83) Chapter 14. No, That’s Not It? (4)
The next match wasn’t immediately with Soi.
But that didn’t mean I avoided her long enough to escape her gaze.
“Next, Im Soi.”
At Instructor Justina’s call, Soi shot up from her seat and stepped into the sparring area.
Her expression was still blazing—like heat rays were shooting from her face.
“……”
Uh… is she mad?
Why?
Did she get upset because I lost to Hyeonji?
Soi isn’t the type to get mad about that. And if she were mad, she’d be mad at Hyeonji.
But she hadn’t shown any sign of that. She had been staring at me the whole time.
More precisely—only at me.
My back was damp with sweat. Partly because of the earlier matches, but honestly, mostly because of Chae‑yi and Soi staring at me since earlier.
“Alright. Formal greetings.”
Soi and I bowed lightly to each other.
“Sparring, begin!”
Instructor Justina called out cheerfully.
Immediately, real heat radiated from Soi’s direction.
“Eek.”
A terrifying heat, completely different from the cold earlier.
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The reason her insides were boiling wasn’t because of Rua.
No—actually, it was because of Rua. If the opponent weren’t Rua, she wouldn’t feel this way at all.
Soi loved Rua. From the moment they first met as children.
She was the little sister she had always wanted—kind, cute, beautiful.
Rua never refused anything Soi suggested. She always followed along.
To Soi, Rua was someone always within her arms. Someone to comfort when scared, someone to protect—someone she had to keep safe.
Because Rua had given Soi so much comfort too.
Soi’s parents were wonderful people, but they were always busy.
If they were busy just for money, someone might criticize them—say they should spend less time earning and more time with their daughter.
But Seo Yujin and Im Dohyun were busy saving people.
If a situation required a hero, it meant only a hero could handle it. Without them, people would die or be hurt.
Or the enemy would be too malicious.
Soi knew this well—she had almost lost her father.
And she knew Rua was the one who saved him. She’d heard it from her parents many times.
So Soi wanted to protect Rua too. Because to her, Rua was already a hero who had saved her once.
But lately, Rua had been changing.
Change is natural. No one stays the same forever.
And Rua’s change was positive. The timid, frightened Rua was slowly gaining confidence.
There was no way Soi could dislike that.
No—more accurately, she shouldn’t dislike it.
Because Rua was precious.
Someone she wanted to hold forever, stroke gently, comfort when scared, hold hands with and tell her everything would be okay.
All of that becoming “okay” should be something to celebrate. Because her precious Rua was becoming okay.
So why did she hate it?
…She knew.
Even if she wanted to deny it, Soi knew she didn’t want Rua to leave her arms.
She didn’t want to be separated.
The thought that someday they might drift apart and become strangers tore at her heart.
Rua was too precious—a friend and sister she had always been with.
“……Hey, Soi?”
Rua looked at her nervously.
Sweat beaded on Rua’s face, probably from the heat.
Soi didn’t answer. If she opened her mouth now, she felt she’d say something unbelievably embarrassing in front of everyone.
“……”
Was she upset that Rua was growing? Did she want Rua to stay scared forever? Was she wishing something so awful?
Did she want her friend to suffer just because she didn’t want to be left behind?
No. No, absolutely not. That wasn’t it.
It was more like—
Yes, more like—
Soi glanced sideways.
Two people stood out sharply.
Hyeonji and Nam Jinwoo.
Both of them had suddenly barged into the space between Soi and Rua without warning.
And somehow, it felt like Rua’s growth—her confidence, her brightness—was thanks to those two.
Things Soi couldn’t do in all the years she’d been with Rua, these two had done in less than a month.
Soi hated that.
Of all her vague feelings, that one was clear.
She hated it.
So why was all this heat directed at Rua?
Why this suffocating emotion?
She didn’t know.
And she didn’t want to dig deeper. Something told her she shouldn’t.
“……I’m coming.”
So she said that instead.
Rua swallowed hard.
“Y‑Yeah.”
Hearing Rua’s answer, Soi dashed forward.
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What do I do in this situation?
No matter how fast I thought, I couldn’t find an answer.
I could handle Hyeonji. The cold numbed sensation disappeared quickly, so I only had to endure for a moment.
Cold doesn’t shock you until it touches your skin directly.
It warns you slowly—telling your body it’s dangerous to stay.
But heat is different.
Even from far away, my whole body screamed danger.
If I got close, I’d burn. Not just get hurt—be in real danger.
But Soi isn’t like that.
She’s warm—soft, comforting. The kind of warmth you want to sink into.
The only reason I didn’t give up or collapse before now was because I knew Soi would always be beside me. Keeping me warm in a cold world.
“A-hik!?”
I swung my hand toward the charging Soi and recoiled in terror.
I pulled my hand back before even touching her.
My fingertips tingled.
The tingling vanished quickly, but the pain—like touching heated metal—was already burned into my brain.
Ah.
I understood now why Seo Arin had been so wary of Auntie Yujin. Why she threw things instead of touching directly when Soi charged at her.
It was simple. She couldn’t touch her.
Who in the world would try to grab fire?
“Kh……!”
So I rolled across the ground.
Using my invisible hands to support myself, pulling my body away.
Now that I think about it, calling this telekinesis feels wrong.
It’s more like extending my body.
Though I understand why Nam Jinwoo thought it was telekinesis.
Even so, the hands still have no physical form. They transmit force when they touch things, and because they’re connected to my body, my body moves too.
But I can’t touch the hands themselves.
…It’s one‑sided contact. I can touch others, but they can’t touch me.
Soi was fast.
She inherited her ability from both her parents. Auntie Yujin could ignite her body and fly like a meteor, and Uncle Dohyun was also speed‑type.
Even if she wasn’t at their level yet, she was fast.
“U-ugh……!”
Seeing her rush toward me, I scrambled backward, but realized I couldn’t escape like this.
I thrust both hands forward.
Soi’s skin, her hair—everything glowed. Not real flames. She didn’t have her uniform yet, so if she ignited real fire, it would be a disaster.
Her clothes would burn—
…Huh? Clothes?
I blinked.
Maybe because I was panicking, Soi’s charge looked like slow motion.
Ah, right. Clothes.
Her clothes were fine. Instructor Justina had told us to wear our uniforms today.
At this academy, the PE uniforms are far more durable than the school uniforms—designed to withstand students’ abilities.
If she wore the PE uniform, maybe it could handle some of her heat.
But the school uniform couldn’t.
Which meant Soi was unconsciously controlling the temperature around her uniform.
I didn’t know how much control she had, but—
“Ei!”
So the least hot part of Soi’s body was—
“…Eh?”
Soi froze mid‑air.
“…Eh?”
A stupid sound escaped my mouth too.
Soi was suspended in the air at an angle. Like that famous dance move where a singer leans forward impossibly far.
Except that singer used special shoes and stage equipment.
If someone like me had been there, they wouldn’t have needed any of that.
“……”
Soi looked down.
There, her chest was… well, awkwardly squished.
Soi jumped back instantly.
Her face turned red as she covered her chest.
No.
Soi, what does that make me?
No.
It was warmer than usual, but—
No, that’s not the point.
I mean, why—why is it that normally—
We’ve been in way more embarrassing positions than this, haven’t we?
So why act like this now?
“Pfft.”
But then someone burst out laughing.
Instructor Justina.
I turned toward her with a very displeased expression, then froze when I saw Chae‑yi giggling beside her.
Not terrifying anymore—just utterly dumbfounded, laughing like she couldn’t believe it.
Why was that so scary?
…It was a primal kind of fear.
Like I was definitely going to suffer horribly in the dorm after class.