29: Several Years Later

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

As Shinji sat on his bed, cross-legged, he heard a knock coming from his door.

He opened it, and it revealed a white-haired boy, his serious face housed a few scratches.

"Hm? Duke?" voiced out Shinji in confusion.

"Shinji Lee... I came here just to tell you something..." said Duke with a stern face.

Shinji replied, "Oh. What is it?"

"I... I will challenge you next time... So, don't you dare lose to anybody else..." replied Duke, his facade of an innocent boy, now nowhere to be seen.

"Heh. Then I'll wait for that day. Have a good summer, Duke!"

Once the white-haired boy started walking away, Shinji closed his door and started packing his things away...

Preparing to return to his home...

...

After a few minutes, he went out of the building and looked around.

"Scotus!" he shouted.

An enormous bird landed on his head as he shouted once more.

"Caw!"

"There you are! Come on, let's get on the boat. I'm sure Thorne and Cassy are there already... I hope they are..." he muttered.

As the boy walked toward the boat, he doesn't notice a girl looking at him, her eyes filled with praise, betraying her expressionless face.

Her bluish-white hair blew with the wind as she turns around to face her companions.

"We should go..." she spoke, walking past them.

...

Meanwhile... On the boat...

"Where are those idiots..." muttered Shinji irritatedly.

...

After a while of looking around...

"Yo, Shinji! Over here!" shouted someone, gaining his attention.

The boy turns around, and he finds a brown-spiky-haired boy, waving his hand around. Beside the boy, was a black-wavy-haired student.

"Finally found you guys." sighed Shinji, while Scotus got off his head and jumped on the seats.

"Hi, Scotus... (𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙬!)" greeted Caspian, keeping a groan from escaping his mouth.

"Hey, birdy!" said Thorne.

"Caw!"

"Don't make a mess, Scy, or they'll make me keep you in that animal compartment." reminded Shinji.

But, the boy quickly says to his friends, "So, any plans for this summer?"

...

****

[𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝖞𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘 𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗...]

In a subdivision, stood an all-concrete mansion with tall glass windows that gave a view of its beautiful surroundings.

In it, we see several maids doing their chores, while upstairs, in a bedroom, we see a sleeping teenager.

But, his peaceful sleep was interrupted by a ringing tone, coming from his phone.

He groggily wakes up and answers the phone.

"... what is it?" he answers with a yawn.

| Yo! Where the hell are you!? | shouted a guy from the other side of the phone.

"... In Korea... Where else...?"

| Sigh... You, idiot! I meant, why aren't you in school!?|

"... Oh. Didn't I tell you? I won't be coming back for at least a week... I want to spend more time with my family." he replies, laying on the bed.

| Hey, Shin. It's Caspian... | said a different guy.

"Oh... hey, Cassy." greeted Shinji.

| ... Is what you said true? |

"Yep."

.

.

After a long time of silence...

| ... Alright then... But, everyone is worried that you're going to get expelled for being absent for... a month... | said Caspian in a nervous tone.

"Eh. I doubt that they'd expel their Top Student... Anyway, I'll talk to you guys later..."

| 𝘏𝘌𝘠! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯- | shouted the same person but in a different tone.

*Beep*

...

"What time is it..?" asked Shinji to no one as he checked his clock.

"Oh... Damn. It's time for meditation..."

****

A few hours later...

{Shinji POV}

Ahh... I wonder if 'he' has been processed yet...

Seongha's been both annoyed and somewhat happy for finally catching the guy...

Well, you guys must be wondering who I'm talking about...

It's that old bastard, Delein...

Yep, you heard me right. I'm going to meet him. Why? Well, I'm not tellin' ya.

Also, I should probably catch you guys up...

.

.

.

The WAA did some small renovations to the school and an airport was also made near the school... Because of it, the school has been getting almost twice the admissions from Awakened Families...

They also had to hire more teachers, it's this whole other thing...

Anyway, it's been a mess over there the past few years. It's part of the reason, why I'm still here in Korea...

Sigh. Alright then. I better head to the Union, since Subin already left a while ago for her school...

She's, surprisingly, such a hardworking student... Hah!

But, what do I wear...

****

{General POV}

Outside of a tall building, was a black car.

A tall, raven-haired teenager came out of it. He wore a simple periwinkle-colored long-sleeved polo, matched with black suit pants. It complemented his lean body and also appeared quite formal.

He entered the building and he was immediately greeted by several people in all-black attire.

"Good morning, Sir Shinji!" greeted several people.

"Yep, good morning to you guys, as well," replied Shinji.

He looked around...

"Ah! Chun-Mee! Have you seen Seongha?" he asked a female in all-black attire.

The woman straightened and answered, " Seongha is in the Investigation Department Office, Sir!"

"Thanks!"

...

After a small walk, he arrived in front of a room.

He opened the door, and immediately spotted a man sitting on a chair while signing some papers.

"Yo, Seongha. Busy processing the old mad doctor?" said Shinji with a grin.

...

****

What did you think of the chapter?

P.S: I was going to have Jiyoung be the romantic partner, but with a new character appearing in the new chapter, I'm going to rethink some decisions...

I actually already finished this chapter a while ago, but I made some edits...