"Strange" Concern

"Who... are you?"

But in the end, looking at this stranger who spoke in a way that felt familiar, Mo Hei instinctively asked who he was.

The stranger looked a lot like him. And there was his presence, or perhaps something else...

Whatever it was, Mo Hei sensed that he had a great deal in common with the stranger before him.

"It really does hurt to hear you ask that in person."

Hearing Mo Hei ask who he was, Mo Bai murmured bitterly under his breath.

In the past, he hadn't minded how this "shadow" from his past depended on him.

On the contrary, he had even enjoyed it then.

Having Mo Hei depend on him had made him feel as though he were one of a kind.

But he knew that kind of relationship wasn't right.

After everything he had been through, Mo Bai understood that no one lived merely as someone else's shadow.

Perhaps cutting that tie had been an opportunity, too...

"Is something wrong?"

When Mo Hei saw the newcomer's gaze drop, he thought the man might be in some kind of trouble.

"It's nothing. Just think of me as an ordinary passerby. Don't worry, this is Star Torch Academy. There aren't any bad people here."

At Mo Hei's question, Mo Bai immediately smiled again and sat down beside him with the easy familiarity of an old friend.

Mo Hei found that he didn't mind Mo Bai's unexpected closeness.

So he let the man sit beside him.

"Right. This is Star Torch Academy..."

As Mo Hei repeated the Academy's name, he thought back on everything that had happened since he arrived.

There was the kindly Principal Losera, his lively classmates, and the friendly upperclasswomen Siglica and Dania.

Everything he had experienced today told him that the Academy