Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 7

Rank 0 of the Awakened Special School

Chapter 7

After the first period PE class.

The entire classroom atmosphere was quite different from usual.

“What? Seol Ji-hyo got 2nd place?”

“She came in one second after Yu-jin?”

Students who witnessed Seol Ji-hyo’s run were all chattering about the topic, one and all.

“Seol Ji-hyo, wasn’t she terrible at PE?”

“Don’t you remember middle school? She tripped during PE class and had to be carried to the infirmary by the teacher.”

“I was in the same class as Seol Ji-hyo back then. I’ve never seen her run like she did today.”

“Was she just in good condition today?”

“Talk about something that makes sense. You think that slowpoke suddenly runs like that just because she’s in good condition?”

Meanwhile, in the very back seat of the classroom, there was one student sitting quietly as if he were in a world of his own.

Seol Ji-hyo’s seatmate, Moon Yu-jin.

He was silently preparing his textbook for the next class, showing no intention of joining the classmates’ conversation.

Just then, three girls from the same class approached Yu-jin, hesitating.

“Um, Yu-jin-ah.”

“…Why?”

Dry, silver-gray eyes that felt completely devoid of warmth.

The girls who met those eyes faltered for a moment and glanced at each other.

“Th-that, you know, about the running today.”

You say it. No, you say it.

After whispering and poking each other in the ribs like that, they finally turned their gaze back to Yu-jin after a long while.

“By any chance, Yu-jin, did you go easy on her because Seol Ji-hyo just came back after being injured?”

“No.”

“Th-then how did she get 2nd place?”

…Is that a question?

Yu-jin’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Huh?”

“If you’re curious, you should just ask her yourself.”

“Ah…….”

In front of the frozen girls, Yu-jin lowered his gaze back to his textbook.

A clear signal that the conversation was over.

Even so, they showed no signs of leaving. No, rather, they tried to naturally continue the conversation using this opportunity.

“Th-that aside! Yu-jin-ah, how was your life studying abroad? We never really asked in detail.”

“You were in Germany, right? You came back sooner than I thought! Oh, have you decided on a club?”

“Yu-jin, you were in the Kendo club during elementary school. Are you planning to do Kendo in high school too?”

Chatter, chatter…….

The sound of conversation that didn’t seem like it would end.

Wasn’t that what they wanted to ask about Seol Ji-hyo? Did they not care about that anymore?

…I don’t know, and I don’t care.

I was just tired.

Yu-jin, who had been staring steadfastly at his textbook, pulled out the earphones he didn’t even remember putting in.

“Class is starting soon.”

“U-uh?”

“Next class. It’s math, did you do the homework?”

“……Ah!”

The girls turned pale and fell into a panic.

“You did the homework? Let me see!”

“What do I do, I forgot too. How many minutes until class starts?”

“Hey! Anyone who did the math homework! I’ll treat you to the snack bar, just show me!”

Their backs retreating in a rush like an ebbing tide.

In the silence that finally arrived, Yu-jin let out a small sigh.

‘…So noisy.’

Yu-jin put his earphones back in his ears.

Not long after, the sound of someone sliding open the back door reached him through the earphones.

Seol Ji-hyo. It was Moon Yu-jin’s seatmate.

He rolled his eyes to look at Seol Ji-hyo.

Long, straight black hair and blue eyes.

Noticeably pale skin, and a stiff face with no particular expression.

Was she always like this? He thought about it for a moment.

But he couldn’t quite remember.

In the first place, he wasn’t very close with Seol Ji-hyo, and Yu-jin had left for Germany to study abroad right after graduating from elementary school.

He had just returned to Korea in time for high school admission at Gaon Special School after finishing a three-year study abroad that felt both short and long.

• Hmm, Yu-jin, your seatmate is Ji-hyo… but Ji-hyo had an accident a while ago and is taking time off school. If you have any questions, ask the friend in front of you.

Seol Ji-hyo. The girl who would have been his seatmate.

Since Gaon was an escalator-style school, he had known of Seol Ji-hyo’s existence since elementary school.

The granddaughter of a famous pharmaceutical company. That was about it.

Since they weren’t close, he didn’t even ask around about what kind of accident she had. He just let it be.

And that Seol Ji-hyo had returned today.

“…….”

Seol Ji-hyo, sitting in the seat next to him, checked the schedule at the back of the classroom, then rummaged through her bag and took out her writing utensils and textbooks with ease.

She looked perfectly fine, to the point where it was hard to believe she had suffered an accident big enough to require taking time off school.

She had even followed right behind Yu-jin in the PE class a little while ago.

…Judging by the other kids’ reactions, it seemed she wasn’t originally known for high physical ability.

“Hey, Seol Ji-hyo is here.”

Meanwhile, after Seol Ji-hyo appeared in the classroom, the air in the classroom, which had been noisy with math homework, was changing.

Come to think of it, during PE class, the other kids seemed reluctant to be in the same group as Seol Ji-hyo.

Is there a reason for that?

‘I don’t see anything particularly strange about her.’

If he had to point out something strange, it was Seol Ji-hyo’s attitude.

If she had any sense, she surely would have felt it. The gazes clinging to her.

Yet, Seol Ji-hyo didn’t even twitch an eyebrow and calmly opened her textbook.

‘…She’s an interesting kid.’

After staring at Seol Ji-hyo for a while, Yu-jin lowered his gaze to his own textbook, as if he had lost interest.

After school.

“Yu-jin-ah!”

As soon as the homeroom ended, the back door of the classroom swung open energetically.

Moon Yu-jin, who was neatly packing his textbooks into his bag, glanced over.

There, bright, canary-yellow eyes, like sunshine, were sparkling like glass beads.

“Class is over, right? Let’s go to the dormitory together.”

Had he just finished exercising? His soft-looking light brown hair was tousled like a puppy that had just finished a walk.

The baggy hoodie he was wearing instead of his school uniform jacket suited him like custom-made clothing, matching his cheerful and bright vibe.

Bae Han-gyeol.

He was Moon Yu-jin’s so-called best friend, who had hung out with him since elementary school.

“What about Ji-hyo? I heard Ji-hyo came to school today.”

“Yeah. She went back. Right after class ended.”

Yu-jin, having packed his bag, walked out of the classroom.

Han-gyeol quickly followed behind him.

“How was Ji-hyo?”

The question he threw out was unexpected.

“What?”

“Did she look okay? She was seriously injured, right?”

“I heard her Core is regeneration. She must have healed.”

“Still, I was wondering if it was okay for her to be at school already.”

“If you haven’t graduated yet and stay at your family home for months under the pretext of treatment, you get expelled.”

“I know that, but…”

Han-gyeol looked back toward the classroom where Ji-hyo wasn’t, trailing off.

He seemed quite worried.

Even though they weren’t particularly close.

As far as Yu-jin knew, this guy had never been in the same class as Seol Ji-hyo from elementary school until now.

Yet, to be this worried… It was something Yu-jin found hard to imitate.

Of course, that was also this guy’s strength.

Yu-jin, who had taken a vocabulary book out of his pocket, replied indifferently.

“Not really, she didn’t look like she was in bad condition.”

At least, enough to come in one second after Yu-jin in PE class.

Recalling that event once more, Yu-jin suddenly parted his lips.

“But, about Seol Ji-hyo. Was she always on bad terms with the kids in class?”

“…Huh?”

“The atmosphere seemed a bit like that. I’m sure it wasn’t like that in elementary school.”

……Ah. Han-gyeol’s mouth shut on its own.

Ji-hyo had started being bullied in earnest from middle school.

Yu-jin, who had been in Germany throughout middle school, could be expected not to know the ins and outs.

However, it was unexpected for Yu-jin, who had no interest in his surroundings, to ask about Ji-hyo first.

“I don’t know the details either. It seems like something happened, but Ji-hyo didn’t really tell me anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. But why suddenly—.”

Why are you asking about that?

Just as he was about to ask that, a familiar back came into Han-gyeol’s line of sight.

At the very end corner of the hallway.

He saw the back of Ji-hyo walking along, sipping a canned cola.

“Oh, it’s Ji-hyo.”

A look of gladness appeared on Han-gyeol’s face. Just as he was about to run over there,

“Hey, did you hear? Seol Ji-hyo, I heard she’s coming to school again?”

His steps stopped on their own due to the suddenly changed air around them.

“Whoa. She’s right there. That one walking at the end of the hallway, that’s Seol Ji-hyo.”

“Isn’t her courage admirable? To have the resolve to come back to school after experiencing such vicious bullying.”

“Agreed.”

The murmuring around them gradually grew louder.

At this level, Ji-hyo would definitely hear it too.

However, not a single person stopped.

“If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to even hold my head up. What is that? That confident look on her face.”

“Her Core is regeneration, right? She must be damn strong, both physically and mentally.”

“Heh, isn’t that basically a cockroach?”

Flinch. Han-gyeol’s shoulders moved.

“You guys…….”

Just as Han-gyeol, unable to listen any longer, took a stride toward them,

“A-argh!!”

A sudden scream.

Han-gyeol’s movement came to a dead halt.

──The hallway was instantly engulfed in silence.

In the frozen air, someone shrieked.

“Wh-what are you doing!”

Splash, splash, splash…….

He saw a back view of someone pouring the cola can they were drinking over the other person’s head.

An expressionless face.

It was Seol Ji-hyo.