Chapter 224 – A Week (9)
As the sun began to set, signaling the time for students to head home,
my prolonged power struggle with Heeju ambiguously concluded, severing the suggestive atmosphere.
Regaining her senses, Heeju pushed me away, examining the enlarged mark with a bewildered expression.
“…So, this mark can arbitrarily alter the emotions or psyche of the person it’s etched on?
That explains the strange feeling I had. Just to be sure, you didn’t use this on my mother…?”
“…I didn’t use it on Chaeyoon, and there’s no need to, so don’t worry about it, okay?”
“But isn’t that mark on Iria also…?”
“She can just switch bodies anyway. She’ll get her original body back soon.”
“You always say such lame and irresponsible things.”
Exhausted by her constant suspicion even as she dressed, I sighed. Heeju responded with a playful smile.
It was impossible to tell where her jokes ended and her true feelings began.
“Are you mad? Hehe, I’m just kidding, lighten up. Have you had dinner? Should I treat you to something delicious?”
“I eat much better things than you, so don’t worry about me. Just go home.”
After putting on everything from underwear to outerwear, I began tidying up the messy table and sofa.
I wiped away the spilled liquid and discarded empty cans from the floor with wet wipes,
and dispelled the remaining effects of the drug from Iria’s sleeping body with golden light.
“Seriously, what kind of crazy professor drugs the students’ drinks?
Just so you know, you’re not doing this to other students, are you? Or else, you’re getting the axe…”
“I wouldn’t do that. My mother told me not to do anything too drastic to ordinary students,
and I had no intention of doing this to anyone but you? Today’s incident wasn’t exactly intentional, though…
Iria, I feel bad for what happened to her. I should apologize properly later. Hehe…”
“…What about me? Aren’t you sorry to me?”
‘You’re fine now, aren’t you~’ Heeju replied lightly, opening the window to ventilate the room.
The more I saw her, the more I talked to her, the more I felt like this is what it would be like if Chaeyoon hated me.
Subtle insults delivered with a light tone, an attitude that seemed to disregard me without being obvious.
It’s funny to think that this is what Lee Chaeyoon would be like if she hated or disliked someone.
I picked up Iria, relieved that I wasn’t on the receiving end of Chaeyoon’s hatred.
Even though the drug’s effects were dispelled, it might still linger in her system since she had no tolerance,
so instead of waking her up, it would be better to take her home and let her rest comfortably.
“…Ah, but…”
I approached Heeju, who was raising the curtains and looking out the window with Iria on my back.
The sun was setting on the horizon of the bright sky, followed by the night sky. And there were still students around.
There were fewer people than during lunchtime, but it wasn’t so late that there weren’t any eyes watching.
If I went out carrying Iria, I would inevitably attract attention, and I didn’t want that. Should I wait until nightfall?
“You look troubled?”
“There are too many eyes. Iria and I are a mess, so I’m a bit hesitant to go out like this.”
My hair was disheveled from sweat, and Iria and I reeked of dried semen.
Anyone who didn’t know us would think we were just fine, but anyone who saw us now would think, ‘Those two just had sex.’
I would just be a little annoyed, but I’m not a student at this school anymore, so it doesn’t really matter to me,
but the problem is Iria. She’s been excited to enjoy her freedom outside, so it matters to her a lot.
This school is Iria’s first experience with society in this era.
She seems to like living as ‘Seorin’ in this school,
so if we went out like this and bad rumors spread… it wouldn’t be good.
What should I do… Should I ask Chaeyoon for help? Is she still at school?
As I blankly looked out the window, trying to figure out how to leave quietly without being seen,
a black object suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, shaking with a ‘clatter’ sound.
“What’s this?”
“Hehehe… I’m not thrilled about it, but if it’s ‘Student Seorin’s’ problem, I should help.
Wait here for a bit. I’ll give you a ride home.”
“…Professor, you can drive?”
“Of course. How else would I commute?”
The black object was a car key. Heeju was smiling leisurely, shaking the car key in front of my eyes.
She grabbed her clothes and bag that were hanging on the chair and walked past me.
“Oh, when you come out later, just close the window~”
Heeju left, and the private room became quiet in an instant. It was unexpected, but… well, that’s good.
If we quietly slipped out in a car, no one would suspect anything, and there would be no strange rumors.
I had to wait for Heeju to bring the car here, so I sat Iria back down on the sofa.
With nothing else to do, I wandered around the private room, touching the clothes rack,
and eventually leaned against the window again, blankly watching the students heading home.
“…Come to think of it, that’s…”
As I looked around outside, a familiar road caught my eye. There were cherry blossoms back then,
but now, because of the hot weather, the campus entrance was filled with trees with lush green leaves.
The road where I first met Chaeyoon and first encountered those mysterious flower petals was visible from here.
Everything happened there, at this university. And that was almost half a year ago.
Would I believe it if I told my old self, who used to live quietly like a corpse without any friends?
“…..?”
As the focus of my blurry vision gradually sharpened while I was lost in thought,
a short honk sounded from below the building. It seemed Heeju had arrived.
“…Okay, then…”
I picked up Iria again, who was lying on the sofa, and carefully opened the door so as not to wake her.
I walked down the hallway, which was empty and lit by the lamps that replaced the setting sun,
and saw a black car standing beyond the glass door in the distance.
The distance to the door wasn’t far, and I started walking without thinking much.
One step, then another. The only sound echoing in the hallway was the dull sound of my footsteps.
And the voices of the students coming from outside the building were faintly audible.
It was so quiet that I could even imagine hearing my own footsteps again.
With each step I took towards the end of the hallway, the sounds of people grew louder.
The sounds of chatter, laughter, light banter, and the rustling of clothes were the sounds of peaceful daily life.
And I felt like I could hear the sound of footsteps following me again from somewhere.
My senses had become so sensitive that I could even hear the sound of my hand reaching for the doorknob.
That’s what saved me.
‘Watch out!’ ‘Hey!’ ‘Get out of the way!’
I quickly threw myself backward with Iria on my back, and at that moment, the ceiling above me collapsed.
The ceiling collapsed with a tremendous noise, and the shattered concrete created a cloud of dust,
and a black silhouette writhed within that cloud. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was dangerous.
Leaving the thing slowly rising to its feet, I quickly kicked out the window next to me, broke the glass,
jumped out, and ran quickly towards Heeju’s car.
I quickly opened the back door of the car and pushed Iria inside, and Heeju’s urgent voice could be heard.
“W-What is that?!”
“I don’t know, just go!”
“W-What about you?!”
The silhouette, still obscured by the hazy smoke, cleared its throat and looked this way.
“Step on it, step on it now! I’ll take care of it!!”
I shouted loudly and slammed the door shut, and Heeju finally bit her lip and stepped on the gas.
The car, which had been making a loud engine noise, quickly left the scene, leaving behind me and ‘that.’
“You have excellent senses. But on the other hand, your ability to hide your presence is terrible.”
“……..”
A man brushed the dust off his clothes, opened the door, and came out with a stiff voice.
A black, expensive-looking suit, a gold bracelet, swept-back gray hair, and cold eyes.
“…To think you’d make me come to such a small piece of land. You’re a nuisance now as you were then.
A half-breed with the power of Hir, don’t make me ask twice. Where is Theresa?”
I knew without having to exchange introductions. This man was ‘Kin.’
One of the creators who started the war and the man who imprisoned Iria in that mountain.
“…Theresa? What’s that… Ugh?!”
Before I could finish speaking, Kin, who had somehow appeared in front of me, kicked me.
I was staring at him without blinking, but in an instant, I was kicked in the side.
A tremendous pain in my right waist. It felt like I had been hit hard with a baseball bat.
Letting out a short groan, my body floated in the air and rolled almost 10 meters.
“Don’t answer a question with a question. I asked where Theresa is.
Contact with Theresa, who was headed to this country, has been lost, and you must know something.”
Amidst the pain in my waist, the words that Lapis and Theresa had said flashed through my mind.
The creator who survived to the end in the fight against Hir, the king of the roots, and fought evenly.
This bastard is damn strong. The strongest of the creators I’ve fought, including Piadels and Theresa.
As I clutched my broken-sounding bones and healed them with golden power,
Kin approached me, looked down at me with cold eyes, sighed deeply, and asked.
“…I’ll show you one last act of mercy and ask one more time. Where is Theresa…”
“I fucked her. Tasted great?”
“…How absurd.”
“Why the hell do you talk like that, it’s so cringy.”
