Chapter 15: Not Even a Little Bit Alike

My life returned to its usual monotony.

No more projectiles flying at me in class. Just boring lectures and afternoon naps.

I saw Team Leader Joo’s face less often now, superimposed on the teacher’s. They looked nothing alike.

Perhaps it was the feeling of confinement. This school, despite its spaciousness, felt like the basement.

Or perhaps it was because I was an F-rank. The higher-ranked students seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Seo-jun had visited me once, not because she remembered me or felt guilty, but because her friend insisted on apologizing.

She asked my name again. I didn’t answer. I told her not to ask the teacher either.

I didn’t care about her apology. Unless it came with a bag of white powder.

Was I sulking? Or just being difficult?

She could have just said, “I’m Yoo Ha-rin. I’m doing well. Aren’t you jealous?”

Why had I longed to see her, nurturing resentment and loneliness? I was the only one who cared. I was the only one who suffered.

My rescuer didn’t care. She had shown me kindness, a glimpse of a better life, a chance to feel human again, and then abandoned me to this despair.

I wished I had never known. Never seen a future beyond the slums.

I was hearing things now, probably from cutting back on the drugs.

Especially when I looked in the mirror.

The shards were long gone.

As I stared at the distorted moon through my dorm window, a buzzing sound came from my desk.

Si-hyun was calling.

I almost ignored it. I hadn’t gathered any useful information. It had been almost a month.

I answered. Her voice was slightly slurred.

I drank. I shouldn’t have, but I did.

Using the anniversary of my sister’s death as an excuse. I couldn’t bring myself to take drugs, like the girl from the lab.

I had bought Ha-rin a phone, but she hadn’t contacted me. I called her, probably fueled by alcohol.

I hoped my speech wasn’t slurred.

“Ha-rin?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you might call, at least.”

She didn’t reply, so I continued, my words tinged with a drunken resentment.

“How’s school?”

“It’s… fine. Nothing much has happened. Haven’t taken any exams yet.”

“Have you seen your friend?”

“I… saw her.”

Her voice sounded subdued. She hadn’t shown any emotion since returning from the lab.

I sobered up slightly, worried.

“Is anyone bullying you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The sparring matches are starting soon. I can have you excused. You won’t get hurt. The teachers usually overlook fights in the lower-ranked classes.”

Her voice turned cold. Had I said something wrong?

“Did you go to this school?”

I remembered Ha-rin’s voice, the first time I heard it, when I went to the lab, looking for the researchers’ prized possession.

The voice I heard when I offered to kill the woman who was tormenting her, after dealing with the guards.

The pitch, the tremor, the underlying emotions…

Thank you for freeing me, but this is my job.

She had knocked the gun from my hand and killed the woman herself.

The memory sobered me up further.

“I told you to call me unni.”

“You said you didn’t know anything about this place, that you sent me because you lacked information.”

She ignored me, continuing her thought.

“It’s been… years.”

“Do you think that’s a valid excuse?”

“What’s your problem? You wanted to go to this school.”

“I don’t have a problem. I just… don’t understand why you sent me here with such a flimsy excuse.”

Because we found you. We thought you were a valuable asset, but as we descended into the lab, we realized you were just a child.

We couldn’t send you to an orphanage. You weren’t… stable. You might hurt someone.

“The boss said you should make friends with promising students.”

We wanted you to have friends. You wouldn’t be able to connect with ordinary people.

You hadn’t opened up to us, either. We barely spoke, except during meals or when you asked for drugs.

Or perhaps you were seeing someone else’s face?

“We just wanted you to be… happy. Or at least, okay. You could have stayed with us, even without abilities.”

She was silent. I didn’t mind the silence.

It felt like she was hesitating. The girl who had acted and spoken without hesitation.

Had seeing her friend helped? Or was she finally opening up to me?

“I’ll… let it go. I’m not in a position to complain.”

A rustling sound, a soft intake of breath, then her voice, hesitant.

“But… why are you so kind to me?”

“You’re a young, powerful ability user.”

“Did I look pitiful, down there in the basement?”

You did. Powerful enough to kill without hesitation.

“Or do I remind you of your sister?”

You don’t look like her, but you remind me of her.

“Do you pity me, the girl who wouldn’t speak to her rescuers?”

I do. More than any stray I’ve ever rescued.

“We have nothing in common, except our age. Don’t say creepy things.”

You’re right. Nothing in common. Except our age.

“I’ll let you go. Call me when you leave. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Thank you. Thank you for calling.”

She had never thanked me before. It sounded perfunctory, but I appreciated it.

I stared at the call log, then opened the photo app, looking at a picture of a girl hugging me, smiling brightly.

She had red eyes, like the girl from the lab. Brown hair, though.

I stroked the screen, then tossed the phone onto the bed and took another swig from the bottle.

I only had one person who cared about me. My only friend didn’t recognize me. My family was dead.

Lee Si-hyun. The rabbit mask, in my mind.

I knew nothing about her, except her name, her appearance, and the fact that she had lost a sister.

She had taken me out of that lab, that hellhole, and into the city. She brought me drugs when I was shaking from withdrawal.

I still felt uncomfortable calling her “unni.”(Sister)

I didn’t know what she liked, what she thought, how she lived. But she was kind to me. Unreasonably so.

And I thought I knew everything about Seo-jun. But she didn’t recognize me. She wasn’t kind.

She had offered to apologize, but that was just who she was.

Righteous, idealistic, unlike anyone I had ever met in the slums.

She would help strangers, stand up to her friends, even if it meant jeopardizing their relationship.

They seemed close. Sneaking out at night to hunt villains…

——————

Knock, knock.

It was late. No one would visit me at this hour.

A wave of unease washed over me. I sliced my wrist with a shard of glass, wrapped it quickly in a white cloth, and cautiously opened the door.

“Hello…”

“Huh…”

I laughed, surprised.

 Hye-yeon stood there, a small paper bag in her hand.