The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

Once the words were out, the one most shocked by them was none other than Yu Ji-hyeok himself.

Only now—only after he'd said it—did he realize how pathetic he'd just been. What he'd spat at her hadn't just been cowardly. It had been petty.

And as always, by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

"H-Hey, listen. What I just said—"

Watching Lee Yu-na's expression darken sharply, he squeezed his eyes shut before he knew what he was doing.

If she lashed out at him right now, or looked at him with contempt, he'd deserve every bit of it. With that thought, he started with an apology for how callous he'd just been.

"…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Yu-na. I didn't mean any of that. I really didn't."

"……."

But Yu-na said nothing. She just reached out and tugged at his right hand.

"Your hand. If you leave it like that, it's going to get really bad."

"Uh—yeah."

Without a word, Yu-na set to work with practiced motions—cleaning his mangled right hand, spraying it with medicine, wrapping it in bandages. Basic first aid.

How did she even know to carry stuff like this on her? He started to wonder, then remembered: ever since she'd taken on the role of his caretaker, she'd been keeping all sorts of first-aid supplies on hand.

She'd kept it up all this time…?

Subdued, he quietly watched her face for any reaction.

She was short to begin with, and with her head bowed, all he could see was the crown of it. Then Yu-na tilted her head.

"Ji-hyeok. What you said just now."

He started to say something, then decided to just listen for whatever was coming next.

But what she said wasn't what he was expecting.

"I get it. You're right."

"…What?"

"Like you said. It's got nothing to do with me."

As she murmured this, her hands kept moving. Diligent, silent—but only now did he notice she couldn't get the bandage knotted, that her hands were just fumbling at it, over and over.

"Because I don't know anything about you."

Having said that much, Yu-na quietly let herself remember the things she'd been keeping bottled up.

Yu Ji-hyeok, who was clearly hiding something.

Han Su-yeong, Jin Ye-seul, and Choi Hyun-woo, who all seemed to be in on it.

Herself, never able to bring herself to ask.

And Lee Ye-eun, almost mocking her for it—telling her she'd be better off knowing where to draw the line and keeping her distance.

The way everyone had treated her this whole time, like she was an outsider—as if to prove her suspicions right.

All the things she'd been quietly stacking up, one by one, started to spill over from that single thing he'd just said.

"Because I don't know anything…"

At last, her fumbling hands came to a stop.

"Because I don't know anything…"

She murmured, the words sounding like a lament.

"So… I wanted to know."

At that, Yu Ji-hyeok sucked in a sharp breath before he could stop himself.

Not because her voice was wet with tears, or because she was wearing the kind of hollow smile that comes from being used to all this.

Because she was right. He'd never told her a single thing.

And yet, looking back, he'd always acted as if he expected her to understand everything—as if she would understand, no matter what.

…Why the hell had he done that?

"I was just waiting for you to tell me, the way you'd told other people. Because trying to figure you out on my own… I was scared I'd mess up again, like I did at the start. And I knew if I did it this time, there'd be no taking it back."

Yu-na's voice was quiet and flat as she spoke.

"You don't know, do you? You talk in your sleep. A lot. And every time I listened, it was always a nightmare."

And most of what he said had been about his little sister.

Watching him sniffle and apologize—saying he was sorry she'd ended up like this because of him—she'd lost count of how many thoughts had run through her head.

He wasn't all that different from me.

That's what she'd thought, sitting beside him as he groaned in his sleep, quietly patting his shoulder.

Looking at the strangely curled-up set of his shoulders, she'd felt pity for him—and a kind of kinship she couldn't quite explain.

The only real difference between them, she figured, was that she'd had a guardian to lean on—while he'd lived with no one to trust but his little sister, the two of them clinging to each other alone.

And she could guess well enough that, for some reason, he'd been separated from that sister.

"You don't know, do you? That I was desperate to be of some help to you, however I could."

Setting their first meeting aside, the impression she'd had of him at the start had been about as bad as it could get.

At first she'd thought he was just some sleazebag two-timing whoever happened to be in front of him.

Pouring out their feelings at each other, spitting harsh words, then fumbling somehow into apologies…

Before she'd known it, they'd gotten tangled up together—and she'd lost count of how many things they'd been dragged through and clawed their way out of.

Fighting the fire giant that appeared on the World Tree's grounds, the Thorn Cross Congregation, and the massive ancient tree.

Exploring various dungeons together.

How he'd partnered up with her in class, silently reaching out a hand when she was in trouble.

And the Seven Calamity subjugation, where she'd been forced to face just how powerless she really was—a stretch of time she still couldn't figure out how she'd survived without dying or getting hurt…

It had all been more than enough to build a real bond with him—as comrades, as friends.

And more than anything…

"You don't know, do you? That I… knew everything, and I was just too scared, so I laughed it off like an idiot."

How he'd spent a fortune without hesitation to cure her illness.

How he'd quietly become a benefactor for the orphanage that had been struggling on so many fronts.

How, in ways both obvious and not, he'd looked out for her ever since that day.

All of it. She'd known all of it.

But she hadn't been able to bring herself to thank him.

Because she'd known, just as much, that he was hiding something from her—and that most of the others, everyone but her, already knew what it was.

So she hadn't said anything.

She hadn't wanted to do anything that might shake up the way things were between them.

But if she'd known it would end up like this anyway, she should've said something a long time ago—and at that thought, Yu-na gave a quiet smile.

"You don't know, do you—how badly I've been waiting for you to just tell me yourself."

She'd thought he was a weird guy. She'd thought he was an annoying guy.

She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose, but the way he threw himself into things made her wonder if he had some kind of death wish—worrying enough that she couldn't just leave him alone.

But for some reason, being around him didn't feel bad. The meals they ate together had tasted especially good.

When she thought about it, she'd always been able to laugh and have fun when she was with him and the rest of her friends.

A close friend. A comrade she'd weathered hardship with.

…And that was all she'd ever be.

Not like Han Su-yeong. Not like Choi Hyun-woo. Not like Jin Ye-seul, or Ivan Hunt, or Lee Ye-eun.

She couldn't become like them.

What was the difference between her and them, anyway?

If that was how it was, then why—?

The wound torn open by his one word passes through her heart and blooms like a flower.

"Because you were always struggling, having nothing but nightmares every night, coming back hurt every day, and when I first met you, you were such a creep, and I started thinking you really did have some kind of death wish, and you got things so easily that I couldn't get no matter what I did, but then you'd look at me like I was someone amazing, and why—why did you have to acknowledge me—"

Yu-na rambled, words tumbling over each other.

"You said it was your sister. Your family, right? Well, all of us went through hell because of family. Su-yeong and Hyun-woo are orphans, Ye-seul got cut off, Ye-eun's whole situation is complicated. Even Ivan doesn't exactly have a normal family. You don't, I don't. So why am I the only one—?"

"……."

"There must be some other reason. And because of it, you didn't tell me. But—but we're friends, aren't we? And comrades, right…? On top of that, I'm—I'm your caretaker, your right hand, your trusted aide. You said so. You said it yourself."

Yu-na sniffled as she spoke.

"You know what? Starting with you, all of you… you treated me like I was on the outside. And that was fine. I've been used to that kind of treatment for a long time. But… I just—you were hurting every single day. You had nothing but nightmares, you cried in your sleep, and I just wanted to know why."

She didn't even know herself when it had started.

Maybe it had started with something small, or maybe with some big moment like in a movie or a novel—but the beginning didn't matter to her right now.

What mattered was now.

"So… whatever it is you're worried about—I wanted to stand where you stand, see things the way you see them. I wanted to listen to you like the others do, and worry about it together with you."

You wouldn't have known. If I hadn't said any of this, you'd have never known, your whole life.

But I know.

Yu-na murmured all this, and then she gave a small smile.

And slowly, she raised her head to look at him.

"Sorry. For suddenly saying all that weird stuff… But this is really strange. I was really planning to wrap it up nice and clean, just hit the main points."

Yu Ji-hyeok—he was just looking back at her, lost, his face caught between guilt and bewilderment.

Idiot. Jerk. If he was going to look like that, he should've just done better from the start. He should've just kept that crap to himself.

Thinking all this, Yu-na sniffled once more.

But what was spilling from the corners of her eyes—she couldn't stop it.

"Why can't I get this right…?"

"……."

Yu Ji-hyeok couldn't say a thing.

There was no way he could.

So he just reached out, quietly, to wipe away her tears.

But when Yu-na quietly turned her head to avoid his hand, he let out a small sigh and reached for her again, firmly enough that it almost felt forceful, taking her by the shoulder.

Then he bent down and met her eyes.

"Mind if I say something now?"

Yu-na looked at him with eyes already gone puffy, then nodded slightly.

"…Yeah."

"First off—I'm really sorry I made you say all of this."

His expression made it clear he genuinely meant it.

"And the reason I didn't tell you—it wasn't a problem with you. It was on me."

He nodded quietly to himself.

"I think I was leaning on you without even realizing it. …And that's what made all of this build up on your end. It's all on me. I'm really sorry."

Then his expression turned into something hard to put into words—flustered, at a loss for what to do.

"Yeah, the truth is… I'm just such a coward I can't help it."

"Ah, okay…"

Yu-na seemed taken aback, as if she hadn't expected him to take it this seriously.

"I should've told you sooner. With you, Yu-na—I really should have."

He murmured this, then turned to her.

"…I know it's probably too late, but—could you give me one more chance?"

At his quiet words, his eyes downcast, the genuine apology in his voice—Yu-na found herself nodding before she'd even realized she was doing it.

"…So he was about to pull off something seriously annoying."

Lydia flipped through the papers in her hand, murmuring quietly.

They were detailed reports on Choi Jun-hyeong's plans, laid out point by point.

As she slowly went through the materials sent over by her right-hand woman, Esmeralda Lisnerger, she gave a small shake of her head.

"I thought he was just some guy chasing pipe dreams."

How would you like to live a life free of aging and death?

When he'd said those words, his eyes shining with greed and a sincere belief that he could actually pull it off, Lydia had only felt sorry for him.

Immortality.

There was no way something that grandiose could actually exist.

And even if it did, there was no way an ordinary person could handle something that immense.

That was why, honestly, she'd figured he'd just collapse under his own weight if she left him alone.

Lydia quietly admitted to herself that she'd misjudged him.

"……."

[Na Il-seong: CEO of Naseong Group and Na Il-jun's biological father.

At the World Tree festival, after Na Il-jun's death, he insisted Yu Ji-hyeok was responsible and demanded punishment, but was shut down by Lee Ye-eun.

Subsequently stripped of managerial control of his company by the World Tree clan.]

[Lee Yun-seong: The figure who gathered and led the branch families of the World Tree clan.

Built up enough power to openly oppose Lee Ye-eun, but lost his supporters during the Thorn Cross Congregation incident and rapidly fell from power.

His various maneuvers to become the next clan head were exposed, and he was nearly purged—but the clan intervened, and he was instead forced into mandatory retirement.

Has been subtly displaying a desire for revenge against Lee Ye-eun and Yu Ji-hyeok.]

"What's this now? A male student who had a thing for Han Su-yeong—the one always at Yu Ji-hyeok's side? Got openly mocked, took to spreading slander, and was disciplined by the school…"

The intel Choi Jun-hyeong had gathered included people with serious grudges against Yu Ji-hyeok, plus Academy students tangled up in nothing more than petty romantic squabbles.

And that wasn't all.

Lydia sighed quietly as she looked at how everyone around Yu Ji-hyeok had been profiled—personal information, backgrounds, the works.

'No way Choi Jun-hyeong pulled this together on his own.'

Milited's children.

To think they'd gone this far…

As she was thinking this, Lydia's eyes twitched at the sight of a woman's photograph marked with a red X.

It was a photo of a woman with hair so white it almost looked silver—a face you couldn't describe with any word other than beautiful.

In what was essentially a kill list, hers was the only profile marked with an X.

And knowing exactly what that meant, Lydia quietly rose from her seat.

"And on top of that…"

In her hand were other documents besides the file marked with the X.

The situation was moving faster than she'd expected, and she felt the urgency take hold of her in spite of herself.

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