While Mirae searched for the nameless book in her locker, Jun Rui paused at his seldom-used locker. He inserted the key, opened it, and found it empty.
After locking his locker, his eyes drifted to the locker beside his. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and tried the handle—it was unlocked.
He paused for a moment, then pulled the door fully open. It wasn't empty. Inside, he saw a familiar rectangular box-like figure: it is a miniature of a Noah's Ark.
As soon as he saw it, he searched his memory palace related to it until a particular scene surfaced. He watched the memory like a short clip.
[ The room had been bare. White walls, empty except for a single office desk and two chairs—one stationary, the other a swivel chair. On the desk sat a miniature of Noah's Ark. ]
That was the first time he had stepped into the clubroom.
"President, here's the notebook," Mirae said.
Jun Rui closed the locker and took out the notebook. He opened to the first page and saw the title: MATH.
The handwriting looked similar to the note he had found on his desk.
The following pages were filled with notes, problems, and solutions. When he flipped to the back, he saw a drawing of Noah's Ark with a small sentence written in the corner:
[ I received my very first gift. It's meaningful, so I named myself after it. ]
On the second page, the notebook was full of scribbles:
[Joo Ray?], [Joon Rei?], [Ru-i?], [Ruy?], [Ju Ri?], [Ju Ri]
[ His name is definitely Ju Ri. ]
He finally understood why his members called him "Juri" and where it came from.
Unexpectedly, a certain someone had misheard his name and was convinced it was Ju Ri.
He had thought Celestine had made it up, since she was the first to call him that. But it turned out it was someone else—and Celestine had probably just overheard it, using it to tease him at first until it naturally stuck as his nickname.
Other than that, the notebook offered no useful lead. It was just a math notebook, though it showed the person liked solving problems and was good at it—the accuracy in problem solving was very high.
Next, Jun Rui sent Mirae to SH Forest to check the class that had registered thirty students, to confirm if it was still thirty.
Meanwhile, he returned to his classroom, Class 1-1, and sat at his desk, waiting for Mirae's report.
Earlier, he had checked the master lists of every class and noticed something strange.
Every master list was numbered from 1 to 30, and in Classes 1‑1 to 1‑5, there was a blank space—one number with no name:
Class 1-1, No. 2 blank
Class 1-2, No. 4 blank
Class 1-3, No. 3 blank
Class 1-4, No. 1 blank
Class 1-5, No. 2 blank
Obviously, the blank spaces are within the range of surnames starting with A.
It might be considered an error, but why hasn't anyone changed it? Didn't anyone notice?
After twenty minutes, a picture was sent. Jun Rui tap it to view.
The namelist was numbered from 1 to 30. He examined the list carefully.
The first time he had seen it, every name written was complete—given name and surname. Everything was still the same, except for No. 7. Now, only a single word remained.
7. Noa
Now that he knew the person's name, he only needed the right moment to meet her.
***
The Principal's Activity, "Strange Collection," had already ended its first phase. Most students had gone home to prepare their writing for Phase 2.
The classroom was quiet. The clock above the blackboard read 6:30 PM.
Outside the window, the sky had darkened. The school grounds were empty, the paths lit only by scattered lamps.
A few buildings still had their lights on and the breeze slipped through a cracked window, cold enough to remind him that tomorrow would be November.
Jun Rui woke to the sound of wind brushing against the glass and a ballpen scratching softly against paper.
He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and looked around. Only then did he remember he was still in his classroom.
Jun Rui stretched in his seat and finally looked at the person sitting beside him.
A girl was seated at the 30th desk.
She sat straight, arms resting on the desk, focused on writing something—no, solving a math problem.
Her long black hair partly hid her face, and the skin that showed looked pale under the classroom light
Seeing that the girl hadn't noticed he was already awake, Jun Rui didn't immediately disturb her.
He opened his phone and swiped past the lock screen. A photo of the Class 1-6 namelist with twenty-nine names appeared.
The list was numbered from 1 to 30. Every number had a name—except No. 7, which was left blank.
He turned off his phone and looked down at his desk.
A folded piece of paper lay on his desk.
He unfolded it.
[ Noa's Ark ]
When he folded it in half, the space disappeared.
[ Noa Ark ]
Above the words, written in small letters, was a single sentence:
[ Say it to the first black-eyed girl you will see. ]
Although Jun Rui didn't know if the girl sitting next to him had black eyes, he was already certain the name referred to her.
He sprawled back on the desk. He thought he could patiently wait for her to notice him, but a minute passed, and Jun Rui couldn't endure it any longer.
"Hey, Noa Ark. Do you—"
As soon as the name left his lips, a thin film seemed to pierce his mind, and one scene after another— of him with the mysterious girl— flashed before his eyes.
And he wasn't the only one to react—Noa, who had been focused on solving math problems, paused when she heard someone say her name.
When she looked up and turned to the youth beside her— someone who had only seemed familiar at first—now, she realized she actually knew him.
Instinctively, she reached for the snacks she had been keeping. Next, she was already standing next to Jun Rui.
"Here, Juri."
She placed the snacks in his hands, and then her hand automatically went to Jun Rui's hair, petting—cough—fixing it.
Noa was about to pull back her traitorous hand when a warm hand grasped her wrist and gently drew her downward.
Caught off guard, she didn't realize how her delicate, pale face was fully exposed to Jun Rui as he used his other hand to lift her bangs.
Neither of them realized how dangerously close their faces were to each other, too focused on something else.
Looking into the pure black eyes so close to him, Jun Rui felt as if he were staring into the night itself—the darkness he loved. It was like a black hole, swallowing all the light, yet a tiny sparkle remained, like a star, so he wouldn't be lost within it.
And Noa? She was doing her best not to nibble Jun Rui's chubby cheeks, so she locked her gaze on his cerulean, cat-like eyes—but she quickly got lost in them, imagining him finally revealing his true cat form and letting her pet him.
"Hey," Jun Rui called softly, still lost in her eyes. "How about joining my club and becoming my 7th member? I'll share my snacks with you, let you play with my hair, and you have the privilege to go wherever I go. You'll say yes, right?"
Although he was still mesmerized, Jun Rui's subconscious made him act pitiful.
Since his eyes had been wide open for almost a minute without blinking, his protective reflex kicked in, and his nearly dry eyes moistened with tears.
And Noa took it that if she didn't join, he'd cry. So, she quickly "sold" herself to him.
Although there's a chance that Noa might realize later that she'd been tricked, she would still agree—especially when the youth grinned mischievously at her, triumph glinting in his cat-like eyes. She felt it's worth it to agree.
"That's a promise." Jun Rui let go of her wrist and hooked his pinky around hers. "And locked! If you don't show up in the clubroom tomorrow, I'll curse you to never see cats again—ever."
"I won't let that happen," Noa said firmly. But then she hesitated, thinking of something, and decided to confirm. "Can I really go wherever you go?"
Jun Rui huffed. "Of course. I'm a man of my word. I won't go back on what I said."
"Okay… then you… you can't regret it."
"Sure," he said with certainty.
And that's how Jun Rui gained an extra shadow.
Will he regret it? Mmm. And how long before he realizes the pit he's dug himself into? Let's place our bets~
***
[ Strange Collections: My Strange Fairy Tale
I don't know if you've ever experienced talking to someone you don't know at all, yet it feels like you've known them for a long time.
You know what they like—how their lips curve into a smile, how their eyes twinkle in delight.
You know they have always been there when you needed them, even though you can't remember when it began.
I named this entry: My Strange Fairy Tale, because I met a Fairy.
A Fairy who likes to help others and loves adorable, furry things like cats.
The first time I saw her, I thought of Snow White—pale skin, black eyes, red lips. Unlike Snow White, though, she had really long hair and she was wearing a loose school uniform.
When we first met, the Fairy saved me from falling into an abyss.
She took my hand and pulled me back, then led me forward—letting me taste the excitement of the world, showing me that I could be free.
In the morning, we rolled on the green grass.
For lunch, we climbed trees and picked ripe fruits to eat.
After that, we used the flower bed as our place to nap.
When we woke up, we watched the world together.
It was fun.
I was happy the entire day.
Then the school bell rang, and I had to go home.
When I bid goodbye to her, I realized she was also like Cinderella—she could only be with me until 6 PM.
It wasn't because she didn't want to stay, but because I had to leave.
I didn't know then that I would forget her the next day.
Even the fairy might also forget me, because of the curse.
- Noah's Ark ]