46) Chapter 8. This Year for Sure! (9)
How long did all of that take?
Later, I heard it hadn’t even been five minutes.
A single bird flew into the classroom and talked to me, then a swarm of birds rushed in and flapped around the kids’ heads. That was all.
Some kids were scratched or pecked, but none were seriously hurt. There were no large raptors mixed in.
I worried someone might have hurt their eyes, but thankfully that didn’t happen.
By the time the heroes stationed near the school rushed in, Chae‑yi had already severed the ability controlling the birds, and they had calmed down.
“……”
And those adults couldn’t even look me in the eye.
I… I didn’t know.
Where things had gone wrong, or if anything had gone wrong at all.
Maybe the world was just this exhausting to live in.
To the kids, I had become something terrifying.
More terrifying than the day someone actually died.
Because that day, no students were hurt. Soi, Chae‑yi, and I had managed to stop everything.
But no one seemed to remember that.
“…I’m sorry.”
“…Why? What are you sorry for?”
What was I supposed to say to Auntie Yujin, apologizing to me again?
The teachers’ office was on the first floor.
There were other rooms there too, not just classrooms. Some third‑year classes were on the first floor, but not all.
Second floor had the rest of the third‑years, third floor had the second‑years, and fourth floor had the first‑years.
I was a second‑year, so I’d been on the third floor.
It was still before class, so kids were chatting in their rooms. On the second floor, on the first floor.
When the parrot first flew in and the kids tried to escape through the door, more kids gathered in the hallway instead. They wanted to see what was happening—peeking through the door, through the hallway windows.
That was why it took Chae‑yi so long to get in.
Well, it was the moment the “witch’s daughter” caused trouble and was being sent home. Of course they were curious.
…There were mistakes. They should’ve assigned a teacher to escort me. The heroes meant to protect me were stationed outside, not inside. They should’ve controlled the kids gathering at the windows.
Maybe that was why they said “sorry.”
“……”
But originally…
Nothing should’ve happened at all. I should’ve packed my things, gone downstairs, and gone home. That was all.
Going back to my seat for a moment shouldn’t have caused anything.
A meeting with the homeroom teacher could’ve happened somewhere without other students.
“……”
In the end, my question received no answer.
On the way home.
It was a short drive when Auntie Yujin was behind the wheel.
I could’ve gone alone, but Soi followed me out of school and came home with me.
Chae‑yi didn’t. She looked like she wanted to, but she wasn’t part of our household. Dragging her into this felt wrong.
Staring blankly out the window, we arrived at the garage before I realized it.
The door opened, and only then did I unbuckle my seatbelt.
As if even comforting me would be too careless, Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun quietly guided me inside.
I sat on the sofa, still in my uniform, not washed, not changed, just blank.
They watched me with worry—Auntie Yujin, Uncle Dohyun, and Soi.
I thought for a long time.
What I should do. What I could do.
I looked at my hands.
I hadn’t grabbed any birds.
But that made it worse. Heroes save people, even people they dislike.
Not that I was a hero. And with my ability, I never planned to be one.
But I’d let those kids be attacked because I was afraid of gaining another trauma.
Was that okay?
I ate dinner in a daze, then sat back on the sofa.
“…Auntie. Uncle.”
When I called them, they both turned away from the TV and looked at me.
I was still a little dazed, but I finally said what I’d been thinking all day.
“…Can I… not go to school anymore?”
*
Of course, Soi cried and protested.
Auntie Yujin tried to persuade me. Uncle Dohyun too.
But after watching the news footage, they fell silent.
Everyone carried a camera now. Everyone could record anything at any time.
Birds flying wildly in the classroom. Kids screaming. The blood‑soaked parrot convulsing on the floor.
Some parts were blurred, but the news made everything clear enough.
Even without that, videos had already spread online. Gossip everywhere.
“……”
One of the things Auntie Yujin suggested was transferring schools. Moving to another district, starting fresh.
But after the news, that wasn’t an option anymore.
“I’m not saying I’ll do nothing.”
I spoke more firmly.
“I’ll study hard. I’ll get into the Academy.”
There were exams, certifications—ways to do it.
“If nothing happens for a year or so, people will forget…”
Honestly, I just wanted to rest.
But I hid that selfishness and tried to persuade them.
“…I see.”
Auntie Yujin finally nodded.
She took my hand.
I felt a little relieved.
At least holding hands like this was still okay.
“I see.”
Her eyes glistened with tears.
Was I really that pitiful?
“Then I’ll—”
“No.”
I cut off Soi immediately when she said she’d drop out too.
Of course not. If I stayed in school, I’d only get dragged into more trouble. That woman might do something again.
But Soi was different.
She was the daughter of famous heroes. People would eventually—
No. Honestly, it wouldn’t be easy. Not after what happened at school.
But if she transferred, maybe she’d be okay.
Even thinking that made me feel shameless.
“I want you to go to school properly, Soi.”
I held her hands tightly, my voice trembling.
Soi pressed her lips together.
Her stubborn expression appeared—the one she never backed down from.
But this time—
“…Okay.”
She nodded.
“…Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
She looked at me like I was ridiculous.
“The one who should apologize is someone else.”
*
And so—
I stayed home for a long, long time.
I didn’t do nothing. I studied.
I was already the Witch’s daughter. I couldn’t afford to be bad at school too.
So I worked hard.
The first few days were sad. I cried sometimes. It wasn’t as peaceful as I’d imagined.
Being alone made too many thoughts surface.
Resentment. A strange sense of betrayal.
Resentment toward my situation. I hadn’t chosen to be born like this, yet here I was.
Betrayal… toward the friends I’d had all through elementary school.
Friends I’d had until middle school. But after that incident…
“……”
But everything had already happened.
All I could do was gather what remained and move forward.
It would be okay.
Everything would be okay.
I wouldn’t see most of my middle school classmates again anyway.
Once I got into the Academy, how many would I ever meet? If they didn’t awaken, they wouldn’t even go.
…I still kept in touch with Ji‑hye and Mirae sometimes, but that was all.
“…Sniff.”
I wiped my eyes and picked up my pen again.
I wanted to become better than the kids still in school.
I wanted to be someone no one could look down on. Someone whose mother being a villain, or whose dropping out of middle school, didn’t matter.
It would be okay.
I would make it okay.
If I didn’t, I’d feel too guilty toward the people who raised me.
*
Time passed slowly and quickly at once.
The year I should’ve been a third‑year, I was alone.
I woke early, ate breakfast with everyone, saw Auntie Yujin, Uncle Dohyun, and Soi off, then studied.
Sometimes I went to therapy. Sometimes I met my tutor.
That was all.
But the people around me were too devoted.
Since I couldn’t go to school, they celebrated every holiday more extravagantly. We took long trips during breaks. Of course, we brought Chae‑yi too.
Maybe that’s why, even though I still got depressed when alone, I gradually got better.
By the year Soi graduated, I could finally think this:
This year, for sure—
I want to make real friends.