episode_0296

A pleasant early summer breeze blew between the trees that were in full green. Kwon Yuri closed her eyes as if surrendering herself to it and lost herself in thought for a moment.

She recalled her first meeting with a boy at the beginning of the semester.

‘I told you, that was the first time I’d seen someone like that.’

Her family, Hocheon’s unique magic, ‘Imyeon’.

The power to analyze other people’s particle waves to understand their inner feelings or to predict the moment of their next action.

Although Kwon Yuri was particularly suited to such situations, she never once considered herself lucky.

-You know, why do you hate him so much? Even though we get along so well in front of each other.

-How, how did you do that…!

Even before she blossomed, she had already lived a life plagued by the ill will of others. The words she spoke without knowing anything during her reckless childhood were met with only fear, wary stares, and loneliness that surged like a tidal wave.

Even the servants of the family were busy gossiping and revering Kwon Yuri. It was only after she had grown older and learned her manners that she was able to escape such treatment.

She had been living with a mask of a half-smile on her face for years. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to survive.

Because of the excessively strong suitability, Kwon Yuri had to keep her backside activated at all times after flowering.

Just as she was getting used to a life of shedding meaningless laughter, the notice of admission to Cradle arrived in front of Kwon Yuri.

-Hello? My name is Baek Seo-yeon.

A female student she met there aroused Kwon Yuri’s fresh interest.

Shining beauty, grace and manners that come naturally.

A good and upright character that treats everyone fairly.

The next strongest talent to succeed Haewolhwa has finally appeared.

The inside of the person receiving such praise was frozen like eternal snow, as if he would not give his side to anyone.

However, Kwon Yuri ended up becoming friends with Baek Seo-yeon. She felt more comfortable with her being treated with indifference rather than harboring ill intentions without knowing what was going on.

At least Baek Seo-yeon seemed to think of her as a stone that rolls around on the roadside and gets caught underfoot.

I was somewhat interested in her. Although she had encountered so much ill will, this was the first time I had encountered someone whose insides and outs were so twisted.

What kind of life did you live to become like this? I clearly heard that you were a person who had fallen from grace.

So, I became friends with Baek Seo-yeon on the surface and spent a year with her, and another new year came.

There has been a lot of talk about this year’s freshmen. Because several cycles overlapped at once, talented heirs from all sorts of families entered the school in one class.

Among them, the one that is most interesting is the recommended student who was produced by Heukryeon for the first time in 18 years.

-A freshman at Black Lotus? Suddenly?

-But he’s our junior. We should get along well like other kids.

It was the first time that Baek Seo-yeon had shown interest in someone. As always, she had a smiling face and treated everyone fairly, so it was something she would always say, but inside, there was a cold wind blowing, which made it even more puzzling.

Anyway, at the request of Baek Seo-yeon, who is from the same faction, Kwon Yu-ri sets out to find the new student of Heukryeon, who is already rumored to be a traveler.

And when Kwon Yuri saw his back up close, she felt a great shock as if she had been hit in the back of her head with a hammer.

A single layer of mask was not enough to hide her eyes.

What I saw before my eyes was a small child with a wounded soul. Black, sticky tears that seemed to be a condensation of all the sadness and pain in the world were constantly binding him.

The danger of suffocating to death if you take your eyes off it for even a moment.

Kwon Yuri took a deep breath without realizing it. However, as if nothing had happened, she put on her usual bashful smile and waved her hand in a bright voice.

-Hey, it’s a chick!

It was the moment when she first realized that she had a junior whom she was worried about. Baek Seo-yeon’s attitude toward him also fueled her curiosity even more.

At first, she saw him as if he was her enemy, but for some reason, at some point Baek Seo-yeon began to melt just by hearing his name.

However, the freshman’s suffering only grew with time. Kwon Yuri found the situation interesting, but she deliberately treated him mischievously and focused on reducing the overload on his brain.

It’s not a metaphor, he was literally standing on the edge of a precipice.

“I wonder if the chick is okay… ”

Kwon Yuri let out a deep sigh without realizing it. Unlike her, who was assigned to guard the cradle, the boy was one of the heroes who went to the front lines.

It had already been several weeks since she had seen him. Given her knowledge of his personality, she knew that by now he would have been unable to properly express his stress and would have been at a standstill again.

“Hmm… ”

Kwon Yuri turned her gaze and looked at the school gate in the distance. Luckily, Choi Ire, who had been growling as if he was going to eat her, was nowhere to be seen, having left for a moment.

At this, the corners of her lips draw a curve.

“… Okay.”

Kwon Yuri, who had decided on her next schedule, finally turned around and left the school.

I was planning to find him before first period started and tease him a little.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find him. He’s so tall, and most importantly, she wouldn’t recognize him with the mask covering his face.

Kwon Yuri walked down the hallway, humming like that. For some reason, her heart was so excited that she couldn’t help but quicken her pace.

Perhaps because she was in such a hurry, she didn’t look around properly and ended up bumping into someone who was coming down the stairs.

“Ah!”

It was a body that could be felt as solid even with a brief touch. Perhaps because of that, Kwon Yuri ended up swaying like a reed.

I was on the verge of falling backwards down the stairs.

Suddenly, she felt an arm supporting her back, and someone’s low, heavy voice tickled her ears.

“Are you okay, senior?”

“Uh, huh… ?”

Kwon Yuri let out a bewildered voice. The tie of a boy’s school uniform was dazzling in front of her nose. In other words, she was now in someone’s arms, as if she was being held tightly.

“Okay, it’s okay!”

Kwon Yuri jumped up as if she was pushing the male student away, startled. Even as she was hastily tidying up her appearance, somehow his voice sounded quite familiar.

I’m sure I’ve heard it before. But it’s even more refreshing. As if something blocking my path has disappeared.

At that moment, while wondering about his identity, her water-colored eyes tried to confirm the face of a male student who was a head taller than her.

“I couldn’t see ahead… ”

She had been smiling her characteristically sly smile, but then suddenly stopped moving and speaking.

“Senior?”

“… ”

Kwon Yuri couldn’t even wake up to the sound of the voice. The other side of Hocheon’s unique magic. Among its unexpected side effects was an excellent aesthetic sense.

It was also problematic because its performance was too powerful. It was absolutely impossible to meet Kwon Yuri’s standards to a certain degree, and most people ended up feeling uncomfortable.

Because it was easy to see the naked and sticky desires of men for her, Kwon Yuri kept putting off her family’s big event, her engagement, even though she was the daughter of a prestigious Hocheon family.

And the face that appeared before her eyes was so beautiful that it immediately caught her attention.

The scar under my eye is so bad that I could literally make it look like ‘something’.

“… Senior Kwon Yuri?”

“Oh, no! It’s nothing!”

Only after hearing the second call did Kwon Yuri come to her senses in shock. She was good at keeping her composure and always got full marks in meditation classes, but for some reason, she was completely distracted today.

But you are my senior.

She barely calmed down and examined the boy’s features once more. Aside from his handsomeness, he had a face she didn’t remember.

But the badge on the lapel is clearly that of a first-year student. So, is he a transfer student?

As I was guessing his identity, I unconsciously looked at the boy’s name tag.

“Huh?”

At the sight of the familiar name, Kwon Yuri let out another helpless sigh.

“Bottle, chick… ?”

“Huh?”

The male student answered Kwon Yuri’s blank question naturally.

“Uh, uh… ?”

Kwon Yuri, who was taking a step back on her own, was staggering badly. Even in that state, her wide-open eyes were always focused on the male student.

Unlike her, the boy walked forward. Because he was twice as fast, the distance between them was gradually getting closer.

“Sleep, wait a minute… !”

Kwon Yuri stopped the male student who was approaching hurriedly. The male student who had stopped tilted his head as if he was curious. Only then did Kwon Yuri look up at him cautiously and ask.

“Jin, you’re really a chick…?”

And this time, the boy nodded calmly. It was the moment when his identity was clearly revealed.

“How have you been, senior? It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”