This year’s freshman representative came from the Martial Arts Department.
His name was Moon Mujin, a thirteen-year-old boy with dark skin and an explosive mop of hair that looked like it had been permed.
That little kid had entered the Academy with the highest scores among all the freshmen this year.
Yeowoo and I were in the Magic Department, but we were a kind of special-admission case accepted for our potential rather than our current abilities, so we couldn’t really compete with him.
……After that, everyone who went up to the podium was from the Martial Arts Department.
We present you with the such-and-such award.
For this and that, you receive the so-and-so award.
You did this and that, so you receive a scholarship…….
By the time my head was about to plunge straight into the floor, the long and tedious entrance ceremony finally came to an end.
***
After checking the double dorm room Yeowoo and I would be using with Mother and receiving the curriculum for our upcoming schedule from an Academy official, we finally said goodbye to Mother for real.
If she left Jinhae today, there was no telling when we would see her again.
We would probably meet again in three or four months, around vacation, but Yeowoo bawled her eyes out as she clung to Mother and begged her not to leave.
I, however, remained silent.
With a firm expression, I reminded myself why I had come here.
I would restore Father to his original state no matter what.
I steeled myself and clenched my fist.
Unlike Yeowoo, I stood there without shedding a tear, my expression resolute, and Mother interpreted my appearance in an entirely different way.
“Our Hyunwoo. You’re all grown up now, huh? You’re not even crying.”
Mother looked down at me with a complicated expression.
Apparently, she thought I was desperately suppressing my emotions and trying not to cry.
Well, maybe that’s better.
It would be better for her to misunderstand it that way.
“I’m fine. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again.”
“What a good boy.”
Mother stroked my head, her voice trembling.
……Don’t tell me she’s going to cry?
I looked straight into Mother’s eyes.
They were already brimming with tears that seemed ready to fall at any moment.
I had forgotten.
Even my biological parents were still just kids who hadn’t yet passed forty.
“SNIFF—!”
Mother sniffled. She looked down at me with a sorrowful expression.
I took Mother’s hand and comforted her with a firm expression.
***
After getting a good night’s sleep, our Academy life began in earnest.
To save time, Yeowoo and I washed our faces together as soon as we woke up and put on our uniforms together.
The uniforms, however, were rather unusual.
A white shirt with gray trousers (Yeowoo wore a skirt).
A tie patterned with orange and red at regular intervals.
A gray vest, the same color as the trousers.
And finally, a black jacket and a thick black robe.
Since we were in the Magic Department, there were more pieces than in an ordinary school uniform, but the uniform guide stated that if we wore the black jacket, we didn’t have to wear the black robe, and conversely, if we wore the black robe, we didn’t have to wear the black jacket.
The black robe was also issued exclusively to the Magic Department, and during yesterday’s orientation, they had even recommended wearing the robe instead of the jacket because it was a source of pride for the Magic Department.
There was a postscript saying that we could wear both if it was cold, but I felt like I would roast to death if I bundled up that much, so I left the jacket off.
Up to that point, it might have looked like an ordinary uniform one could see anywhere, but the jacket and robe were outlined in gold, making the overall design strikingly elegant and beautiful.
“Wow! It’s really pretty. What do you think, Hyunwoo? Am I pretty?”
“Yeah. You look like Hermione.”
“Kyaaah. Really?”
Actually, I was just flattering her to make her happy. Still, if she dyed her hair, she might look vaguely similar.
“Hyunwoo, hurry up and put yours on too. You just need to throw the robe on over that~”
“Yeah. Okay.”
I picked up the robe, slipped it on, and looked in the mirror.
It fit me surprisingly well, giving me the air of a young wizard.
Yeowoo seemed to think so too, because she exclaimed in admiration beside me while fussing with my clothes.
“Wow~ You look like Harry Potter. Ah, no. Ron? Th-this isn’t right either. Anyway, it looks really good on you~!”
“Thanks.”
Harry Potter and Ron, characters from the movies I had been forced to watch with Yeowoo, a die-hard Harry Potter fan, looked nothing like me.
Yeowoo was probably just flattering me too.
“But this emblem…… It’s really pretty.”
A crescent moon set within two circles.
This was another symbol representing the Magic Department, along with the robe.
The emblem was displayed not only on the robe but also on the jacket and vest.
DING-DONG—!
Just as we were completely absorbed in our uniforms, someone rang the bell to our dorm room.
Leaving Yeowoo to admire herself contentedly in front of the mirror, I walked to the front door and opened it while calling out, ‘Who is it?’
And then…….
“Hi, Hyunwoo!”
Sia greeted me with a bright smile and waved.
Instead of answering, I stared at her in surprise.
Black hair and large, bright eyes. Clear skin and a high, straight nose. She had the features of a classic beauty.
……Was she always this pretty?
The Magic Department uniform suited Sia incredibly well too.
Maybe even better than it suited Yeowoo.
I stopped staring and belatedly returned Sia’s greeting.
“Yeah, hi. But what brings you here?”
“I came so we could go to school together. Turns out my dorm room is right above yours, Hyunwoo~”
“Ah…… I see.”
Yeowoo sensed something and rushed over to the front door.
Then she glared at Sia with an obviously displeased expression.
“We’re going to take a while, so why don’t you go on ahead?”
“No. I’ll wait, big sis!”
“Why am I your big sis?”
“Because you’re one year older than me, so that makes you my big sis.”
Yeowoo spent a long moment looking Sia up and down with a dissatisfied expression.
Unable to endure the situation any longer, I urged her on.
“Sis. Hurry up. If we stay any longer, we’ll be late on our very first day.”
“……Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”
We grabbed the schoolbags we had prepared yesterday and hurried out of the dorm room for Sia, who was waiting for us.
The dormitory was a tall high-rise building, so we waited for the elevator.
While we waited, Sia looked at me and spoke.
“Ugh. I’m nervous. Hyunwoo, how about you? Aren’t you nervous?”
“Yeah. I’m a little nervous too.”
Today would be our first class and our first meeting with our classmates.
It really wasn’t anything special, yet somehow it still made me nervous.
Given all the years I had lived, it wasn’t enough to make my heart pound wildly, but if I had to describe how I felt in a single phrase, it would be something like a gentle sense of tension.
For a moment, I wondered whether Academy life might have some of the romance of Harry Potter, but I knew all too well that there was no chance of that.
Reality isn’t a fairy tale, after all.
“When we get there, everyone will be older than us, and then…….”
“Hyunwoo!”
“……Yeah?”
Yeowoo abruptly cut Sia off and called my name.
I flinched and looked at Yeowoo.
“What should we eat for lunch today?”
……Out of nowhere?
When I could only stare at her without answering, Sia responded to Yeowoo in a mocking tone.
“Big sis. The Academy serves lunch, so you don’t need to go somewhere else to eat. Didn’t you know?”
Just as Yeowoo stared at Sia with her eyes wide and was about to open her mouth, the elevator stopped at exactly the right moment.
DING—
The doors opened.
It was packed with people.
“Huh? It’s a boy.”
“What, what?”
“He’s a kid?”
To be precise, it was packed with girls.
They looked me up and down with eyes full of curiosity…….
“Ah…….”
I had completely forgotten.
The dormitory building I was staying in was for women only.
And I was the one and only male resident in the entire women-only dormitory.
As for why I, unlike the other boys, was staying in a women-only dormitory, the first reason was that I hadn’t enrolled here alone.
I had entered the Academy together with my biological older sister, Yeowoo, and on top of that, I was far too young to live with a complete stranger.
So the Academy had made a special exception and allowed me to live in the women-only dormitory.
If the situation were reversed, well…….
It was true that there would be something unsettling about having a ten-year-old girl live in a dormitory building full of boys.
The Academy’s higher-ups probably wouldn’t allow it even before the parents had a chance to complain.
They would probably separate my sister and me instead.
The elevator doors opened, and Yeowoo suddenly grabbed my hand before striding confidently out of the dormitory building.
Then, as though something displeased her, she glanced back over her shoulder.
As if drawn by something, I followed Yeowoo’s gaze and looked behind us…… only to realize that every girl’s eyes were fixed on me.
The students holding phones in their hands, and even the ones talking on the phone…… somehow, as if by coincidence, all met my eyes.
“Let’s go!”
Yeowoo gripped my hand tightly and headed toward the school bus stop.
“Big sis! Wait for me! Why are you in such a hurry?”
Unable to keep up with Yeowoo’s brisk pace, Sia ran after us.
“Hmph. I don’t like any of this. Hyunwoo!”
“……Whyyy?”
Without taking her eyes off the approaching Sia, Yeowoo quietly whispered to me.
“You have to be careful. Even if some weird girls try to seduce you or start treating you really nicely, you can’t just give them your heart.”
“Okay.”
“Especially…….”
“Let me in on it too! What were you talking about?”
Sia lightly tapped my shoulder and smiled brightly.
Before I could open my mouth, Yeowoo covered it with her hand.
“Nothing.”
“Hm? What is it? Tell me too.”
Right on cue, the school bus approached.
Still holding my hand, Yeowoo climbed aboard.
Sia boarded right behind us, and by sheer luck, we found empty seats in the back and sat side by side while waiting for the rest of the passengers.