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chapter 9
It was something worth applauding and celebrating when misfortune befell them. But thanks to that, unpleasant rumors began spreading about me.
A strange rumor circulated that if you touched me, misfortune would befall your family.
I already had no friends, and because of that rumor, even those who occasionally spoke to me out of curiosity stopped approaching me altogether.
“I’m here too, Lien.”
At the voice calling my name, I pushed my thoughts aside.
I turned to look at Fior, the owner of the voice, who looked oddly proud of himself, as if he had something to boast about.
Right. You were here too.
“Th-thank you.”
At my half-hearted expression of gratitude, Karsion’s eyes flared sharply as he glared at Fior with hostility.
Like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away.
“You’re not needed, so scram— …no, just stay quietly in a corner.”
“What’s with you? Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? What did I even do?”
“Right. You did nothing, so to Lien your existence is worth less than the dust under an ant’s claw.”
At Karsion’s provocation, Fior seemed a little irritated as well and fired back with equally childish words.
“Look who’s talking. You’ve never actually done anything useful for Lien either—just given her useless gifts. Honestly, Lien probably ranks you around her 162nd strand of hair.”
“If I’m 162nd, you’re probably around ten-thousandth.”
“Then you’re hundred-thousandth.”
Karsion’s eyebrow twitched.
“You’re ten-millionth.”
“One hundred millionth.”
“One trillionth.”
“One quintillion.”
“Fine.”
“Both of you stop!”
I stepped in to break up the increasingly ridiculous fight, whose numbers were escalating just as absurdly as their childishness.
Honestly, there was no way a person could even have that many strands of hair.
“…infinity.”
I told you to stop, Fior.
“I said stop. What does the ranking even matter?”
“It matters.”
It was Karsion.
“It matters to me, Lien.”
Karsion had always only shown me shy or smiling expressions, so his serious face felt a little unfamiliar.
Why was he suddenly getting so serious over something so trivial?
“Lien. What am I to you?”
Meeting his clear blue eyes, I answered as if it were obvious.
“What else would you be? A [‘friend’].”
“…That felt like a lot of unnecessary emphasis.”
Karsion looked noticeably dejected, his brows drooping.
“Let me rephrase. What number am I to you?”
It probably wasn’t going to be a ranking worth getting excited about.
Answering seriously would only be my loss. I should brush it off casually as a joke.
“If I had to rank you… maybe around my 27th eyelash?”
“What?”
Karsion froze, as if struck by shock.
He gaped, staring at me with wide eyes.
He couldn’t possibly think I was serious, right?
“…Really, Lien?”
But strangely—very strangely—his cheeks slowly began to flush pink.
“I didn’t know you thought of me like that.”
He lowered his gaze shyly and smiled, almost embarrassed.
He was… happy about that?
And not even “27th place friend,” but comparable to my “27th eyelash,” which meant basically no presence at all?
This was an unexpected reaction.
I glanced at Fior, who had been fighting with Karsion earlier, signaling him to deal with this somehow.
But Fior was too busy staring at Karsion with a disgusted expression to notice my glance.
Now that I looked, I could clearly see goosebumps rising on his arms.
I’m sorry for trying to use you as the front line against this shock, Fior.
Still… wasn’t he kind of cute? There was no need to look that disgusted.
I curled one corner of my lips playfully.
“Are you satisfied with just that, Kaon? Anyone can tell I was joking just now.”
“Eh?”
Karsion blinked at me, as if he didn’t understand.
Look at that. How cute.
After a brief pause, I added some sugar-coated words as a service.
“You’re someone I can’t rank.”
There was no contradiction in that statement, since Karsion and Fior were basically the only people I could call friends.
“I appreciate it, but…”
Karsion fidgeted and looked away.
What now. Another unexpected reaction.
“Still… rather than friend, I mean, um, th-that…”
Don’t tell me.
“You mean you don’t want to be just friends? You want something more?”
“NO! I never thought about dating you or marrying you at all!”
Leaving aside dating, marriage felt like a huge leap…
But I quickly erased my panic and put on a practiced smile, meeting his eyes.
“You know I only have you two as people I can call friends. You’ll keep being my friend, right, Kaon?”
I wrapped it like a request to stay close in the future, but it was also a line being drawn.
Karsion seemed to understand that and stiffened.
“…You could make other friends.”
“But no one wants to be close to me.”
“They might, soon.”
“There’s no way.”
Even as I denied it, I somehow felt like what he muttered might come true.
And the next day, I realized that feeling had been correct.
After finishing regular classes and club activities, I returned to the dormitory and found someone unpacking their things.
She looked a couple of years older than me.
I knew I would eventually get a roommate since it was a two-person room…
Still, I didn’t expect it to happen so suddenly. I thought new students and transfer students weren’t accepted in the middle of the term.
Had the room been reassigned rather than someone new moving in?
“Oh my goodness! You’re even more adorable than I imagined!”
The moment she saw me enter, she grabbed both my hands and started bouncing in excitement, as if meeting an old friend she hadn’t seen in ten years.
Her short light-brown hair bobbed up and down in front of my eyes.
“Eek! You’re seriously so pretty!”
“…Who are you?”
“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! Hello, I’m Jane, your new roommate starting today!”
“Hello.”
At my greeting, she widened her eyes, let go of my hands, and waved them frantically.
“A-ah! Please speak casually!”
“If Jane speaks casually too, I will as well.”
“How could I possibly do that!”
“‘How could you’?”
“I-it’s just… it feels weird speaking casually to someone I just met, and I’m a bit shy…! Haha.”
A person who grabbed my hands and jumped around at first sight… is shy?
Her words didn’t quite match, but she didn’t seem like a bad person, which was a relief.
We would be living together for quite a while, whether we liked it or not.
“You can keep speaking formally if you want, but if you do, I’ll keep speaking formally too.”
“N-no…”
“If we’re going to live together, wouldn’t casual speech be easier?”
“But…”
“It also helps people get closer faster.”
“Hah.”
At my words, she trembled slightly, as if her wavering feelings were visible in her eyes.
“Then we’ll probably get close more easily.”
“I actually thought casual speech was better from the beginning, Lien.”
Jane’s attitude changed 180 degrees at that final blow. She seemed very easily influenced.
Wait… had I ever told her my name?
Ah. Maybe she saw my name tag.
I glanced at her uniform as I thought.
The name tag also indicated grade by color. But she wasn’t wearing a uniform, so I couldn’t tell what year she was.
“Sorry if this is rude, but what year are you, Jane?”
“How is that rude? I’m also a senior first-year like you.”
“Oh? We’re in the same year.”
She looked so mature that I assumed she was older.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
Jane smiled softly at me, as if guessing what I was thinking.
“I took a leave of absence during the first semester of senior year due to family circumstances. But I got lucky and was able to return this time. So I’m two years older than you.”
“Lucky circumstances?”
“That’s a secret!”
She smiled and pressed a finger to her lips.
“I thought I was late since the semester had already started, but since I already completed a semester, they approved it. They said the weeks I missed could be counted as time already completed.”
“I see.”
“By the way, Lien, how did you end up in such a—”
Jane suddenly stopped mid-sentence, opening and closing her mouth as her eyes darted around, as if she had said something wrong.
“…well, anyway, let’s get along well!”
“What do you mean ‘such a’?”
“Ah, n-nothing.”
“Did you hear the rumor that if you touch me, misfortune befalls your family?”
“What? Who would believe that nonsense?”
“Everyone seems to believe it.”
“Lien. They don’t avoid you because of you—they avoided touching something they shouldn’t have. You did nothing wrong.”
From the way she spoke, Jane seemed to have heard the rumors surrounding me. She had just moved into the dorm, so when had she heard all that?
Still… she was on my side. That was enough.
A small smile slipped out without me noticing.
“Yeah. Thanks for saying that. I’ll be counting on you too, Jane.”
I woke up early in the morning to the sound of rustling and slowly sat up, yawning.
Having a roommate isn’t necessarily all good after all.
“Oh, Lien, you’re awake? Sorry, was I too loud?”
“It’s fine. I sleep all day on weekends anyway.”
Looking at the clock, it was just past 11. Not even noon yet, and she was already so active.
On weekends, one is supposed to wake up in the afternoon.
I looked at Jane as I thought that. What was she doing this early—
“…um. Boss?”
“Yeah, Lien!”
At her bright response, I lost my words.
The Jane in front of me was not the Jane from yesterday. She looked like someone you might run into in a dark alley.
Carefully, I spoke.
“…Are you returning to the organization already, boss?”
