Chapter 147: The Distance Between Us

I was resting my chin on my hand, staring out the window, when I felt a sharp poke in my back.

Turning around slightly, I saw Yeon Ha-yeon handing me a note.

[Is something wrong?]

Her intuition was uncanny.

Since I wasn’t sure if I should tell her what Kang Ye-dam had said or about the quest, I just shook my head silently.

Yeon Ha-yeon gave me a suspicious look.

[Is Ban Eun-hyeol bothering you? Should I go scold him?]

Receiving a note filled with affection, a small chuckle escaped me.

Apparently, she thought I’d gotten into a fight with Ban Eun-hyeol.

“If it’s Yeon Ha-yeon, she could really put Ban Eun-hyeol in his place.”

Maybe later, if Ban Eun-hyeol upset me, I’d ask Yeon Ha-yeon to scold him.

The past few days, I’d been tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to complete the quest, so this little interaction felt like a breath of fresh air.

Yeon Ha-yeon, who usually paid little attention to others, was surprisingly considerate of my change, and I was truly grateful.

…Which only made me more determined to find a way to protect all of them.

I glanced one by one at Han Ji-bin and Ji Kang-han, who were lying face down in the front row, Ban Eun-hyeol, who was watching the blackboard but sitting with a crooked posture, and then to Eun Ba-da and Yeon Ha-yeon in the back row, who were listening with more enthusiasm than anyone.

I steeled myself once again.

***

“I’m heading out first!”

“I have somewhere to be today too. I’ll go ahead.”

As soon as the final bell rang, the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Ha-yeon each had something to do and left the classroom early.

I had thought about honestly sharing my worries with my friends after school today, but it seemed it wasn’t my day.

Even Ban Eun-hyeol left, saying he had things to take care of at home, so I ended up going home alone.

‘I should at least take a nap when I get home.’

Ever since I found out I could cross over to the other dimension in my dreams, my sleeping hours had increased dramatically.

At school, even if I wasn’t sleepy, I’d just lie down on my desk, and at home, aside from meal times or watching TV with my parents, I mostly stayed in bed.

Lying down like that made my eyelids heavier and heavier.

After constantly sleeping both at school and home, I naturally started thinking about going to bed as soon as I got home.

‘How peaceful it is to walk home like this.’

Whenever I went home with the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Ha-yeon, I was always the center of attention. Attention alone wouldn’t have been so bad.

But because the girls would swarm around us, the walk home felt like a celebrity’s exit from work.

But today, walking home alone without anyone clinging to me felt wonderful.

Just as I was about to step lightly through the school gates—

“Dana.”

At that familiar voice, I turned my head sharply.

‘Do I-hyun?’

I was sure I’d heard Do I-hyun’s voice, but maybe it was just a trick of my ears.

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see him.

‘Am I hallucinating?’

How long had it been since I last saw Do I-hyun to be hearing things?

Was I just missing a friend I used to be close to?

I was deep in thought when—

“Dana.”

This time I heard it clearly.

It was definitely Do I-hyun’s voice.

“Do I-hyun?”

He seemed to be hiding his presence with stealth near the school gates.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have heard his voice without seeing him.

Just as I suspected, I caught a glimpse of Do I-hyun’s silhouette.

He briefly appeared, then vanished again into stealth before walking up beside me.

“I figured you’d hate standing out… I’ll turn off stealth once we’re away from school.”

He whispered quietly into my ear, matching his pace to mine.

I had always thought I should contact Do I-hyun first, or visit the Association to meet him, but I never expected him to approach me like this.

‘He came all the way to see me at school, even using stealth?’

I’d wondered if Do I-hyun just thought of me as a friend, and I was overthinking things.

But if he was just a friend, he probably wouldn’t have used stealth to find me after being distant for a while.

My suspicions were turning into certainty as he led me to a vacant lot a little away from the school.

“Wait a second.”

Do I-hyun suddenly strode toward a nearby high school where a gang fight was about to break out.

Each boy was clutching a wooden plank, facing each other in groups, when Do I-hyun walked right into the middle of them.

“What’s this?”

One boy, seeing the unexpected intruder, spat on the ground and spoke in a rough tone.

‘Must have bad eyesight.’

That boy was standing at the back of the group.

I could understand thinking he had bad eyesight.

It was a typical reaction from delinquents who weren’t Awakened.

“Hey, shut up!”

One of the group quickly clamped his hand over the boy’s mouth.

The others seemed to have recognized Do I-hyun as soon as he appeared.

Do I-hyun looked around at the delinquents on both sides.

“I want to use this place quietly today.”

It was just one sentence, but its effect was incredible.

As Do I-hyun’s unique flat, emotionless voice echoed in the lot, the delinquents promptly dispersed.

Soon, only wooden planks remained where the gang had been standing.

“It’s quiet now. Shall we talk?”

Satisfied, Do I-hyun approached the bench in the corner of the lot where I had been sitting.

He plopped down beside me, hesitated as if choosing his words, then looked at me and said,

“I heard from Kang Ye-dam.”

Was this another wild goose chase?

Ah, how embarrassing.

I’d thought the reason Do I-hyun came was to get close again, but starting with Kang Ye-dam’s name caught me off guard.

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions.’

He only comes to me when he has a reason, and avoids me otherwise.

That was proof he didn’t like me.

Suddenly, I felt sorry for him.

Despite my feelings, I answered seriously to the heavy topic Do I-hyun brought up.

“So you heard too.”

Since Do I-hyun knew my identity, it made sense Kang Ye-dam would tell him.

But it seemed he told him later than I thought, otherwise Do I-hyun would’ve come right after hearing.

“They say you got a quest. Is it true you don’t have to go back to the other dimension?”

“I don’t know for sure, but probably. If this was something I had to finish by going to the other dimension, the quest wouldn’t have appeared like this.”

“I heard the reward is a question mark.”

Since Do I-hyun knew everything Kang Ye-dam told him, he must have heard every detail.

“Yeah. Since the reward is a question mark, I think it means the heretic in the other dimension and me here will be swapped. I figure that’s the best possible reward.”

This was what I had come up with after much thought.

If going to the other dimension would solve everything, there’d be no need for a quest.

They could just open a gate like last time and send me there.

But since Kang Ye-dam came back and a quest appeared, maybe the system is helping me settle here instead.

Of course, this was just my guess.

The system might not be as kind as I hoped.

“Yeah, that does sound like the best option.”

Do I-hyun tapped the ground absentmindedly with his toe.

“Have you figured out how to go to the other dimension in your dreams yet?”

“Ugh, that’s the biggest headache. I can’t even control the dreams in the first place, so I have no idea how to find a way. Maybe I should try lucid dreaming.”

Recently, my search history was flooded with terms like ‘lucid dream’, ‘how to lucid dream’, and ‘how do you lucid dream?’

Whether following guides online would actually help me lucid dream was unknown, but I couldn’t just sit around and watch.

“Lucid dreaming? That’d be great if you succeed.”

“Right? I’m definitely going to try tonight.”

Clenching my fists, I vowed to try.

Seeing that, Do I-hyun gave a small laugh, tilted his head slightly, and looked at me quietly.

“Next time we meet, tell me how it’s going. And if you meet Kang Ye-dam, bring me along.”

“Sure. I’ll do that from now on.”

I was about to get up since it felt like our conversation about the future was wrapping up.

But Do I-hyun grabbed my school uniform sleeve.

Standing awkwardly, I sat back down on the bench, looking at him with a confused expression.

“Why?”

Do I-hyun hesitated as if about to say something, then finally spoke.

“Don’t avoid me anymore.”

“Uh…?”

I thought he must have noticed I was avoiding him, but hearing it directly made me flustered.

As a foolish answer slipped out, Do I-hyun lowered his head deeply but then raised his gaze to meet mine.

It was a completely different atmosphere from the times we met casually and hung out.

His lips opened and closed a few times before a trembling voice came out.

“I know why you’ve been avoiding me.”