62) Chapter 11. I Should Have Said Something (2)
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Even if this academy is one of the few in the country meant only for superhumans, there’s nothing particularly special about the dorms.
Two bunk beds for four people, and two sets of desks and bookshelves placed side by side.
The room isn’t cramped for four, and the heating and cooling work fine, but that’s about it. There’s no TV or anything like that.
So if there’s any noise in the room, it’s entirely from the people inside.
Meaning, if no one speaks, the room is simply quiet.
“……”
It wasn’t late enough to be called the middle of the night.
The soundproofing was good, so no noise leaked in from other rooms, though some rooms might have been lively. How many teenagers in this country get to live in a dorm? A seat assignment in class can turn someone into a lifelong friend, so sharing a dorm room should make it even easier to grow close.
But the kids in this room lay on their beds without saying a word.
Not that all four beds were occupied. Rua, Soi, and Chae-yi had squeezed themselves into one bed for no real reason.
“……”
Since Hyeonji happened to be using the bottom bunk as well, their figures were easily visible from her angle.
Well, to be precise, she could only see Soi’s back. With all three lined up in one bed, only the one on the edge—Soi—was visible.
Only steady breathing could be heard. They seemed to be in a deep sleep; even the whispering she’d heard just moments ago had completely stopped.
She wants to make lots of friends, huh.
……She’d already heard that Rua had dropped out of school before. It was such a well‑known story that she didn’t even need to look it up.
She’d heard Rua caused trouble with her powers and quit school.
But was that really true?
Seo Rua didn’t seem like the reckless type the rumors made her out to be. If anything, she was so timid that she flinched whenever someone spoke to her, and she always stuttered on her first word when trying to say something.
The rumor that she manipulated Soi and Chae-yi from behind to bully others also felt strange. If anything, Rua was the one being dragged around by Im Soi and Moon Chae-yi most of the time.
And if she were really the type to torment others that badly, would she have tried to help a kid who was being bullied?
Wouldn’t it have been more natural for her to join in instead?
Putting all of that together, there was only one conclusion.
Prejudice.
A prejudice she held simply because Rua was associated with the Witch. A thought she clung to because she wanted to dislike her.
Her face grew hot.
She felt ashamed. The rumors weren’t all about blaming Rua, after all. Outside the school, people even said she might have quit because she was being bullied.
Considering what Rua went through when she first arrived here, that explanation actually made more sense.
If that was true, then Hyeonji—
“Heh, heheh.”
Her thoughts were cut off.
Because she heard that strange sound Rua sometimes made.
Hyeonji turned her head.
She still only saw Soi’s back, but something about their posture seemed different.
Was her head lowered a bit? She could see the top of Rua’s head now—something she couldn’t see before.
“Hehe, hng?”
Rua’s voice had changed a little too.
Hyeonji frowned.
“Hngaa?”
What? Do people make noises like that in their sleep?
She’d always thought Rua’s usual sounds were odd, but this was beyond odd.
“Hng…”
“……”
Hyeonji sat up.
It wasn’t extremely late, but the sun had fully set, leaving the room dim. Still, the moonlight was unusually bright, so their silhouettes were clear.
“……Hey.”
She called out, wondering if they were awake.
No answer.
But Hyeonji saw Soi’s back flinch when she spoke.
“……You’re awake, aren’t you?”
But Soi didn’t respond.
Should she get up and check?
She hesitated.
There was no way—
If people had even a shred of common sense, there was absolutely no way.
No, even imagining something like that was embarrassing.
Sure, it was already strange enough that more than one girl was squeezed into a bed meant for one person, even if they were all the same gender. But anything beyond that was… no.
……If that were the case, she’d have to revise her assumptions.
Maybe Rua was the one being taken advantage of by Soi and Chae-yi…?
Hyeonji shook her head.
Then lay back down.
No, no way.
Even if that were true, they wouldn’t do something like that with Hyeonji in the room.
Assuming they had common sense.
……
Anyway.
Should she talk to her tomorrow?
They’d be sharing a room for a whole year. There was no downside to getting along.
And since Rua said she wanted to make friends, she probably wouldn’t dislike someone approaching her.
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The next morning.
“Hehe…”
Seeing Rua sitting on the bed with an unbelievably exhausted expression, Hyeonji was at a loss for words.
She had gone to sleep ridiculously early. And squeezed into a tiny bed, she wouldn’t have been able to move much. Yet her hair was sticking out in every direction.
“……Are you okay?”
“Heh?”
Rua lifted her head at Hyeonji’s voice.
“I’m fine.”
She answered with the same exhausted expression, then yawned widely.
“……Right.”
Hyeonji didn’t know what else to say.
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Over the past few days, I could feel the classroom atmosphere soften a little.
Well, no—thinking about it again, it wasn’t that things softened. It was just that one guy who kept picking fights with me was gone.
Most of the class was still indifferent to me. While I was busy dealing with that boy’s nonsense, I missed my chance to talk to others and make friends. And I guess a few days wasn’t enough time for the class to form its little “groups.”
Besides, technically, I already had a “group.” I had Soi and Chae-yi with me.
And that group…
“……”
“……”
Yeah, it looked like it was about to get a little bigger.
“Um, Hyeonji?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you… maybe have something you want to say?”
“……No, not really.”
Oh. Okay.
She’d been hovering awkwardly nearby, so I thought she was waiting to talk.
Or maybe she just wanted to hang out?
Thinking about it, Hyeonji wasn’t the type to go around chatting with others either. Even when she stepped in to stop that boy from bothering me, she was usually alone.
Maybe Hyeonji didn’t have friends either.
Somehow, that made me feel a bit of solidarity.
And also—
Doesn’t Nam Jinwoo keep hanging around nearby too?
Right. He didn’t have friends either. And if anyone in class had talked to him at all, it was probably me.
……And I did look like an easy target in many ways. Seriously, what did the original Seo Rua do to make everyone so scared of her? She didn’t even use her powers well.
Hyeonji was fine, but Jinwoo made me a little wary.
Because he’s a boy. And even if he looks like that now, he’s the protagonist of a harem story who’ll eventually be surrounded by tons of heroines. Him hanging around is… concerning.
If I weren’t close to Soi and Chae-yi, I’d cheer for his relationships, but I can’t just hand him over to them. He’s not the type to like only one girl. These are my precious sisters and friends; I don’t want that for them.
It was lunchtime.
Hyeonji could call him to eat with us, but Jinwoo…
“Hey.”
Before I could say anything, someone else spoke to him first.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
Some boys.
They didn’t look like they were trying to bully him—more like they felt bad seeing him standing awkwardly at the back of the room.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I should.”
“Then come with us.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Jinwoo left with them, looking a bit flustered.
The novel barely described the male characters, so I couldn’t recognize their faces or names. But it did mention that Jinwoo had a few friends.
That was after Rua and her group got “taught a lesson,” but well, in this world, I never bullied him.
Maybe he just had no presence, so no one noticed him. Or maybe after that incident a few days ago, people started seeing him as someone they should look after.
Watching Jinwoo glance back at us several times as he left the classroom, I sighed quietly.
……Does he not have dorm friends either? It’s a four‑person room; shouldn’t he at least be able to talk to them?
In the original… I don’t think the dorms were described much.
“Th‑then, should we go eat too?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Soi, who had been staring at Jinwoo just like I was, smiled brightly at my words.
……Maybe Jinwoo was acting awkward earlier because of Soi and Chae-yi?
“Hy‑Hyeonji, do you want to come too?”
“……Okay.”
Hyeonji nodded immediately, as if she’d been waiting.
My heart fluttered a little.
Maybe—for the first time at this school—I’d made a friend other than Soi and Chae-yi.