Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 81

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Ranking Zero of the Awakener Special School
Episode 81
“…You weren’t actually asleep, were you?”
“That was the premise.”
His violet eyes, bathed in summer sunlight, narrowed with a playful gleam.
He stretched languidly, then rose to his feet in one fluid motion.
Pad, pad, pad.
He closed the distance without hesitation, as naturally as returning to an accustomed place.
“You didn’t go home?”
“I did.”
“And you’re back already?”
“Yeah.”
The violet eyes before him fixed on Ji-u with an unwavering gaze.
He’s about to ask why.
What would I even say to that?
Maybe I could deflect. Or turn it around—ask what he’s doing here.
Ji-u was still turning this over when—
“What’s that?”
“…Huh?”
“The puppy you’re holding.”
Nam Rae-in’s gaze drifted downward.
To the puppy cradled in Ji-u’s arms.
Ji-u blinked twice, then extended Som-i slightly forward.
“This is Som-i. I rescued her a while back, and I’ve been taking care of her whenever I have time.”
“By yourself?”
“Usually the Dormitory supervisor helps. And Bae Han-gyeol lends a hand sometimes.”
“Hmm…”
Without a word, Nam Rae-in reached out and gently stroked Som-i’s head.
Ji-u, watching him, asked a question.
“You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“That I’ve been raising a puppy.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Since middle school.”
Nam Rae-in’s hand stilled against Som-i’s fur.
“You act like you know everything about me, so I figured you’d know about Som-i too. But you don’t?”
……
Their eyes met.
From somewhere distant, the cry of a cicada stretched long.
After a moment, Nam Rae-in resumed stroking Som-i and answered.
“Hey, isn’t it hot?”
“…What?”
“I’m dying of heat. She must be too.”
Ah—only then did Ji-u feel Som-i’s labored breathing against his chest.
Nam Rae-in pulled his hand back slightly from the puppy.
“Anything else you want to ask? If this is going to be a long conversation, we should move.”
“No need. I’m just going to take Som-i back. Wait here.”
“Here? I’m hot too, remember?”
“Then follow me to the Dormitory. We can talk on the first floor.”
An exaggerated sigh came in response.
“You really don’t get it.”
He shook his head slowly, then tilted it up slightly, his gaze rising.
Their eyes met suddenly.
Nam Rae-in smiled brightly.
“I’m asking you on a date, you idiot.”
…A date?
Ji-u’s brow furrowed slightly.
* * *
“Sir, two ice creams, please.”
As they walked across Campus,
Rae-in stopped at a small truck and naturally ordered ice cream.
A middle-aged man squatting on the ground suddenly stood up.
He wore a pink apron—apparently the Shop Owner.
“Oh, it’s Rae-in. But ice cream? It’s vacation; we’re not selling.”
“Then why did you bring the truck out?”
“Have to clean it, don’t I? Just because you lot are on vacation doesn’t mean we are.”
“Come on, then there must be ice cream in here. Just sell me two.”
“That’s highway robbery.”
“I’ll pay you.”
“Good grief.”
The Shop Owner resignedly opened the storage case and pulled out two ice creams.
“Take them and go.”
“What about the money?”
“It’s not a sale. Since you came with your girlfriend, consider it a special service.”
“Yes!”
Delighted, Nam Rae-in took the ice creams and handed one to Ji-u.
“Here, the blue one. Not soda flavor, but close enough.”
……
Ji-u accepted the ice cream and bowed slightly toward the Shop Owner.
“Thank you. And she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Sure, that’s what it looked like.”
“Why’d you have to say that?”
After that, Ji-u and Rae-in walked along a quiet Campus path, ice cream in hand.
Most of the shops were closed for vacation, though a few remained open here and there.
Like the unmanned doll catcher, for instance.
……
Ji-u’s steps slowed before the doll machine.
‘What is this?’
Ji-u peered intently through the glass at dolls piled high like a mountain.
Nam Rae-in, watching Ji-u’s profile, asked softly.
“Want to try grabbing one?”
“Grab what?”
“A doll from in there.”
……
Ji-u paused, then closed his mouth.
“No, I’m fine.”
He turned and moved to leave.
But Nam Rae-in dug into his pocket and produced a coin.
“Then I will.”
……
Nam Rae-in handed his nearly finished ice cream to Ji-u.
Then he fed coins into the machine, one after another.
Manipulating the lever with practiced ease, he caught a fist-sized doll in a single, effortless motion.
“Ugh, it’s ugly.”
He muttered this while looking at the doll he’d just won.
It certainly was.
A flabby, indeterminate sky-blue creature with two black lines drawn straight between its two dot eyes.
A slime, perhaps, wearing a frown?
“Here.”
Nam Rae-in held it out to Ji-u.
“…Why are you giving this to me?”
“It looks like you.”
“I don’t need it.”
“It looks like you.”
Nam Rae-in pressed the doll into his hands, laughing quietly.
For the first time, Ji-u understood what true refusal meant—when it was completely ignored.
The “date” continued from there.
They walked through a deserted park.
Ji-u watched from beside as Nam Rae-in, on a nearby swing, practically defied gravity itself.
Then they stepped into a photo booth for the first time—and took hurried, awkward pictures under time pressure.
“Is it always this rushed?”
Ji-u emerged from the booth, breathing heavily after the whirlwind session.
Nam Rae-in laughed at the sight.
When the prints finally emerged, they were even worse.
While Nam Rae-in posed expertly—peace signs and model-like poise—Ji-u was wooden as stone.
In some shots, he’d missed the timing and closed his eyes; in others, his face was smeared like a ghost.
Sitting on a nearby bench, examining the prints, Ji-u swallowed a sigh.
‘This is the worst.’
The results were truly awful.
He’d never really looked at his own appearance objectively before, but in these photos, he looked somewhat pathetic.
Yet Nam Rae-in seemed delighted, his expression satisfied.
“I’m putting this in my phone case.”
He removed his phone case and slipped one of the photos into the back of his smartphone.
At that moment, Ji-u’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Why are you putting it there?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Cover my face or something.”
“No way. It’s my phone; I’ll do what I want.”
“It’s your phone, but my face is in the photo.”
“So what? You have an issue with that?”
“Other people are going to see it.”
Nam Rae-in tilted his head, as if not understanding.
“Why would they look? That’d be such a waste.”
Click.
He replaced the case and held the phone up to his mouth, grinning.
“Only I get to see it.”
……
For a moment, words failed him.
“…Still, what if someone does happen to see it? What if people get the wrong idea?”
“What kind of idea?”
Was he really asking, or was he just being obtuse?
Even someone raised in isolation like Ji-u knew a thing or two.
You saw it in webtoons and dramas—people kept photos of their girlfriends, family, or children in places like that.
“Usually that’s where guys keep their girlfriend’s photo.”
“Exactly. But I could also keep my fiancé’s photo there, couldn’t I?”
“You’re still hung up on that betrothal from—”
“How many times do I have to tell you? I like you.”
With that, Nam Rae-in shoved his phone into his pocket.
“Since I like you, I’m carrying it with me.”
In that instant, Ji-u understood something instinctively.
No matter what he said now, Nam Rae-in’s will could not be bent.
Ji-u bit his lower lip slightly.
…This won’t do.
If this continued, he’d be swept up in Nam Rae-in’s pace entirely.
“Can we get to the real topic now?”
“The real topic?”
“You said you had something to ask me. Did you forget?”
“Oh, right.”
Nam Rae-in tucked one hand into his pocket and tossed back his hair slightly.
“I was saying—if I liked you, why didn’t I know you’d been rescuing and raising a dog since middle school?”
…Ji-u had expected Nam Rae-in to completely forget, but it turned out he’d remembered the conversation with perfect precision.
Nam Rae-in leaned back against the bench.
“Simple. Back then, I didn’t really care about Seol Ji-hyo.”
“What are you talking about? You said you liked me.”
“I do now.”
…Now?
Ji-u’s expression became confused.
“You remember meeting me when we were very young. But in middle school you weren’t interested in me?”
“Right.”
“…Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, it is kind of weird.”
Nam Rae-in chuckled.
“But back then, you told me not to talk to you. So I didn’t.”
……
“We weren’t really close. You know that?”
He did know that, but……
When Ji-u fell silent, a brief pause settled over them.
Nam Rae-in tilted his head back, rolling what remained of his ice cream stick in his mouth.
“Can I ask you something too?”
“What?”
“Do you really not remember? The day we first met?”
The violet eyes were now looking directly at Ji-u.
…For a moment, Ji-u’s words caught in his throat.
On the day of the festival too, Nam Rae-in had asked him the exact same question.
At the time, he’d brushed it aside.
‘Truth is, I remember a little.’
Now, in this moment, before these purple eyes fixed on him.
Around age five, Ji-u had encountered these eyes.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————