

After checking her condition, Name brushed aside Ha-ru’s sweat-soaked bangs.

“You might feel sleepy. It’s okay to sleep if you want. We’ll take you to class.”

Just as she said, Ha-ru felt her eyelids growing heavy, as if this moment was a cozy sanctuary.

“Apple scent…”

Ha-ru realized it was the same fragrance she and Nu-ri had been discussing earlier.

The longer she breathed it in, the more she felt her mind and body relaxing and clearing.

“The sky is blue…?”

She witnessed the azure sky she thought she’d never see again spreading out in the background.

Not wanting to forget this inexplicably peaceful and touching feeling, Ha-ru reached out to Name.

“I think… I’m feeling a bit better.”

* * *

Ha-ru thought it had truly been a drowsy day from start to finish.

After winning her battle against sleepiness, Ha-ru struggled with another wave of drowsiness after lunch.

Fortunately, the 5th period was PE, and the 6th period had suddenly changed from math to art, otherwise she might have sat through classes in a state worse than not attending at all.

PE time was always substituted with dodgeball when it wasn’t assessment period.

Since there were only 20 students per class, PE classes were usually conducted with two classes together.

All the boys participated in dodgeball without exception, while only about half the girls did.

In one corner behind the basketball court in the gym, Name was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

Normally, she would be chatting with Yu-na, but today Yu-na had been dragged away by Seo-ri, so she was alone.

Also, since Nu-ri was absent due to a parent-teacher conference, Ha-ru had to spend a boring time as well.

Ha-ru sat quietly, just watching Name.

For some reason, NoName was a “fascinating child” to Ha-ru.

It was something all the class would agree with, even without asking.

Cephiron Academy, which rarely accepted transfer students except through the formal first-year entrance exam, had broken its own rules to admit her.

From her first day as a transfer student, she proved herself by memorizing all her classmates’ names in one go.

And what about the aptitude assessment?

She scored a perfect 100 on the notoriously difficult test that included not only content exclusive to the academy but also material that wouldn’t be covered until much later.

She was the smallest among the second-year students at the academy, looking like she could be a first-year or even younger, but the atmosphere she exuded was unmistakably mature.

Apart from “fascinating,” Ha-ru couldn’t think of any other appropriate adjective to describe her.

Ha-ru quietly moved closer to sit beside Name.

Despite deliberately making noise, Name kept her eyes closed.

Perhaps she was tired like Ha-ru and taking a short rest.

Ha-ru took advantage of this opportunity to appreciate Name up close.

“She’s cute…”

Although Name had an overall skinny build, her cheeks still had some baby fat, making her look like a large baby.

Occasionally furrowing her brow or twitching the corners of her mouth, she was clearly dreaming.

And above all, Ha-ru noticed that whenever she smelled that strong apple scent over the past few days, she felt better.

“Would she be friends with me too?”

Ha-ru had been popular enough to serve as class president last year.

Well aware of this, she thought there would be many opportunities to become closer in the future and decided to quietly leave so as not to wake Name.

“Hey, watch out for the ball!”

Park Tae-hyun from their class shouted a warning in their direction.

“Huh…?”

Turning her head to check the incoming dodgeball, Ha-ru realized it was heading straight for Name.

It happened so quickly that she couldn’t even warn her, when suddenly Name’s eyes flashed open, and she swung her arm forcefully to the side.

BOOM!

A sound like an explosion echoed through the gym.

“…!”

“Wow. It burst.”

Name said in a subdued voice, looking at the completely shredded dodgeball.

She picked up the tattered ball and went directly to the boys to apologize.

“Sorry.”

“Oh, no. We have more balls.”

“What if the teacher gets mad?”

“We can quietly take one from the storage room. They won’t notice.”

Returning to her seat, Name leaned against the wall again, lost in thought.

“How did you do that?”

Ha-ru asked in disbelief.

“I accidentally used my aura. I confused imagination with reality for a moment.”

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

Ha-ru’s face turned bright red.

What if Name had caught her staring intently?

Anxiously, Ha-ru continued asking questions.

“What were you imagining?”

“Fighting 100 people with a dagger, one against a hundred.”

“…?”

That day, “quirky” was newly added to Ha-ru’s mental dictionary entry for Name.