Chapter 132
Fall (9)
***
I shouted at Kwon Yuri, who was practically flying down the stairs.
“Wait a minute! If we leave them like that…”
“Don’t worry, little chick! I already called other professors! They’ll take care of it!”
“But…”
As if reading my mind, Kwon Yuri cut me off before I could finish my sentence.
“It’s fine! It’ll end without any drama! It’s a mutual thing, mutual!”
If I understood that correctly… both sides were at fault, so Cradle wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
Thinking about it that way did put my mind at ease, somewhat.
Before I knew it, Yeon Minha’s enraged voice was fading away, and I was bouncing along like a balloon, being dragged down the spiral staircase by a girl.
I didn’t even have the presence of mind to demand she let go of my hand. But why was Professor Shin Jae-yu looking for me all of a sudden?
Since she kicked me out of her office last time, we hadn’t exchanged a single word. Could it be that she changed her mind and decided to share information about Seol Yujeong?
After what felt like an eternity of running, we finally arrived at the entrance of a quiet path on the outskirts of the plaza.
The girl with the tear-shaped mole under her eye finally let go of my wrist.
At the same time, the faint, tingling discomfort that had been lingering around me disappeared without a trace.
“Huff… huff…! I’m going to die from exhaustion. Should I start exercising or something… huff… why are you so fine? Ah, youth is such a wonderful thing…”
Kwon Yuri leaned against a tree, its trunk at least ten times thicker than her.
Every time she panted, the buttons on her shirt looked like they were about to pop off.
“Why did we come here? Professor Shin Jae-yu’s office is in the main building, not…”
“Ugh, little chick! Are you really that dense? You should’ve figured it out by now!”
Kwon Yuri cut me off mid-sentence, her breathing finally back to normal.
“Obviously, it was a lie.”
“…What?”
She even winked as she said it, as if what she’d done was completely natural. I was left speechless. Why would she lie and go through all this trouble?
“Why would you lie and do all that…?”
“Just because. It was fun.”
“…?”
“I’m joking, I’m joking. I thought I’d help you out a little.”
“Help? Who, exactly?”
“Hmm, who indeed. Seo Yeona? Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but…”
Kwon Yuri smirked wickedly, a grin that starkly contrasted her innocent face, as she leaned in closer.
“Let’s just say it was for you.”
“For me?”
“You were in a tough spot, weren’t you? Stuck between them, unable to do anything. It was written all over your face.”
Kwon Yuri’s playful yet probing tone pierced through me, and for a moment, I felt my heart drop.
Her words had hit the nail on the head, describing exactly what I had been feeling just moments ago.
Her eyes were still bright and carefree, but now there was a sharpness in them that hadn’t been there earlier.
Stuck between them? Between whom?
Did she know something?
“…”
I forced myself to calm down.
No one knew about the past. The only person who knew my true identity here at Cradle was Yeon Minha. Of that, I was certain.
There’s no way this girl would have any clue about my feelings.
She was probably just making a joke about how a freshman like me got caught between senior girls fighting.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t in any tough spot.”
I shook my head, trying to appear unfazed, and spoke in a firm tone.
“Next time, please don’t do something like that without asking. It’s… unsettling.”
“Hold on, hold on! Why so cold? Really?”
But Kwon Yuri blocked my path again, quickly stepping in front of me before I could turn away.
“Ugh… I go out of my way to help, and this is the thanks I get…? So sad, so sad…”
She even raised her hands dramatically to her eyes and pretended to sob.
But despite her act, her voice was still filled with amusement.
I felt like the air had left my lungs.
I’d rather deal with someone who cursed me out or tried to hit me. At least then I’d know how to react.
Right now, I felt like a toy she was having fun playing with…
“…Pfft.”
Kwon Yuri peeked at me through her half-closed eyes, then let out a light laugh.
She lowered her hands and spoke again, her tone more serious now.
“Ahem. Anyway, little chick. You owe me a favor now.”
“Who said anything about owing you?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not asking for much. Remember how we agreed to eat together next time? You can treat me to that meal.”
“When did I agree to that…”
“And if Minha tries to kill me, you have to step in and stop her, okay? For both sides.”
“Why would I…”
“Oh my! Look at the time! I have an afternoon class soon!”
Cutting me off yet again, Kwon Yuri glanced at her wristwatch. She then exaggerated her movements, pretending to be shocked.
“Well, little chick, take care of yourself! Say hi when we meet next! Bye now!”
“Wait…!”
Just like how she’d appeared, Kwon Yuri vanished like the wind.
She darted off like a rabbit, disappearing in no time.
And once again, I was left standing alone on the now empty path.
But the words Kwon Yuri had left behind continued to swirl in my mind.
“…Both sides?”
***
As Kwon Yuri had said, the situation didn’t escalate. There was no disciplinary committee called, and no rumors spread about the incident.
The only actual notice that came out was that the hallway in the annex building would be temporarily closed for repairs, and occasionally, I’d hear students grumbling about the inconvenience.
However, the unsettling and provocative actions of Yeon Minha, the girl who had fallen for such a childish provocation, Kwon Yuri’s sudden appearance, and the random conversation that followed—all of it weighed on me.
Even when I asked Minha about it later, she brushed it off with a calm demeanor, as if nothing had happened.
In the end, it seemed like I was the only one at Cradle still bothered by that confrontation.
“Are you alright?”
In the library at Cradle.
Just as I was brushing off my concerns and getting ready to work on my assignment in my usual corner seat, a deep male voice interrupted my focus from behind.
I turned around to find a large male student with a buzzcut blocking the narrow corridor.
Choi Woojin, having approached me with heavy steps, pulled out the chair beside me and sat down.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your face looks like death. The ‘Crown Prince of Heukryeon’ can’t go around looking like that, can he? If you carry the name of your family, you should always be dignified.”
Does he have some kind of mind-reading ability? He can’t even see my face through the mask, so why would he say that?
And I’m so sick of that ‘Crown Prince of Heukryeon’ title. Who even came up with it? I think I saw it in the paper first.
If I ever meet the journalist who coined that phrase, I might punch them without thinking.
“Then what does that make you, since you lost to this ‘dead-looking husk’?”
“Haha, people make mistakes. Next time we face each other, it won’t be easy.”
Without a hint of shame, Choi Woojin countered my words.
As we talked, I couldn’t help but notice the newspaper in his hand.
“The newspaper?”
It was the weekly newspaper published by Cradle’s newspaper club. I read it whenever I had the chance. My older sisters had said it was a great way to fill in knowledge gaps.
Surprisingly, there was even a demand for it in the civilian world. Due to the prestigious backgrounds of the students who ran it, it occasionally contained high-level information that most reporters wouldn’t know.
“For people like us, it’s essential to read these kinds of publications. We’ve lived our whole lives like frogs in a well. There’s no better way to understand the struggles of commoners than this.”
Choi Woojin tapped the newspaper and spoke.
Even though our backgrounds were different, I couldn’t help but agree with his sentiment. Still, I hadn’t expected him to have such an open mindset…
Noticing my surprise, Choi Woojin furrowed his brows slightly.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“I just didn’t expect it. I never thought I’d hear you talk about the ‘struggles of commoners.’ Didn’t you hate students who didn’t come from good families?”
“That’s offensive. I don’t discriminate against people for that. If someone is talented and ambitious, I wouldn’t reject them just because of their background. Our republic is always in need of capable people. I only hate those with a leech mentality who rely on others or are overly servile. For example…”
He paused for effect, then smirked at me in a way that felt both irritating and smug.
“Like a ‘weirdo’ who showed up to the entrance ceremony wearing a mask, hoping to catch the eye of high-ranking families and corporate headhunters.”
Even though it was now widely known that I was affiliated with Heukryeon, Choi Woojin still brought up my earlier actions.
Despite his rough appearance, I had to admit he had a way with words. He knew how to keep the conversation just under the limit of being offensive.
His sudden appearance and half-taunting remarks were annoying, yet they didn’t provoke enough anger to fully get under my skin.
With a sigh, I glanced at the large headline on the newspaper he had placed on the table.
-The Unmanned Zone Recovery Operation Progresses… Could the Long-Awaited Recapture of the City of Light Finally Be at Hand? Exclusive Interview with Hae Wolhwa (Part 3)
A familiar name caught my eye. It had been a few weeks since I last spoke with the headmaster.
I had asked her to adjust the patrol routes so I could sneak into Yeon Minha’s dormitory unnoticed.
Then, just before the Jeokhwa incident, she had suddenly left Cradle to join the southern expeditionary force.
“The City of Light? Where’s that?”
“Seems like you’re the one who should be reading this paper, not me. How could you not know the City of Light?”
In response to my reflexive question, Choi Woojin tapped the newspaper on the table.
“It was once one of the central cities of the old civilization. Now, it’s just a part of the ruins in the Unmanned Zone.”
“The Unmanned Zone… so it’s near Jinryeong?”
“Not exactly nearby. It’s about 130 kilometers south of Jinryeong in a straight line. But the actual travel distance would be much further. The road networks of the old civilization are long gone, so you’d have to go through mountains and rivers.”
130 kilometers… That’s about the same as the distance between Cradle and Jinryeong.
When I had taken the mission to Jinryeong, it took days to get there. And to think there’s a city even further beyond that…
It seemed that the Unmanned Zone was far more vast and expansive than I had initially imagined.
“They’ve now established a forward base 95 kilometers south of Jinryeong. Even that alone is an achievement no one else has been able to accomplish. Truly impressive, the headmaster.”
Choi Woojin read the article with a voice full of admiration.
“I can’t even imagine what she was like when she was younger. Even now, she’s capable of such feats…”
“…Is the headmaster really that incredible?”
It was a question that had been lingering in my mind. I had heard rumors about her, but no one had ever told me directly how strong she really was.
She was undeniably one of the strongest. Her youthful appearance and her position as the headmaster of Cradle were proof of that.
Even Yeon Jeongmun, Yeon Minha’s father, had lamented that if the headmaster had been in the capital during the Jeokhwa incident, things wouldn’t have escalated the way they did.
But upon hearing my question, Choi Woojin gave me a look of pure disbelief, as if I had said something truly ridiculous.
“Are you serious? Did you grow up in some backwater? Or are you just trying to provoke me?”
“…I’m serious. If you don’t want to tell me, just forget it.”
“Well, it’s not like I can’t tell you…”
Realizing I was being genuine, Choi Woojin scratched his head and continued.
“I heard this from my father, but there was a saying back in the day.”
“What was it?”
“‘If Hae Wolhwa had known no sloth, the throne would have been hers.'”
End of Chapter