IRPT 10

Chapter: 10

“…Your closest friend looks like you?”

Soon enough, In-hwa’s hands began moving busily again.

“Yeah, she said she’d tell me who it is the next time I come.”

“How old did that person look?”

“Umm… forties? I’m not exactly sure.”

Hadam tossed the blood-stained cotton swab into the small trash bin on the desk and continued.

“But definitely older than you, Auntie.”

“A man?”

“Yeah.”

As she nodded in response, the bandage stuck firmly onto her arm.

Hadam rubbed the cute puppy character on the bandage for no reason.

In-hwa always used plain skin-colored bandages for students, but for Hadam, she always put on one with a cute character.

“I should’ve at least asked his name. You might’ve known who he was.”

But In-hwa shook her head firmly.

“It’s hard to know someone if they’re not even in my age group.”

“That so.”

“Anyway, all done. If your test results are fine, you’ll get a text. If there’s a problem, I’ll call you. You know that, right?”

In-hwa stood up first. Hadam roughly pulled down her sleeve and grabbed her school jacket and padded coat in order.

“Yeah. Thanks. I’m heading out.”

Just as she finished putting on her clothes and turned around—

“Hadam!”

She turned back, wondering what was up, but In-hwa hesitated.

Curiosity urged Hadam to hurry her.

“What is it, Auntie?”

“About the photos. Are you going to go take more?”

“Probably? I have to take some with Yuna, and also… I still owe money.”

“You owe money?”

“Yeah, 3,000 won. It’s kind of a student-only situation. But why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just curious. Alright. Get going then. It’s still cold, so be careful not to catch a cold. Always wear enough layers. When you get sick, it lasts forever. If you show up sick, I’ll scold you. And study hard. You know you’ve got mock exams coming up, right?”

Suddenly, the nagging poured out.

In-hwa had taken care of all things school-related in place of Hadam’s parents—sometimes, she was practically a model helicopter parent.

“Ah! I’m eating dinner with Yuna today—I’m late. I’m really going!”

Hadam checked her smartwatch and hurried to the door.

In-hwa smiled helplessly, as if there was nothing she could do.

“Take care. See you later.”

Hadam waved one last time and closed the door.

* * *

Eight o’clock in the mountains was practically the dead of night.
Especially before the spring equinox.

The academy grounds were somewhat less scary thanks to security, but the moment you crossed the boundary, a chilling gloom wrapped around your entire body—hard to shake off easily.

It didn’t help that beast-folk had sharper senses than humans.

Bundled tightly in a long padded coat, In-hwa warmed her cold ears with her hands as she practically jogged toward Sangmae Hall.

She should’ve worn a hat, but she hated blocking her hearing.

Pure instinct.

The outdoor lights were all off, but thankfully the inside of the hall was bright.

Passing by shops finishing their closing chores, she headed straight for the photo studio.

“He said I looked like his friend.”

In-hwa clenched her fist without realizing it.

To show up without warning and startle Hadam like that—what a deranged man.

There was no real door to the self-photo booth shop.
The counter visible from the entrance was empty.

A humming voice came from inside.

Following the sound, she found someone wiping down the wall-sized mirror.

In-hwa silently watched the shop owner.

Before long, their eyes met through the reflection.

As if he already knew she’d come, he simply continued wiping the mirror and said,

“Almost done. Just give me a moment.”

Myo Se-jin.

That laid-back attitude hadn’t changed one bit.

In-hwa leaned against the entrance wall and crossed her arms.

The man who never even showed his face at the funeral when Hadam’s parents—Jae-shin and Yeon-hwa—passed away…
And now he shows up?

“Jae-shin’s daughter is practically my own daughter. Her name’s Hadam? What a beautiful name.”

She still vividly remembered the warm smile on his face as he held the one-year-old baby as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

They used to be that close.

In-hwa could never forgive Se-jin for disappearing without a word.

“How did you get into Sangmae Hall? Actually—why did you even come back to the school?”

Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, picking a fight from the start, but Se-jin wasn’t shaken at all.

Eventually, he removed his gloves and walked over to her, stretching out his right hand with a bright smile.

“It’s been a while. Good to see you again, In-hwa.”

The same spring-warm smile of the old days.

In-hwa clenched her teeth.

Tears of resentment were threatening to spill, but she forced them back down.

She was nearly forty now—she didn’t need Se-jin anymore.

“Don’t talk to Hadam again. Don’t poke around and make things harder for her. And most of all… don’t let slip things she doesn’t need to know. I hope you understand exactly what I mean.”

That was all she came for.

In-hwa turned away coldly.

She half-expected him to at least try to explain himself—but Se-jin didn’t try to stop her.

On the way back, the cutting wind made her eyes sting.

* * *

Hadam woke up early.

Being late again, like yesterday, was absolutely unacceptable.

She needed time to eat breakfast—even something simple—and also cover morning duty in place of Yuna. There wasn’t much time to spare.

As she calmed her racing mind and stepped outside the dorm—

“There you are, finally.”

Lee-gyeol turned toward her, grumbling.

He was wearing only his school jacket, seemingly immune to the cold.

“…What are you doing here?”

She asked, puzzled, but Lee-gyeol held out his hand instead of answering.

“You’ve got your phone, right? Lemme see it.”

“Why?”

“Come on, just give it. Screen unlocked.”

His bratty tone made Hadam hand over the phone before thinking.

“What are you doing?”

She watched nervously, but Lee-gyeol only focused on the screen.

Tap tap—his long fingers moved swiftly across the phone.

Then he took out his own phone with his other hand, pretended to answer a call, and handed Hadam’s phone back.

“Pick up.”

“…?”

Hadam looked back and forth between the displayed number and Lee-gyeol.

“Hurry.”

When he urged her again, she reluctantly accepted the call.

“…Hello?”

“Hi.”

The voice over the receiver overlapped perfectly with the voice in front of her.

She let out a laugh.

He could’ve just asked normally for her number.

Without ending the call, Lee-gyeol explained:

“I didn’t know what time you wake up, so I waited from early morning. I could’ve just called and asked, I know. Anyway, save my number.”

“Why were you waiting for me?”

“To go to school together.”

“Oh…”

Hadam tried to make sense of that while saving his number.

This was the dorm—
the classroom was right next door—just a few minutes’ walk.

Why…?

She thought long and hard, seriously.

Even if he was a tiger beast-folk, he was still human—he didn’t look like he wanted to eat her or anything…

As she drifted into fairytale-like speculation, a theory suddenly struck her.

No way… Lee Gyeol…

Was he bullied at Taebaek Hall?!

So now, just having someone to talk to made him so happy that he caused such a fuss early in the morning?

Maybe he acted tough in front of the class yesterday so he wouldn’t get looked down on.

Maybe he pretended not to know about those trendy self-photo booths because he’d never tried them and was embarrassed.

And the way he bragged after taking just one photo…

The more she thought, the more perfectly reasonable the theory felt.
It even explained why he transferred down to the main campus.

Hadam gave Lee-gyeol a fresh, earnest look.

How could a tiger, the so-called king of beasts, end up getting ostracized?

Someone that tall, with that build—kids normally flock around guys like that.
Was his personality… utter garbage?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Mm, nothing. Uh—did you eat breakfast?”

Hadam quickly changed the subject.

Because if her theory was right—meaning his personality was garbage—

then keeping her distance would be best.

School life was already exhausting enough—she didn’t need extra trouble.

Lee-gyeol shrugged.

“I don’t eat breakfast. What about you?”

“I do. So… hmm. I’m about to go to the cafeteria to eat, but…”

The problem was her nature.

Her school records were full of comments like:

“Considerate of others and likes helping friends in need.”

The truth was simply that she was too soft-hearted to refuse people properly.

Similarly, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Lee-gyeol—who had waited since dawn—not to follow her.

Imagining that he might’ve had a hard time in Taebaek Hall made it even harder.

What if he thought she was avoiding him?
What if he got hurt?

Her head felt like it might explode from all the thoughts crammed in so quickly.

Just as she hesitated to finish her sentence—

Lee-gyeol spoke casually.

 “Then I’ll wait while you eat. That’s fine, right?”