Chapter 52 Part 2: Cost.

I wondered briefly if there was someone else who might be coming to visit.

But I couldn’t keep someone waiting.

“Come in.”

As soon as I said that, the hospital room door opened carefully.

And an unexpected face slowly entered the room.

“…Vice Principal?”

“Ah, you don’t need to get up. I know you’re sick.”

“Ah… um, then… I apologize.”

My heart pounded with a strange feeling.

I wondered for a moment if it was okay to greet her while sitting like this.

The Vice Principal took a seat near me without saying much.

“Are you feeling any better? I heard you fainted because you used too much strength.”

“I think I’m feeling a bit better. Maybe because I rested… I guess.”

“I see. Are… all these snacks and sweets from students who came to visit?”

“There’s a classmate named Gong Jinhoo, he brought them all as a representative. Would you like some?”

“I was just needing a bit of sugar… Thank you.”

The Vice Principal immediately unwrapped a piece of candy and continued.

“This is delicious. I believe this is a popular item at the school store.”

“Really?”

“I used to enjoy eating these when I was young, too. Back then, they called these junk food and told us not to eat them.”

“Come to think of it, do people still use the term junk food these days?”

“Well, I guess they do. Anything that looks unhealthy is probably junk food. More importantly….”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I want to talk to you about in more depth… Is that okay?”

With those words, the Vice Principal sat down on the edge of my bed.

She didn’t say anything else, but for some reason,

the atmosphere suddenly shifted, and I felt breathless.

I also started to have a certain conviction that she hadn’t come simply for a visit.

…I wasn’t sure what the topic would be, but it was clear that it wouldn’t be light.

Perhaps… maybe she had realized my abnormality.

If that was the case… what should I do.

Should I affirm it, or… deny it.

Just then, my thoughts were growing increasingly complicated.

“The finals are coming up soon, will you be able to do well? I hope you’ll be in good condition by then.”

A different topic than I had expected.

Thanks to that, I could relax a little.

I thought maybe we would just end up talking about everyday things.

“Ah, um… I’ll be fine by then.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Yes. Ah, would you like some more candy? This one is delicious.”

As I said that, I chose an appropriate conversation topic in my head.

I wanted something that was moderately casual and wouldn’t seem strange.

I just thought of something suitable.

I was about to slowly change the subject.

“Do you happen to know what happened to your guardian?”

“…Gasp.”

All the worst-case scenarios imaginable ran through my head.

I also thought about how I could get out of this situation.

The Vice Principal paused for a moment and then spoke again.

“Your aunt and… the others.”

“…Yes.”

“It might be presumptuous of me to ask, but are you related by blood?”

I knew I had to answer.

But when I came to my senses, I was already….

“I… don’t want to answer.”

…I was exercising my right to remain silent like a child.

The reason was simple.

I felt that the moment that past was revealed, I would never be able to grasp an ideal future.

One of my concerns was how I could ever bridge the gap created by that past.

In the unlikely event.

That if I lived like this… pretending nothing was wrong… eventually, it might actually become as if nothing had happened.

So I didn’t answer.

Even as the Vice Principal silently pressed me for an answer with her eyes, I avoided it.

I continued… to remain silent, refusing to answer.

I don’t know how much time passed like that.

When I still didn’t answer, the Vice Principal nodded as if she understood.

“…Alright, tell me whenever you feel like talking.”

I nodded instead of answering.

Then, I awkwardly saw the Vice Principal out.

After that… I didn’t know what to do.

So I just slowly munched on snacks and tried to pretend that everything was fine.

Of course, even as I did that, my mind was a mess.

I had no idea how the situation would unfold from here.

My aunt would probably hide it well, but the moment she got caught, it would definitely be a problem.

Not only would the past experiments be revealed, but my aunt and uncles, who were still active, would also be caught.

“…Ah.”

I could only sigh.

I thought it might have been better to just kill them.

But the thought of definitely ending someone’s life… I still felt resistance to that.

From the time I was a test subject… until now.

Well, it was obvious just from the fact that I had kept my aunt alive until now.

In the end, my head just got more complicated.

And I knew what to do when my head got this complicated.

“Sigh….”

With a sigh, I roughly put away the snacks I had been eating and started preparing for bed.

Usually, when my head was this complicated, it seemed better to just sleep.

After sleeping and waking up… I returned to my daily life, slightly terrified.

I was afraid that the Vice Principal might come with bad news.

Fortunately, for the next few days, the Vice Principal didn’t say anything.

As much as I had worried about something happening, I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I hoped that nothing would happen like this.

And before I knew it, the finals were just next week.

After resting at home this weekend, the sports festival would be held on Monday.

Maybe it was because the sports festival was so close.

I often saw students who said they would stay at the academy to maintain their senses instead of going home.

Of course, I just wanted to go home.

I needed time to rest alone, rather than worrying about my senses or anything like that.

“…Hmm.”

The house I arrived at was exactly as I remembered it.

I was worried that something might have happened, but fortunately, there were no changes.

It was obvious what I should do in this situation.

I stood still for a moment, then rolled up my sleeves and started cleaning.

Since it hadn’t been touched by human hands for a long time, a lot of dust had accumulated.

At the same time, I slowly filled the coldness that had settled in the house with my warmth.

Although I would be going back in two days, I still wanted to make it look like someone was there.

Then, while I was cleaning my room, I felt something strange.

I should have been alone in this house… but I felt someone’s presence in the kitchen.

“Is that you, Aunt?”

I said that and went to the kitchen, but.

The person in the kitchen pointed to their hair instead of answering.

A familiar, pink color.

I didn’t have to look to know who it was.

I felt breathless, but I tried to calm down and spoke.

“…Why are you here?”

“I don’t think you need to be so hostile….”

“It’s not a hostile reaction… It’s a natural reaction.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Just tell me why you’re here.”

I said that, but I had a rough idea of what his purpose was in coming here.

He probably finished making the drug he said he would make last time, or something like that.

Of course, I couldn’t help but think that he had appeared too quickly for that.

It was definitely strange that he could make such a drug in such a short period of time.

“…Hurry up and tell me why you’re here.”

So I deliberately pressed him, but the Trickster just smiled calmly.

It was very unpleasant, but there was practically nothing I could do now.

I couldn’t get rid of the Trickster without receiving that drug.

No, he wouldn’t be obediently boiled in the first place.

…Anyway.

“If you’re not going to tell me why you’re here, I want you to leave this house.”

“I was 고민ing.”

“…About what?”

“Which one to say first… that’s what I was 고민ing about.”

The Trickster said that and grinned.

He had that disgusting look in his eyes, as if daring me to guess what he was thinking.

No matter what answer I gave, I felt like he would say it was wrong and be annoying… so I was even more disgusted.

“You came because of the drug, right?”

“No?”

“…Then what did you come for?”

My head became complicated.

If it wasn’t for that reason, then what was it?

Well, no.

One thing was clear.

It wouldn’t be something beneficial to me.

I thought maybe he had brought a way to trap me….

“Um, by the way… Yeji.”

“…What?”

“Your guardian… seemed very worried about you.”

Ah.

Damn it.

“We’re protecting your guardian… so, you know.”

The Trickster said that and stared at me as if asking if I had any questions.

…Naturally, I had questions.