Did the future change again due to Song Seon-young's whims? This time, Choi Kang-hoon didn't come looking for me.
Thanks to that, it became clear.
'Song Seon-young is the culprit!'
I was just caught up in the occult without being able to control it, but she was using it freely.
This is not a prediction but a certainty!
It's because regression was triggered not long after I had a conversation with her.
"Enough is enough!"
I can't stand it anymore as my labor has been exploited without pay.
Suicide?
I don't feel sorry for her anymore. She keeps doing it because she wants to. It's hard to see her as sane.
Swoosh!
As soon as the break time began, I ran like a track athlete to Song Seon-young's classroom, determined not to give her a chance to escape from school like last time.
"Kang Moon-soo, don't run in the hallway-"
"I'm sorry!"
Ignoring the reprimand from the teacher who spotted me running in the hallway, I continued!
"Moon-soo, there's a soccer match during lunch-"
"Play among yourselves!"
I'm not in the mood to have fun with friends right now. I'm mentally exhausted because I just worked my back off at the part-time job!
Thud!
I opened the door to Song Seon-young's classroom with force and strode in.
'There she is!'
Just like the first time I saw her, she was sticking her head out the window.
"Hey!"
"...It's really you."
"Song Seon-young!"
"Hold on. Your voice is loud."
She frowned in response to my call.
"You're caught!"
"What?"
"It’s your doing! Because of that, I couldn't rest all night!"
"I wanted to see if you really remembered."
She wanted to check if I really remembered by activating the occult.
"This is ridiculous. You talked about tomorrow and then stabbed me in the back like this?"
"I thought it would take longer if I didn't say that."
"Huh!"
Just as I was about to argue more, I heard whispering voices around me.
"Wow! He couldn't rest all night?"
"Does that mean Song Seon-young got tired first because it took too long... "
"What were those two doing together last night?"
"Kang Moon-soo, you lucky bastard."
"Go to hell."
For some reason, they were making ridiculous misunderstandings.
"Hey! Follow me!"
Grab!
I grabbed Song Seon-young's wrist and pulled her out of the classroom.
"Ouch! It hurts! I get it, so hold me gently- No, let go!"
"Fine."
As soon as we arrived in the noisy school hallway, I let go of her wrist.
"People are watching here. Let's go to the restroom."
"Hey, I get that you're suddenly dragging me and it's confusing, but I'm a guy, you know? Or do you want to come to the men's bathroom?"
"Are you crazy?!"
"That's what I want to say. Come to the stairs. We don't have time."
"Alright."
We moved to the stairs that students rarely used to have a comfortable conversation.
I would have preferred to move to a more secluded place, but we had no choice since we had less than 5 minutes left for the break.
"How did you regress?"
"Secret. And follow the order. It's my turn to ask."
"...Go ahead."
I calmed down my anger and waited for Song Seon-young's question.
"How did you manage to retain your memory?"
"Because I'm a shaman."
Though I said that, I wasn't sure of the reason either.
"Shaman..."
"Now it's my turn. How did you return to the past?"
"Secret."
"...It's suicide, right?"
"Secret."
"It seems I'm right. Denying it won't help; it's all over your face."
"......"
Song Seon-young's expression turned sour. That made me even more satisfied.
'Suicide...?'
It wasn't as if she was chanting some mysterious magical spell.
I didn't just guess this randomly.
It was a completely rational judgment!
I don't condone suicide, but I can understand that people might make extreme choices when life gets hard due to wrong choices or judgments. I felt that impulse too, right after my father passed away.
But to keep committing suicide even after returning to the past and correcting choices and judgments?
That's too strange.
The protagonists of fantasy novels don't easily give up on life, and after returning to the past, they don't commit suicide again since they use the information from the future to succeed.
'But Song Seon-young kept doing it.'
She committed suicide repeatedly, with only a few days between each attempt.
A hobby of jumping off rooftops?
It doesn't seem likely that someone would enjoy the pain of their flesh and bones being crushed without any safety measures. Even if there were, they would have left this world a long time ago.
"I'll be late for class. I'm leaving. Let's meet during the next break."
"What?! Don't just run away after hearing my secret!"
"Watch your words. I didn't listen but figured it out myself."
She's really shameless.
"...Don't go."
"Why not?"
"There's no point in attending diligently since I'm going to commit suicide anyway."
My steps, which were heading toward the classroom, stopped at her words.
'Come to think of it, she's right?'
Until now, I was faithful to the present because I didn't know the conditions for the occult to be activated.
Attending classes, taking aptitude tests, saving money, working part-time...
But now the situation is different.
"Ask your question."
"Did you change your mind?"
"Yes."
I didn't like the fact that Song Seon-young took control, but she was the one holding the blade of the occult.
"How did you preserve your memory?"
"I don't know."
"Are you kidding? Answer sincerely."
Song Seon-young's eyebrows raised, displeased with my answer.
"I'd like to answer sincerely, but I really don't know. Do you know how you regressed?"
"By committing suicide."
"See! You don't know either."
"I said it was suicide."
"That's the same as not knowing."
"It's different."
"What's different?"
"I have a pattern that when I die, I go back to the past."
"I also have a pattern that when you die, I go back to the past."
"......"
"......"
Song Seon-young was momentarily speechless due to my perfect logic. She stubbornly tried to refute.
"You're wrong. It's normal for everyone except me to lose their memories. It's always been like that."
"Thinking the world revolves around you is a bit..."
"Don't treat me like I have a teenage syndrome!"
"But it's true. It's ridiculous that you're the only one with a mysterious power and you're a special human."
"...Fine. Let's stop talking about this issue now. It feels like I'm the only fool here."
"You thought right."
"Shaman, let's go to the rooftop."
Ding~♬
At that moment, the bell rang to signal the start of the class.
It's too late now.
I heard an angel's delusion that it wasn't too late yet, but the devil called Song Seon-young in front of me was too enormous.
'I never thought I'd skip classes without permission!'
There were times when I spent all day in the infirmary due to sleep deprivation, but this was the first time I deliberately violated school rules.
"Come quickly."
"Alright. But is there a reason we have to go to the rooftop?"
"Yes. You suddenly came in and acted like we're close."
"I never acted like we were close."
I replied indignantly to her baseless nonsense.
"You held my hand."
"It was your wrist."
"It's the same thing. The other students will obviously misunderstand that we're dating."
"Just because of that?"
"Definitely. When Choi Kang-hoon, a 2nd-year student, came to the class, they immediately misunderstood."
"I see."
There were too many people in this school who were curious about others' private lives.
"I'd rather die than be misunderstood as dating you."
"You're so harsh! I don't like being persuaded by that either."
"Fine, come quickly. The science teacher will come up these stairs soon."
"Geez..."
I could sense her experience in frequently skipping class.
"Just follow me and we can get to the rooftop without getting caught."
"Explain as soon as we get there."
"What?"
"The reason you keep committing suicide. Suicide can't be your hobby, can it?"
"Yes, it is."
"......"
"I'm kidding. So, could you stop looking at me like I'm a bug?"
"I'm just saying what I see."
We started our second round of conversation on the school rooftop.
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