Ch.33. There Are No Coincidences in This World

I faced an untimely accusation of cheating and had to break a sweat trying to explain myself.

First came the private meeting with my homeroom teacher.

‘Did you cheat on the test?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

I couldn’t claim to have done something I hadn’t. So I answered honestly, but my teacher just sighed deeply.

‘Siwoo, if you admit it now, we can let this go. Did you really not cheat?’

‘I told you I didn’t.’

The conversation kept going in circles for about thirty minutes with only slight variations in wording. Eventually, they must have decided a different approach was needed because the intimidating student guidance counselor came in to replace my teacher.

‘Did you really not cheat?’

‘No, I didn’t cheat.’

‘If you don’t tell the truth, we’ll have to call your parents.’

‘Go ahead.’

I could hold my head high since I had nothing to hide. Seeing my confidence, the teachers seemed flustered. Later, they took turns subtly threatening me, trying to persuade and coax me.

Of course, I didn’t budge an inch.

As a result of my consistent denial, I was finally released on the grounds of “insufficient evidence.” It was quite an achievement after hours of interrogation.

“What kind of good cop, bad cop routine are they pulling on a student?”

They must have cranked up the heater because my hands were sweating. I left the faculty office and headed to Class 1-A.

Since I didn’t know my way around, I’d need to take a car home, but the bald student counselor had confiscated my phone during the interrogation, so I couldn’t contact anyone.

“I mean, I got first place—who exactly am I supposed to have cheated from? Does this school rank students starting from zero or something?”

While grumbling, I checked my returned phone and found it filled with missed calls and messages.

The senders were “Driver Ahjussi,” my dedicated chauffeur, and someone listed as “Mother,” presumably Han Siwoo’s mother.

The messages started with questions about why I wasn’t coming out and if something had happened, ending with a request to contact them as soon as I was done.

It didn’t make sense at first, but after scanning through all the messages, I understood. Judging from the context, the school must have contacted them on my behalf. At least they had some conscience.

“What’s this?”

While sorting through the flood of messages, a strange one caught my eye. The sender wasn’t saved in the contacts, so it was probably from someone I didn’t know.

[I’m coming to see you now!]

“Coming to see who?”

The message had arrived three hours ago.

Even after thinking about it for a moment, I couldn’t figure it out. Han Siwoo’s social life was in a disastrous state. He naturally had no friends or acquaintances.

It was probably sent to the wrong number or was spam.

I just deleted the message.

[Deleted.]

“Phew.”

Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.

The faculty office was on the third floor, and Class 1-A was on the first. As I descended the spiral staircase, I thought about why this had happened.

Why? It wasn’t a difficult question to answer.

If my grades had just improved slightly, it might have been understandable, but Han Siwoo, who had always been at the bottom of the class, suddenly ranked first in the diagnostic test. It was inevitable that I’d be suspected of cheating.

As the person involved, I found the accusation unpleasant and uncomfortable. But putting myself in their shoes, it was a reasonable doubt. If I were a teacher, I probably wouldn’t have believed it either.

Still, it didn’t seem right to corner someone like this without any real evidence.

If it had been another student—not Han Siwoo—in this situation, the interrogation wouldn’t have been this intense.

“Sigh.”

Who could I blame? It was all due to the karma Han Siwoo had built up. This was my mistake. Considering Han Siwoo’s previous grades, I should have deliberately gotten some answers wrong.

As I walked along berating myself, I suddenly felt a realization hit me.

Why is this my fault? This isn’t my mistake. Deliberately getting answers wrong when I know them is absurd.

I just solved the problems because I could. If there’s any fault, it’s not mine but the school’s for making the test easy enough for someone like me, who hasn’t studied properly in a while, to get first place.

“Yes, that’s right.”

I’ll get back at them properly someday. Not physically, of course. I’ll have to think about how to do it from now on.

With that resolution in mind, I entered Class 1-A through the back door.

But in the center of the classroom was an unexpected figure.

“What the…?”

I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

It was strange enough that someone was in Class 1-A when it should have been empty, but this person was wearing an unfamiliar school uniform and had their eyes closed.

Anyone would doubt their eyesight in such a situation.

“Wow, I thought you were a ghost.”

I inadvertently muttered loudly, but the other person didn’t move. They seemed to be deep in thought.

…Or were they just sleeping sitting up? It was so quiet that I began to suspect that might be the case.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

No response. They really must be asleep… What kind of person is this?

I didn’t know what was going on, but I had a feeling that getting involved would be troublesome.

The girl was sitting in the center back seat, and my bag was at the window seat on the left side. I moved carefully, trying not to wake her.

This is making me unnecessarily tense. I held my breath as I approached my desk and successfully put my bag on my back.

Now I just needed to turn around and leave quietly.

-Crack.

I heard something break under my careful steps. Startled, thinking I might have stepped on a bug, I jumped back a couple of steps.

Then I felt deflated.

What I had stepped on was a small twig. It was whitish, similar to the classroom floor color, so I hadn’t noticed it before stepping on it.

“Why is there a twig in the classroom…?”

Just as I muttered that, the girl sitting to my right suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Huh, I wasn’t dozing off!”

“Ah, you scared me!”

I’m not joking—I thought my heart was going to fall out. It was only my last bit of self-control that kept me from cursing, but I couldn’t stop myself from screaming.

“Teacher, I, I wasn’t sleeping! Really!”

I tried to calm my startled heart. Then I approached the girl who was still making strange excuses, seemingly not fully awake.

“Who are you?”

“Huh? What?”

The other person’s attire was definitely not Chungha Highschool’s designated uniform.

The girl was wearing a pure white sailor uniform with a large ribbon attached to the chest area, and a pleated skirt similar to a tennis skirt.

Since there was no mention of a student with such a uniform in the story, I was quite bewildered.

“Are you from Chungha Middle School?”

At my words, the other person regained her senses and met my gaze, and I noticed she had quite a unique appearance.

I couldn’t help but notice—this girl’s hair had a pinkish tint to it. The base was black, but there was a subtle pink glow in her straight hair.

“No, I’m not. Do I look like a middle schooler to you?”

She flipped her hair dramatically. I think she was trying to show off her femininity, but it just dazzled my eyes as the pink-tinged hair reflected the fluorescent light directly at me.

I turned my head away as I responded.

“No, so who are you? You’re not a student at our school, right?”

“No, you can see that, can’t you?”

She answered so confidently, so matter-of-factly, that for a moment I almost thought I was the one who was wrong.

“How did you get in?”

“Through the main gate.”

“There should be security there.”

“When I said I was here to meet a student, they just let me in.”

What kind of lax security is this? What if instead of a visitor, it had been someone with a grudge?

“…Let’s say that’s fine. So why are you here?”

“I came to see my fiancé.”

“Right, your fiancé…”

Wait, what did she just say?

“…What did you just say?”

“Huh? I said I came to see my fiancé.”

“…”

My confused brain couldn’t keep up with the sudden statement. A fiancé? That wasn’t something you’d expect to hear from a high school student.

It seemed absurd, but on the other hand, it could make sense. In this world I’ve found myself in, there are delinquent third-generation chaebol heirs and guys with more than five girlfriends. Compared to that, a high school student having a fiancé wasn’t that strange. What’s so impossible about it?

After briefly considering how to respond, I kept it light.

“Um… I see. So what grade is this fiancé of yours?”

“Same age as me.”

“So, first year?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And he’s in Class A?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

“I have my ways.”

Anyone who wasn’t an idiot would have figured it out. Since it felt a bit awkward to keep looking down at someone a head shorter than me, I sat on a desk as I continued.

“But why are you still here at this hour?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Look at the time.”

I nodded toward the clock hanging on the classroom wall.

The blue clock’s hands pointed to around 6 PM. It was quite late for the first day of a new semester.

“…When did it get so late? Have all the others already gone home?”

Since it was well past that time, they probably had. I nodded instead of answering. The girl’s eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.

She managed to touch her phone screen with shaking hands. I couldn’t see clearly from a distance, but it looked like she was checking messages.

After a brief moment of operation, the girl bit her lower lip.

She seemed angry.

“Ah… This is too much. He could have at least told me.”

“What’s wrong?”

“This person—it clearly shows he’s seen my message, but there’s no reply. He deliberately read and ignored it, didn’t he?”

Since I didn’t know the details, I couldn’t readily answer such a question, and it seemed like a lover’s quarrel or something similar.

Getting involved in someone else’s love life never ends well. So I held back my words.

“Maybe he was busy with something?”

“Is it that hard to send one reply? Even though we’ve never met face to face…”

“You’ve never met?”

How could engaged people not know each other’s faces? It was my genuine question.

“Yes. It was arranged by our parents. We’re not officially engaged yet, and it hasn’t been that long…”

“How long has it been?”

“A little less than two months, I think.”

Parents arranging an engagement between people who’ve never met each other’s faces? Is this one of those strategic engagements between wealthy families? It sounded like something out of a drama, so it didn’t feel real.

“I made time to come here, and this is what I get.”

The girl muttered with evident disappointment in her voice.

I could understand her feelings. I probably would have reacted similarly if I were in her shoes.

Even though they’d never met, she was trying to close the distance with her so-called fiancé. And he just ignored her attempt.

Whoever this guy was, he seemed like a real jerk.

“Yeah, that’s pretty harsh.”

“Right? I’m not overreacting, am I?”

“Well, hearing it now, he’s definitely in the wrong.”

“Exactly! Isn’t he a terrible person? He probably has no idea how I felt coming all the way here.”

“Hmm, if he knew, he wouldn’t act like that.”

As I played along, she seemed encouraged and started pouring out all sorts of complaints.

Starting with “Does having money mean you can be rude?”, she went on about how personality matters more than looks in men, and how her ideal type is an understanding man.

As I continued listening, a thought suddenly struck me.

…Why am I listening to this? It had been a while since I’d dealt with this type of woman, and I’d unconsciously been drawn into her pace.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but shouldn’t you be heading home soon?”

She must have been talking for quite a while because twilight was already falling outside. After briefly checking the clock, the girl looked at me with an awkward smile.

“Oh my. You’re right. When did it get so late?”

I had already notified them that I’d be a bit late getting home, but I hadn’t expected to be delayed this much. I stood up, gathering my bag.

“It’s later than I thought. By the way, if we’re going in the same direction, would you like me to see you home?”

There was a car waiting at the school gate. If we parted there, she’d clearly see me getting into the car, and it might look a bit odd if I just got in alone.

“What? Oh, no. It’s already a big imposition that you’ve indulged my chatter this long. I can’t take up any more of your time…”

“I’m going by car, so it won’t take long. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

I wasn’t planning to insist if she declined, so I wasn’t going to ask three times. I quietly waited for her answer, and after a moment’s consideration, the girl nodded obediently.

“If that’s the case… I’ll take you up on your offer.”

*

The waiting spot for the car was the same place where I had been dropped off in the morning. Thanks to that, I could find it easily without wandering around.

After giving a slight bow to the white-haired driver, I opened the back door.

“Get in.”

Despite my kindness in opening the door for her, she hesitated instead of getting in promptly.

“Um, excuse me. I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

“What is it?”

“May I ask your name?”

I didn’t know why she was suddenly asking for my name, but she had a serious expression. Did I step on something wrong?

“Han Siwoo.”

At that moment, her mouth fell open. She looked like she’d seen something unbelievable.

“…Oh my god.”

Then she took out her phone from her pocket and hurriedly made a call to someone.

-Ring ring.

And simultaneously, my phone in my pocket vibrated.

The vibration didn’t stop after one ring but continued, indicating it was a call. Who could it be? I answered without much thought.

“Hello?”

-Hello.

“…What’s going on?”

-What’s going on.

Thinking I might have misheard, I spoke again, but my voice echoed from the phone the girl was holding.

No, it wasn’t an echo.

That was… a call. My voice was coming from the phone she was holding.

What did that mean?

“…Don’t tell me, I’m your fiancé?”