Chapter 46
If the person who had walked in just then hadn’t been Go Hankyul—if it had been some random, indifferent classmate—my anxiety wouldn’t have flared up like this. Go Hankyul eyed the way Yu Hyunjae and I were sitting, so close yet so awkwardly apart, and his curiosity was obvious.
“What’s going on? Didn’t you eat, Hyunjae?”
“No… just ended up skipping.”
“You two don’t even get hungry?”
Go Hankyul flashed his usual warm smile, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. Doubts I couldn’t shake kept rising to the surface. Now that I thought about it, it was strange—how he’d suddenly approached me on the very first day of the entrance ceremony. There was no such thing as kindness without a motive. I stayed seated and asked, my voice steady,
“You already ate?”
“Yeah.”
“With who?”
“You weren’t there, so I ate alone. Don’t ditch me next time.”
He nudged my shoulder playfully. At the contact, my body tensed instinctively. Something’s off. The words from that anonymous text message flashed through my mind.
“They say we’re getting our grade results in fifth period.”
Go Hankyul’s voice was bright, almost cheerful. I nodded, stealing a glance at Yu Hyunjae beside me. What was he thinking? Did he already know he’d be first? If he did, what would his reaction be?
Just as Go Hankyul had said, after lunch, it wasn’t the fifth-period teacher who walked into the classroom—it was our homeroom teacher. The air in the room tightened.
“When I call your name, come up one by one and take your paper.”
Each student who stood wore a different expression. The moment my name was called, I could feel the weight of everyone’s gazes. As expected, the paper read: 1st Grade. The homeroom teacher barely glanced at me before moving on to the next name.
“Yu Hyunjae.”
Yu Hyunjae stood slowly. I tried not to watch, but I couldn’t look away. When he returned to his seat, his face was unreadable—calm, almost blank.
“Chanhee, you’re first, right?”
Go Hankyul leaned in from the seat beside me. I unfolded the paper and showed him. He was second. He grinned, saying he’d done better than he’d expected, and I managed a small smile in return.
***
I decided I needed to keep an eye on Go Hankyul until my suspicions cleared. That meant I had no choice but to keep spending time with him, even knowing Han Jaemin was watching. Sharing my life with the most likely suspect was a risk I couldn’t afford.
The one silver lining was that once I got home, I was free from prying eyes. Ironically, to keep my promise to Han Jaemin, I kept practicing necromancy. Sometimes, manipulating mana the way the book described made me nauseous. Each time, I gritted my teeth and pushed through.
After finishing my daily practice and collapsing onto the bed, there was a soft knock at the door. Yu Hyunjae stepped inside.
“Busy?”
I shook my head. Up close, his ears were slightly red. I knew why he’d come.
“What’s up?”
“Huh?”
“You look like you’re about to burst. What’s on your mind?”
His ears turned even redder.
“That obvious?”
“Yeah. Painfully obvious.”
Yu Hyunjae dropped his head, covering his face with his hands. His large palms hid his expression completely.
“Chanhee.”
“What.”
He silently handed me the paper he’d been holding. In the center, 1st Grade was printed in bold. Even though I’d expected it, seeing it still made me smile.
“You’re a genius, huh?”
I teased him on purpose. Yu Hyunjae stayed quiet, his head still bowed.
“Happy?”
“…Yeah.”
“Congrats.”
I patted his shoulder. Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me against his chest. I blinked, caught off guard.
“I’m so happy right now.”
When I tried to push away, he only held me tighter.
“It feels like it’s all thanks to you.”
Why me? I didn’t do anything. You’re just riding the world’s current. I swallowed the cold, bitter words and nodded instead.
“…Glad you think so.”
I slowly pulled away from his embrace. The warmth was so familiar I almost leaned back in without thinking. That’s when it happened. Behind Yu Hyunjae, the air began to shimmer. I watched, frozen, as the background turned gray and stiff letters appeared one by one.
<You have reached a branching point!>
My heart pounded. The words vanished, replaced by a new message.
<The route of the character ‘Yu Hyunjae’ will change depending on your actions.>
My pupils trembled. Yu Hyunjae’s route is changing? Hidden routes had been discarded long ago. There was no way one would appear now—let alone one that could lead to a bad ending. And it wasn’t triggered by a line or an action, but by “my actions.” I couldn’t move, couldn’t grasp what the system wanted.
“Hey, Chanhee.”
Yu Hyunjae’s voice cut through my thoughts. I slowly met his gaze.
“This might sound weird, but… I’ve been having the same dream over and over lately.”
He almost sounded like he was confessing.
“I was wondering if it might mean something…”
I stayed silent, then finally asked,
“…What kind of dream?”
“Just… dreams of being with you.”
“……”
“Some days we’re at the beach, some days we’re eating tteokbokki together, and some days we’re walking down a dark road side by side.”
The letters in the air flickered, taunting me. What should I do? What answer, what action would let me pass this safely? No one could tell me. I knew better than anyone that begging wouldn’t help. I had to decide for myself—the path to death, or the path that might buy me a little more time.
“If it wasn’t a dream.”
I spoke slowly, following my instinct.
“If those things weren’t dreams, if they were real…”
“……”
“What do you think? Could you believe it?”
Yu Hyunjae stared at me, his dark eyes deep and clear. I met his gaze, feeling like I might drown in them. The silence stretched on for minutes. When I finally blinked, tears threatened to spill. That’s when he answered, his voice slow and sure,
“I believe it.”
“Even if it’s just a dream?”
“You said it wasn’t a dream.”
“……”
“You—”
A tear slipped down the corner of my eye. The prolonged eye contact had dried them out. I raised my hand and wiped it away roughly. When I opened my eyes again, the system window was gone. What happened? Its sudden disappearance left me uneasy.
“So… believe in me a little longer.”
“…Believe what?”
“Me.”
I looked away, as if I didn’t understand. Asking me to believe in him more felt like he was saying I didn’t trust him now. Did he really think that? In what way? When?
***
Before I even reached school the next day, Go Hankyul’s message told me the news had already spread: Yu Hyunjae was first grade. The moment I entered the classroom, Go Hankyul rushed over to Yu Hyunjae, bombarding him with questions.
“How’d you break through your mana? I heard you only did crafting in middle school—when did you learn hunter skills? Did Chanhee teach you?”
Yu Hyunjae smiled awkwardly and glanced at me. I sighed, shook my head, and walked to my seat.
“So the first grades are Chanhee, Hyunjae, and Joohyun, huh.”
As expected, it had to be Lee Joohyun. Anything else would’ve been strange. Go Hankyul questioned Yu Hyunjae a while longer, but when the bell rang, he returned to his seat.
“Hyunjae’s a genius, I’m telling you.”
“He is. Going from powerless to first grade—what else could you call that?”
“Seriously, I’m jealous.”
“Second grade isn’t bad, though.”
“Nah. I just got lucky with second. My dad actually expected a lot from me.”
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. He’s a hunter.”
I turned to look at Go Hankyul.
“A hunter?”
“Yeah. Not high grade, but he does it full-time.”
“Full-time? So… Haedam?”
Go Hankyul nodded. A father affiliated with Haedam. I unconsciously furrowed my brows, lost in thought.
