Episode 62 Dreaming Eyes’ Bond (1)
A lot of time has passed since I had my first kiss with Yena.
Before I knew it, it was the end of the second semester of our second year.
It had become the season where snow was falling and sweet carols filled the air.
Winter.
It holds great significance for me.
After finishing my second semester finals, I was now waiting for the winter break.
This means there’s nothing left to do at school right now.
I lethargically went to school again today.
Just for reference, our school is specialized, focusing on advanced topics rather than the usual subjects like Korean, English, Math, Social Studies, and Science, which are typically covered in other humanities fields.
As such, classes are divided by major.
I was here in the Hunter Department, aiming to become a ‘Hunter.’
In addition to the Hunter Department, there are also other medical fields, accounting, and IT departments.
So for that reason, even as years go by, your class and seat remain the same.
There are upsides to it, but sitting in the same class, in the same seat can also become mundane.
Still, whenever I go to school, I’m simply happy that I can always sit next to Yena.
I looked curiously at the open classroom door in this cold.
‘… Is no one here?’
The lights were off in the classroom.
The hallway was too quiet, as if I had arrived too early.
Even the bathroom, which usually had the lights on, didn’t have a sliver of light seeping through the door.
As I entered the classroom, I closed the door and turned on the lights.
– Tap.
“Turn off the lights.”
– Tap.
A familiar voice came from nearby my usual seat.
As soon as I heard that voice, I instinctively turned the lights back off.
“What is it?”
“What do you mean? It’s better when it’s dark. Anyway, when everyone arrives later, the vice-class president will take care of it, right?”
The owner of that familiar voice was Junseok.
“Is that so? Stop bothering the vice-class president.”
“What’s the big deal? That guy’s always bragging about his gaming rank. This level of revenge is nothing, right? It’s something the class president and vice can take care of anyway.”
“Well, since the vice-class president does everything that the class president usually does, it’s not a problem to do a little of this kind of work.”
“Right? Minseong is just enjoying himself over there.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I half-heartedly agreed with Junseok while placing my bag on my seat.
As I looked to sit down, I noticed Yena was already at school beside me.
She seemed tired and looked like she was sleeping, lying down even though I sat next to her.
“… Yena, when did you arrive?”
“Oh, I don’t know when your girlfriend got here, but she came earlier than me.”
I stared at the blanket and the stuffed animal Yena had with her, wondering where she got them.
Junseok continued to fiddle with his smartphone.
“Can’t you turn on the lights? It’s not like we’re children of darkness or anything—”
“I left the door open, so light from the hallway is coming in.”
A strange logic.
‘Opening the door makes it cold…’
I couldn’t bring myself to say it and took out my smartphone, starting to kill time.
**********
09:00.
As always, the homeroom teacher entered and held a morning assembly.
I thought it would be the usual unremarkable talk today.
“Class president!”
“Yes, here!”
Our class president was a slightly frail girl wearing square glasses.
“Today, the vice-class president is absent due to illness. If the other subject teachers ask about his absence, respond as such.”
The class president nodded several times.
The homeroom teacher cleared her throat and left the classroom.
I thought we could finish the second year without anything special.
But today, Minseong didn’t come to school.
‘Is something wrong?’
Questions arose as I cautiously moved from sleeping Yena to sit next to Junseok, right in front of Minseong’s desk.
I started speaking in a very quiet voice, just loud enough for Junseok to hear.
“Why didn’t Minseong come today?”
“Maybe it’s to feign illness. Or something happened yesterday, right? He always takes a different route home.”
Junseok replied, also in a low voice.
I took out my smartphone and left a note for Minseong.
“Weren’t you gaming with him yesterday?”
I then asked Junseok.
He shook his head.
“Minseong was offline yesterday.”
“What? Really?… Okay, I get it.”
I returned to my seat.
I was surprised by the fact that Minseong was offline since he was famous for being a gaming addict even at school.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he neglected his studies.
He always manages to score a level 2 across all subjects, as he is very talented.
He doesn’t have level 1 scores, but anyway, he’s well-known as the best gamer in our school and neighborhood.
To prove this, his rank in games is ‘Master.’
It’s not to be compared with our lowly ranks.
Even though the game season has reset and he’s currently at Diamond rank, I’m sure Minseong will quickly climb back to Master rank.
So while he’s known as a gaming addict, his skills are equally recognized.
– Vroom, vroom.
My phone vibrated.
A reply from Minseong had come.
His message shocked me.
A photo and location link he sent.
And a text saying that he had been admitted to this place.
Along with a message telling me not to worry too much.
The fact that a friend, deeper in friendship than others, had been admitted hit me hard.
Friends I met in high school were usually just classmates.
Friends from middle school, like Junseok, fall into that category.
And Minseong I’ve known since elementary school… No, he’s been with me since kindergarten.
He was already immersed in games back in kindergarten.
I had maintained a close connection with him since then, beyond just appearing as friends.
Not just on the surface, but deep in my heart as well.
I replied to him.
This is where the distinction lies.
If he were a true friend, he would just smile.
If he were a friend, he would ask if he was okay.
If he were my best friend…
**********
I went to the homeroom teacher’s office and requested a sick leave due to a headache.
Of course, I had informed the class president beforehand so she wouldn’t be put in a difficult position.
Anyway, I returned to the classroom to pack my things.
I let Junseok know what was happening briefly.
Then, I took a yellow Post-it note from the space under my desk and wrote my situation on it, leaving it on Yena’s desk.
At the end of the note, I wrote to text me if something happened.
Anyway, I found myself in front of the university hospital.
As I entered the hospital, the unique scent of calming medicinal herbs soothed my heart.
As soon as I entered, a robot standing at chest height greeted me.
‘What is this?’
I lightly brushed off the snow on my shoulders and looked at the monitor attached to the robot’s body.
There was a message saying, “How can I assist you?”
‘Just a simple helper robot? The world has become convenient.’
I pressed ‘Visiting a Patient’ on the interface.
After going through several procedures, a whole hour passed before I received my permit.
The paper printed by the hospital robot read, “The patient you are looking for is in Room 103 on the 10th floor.”
There was a small robot character drawn, perhaps the hospital’s mascot.
I hung the temporarily issued hospital access pass around my neck and took the elevator to the 10th floor.
Inside the elevator was a large mirror, and someone had written in non-erasable marker at the bottom.
It read, “Always, let’s be humble.”
‘I wonder if someone in a wheelchair wrote this…’
It was written small and at the very bottom corner, so if standing, there wouldn’t be a reason to write there.
‘Even so, what a thoughtless act.’
I momentarily thought to myself, ‘Maybe the person who did this deserved to be hospitalized.’
Upon reaching the 10th floor, the elevator doors opened completely.
Unlike other elevators, the doors slid open from right to left.
Due to the hospital atmosphere, there were slight differences from the things I was used to in daily life.
With the access pass around my neck, I scanned it to open the door leading to the hallway lined with patient rooms.
Although the automatic door didn’t open completely, I hurriedly passed through the gap.
I began searching for the room where Minseong was.
After a while, I finally found the room where Minseong was.
Room 103.
I was unnecessarily anxious and was about to turn in a circle, but I realized I had walked past Room 103 twice since it was right by the door.
Is there a saying that the more you rush, the more you go around?
‘No… that can’t be right. If I’m in a hurry, I shouldn’t go around. I should find the shortcut.’
I stood in front of the patient room, scanning the access pass once again.
– Beep.
With a cheerful notification sound, the door to the patient room opened.
Minseong was fortunately occupying the 6-person room all to himself.
As if to indicate that there was only Minseong in Room 103, the monitor in front of the door displayed only his name.
I opened the door to the patient room.
“I’m here.”
“Who’s calling me ‘Hyung’? You start off by talking nonsense as soon as you get here.”
Minseong was seated at the edge of the bed, looking out the window and not looking directly at me.
The window in the patient’s room was large.
It had a view that seemed like it belonged in a high-rise office building, perfectly showcasing the view outside.
He was gazing at the falling snow outside.
“So, why are you hospitalized?”
“Did you come here without knowing that? Honestly, I didn’t think you would actually come.”
“Did I seem like someone who would lie about such a thing?”
Minseong still wasn’t looking at me and kept staring out the window.
“… Look, it’s snowing again… just like that day.”
“Enough, I didn’t come to talk about trivial past stories.”
I noticed we had nothing to talk about and quickly shifted to a subject that Minseong would easily engage in.
“About that game rank you mentioned—”
“Shut up!… I’m sorry… but I really hope you don’t talk about games in front of me.”
This gaming addict doesn’t want to discuss games?
“Games are just too detestable in my life.”
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