# Chapter 58
I started attending a computer academy.
The academy was located near Hanguk University. I wanted to attend one close to home, but there was no way a certification academy would exist in our neighborhood, where only elderly people lived. Although the academy’s location was a bit far from home, it was in a college area, so the tuition was cheap, and I liked that everything progressed quickly with just two classes a week, three hours a day, as an intensive short-term course.
One drawback was that Hanguk University had ended its semester last week, so many students wanting to get certified during the break had flocked to the academy. This meant that if I arrived even a little late, I had to sit in the very back of the classroom. Other than that, everything was fine. Maybe because I was using my brain for the first time since high school graduation, it was fun to solve difficult problems one by one. Still, true to the reputation of the Computer Utilization Ability Level 1 certification, which had an extremely low pass rate, there were many parts where I got stuck.
Today, during break time, I was again trying to solve a part that I couldn’t understand despite multiple explanations. Someone placed a small chocolate next to the mouse I was holding. When I turned my head from the monitor, a woman with a bob haircut smiled brightly at me. She had a cute appearance that would likely make her popular with those around her.
“Hello.”
“What? Oh, yes.”
What’s going on?
I made a confused expression at the woman’s sudden greeting. Her face wasn’t completely unfamiliar. We attended the same time slot lectures, so I had seen her a few times passing in the hallway.
“This chocolate is really good. Please have it.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked the woman and took the chocolate, putting it in my pocket. I thought she was just sharing with people sitting nearby without any particular meaning, but for some reason, she sat down next to me and kept glancing at me.
Does she have something to say to me?
Given that she had given me chocolate and was fidgeting with her phone, it seemed like she wanted to ask for my number. I was a bit perplexed. After all, I didn’t even know the woman’s name, and we had never exchanged greetings, let alone had a friendly conversation. I didn’t know how to react to this unexpected interest from the other person.
“Excuse me.”
The woman, who had been waiting for the right moment to talk to me, finally spoke when there were only about 3 minutes left of the break time.
“I’d like to keep in touch with you. If it’s okay, could you give me your number?”
The woman said, holding out her phone. I stared blankly at her phone.
This wasn’t the first time someone had asked for my number and shown interest in me. When I worked at a café, people occasionally asked for my number. At that time, dating itself was a luxury for me, so I politely apologized to them. But now the situation was different. I no longer needed to obsess over money mindlessly, and I had the leisure to take care of my own life. So this situation was a very good opportunity to make a new connection.
“Won’t you give it to me?”
“I’m sorry.”
But I declined with a troubled face. It wasn’t because I disliked the woman. I just didn’t want to.
The woman seemed momentarily taken aback by my refusal, but then she cheerfully laughed and placed her phone in my hand.
“Come on, I’m not asking you to date me right away, just to get to know each other.”
With the other person being so assertive, I couldn’t back out anymore. I reluctantly entered my number into the woman’s phone. Having achieved what she wanted, the woman smiled brightly and left the classroom. Soon the class resumed, and I sighed after marking the problem I couldn’t solve during the break with a star. I felt uneasy. For someone else, this might have been a story to brag about, but giving my number to someone I barely knew didn’t sit right with me.
Would it have been different if the other person had been my type? My type is…
I was supposed to be focusing on the class, but the recent incident distracted me, making me think about other things. Instead of entering formulas into the Excel window, I wrote down one by one the qualities of others that I might like.
– A beautiful person with a cool impression
– But with lots of aegyo. Cute personality
– Taller than me, broad shoulders would be nice too. So I can lean on them without feeling burden
– Large hands
– Pretty eye-smile
– Likes me a lot
I felt something was off starting from the third point, but when I finished writing, all the conditions were pointing to a specific person. Unexpectedly recalling Heerim like an idiot made my stomach hurt again. I wasn’t throwing up as much anymore, but I still wasn’t completely better. When I went to the hospital, they said it was stress-induced gastritis. Even though I was taking medication, it wasn’t getting better. I was just going through each day pretending to be fine, thinking that time would eventually solve it. All while I couldn’t even delete Heerim’s number from my phone contacts.
The long three-hour lecture finally ended. I stretched my stiff body and checked my phone, which I had deliberately put in my bag to help me focus.
[Choi Jeongyeon: Hello]
Who is this?
Someone not saved in my messenger had suddenly sent me a message. Wondering if it was someone I knew, I clicked on their profile to enlarge the photo and saw it was the woman who had taken my number earlier.
Feeling tired, I didn’t reply to the woman’s message and instead opened the traffic information app to check the bus schedule home. After experiencing terrible heat a few days ago when I went to the bus stop without thinking, I had started checking the bus location before leaving the academy.
The traffic app informed me that the bus I needed to take would arrive in 17 minutes. It seemed I should leave the academy in about 10 minutes. I sat on a chair in the academy’s lounge where the air conditioning was blasting, mindlessly fiddling with my phone.
[Ha Suan: At the academy?]
A message from Ha Suan briefly appeared and disappeared at the top of my phone. I considered pretending not to have seen it but then replied that I had just finished the lecture.
Since the last time I met Ha Suan, we hadn’t really been in contact. It would have been proper to thank him for taking me home when I was drunk that day, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind to do so.
I had been going on without thinking about Ha Suan, but the day before yesterday, he sent a message asking how I was doing. Instead of giving a detailed account of my recent life, I only replied that I was attending a computer academy these days.
[Ha Suan: I’m nearby, let’s meet briefly]
“What? Now?”
I slightly frowned at Ha Suan’s unilateral notification. I didn’t have anything else to do afterward, and there was no reason not to meet Ha Suan, but the thought of moving in this hot weather was annoying. The midsummer heat made people lazy and lethargic. Especially these days, my mind and body were quite exhausted, so just commuting to and from the computer academy drained my energy.
I was in the process of writing to Ha Suan that I wasn’t feeling well and we should meet another time. Ha Suan sent a message faster than I could send mine.
[Ha Suan: Come out]
[Ha Suan: I’m in front of the academy]
It was just a simple text, but strangely, the message read with an authoritative nuance. Rather than annoyance, I felt an intense fatigue. I rubbed my face with my dry hands, packed my bag, and got up. At this point, it seemed best to just have a coffee and part ways within an hour.
As expected, it was extremely hot outside. As soon as I left the building, hot air filled my lungs. I stood in front of the academy building and looked for Ha Suan.
“Where is he?”
I thought he would naturally be standing at the entrance door since he said he was right in front, but Ha Suan was nowhere to be seen. Wondering if he had brought a car, I walked to the ground-level parking lot behind the building. But in the building’s parking lot, there was not even an ant to be seen, let alone Ha Suan.
[Me: Where are you?]
[Me: I’m outside now]
[Me: At the parking lot]
Suppressing my irritation, I sent messages to Ha Suan. The asphalt in the parking lot was sizzling under the blazing sun. I was in the process of wiping away sweat flowing along my facial contours with the back of my hand and looking for a shaded area.
“Huh?”
I sensed a presence nearby. I looked around. There was no one in the parking lot except me. Surely Ha Suan wasn’t hiding? We’re not kids. Then where on earth is he?
[Me: I don’t see you, so I’m just going home]
[Me: See you next time]
Since the weather was hot, Ha Suan would understand. I didn’t want to sweat profusely waiting for or searching for him in this weather. It was just about time for the bus to arrive. If I went to the stop now, I could catch the bus on time.
As I was leaving the parking lot, I heard a rustling sound once more nearby. I stopped walking and looked around again. The parking lot was surrounded by large walls except for the vehicle entrance, giving a feeling of being cut off from the outside. Standing alone in such a place made me feel somewhat tense for some reason.
“Ha Suan, if you’re hiding… Waaaah!”
Suddenly, something sprung out like a coil from the flower bed. I was so startled that I let out a stupid scream.
“Ah. What is it. It’s just a cat.”
What jumped out from the flower bed was a kitten with black spots. I stroked my startled chest and started moving my feet again that had stopped.
At that moment, someone grabbed my shoulder with strong force from behind. Turning around, I saw a man in a black suit despite this hot weather.
But there was no one here until just a moment ago. Where did he come from?
“Are you Mr. Son Jaeo?”
“What? Oh, yes.”
Dumbfounded, I looked for the cat with the corner of my eye. Fortunately, the cat was curled up in a shaded area, grooming its face. I felt embarrassed for momentarily thinking the cat might have transformed into a person.
“Who are you?”
“I’m from the National Esper Control Center.”
“National Esper… Gasp! NECC?!”
The man nodded at my question, folding his narrow eyes and smiling like a fox. Then he took something out from inside his jacket. It was a large pouch made of black cloth. Feeling an inexplicable sense of danger, I estimated the distance between the parking lot exit and where I was standing. It seemed to be about 20 meters.
“I don’t know what this is about, but I need to catch my bus now.”
I awkwardly smiled and slowly walked toward the exit. But the man didn’t let me go.
“Please cooperate for a moment.”
As soon as he finished speaking firmly, black cloth was placed over my face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
