Awner's POV
The hall was loud and crowded, yet one table remained completely empty—except for a single girl sitting alone. Cassie. Everyone else avoided her like she carried a curse. In the fandom she was hated for "betraying Sunny," but that was in the novel… this was reality.
Her eyes were unfocused, slightly lowered, as though she was lost in a thought . Awner walked toward her and pulled out the chair beside her. The legs scraped softly, and Cassie flinched. Her blank eyes shifted in his direction, her expression flickering from surprise to fear—then smoothing into a practiced calm.
Awner stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of the easiest way to begin. His thoughts raced, and with his Echoing Mind flaw, that was dangerous. Anything he thought too hard might slip out of his mouth.
Finally, he exhaled and spoke.
"Hi… I'm Awner. You?"
A pause. Then, with a hint of hesitation:
"…I'm Cassie."
"Cassie, huh? Nice name. Nice to meet you."
Another beat of silence. He decided not to dance around it.
"Would you… like to be friends?"
She didn't reply—not immediately. He could almost feel her trying to understand why someone was talking to her at all.
At last, she spoke quietly:
"Why? I'm blind. A practical death waiting to happen in the Dream Realm. Why would you want to be my friend? Aren't you disgusted?"
Awner didn't like lying, especially when it didn't benefit him. So he answered plainly.
"Personally? I'm not disgusted at all. Even with the flaws, you're probably the most attractive girl in this batch. Sure, there are other beautiful girls… but you're definitely my type. If you were a bit older, even more so."
The honesty came out louder than intended—his flaw betraying him. Cassie's eyes widened, and she raised a hand to cover her mouth, tilting her head downward as though hiding a blush.
"I see… you're that kind of person," she murmured, unsure whether to be offended or flattered.
Cassie had been admired before—popular in school, surrounded by friends, even asked out often. But after her Blind flaw awakened, everything changed. People stopped talking to her. She became a burden. A statistic waiting for the Dream Realm to erase.
Awner wiped his palms on his pants, sweating internally. He tried not to think too hard, afraid he might say something worse. Still, he continued.
"And about the death-corp thing… you're not in the Dream Realm right now. What's the point of living like you're already dead? Maybe you die later, maybe you don't. Why waste your present?"
Cassie was silent after hearing that. Then, softly:
"…thank you."
"So, are we friends?" he asked.
She nodded. A small, genuine smile appeared—her first one today.
They shook hands. Awner let her talk, and to his surprise, she turned out to be quite talkative. She told him about her family, about her school, about how people changed after the Spell. He mostly nodded, offering short replies and letting her unwind.
Sunny finally wandered over hear with happy smile like he won lottery . He stared at both of them, then at Awner, his expression saying Are you serious?
Awner ignored it and simply introduced them.
"This is Sunny. Sunny, this is Cassie."
They exchanged polite nods, but no words.
Sunny's thoughts were loud enough to read on his face:
When will the induction ceremony start?
Almost on cue, a tall man in a dark blue uniform stepped onto the stage—towering, broad, almost bear-like.
Sunny's imagination wandered. Awner tuned out.
Cassie's POV
She wasn't used to someone sitting beside her anymore.
People avoided her now—she felt it like a cold draft in every room. Being blind was one thing, but being a burden in the Dream Realm made her untouchable. Disposable. Already half-dead.
So when the chair beside her moved, she braced herself. Fear first. Then confusion.
Why him?
His voice was calm. Warm. Not forced. And when he asked to be friends, she thought he was mocking her. Testing her. Setting her up for humiliation.
But then he spoke with a strange, blunt honesty—something raw and unfiltered.
He called her pretty. His type. Said it without hesitation.
She didn't know how to react. It shocked her. It flustered her. It made her feel human again, even if only for a moment.
And when he said she shouldn't live like she was already dead… it struck deeper than she expected. No pity. No sugar. Just truth.
For the first time since awakening her flaw, she felt seen—not as a burden, but as a person.
So she smiled. Small, fragile, but real.
Maybe… maybe she didn't have to face the darkness alone.
Sunny's POV
He didn't understand this guy.
Most people avoided Cassie for logical reasons. Blind flaw meant death sentence, Burden.Useless .
He didn't hate her—he just didn't want attachments in a place where people disappeared overnight. It was practical. Efficient. Safe.
But this Awner? He sat down like it was the most natural thing in the world.
No hesitation.
No discomfort.
No calculation.
Sunny couldn't tell if it was bravery…
…or stupidity…
…or something rarer.
And when Cassie said Awner was kind, something irritated him—like a grain of sand under the eyelid. Tiny, but impossible to ignore.
He wasn't jealous.
Just… annoyed.
Sunny folded his arms again and looked away.
He had no practical reason to dislike Awner, and absolutely not because Awner happened to be taller and much more handsome."
Awner's POV
The crowd got louder as more Awakeners filled the hall, but somehow the space around their table felt quieter. Cassie shifted slightly in her seat, fingers tracing the edge of her cup, lips pressed together like she was gathering courage.
Then, in a small voice barely above the ambient noise, she asked:
"Awner… earlier… when you said I was your type… did you really mean it? Or was it just something you said to make me feel better?"
Awner blinked.
His brain immediately produced a dozen answers, most of them dangerous, all of them honest. His Echoing Mind pulsed like a warning siren. Don't think too hard. Don't think too loud.
He exhaled slowly and spoke.
"I don't say things just to make people feel better. If I thought you weren't attractive, I wouldn't have said anything."
Cassie froze.
Not offended.
Not flattered.
Just stunned—like no one had spoken to her like a person in weeks.
Sunny, who had pretended to be disinterested, turned his head slightly—definitely listening now.
Cassie swallowed.
"But… I'm blind," she whispered, as though reminding him of the flaw he must have missed.
Awner shrugged.
"Blind isn't ugly."
Her breath caught.
Sunny looked away sharply, jaw tightening.
Cassie lowered her head again, but this time it wasn't in shame—it was to hide a tremor in her lips that might have been the start of a smile.
"And besides," Awner added without thinking, "you have the kind of face that would still look good even if you were facing the wrong direction."
Cassie let out a tiny, startled laugh—believing it was a joke.
Sunny did not laugh.
His left eye twitched.
Cassie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, cheeks warming.
"…You're strange," she murmured.
Awner nodded. "So I've heard."
"But…" Cassie continued softly, "I'm glad you sat here."
Awner wasn't prepared for that one. His heart lurched, and his thoughts surged dangerously toward the surface.
Don't say anything stupid. Don't say she has a cute voice. Don't say she smells nice. Don't say you like the way she smiles—
Sunny cut in abruptly, saving him from himself.
"The ceremony's starting."
Cassie's POV
She didn't know why she asked.
Maybe she wanted to hear it again.
Maybe she wanted proof she wasn't fading.
People used to call her pretty all the time.
But back then, it was casual.
Effortless.
Expected.
Now, after the flaw—after the stares, the whispers, the avoidance—praise felt unreal. Suspicious. Impossible.
But Awner said it like a fact, not a compliment.
Like stating the color of the wall.
Like he couldn't imagine it being untrue.
And when he said blindness wasn't ugliness…
Her chest ached.
Not romantically.
Not dramatically.
Just… humanly.
For the first time since awakening, she felt lik
e she wasn't a burden someone tolerated.
She felt seen—by someone who didn't even rely on sight.
When the tall officer began speaking, Cassie didn't listen.
She was still replaying one sentence.
Blind isn't ugly