Episode 272. Student Council President Moon Surin (4)

“… Yes. I’m fine. I understand.”

Tuk-

Moon Surin hung up the phone in the hospital hallway and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.

Hoo.

Something like a stab to her insides rose up from deep within her chest.

Standing before Lee Hoyeon’s hospital room, Moon Surin slowly composed herself.

Her heart felt like it was tearing apart.

Him fooling around with a woman who wasn’t her.

Him showing a side of himself he didn’t show her to others.

When she thought about him mixing bodies with another woman….

She felt so sad, so incredibly sad, like she was going crazy.

But what she hated more than that was being hated by him.

The fact that liking someone could also hurt that person.

She knew.

Lee Hoyeon was very popular.

A kind, handsome, and capable man.

Women who wanted him were literally waiting, enough to fill a truck.

She was just a creepy woman secretly collecting Lee Hoyeon’s photos or recording his voice.

“… Yeah. There will be opportunities later on too.”

The relationship between men and women is fickle, like reeds.

Life is long, and there’s plenty of time to aim for.

Even if he’s with another woman now, an opportunity will come for her too.

She had to compose herself.

He’s a patient. Because she liked him, she didn’t want to burden him even more.

Rather than see Lee Hoyeon suffer because of her, it was better for her to suffer.

Rather….

That was better.

Besides, Moon Surin was afraid.

Afraid that Lee Hoyeon might notice her feelings of liking him and push her away.

‘Noona… I’m sorry. I have a girlfriend, so….’

“Ugh.”

Moon Surin shook off the sound of Lee Hoyeon’s voice playing in her ears.

If she heard words like that, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to endure it.

It was clear she would let go of her barely held sanity.

Moon Surin swept her clean hands down her face once.

She wished the discomfort in her heart would fall away a little, but it was completely ineffective.

A corner of her chest still stung as if being pricked by an awl.

“Hoo. Hoo….”

Moon Surin took another deep breath.

To hide her unsettled emotions.

And she smiled.

Because she didn’t want to burden him.

She knocked on the door.

Tok tok tok-

“Hoyeon-ah. May I come in?”

*

“Hoyeon-ah. Are you okay?”

Entering the hospital room, Moon Surin tapped the chair a few times and sat down.

“Yes. Thanks to you, Noona, I’m okay.”

“You seemed to be injured badly….”

Moon Surin carefully scanned my body.

“I have regeneration-related abilities, so.”

“That’s a relief. I was very worried.”

It certainly was a big deal.

If I didn’t have natural healing power, it would have been the end right there.

Moon Surin, perhaps unable to change, was still wearing the crop top and jeans she had on at the commemorative event.

I sat up slightly, leaned my back against the bed, and took the hand of Moon Surin, who was smiling brightly.

“Noona, thank you so much. If you had come to save me just a little later, I really would have died.”

This is serious.

I had survived desperately until now, only to almost die by the hands of some extra; calling it a major crisis wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.

“No. You should be thankful to Alice, Daeun, Lucy, and Lumi rather than me. Everyone went through a lot.”

Moon Surin smiled faintly, saying everyone else was seriously injured except for her, and stroked the back of my hand.

“You’re amazing, Noona.”

Moon Surin apparently yielded her turn to others and received her examination last.

Even though she must have suffered fighting directly, her thoughtfulness is amazing.

“Speaking of which, what were you doing?”

“Uh… I was just resting.”

Actually, I was talking with the Chairman… but it seemed like she didn’t want to reveal it.

“Really?”

Chuckling, Moon Surin stood up from the chair.

She walked lightly towards the window, which was open on one side, and conjured something with her magic power.

It wasn’t clearly visible, but it looked like thin dust.

“Then what is this strand of hair?”

“… What is that?”

“This is my grandfather’s hair.”

“….”

“It was on the chair, on the path to the window, and on the window too. Why is my grandfather’s hair here? Hmm.”

Haa.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

That old man is really no help.

He looks young on the outside, but couldn’t he prevent hair loss?

He should have cast a barrier with magic power or something.

Moon Surin soon returned to her seat, sat down, rolled up the hair, and put it in the trash can.

“The Chairman came and went. Right?”

“… Yes. That’s right. He left just before you arrived, Noona.”

Anyway, even if I lied, I’d get caught.

It was obvious she had already confirmed the Chairman’s visit before bringing it up.

“Hmm, I see. What did you two talk about?”

“…… I heard about Surin Noona’s circumstances.”

Since I decided to speak honestly, I decided to be honest to the end.

Seeing Surin Noona’s expression, she probably knew the situation.

The Chairman quickly running away must be because she got a hint from Moon Surin.

Don’t tell me… wasn’t it something like that?

Even so, coming specifically just to get caught, that person is quite something.

“My father is a fiend?”

“… Yes.”

“Seeing your expression, you must have heard that I’m worried too.”

“Yes. I heard everything.”

“Did he perhaps ask you to take care of me, or say words like that?”

“… No. He didn’t say words like that.”

I have at least some tact.

I must deny it here.

“Haa. Really…! I told you not to talk about such things! I’ll deal with that old man somehow, so don’t worry about what grandfather said.”

“….”

Moon Surin shook her head vigorously.

Then she smiled as if it were no big deal.

As if trying to brush it off as a light joke.

“By the way, Alice was also badly injured.”

“Really?”

“Did you see Daeun? Her hands were so….”

After that, Moon Surin rambled on about the other heroines.

Starting with how Lucy and Lumi were waiting for me, crying their eyes out, how sad Nam Daeun was, and how Alice collapsed.

On the surface, she seemed cheerful, but somehow….

She looked different from usual.

‘This is strange.’

Logically, praising someone of the same sex in front of the person you have feelings for is strange.

Especially since Moon Surin, a heroine, was doing so, it was even stranger.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Moon Surin]

• [Affection: 89]

• [Lust: 65]

• [Hunger: 50]

• [Fatigue: 75]

Current State: Hoyeon has other girls, so… I should step aside.

“….”

Only after reading the status window did I intuit.

It seems something is wrong.

Something is clearly wrong.

Moon Surin knows about the relationship between me and other women.

Why?

No, how?

‘…That isn’t important.’

For now, I must focus on Moon Surin right in front of me.

On the outside, she was smiling, but if I were Moon Surin, how would I feel?

My father, whom I had been searching for for 10 years, became a fiend.

The man I liked was dating another woman.

‘That would be a rather miserable feeling.’

Actually, at first, my goal was to become a pillar of support for Moon Surin, using the stalker incident as a chance.

But that route was ruined.

And eventually, I couldn’t achieve a proper conquest for Moon Surin.

The Lucy-Lumi twins got involved with fiends, or there were incidents between the twins.

I saved Nam Daeun by pulling her out of the Buyer Guild, and Baek Ahyoung’s lust was satisfied by something only I could do.

I resolved Alice’s congenital magic power disorder.

But only Moon Surin, despite being a heroine from the original work, remained unconquered.

That was the anxiety in my heart.

“Speaking of which, Hoyeon, you….”

I looked into the eyes of Moon Surin, who was still smiling as she continued to speak.

“Surin Noona.”

“Hm?”

Within her pupils, I saw a faint tremor and anxiety.

That smile looking pained surely isn’t my delusion.

“Do you want to go eat later? I’m hungry.”

I threw out the words as if it were no big deal.

It’s something we say whenever we meet.

In fact, we’ve eaten meals together just the two of us many times.

Naturally, an “okay” answer should come.

“Huh? Um. If so, I’d be grateful, but….”

But Moon Surin hesitated.

Whether she could accept this offer or not.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Moon Surin]

• [Affection: 89]

• [Lust: 65]

• [Hunger: 50]

• [Fatigue: 75]

Current State: She must be saying words like that, trying to take care of me. But if so, the other girls….

“… Tsk.”

This is trouble.

Clearly, she still has affection for me, but she’s agonizing because of her relationship with other women.

On top of that, getting caught by the crazy old man makes her even think about pity points.

“Surin Noona.”

“Hm… Huh?”

I tightly grabbed Moon Surin’s hand and pulled her.

So that she would come closer into my embrace.

In fact, this situation was quite a gamble for me.

I couldn’t solve Moon Surin’s worries, nor could I catch the stalker.

I couldn’t arrange the touching father-daughter reunion by finding my father who became a fiend, like in the original work, nor could I cure my grandfather, the Chairman’s, chronic illness.

If you simply consider Surin Noona as a game heroine, this is a completely failed game.

It’s to the point where it would be better to start anew.

But even if the conquest of heroine Moon Surin failed, I could still be a pillar of support for human Moon Surin.

That sort of thing has nothing to do with conquest.

There’s also the very minor problem of having multiple women I support, but that’s also fine.

Anyway, from the start, I intended to embrace and go forward with all the women.

“Ho, Hoyeon-ah.”

I looked at Moon Surin, her eyes wide, and slightly raised the corners of my mouth.

And with my remaining hand, I wrapped it around Moon Surin’s waist.

“Wh- Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Huh?”

Moon Surin seemed flustered by my face being so close, her eyes rolling around frantically.

She was like a cat looking for a place to escape.

‘Should I have done this sooner?’

In fact, her affection level itself had indicated it was possible long ago.

I just lacked confidence.

But now I realized.

No matter how many women there are for me, Moon Surin will be happier this way.

“I like you, Surin Noona.”

“You, you… Hoyeon-ah…?”

Following my words, Moon Surin gasped in shock.