Chapter 213: Teacher and Student (2)

TL: SHW

Plop.

Yoo Ji-eun stared with hollow eyes at the newspaper that had been dropped in front of her.

"...What's this?"

"A newspaper."

"You think I'm asking because I don't know that? Who reads a paper newspaper these days?"

Still, there had to be a reason it had been brought to her, so Yoo Ji-eun unfolded the newspaper that had been folded in half.

She understood why it had been brought without even reading the headline or flipping to another page. One look at the front page was enough.

"Ah, this..."

A photograph took up half the front page. Half of the shot was out of focus, and part of it was obscured. Her own face was visible between Hong Seok-young's grim face and the hand gripping the camera. Even her sister, cradled in her arms, had come out clearly.

"Uncle smashed the camera, but they still managed to get a good shot. It came out nice."

"Is that really what you should be saying right now?"

"If I'd gotten a shot like this, I'd have put it on the front page too."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Yoo Ji-eun ran her fingers over the photograph printed in the newspaper.

"I should've asked my sister to cut her hair so we could take a picture together. The last picture we took was... that April Fools' prank photo. It's completely ridiculous."

"......"

"The photo we used for her funeral portrait was from last year too. She hated that one because she said she looked old in it."

"...Ji-eun."

"Yeah?"

Yoo Ji-eun looked up. The petite girl standing in front of her looked as though she were about to cry.

Only then did Yoo Ji-eun seem to realize what she'd been saying, and she hurriedly waved both arms.

"I didn't call you over so I could talk about this!"

"...Actually, I didn't come here to talk about this either."

"Really?"

Yoo Ji-eun gave the girl a mischievous grin.

"Still, let me go first. Just a second!"

Yoo Ji-eun darted into her room.

Left alone in the living room, the girl looked around the house. It was quiet. The sofa, the table, the other furniture, everything was unchanged. This was the home of the friend she'd often come to visit after school.

Hadn't Ji-eun said the Principal had asked whether it might be better for her to move? She was only still here because she'd refused.

Sun Sun-jin could understand both the Principal's feelings in asking her to move and Yoo Ji-eun's feelings in wanting to stay.

"Unnie!"

Yoo Ji-eun came out of her room carrying a large wrapped package. It was carefully wrapped in paper covered with a cute panda character, complete with a pink ribbon.

"Happy birthday!"

"...Huh?"

For something so bulky, it was surprisingly light.

Sun Sun-jin blinked as she accepted the gift without thinking. This... wasn't what she'd expected. The words slipped out before she knew it.

"It's not my birthday yet."

"I know."

Yoo Ji-eun shrugged.

"But your birthday's coming up soon. My sister bought it ahead of time."

"Ah..."

"I wrapped it! She only bought it and never got around to wrapping it, you know? Open it, open it."

"......"

"Want me to sing for you?"

"...No! It's fi..."

"Happy birthday to you!"

Yoo Ji-eun clapped her hands and began singing at the top of her lungs.

"Happy birthday, dear Sun-jin unnie! Happy birthday to you!! Woo!"

"......"

"We don't have a cake. And I don't have a present for you either... Sorry. I'll definitely buy you one later. It's kind of hard for me to go outside right now. I've actually been asking uncle to get necessities and stuff for me, or ordering them online."

Sun Sun-jin couldn't find anything to say. She simply shook her head.

"No... It's okay."

"I did wrap it, though, remember? Actually, my sister bought the wrapping paper too. But I contributed the labor, so cut me a little slack."

"I told you, it's fine. Thank you."

"Come on! Hurry up and open it."

After a brief hesitation, Sun Sun-jin untied the ribbon first.

She could more or less guess what was inside. Something light and soft. At this size, it had to be a stuffed animal.

Sure enough, when she tore away the wrapping paper, a fluffy stuffed animal appeared. At first she thought it was a teddy bear, but...

"You like pandas!"

It was a stuffed panda holding a stalk of bamboo in its right paw.

"My sister saw this and said it was the perfect present for you, so she bought it right away. Well? Do you like it?"

"...It's cute."

Sun Sun-jin hugged the stuffed panda tightly.

‘Sun-jin! See you later!’

She hadn't known that would be the last time. No one could have known.

She buried her face in the stuffed panda to keep the tears from spilling out. Ji-eun was surprisingly perceptive, so she'd notice immediately if Sun-jin cried. And of all people, Sun-jin couldn't let herself cry in front of Ji-eun.

"I like it. Thank you."

"I told you, I didn't do anything."

"You wrapped it for me."

"Like that's anything special."

"It is."

"...Seriously?"

"Of course. You did it for me."

Sun Sun-jin deliberately raised her voice as she laughed, trying to hide the crack in it.

"I'm terrible with my hands. I can't even tie a ribbon properly."

"I'm not that good at it either..."

The two girls broke into giggles. They both pretended not to notice the cracked voice or the reddened eyes.

"Ji-eun."

"Yeah?"

Once their laughter died down, Sun Sun-jin asked about something that had been bothering her the entire time.

"Teacher must be really busy these days... Does he come by often?"

"Uh..."

Yoo Ji-eun didn't answer and only shrugged. It was exactly the answer Sun Sun-jin had expected, and she let out a deep sigh.

Sun Sun-jin knew perfectly well how busy Teacher was. She also knew that if he had any choice in the matter, he would never leave Yoo Ji-eun alone.

"Do you want to stay with me for a while?"

"......With you?"

"I just don't like leaving you here alone. And Master will be there too, so I thought it might be better."

"No. I'm fine."

Yoo Ji-eun answered with a resolute expression.

Sun Sun-jin had been about to try persuading her a few more times, but one look at Yoo Ji-eun's face made her close her mouth.

That was the face of someone who wouldn't listen no matter what she said. Sun Sun-jin hugged the stuffed panda tightly and changed the subject. She wanted to drag Ji-eun along by force if she had to, but she didn't think that would actually help her.

"Ah. Right. One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"The newspaper. Master said there'll be a lawsuit over this. Master will probably come by to get your permission."

Yoo Ji-eun gave the newspaper an odd look.

"I just keep ending up owing more and more favors. Master doesn't have to do that."

"What are you talking about? Sue them. Sue every last one of them."

"......"

"Master's taking care of it, so you don't have to worry about a thing."

"...Is Master okay?"

"Well, considering Master's looking for reporters to sue... Maybe that's Master's way of venting."

Sun Sun-jin had deliberately tried to make it sound light, but the guild office had been so tense it felt frozen. Everyone was even careful about breathing.

Yoo Ji-eun had seen Master at the funeral, so she would know. Still, perhaps she understood Sun Sun-jin's efforts not to drag the conversation somewhere darker, because she pretended not to notice.

Sun Sun-jin smiled bitterly. Ever since the funeral ended, Master had been sitting at the desk with a terrifying expression, doing nothing but staring at an old photograph. It was the picture they'd all taken together in their Pilot High School uniforms, calling it their entrance ceremony.

‘Hey! Lee Seung-yeon!!’

‘What!! Sun Sun-jin!’

‘Good grief, so much energy first thing in the morning. You kids, stand over here for a second. Let's take a picture. In the end, photos are all you have left.’

‘Wow, Auntie. You sound like such an old lady.’

‘You little brat, is that any way to talk to your aunt? Just wait until you're my age! I'm telling you, pictures really are all you have left!’

It hadn't even been a year, yet it felt like something from the distant past.

"Ji-eun."

Still holding her early birthday present, Sun Sun-jin looked at her friend's younger sister. Master and Yoo Ji-eun had both lost family. Yoo Ji-eun, in particular, had lost the only family she had. Sun Sun-jin didn't know how to comfort her, or whether anything she said would be any comfort at all.

It seemed better to smile and pretend nothing had happened than to say something unnecessary and hurt her even more.

Sun Sun-jin closed her eyes, then opened them again.

No. How could she possibly pretend nothing had happened? Everything had changed since that day.

"Why'd you call my name if you're not going to say anything?"

Yoo Ji-eun tilted her head.

Sun Sun-jin was still choosing her words. She had come because Yoo Ji-eun had called her over, but even if she hadn't, Sun Sun-jin would have come to see her anyway. She had to say one last goodbye, didn't she?

Right. Goodbye.

"I'm leaving Pilot High."

Sun Sun-jin spoke in as calm a tone as she could manage. Yoo Ji-eun's eyes widened.

"...What?"

"I'm quitting school."

"Why?"

Yoo Ji-eun shot to her feet, then abruptly clamped her mouth shut.

She already knew the reason herself.

Sun Sun-jin smiled bitterly.

"Han-seong and I decided to quit school and work under Master."

"...Daseon?"

"Daseon, technically... but we'll be doing all sorts of things. I'll probably be run even harder than I was at Pilot High for the next few years, though."

"......"

"I don't know how much free time I'll have from now on. But I'll come see you whenever I can. Okay?"

Yoo Ji-eun looked Sun Sun-jin straight in the eye and nodded. Over the past few days, she suddenly seemed much more grown-up.

"What about the others? Are they all quitting too?"

"...Eun-young was the first to leave."

Sun Sun-jin thought of her friend, who had sobbed uncontrollably as she clung to Sun-jin, without a trace of her usual prim demeanor.

"She said she's quitting being a hunter too. It's not like she ever wanted to be a hunter that badly in the first place..."

"Eun-young unnie was good at studying too."

"She used to help you with your schoolwork, didn't she?"

Yoo Ji-eun nodded.

"Seo-hyun and Hyun-wook said they're staying at Pilot High."

"...Are they both okay? I didn't even see them at the funeral."

"They're still in the hospital."

"Were they hurt badly?!"

"Ah, no."

Sun Sun-jin waved her hands. She couldn't tell Ji-eun the truth.

"If they came out now, the reporters would obviously hound them, so they're staying in the hospital for the time being. They said they'll come out once things calm down a little."

"Ah... Yeah, that makes sense."

Fortunately, Yoo Ji-eun accepted the explanation.

"The reporters made enough of a fuss over me. If it's those two..."

"Hyun-wook's really worried about how you're doing. Give him a call sometime."

"Okay."

"Keep in touch with me too. Got it? I might have to go overseas, so I may not be able to reply right away, but I'll check your messages as soon as I can."

"Does Daseon send people overseas for training too?"

Sun Sun-jin gave an awkward smile and dodged the question.

"Anyway, if anything happens, make sure you tell the Principal or our Master. Got it?"

"What am I, a little kid?"

"You are still a kid."

"...Ugh."

"Kid."

Sun Sun-jin vigorously ruffled Yoo Ji-eun's hair. Normally, Ji-eun would have snapped at her not to treat her like a child. The fact that she simply stood there and let her do it only made Sun Sun-jin even more reluctant to leave.

"Okay, I'm going now... Keep in touch."

"Okay."

Yoo Ji-eun walked Sun Sun-jin all the way to the front door to see her off.

Click.

When the door closed, the house, which had at least held a trace of warmth before, fell silent. Yoo Ji-eun stood there staring at the entrance. It felt as though her sister might open the door and come back at any moment.

The faint smile on her lips faded away. The eyes that had been smiling as though nothing was wrong turned sharp again.

Grind.

She clenched her jaw. The sound of her grinding teeth echoed through the lonely house.

The sixteen-year-old girl simply stood there alone, in the home where she had lived with her sister.

*

"I dropped out of school."

"......"

"I'd be short on the required attendance days anyway. And I'm not exactly in a position to keep going to school right now."

Clink.

The quiet sound of dishes touching rang out. Hong Seok-young listened to Yoo Ji-eun as he put a plate in the sink.

"I'll just take the GED later."

"...I see."

"Yeah. So I'm going to enroll at Pilot High next year."

His hands stopped midway through putting on his rubber gloves. Yoo Ji-eun pretended not to notice and kept talking.

"I had my Awakening this morning."

"......"

"I want to become your student, Uncle... I guess I shouldn't call you uncle anymore now. Anyway, please take me on as your student."

"Ji-eun."

"You can do that much for me, can't you?"

Hong Seok-young closed his eyes. Who would have thought the day would come when the little girl sitting at his dining table would frighten him this much?

Hong Seok-young, who had never known how to turn away from what had happened, slowly turned around to face Yoo Ji-eun. If he could talk her out of it, that would be best. Even if she called him a coward, he was prepared to ask whether she thought her sister would ever have wanted this for her.

But Hong Seok-young couldn't say a word.

"......"

Because the girl sitting before him had the exact same look in her eyes that he himself had once had.

"...All right."

Because no matter what he said, she would not change her mind.

***

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