The next morning, Woo Joon stepped out of the bathroom, lazily brushing his teeth. Just as he wiped the foam from his mouth with a towel, Hae In came out of the other bathroom at the exact same time. Their eyes met—and Woo Joon instantly froze.
He tried to avoid her gaze, remembering vividly how she had almost strangled him to death and the cockroach incident. the night before over pizza. He shifted awkwardly, pretending to check something on his phone.
But Hae In, with a sweet and eerily calm voice, took a few steps closer and smiled.
"Oppa, good morning."
Woo Joon looked up, cautiously. "Uh… yeah. Morning?"
"I made your favorite breakfast," she said, her voice soft and sugary. "I'll be heading to school now. Eat it while it's hot, okay?"
Before he could respond, she turned around and left—her ponytail bouncing innocently behind her as she walked out the front door.
Woo Joon stood still. Then he blinked.
"…That smile… That damn smile," he muttered, staring into the void. "I'm dead. I'm so dead."
He walked over to the kitchen where the food sat neatly on a tray steaming hot rice, fried egg, sausage, and a perfect side of kimchi. It smelled amazing. Too amazing.
But something was off.
He squinted at the plate. "No way she forgave me that easily…"
He poked the egg with a spoon. Sniffed the rice. Gave the sausage a suspicious glare. Then, wide-eyed, he gasped and quickly tossed the entire tray into the trash bin.
"There's no way in hell I'm eating that. That's death on a plate."
Wiping invisible sweat from his forehead, he quickly got dressed for work and grabbed his bag.
He dashed out of the house,
Eun Jun yawned as he turned over in bed, lazily glancing at the glowing digits on the clock beside him.
7:45 AM.
"Oh, I still got time…" he mumbled, snuggling deeper into the blanket.
Then suddenly his eyes widened.
"7:45?! I'M LATE!"
He bolted upright, nearly falling off the bed. In a frenzy, he ran to the bathroom, brushed his teeth in under a minute, washed his face, threw on his uniform, and dashed out of the room with his hair still wet.
He stormed into the living room and froze.
A figure was sitting silently on his couch.
His heart skipped a beat.
"W-Who are you?!"
Daki turned to him slowly, smirking. "What, you hit your head or something?"
It all came crashing back into his mind. The rooftop. The demon. The handshake. The shattered sword image.
"…It wasn't a dream?" Eun Jun blinked in disbelief. "Good morning, Daki!"
Daki rolled her eyes and ignored his smile. Instead, she pointed toward the black rectangular object on the wall.
"What is that flat thing? I keep seeing it blink and talk."
"Oh, that?" Eun Jun laughed nervously. "That's a TV."
Daki narrowed her eyes. "A 'tee-vee'... What's that?"
"It's just… it shows stuff. Like news, dramas, movies—"
"I don't like it," she said flatly, still staring at it.
Before he could say more, her eyes glowed faintly blue. She lifted a finger toward the screen and muttered something under her breath.
CRACK!
The screen shattered instantly into a spiderweb of broken glass.
Eun Jun's jaw dropped.
Daki tilted her head with a cold grin. "Yes, I did it on purpose. I wanted you to see it get wrecked."
Eun Jun blinked. I'm late."
"Late?" Daki raised an eyebrow. "Late for what?"
"School!" he shouted, grabbing his bag. If you'rehungry, there's food in the fridge! I'll be back soon!"
He slipped on one shoe and hopped around looking for the other.
"Also, don't kill anyone!" he yelled as he ran through the door, slamming it shut behind him.
Daki sat still for a moment, her expression blank.
"…School? Humans are still forced to sit in boring rooms and obey weaklings?"
She stood, stretching. "How strange….
As the door slammed shut, Daki remained seated on the couch, arms folded and eyes fixed on the shards of the broken TV. She stared at it blankly, as if trying to remember something. Then a smirk tugged at her lips.
"School…" she muttered.
She had heard the word before.
Last night, long after Eun Jun had fallen asleep, she sat quietly in the dark with the TV flickering in front of her. She hadn't meant to watch it—but the human world was fascinating. Strange shows played one after another. She learned about money, food, drama, betrayal… and school.
It was a place where young humans gathered, stuffed into uniforms and fed information like cattle. She found it both ridiculous and oddly… intriguing.
"So that's where he's going," she said aloud to no one. "To that prison for weaklings."
She stretched out her legs on the couch, relaxing for a moment, then stood.
Outside, the world bustled.
Daki peered through the window, watching humans rush by like ants. Everything felt… noisy. But she didn't mind it.
Meanwhile, Eun Jun, halfway to school, was running at full speed.
His thoughts were scattered.
Did she eat already? Did she destroy the couch too? What if the neighbor were to find out.
He clutched his head. "I shouldn't have left her alone… but I didn't have a choice!"
But then again…
She did save me. And she could've killed me at any point last night if she really wanted to. Maybe… she won't cause that much trouble.
He sighed deeply.
Please, just one day of peace. Just one…
Back at home, Daki opened the fridge and poked around. She didn't recognize most of what she saw. Bottles. Boxes. Something round in a carton.
She pulled out a soda can and examined it like it was an ancient scroll.
With a flick of her nail, she cracked it open—and it exploded.
The spray hit her face.
She blinked,Then glared.