Boooooo—
The sound of a ship’s horn echoed. It was the sea at night.
The ship sailing through the pitch-black ocean suddenly began to shake. It trembled as if an earthquake had struck beneath the sea.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
A sharp scream rang out.
Rumble—!
The sky roared, and lightning struck the ocean. Flash—just as the world lit up, the massive ship tilted to one side. As it leaned as if it might overturn, screams erupted everywhere.
In that moment, a gigantic arm burst out from the sea.
“Kyaak!”
The arm pierced through the chaos of screams and climbed onto the ship. Groping—feeling around across the deck, it soon grabbed a person.
“Ghk!”
The boy it seized coughed up blood.
“Sihyeon!”
A desperate shout rang out.
Splash!
The arm that had taken the boy plunged back into the sea.
“…….”
The tilted ship steadied, and the storm that had churned the ocean vanished.
And one boy also disappeared from that place.
“…Ah.”
“…….”
“Sihyeon!”
“……!”
Startled awake by the shout calling his name, Sihyeon shot up. He gasped for breath, and Haeun gasped along with him, clearly startled by his sudden movement.
“What, did you have a nightmare or something? Why are you so shocked?”
At Sihyeon’s reaction—which seemed a bit excessive—Haeun spoke. Nightmare. Hearing that word, Sihyeon slowly steadied his breathing and looked around.
A room.
It was the same room he always woke up in.
As his gaze rolled across the familiar surroundings, he saw familiar faces. Looking at his roommates, Sihyeon pressed a hand to his forehead.
Damn dream.
It had been a strange dream. A massive ship, and some boy whose face he couldn’t clearly see being dragged into the sea.
And of all things, that boy’s name was Sihyeon.
A strange, ominous dream.
Defining it that way, Sihyeon realized he was even covered in cold sweat. He looked toward Haeun.
“What time is it?”
“Eight! We have to head out in ten minutes! You looked tired, so I let you sleep a bit longer, but I think you should get up now. Did you not sleep well last night?”
Hearing Haeun’s unusually normal concern, Sihyeon shook his head. It was just a nightmare, that’s all.
As he shook his head, “Pya pya!” Pia cried beside him. He had fallen asleep with it on his stomach, but it seemed to have fallen off when he got up.
“Sorry.”
“Pya pya pya!”
It answered as if to say it was fine. Stroking Pia, Sihyeon picked it up. “Pyak!” As Pia bit his hand on its own, Sihyeon headed into the bathroom and washed his face one-handed.
After brushing his teeth and changing clothes, he managed to finish everything just within ten minutes.
“I’m heading out.”
“Piii….”
At his farewell, Pia cried gloomily. Sihyeon stroked it several times, then looked at the others standing behind him. At his silent signal to cooperate, the others also patted Pia.
“We’re off!”
“Don’t cause trouble.”
“We’ll be back soon.”
As each of them said their goodbyes, Pia’s crying grew even more sorrowful. In the end, Sihyeon spent another five minutes trying to calm the crying baby Irregular before realizing he really had to go and setting Pia down.
“Pya-pya!”
“If you wait nicely, a teacher will come take care of you.”
“Pii… pii…”
“We’ll be back soon.”
At first, he had only thought of it as a freeloader, but he didn’t know when he had grown so attached. It was only four days apart, yet it kept crying, and it bothered him. Reluctantly tearing his gaze away, Sihyeon put on his shoes. He forced himself to ignore Pia’s cries behind him.
By the time he closed the door, it was 8:20. Rushing to the field, the waiting teachers scolded his group, saying the assembly time was 8:20—how could they arrive late? Feeling slightly wronged, Sihyeon moved his lips but quietly nodded instead.
“You’re late.”
After being scolded and returning to Class A’s line, Seowoo spoke.
“Pia kept crying.”
“Oh dear.”
That soft voice of consolation sounded fake. Clicking his tongue at his own ability to interpret it that way, Sihyeon pushed Seowoo’s back.
“Quit the nonsense and look ahead.”
The Principal was giving announcements about the school trip. Pressing his back forward as if to say listen to that, Sihyeon finally got Seowoo to turn his head.
“This school trip will be a cruise, and for safety, we have also arranged for Awakened of A-rank and above.”
“Oh.”
A-rank—just below S-rank. Even B-rank was reassuring, so A-rank spoke for itself. Having just had an ominous dream, Sihyeon felt relieved. If A-rank Awakened were on standby, it felt like they’d be fine no matter what happened.
Of course, some of Class A—like Hamin and Haru—were near A-rank as well, but they were only near it. Their abilities were good, but they lacked experience. They couldn’t compare to A-rankers who had gone through countless real battles.
“The trip to Germany will take approximately 20 hours. On the first day at sea, there will be a party onboard. At that time, there will be recreational activities in the main hall. If you follow your teachers’ guidance, you will be given sufficient freedom. Further details of the itinerary will be explained later by your homeroom teachers. I know this is your first school trip and you’re excited, but please follow your instructors carefully.”
All around, students complained that this meant they’d only get one day to enjoy Germany. But only two phrases stuck in Sihyeon’s ears.
First day at sea—and recreational activities.
It was the moment he once again realized that today was the day of the talent show.
“Alright, Class A, we’re departing!”
At the teacher’s call, the Class A students, including Sihyeon, began to move. Since each class had its own vehicle prepared, Class A had the luxury of using a bus with just eight people. There were plenty of seats, so there was no need for the usual seat competition.
I should sit in the front.
He got motion sickness easily, so he didn’t want to suffer sitting in the back. After talking it over with Haru, Sihyeon nodded. Sitting in the second or third row seemed fine—not too far forward, but not too far back either.
As he walked slowly toward the bus, something lightly brushed against his fingertips. Turning his head, he saw Haru.
“…Do you want to hold it?”
“Huh?”
“Your hand.”
“Ah….”
It just brushed by.
At Sihyeon’s words, Haru spoke quietly. Letting out a small “ah,” Sihyeon turned his head forward.
He really must have developed delusions.
Haru liked being patted by him, and they had held hands before, so he had assumed it would happen again—but realizing that was embarrassing. Just then, Haru’s fingertips lightly brushed his hand again. Thinking it was another accidental touch, Sihyeon kept looking ahead when a small voice spoke near his ear.
“…Can I hold it?”
“…….”
The voice, right next to his ear, made Sihyeon look at him. They were standing very close, and with the difference in height, Haru’s words reached his ear directly—it felt unexpectedly ticklish.
“Your hand?”
Just to confirm, he asked, and Haru nodded. Blinking, thinking since when did you ask before, Sihyeon took Haru’s hand. A sound—somewhere between a sigh and a soft exclamation—escaped Haru. Sihyeon simply continued walking silently, holding his hand.
Boarding the bus, as planned, Haru and Sihyeon immediately took seats near the front.
But—
“Sihyeon! Haru hyung!”
“…….”
“Come over here!”
That damn Kang Haeun was loudly calling them from the back.
They weren’t even that far apart, yet he shouted as if they were separated by ten thousand meters. His voice echoed through the bus, making Sihyeon cover his ears, his expression crumpling.
“I get motion sickness.”
“I’ll put a buff on you!”
“What?”
There’s a buff for not getting motion sickness?
As Sihyeon asked in disbelief, Haeun acted faster than words—running straight to the homeroom teacher to get permission to use his ability. Saying he wanted to cast a resistance buff for Sihyeon, he got approval, even putting on a pitiful expression while doing so—it was absurd.
Watching Haeun return confidently after getting permission, Sihyeon spoke suspiciously.
“Is that kind of buff actually real?”
“There’s a status resistance buff! If motion sickness counts as a status condition, it should resist it too, right?”
“…….”
It was strangely convincing. As Sihyeon hesitated, Haeun—who clearly didn’t care about his opinion from the start—cast the buff. A golden aura wrapped around Sihyeon.
Feeling the cool sensation enveloping his body, Sihyeon looked at Haeun, who had cast it without consent.
It did feel like the dizziness would be gone—but casting a buff without permission was clearly wrong. His blue eyes narrowed.
“Hehe!”
Under that sharp gaze, Haeun just smiled. You can’t spit at a smiling face… it almost made scolding him feel pointless. Letting out a sigh, Sihyeon swallowed his resignation. It was a buff cast for his sake, and with that angelic smile on such a cute face, it was hard to say anything.
Though it was obvious that at the end of it all, he just wanted to sit together.
Reluctantly giving in, Sihyeon stood up.
“Fine, let’s just go.”
“Yay!”
At Sihyeon’s concession, Haeun made a victory V-sign. In the end, the Four Heavenly Kings took the four back seats, and the remaining four sat in front of them. Split into pairs, Jihye and Dawoon sat on the right, while Sihyeon and Haru sat on the left.
Looking at the vast empty space in front, Sihyeon found it ridiculous. This huge bus was being used by just nine people including the teacher, yet they were all crammed into the back.
“Who wants to play ‘I Am Ground’!”
Meanwhile, unrelated to Sihyeon, Haeun excitedly started a mini-game. Having given up the window seat to Haru, who wanted it, Sihyeon reclined his seat fully and lay back. Ignoring Haeun’s complaints about it being cramped as punishment.
Vroom—the bus engine roared to life.
As the bus finally departed, the students chatted noisily. Then, a hand reached out above Sihyeon, who was frowning.
“…?”
“You look like you need it.”
Tilting his head back, Sihyeon saw Geonwoo holding out a sleep mask. It had been a while since they spoke.
“Isn’t that yours?”
“It’s fine if you use it.”
“Then I’ll borrow it for a bit.”
At Sihyeon’s words, Geonwoo nodded calmly. When Sihyeon asked if he had earplugs, he silently nodded again and handed those over too. Not stopping there, Geonwoo even gave him the neck pillow he was using.
It was like he was ready to give away everything he had.
Ending up with an unexpectedly luxurious setup, Sihyeon thanked him and put on each item.
Earplugs in, neck pillow on, sleep mask over his eyes.
Leaning back fully and closing his eyes, it felt like heaven.
“Hahaha!”
Haeun’s laughter occasionally broke through and woke him up several times. But eventually, Sihyeon got used to it, and as if making up for the sleep he lost to the nightmare, he fell asleep on the bus.
Sihyeon, who said he’d only borrow them for a moment, ended up not returning Geonwoo’s things until they got off the bus.
