Yui walked briskly back to the library, pretending like nothing had happened — like she didn't just face off with a mimic spirit and save the day with a slapdash spirit tag. The pressure in her chest still hadn't eased. The ghost had been too close, too real, and the fact that it wasn't the first one made her wonder how deep this whole "death deal" thing was going to take her.
She returned to her seat in the library, trying to act casual.
Min-jun looked up from his book, eyes scanning her like he could somehow tell she'd just been in a life-or-death situation. "You're back."
Yui gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Bathroom line was long."
"Right," he said, obviously unconvinced. "So, are we going to finish this project or what?"
"I thought you were working on it." Yui slid back into her seat.
"Well, I hit a roadblock." He gave a sheepish grin. "It's like, I can't focus. Too distracted."
Yui glanced at him. "Distracted? By what?"
Min-jun fidgeted with his pencil. "I don't know. I just keep thinking about—well, about how... you've been acting different lately."
Yui stiffened. "How exactly have I been acting different?"
He hesitated. "You seem... off. Not yourself. Maybe even a little—distant."
Yui felt her face flush with frustration. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
But even as the words left her lips, she knew they were hollow. She wasn't fine. She'd never been fine. Not since that night, not since she first saw Baek Woo-jin.
She forced herself to focus. "Anyway, let's get back to the project. We're researching famine in Korea, right?"
Min-jun nodded, still watching her with that concerned look.
"Great," Yui muttered, flipping through her book. "Let's get this over with."
As the school day came to an end, Yui met