episode_0038
by adminAlthough Shihyuk didn’t know it, Chaewon had feelings for him.
The reason is that she is my first love who I played with as a child, that she has the same reading taste as my ideal type, and that she has a nice face.
Since I know he’s not the type to do that, I’m guessing that he’s being forced to threaten me for some reason.
However, since I have two girlfriends, I was trying my best to suppress my feelings of attraction.
‘Let’s stay away for now.’
But Si-hyuk kept coming into Chae-won’s mind as if he was mocking her thoughts.
It was the same today.
It was okay until I learned about librarianship during our club time together.
But as she learned more about the job and talked about various things in her free time, Chaewon found herself leaning towards Sihyuk.
Even though I didn’t want to give my heart, when I looked at you, my heart went to you on its own.
The simple story of how things were going was nice, but what Chaewon liked was something else.
The moment she shared her thoughts and opinions about the novel with a mind that was smarter than when she was young, Chaewon felt a happiness she had never felt before.
My girlfriend, Da-yoon, didn’t really like books, and Su-ah liked books, but their tastes were different from Chae-won’s.
While Chaewon liked novels with a heavy atmosphere, Suah liked books related to science or economics more than novels.
Chaewon, who had no suitable friends and no one with the same reading taste as her, had only accumulated novel reviews in her head, spoke happily like a fish in water.
“Have you read ‘To the Ants You Love’ too?”
“Yeah, I read it last time because you recommended it.”
Chaewon lied to Shihyuk’s question. In fact, she had read the novel a lot before Shihyuk recommended it, but saying it like this makes the person who recommended it feel good.
“How was it?”
“It was so much fun. Especially the scene where the human protagonist, enraged by the unjust death of his friend the ant, pours molten aluminum into the ant colony and kills hundreds of them, while listening to their screams, was awesome.”
The ants drown in the molten aluminum, and their bodies are trapped in the cooled, hardened aluminum anthill model.
“And the ending part where the old protagonist’s warehouse is filled with those aluminum anthill models was creepy.”
“That’s right! You got goosebumps there too?”
As we were having such a fun time chatting, the club time was already ending.
Not long after, Seo Bo-ah, the head of the library department who had been quietly reading a book, opened her mouth.
“Did you tell me about the librarian’s duties today? Since there are two librarians in a group, freshmen should pair up and choose someone to work as a librarian together.”
In the past, when I was told to pair up, I would have been flustered and timidly approached the person left behind and asked, “Do you want to do it together?” But now, it’s different.
After hearing Boa’s words, Chaewon glanced at Sihyuk, who was sitting next to her. Sihyuk was the first to speak to Chaewon.
“Let’s do it together.”
Chaewon felt her heart pounding at the firm words, “Let’s do it together,” rather than “Are you going to do it together?”
“Yeah···.”
When Chaewon answered shyly, Sihyuk noticed the strange atmosphere and his face turned slightly red.
“Oh, and next time, we’re going to have a 2-day, 1-night welcome party for new employees, so check the notice posted in the group chat carefully.”
““Yes.””
After all the members answered, Boa said that club activities for today were over and was the first to leave the club room.
Chaewon and Sihyuk also naturally went out together and continued their conversation.
“Did you know that there’s a book signing event for ‘To the Ant You Love’ next week?”
“Really? Where are you doing it?”
“One from the new bookstore near the academy.”
After hearing that, Chaewon remained silent for a moment and then mustered up her courage to speak.
“Then, do you want to go to the autograph signing together next week?”
As Shihyuk’s reply was delayed, Chaewon glanced to her right where Shihyuk was, wondering if he had been rejected.
“Okay.”
Then, I could see Sihyuk smiling brightly as if he was happy when we met eyes.
Chaewon quickly lowered her head, afraid that her blushing cheeks might have been noticed.
Someone stopped the two of them as they were walking together in such a pink atmosphere.
They were none other than my classmates.
“Chaewon!”
The three female students came closer with happy expressions when they found Chaewon.
Chaewon greeted her classmates, whose names she could not even remember, with an awkward smile as they began to act friendly.
“Uh···hello···?”
“Please take our place today for cleaning duty.”
The three of them exchanged brief greetings and then casually made an unreasonable request.
Chaewon was flustered and tried to refuse, but the three men spoke faster than she could refuse.
“You said you were going to do the cleaning duty for the author last time? We’ll ask you to do it too~”
“That, that···.”
Chaewon thought of the three people who had left after asking her to do the remaining cleaning because something had come up at home last time.
If Sihyuk, who happened to come back to the classroom, hadn’t helped me, I would have been stuck cleaning by myself for 40 minutes.
I had a hard time refusing the words, wondering how these girls knew that I had cleaned for them instead.
I was afraid that if I said I couldn’t help here, they would say things like, “You can help Ji-eun, but you can’t help us?” and I was even more afraid that I would be secretly ostracized by the girls.
‘I can’t get bullied again…!’
However, what bothers me is that it was Si-hyuk who received this request.
Just before Chaewon, who was biting her lip in embarrassment, could answer that she understood, Sihyuk stepped forward.
“What are you guys doing now?”
“What?”
At first, the three of them looked at Sihyuk up and down, not knowing who he was, and then they remembered Sihyuk quietly reading a book in class.
“I was going to ask a favor of my friend, but what’s your business-”
“Are you guys bullying Chaewon right now?”
The three of them shut their mouths at Shihyuk’s fierce voice.
The academy was established with the purpose of encouraging students to get along well with each other.
Bullying and harassment are serious crimes not only in academies but also in elementary, middle, and high schools, and even in universities and workplaces.
These laws were created to prevent the recurrence of conflicts such as ideological wars.
People have a duty not to hurt others.
Of course, these obligations aren’t always met, and bullying is often so shady that it falls outside the law, but these laws at least make people happier than they were in the past.
“Ah, what are you talking about···! Just asking a favor between friends!”
The three of them denied it because they knew they would be in big trouble if they were caught bullying another student.
“If three people come and ask you to clean for them, isn’t that bullying?”
When Sihyuk, who was over 180 cm tall and muscular, approached them and asked, the three looked intimidated and avoided his eyes.
“Hey, sorry for asking you to do something too much. I’ll go now!”
The three of them apologized briefly to Chaewon and quickly moved away from Shihyuk and Chaewon.
It seemed that he was not only attracted to the big Sihyuk, but also afraid of being reported for bullying.
Chaewon had a blank expression on her face as she watched the three of them leave after making a request without permission.
“···Sorry for suddenly coming out.”
As Chaewon was trying to figure out the situation, Sihyuk, who was next to her, apologized as if he had done something wrong.
“What did you do wrong? Thank you for helping me.”
Chaewon said she was truly grateful to Sihyuk.
It had been a long time since someone had protected him, so his eyes filled with tears for a moment.
“I almost cleaned it by myself.”
Si-hyuk added softly to Chae-won, who was trying to hide her slightly upset feelings by speaking with as bright an expression as possible.
“If that were the case, I would have helped you.”
“···.”
Chaewon couldn’t say anything for a moment as she looked at Sihyuk, who looked embarrassed even after saying it himself.
As I watched Shihyuk, something tickled, my heart pounded, and my mood gradually improved.
‘ah.’
Chaewon knows why she feels this way.
I’m in love.
And to none other than Sihyuk.
Chaewon, who realized that fact, stopped for a moment in embarrassment.
‘Oh, I knew you were attractive, but you’re in love…!’
When I thought about it, it wasn’t particularly strange.
Shihyuk is her first love, her ideal type, and the man who protects and takes care of her like he did just a moment ago, so it’s strange that she doesn’t fall for him.
‘But I have two girlfriends…! No, does Shihyuk even like me in the first place?’
Shihyuk, who didn’t notice Chaewon’s complicated mind with various thoughts, stopped walking and asked.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, no. I just suddenly remembered something.”
Chaewon answered awkwardly and walked with Sihyuk, thinking about what to do.
‘Oh, really···!’
Actually, there was only one answer. Give up on liking Shihyuk.
This is a conclusion that anyone with a partner should naturally come to.
But Shihyuk is too good to give up like this.
Chaewon, who was at a loss as to what to do, remembered that she would soon have to part ways with Sihyuk as she left the main gate of the academy.
So she spoke impulsively.
“There’s a new bookstore nearby. Want to go with me?”
It was the first time in my life that I asked a guy out on a date.
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