As soon as I picked up the call, Yoo Sanghoon immediately suggested that we meet tomorrow.
Of all things, the tigers and I had just discussed Yoo Sanghee and the TC Research Institute, and now Yoo Sanghoon suddenly wants us to meet.
It inevitably bothered me somehow.
Also, the fact that he called at this hour.
‘If it was nothing serious he’d text ‘Meet tomorrow, k?’ and that’s it.’
Thinking about how Yoo Sanghoon communicates usually makes this situation even more strange.
I couldn’t guess even in the slightest bit why he wants to meet up, but I agreed immediately.
“Okay. When?”
“I’ll see you after extracurriculars.”
Yoo Sanghoon goes to basketball training, and I do activities with the newspaper club.
He wants us to meet after our extracurricular activities.
The conversation didn’t last long and Yoo Sanghoon said ‘See you tomorrow.’ before hanging up.
Behind the hologram showing the end of our call, I could see Jang Namwook’s messages continuously piling up.
Jang Namwook, who’s living an upright life, must be so heartbroken that he can’t sleep even though it’s already his bedtime.
‘I’ll have to comfort him next time we meet.’
Since the title of champion slipped the Joo-Oh Dragons’ fingers again, Joo Soohyuk and Oh Hyeji must be disappointed too.
Especially Joo Soohyuk since he’s often at the baseball stadium.
He must be having a difficult time even if he doesn’t show it.
After getting a list of the people I should comfort for the Joo-Oh Dragons’ loss, I thought about my plans with Yoo Sanghoon.
‘It’s highly possible that it’s related to Yoo Sanghee and the TC Research Institute.’
It could also be possible that Yoo Sanghoon wants to meet for reasons that I would’ve never imagined, but it’s useless to prepare in advance for those cases anyway.
Therefore, I have to prepare with Yoo Sanghee and the TC Research Institute in mind.
‘I don’t know how far Yoo Sanghoon will tell me but… if he consents, I want to know how his illness got better. Is it too personal?’
The disease Yoo Sanghoon was suffering from, was miraculously cured after his energy wave awakened.
The siblings Yoo Sanghee and Yoo Sanghoon, their connection to the TC Research Institute and the TC Group.
I drew a chessboard in my head, organizing my thoughts like arranging chess pieces.
My eyelids felt heavy because of the accumulated fatigue, but I pushed on.
Then, an angel in the shape of a cotton ball snuggled in my arms.
Keung….
Looking at the source of warmth, I saw Olmu looking up at me, waiting.
When our eyes met, the little angel moved his body and asked to be petted.
I immediately reached out and petted Olmu.
“…How nice of you to keep waiting for me!”
The generous angel forgave me for putting him aside and making him wait.
As I kept stroking the kind Olmu, I felt more and more drowsy.
Every time I tried to think, Olmu pressed his body to my palm, and so my mind went out.
Eventually, I stopped resisting.
‘Alright… I’ll listen to what Yoo Sanghoon has to say, talk about it with the tigers, and then go on from there…’
My thoughts were soon dispersed and I fell asleep.
Sleeping soundly without a dream, it quickly turned to morning.
I opened my eyes and I was in the tigers’ mansion again.
The closet in the room assigned to me also serves as a clothing manager, so the school uniform I hung yesterday was already clean, waiting for me to pick it up.
‘The mansion has several annexes, but do all guest rooms have this level of facilities?’
There aren’t many guests that come to the tigers’ mansion though.
No, thinking about it again, I think it could be because of the way Hwang Jiho usually spends money.
When I opened the door after dressing up, I immediately made eye contact with a tiger.
It was Baekho-gun, standing near my room’s door.
“…Hey.”
Woof woof!
Baekho-gun nodded silently at my and Olmu’s greeting.
He greeted me and passed me to head to the first floor.
‘Feels like deja vu…’
Baekho-gun’s greeting was exactly the same as yesterday’s.
Did he stay up all night searching for Sanryeong again?
I should help next time to give Baekho-gun a break.
“Good morning, Euishin hyung.”
“Did you sleep well? You look so much better.”
“…Hello.”
When I went down to the first floor of the annex, the tigers were already gathered even though it was still quite early.
In addition to Baekho-gun who I encountered first, Eunho, Hwang Jiho, and Jeokho were here too.
I thought I woke up early, but it seems to be much later than the tigers.
Is it because everyone’s old that they don’t need sleep in the morning?
While making some tea, Eunho spoke to me.
“Since you’re here, Euishin hyung, let’s have breakfast first.”
“Hahahaha! I’ll prepare it right away.”
Jeokho, who looked particularly tired, seemed relieved at Hwang Jiho’s words.
He advised me to sit down with a delighted face.
‘He must’ve been nagged about Jogangryeob and the Sangbosimgeumpa early in the morning.’
Perhaps because of his guilt about the crime he committed, Jeokho tends to prioritize the Tiger Clan, especially Kim Shinrok, over his own well-being.
However, no one actively nags at Jeokho.
Hwang Jiho has a deal with Jeokho so he steps back, and the usually-silent Baekho-gun doesn’t say anything.
Eunho is the only one — the right person — to nag at Jeokho.
“Jeokho-nim, let’s talk again when Euishin hyung leaves for school.”
“…Alright.”
The relief disappeared from Jeokho’s face.
The cockle and frozen cabbage soybean paste soup served by Hwang Jiho tasted exceptional, the plenty of November seasonal ingredients forming a beautiful orchestra in my mouth.
However, Jeokho looked dark throughout breakfast.
Eunho pointed it out in a soft tone.
“Why the expression so early in the morning, Jeokho-nim? Your health must’ve been very damaged because you’ve been so rough on your body.”
“Hmm, shall we give you some medicine? I have something to talk about with Hyangrok anyway. I should call him.”
“I-I’m alright…!”
In an instant, the appointment for Jeokho’s medicine was set.
Jeokho managed his expression throughout breakfast, but it was already too late.
Following him, I was also hit by a truck.
“You will have to meet Hyangrok again soon too, Jo Euishin.”
“I believe Hwangho-nim took care of Euishin hyung’s share of course.”
“Hahahaha! How can yours truly neglect our benefactor?”
Hwang Jiho and Eunho get along well even early in the morning.
I was dazed by the threat of the medicine, but I had to say what I had to say.
I preempted it before the talk about the TC Research Institute came out.
“I’ll be having dinner with Yoo Sanghoon tonight. I think he has something to say, so I want to hear him out first before we make our next plans.”
“When did you make plans? That was quick.”
“Yoo Sanghoon called me first.”
“I see Yoo Sanghee’s dongsaeng is close with Euishin hyung…”
Things were decided quickly.
I will listen to what Yoo Sanghoon has to say first and then we’d proceed from there.
After finishing the conversation like so, Hwang Jiho and I headed to school.
We rode air boards instead of the usual air shuttle, and the morning breeze felt cool to the skin.
“Euishin, Jiho, there’s a big problem!”
As soon as I opened the door to our classroom, Saeum of April shouted at us.
Before I could speak, Saeum of April looked around the classroom and checked that the door was closed.
Is it something that the others aren’t supposed to hear?
“Why, what’s going on?”
Saeum of April’s response was something I never imagined.
“Hani and Miro are about to fight!”
Hani and Dokgo Miro are fighting?
My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden unexpected sentence.
Hwang Jiho, who cares about Hani, looked at me as if he knew something.
The old man turned his head back to Saeum of April as if to express that he doesn’t have much to help with this situation.
“Hmmm… Saeum-ah, I think the kids will misunderstand if you say it like that!”
Before I could ask anything, Kim Yuri began to explain.
When I looked behind her, I saw almost all of our classmates, but their expressions seem to indicate that they all know what was going on.
“Yesterday, we were left waiting for the other kids who introduced themselves as Luis Perrena and the Druidess.”
Kim Yuri was calling the two attention-seekers by the name they introduced themselves as.
I kind of thought of them as Attention-Seeker 1 and 2, but as expected, Kim Yuri called them by name.
“Before we split up, Hani said she wanted to talk to Miro. So, the two went away but they didn’t come back, so we went to find them. Everyone was worried that Hani might be rude to Miro so…”
Kim Yuri’s explanation was as follows;
They found Dokgo Miro and Hani in an empty classroom, the two raising their voices at each other.
They said that Hani unilaterally questioned Dokgo Miro, and the latter answered without sincerity as she raised her voice.
“I didn’t understand what they were saying. Elementary school? They were saying something like that.”
Of all people, it was Song Daesok who found the two.
Song Daesok doesn’t pay attention to those two people, so the conversation he understood was limited.
Min Geurin stared at Song Daesok with a half-worried-half-dumbfounded expression.
It is absurd that Song Daesok couldn’t remember the few lines of the conversation he heard, but she also seems worried that Song Daesok’s memory might’ve deteriorated from his research activities.
“Hahaha… I went to stop them when Daseok found them, but I think it was too late. Anyway, the two decided to have a battle.”
…A battle?
Out of nowhere?
“Hani and Miro asked us to be witnesses.”
“Witness?”
“Yeah. Instead of fighting, the two decided to battle it out.”
Kim Yuri briefly explained the upcoming match between Hani and Dokgo Miro.
“If Miro wins, Hani will not ask about the past anymore. If Hani wins, Miro will have to tell her about it.”
It seems like Hani found some clues about the time Dokgo Miro was victimized when they were in elementary school.
To prevent Hani from being caught up in the bullying, Dokgo Miro stayed away from her.
Dokgo Miro did it for Hani, but it was a bolt out of the blue for the latter.
They were close friends.
They’re different now from the time when Hani was still young and weak.
Hani wants to know about it now, albeit belatedly.
“The two will use their abilities except for their light skills. They asked Professor Ham Geunhyung to be the referee.”
Professor Ham Geunhyung allowed that to happen?
The professor, who dealt with countless Class Zero students, must’ve judged that it was better to resolve the conflict through a legitimate battle in front of him than have the two students fight behind his back.
“When are they going to fight?”
“Soon. Our first class is ‘Players’ Battle Practice 2’. The two will go at it first. Professor Ham Geunhyung is watching the two.”
I don’t think I have to worry if Professor Ham Geunhyung is keeping an eye on the two but…
Is this really okay?
Our homeroom teacher allowed it, and even the school chairman beside me has his eyes sparkling.
“Attendance check is skipped then. I think we can go to Gymnasium 3 for freshmen right away. Since Euishin and Jiho are here now, we can go.”
“Uhm, hey… Lena’s not here yet…”
Mok Wooram asked hesitatingly.
It seemed to bother him that Kwon Lena wasn’t here.
“Oh, Lena contacted me and said she’ll be a little late.”
“Eh? What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know but… maybe she’s practicing violin? She practices sometimes in the morning too.”
Except for Kwon Lena, our class headed to the gym where Hani and Dokgo Miro will battle.
“Hmmm…”
Hwang Jiho, who had been in a good mood with his eyes shining while walking, suddenly halted and stood tall.
His eyes were on the dog-leaved trees planted all over the trail leading to the gym.
Crunch!
“Ahk!”
“Keuk, he noticed!”
Two shadows flew away from the top of the tree as the leaves shook loudly.
Seeing it, the other kids looked dumbfounded as well.
“Ah…”
“Those guys are…”
The two attention-seekers must’ve been watching us.
