Frustrated at the fact that the registration line wasn't moving, Jihoon stomped his right foot on the ground. Moving left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of the elder sitting at a desk in the courtyard with a quill in his hand. Jihoon stomped his right foot compliantly again while looking up at the head of hair in front of him.
The man standing in front of Jihoon turned his head to the side and caught a glimpse of the frustrated lad behind him. Turning to face the front again he asked, "What is it?"
Jihoon wasn't sure if the figure in front of him was speaking to him so he remained silent. Hearing no response from behind him he turned around and faced Jihoon.
Jihoon who was minding his business and biting his thumbnail saw the man before him, whose chest with folded arms against it was facing him. His heart started to slowly beat fast. Raising his head slowly their eyes met!!
His face flushed red! He quickly swung his arms behind his back and nervously looked down at his boots, still biting his bottom lip. The man in front of him saw the puny lad nervously look away and became curious. He himself was a big burly man against Jihoon who was just the right size to fit in his arms. The man, handsome and tall, smiling gently he asked, "What is it?"
Jihoon again did not answer him…
The man put his hand on Jihoon's shoulder. This caught his attention, looking up Jihoon's eyes widened seeing his smile, "Oh" sounded from his mouth not realizing it.
The man wanted to roll his eyes at Jihoon's answer but kept himself back, continued to smile and said, "This fellow, you have been sighing continuously, stomping your feet and jumping around."
"..."
Man, "..."
Jihoon, "Hyung-nim, is there something you need from me?"
Man, "..."
Smiling embarrassedly, Jihoon stood up on his tippy toes and saw that he was still very short compared to the man in front of him.
There were five lines in front of the Heavenly Soul Cultivation School accepting students today. Jihoon was lined up in the third row with over five hundred martial artists, spellcasters and who knows what else, before him and this long process was frustrating alone, not to mention that he hated standing in the sun in fact, he hated standing or doing anything - he wished that he could just laze around all day long but Lanhua wanted nothing of this.
Jihoon's up and down movements started irritating the cultivators around him but none of them spoke out in order to stop him from wasting his energy since he seemed weak to all of them. The man who turned to face him was slightly irritated too but after looking at Jihoon's face his irritation lessened.
When the man turned to face him the others surrounding them became interested because they might enjoy a splendid show.
Furrowing his brows upon seeing that he was yet again ignored and coughed, "Fellow, what seems to be bothering you?"
Jihoon's mind had long drifted off imagining how relaxing it would have been if he were home now but suddenly his daydreaming was interrupted by the man's cough and question; he irritatedly answered, "Listen here you, it's enough that I was forced here by Lanhua and now I have to stand here in the sun behind four hundred and eight cultivators just to put my name on a sheet of paper not knowing whether or not this place will accept me. Now I have you disrupting my lazy daydreaming too, how much of this do you think I can take, mn?"
The man's brows unfurrowed as Jihoon continuously complained.
Another man behind him mumbled to himself, "Who's Lanhua?"
Jihoon's sensitive hearing caught this, turning his body around he answered with puffed cheeks, "Lanhua's my guardian."
Seeing that Jihoon looked as if he was about to cry, this person froze momentarily before he signalled to the man before Jihoon with his eyes and sending him a mental transmission for help.
Immediately the man before Jihoon asked, "This fellow, do you mind me asking what your name is?"
With puffed cheeks, Lee Jihoon turned around, blew out air and answered, "Lee Jihoon," slouching his back slightly and folding his arms in front of him.
A young lady to his right was giggling under her magenta coloured sleeve. After having her fill with giggles she said, "Young mistress Jihoon, a young maiden as refined as yourself should stand up straight with your hands neatly tucked under the sleeves and holding your head up high."
"-_-, this bitch!" he thought.
The surrounding cultivators all looked at her then looked at Jihoon and after a moment of being stunned the men around Jihoon broke out in cold sweat especially the two who were conversing with him before, no wonder no one felt the need to bully him.
Taking a closer look at him, they finally noticed the similarities between Jihoon and the maidens, although he wasn't wearing a dress or skirt and ribbons in his hair, his fair skin, rosy cheeks, big brown eyes, slim fingers and slim body, even the way he was standing was profoundly uncommon in the way a man stands.
Jihoon was indeed not dressed like a common male cultivator. On his feet he wore black boots that went up all the way to his thighs, stopping right in the middle. He had bright royal blue pants on that fitted his legs well hugging his thighs and buttocks smoothly - emphasizing his slight curve behind and the curve of his hips.
The shirt he wore was also royal blue in colour matching his pants and hugging his waist perfectly with a black silk belt holding it together. The robe that covered his body was open in front since Jihoon accidentally forgot to bring the sash with because he was late this morning, so his robe swayed with the breeze that came now and again - blowing wind through and infuriating madam.
On his neck was a black choker made fully out of black crystals and his hair was platted thinly with three rows on the left while the rest of his hair was all laying over his right shoulder.
He sighed, "Lee Jihoon is my name, so if you will continue to call me maiden in the future, mistress Lee is the correct one."
The lady in magenta coughed walked up to him and lightly bowed, introducing herself, "Mistress Lee, my name is Song JiEun from the Song sect in the mountains of Tai Xin. I am pleased to meet such a dignified lady such as yourself."
The onlookers kept themselves from laughing... almost red in the face. Some grinned and others looked elsewhere not being bothered by the quarrels of others… Jihoon caught the teasing in her words but chose to ignore it and said, "Well lady Song, it truly is a pleasure to meet you, how may I help you?"
Song JiEun was expecting for him to curse her out but instead a calm response and a question instead. Awkwardly standing there, she smiled and continued, "Would you like to be friends?"
Jihoon answered nonchalantly, "I prefer acquaintances... if we were to truly become friends you might run away scared in the future."
The man who first spoke to Jihoon chuckled. The stunned expression on Song JiEun's face was priceless.
Forcing his way into the conversation he said, "I am called Moon RuiHaan."
Jihoon's gaze instantly shifted to Moon RuiHaan and smiled, the two then started speaking and completely ignored the Song JiEun who dragged herself back to her friends.
RuiHaan, "Is it okay if I call you by your name?"
Jihoon looked at him and frowned, "What else are you going to call me besides my name?"
RuiHaan thought for a moment then shook his head. Shrugging his shoulders and grinning Jihoon answered, "Sure."
RuiHaan, "Do you not want to be here?"
Jihoon, "Oh…"
RuiHaan wanted to put his hands on Jihoon and shake him, keeping his calm he asks, "What do you plan on studying while attending Heavenly Soul?"
Pausing for a moment he answered, "I am well versed in many occupations except combat, according to Lanhua I should be studying array constructing, Alchemy and poison refining."
"If I were to force myself then I can train my sword fighting skills but I no longer have a core so my power manipulation is weak, I don't really know," completing this in his head.
The two of them continued speaking and although RuiHaan tried to make sense of Jihoon's non-stop blabbering about why he didn't want to be here and his laziness - he couldn't.
Jihoon seemed strange to him and in a world of his own but this did not make the impression RuiHaan had of him bad.
The line moved forward and it was finally Jihoon's turn after four hours of waiting…
Elder, "What is your name?"
"Lee Jihoon."
Elder, "Surname Lee, given name Ji-hoon?"
"..."
Elder, "..."
Jihoon stared at the elder and began drifting off again. The elder noticed that he seemed to be elsewhere, so he cleared his throat. Jihoon blinked his eyes a couple of times before answering, "Elder, do you need something from me?"
Elder, "What is your surname?"
"Lee."
The ink brush in the elder's hand paused, he looked up at Jihoon who was grinning and raised his brow.
Putting the ink brush down next to the sheet he asked, "What is your name?"
"Elder, I already told you what my name is, I am called Lee Jihoon."
The elder wasn't angry at the way he was answered back and continued, "Where are you from?"
Jihoon jumped with excitement while answering, I am from Deadmans Wonderland."
The elder and guards behind him eyes widened. Seeing their bewildered expressions Jihoon placed his hand on his chin as if thinking of something, then reversing his answer, "Hehe, my mistake, I come from the village behind Deadmans Wonderland."
The bewildered gazes returned to normal and the elder picked up the ink brush, "Are your parent's still alive?"
"Yes."
Elder, "How will they be paying for your tuition fees?"
"They need to pay...but I was kicked out?"
The ink brush in the elder's hand paused then he looked at Jihoon sizing him up. He saw that Jihoon was dressed well and also not dressed like a young scholar, a thought came to mind making him look over him once more.
Sighing then rubbing between his brows he asked, "How old are you?"
"Twenty-six this year."
Elder, "How long ago were you kicked out of home?"
He thought for a moment then smiled bitterly, "It's been ten years now."
The elder frowned, "What level is your cultivation on?"
Jihoon looked at the elder and tilted his head, could this elder not see through him?
Seeing through Jihoon's expression he said, "This elder wants to hear it from your mouth."
Jihoon, "Oh… I am a fourth stage Half-Martial Emperor."
Squinting his eyes, the elder really couldn't tell whether or not the person in front of him was lying or not because he couldn't see through Jihoon's power - he must have some treasure on his body that was hiding his cultivation.
Feeling a little curious about this person in front of him the elder asked, "What was your cultivation base at before you were kicked out?"
"...I was in the first stage of the Heaven Realm."
Elder, "You passed three realms all on your own?"
Jihoon stopped smiling and nodded while saying "...mn" after a long pause.
Seeing that Jihoon stopped smiling the elder decided to withhold his other personal questions.
Elder, "Do you have a backer?"
Jihoon, "A backer?"
Elder, "Someone who can pay for the tuition."
Jihoon, "Oh… Lanhua is the only one I know and she doesn't have money."
The elder took out a sheet of paper from his sleeves that had patterns on it and wrote down Jihoon's name on it, handing the sheet to him, he told him to return in a weeks time and hand the sheet to the elder in front of the Heavenly Soul's pavilion library."
Not knowing what to actually do with the sheet, Jihoon placed it in the inside of his robe and skipped off under the surprised and mocking gazes of the cultivators who still had to wait in line.