By Zephyria “I’d rather run around the field!”
“This is abuse!”
“Woooooo-!”
The children shouted in front of the already closed gate.
Ki Jae-eon’s lips quirked up as the expected reaction returned without a single error.
“Can’t even do this much? If your previous Teacher was competent, you’d be able to do it easily. Didn’t the ‘Ki Jae-eon Teacher’ you were so proud of teach you?”
His sarcasm silenced the uproar.
It was then.
“Let’s change the terms.”
Kim Ju-won pushed through the children and walked to the front.
“The end time is six o’clock this evening.”
‘Advance the time from tomorrow morning to this evening?’
The reduction was quite significant. Or was he that confident?
‘With the Barrier I created?’
Ki Jae-eon’s eyebrow twitched for a moment.
“Instead, if we find you within that time…….”
“If you find me?”
Was he going to ask him to apologize for insulting ‘I’? As he was thinking quietly, Kim Ju-won smirked and pulled up the corners of his lips.
“I’ll tell you then.”
“…….”
“Why, are you scared because you don’t know what we’ll make you do?”
“Do it that way. The result is obvious anyway.”
Ki Jae-eon slowly turned his body with an expression that said provocations didn’t work on him.
“I hope you prove that your former Teacher wasn’t incompetent.”
In fact, this was nothing less than a war between Ki Jae-eon and the children of the main office.
Over [Ki Jae-eon], whom they both wanted to forget and remember.
It was a fierce battle of wills between those who wanted to show that the current self was much more capable, and those who wanted to protect the honor of the one they had been with.
Behind the creaking closing gate, the sound of shouting “Aja aja!” could be heard.
“I should have packed some simple snacks.”
Kim Yeong glanced back the whole way back. He knew that this test was not simple. If things went wrong, the children would have to camp out until six o’clock tomorrow morning without even a sip of water.
Did any of the children bring a wallet separately? To prevent them from doing anything else during training, they were prohibited from bringing personal belongings. Oh dear, he was screwed. Kim Yeong drooped his shoulders as if he felt sorry for them.
“……Ha.”
At that overprotection, Ki Jae-eon openly twisted his lips. Was skipping two meals a big deal? If they encountered a vicious Evil Spirit, skipping meals for a few days was common. This was nothing compared to that.
“If you’re that worried, you can move with them.”
“Yes? Ah……. No. I don’t want to lose face in front of the children. I’ll decline.”
Kim Yeong waved his hand with an embarrassed smile.
“Is that so? I understand. Then I’ll be going now.”
Ki Jae-eon pointed to the upper floor of the living room. He meant to part ways if there was nothing more to say. Understanding his intention, Kim Yeong once again asked him to take good care of the children. Whether he took good care of them or not was a matter for the rookies to work hard on, but he didn’t bother to find fault. Instead, he gave a light nod and turned his direction.
Then, he went up the stairs and created strong Barriers on each of the children’s doors.
Hmm, now the question is which room to go into.
‘My room is cliché.’
It was annoying to choose.
‘I should just go to the one five steps ahead.’
And so, one step, two steps……. After walking five steps, he arrived in front of a door that he didn’t know who it belonged to. Ki Jae-eon slowly reached out and turned the doorknob. Click. The door opened easily.
“…….”
He was going to leave if it was dirty, but fortunately, it was clean. Ki Jae-eon looked around as if it was a habit. Bed, desk, dresser, end. There were no decorations for interior design. The room owner seemed to be quite pragmatic, not interested in useless luxury items.
Honestly, it didn’t matter much whose room it was……. But since he was intruding, he thought he should at least know the name as a courtesy, so he rummaged through the belongings.
“Oh.”
Then he found the name written in a notebook.
Moderately neat, moderately scribbled handwriting.
[Ahn Seo-myeong]
It happened to be that guy’s room.
‘I get the feeling you don’t have any friends.’
That annoying voice automatically played.
Should he change rooms?
He hesitated for a moment but gave up.
‘Why should I avoid him?’
Ki Jae-eon quickly lost interest and plopped down on the bed with his arms crossed.
To shake off unnecessary thoughts, he thought he would concentrate on meditation for the first time in a while.
‘Anyway, it’ll take some time before those guys barge in.’
He closed his eyes and concentrated on the inner world…….
‘Your hands don’t get dirty, do they.’
Concentrate on…….
‘Wanna bet?’
He couldn’t concentrate…….
In the end, he opened his closed eyes again.
‘The more I think about it, the more annoying it gets.’
He quietly lifted his butt. His gaze, which had risen from the bed, reached the desk.
Just, well.
He wasn’t looking for a big secret.
‘Just a little bit…….’
Was he hoping to find something to use as leverage?
It wasn’t like he was planning to do anything really bad. He was just trying to see that smooth, annoying face turn red and flustered.
“Hyung is just playing a little prank on his dongsaeng, so you understand, right?”
He muttered an excuse in advance, worried that the Spirit might get angry, and busily moved his hands. But there was nothing special to find. He rummaged through the top drawer and the bottom drawer, but other than writing supplies and books needed for studying, and simple emergency medicine, there was nothing in particular.
Since there was nothing interesting, his desire to mess with the guy quickly faded.
‘Should I just do the meditation I was doing…….’
He picked up the notebook with the name written on it for the last time. Perhaps because he was thinking of finishing up soon, his gestures were quite insincere. Ki Jae-eon quickly flipped through the pages with a bored expression.
That was the moment.
Something caught his eye.
“?”
He paused and slowly turned back the page he had flipped past.
“……What is this.”
There, words were written that he couldn’t even pass off as a joke.
[I li]
Next were scribbles drawn haphazardly.
But the letters that were clearly visible through the scribbles.
Ki Jae-eon read the hidden letters with his eyes, stumbling over them.
‘A……. ke, you.’
I li, ke, you.
It was a simple confession sentence, written with a bit of hesitation, as if pressing down hard.
“Huh, not training.”
Honestly, it was a bit unexpected. That seemingly indifferent guy had this kind of passion.
‘Is it unrequited love?’
He wasn’t very interested in other people’s love, but since it was the other party, he became mischievously curious.
‘The main office has a high percentage of women. It’s a plausible story.’
But who could it be? Who could make that cocky guy so heartbroken…….
“Huh?”
At that moment, he discovered something written under the clumsy confession.
Huh? This…….
Ki Jae-eon blinked in confusion.
[Ahn Ki Seo Jae Myeong Eon]
5 3 4 6 8 5
8 7 0 4 3
5 7 4 7
2 1 1
32%
100
It was [Name Compatibility].
To explain in summary, it was a so-called compatibility reading that used the strokes of the name, and the higher the final value, the better the mutual harmony between the two people was known to be. He found out about it because there was once a moron who brought that ‘Name Compatibility’ chart, asking him to help him connect with a woman who had a 100% probability.
But an Exorcist was doing this?
Ki Jae-eon burst out laughing and picked out and read each of the mixed names one by one.
“Ki, Jae…… Uh?”
Ahn Seo-myeong.
Ki Jae-eon.
It was definitely written that way.
In other words…….
So…….
The owner of the compatibility that the cheeky brat wanted to see was none other than Ki Jae-eon, himself.
“How many…… hours has it been already.”
“Seriously, I think this is too much.”
“Ah, did I get the strokes wrong?”
It had been half a day since they had been racking their brains to break the talisman attached to the gate.
Everyone was exhausted and sprawled out.
The only ones who hadn’t given up were Kim Ju-won and Ahn Seo-myeong.
The two were squatting and discussing various strategies. Weren’t they tired? Lee Gyeong-hak, gasping for breath, silently stared at the two. Physical strength, endurance, spiritual power……. They couldn’t even be compared to him. Wow, crazy. Seriously. Lee Gyeong-hak shook his head in a positive sense. He felt like he wanted to send the two of them a round of applause for their perseverance.
Especially to Ahn Seo-myeong.
‘When did he grow up like that?’
He had a strong image of being average or in the middle, but at some point, he was closely following Kim Ju-won, who was called the next owner of the main office.
If he roughly estimated the timing……. Yeah, it was after Ki Jae-eon came.
‘He’s grown a lot since meeting Jae-eon hyung.’
After his appearance, Ahn Seo-myeong had made amazing progress. The guy who seemed to have no motivation was openly making an effort. He had begun to be greedy about his skills.
Was it because of admiration?
Did he want to be recognized?
‘Even so, it’s amazing…….’
Anyone can set goals and make resolutions.
It’s just difficult to put them into practice.
But Ahn Seo-myeong was doing it, purely through effort.
‘Amazing guy.’
No……. Was Ki Jae-eon the truly amazing one?
He had grown a guy who was good either way, and had even created a Barrier that dozens of Exorcists couldn’t budge.
“But isn’t this too much?”
At this rate, they were really going to be camping out. Just as Lee Gyeong-hak was letting out a whimper.
“Got it-!”
A loud shout was heard from nearby.
At the same time, the sound of the tightly closed gate opening was heard as well.