Ch.24My Side or Their Side (6)

In youth academy stories, there are certain spaces where boys and girls shouldn’t be together.

A club room that no one visits at certain hours,

The infirmary run by a somewhat seductive school nurse,

And a locked sports equipment storage room.

These were the semi-officially recognized spaces in fictional schools,

The so-called “rooms you can’t leave until you’ve done it.”

Other candidates included the bench at a rural bus stop where buses might come once an hour,

And locker number 3 in the women’s changing room at the swimming pool.

The moment a boy and girl from an academy story find themselves together in such places,

The plot inevitably moves toward them becoming intimate or growing suddenly closer through some trivial connection.

At least, that was the rule in the harem genre academy stories I knew.

If Do Hamin and Ahn Seonggyeong are together in the sports storage room right now,

It’s dangerous. One wrong move could put the very foundation of this world at risk.

‘D-Doyoung, don’t worry too much. It’s not even confirmed that Hamin and the class president are together.’

‘Actually, there’s nothing to worry about. What’s wrong with them being in the storage room together? She might have asked him to help organize things, and knowing Hamin, he might have just agreed.’

‘And what if those two end up having a “pure love moment”? Will you and Hyerang take responsibility?!’

‘What’s a “pure love moment”?’

To return to my original world, my top priority now is to create a plausible ideal ending for <Half of Half Island>.

In a youth romance webtoon, the most acceptable complete ending for readers is when two people become each other’s first and last love. Not an ending where one person takes the lead and guides the other.

An ending where protagonist Do Hamin loses his virginity to a class president he barely knows in a sports storage room, while Ban Doyoung steadfastly maintains her virginity, could never be the ideal ending for <Half of Half Island>.

No, even if all other readers accepted it, I couldn’t.

‘S-so… the fact is, we don’t know who’s right. Can you prove whether Ban Doyoung is promiscuous or not?’

“…”

‘Well, that girl Ban Doyoung who’s called the Goddess of Celibacy and has had several boyfriends—are you saying she’s still a virgin?’

‘Yes, she is.’

-Clunk!

‘B-Ban Doyoung…?’

I found it.

The secret key.

From adventures tangled like a maze,

The one that will take me home.

.

.

.

-Thud

After chasing Hamin out of the storage room, I pushed a chair and vaulting horse against the door to close it.

“B-Ban Doyoung… how did you get in? I definitely locked the door…”

“I brought a spare key from the PE teacher’s desk in the faculty office.”

“B-but you shouldn’t have been able to unlock it from the inside too…”

“It opened when I kicked it once.”

-Clunk

-Clunk clunk

Something like a broken part fell through the metal door and rolled toward us.

“You crazy gorilla… that’s not opening, that’s breaking it!”

“Oh, so that’s what happened.”

Whatever, forget it.

I’ll just say the boys broke it while kicking balls into the storage area.

I did that during my school days too, so you guys will break it someday anyway.

“Are you that desperate to know if I’m a virgin? Fine, I’ll show you.”

I unzipped my gym clothes and approached Ahn Seonggyeong one step at a time.

“D-don’t come closer…! What are you trying to do to me!”

“What do you mean? You wanted to know if I’m a virgin. Then shouldn’t you reveal whether you’re a virgin too? We should show our cards at the same time, right?”

“S-stay away! Th-this is sexual harassment!”

“It’s okay, I’m a woman too.”

“W-wait…!”

**

-Clunk

Once again, the sound of the door closing from inside.

Hamin, not knowing what was happening, was left alone outside the sports storage room.

“What… what’s going on?”

-Clunk

-Thud

-Crash

“What on earth is happening in there…?”

Mysterious sound effects coming from inside.

Through the soundproofing of the door, it was impossible to tell whether the sounds were coming from equipment in the storage room or from the fists of Doyoung or Ahn Seonggyeong.

“Hamin! Here you are!”

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Ah, y-you guys came too.”

Just then, Sahyang and Hyerang came running to the storage room where Hamin was standing, following after Doyoung.

Both were breathing heavily and sweating as if they had been running a lot.

“Haa… haa… I feel like I’ve been running a lot lately. My bra is soaked with sweat.”

“All because of Ban Doyoung. And these are borrowed gym clothes too.”

“…”

Hamin felt it would be inappropriate to stare at the two of them, so he averted his gaze.

“Huh? Hamin, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Whew… Doyoung really does have impressive stamina.”

“She definitely has a different stride with those long legs.”

Only after the two hurriedly shook off the moisture in their gym clothes could Hamin turn his head back to its original position.

“How could you disappear without saying anything? We wanted to play badminton together.”

“Ah, sorry… I just had something important to tell the class president.”

“So you called the class president here, Hamin?”

“N-no. I just said we should talk alone, and the class president suggested we talk in here.”

Hamin explained to Sahyang and Hyerang, who had followed Doyoung, what had happened with Ahn Seonggyeong.

Though he was just telling them what had happened, Hamin’s voice had returned to its usual slightly anxious tone.

Indeed, when talking with girls his age, without the firm confidence he had when speaking with the class president, his bad habits resurfaced.

“If that’s why you wanted to meet Ahn Seonggyeong, there was no need to hide it from us.”

“Yeah, if you were planning to tell the class president to apologize for what she said to Doyoung, we could have gone with you to talk to her.”

“No, that wouldn’t work.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because then the class president would misunderstand her again. She might think we’re trying to force an apology by bringing friends to intimidate her. For the class president to feel even a little sincerity, I had to go alone. That’s the only way she’d realize how wrong she was.”

“…”

Sahyang and Hyerang, Doyoung’s best friends.

The image of the three of them confronting Ahn Seonggyeong to demand an apology.

No matter how right Doyoung was and how wrong Ahn Seonggyeong was, that approach would only make Ahn Seonggyeong feel like she was being forced to submit due to numbers and power.

That would only reinforce negative perceptions about Doyoung.

Hamin judged that while it might be quicker and easier, it couldn’t be the right answer.

“So, you were secretly trying to confront the class president alone for Doyoung’s sake?”

“Y-yes, that’s what I tried to do… but it seems I failed too. I think the class president just saw me as someone trying to curry favor with her.”

Hamin laughed dejectedly.

Hyerang sighed deeply as she looked at him.

“Why did you go so far to take the initiative? Even if it was annoying, you didn’t have to be the one to seek out Ahn Seonggyeong first.”

“…I couldn’t answer properly when she asked me earlier.”

“Answer…?”

“When she asked if I was on her side or not… She showed me through her actions.”

“…”

“So I guess I got a little greedy too. I wanted to show through my actions as well…”

“Ohhh…”

At Hamin’s answer, Sahyang nudged his arm with her elbow.

“That was cool, Hamin, even if it sounded a bit nerdy. Don’t you think so too, Hyerang?”

“Sigh, your intentions might have been good, but it was a pretty dangerous decision. You should have at least told us and asked us not to follow.”

“R-really…? I didn’t think that far ahead…”

“What do you think would happen if someone else saw you two alone in this storage room? What if Ahn Seonggyeong got angry after hearing you tell her to apologize to Doyoung, and started screaming that you sexually assaulted her in here?”

“Gasp…!”

Hamin’s face turned pale as he looked at Hyerang.

It seemed he hadn’t considered such a scenario at all.

“Haah… I don’t know if you’re just a nerd or an idiot.”

“Hmm…”

“Aren’t both of those mean things to say?”

“You said it too.”

“I didn’t call him an idiot.”

Despite her cold tone, it was clear her words came from concern for Hamin.

Knowing this, Hamin clasped his hands and bowed his head silently at Hyerang’s harsh words.

“Maybe the class president had already thought that far ahead but couldn’t act on it because Doyoung found your hiding place so quickly.”

“C-come to think of it, how did you know that the class president and I were here?”

“We didn’t know. We just searched everywhere desperately.”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? My bra is soaked with sweat because of it. Want to see? It’s steaming right here.”

Sahyang playfully lowered her gym uniform shoulder, teasing Hamin.

Afraid his gaze might unconsciously wander, Hamin turned his back to her completely.

-Thump

Hyerang lightly struck Sahyang’s head with a karate chop.

“Ow ow ow…”

“That’s the kind of thing Ban Doyoung would do.”

“Ugh… are you saying only G-cups and above can do that? Is that why you don’t do it, Hyerang?”

“…”

-Thump thump

Hyerang’s attacks became combo hits every time Sahyang misspoke.

“You worked hard. Going to the futsal field, then the basketball court, then to the dodgeball players, even getting the spare key from the faculty office. We walked all over the school. All to find you.”

“Why, why…? Me disappearing isn’t something to get so worked up about.”

“Exactly.”

“Huh…?”

“What’s the big deal about you disappearing? I don’t care at all what you were doing with Ahn Seonggyeong in the storage room.”

“…”

Hamin couldn’t respond to Hyerang’s straightforward confession.

At least not until he heard what followed.

“But for that girl Ban Doyoung, it must be a major issue.”