"â¦â¦."
"Letâs go. The lineâs getting long."
Mu-ryeongâs lips curled into an easy smile. His bright, carefree expression left Hwan-young silent, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
Watching this, Seung-joo clicked his tongue internally.
âSo much for it not being about Ki Hwan-young.â
Mu-ryeong claimed it was for the request, but in the end, it was his soft-hearted nature that took control. Kim Mu-ryeong, who couldnât stand seeing anyone left alone, had probably been bothered the moment their classmates started talking about Hwan-young. The request was just an excuseâhe would have reached out to him either way.
"Seo Seung-joo, hurry up!"
"Iâm coming."
This wasnât the first time Mu-ryeong had done something like this.
Back in their first year of middle school, he hadnât been able to ignore a classmate who was being ostracized. It was different from Hwan-youngâs situation, but the process had been the same.
"Chae-eun? Sheâs nice."
Was her name Kim Chae-eun? Or Lee Chae-eun? Seung-joo couldnât even remember anymore. She was a girl who had been bullied since elementary school. Like most cases of childish cruelty, there had been no real reasonâjust arbitrary teasing, which eventually escalated to mocking her for something as trivial as her bob haircut.
"She let me borrow her pen all day when I forgot my pencil case."
"I donât know about you guys, but I think her haircut looks nice."
"Sheâs also really good with her hands."
"Then Iâll sit next to her."
While everyone else avoided the empty seat beside her, Mu-ryeong had claimed it without hesitation. He greeted her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And just like that, the seating arrangement didnât change for the rest of the semester.
That left Seung-joo, who had been seated elsewhere, awkwardly exchanging introductions with a completely new seatmate.
"Wanna see pictures of my dog, Seolgi?"
"You can have my yogurt too."
"Oh, do you like bellflower root?"
True to his nature, Mu-ryeong talked to Chae-eun all the time, whether it was during breaks or lunch. If their class hadnât eaten in the cafeteria, he would have invited her to eat with him instead.
At first, she had been wary. But over time, her expression brightened whenever she spoke with him.
"You like her, donât you?"
One day, the bullies started targeting Mu-ryeong as well.
Their words were crude, filled with disgusting insinuations.
But Mu-ryeong, ever unfazed, simply responded,
"Yeah, I like Chae-eun. And I like you guys too."
His smile was so pure that a couple of them actually turned red.
Meanwhile, Seung-joo had noticed the look of disappointment on Chae-eunâs face.
And then, as if nothing had happened, Mu-ryeong invited the entire class:
"Wanna come to my house and see Seolgi?"
That was the turning point.
Slowly but surely, Chae-eun started making friends.
It had taken time to break through the prejudice, but once the wall was down, everything moved quickly.
One friend became two.
Two became a group.
Mu-ryeong had simply given her the chance to stand on her own.
By the time their seats changed in the second semester, Chae-eun had already blended in with the rest of the class.
And yet, even then, she lingered around Mu-ryeong, despite no longer needing his help.
Seung-joo hadnât needed an explanation to understand why.
"Kim Mu-ryeong."
"What?"
Mu-ryeong, who had just sat down with his tray, glanced up at Seung-joo.
Hwan-young, still looking reluctant, was sitting beside him.
Seung-joo looked between the two before asking indifferently,
"Do you remember Chae-eun from middle school? Was it Kim Chae-eun or Lee Chae-eun?"
"â¦Wait, do you mean Song Chae-eun?"
"Oh, was it Song?"
They had always just called her "Chae-eun," so her last name hadnât really mattered to him.
Honestly, Seung-joo had barely even talked to her himself.
"Whyâd you suddenly bring her up?"
"Just crossed my mind. Do you still keep in touch with her?"
From what Seung-joo recalled, Chae-eun had gone to a different high school, one far from Haeyeon High.
He also remembered her bursting into tears in front of Mu-ryeong during their graduation ceremony, which had made even him uncomfortable.
And then, of course, there had been that lineâthe one that made Seung-joo quietly excuse himself.
"I donât want to go to a different school than youâ¦"
"No, I havenât talked to her since we graduated."@@novelbin@@
Mu-ryeong answered easily, cutting into his fish cutlet and popping a large piece into his mouth.
His face showed no lingering attachment, nor did he seem nostalgic.
He simply chewed his food, his expression as casual as ever.
"I didnât really talk to her much in second and third year either."
"â¦Really?"
"Yeah, except for the occasional text when she wanted Seolgi pictures."
Seung-joo frowned.
For someone who had cried so much at their graduation, that didnât seem like the behavior of a girl who had confessed.
And if she had confessed, knowing Mu-ryeongâs personality, he wouldnât have brushed it off so indifferently.
"What did she say on graduation day?"
Seung-joo decided to approach the topic indirectly.
With Hwan-young sitting right there, he couldnât just ask if Chae-eun had confessed.
Not that Hwan-young seemed to be paying attention to their conversation.
"Oh, just the usual. Like, âTake care in high school,â and stuff."
Mu-ryeongâs large eyes blinked innocently as he thought back.
His round gaze squinted slightly, as if trying to recall the details.
"That was pretty much it."
"â¦â¦."
Seung-joo immediately realized that something had gone wrong that day.
Most likely, it had been Mu-ryeongâs complete lack of awareness.
"â¦Is that so?"
"Yeah."
How was Seung-joo supposed to tell Mu-ryeong something he hadnât even realized?
It was all in the past anyway, and Mu-ryeong clearly didnât care.
"â¦Well. Alright, then."
"Seriously? Thatâs it?"
Mu-ryeong didnât put much thought into Seung-jooâs reaction. Despite seeming perceptive at times, he could also be remarkably dense. As expected, he quickly lost interest in the conversation and instead eyed his empty tray with mild disappointment.
"I wish I could get secondsâ¦"
"Just go back for another serving. The lunch ladies adore youâtheyâll probably give you more."
"I canât. If I get caught, Iâll be scolded."
Mu-ryeong pouted slightly before shifting his gaze to Hwan-young. The latter had already finished eating and was about to leave. Mu-ryeong reached out, grabbing the edge of his sleeve with a curious expression.
"Youâre leaving? Seung-joo isnât done eating yet."
"What does that have to do with me? You can leave too if you want."
Seung-joo, still eating with one hand, simply waved them off. Honestly, he was surprised Hwan-young had even stayed this long. He had expected him to ignore Mu-ryeong completely. The fact that he had followed them at all was already unexpected.
"Then take this with you."
Instead of standing up, Mu-ryeong placed his apple juice on Hwan-youngâs tray.
There he goes again, bribing with food.
Seung-joo thought this but kept his mouth shut, casually continuing his meal.
At least Hwan-young was a guy, so things wouldnât turn out like they did with Chae-eun. He was about to stop paying attention whenâ
"â¦No, you drink it."
Hwan-young picked up the apple juice and placed it back on Mu-ryeongâs tray. As if that wasnât enough, he set his own juice beside it too. Then, before Mu-ryeong could grab him again, he walked away without hesitation.
"â¦â¦."
Seung-joo coughed lightly and quickly stabbed his straw into his apple juice, taking a long sip.
If he hadnât, he might have ended up coughing awkwardly nonstop.
"See? I told you heâs nice."
Mu-ryeong, oblivious to Seung-jooâs reaction, confidently gestured toward the direction Hwan-young had disappeared to.
Of course, Seung-joo didnât feel like agreeing.
Was it kindness? Or was it just because it was Mu-ryeong?
He honestly couldnât tell.
"â¦What exactly did you do to him?"
"Nothing. He probably just felt guilty and gave it to me."
Mu-ryeong shrugged, completely unconcerned as he peeled the straw off one of the juice packs.
Now that he thought about it, hadnât Mu-ryeong also mentioned guilt when he had dragged Hwan-young to lunch earlier?
Seung-joo bit down on the tip of his straw and asked,
"Whatâs he feeling guilty about?"
***
After school, the atmosphere always felt eerie.
The pitch-black schoolyard stretched out like an open maw, as if it would swallow anything that dared to step too close.
Unlike the bright daytime, the air now felt heavy, and the surrounding sounds were unusually sharp. It was as if the entire world had shifted into another dimension.
Mu-ryeong moved gracefully, like a stray cat, effortlessly leaping over the wall.
Even in the pitch-darkness, his steps didnât falter.
Blue flames flickered around him, trailing his movements like silent sentinels.
"Hwan-young threw away the talismanâ¦"
A small, whispered voice carried through the night.
One of the flames drifted closer to his face, almost as if urging him to speak louder.
Mu-ryeong, however, only smirked playfully and ran his energy-coated hand through the fire, stroking it gently.
"How could I just say it like that? Right?"
âWhatâs he feeling guilty about?â
Of course, Mu-ryeong hadnât answered Seung-jooâs question honestly.
If he had, Seung-joo would have scolded him endlessly and told him to drop the request altogether.
Instead, he had brushed it off, saying it wasnât a big deal.
Which meant he had to endure Seung-jooâs pestering all the way back to their classroom.
If someone hadnât shown up looking for him at just the right moment, Seung-joo would have gotten the truth out of him before the end of the day.
Of course, the moment the student mentioned needing help with a request, the nagging had immediately shifted to,
"Youâre not planning to stay up all night for this, are you?"
"Weâre going treasure hunting tonight."
The moment Mu-ryeong spoke, the flames around him flared up excitedly.
Clearly, they liked the sound of treasure hunting.
Mu-ryeong held back a chuckle and pulled something out of his pocket.
"Find something with energy similar to this."
"Can you help me find my ring? No matter how much I look, I canât find it."
What he held in his hand was a simple black mechanical pencilâsomething any student would have.
The item had been given to him by a student who had lost something important and needed help finding it.
The only reason this request wasnât a hassle was because the student possessed spiritual energy.
If they hadnât, this would have been a much more difficult task.
"Come to think of it⦠that guy thought Iâd ask Seolgi to find it."
Seolgi canât do something like thatâ¦
Mu-ryeong muttered to himself, smiling faintly.
He recalled how the student had been amazed, asking if his dog could sniff out lost objects.
And, of course, he also remembered the conversation that followed.
"Iâll find it for you. What class are you in?"
"Class 3. Seriously, thanks, Mu-ryeong."
Class 3.
Hwan-youngâs class.
If he found the item, he would naturally have a reason to visit Class 3 again.
Not that that was the only reason he had taken the request, of course.