CHAPTER THREE

 

“Hey! Kim Seungmin! You’re Kim Seungmin, right?” Jisung pulls out a chair next to his classmate and sits down casually. 

His classmate glanced up from his textbook at the noisy intruder and then looked down again at his textbook without a response.

“Look at you, studying even during lunch time,” Jisung continued anyway and stared intensely at Seungmin. “So, what are you studying?”

“…”

“Hey, can you hear me? Earth to Kim Seungmin~”

The silence finally broke when Seungmin couldn’t handle it any longer.

“What do you want?” he finally asked with a sigh.

“Hehe~” Jisung’s smile was that of someone plotting something. “So, I heard that you know the Prince from Class 104. You know him, right? I heard that you guys are like childhood friends or something.”

Seungmin sighed immediately, knowing exactly what was up. Especially since Jisung was renowned for being loud in the classroom.

“If it’s about the beauty contest, give it up,” he advised.

“Why?”

“If you think you’re gonna win, you’re years too early,” Seungmin said.

“I don’t plan on winning it, Felix is,” Jisung said. “I’m just accompanying him.

Seungmin glanced over at Felix sitting on the other side of the room and thought quietly for a moment.

“Nope. Not even Felix,” Seungmin said confidentially. 

“How can you be so cold? Shouldn’t you have more faith in your classmate? Wouldn’t it be awesome if Felix won? Imagine him winning for the class and we celebrating with him. He’d feel so much more comfortable with us.”

“You’ve never met Hyunjin before, have you?” Seungmin asked.

“Hyunjin? Oh, is that the name of the Prince?” 

“You don’t even know the name of your rival?” Seungmin sighed again.

“Does it matter?” Jisung shrugged.

“So, you don’t know his name and you don’t even know what he looks like. Seems like you’re underestimating him.”

“I’m not underestimating him. I’m just confident that our Felix will win!” Jisung boasted.

“Suit yourself,” Seungmin gave up. 

Jisung continued to pester Seungmin as if they have been friends forever. Seungmin thought it was funny though and he was very patient with Jisung’s antics. He didn’t tell Jisung to go away and rather, he just let Jisung do whatever he wanted such as sitting next to him for lunch time or lending his textbook away because Jisung was rather forgetful. All of these things, Seungmin decided to let it be. 

Until one day, Jisung left something in the classroom after school and had to run back to get it. 

When Jisung opened the door to the classroom, he saw Seungmin standing there skimming through his notebook.

“Wait! Don’t look at it!” Jisung rushed into the classroom immediately and snatched the notebook right out of Seungmin’s hands. “D-did you read it?”

“Yeah, a little. It’s yours?”

Jisung nodded but his face turned bright red from embarrassment.

“You write lyrics?” Seungmin asked.

“D-don’t tell anyone.”

“Why not?”

“It’s … embarrassing,” Jisung immediately averted his gaze and couldn’t look directly at Seungmin. 

“What’s so embarrassing about it? I think it’s pretty cool you can write lyrics, and words that are so… emotional? Poetic?” Seungmin was trying to find the right word to describe it.

“You really think so?” 

“Yeah.”

If anyone else had told Jisung that, he might have doubted it a bit but because it was Seungmin, he felt reassured that the little compliment he received was genuine.

“It’s good to be passionate about something. Plus, you remind me a little of someone I know,” Seungmin commented.

“Huh? Who?” Jisung was curious.

“You’ll see.”

Jisung was up in the clouds after receiving a compliment from Seungmin and although trying to be friends with Seungmin felt really hard at first, he believes that he’s now one step closer to befriending Seungmin finally.

Once I finish the song, I wonder if Seungmin will read it. It’s always good to have someone else read my lyrics after all. The other hyungs are always too nice and not as honest. 

“I definitely need to find honest people like Seungmin as an audience,” Jisung was trying to count the number of people who might fit that description and possibly hear what they think of his song. 

Of course, showing his classmates his lyrics aside from Seungmin was still going to be a high hurdle.

However, Jisung was happy. He skipped through the hallway and was about to head home, but something caught his attention along the way. 

The art class doors were still open even though everyone should have gone home already for the day.

Curious, Jisung peaked in to see if anyone was still inside. 

And when he did, he became captivated by a beautiful portrait. 

Completely drawn by the unfinished work, Jisung walks into the classroom to take a closer look.

Just a little, Jisung thought. 

The portrait was of a delicate looking woman standing with her back straight. She had long dark brown hair, wearing a white hanbok and a golden pin that tied her hair up. The pin itself was unfinished, still in a sketch and many of the finer details were also left blank, but something about the portrait made Jisung’s heart skip. 

“Is she smiling? Crying?” Jisung couldn’t fully make out the woman’s expression entirely, but it looked as if she wanted to say something. It could be because of the portrait’s ambiguous expression that made Jisung even more curious and wanted to look closer.

But just as he was to take another step closer, someone yelled at him.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Jisung flinched and stepped back immediately. He turned around to see who it was. But he was surprised by the boy who seemed to be in the same year as him.

“I-I just-“ Jisung didn’t even know what kind of excuse to make.

But before he could say anything, the taller student approached him and grabbed his arms.

“Hey!” Jisung shouted back. “Let go of me!”

“You’re not an art student, so you shouldn’t be here. Leave.”

The student pulled Jisung out of the classroom and didn’t allow Jisung to say anything before he closed the door and locked it from the inside. 

Jisung stood in front of the classroom, completely dumbfounded but also annoyed.

What the hell was that? He didn’t have to be so rude! Jisung was also getting upset at how he was treated and stormed away. 

It completely ruined his day.

The next week came and Jisung went back to school but he couldn’t stop thinking about what happened the week before. He sat down next to Seungmin like usual during his lunchtime and couldn’t wait to complain.

“And then he just pulled me away rudely and shouted at me!” Jisung said as he stuffed his cheeks with food.

“Don’t talk and eat at the same time,” Seungmin told him. “Calm down when you’re eating or you’ll choke.”

“I just can’t believe it!” Jisung continued. “He wouldn’t let me even explain!”

“You said it was an art student?” 

“Yeah, probably. He was definitely a first year student like us since his tie was the same color.”

“First year… art student… hmm,” Seungmin went into thinking mode. “Is he a little taller and has medium length black hair? Good-looking?”

“I think so?” Jisung didn’t exactly get a good look at the student since everything happened so fast and he was already too upset to notice. “Anyways, I hope I never see him again. Just thinking about it pisses me off again!”

“Seungmin-ah, someone is asking for you,” their classmate suddenly shouted from the door.

“Who?” Seungmin looked over.

Jisung also got curious and looked too. 

“Seungmin, you forgot your notes at my place again. You’re going to need-“ 

Jisung’s eyes widened as another student walked in to approach Seungmin. He jumped from his seat and pointed.

“You!” Jisung almost choked on his food from surprise. 

That was how Jisung first met Hwang Hyunjin.

 

*   *   *

 

You’ve got to be kidding, Jisung’s mind was in complete turmoil as he did his best to avoid looking forward.

The atmosphere in the room was so heavy that he could hardly breathe. 

He couldn’t believe it. The person sitting on the other side of the room, on the bed across his, was Hwang Hyunjin.

No, a different Hwang Hyunjin. Not the one he knew back in his world.

“So, Chan-hyung brought you in after finding you and you lost your memories?” this Hyunjin asked him and continued the interrogation.

“Mhmm.”

Jisung could only nod. He didn’t know what to say. He still could hardly believe it.

“Is HQ helping you look for your family?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Not that they will ever find them here. Right? Jisung was too nervous of all the impossibilities suddenly becoming possible.

“Hmm…” Hyunjin stared at Jisung quietly for a moment, scanning him from top to bottom, making Jisung even more nervous to look up directly.

He looks like Hyunjin, and sounds like Hyunjin. But he also isn’t… medium-length silver hair and those eyes… are they gray? Blue? Jisung tried to catch every detail that he could every millisecond he tried to look up. 

“So, um, is this your room?” Jisung couldn’t handle it anymore and tried to break the silence.

“Not really but also yes,” Hyunjin responded.

“What?” Jisung was clearly confused. 

“I’ve been away on a mission and haven’t been back for a while. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be back any time soon so this room was up for the grabs.”

“That’s why Chan-hyung said I could stay here. He did mention something about a roommate… maybe…” Jisung’s memory wasn’t always the best when it came to remembering such trivial materials. “So, are you going to be back for good then?”

“Not sure.”

“Oh.”

“What?” 

“Nothing!”

“…”

Another awkward silence filled the room. 

Can I handle this? Sharing a room with Hyunjin? No, well not exactly the same Hyunjin but still! Same face and all… if it is the Hyunjin I know, it wouldn’t be such an issue but then… that incident happened and now this too? Jisung was a mess. 

“I won’t touch anything! Don’t worry! Although… I might snore a bit,” Jisung said worryingly.

Hyunjin glanced around the room that was a mess with Jisung’s clothes on the floor and leftover wrappers on the desk.

“I’ll clean it up!” Jisung panicked. 

“It’s fine. I’m not the tidiest person either,” Hyunjin simply said.

“I-I see…”

Yes, everything felt awkward. 

 

The next day came and Jisung barely got any sleep just having Hyunjin’s look alike sleep on the opposite bed. They couldn’t converse any further and Jisung had a hard time lifting the awkward atmosphere between them. Hyunjin wasn’t the problem though, it was him. 

“Morning, Hyunjinnie,” Chan greeted the pair of roommates happily early in the morning. “I heard you came back really late last night.”

“Yeah,” Hyunjin said and had already gotten changed into his uniform. “I’m going down to the dining hall first.” 

Hyunjin walked away and didn’t even look back at Jisung who was still trying to find his uniform in the pile of clothes he managed to create. 

“Sorry Chan-hyung, I’ll be fast,” Jisung said. 

“Haha, don’t worry. Take your time,” Chan said. “Plus, I should be the one apologizing.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I didn’t tell you about Hyunjin, did I?”

I don’t know if I should thank you for not telling me or telling me, hyung, Jisung really wanted to say to Chan.

“It’s okay,” Jisung said instead.

“It must’ve been awkward, right?”

“A little…”

“Don’t worry, Hyunjin might look intimidating but he’s really nice once you get to know him.”

“You said that about Minho-sshi too.”

Even now, Jisung could not drop the formality when it came to Minho. It was so awkward for him but he knew for sure that Minho would snark at him for being too friendly. 

“Did I? Haha~” Chan laughed it off as usual. 

The two walked down to the dining hall together and the two other said people, Hyunjin and Minho, were sitting together already for breakfast in the morning. Jisung got pulled in by Chan to sit together, but he felt so out of place being there. 

All three of them, excluding Jisung, were highly ranked Hunters and even Hyunjin was a Rank A Hunter. 

Get me out of here, quick, Jisung tried to gobble down his breakfast quickly to make his escape. Everyone was looking at them and it made him really nervous. They were probably wondering what an outsider was doing sitting with a bunch of highly ranked Hunters and that thought alone made Jisung’s insides clench. 

“I-I’m going to the West Sector or else Seungmin will kill me,” Jisung said as he placed all his dishes neatly and quickly onto the tray.

“Alright, see you later!” Chan was the only one who waved Jisung goodbye while the other two glanced at him for a moment and went back to chatting among themselves.

Ugh, I hate this! Jisung thought. 

Jisung rushed out of that dining hall like no tomorrow. He could see the many Hunters and staff from Hunter’s Society gathered around the dining hall simply to take a look at the three who were chatting intensely about things Jisung would never understand. The aura around the three of them were enough to make anyone feel fear yet awe at the same time. 

“I can’t believe he’s really back,” one of the Hunters whispered in the hallway among his colleagues. 

“I thought he was suspended for sure!” another had an obviously shocked expression on as they gossiped. 

Jisung heard it and that made him curious. 

Aside from the endless admiration that the rest of the Hunters had for the trio in the cafeteria, it seemed that Hyunjin was the center of everyone’s conversations since he came back to HQ. 

And Jisung caught a snippet of those gossips.

Hwang Hyunjin, a Rank A Hunter, was supposed to be promoted to a Rank S like Chan and Minho but for some reason, in one of his previous missions, he made a dire ‘mistake’ which led him to be sent off to one mission after another for several months now. Many people said it was to repent or he was being punished, but no one knew the exact details of this mission except for Hyunjin himself. 

Although Jisung was very curious and wanted to know exactly what happened, he knew that he was in no position to ask even if they’re roommates now. 

Despite this Hyunjin being a different person, Jisung couldn’t shake off the uneasiness he gets from just seeing Hyunjin’s face. Different people but the same face, that alone made Jisung feel more nervous and worried. 

He didn’t think of it at first, but it eventually kicked in that seeing this Hyunjin’s face gave him a lot of sweet yet bitter memories. 

 

“Shouldn’t you go back to your room now? It’s late,” Seungmin said. 

“Huh? Let me just study a little more,” Jisung tried to find an excuse as they were in the library together for another late night study session.

“The library being open 24/7 doesn’t mean you actually have to use it without taking a break. You weren’t this studious before, what happened?”

Seungmin was sharp. As expected from one of the best strategists in Hunter’s Society. 

“It’s nothing. I just thought there’s too much to learn that I need to catch up or I’ll forget everything. After all, I’m staying here for free. So, I thought I should um, contribute?” Jisung said.

“...”

Seungmin was obviously not buying it but he didn’t press any further.

“I’m going to sleep. Don’t stay up too late since we have to run a few simulations tomorrow,” Seungmin said and got up from his chair to leave. 

“I won’t. Goodnight!” 

Jisung wasn’t studious. He never was. 

Even the Seungmin back in his world would always struggle tutoring him and Hyunjin for their mid-term exams because the two friends were a headache to tutor. The three of them were born in the same year yet they were so different. Seungmin and Hyunjin grew up together as neighbors but even Seungmin admitted that his personality was different from Hyunjin’s whereas Jisung, who became friends with them later, had the same wavelength as Hyunjin. 

Haha, I can still remember driving Seungmin nuts the last time he tutored us. Jisung started to reminisce alone in the library as he stared at the tall ceiling alone with no one around. He never understood any of my jokes whereas Hyunjin played along immediately. Dumb and dumber we were.

Those were times he would never trade for anything else. With his other classmates, Jisung often felt tired afterwards from all his efforts of entertaining his friends. But with Hyunjin and Seungmin, he never had to hide who he was. He could joke with them when it was natural and he could show his more solemn, calm side to them without either of them being surprised by it. 

Everything was so right. Where’d it all go wrong?

“Why did you do that, Hwang Hyunjin? If you didn’t-” Jisung felt like his eyes were beginning to water as he thought more and more about it. He stopped himself before becoming over melodramatic.  

It was already past three in the morning and the dorms were completely silent. Jisung finally decided to retreat back to his room while everyone was deep asleep. When he returned to his room, Hyunjin had already gone to bed and the lights were already out. 

Quietly, Jisung got changed and went to bed. 

As tired as he was, he couldn’t fall asleep and simply watched the back of Hyunjin who was sleeping on the other side and facing the wall. 

But even asleep, Jisung felt uneasy. 

He would have nightmares. And it’d always be the same one. 

One where he found himself back at school and walking down an endless hallway. As he continued walking through the empty hall, he saw Hyunjin’s back in the distance.

“Hyunjin?” Jisung tries to call out.

But Hyunjin didn’t respond nor did he look back at Jisung.

Jisung tried to call Hyunjin again but his friend started to walk forward, getting further and further away from him.

“Hyunjin, wait for me,” Jisung was starting to become desperate. “Hey, don’t ignore me.”

Eventually Jisung catches up to Hyunjin but when he does, Hyunjin would turn around and push Jisung back. 

Jisung trips backwards and before he could react, he found himself falling down an endless flight of stairs. 

Why? What did I do? Why are you like this to me suddenly?

Someone… save me please! Hyunjin!

 

But this night was slightly different from the other nights. 

Jisung flung himself awake while trying to grab the air and save himself from the nightmare. When he did, he heard someone’s voice in the dark.

“Hey, are you okay?” The voice asked in a soft familiar tone.

Without thinking, Jisung grabbed and held onto that person tightly with tears in his eyes and his heart pounding rapidly from fear.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” Jisung found himself saying over and over again. He didn’t know why he was apologizing but he was. It was the only thing he could do. “Please don’t ignore me, I’m sorry!”

“Wh-“ Hyunjin, obviously not the same Hyunjin from Jisung’s nightmare, was surprised at his roommate’s sudden and desperate call. 

But he didn’t push Jisung away either. 

All he could see in front of him, in the dimly lit room was a boy who was crying his heart out. He didn’t know what to do exactly but one thing he could think of doing was holding onto Jisung’s smaller body and hugging him gently. 

“It’s okay,” he said Jisung was soothing his back and said in a genuine tone. “Don’t say sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m here. It’s okay now.”

It’s okay, those words repeated in Jisung’s head as he slowly came back to reality. 

“I’m here,” Hyunjin repeated again.

For some reason, those words seem to have some sort of magic that helped Jisung calm down. 

That’s right, it was all a dream. A horrible nightmare and the Hyunjin that was so gently comforting him right now, is the Hyunjin from this world, a world that Jisung didn’t belong to.

Jisung slowly pushed himself away, feeling both sorry and embarrassed. 

“S-sorry…” Jisung said again.

Hyunjin let go as well and the lights by the bed.

“It’s okay. Are you okay? You were having a nightmare,” Hyunjin asked. 

“Y-yeah. Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Hyunjin told him. 

“S- Nevermind,” Jisung realized that that was the only thing he knew how to say at that moment. “Thank you.”

This Hyunjin seemed so intimidating at first, someone who didn’t smile much or talk much to Jisung since his return but right now, in front of Jisung, seemed like a gentle and caring person.

Just like the Hyunjin… Jisung thought as he found himself becoming mesmerized by this Hyunjin’s dark ash blue eyes. Yet, different at the same time. 

They’re not the same person.

Jisung reminds himself. 

“Who were you apologizing to?” Hyunjin suddenly asked him when he saw that Jisung had finally calmed down.

“Huh?” Jisung knew there was no way he could say that he was dreaming about Hyunjin and not this Hyunjin at the same time. “I-I don’t remember. Why was I apologizing?”

“…” 

Hyunjin stared at him for a moment but didn’t ask again and it was already too late at night to continue this conversation.

“Let’s just go back to bed. You’re okay now, right?” Hyunjin asked him.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night. Goodnight.”

The night felt long and unsettling but for some reason, Jisung didn’t feel as scared now. It was as if he’s been longing for those words all this time.

It’s okay. 

Things will eventually be okay…

 

The next several days passed and Jisung also stopped having those nightmares. He continued his studies with Seungmin in the West sector and although Hyunjin didn’t really talk to him much, he wasn’t exactly as ‘unfriendly’ as Jisung initially thought. In fact, he responded to Jisung’s questions whenever and he didn’t seem annoyed or anything at Jisung being his roommate either. Rather than scary, he was much more approachable than before. 

Then, Jisung was called down to the Director’s office suddenly.

“An assignment?” Jisung asked the Director.

“Yes. Your first one. I heard from Chan and Seungmin about your progresss and they both agree that experiencing more of the outside will help you learn faster. I know you didn’t have the best encounter when we found you but it sounds like you’re quite fascinated by them. Is that true?” 

“Yeah. I mean, they’re still scary but just reading from books and learning about them is alright. I was only surprised at first,” Jisung said. “But I don’t think I can take on an assignment so early.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t be alone for this assignment.”

Knock. Knock.

“Come in,” the Director instructed. 

“We’re here,” it was Chan. 

Followed by Hyunjin.

“Great timing. These two will be the ones to accompany you on your first assignment” the Director told Jisung with a smile. 

“Really?” Jisung’s eyes widened as he knew that both Chan and Hyunjin are very reliable Hunters. 

“Since both the sun and moon are out now, it might get a little dangerous so I have decided that these two will be your best companions. Anything dangerous will be handled by these two. Jisung, you just need to stand back and watch but also help them strategize. After all, you’ve been training under Seungmin for a few weeks now so I’m sure you’ve learned a thing or two from him. He is one of our best.”

“I’m against this,” Hyunjin finally spoke up. “It’s still too dangerous to bring him out now. If anything, he can do it after things settle down and return to normal.”

“The creature is only a Class D one. With both you and Chan looking out for Jisung, he’ll be fine. Plus, jumping straight to an assignment will allow him to learn faster than just being in the library all day long,” the Director said. “Also, not only are you his roommate but you also have to make up for your demerits. Remember?”

Hyunjin didn’t say any more. 

The Director was stern about this and even Jisung could feel the man’s authority. 

“It’ll be fine,” Chan tried to ease up the mood. 

“I-I’ll do my best!” Jisung said as well.

“And the case subject? You mentioned it’s a Class D, hyung?” Chan asked the Director.

“It’s a Grave Robber.”

“A Grave Robber?” Jisung’s eyes blinked curiously as he accepted his first real on-field assignment.