Rain on the Ashes 1

Encounter

Kidnapping, confinement, fire, survivor.

Several words from the noisy conversation echoing through the cool space buzz around his ears. Though the voices are clearly close by, they sound distant, as if he’s hearing them while submerged underwater.

From time to time, he turns his head this way and that to survey the space, but he doesn’t see anything properly. People bustling about, glances occasionally directed his way. He barely manages to pick up such fragmentary information.

Then at some point, the surroundings became chaotic. It had been noisy before, but strangely, everyone was looking in one direction, and when he belatedly turned his head to follow—

Smack!

He got hit in the eyes.

Not the forehead, but precisely aimed at both eyes. At the sudden attack, he reflexively flinched, but the palm never left his face.

For a moment, his vision was blocked, and the only information he could grasp was that the other person’s hand was small, and also…

“Live outside.”

That it was warm.

Absurdly enough in that situation, he registers the warmth. Even as his vision gradually darkens and the surroundings finally fade to black, just as he’s holding onto only the impression that it was small and warm—

Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!

At the annoying alarm sound, Sim Seowoo’s eyes slowly opened. Light brown pupils gazed hazily at the round light fixture positioned in the center of the white ceiling.

“Ah, that dream again…”

It seems he’s been having it often lately.

Six years have already passed, but he still occasionally dreams of that day. Even though he experienced far more absurd things right before that moment, strangely he only dreams of that one instant again and again.

That absurd situation where he suddenly got hit in the eyes while being questioned at the police station.

The boy’s face in the dream remains blurry.

Actually, since he got hit in the eyes without any chance to see him properly, he’s not even sure if he really saw his face. A small child with jet-black hair. Did he glimpse him just before the hand came flying, or did he imagine it like a delusion from dwelling on it for so long?

He doesn’t even know why the boy hit him, or for what reason he came to the police station. When he once asked the police about that boy, he doesn’t think he got a proper answer either. They said something about how it’s a space with so many people coming and going that they can’t remember every visitor…

Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!

While retracing hazy memories, five minutes must have passed as the alarm rang again. Sim Seowoo got up from the bed with a sigh.

The problems of his current reality are too big to dwell on something from several years ago.

“I really hate 9 o’clock exams…”

Specifically, the problem called final exams.

***

The university in the midst of exam week had a strangely chaotic atmosphere.

Especially since these were final exams before the end of semester and summer vacation, many people could be heard talking about trips they’d take in summer rather than exams. Going to the beach as soon as exams end, boarding planes heading overseas, and so on.

Passing through the excited atmosphere and exiting the lecture hall, Sim Seowoo let out a small sigh.

“I almost had to retake it.”

He’d entered just barely before the exam room closed.

Had his tension loosened because vacation was coming soon, or was it the influence of the dream he had today? Strangely, on days when he had that dream, it was particularly hard to shake off the dazed feeling.

Moreover, the route to school was congested today. Even though his studio apartment and school weren’t far apart, all sorts of strange things happened along that ten or twenty-minute distance.

Someone suddenly jumped out from an alley making him dodge to the side, another person was crouching in the middle of the road making him go around, and when he reached the lecture hall, a disheveled woman was making a racket at the front gate, so he came in through the back entrance instead.

“I guess everyone’s struggling because of exam period…”

As he retraced the moments when his passage was obstructed all around, his eyes hurt somehow, so Sim Seowoo rubbed his brow. Even normally after having that dream, he feels a dull eye pain along with the hazy feeling, but today it throbbed more than usual. A stuffiness as if his vision had been forcibly covered.

Could it be aftereffects from getting hit six years ago?

He can’t exactly sue the boy at this point.

As Sim Seowoo was having these pointless thoughts and about to unconsciously picture the boy’s face again, a man and woman approaching from behind greeted him.

“Hello, Seowoo sunbae-nim! Did your exam go well?”

“We were so worried when you came late. Did you pull an all-nighter? Though sunbae-nim already has an A+ guaranteed from the presentation!”

They were juniors from other departments who took the general education course with him. This course weighted group projects most heavily for the grade, and Sim Seowoo had been in the same group with these two juniors, working on assignments together all semester.

The two had respectively handled research and making the PowerPoint, while he took charge of the presentation. The professor had clapped and praised them effusively, so their group was already seen as having an A+ locked in. Though no matter what, if they’d failed the final exam, the grade would have been gone.

Sim Seowoo awkwardly moved his hand away as he answered.

“No, I went to bed early, but strangely the route was congested so I was late. And the grade is thanks to you two making good materials. I only read them.”

“Oh come on, the professor specifically praised how sunbae’s presentation really stuck in their ears!”

“Other people were impressed too. How on earth do you present without being nervous at all?”

The juniors asked with sparkling eyes.

Actually, from the moment they became grouped with Sim Seowoo, they thought they’d get at least an A. It was trust built not just because he was a fourth-year senior, but from his neat appearance and calm, quiet atmosphere.

Light brown hair covering his forehead and a small, pale face created an overall soft impression. Most of all, the light brown pupils within his gently downturned eyes appeared almost transparent, capturing one’s gaze. Should they say he gave off a strangely ethereal feeling that made one watch over him anxiously?

As much as expectations had built up, the senior presented well too. The professor commented it could be used as broadcast material, and their classmates threw envious looks at them for being in the same group, entranced by his gentle voice.

The juniors affectionately sought advice, wanting to deepen their friendship with their senior, but Sim Seowoo only blinked his eyes slowly.

“Well, if I think about other harsh things in the world, a presentation feels like nothing…”

The juniors tilted their heads in puzzlement. They exchanged glances as if wondering what he was talking about, then soon burst out laughing with a “haha.” He remained an unknowable senior even after a semester together, and that made them more curious.

The two quickly pulled out a white paper box from their bags.

“Sunbae-nim. This is the gift we wanted to give you last time.”

“We got full marks on the project thanks to you, and also since final exams are starting, we prepared this to cheer you on for studying!”

The box with a famous bakery’s logo was filled with pretty cookies. Last time, the two had subtly tried to arrange meal gatherings while working on the group project because they wanted to get closer to Sim Seowoo, but failed every time. Since he always left saying he was busy, this time they prepared a gift instead.

However, even after looking into the box they confidently opened, there was no particular change in Sim Seowoo’s expression. No, rather, a slightly troubled look crossed his face before he shook his head.

“Um, thank you, but I feel a bit awkward receiving something from juniors. I’ll just accept the sentiment.”

A hint of firmness flickered beneath the gentle refusal. Moreover, he tried to leave the scene quickly as if quite uncomfortable with this situation, so the juniors hurriedly followed him down the stairs saying,

“You don’t need to feel burdened—”

“Watch out there.”

But the junior who had just descended two or three steps swayed greatly. As if their ankle had been firmly grabbed by something and they were slipping, Sim Seowoo immediately caught them. It was as if he’d predicted that future before the junior even stumbled.

Gripping the junior’s arm firmly and pulling them toward himself, Sim Seowoo glanced down at the floor for a moment, then made eye contact with the startled junior. After guiding them to stand up straight, he calmly advised,

“It seems like you two are the ones who need to eat those cookies and get energized. Since it’s exam period, eat well and take care.”

With that farewell, Sim Seowoo descended the rest of the stairs.

Walking quickly in case the gift might be offered again, a departmental classmate who had taken an exam in the same lecture hall approached with a greeting. Thinking the juniors wouldn’t come over if he was with other company, Sim Seowoo joined him.

Park Dongju, with short auburn hair, giggled as if he’d seen the whole situation.

“Wow, Sim Seowoo. Did you reject a junior’s gift again? How many times is this now?”

“Because I don’t need to accept it…”

“You shook their hearts first by being nice to them, yet you’re too cold-hearted! You even caught and protected the one who almost fell!”

He teased playfully, saying he saw the juniors’ lovestruck expressions, but Sim Seowoo shook his head. It was true he caught the junior, but strictly speaking, it was for a different reason.

“There was someone lying on the stairs and they were about to step that way, so I just stopped them. The junior did fail to notice and make a mistake, but in the first place, why was that person lying uncomfortably on the narrow stairs?”

“Huh…?”

“Are they overindulging in university romance, or is it another person struggling with exams?”

There were already many people acting strangely and obstructing passage on his way to school today—could this also be the influence of exam period? Exams are this harmful.

Though Sim Seowoo spoke in a sympathetic tone, Park Dongju blinked his eyes. He answered with a flustered expression as if he’d heard something completely random.

“What, what are you talking about? There’s no one on the stairs?”