## Chapter 105 – Black Root (11)
“…Dropping out? Suddenly…?”
“…Without even discussing it with me?”
“I don’t think I need to discuss it with you…?”
I meet the eyes of the two women staring at me, taken aback by the frozen atmosphere.
Iran unni is narrowing her eyes, trying to gauge the situation, wondering what this is all about.
“…I heard you’re supposed to consult with your department professor before dropping out…
I thought if I told the other professors, I’d just get nagged, so I came here.”
“…Um, but isn’t this too sudden?”
“Oh, is it? I was originally planning to tell you more slowly, but
I suddenly thought of it today, so I came to tell you… Is it too out of the blue?”
Heeju, after re-examining my nonchalant expression, realizes it’s a serious matter, rests her chin on her hand,
and stammers, looking back and forth between me and Chaeyoon with a serious expression.
…Is me dropping out that serious?
“Oppa, why are you suddenly dropping out?”
“If you ask me why, I don’t know what to say.
I just don’t find drawing as fun as before, and I don’t even want to draw.
Even Chaeyoon, and Heeju, who’s a professor, knows I skip school often.”
“…That’s true, your name comes up among the professors in a bad way…”
“…”
“…Don’t look at me with such worried eyes, I’m just quitting because it doesn’t suit me.”
I tried to change the atmosphere in the quiet professor’s office, but
it doesn’t seem like the atmosphere will improve with just this.
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Then that’s settled.”
“But, tell me what you’re hiding instead.”
“…”
As expected of Heeju, created from Chaeyoon’s split self, her intuition is amazing.
While Chaeyoon, who can be considered the original, is racking her brain, unable to keep up with the situation,
Heeju maintains her composure and begins to press me about what I’m hiding.
There are two reasons. First, it really doesn’t feel like this is my path.
When I was young, drawing and reading books were just fun,
but as an adult, drawing for assignments and drawing for my future didn’t feel interesting.
So I secretly ran away from lectures many times and spent my time doing nothing,
especially after meeting Chaeyoon, I felt like I was spending too much time being dissolute.
I’d rather use that time and money elsewhere, so I’m thinking of dropping out.
And most of all…
“I think I’ll be too busy from now on.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, you don’t know, this little girl behind me…”
Iran reveals herself from behind me at my introduction and waves to Heeju.
I explained Iran’s identity to Heeju.
A being who created flowers in ancient times and was sealed, but was resurrected in modern times with a human body.
So, I introduced Iran, who can be said to be their creator, and Heeju is taken aback.
“…Oh, is that kind of child really…?”
“…Sorry for looking like this, I’m 21… Do I look that young?”
“Yes, you look very young for your age…”
Tired of people misunderstanding her age,
Iran sighs deeply and looks up at Chaeyoon and asks,
At first, Chaeyoon hesitated how to answer, then she said it in a roundabout way so as not to hurt Iran.
“…Do I really look like that?”
“Still, looking young is a good thing.”
Chaeyoon and Iran break away from the conversation and start a new topic,
Heeju is still staring at me, as if she’s not satisfied with my answer.
I decided to let Chaeyoon and Iran talk separately for a while,
and continue the conversation with Heeju.
“…I can’t believe it, but it seems that person really is our creator.
Anyway, what do you mean by you’ll be busy?”
“You know there are guys chasing us, right?”
Heeju nods at my question.
I don’t take my eyes off her and sit on the sofa in the middle of the professor’s office,
and she realizes the story will be long and follows me to sit down.
“I took two fruits from the organization chasing us.
One of them is the blue power you’ve experienced, and the other fruit is that woman.”
“…Is your gaining that blue power also related to our creator?”
I quietly nod and continue the conversation.
“That’s right, I met a man in a space that I don’t know if it was a dream or what, and that man was also your creator.
According to what that man told me, there are a total of 10 creators, and they are all sealed.”
“…Okay, so you’re going to find all 10 of them, now that you’ve found two, you’re going to find all 8, right?
Finding them all is good. So what do you get out of it? What do we get?
Isn’t there a reason why all 10 of our creators were sealed?
Why are you trying to do something you don’t have to do, even risking danger?
It may sound cold to you, but I need to know, our survival is at stake.”
“…Wait, Professor Heeju? Aren’t you being too rude to Oppa…?”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. But I need to hear this because it’s a story that could put you in danger.”
Chaeyoon, surprised by Heeju’s sharp tone, warns her while talking to Iran.
I give her a reassuring smile, and Heeju seriously retorts Chaeyoon’s words.
Chaeyoon, seeing our 모습, bites her lip and takes a step back,
and only then does Heeju nod as if to say to continue the story.
“The reason I’m going to do such a thing is that it could become more dangerous if left alone.”
The organization chasing us, disguised as an ordinary plant research society, is not ordinary.
In particular, their technology cannot be underestimated.
They have the technology to create bioweapons using flower petals,
and they have also figured out how to use the power of the ancients contained in the fruits.
And most of all, the most threatening thing is the bioweapons that have the power of the fruit.
Sooa, who fought 3, who had the power of the blue fruit, was defeated without being able to use any power.
Even Sooa, who has strong power among us along with Seohui.
It is dangerous to leave an organization that can mass-produce bioweapons with such power alone.
But I don’t know the size or power of the organization I have to face.
Therefore, I don’t know how much time it will take to completely get rid of them.
1 year? 5 years? 10 years? I think it could take a lifetime.
“…So you’re dropping out.”
“…”
Heeju, after listening to my story, closes her lips as if lost in thought for a moment.
“…Okay, what about your parents? Shall I tell them?”
“No, don’t tell them. I’ll tell them.”
Heeju, finally removing the serious expression from her face, smiles as if relieved.
And Heeju gets up from the sofa and goes to the desk and sits in the chair.
“Please protect Mother well.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Haa, I feel relieved and uneasy at the same time.”
“…I won’t be able to do it at school anymore.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
“…What do you think your school is?”
In the bus, as we descend the hill where the sunset is setting,
the long rows of buildings block the sun and it becomes completely dark.
Like the words, I feel cool and uneasy at the same time.
It feels a bit similar to the feeling when I finished the college entrance exam and came out of the test center.
“…Oppa…”
“Don’t be so down, I know we can’t see each other at school anymore, but I’m here when you come home.”
I stroke Chaeyoon’s hair, who is pulling on my sleeve with a gloomy expression.
As I hug Chaeyoon, who is leaning her head on me, Iran frowns as if she can’t stand to watch.
“…It’s a public place, you lovebirds.”
“…Unni, aren’t you too sulky because we teased you a little…?”
I fall into thought, leaving the two women who started bickering quietly.
I’m not going to my studio apartment, which is within walking distance, but somewhere else.
Seohui’s house, which I used as a hideout while playing with Iran’s body.
I’m going to get the luggage I left there.
Now I don’t need to keep a studio apartment near the school, so I’m thinking of moving.
Originally, I signed a short-term contract because I didn’t know what would happen, so there’s no problem…
If I’m going to live with Chaeyoon, I’ll have to go to a bigger house.
Ah, then I can’t get out of the neighborhood near the school, considering her commute…
This time, looking out the window while thinking about these trivial things, feels just peaceful.
Even in the midst of that, an ominous presence brushes past my shoulder.
Now that things in Seoul seem to be almost settled, it’s time to focus on the fruit in Busan,
but before that, I’ll settle things here…
“…But what is this?”
“…Um, who are you?”
In front of Seohui’s house, which I arrived at before I knew it while thinking about this and that.
A woman kneeling in front of her house gate.
I think I’ve seen her somewhere, so I look at the woman’s appearance from afar, but I don’t know.
Where did I see her…?
Chaeyoon approaches the woman who is kneeling and sobbing and asks who she is.
“…Pardon?”
“Um, we need to go in… You’re blocking the door.”
“Yes? Ah, that, um…!!”
The woman clings to Chaeyoon upon hearing those words.
“Are you Seohui’s friends?!”
“…What?”
