Chapter 15: Four-Dimensional Beings (Part 2) (First Update)

  Got back late, sorry

  Continue to recommend...

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  A sharp scream was like a bugle, the residual waves of sound waves impacting the eardrum had not passed, and in the distant space that suddenly came under the dark, one after another, the screams rose and fell, vaguely competing with who had a louder voice.

  It should be girls from other dance rooms who were frightened by the sudden power outage, and occasionally you can still hear boys making trouble with strange laughter.

  Those distant sounds made the darkness around me seem even more hollow and desolate.

  The pair of icy small hands clinging to An Junhe's arm tightened their grip, the fingernails already digging into his flesh, causing a slight stinging pain.

  ...I didn't expect her to be so afraid of the dark...

  It's a bit strange to think about, but Ahn Jun-ho certainly knew who was holding his arm. Throughout their interactions, Jang Seung-jo had given him the impression of being aloof and haughty, with a demeanor that could be described as detached. At least, he had never seen her flustered or panicked, and it seemed like no matter what happened to her, her empty gaze would never change, which suited her nickname "Iceberg" quite well.

  It wasn't until now that I realized she was just an ordinary girl who was also timid.

  With this realization, An Junhe felt his heart suddenly soften a bit. The subtle distance he had always maintained towards her, ignoring himself, quietly dissipated. He relaxed the muscles in his arm, allowing the girl to tightly hug and pinch him, saying softly: "Don't be afraid, it's just a power outage."

  The voice was soft and gentle, just like the warmth he gave her on her birthday, making people feel like they were basking in the warm sunshine of spring, all the way to their heart.

  Her small hand, which was tightly grasping his arm, unconsciously relaxed a bit, but a body with a cool touch similar to that of her hands slowly drew near, and although it didn't stick close due to restraint, it was enough for An Junhe to feel the softness of female skin.

  He smiled to himself, didn't say anything else, afraid that it would disappear because of his few words, let her hold on, just his arm had to suffer a bit - the skin was probably all pinched.

  He pulled out his phone from his pocket, and the screen, emitting a faint glow, lit up the surroundings slightly. The light was weak, but it was enough to dispel some of the fear of the darkness. At the same time, a few steps away, another phone screen lit up, casting a pale blue glow on Xiao Xian's calm face.

  The little girl looked over here, rarely sticking out her tongue and smiling mischievously, "So sister is afraid of the dark!"

  It seemed a bit unbearable, Zheng Xiuyan slightly loosened Ahn Jun-hee's arm, the faint light couldn't illuminate her expression, only hearing her softly "hmm" once.

  Xiao Xian, who was normally not one to tease others, let out a slight chuckle and then let it go. She wasn't afraid of the dark at all, and using the faint light, she tidied up a bit before hugging her ice cream and slinging her small bag over her shoulder. "Gege Junhe is with Jiejie, don't be scared," she said, leaving behind a sentence: "I'll go find some light!" Then, with two little legs moving swiftly, she ran off with a patter-patter sound.

  Everyone left, leaving only Ahn Jun-hee and Jung Soo-young alone in the room. The two people who were alone together had no conversation topics at all, and could only be silent. The space was once again surrounded by silence, but unlike when there was light, the longer this silence lasted in the darkness, it seemed that the darkness would also become more oppressive, especially for those who feared it.

  But soon, Ahn Jun-hee heard Zheng Xiuyan's breathing quicken beside him, with a faint sound of teeth chattering.

  "Hey! I'm right next to you!" After a moment of thought, An Junhe spoke up to break the silence, laughing and saying: "You're afraid even like this? How small is your courage?"

  Seemingly unamused by his smiling tone, Jung Soo-yeon's rapid breathing came to a halt as she struggled to calm down, humming: "Hmph, who's afraid."

  No sooner had the words fallen than the sky outside the window suddenly lit up, a silver snake-like lightning bolt came from the clouds, seeming to pierce through heaven and earth, bursting out fiercely, after a few breaths, a loud crack split the sky.

  "Ah——"

  The sharp high-pitched sound rang out again, the cool and soft skin sensation pressed back against Ahn Jun-hee's body to one side. Compared to earlier, the girl was much closer this time, the tight distance allowing him to clearly feel that her entire body was trembling violently.

  Boom!

  The rumbling thunder rolled across the sky, An Junhe turned his head to look out the window, dense clouds covered the dark sky that had hidden the sunlight, flashes of lightning seemed to have received a signal, and rushed out from under the cloud layer with their fierce and violent tentacles, bursts of strong light exploded, as if wanting to tear the entire world apart, crackling thunder shook the glass on the window frame, making it hum and tremble, giving the illusion that the space around him would collapse and be destroyed at any moment.

  As if driven by the momentum of lightning, the wind and rain grew stronger. The fierce winds whipped up raindrops that pounded against the glass with a loud crackling sound. The streets, devoid of lighting, were only illuminated by the faint glow of car headlights, barely providing a small field of vision. It was just possible to make out that many objects and debris were being swept up in the stormy weather, dancing wildly. Pedestrians scurried about in disarray, dodging for cover. Many colorful streamers and signs in front of shops were waving frantically, while water accumulated on the ground, threatening to overflow at any moment.

  It's as if it's the end of the world.

  Such violent weather, in Ahn Jun-hee's impression, can only be compared to Busan or Jeju Island during the typhoon season, making him worry about Ji-soo at home.

  He made a phone call back, and Jixiu's voice didn't seem to have changed. About her brother's concern, she just laughed lightly and said: "It's okay, Busan has typhoons in the summer, which is much more frightening than this. Growing up in that place, do you still worry that I'm afraid? Besides, Meishan sister is with me!"

  An Junhe felt a bit relieved when he heard her say it lightly and said: "It's okay if you're not afraid... Give the phone to Mei Shan sister."

  On the other side, Ji Hyeok responded with a "yes", and then Misun's voice came through: "Don't worry, sir, I'll be accompanying Miss Ji Hyeok."

  "Sorry, Meishan," An Junhe said apologetically. "If you stay to accompany Zhixiu, what about the kids at home?"

  "It's okay, sir, I've called the children's father and he'll go back to be with them."

  An Junhe thanked her again before hanging up the phone. After all, Mei Shan was a nurse he had invited back, not a nanny or servant. She had taken the initiative to stay and accompany his sister, so he had to say some nice words; otherwise, it would be too impolite.

  The phone had just hung up when I heard Zheng Xiuyan's muffled inquiry beside me: "Your sister?"

  "Hmm!" An Junhe, who was slightly surprised, turned his head to look at her. The girl was curled up tightly beside him, her small head buried in the crook of her arm. Every time a thunderclap sounded outside, her body would tremble slightly.

  A fragile appearance, vastly different from usual, also especially evokes sympathy.

  However, due to his lack of understanding of her personality, An Junhe didn't know if she needed comfort from him or not, so he simply replied and stopped talking.

  After a while of silence, Zheng Xiuyan, who had been hiding her head all along, suddenly lifted it up. Ahn Jun-hee's eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and he could vaguely see that she seemed to be crying. She looked in his direction, with tear stains tracing faint marks on her cheeks, and scolded him in a nasal tone: "You're such a person, I even took the initiative to ask you, but don't you know how to accompany me and chat? You're always so quiet, it scares me!"

  "Huh?"

  The girl's delicate face was washed by tears, looking like a small flower cat. This expression of anger and grievance, or perhaps playful pouting, not only didn't show any signs of being angry, but instead added several points to her usual cuteness. An Junhe was taken aback for a moment before bursting out laughing.

  "What are you laughing at!" Zheng Xiuyan was so angry that she punched him hard, like a furious little wild cat, but the thunderclap that followed startled her and immediately retracted her ferocity, returning to weakness.

  After eating and laughing for a while, An Junhe shook his head and said helplessly, "Just now you yourself said you weren't afraid."

  "Dummy, who would admit to being a coward?!" Zheng Xiuyan felt wronged, how could she possibly admit such a thing openly, didn't she know that girls are all reserved?! Who would want others to know that they're actually vulnerable too, unless it's in front of someone close to them.

  "Alright! It's my fault." An Junhe shrugged, imitating Jung Soo-yeon's pose by crossing his legs and sitting down beside her. The girl's fresh scent wafted over to him, and he subconsciously rubbed his nose. However, not a single ripple stirred in his heart. "Actually, it's also your fault. In the past, when I greeted you, you always ignored me, so I thought you didn't want to talk to me."

  "I..."

  Jung Soo-yeon was taken aback, feeling a bit guilty. Although she loved to daydream and let her mind wander, it wasn't like she had a problem with her brain, so much so that when people greeted her multiple times, she wouldn't even notice. Except for the first time they met, when she didn't know how to start a conversation, she had indeed intentionally ignored Ahn Joon-young.

  But... there's a reason for that!

  Before her eyes, the scene seemed to reappear that afternoon in the rest room when she saw DV. In the DV, a handsome boy was smiling warmly and speaking softly with affectionate words of blessing. The sincerity and deep emotions contained in each sentence made her heart beat like a drum.

  She's 16 now, and as the saying goes, she's gradually growing up and coming into contact with society. She's starting to feel the pressure and worries of this strange world that belongs to adults, especially her dream of becoming a star, which she has been pursuing for four years. The longer it takes, the smaller the hopes of those around her are for her success. From their previous support, they slowly began to advise her to "give up" and "focus on her studies while there's still time", and not to ruin her future because of a momentary stubbornness.

  All sorts of words, she knew they were for her own good, but... really unwilling and resentful!

  She worked so hard, even overcoming her fear of the camera, from America back to this still unfamiliar country, step by step until today, paying out so much sweat, the company didn't even terminate her contract, why do they want to veto all her efforts? Why do they want her to give up?

  But even with such self-encouragement in her heart, the increasingly huge pressure around her as time passed made her feel at a loss and sometimes have nightmares, as if everyone she looked up to was an enemy.

  This lingering uncertainty lasted until that day, when that boy she had helped but was still unfamiliar with said those words.

  Those words of blessing, as if describing her experience, fit to the extreme. She was astonished to find that when even her closest family members began to question herself, there was still someone who understood and sympathized with her, telling her to be strong and brave - even though they didn't know each other.

  She still remembered his last words:

  “……Please don't give up, face everything that has an impact on you with strength and courage, just like the spring rain that surprises the hibernating insects. Although it will bend the tender shoots that have just broken through the soil, making them appear weak, it is also its nourishment that allows the buds to grow and bloom into the most beautiful flowers.”

  This sentence, like a refreshing spring water, suddenly poured her troubled mind clear and clean, also solidified her determination to continue pursuing her dreams - she told herself: at least someone supports me, even if I fail, at least I persisted, I didn't give up!

  It was also on that day that the figure of that boy was deeply imprinted in her heart...

  She always thinks of him, and his voice seems to be echoing in her ears all the time. Sometimes she even dreams about him, as if he suddenly intervened in her life, making her who has no experience at all not know what to do, subconsciously escaping under the drive of panic, pretending to ignore him, but secretly blushing and heartbeat when seeing him, hearing his voice.

  Like an ostrich deceiving itself, all sorts of childish actions have lost face.

  He even has the nerve to blame me for ignoring him...

  Thinking so, she quietly and gently kicked Ahn Jun-hee with her foot.

  The girl's weak strength, of course, didn't feel any pain, but was simply stunned by the kick, letting An Junhe scratch his head in confusion, turning around to look at the girl who had buried her head again, "What are you doing again..."

  "Mind your own business! I don't want to talk to you!"

  “……”

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