She was worried that she hadn't been able to clean up all the shattered eggs, but Doa said he would take responsibility and handle the aftermath, so she decided to trust his word.
"Hey! Tangerine! Why don't you stop right there?!"
Before long, a ferocious shout came from behind her. Mixed with it, Doa's shout rang out as well. It was utter chaos.
Running for her life with her eyes fixed ahead, Saebom only managed to catch her breath and check behind her after passing the final stretch leading home.
"Haa, haa."
Fortunately, no one was chasing her.
"Ah, I'm dead."
The moment she collapsed to the ground, propping herself against the wall, she felt a stinging pain in her hand.
The hand that had sustained minor scrapes from her fall was a mess of dust.
'What a sight on my first day of moving in.'
It had been nothing short of an eventful day.
Only after her ragged breathing had stabilized somewhat did Saebom finally rise and move toward the house right before her.
Though she belatedly remembered the broken eggs, she had no energy left to visit a new mart or convenience store again.
'Surely it won't be a problem if there's not a single egg in tonight's meal.'
Arriving at the front gate, Saebom stuck her hand into her pocket with a weary expression.
"Huh?"
She tried to take out the key to open the locked gate, but all her hand grasped was a lukewarm hand warmer. And even then, there should have been two, but now only one remained.
A bewildered look flashed across Saebom's face. Frantically searching not only the pocket of her hoodie but her pants pockets as well, she exuded desperation, but the item she was looking for never appeared.
'It's gone.'
Her thoughts ground to a halt and her mind went blank. Just as Saebom, staring blankly back at the path she had taken, turned her sneakers around—
Clank—
Accompanied by a heavy sound, the firmly shut gate opened. Suhan, who had come out to throw away the trash, spotted Saebom standing vacantly in front of the door and looked bewildered.
"If you're back, come in. Why are you just standing here?"
"Dad."
Saebom's face as she looked at Suhan seemed on the verge of tears. Surprised, Suhan finally examined his daughter's condition closely.
"What's with your hand? And why are your clothes such a mess?"
"I fell on the way. But that's not the problem... I lost my key."
"Your key?"
"You gave me the front gate key this morning and I put it on the keychain. I kept it in my pocket, but I think I dropped it somewhere."
Tears welled up in Saebom's large eyes. She looked as anxious as someone who had committed a grave wrong.
"Did you leave it in your room?"
Saebom shook her head. It had been in her pocket when she left the house, so she must have lost it on the way to or from the convenience store.
"What if I can't find it."
Suhan knew better than anyone why Saebom was reacting like this over a mere key.
The keychain decorated with a specially designed constellation and initials representing Saebom's name inside a water-colored cube made of resin art was a gift from Saebom's mother, who had suddenly passed away—a one-of-a-kind item in this world.
"We'll find it. Why would you cry over something like this? Dad will help you look. Calm down first, let's go in and treat your hand."
Suhan persuaded Saebom, who kept insisting she was fine, and treated her hand first. Only after she had regained some composure did they go back outside together to search for the key.
"You only stopped by the convenience store, right?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing to worry about. It's not something expensive that someone would pick up and keep, so we'll find it."
Saebom nodded at Suhan's consolation. To others, it was probably just an ordinary keychain, even if it was precious to her.
The two retraced Saebom's route in reverse, searching every corner of the alley. They repeated the same path over and over until their surroundings grew pitch dark, but unfortunately, the key could not be found.
* * *
Early morning.
Saebom came down to the first floor wearing her neatly pressed new uniform. Suhan, who had finished preparing for work early and was in the living room, approached her.
"Saebom. Take this."
What Suhan held out was a spare front gate key. Attached to it was a keychain with a blue cube containing her constellation, Libra.
Worried about his daughter, who was wallowing in self-blame and depression over losing the keychain, Suhan had gone around to several nearby shops to find the closest possible match.
Confirming this, Saebom belatedly had a thought.
'I shouldn't have let Dad see how upset I was.'
She had been too flustered and distressed to think of that. Her father was probably just as upset as she was; she had been thoughtless.
Feeling sorry about yesterday, Saebom pretended to have shaken it all off, smiled brightly, and linked her arm with Suhan's.
"It's pretty. Thanks, Dad."
"Don't lose it this time."
"Yeah."
"If you're ready, come on. I'll drop you off on the way."
"What do you mean, on the way? It's in the opposite direction. I'll just walk."
"I have time for that. You don't even know the roads well yet; what if you're late on your first day? Today I'll take you to the school gate, so come on."
Cheonghyeon High School was about a fifteen-minute walk away. By car, it took only about three minutes, so Saebom was able to arrive with time to spare.
"The hill is steep."
That was Saebom's first impression of her new school. The slope leading to the school gate was so long and steep that she wondered if her calves wouldn't be sturdy by the time she graduated.
Having barely made it up the hill and finally passed through the gate, Saebom adjusted her bag, which had slipped halfway off her shoulder.
"You there."
Saebom looked around. Near the gate were members of the student guidance committee and a student guidance teacher. A teacher holding a wooden rod in one hand gestured for her to approach. Puzzled, Saebom walked up to him.
"Why don't you have a name tag on your uniform?"
Saebom looked down at her left chest. Cheonghyeon High School had a rule requiring students to attach embroidered name tags to their uniforms, but that spot on Saebom's uniform was bare.
"I transferred here today. My uniform came out yesterday morning, but the name tag shop was closed, so I couldn't get it attached. I'll attach it today."
"A transfer student? What grade?"
"First year."
"Do you know where the faculty office is?"
"No. I was going to ask for directions and find my way there anyway."
The teacher nodded at her explanation and suddenly waved the hand holding the wooden rod. It was a gesture calling one of the student guidance members whose eyes happened to meet his.
"This one is a transfer student; take her to the faculty office."
Cheonghyeon High School was quite a large school. In addition to the sizable main building, there were separate East and West wings, and the structure was somewhat complex. Worried that a transfer student might get lost with just directions, the teacher had shown Saebom this consideration.
"Follow me."
"Thank you."
After bowing to the teacher and turning around, Saebom checked the face of the person who would guide her to the faculty office.
A man who brushed back his hair tossed about by the wind with an attitude that clearly showed his irritation. The moment Saebom saw his face, she nearly let out a scream.
Right there before her eyes was the runaway who had been hit in the back of the head by the tangerine she threw yesterday.
Saebom subtly clenched her fist to hide any sign of tension and briefly met Dohyeon's eyes.
Showing a slightly awkward smile as if to say sorry for being a nuisance, she turned her gaze away as naturally as possible.
'He won't recognize me.'
That day, Saebom had worn not only a mask and a baseball cap but had even pulled up her hoodie on top of everything.
There was no way he would properly remember or recognize a face where only her eyes were visible.
"Follow me."
Fortunately, perhaps without any particular suspicion, Dohyeon, who had turned around first, began walking.
Saebom followed behind at an appropriate distance so as not to lag behind, watching Dohyeon's broad back.
'To think we'd be at the same school.'
Their first meeting had certainly been spectacular, but the reason Saebom recognized Dohyeon's face immediately was that his looks fell on the considerably handsome side—not easily forgotten.
He was someone with an undeniable presence that naturally drew the attention of everyone around him even when he was simply standing still. And with such a man carrying a savage air about him, he stood out all the more.
'But why is he always so angry like that?'
Anxious that it might be because of yesterday's incident, her mouth went dry.
Worried she might seem suspicious, Saebom stealthily hid the hand with the moist bandage behind her back.
'I'm sure he didn't recognize me?'
At Cheonghyeon High School, the name tag colors differed by grade: yellow for first-years, white for second-years, and green for third-years.
Dohyeon's name tag color was white. Meaning he was a second-year, one year older than her.
Since they were in different grades, she thought she should be careful to avoid running into him as much as possible, just as she entered the main building.
"I Dohyeon!"