episode_0459

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The Sunday that felt like an embarrassing dream came to an end.

Before I knew it, Monday arrived with faint morning light.

I checked the mirror first thing in the morning and sighed at the small bruise on the nape of my neck.

Yesterday, it was just a little reddish, but now it’s turned out like this over time.

Even if I press my finger against it, there’s no particular sensation, but just by appearance alone, it definitely feels like a tiny bruise.

…This isn’t something I can show to my friends, let alone my parents.

So, the moment I got up, I reached for the few makeup products I had.

Not really sure how to do it properly, I just slathered on concealer without any base.

I’d have to wash it off soon anyway, meaning double the work, but I didn’t want my dad to faint during breakfast later, so I had no choice.

Still, the one saving grace was that the makeup covered it well enough that it wasn’t too noticeable.

I swept my hair to the side, checked it from different angles, and then nodded awkwardly.

If my friends ever found out, I planned to excuse it as a mark made by Baek Jiho… like Seo Woojin had said. But like this, there’s no way they’d notice.

Looking back now, what a ridiculous assumption that was.

459

To summarize academy life in the most extreme terms, it was this:

A continuous cycle of training for hero development.

Spending each day in training tailored to one’s inclinations and specialties—that was the three-year life of an academy student.

For example, those with physical advantages focused on combat or rescue training.

For magic-oriented students, the emphasis was on crowd suppression or enemy infiltration.

At the same time, they also had to study headache-inducing hero laws and other subjects, but anyway.

The point was this.

Academy life was a continuous cycle of training.

Especially for people like Hayun or me, we had to act as the “wall” for power-crazed lunatics.

Not in the sense of an insurmountable wall.

More like a wall they’d crash into dozens, hundreds of times, desperate to find a way over.

…And naturally, that led to one inevitable physical reaction.

“Ugh…, hey, Seol Dabin, time out for a sec….”

“Haa…, …ah, damn it. If you’re done, just drop dead. What time out…?”

Because of those idiots constantly charging at me, even in winter, I was boiling to death.

“I’m exhausted, so go bother someone else. Please. Huh?”

“But among us, no one else is as good with their legs as you….”

“Don’t care, don’t care. I’m going to the bathroom, so don’t follow me. Whew….”

I wasn’t drenched in sweat yet, but beads of it were already forming along my skin.

Normally, I wouldn’t care whether I sweated more or not, but today was different. Because I was hiding something embarrassing on the nape of my neck.

So, being in a situation where I was sweating was troublesome, and I stormed off to the bathroom in frustration.

“Whew….”

Beside my hair, tied up as usual in the mirror.

I checked the spot where the embarrassing evidence of my time with Seo Woojin remained. Thankfully, the makeup I’d slathered on in the morning was still covering the hickey.

I’d worried the sweat might smudge it, but apparently, applying a thick layer before school had helped.

But it was too early to relax.

Even if I could slip away to the bathroom for now, I’d have to go back eventually.

And there was still over an hour left before this free training session ended.

As for the critical shower time, I could just excuse myself by saying I missed the timing and wash up later when I had time.

But what about training?

I’d have to keep worrying about my neck the whole time.

And if my friends found out,

I’d have no choice but to say Baek Jiho did it…

“…….”

Right. Maybe faking an injury and escaping to the infirmary would be the way to go.

Sure, Seo Woojin would probably look at me like I’d lost my mind…

But even so, this might be the most stable option…

Maybe even break a finger to make it convincing…

…Or not.

I was still weighing the timing to escape to the infirmary after a few more sparring rounds when—

“…Hm?”

“……?”

On the wide bench at the corner of the training area, right next to me.

Hayun, who was always slumped over like a ragdoll.

Hayun, who was chugging a drink while drenched in sweat.

Turned to me with a suspicious tone.

“Dabin. Dabin.”

“Huh?”

“Did a mosquito bite your neck?”

“…….”

“It’s practically early winter—are there still mosquitoes? Or is it an allergy?”

Oh,

Please.

God.

“…A mosquito? Where? On my neck?”

“Yeah. Around here?”

“Ah…, must be. A mosquito. Yeah.”

I’m not even religious, but if I only call on God at times like this, I might get divine punishment. But what else could I do?

Then again, if I think about it, helping me out a little in situations like this might increase the number of believers.

With thoughts that would probably offend actual religious people, I covered my neck with my hand.

Pretending to check it with my fingertips, just to sell the act.

“Guess it’s still warm enough for mosquitoes even in winter. Ugh….”

“Y-yeah, must be.”

“I wish they’d just disappear. It’s like they’re around all year except deep winter.”

…At least Hayun mistook it for a mosquito bite.

Maybe the edge of the makeup had rubbed off a little.

So all that was visible was a faint reddish mark.

Treating it as a minor incident, I laughed it off like it was nothing and chatted idly with Hayun as usual.

“…….”

This was done by your boyfriend.

I pressed the words deep under my tongue—something I could never say to Hayun.

“He’s dating my sister, you know.”

“Of course I know~ The rumor spread everywhere last time.”

“But if you know that, why are you trying to do something like this?”

“Hmm… I guess you could call it fan devotion…? Like, just because a celebrity gets caught in a dating scandal doesn’t mean they lose all their fans…”

Morning.

I had no thoughts about Yozora until I was listening to music out of habit.

Even if Yozora was sitting in front of me, she was just chattering away with Han Sua next to her, laughing loudly.

Class time.

I zoned out as usual, watching how fast the clouds outside moved, still with no thoughts about Yozora.

Even if Yozora was a noisy girl, she wasn’t usually rude enough to act up during class.

Lunchtime.

I hurried out to meet Seo Woojin before my sister could,

Occasionally being introduced as the little sister by my sister’s friends when we ran into them on the street.

Even when spending time with my sister and her boyfriend like it was the most natural thing.

Even after lunch, when I returned to class early and fumbled for my earphones.

I had no thoughts about Yozora.

At the time, there was no Yozora chattering loudly enough to annoy me.

– Hey hey, Jiyun-chan.

– …What is it? All of a sudden.

– So, about Seo Woojin-sensei… Does he ever stay over at your place? He probably does, right?

– ……He’s an adult. Of course he does. But why are you suddenly asking that?

– Ah, well, it’s just… I kinda have a small request~…

– What request?

– Before I say it, just know this is something only you, Jiyun-Jiyun, can help me with…

– If you want to ask a favor, start by dropping the weird nicknames.

– My beloved Jiyun unnie…!

– …Sigh…….

Earlier, I thought I heard someone say they were going to the bathroom.

Maybe because Han Sua had stepped away for a bit, and Yozora wasn’t turned around chattering uselessly.

– Maybe a photo of sensei sleeping or something…

– Are you insane?

There was no Yozora asking for weird photos either.

So I really had no thoughts about her.

It’s just… like last time when she forcibly dragged Seo Woojin away…

I just thought of her as a girl who wanted his attention.

Looking at her mischievous eyes, I flatly refused.

He’s dating my sister, you know.

Like that.

“Is it wrong to admire him from afar?”

“Are you stupid?”

“Having a crush is free, though…”

“At least don’t make it obvious.”

A crush, plus wanting a photo of Seo Woojin sleeping? It’s obvious what she’d use it for.

So it wasn’t even worth considering.

But instead of backing down, Yozora kept her distance and whispered back defiantly.

Maybe because it was lunchtime and there weren’t many people in the classroom.

Honestly, dealing with her was exhausting.

We just didn’t click personality-wise.

I pressed my throbbing temples with my fingers and replied.

“Yozora. I have a headache, so leave me alone.”

“Just a sec, just a sec. Two minutes! No, just one!”

“…Sigh….”

“…S-so, is it because of last time? When I dragged sensei away? I’ll apologize again for that… okay?”

It wasn’t completely unrelated.

But I couldn’t just say that outright.

So I furrowed my brows slightly and changed the subject.

“…Even if I did take a photo for you. Why would you need it?”

Instead of just demanding do this, do that—

At least explain why it’s necessary…

“Obviously to masturbate to?”

“…….”

“Ah, in Korean…, self-pleasure? Probably that. Maybe.”

“……Sigh….”

“Like, imagining sensei sleeping next to me… Ah, wait. You asked why I needed it…! What if you put on your earphones…”

“Your minute’s up.”

“It hasn’t even been 10 seconds??”

…No.

Let’s just stop.

If I keep engaging with this weirdo, I’ll start feeling weird too.

Her intentions were exactly what I thought.

She looks perfectly fine—no, incredibly pretty—so why is her brain like this…?

So I turned up the volume and stared out the window, pretending not to hear.

But even after all that, Yozora didn’t give up.

She turned back around, rummaged for something, then started sharing my desk.

…Wondering what she was up to, I finally gave in to curiosity and glanced over.

– I’ll really just masturbate to it. Okay?

Well, in the end.

After reading the words scribbled on a blank notebook page—

– Just watch porn in your free time instead.

– You know, adult videos.

Just like before.

I refused outright again.