Chapter 915

"He’s wearing the full school uniform. Was he finishing getting ready while we were talking?"

The school refuser, aside from wearing the white school uniform, appeared neat.

His hair, which reached past his shoulders, was well-combed, and the length of his skirt was appropriate. There were no flashy decorations that attention-seekers might wear.

It was a model appearance that would surely make the student council members who guide students at the school gates very happy.

He even wore a name tag, something some students don't bother with because they find it annoying, making me wonder if he was really part of Class 0.

His name tag read 'In Seon-o.'

‘I’ve never seen this name in Plamagoh. He must not have been attending school until now. But…’

In Seon-o looked down at me as if observing, but there was a hint of wariness in his calm eyes.

It wasn’t strange to be cautious of someone you just met, but to be wary of a classmate wearing the Yeonggwang High School uniform seemed a bit excessive.

Although he looked normal at first glance, I had experienced enough instances where upperclassmen from Class 0 suddenly became aggressive to be prepared to defend myself.

But the next moment, In Seon-o completely hid his wariness and smiled, speaking to me.

"Hello, you must be our class’s vice president, Jo Eui-shin. I've heard a lot about you from the two."

In Seon-o’s gaze shifted to my name tag.

It seemed like he relaxed after seeing my name, but there was something bothering me.

In Seon-o was still standing behind the railing in the hallway, beyond the spiral staircase.

If he truly had let his guard down, wouldn’t he have come down to the first floor?

We briefly exchanged greetings and self-introductions while keeping our distance, and then In Seon-o asked.

"Did you leave that power behind earlier?"

"Yeah, I thought you were asleep, so I tried waking you up. Did I startle you? Sorry."

"No, thanks to you, I woke up on time. I want to graduate on time, now that I’m back at Yeonggwang High. I was in a deep sleep because of the aftereffects of trying to cross into both sides’ domains..."

The content of the conversation and the responses were surprisingly normal.

It had been a while since I had such a normal conversation with someone from Class 0.

The faces of the classmates who represented the true nature of Class 0—Jin Jeong-muk, Ong Gildong, Guseulbi, Mok U-ram—flashed through my mind, and I felt complicated.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Aside from the distance, our greeting was quite normal, but something was still bothering me.

‘It’s subtle, but he’s hiding his expression.’

The feeling of a chess player was growing stronger.

In Seon-o gave off the air of a chess player facing an opponent.

A true chess player knows how to hide their thoughts.

Hwang Ji-ho often guesses my thoughts by looking at my face, but when I play chess, he won’t be able to look into my mind, just as now, when In Seon-o and I exchange casual conversation, neither of us can guess each other’s true intentions.

Bang!

"Ta-da! We’re here!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting. To create this level of brilliance, a little waiting is necessary!"

Guseulbi and Ong Gildong burst out, shattering the ice-like atmosphere.

Although they had entered their respective rooms earlier, they both came out at the same time, as if it had been planned.

They might have set the time with a device, but those attention-seekers probably just guessed the timing by instinct.

"So, how’s it look? This is my first time wearing the summer uniform!"

"To pull off our amazing personalities in this summer uniform, I knew my partner would do wonderfully!"

The attention-seekers were wearing summer uniforms that had been modified from the regular school uniforms.

Most of the white school uniforms were covered with aurora-colored fabric, making it hard to recognize them as Yeonggwang High School uniforms unless you had a keen eye.

Comparing them to In Seon-o, who stood by the nearby door, it was hard to tell whether these were school uniforms.

The sight of the two in their outfits immediately brought to mind the student council members who must have had headaches and the students who would likely request photos.

"Heh, looks like you’re surprised by our great style."

"That new uniform looks good on you, but I wonder if you sometimes want to wear lighter colors?"

"As fellow thieves, I’ve prepared one for you too! It’s in your room, so you can change and come back."

"The size should be perfect. He’s good at that kind of thing."

‘There’s an aurora-colored school uniform for me in ‘that room’?'

It was a dizzying combination.

I was grateful that the two considered me a comrade and made space and uniforms for me, but I didn’t have the courage to accept it.

I forced myself to stay calm and said,

"Thanks for preparing the uniform for me. But I’ll just appreciate the thought. Aurora colors suit you and Guseulbi best. It’s better if it stays as part of your unique personalities."

I only tactfully conveyed that I didn’t want to wear the aurora-colored uniform, yet the attention-seekers were deeply moved.

‘Such a big sacrifice!’, ‘You really thought that much about us?’ they said, eyes getting teary.

Before the emotional attention-seekers tried to force me into the aurora-colored uniform, I decided to change the subject to breakfast.

"Once you’re done, come sit down."

"Yeah, I’ll be there soon!"

"Got it. It’d be a shame not to eat the precious meal you prepared for us."

I turned to In Seon-o, who had been silently watching our conversation from the side.

"I heard you’ve been hanging out with the two. Now that you’re here, I brought enough for all of us, so let’s eat together. If you don’t want to eat, would you prefer just a drink?"

"...Thanks, I’ll eat."

After a brief silence, In Seon-o nodded with a smile and walked down the stairs.

His pace was quick, and since he had been standing close to the stairs, In Seon-o led the way down to the first floor ahead of the attention-seekers.

"This is really good. It’s different when a fellow thief makes it!"

"Did you cook this in the morning? It must have been hard. You’ve done all this for us! We’re usually perfect at anything, but we’re not good at cooking."

The two attention-seekers looked remarkably happy, considering the test that could determine whether they pass or fail.

I revealed the truth to them.

"I bought it."

"Ah…"

The attention-seekers sighed.

If they really wanted homemade food, I would’ve made it for them, but it would’ve been much tastier if I bought it, so there was no need to make it myself.

They changed their tune and said, "As thieves, we chose a good menu!" and "You brought it from a place that suits us well" as they ate breakfast.

In Seon-o didn’t actively participate in the conversation, but he did chime in at the right moments, blending in with the others.

However, I still felt that In Seon-o was like a chess player who was always calculating his next move.

Ding-dong.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] Eui-shin, hey.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] It’s supposed to rain today, just as the fortune-tellers predicted. So, it looks like Teacher Yongjegan will be with you during your commute.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] Make sure to bring an umbrella, and be careful on the wet roads.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] (stamp)

Yeom Jun-yeol sent a morning greeting with a stamp of a red dragon with an umbrella.

Not long after Yeom Jun-yeol’s message arrived, the first raindrops started to fall.

As I left the thief’s hideout and headed to school, the rain had grown heavier.

"If we use the umbrella, our brilliance won’t stand out..."

"Don’t worry about it. We’ve prepared umbrellas and boots just for us!"

Guseulbi, overcome with emotion at the sight of the aurora umbrella and boots, tried to cover his mouth.

In Seon-o and I silently took out the umbrellas provided by the school, with the Yeonggwang High School logo on them.

Finally, I asked the two of them.

"Let’s go, did we forget anything?"

"No, nothing."

In Seon-o answered firmly as he looked straight at me, and we headed to school.

The entire way to school, In Seon-o walked between me and the attention-seekers.

During the short period while the re-exams were being conducted, the attention-seekers and In Seon-o came to school every day.

The three of them also stopped by the classroom before heading to take their re-exams, arranged by Kim Yuri.

The class members, seeing the fifteenth student arrive, warmly welcomed In Seon-o.

The kind students gave a lot of attention to the attention-seekers who brought In Seon-o and poured out remarks about how their uniforms were so unusual that they didn’t look like school uniforms.

After the attention-seekers were satisfied, the focus shifted to In Seon-o.

"This is the first time I’m hearing this surname, is it like Seum’s ‘Sae-wol,’ created after the dimensional collision?"

"In Seon-o? Interesting name, is it a pure Korean name?"

Questions came in a scattered manner, but In Seon-o answered each one with a friendly attitude.

"The surname is unusual, but the In family existed before the dimensional collision. There are about 20,000 people with the same surname in Korea."

"That’s more than I expected. I’ve heard that the Mok family has fewer than 10,000."

"Oh, and the name is in Chinese characters. While the surname doesn’t overlap, there might be some people with the same name. If we count meanings, there are even more."

In Seon-o explained his name.

The character for In (印), the first character Seon (先), and the character for sleep (寤).

When translated, it means "to realize first," and as In Seon-o said, there would probably be many others with similar meanings.

"Summer vacation is coming soon, so I want to see you guys often! Until when will you be attending school?"

Kim Yuri asked enthusiastically.

A tense atmosphere filled the classroom.

Though some students didn’t care about attendance, most were hoping for full attendance, especially thinking about Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong and others.

"I’m looking for something, so I’m not sure yet."

"Ah… I see."

"But I plan to attend school for the time being."

With Kim Yuri leading the way, the class members lit up with smiles.

"In fact, I tried to go where there were clues in the dual domains, but I failed. For now, I’m thinking of attending school to figure out a plan and rest. I want to watch the Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange during the vacation."

"To rest and come to school...? Anyway, we’ll be able to see each other more! We’re also going to watch the exchange!"

Though some of the class members found it odd that In Seon-o was coming to school to rest, since he was from Class 0, no one probed further.

Looking at the situation, it was natural for him to want to rest, as digging into the domains of the Twelve Zodiac Alliance wasn’t an easy task.

Also, it wasn’t strange to have an interest in the first-ever Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange.

But something still felt off.

‘Guseulbi and Ong Gildong seemed to be hearing about In Seon-o’s plan to attend school for the time being for the first time.’

Among the students who were happy with In Seon-o’s words were Guseulbi and Ong Gildong.

In Seon-o probably decided to temporarily attend school very recently.

So, it seemed unlikely that the reason he decided to attend school temporarily had anything to do with the incident in the dual domains.

"Jo Eui-shin, are you in a bad mood because of the rain?"

"No."

"...I see."

Hwang Ji-ho completely misunderstood.

I must have been hiding my expression, like when I play chess.

Just as Hwang Ji-ho was about to speak to me again.

"Then, are we one person away from full attendance?"

"Well, In Seon-o is temporarily attending, but there’s still one person we haven’t seen."

As Gweon Lena and Dokgo Miro had said.

And among the remaining students, only three of us knew who it was.

One was Hwang Ji-ho, who knew the remaining student.

The other two were the attention-seekers who had stolen the attendance list.

‘Is In Seon-o planning to find the last student while temporarily attending school?’

While I was listening to the conversation, the attention-seekers lowered their voices and began consulting with each other.

During their short plotting, they looked over at us.

It seemed like they were observing me and Hwang Ji-ho.

"...He seems like he’s having a hard time."

"...Ugh, still looks like there’s no opening."

The attention-seekers, looking frustrated by whatever thoughts they had, suddenly declared in unison.

"We’ll also come to school for the time being, to figure out a plan and rest!"

School isn’t a place to rest, but I wonder if In Seon-o and the attention-seekers realize that.