Ch.247IF Side Story: From the Beginning (15)

After I started learning various things here, I realized something.

Inferiority complexes arise when people believe they’re not standing in the same place as others.

And most importantly, these feelings aren’t as strong toward someone you’ve always perceived as being in a completely different league.

For example, I had certain feelings toward Hayun.

When reborn into another world, there are certain expectations. It’s natural to think I’d play an important role here, perhaps one rivaling the protagonist.

Because that’s how it works in other novels.

“What? You think you know better? Then why don’t you try it?” – that’s how protagonists get inserted into novels, but in those possession stories, the protagonist ultimately becomes the one who was possessed.

I briefly hoped, in my childhood, that I might become that kind of protagonist – one who encounters fateful meetings, claims important items first to become the strongest being, accomplishes everything, and then has the audacity to wonder, “Why can’t the original protagonist do this?”

But in the end, I wasn’t the protagonist.

It seems the creator of this world wasn’t so accommodating. Even while placing Hayun by my side, they made sure I couldn’t reach that position.

“…Looking back now, maybe that’s not entirely true.”

“Hm? Jieun?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

When I muttered to myself, Hayun, who was sitting beside me eating snacks, responded.

Right. I complained so much that I was thrown into this world, but I ended up right beside Hayun.

Until coming here, I was burning with jealousy inside. I’d never become the protagonist, and I’d just have to watch Hayun shine from the sidelines.

After coming here, that feeling naturally diminished. I still envied Hayun’s skills and felt conscious of others who were more talented than me, but not as much as before.

“Hmm?”

Hayun blinked but didn’t press me further.

I found it rather pleasant that Hayun had been sticking close to me lately. Usually, she was oddly conscious of others’ gazes. She would sit next to me, but she’d fidget uncomfortably as if bothered by the attention directed our way.

Now, there’s no need to be conscious of anyone. We have our own hideout.

“Ah, this is delicious.”

Well, it’s also Seo-hee’s hideout, as she took another piece of cake, cut it with her fork, and chewed it.

And Yeonwoo and Ju-a were here too.

Somehow, the seat next to me seems quite popular.

I bought cake for everyone to share. When Seo-hee saw Hayun and me sitting in the lounge, she very boldly took the seat on Hayun’s other side.

Yeonwoo, who came in a little later, stared at Seo-hee for a while before sitting across from me, and Ju-a, who followed, deliberated before sitting diagonally from me.

It seems I’m quite well-regarded here. My thoughtless, probing behavior seems to have created an image of “passionate effort.” Inspired by this, Seo-hee and Yeonwoo also began working harder, and Ju-a, who joined later, somehow developed an image completely opposite to what I knew of her.

I decided to just go with it.

“Oh.”

But looking at everyone gathered around, I felt like someone was missing.

That’s right… Delphinium. Delphinium wasn’t here.

“Ah, she said she wasn’t interested in eating.”

Yeonwoo said, taking a piece of cake for herself.

“She doesn’t like these things?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that.”

This time, Seo-hee answered.

“Actually, we don’t know much about Delphinium. We don’t talk to each other often.”

Realizing belatedly that until recently she hadn’t known Yeonwoo well either, Seo-hee quickly closed her mouth.

“Hmm…”

Even so, it’s Christmas Eve, and I brought cake for everyone. It doesn’t feel right for Delphinium to be left out.

The fact that everyone is here means they chose not to meet their own friends. Whether they came to see me or for some other reason, today at least, everyone seemed to be in a playful mood.

Normally, minors staying up all night would be problematic in various ways, but we were in a somewhat officially recognized place. Plus, Cherry, who acts as our guardian, was staying here too, so we had an almost invincible logic against any questions.

Seo-hee and Yeonwoo probably have quite a few friends, but in the original work, it was mentioned that Ju-a didn’t have many friends. So it’s not strange that Ju-a came here.

Then, what about Delphinium?

Just as Yeonwoo and Seo-hee don’t know much about Delphinium, the comic doesn’t reveal much about her either.

She’s always quietly hiding her presence, then suddenly speaks up and startles Hayun – a somewhat cold character.

“…”

But here, she’s not just a “character.”

We’re not particularly close yet, and she doesn’t seem to be making efforts to become friends, but I don’t want to leave her alone.

I’ve experienced it quite often while being next to Hayun. People would sit right next to Hayun but not speak to me at all, or they’d invite only Hayun to eat together even when I was in the middle of a conversation with her.

There was certainly no intention to exclude, but I didn’t want to create a situation that felt like exclusion, even unintentionally.

At the very least, I didn’t want to do that to others.

“…I’ll go bring her a slice.”

I think I know where she is.

Though it’s called a training center, it’s actually more like a comprehensive lounge. Just as highway rest areas have accommodations for professional drivers, we have our own dedicated quarters here.

Delphinium is probably there.

“Ah, I’ll come too.”

Hayun stood up with me.

I didn’t particularly try to stop her.

And when Hayun and I stood up, for some reason, everyone else got up too.

…Well, I suppose it’s not bad if we all go together.

It’s a bit embarrassing how I seem to have become the standard by which everyone moves.

*

“…”

When I approached with a small plate of cake, Delphinium silently looked up at me.

Though expressionless, she’s a pitifully pretty girl. Being “magical girls,” they’re all inevitably pretty.

She must have been reading a book in bed until just now, as a book lay face-down on the bed. The title… was in Chinese characters. It was written entirely in Chinese characters that I couldn’t even read.

“Since it’s almost Christmas, I bought some cake.”

Somehow, I found it difficult to invite her to join us.

I understand how uncomfortable it can be for an introvert to hear an extrovert’s invitation. Like being repeatedly invited to drinking parties when you don’t even like alcohol. The other person means well, but it can be distressing.

So I just handed the cake to Delphinium with the kindest expression I could manage.

“…”

Delphinium silently accepted the cake.

She stared at me for a moment, then finally said,

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

It seemed like she had finally finished searching through her mental list of appropriate responses.

…Well.

I just nodded.

Delphinium quietly closed the door.

As I scratched my head, looking at the closed door, I turned around to find everyone looking at me with peculiar expressions.

“Maybe she just likes all pretty girls?”

For some reason, Yeonwoo whispered this to Seo-hee.

I can hear everything. It’s not like I have particularly good hearing; she was just speaking at a normal volume while barely covering her mouth.

“Right? Maybe outside, she’s busy seducing girls?”

“What seduction are you talking about?”

When I glared at them incredulously, Seo-hee and Yeonwoo burst into laughter.

“Seriously, unbelievable.”

I muttered, turning to look at Hayun, but strangely, she seemed to be deeply contemplating what the two had said.

“…Hayun?”

“Hm?”

Only after I called her did Hayun blink and return to reality.

“Ah, yes. Right. That’s ridiculous. That’s what I think.”

Hayun said with a smile.

For some reason, I felt a chill. Is the heating not working well in winter? Even in large buildings like this, there’s always one spot where the heating doesn’t reach properly. It would be problematic if it’s around our quarters.

Ju-a, not understanding the situation, was looking back and forth between everyone, trying to catch up with the conversation.

“…Let’s go back and finish the rest of the cake.”

Finally giving up on saying anything more, I headed toward the lounge with long strides.

Behind me, the others followed, chattering noisily.

Well, at least it feels like Christmas, I thought.