Chapter 36: Year 2 Class A’s Jo Seong-hyeon (2)
Noon that day.
“You must keep this a secret! And p, please don't ask me to do this kind of thing…… next time…….”
Like a child conveying their feelings on Valentine's Day, Principal Ma Jae-min trembled as he handed something to Yoo jin.
“Thank you, Principal! But, what was that at the end? You spoke quietly so I didn't hear you well.”
Yoo jin’s eyes captured the Principal as he received the document envelope.
“No, well…… I also have a position, don't I? No matter the favor, this is…….”
The Principal’s eyes scanned left and right rapidly.
“It's not just personal information. It is classified, top secret among classified…….”
“Ah! Ah! Don't worry! I won't tell anyone that the Principal gave me students' classified data….”
“Hiiik!! Shh! Shh!”
Unlike the nonchalant Yoo jin, the Principal let out a characteristic scream.
“I…… I will be going now!”
The Principal looked around and ran away faster than lightning.
The Principal's back had already turned as small as a bean in his view.
“I only ever see him running away.”
Yoo jin, who was smiling gently, moved his gaze.
The brown document envelope in his hand.
It seemed to be the data on Seong-hyeon that he had asked the Principal for in the morning.
“He handles things quickly, our Principal. Well, thanks to him…… I'll have to skip lunch.”
Yoo jin spoke quietly as he headed toward an empty lecture room.
***
It was partly because the Principal delivered the information faster than expected.
But considering the student's matter had gone as far as the police station.
Since he thought there would be something more than that, Yoo jin gave up his lunch time to check the classified information.
Inside the envelope received from Principal Ma Jae-min, there were a few paper documents and one USB.
While plugging the USB into the laptop in the empty lecture room and opening the files, Yoo jin checked the paper documents.
[Final Interview]
[Examinee Number - 1922 Jo Seong-hyeon.]
The final stage of the Taewoon High entrance exam.
It seemed to be the data from the final interview.
As he clicked the video file on the laptop with one hand, the expression of Yoo jin, who was scanning the data with his eyes, hardened.
― A-Rank
― Rare Ability Awakener
― Second place in entrance practical exam
Information he knew and information he didn't know at all.
Among them, the information that made his gaze linger the longest was the second place in the entrance exam…….
However, although it was information he didn't know at all, Yoo jin's expression hardened not because of that.
The reason Yoo jin's expression hardened was the very next line.
It was because of the sentence left by the interviewer.
[Seems a bit scatterbrained, and a bit too lively, but. His awakening ability is outstanding, and he is undoubtedly a high-rank talent. Therefore, this lively personality will turn into star quality in the distant future…….]
From the first day he took charge of Class A.
And until just yesterday when he went to the police station.
The student he had watched during that time always wore only one expression.
An expression indifferent to everything in the world.
He never revealed any emotions, and he had never seen him get close to or even mix words with any student in the class.
But…….
“Lively…… you say?”
Just as he was confirming several times that the examinee's name was his student Jo Seong-hyeon because the information didn't match at all.
Beep!
“Hello! I am examinee number 1922, Jo Seong-hyeon!”
The video began to play on the laptop.
Yoo jin's eyes moved there.
The child sitting on the chair inside the small screen.
Although he looked younger than now, it was definitely the face he knew well.
And the child undergoing the interview inside that screen.
Was making an expression he was seeing for the first time.
One he had never seen before.
As if he were a different person.
“I think the best among the three major Hunter Academies in Korea is Taewoon High! And I am the student who best fits that title of 'best'! I will become the most famous Hunter in the world and be popular with wom…… no. Popular with beauties…… this isn't it either……. Hahaha…….”
So lively, and full of confidence.
“Anyway, I want to become strong to do many good deeds and earn a lot of money to become a superstar. And finally, since I was young, this place…….”
The child who could speak his emotions and his inner thoughts in a loud voice without embarrassment was no longer there.
In other words, he had died.
In just one year.
Did he do this to pass the interview?
No, that laughter.
There is no falsehood in that voice.
Far from falsehood, sincerity was overflowing.
In those brilliant eyes.
Clench!
Yoo jin's fist was clenched.
A child lacking social skills.
Or perhaps he matured a little too quickly, and if not that, he thought the child just hadn't found interest or a dream yet.
“Phew…….”
Yoo jin, who had a dark expression, let out a sigh.
“The more I do it, the harder it is, being a teacher……. Eun-ho.”
Yoo jin called the name of the student he could no longer see.
Silence lingered for a moment.
“Still, as expected…….”
The corners of Yoo jin's mouth went up.
“It seems I did well to return.”
A smile spread across the face of the student remaining only in his heart.
10 years.
No, 100 years ago.
Unlike those days of the 'iron rice bowl' mindset when he hesitated, calculated, and thought needless interference wasn't his job.
Now…….
Yoo jin rose from his seat.
“Then shall we go play Twenty Questions with the kid?”
He knew the kid wouldn't tell him easily, but Yoo jin moved to go meet Seong-hyeon nonetheless.
Just as he was organizing the paper documents and about to turn off the laptop to leave the lecture room.
Pit!
The next video played automatically.
And…….
“…….”
Yoo jin's hand, which was checking the video, stopped.
Rattle!
Rattle!
Noisy sounds flowed from the laptop.
[Examinee 1922 Jo Seong-hyeon Family Interview.]
***
“Then, you worked hard today too. Rest well, and see you tomorrow.”
As soon as Yoo jin's voice ended, a thumping sound and the happy voices of the students filled the classroom.
The students in the Class A classroom quickly packed their bags and left the classroom.
“Geez, kids are kids.”
Yoo jin, wearing a faint smile, moved his steps.
Even with Yoo jin's steps, the children disappeared one by one.
Most of the students left the classroom.
And in one corner of the silent classroom, Yoo jin's steps stopped.
One student who was rising from his seat to go home stood blankly, blocked by Yoo jin.
“Wait, shall we talk for a bit?”
Purple hair.
Dead expression.
It was Jo Seong-hyeon.
“…….”
Seong-hyeon didn't make any voice and just nodded his head.
“Good. Then…….”
Yoo jin turned only his head back.
“You guys go up first. I'll be there soon.”
Jin-ho and Ye-na were standing where his voice was directed.
Jin-ho and Ye-na, who knew Seong-hyeon's circumstances, moved to the roof for training with an answer.
Their footsteps disappeared.
Only Yoo jin and Seong-hyeon were left alone in the Year 2 Class A classroom.
“Was the class worth listening to?”
First, Yoo jin opened his mouth to lightly loosen the atmosphere.
“…….”
However, Seong-hyeon still kept his mouth shut and only nodded.
“Hmm……. Even if we aren't master and disciple, first off I am an adult and you are a kid, so please give me an answer.”
Seong-hyeon's eyes avoided Yoo jin and slowly fell into the void.
“……Yes.”
A small smile spread on Yoo jin's lips.
“Good. Then…….”
Yoo jin exhaled and chose his words.
Because he knew.
That there was no way he would answer even if asked.
Especially since he had checked the video from the entrance exam.
That was why.
“I will ask just three things. Answering is your freedom.”
Originally, it would have been Twenty Questions.
He intended to ask about twenty things and look at the expressions or reactions, but since that could have an adverse effect, Yoo jin chose this method.
“Instead, I hope you definitely answer me.”
“…….”
“Your answer?”
“……Yes.”
Yoo jin composed his expression, then opened his mouth.
“First, looking at your student record, your grades kept dropping. For some subjects, you gave up without even taking the practical exam.”
A very small crack occurred in the expression that revealed no emotion.
Similar, but definitely different.
Seong-hyeon wore an expression that seemed wrapped in a strange anxiety.
“Did your interest drop, or did your skill really drop?”
At Yoo jin's voice, this time Seong-hyeon bowed not just his gaze but his head so his face couldn't be seen.
“It's okay. Answer comfortably, I'll wait.”
Yoo jin didn't say anything after that and just looked down at Seong-hyeon.
“S…… It's just a slump.”
A voice trembling as if anxious.
Seong-hyeon was still only looking at the ground.
Yoo jin's eyes narrowed.
He expected it to some extent.
This kind of reaction, this kind of excuse.
But yet, not yet.
It is too early to conclude.
“Okay. Then second. Do you know the Heavenly Mandate Holy Order?”
Flinch.
It was a fleeting moment, but the moment that name came out of Yoo jin's mouth, a small reaction occurred in Seong-hyeon's body.
And there was no way Yoo jin would miss that.
“I, I don't know.”
“Right, you don't know?”
“……Yes.”
It's a lie.
He could know if it was truth or a lie without using Yoo jin's ability.
Just yesterday.
It was also the reason he went to the police station.
Yoo jin exhaled and closed his eyes.
‘If it's this much…….’
There is a saying in the old days.
That bad premonitions have never been wrong.
Yoo jin, whose lips were trembling in anger, found his composure and opened his eyes to ask the last question.
The last one.
“Raise your head a bit. I need to say this while definitely looking at your face.”
“…….”
“Until now, I didn't ask further at your answers. I'm just going to ask, this time too. Even if you evade the answer.”
Seong-hyeon's body trembled at Yoo jin's voice.
Anxiety clearly visible in his eyes.
Even so.
He couldn't back down.
He must see the face for the last one.
“I will absolutely not ask back. I won't interrogate. Let's just look at the face and speak.”
Silence flowed.
Seong-hyeon's face slowly lifted.
“Then the last, the third question is…….”
The meeting eyes.
“Is your dream still unchanged?”
“What does that…….”
“Answer. Whether your dream is still unchanged.”
“I don't have something like a dream…….”
“You do. You. A dream more certain than becoming popular and famous, more than becoming rich.”
“…….”
“I'll know if I check.”
Behind his voice, Yoo jin's eyes flashed gold.
***
That night.
Inside Taewoon High Academy City.
Building B Dormitory.
In that place covered in darkness.
Thud!
Someone jumped down from the window with a small sound.
One student looking around.
He quickly moves his body into the blind spot where the CCTV doesn't reach.
The student who entered the darkness where there is no light.
The student who quickly left the school stopped his legs that had been moving for a long time.
[Heavenly Mandate Holy Order]
A religious facility in Baekseok.
It is a cult that everyone knows.
And…….
“I have to hurry and get it back. Otherwise, I will be kicked out of school.”
Seong-hyeon was standing there.
“Now this is the only way. That teacher noticed…….”
Seong-hyeon entered the Heavenly Mandate Holy Order with a resolved determination.
“That my Unique Skill was stolen.”