Ch.66I Don’t Even Like a Quarter of Someone Like You (3)

Until just 10 years ago,

according to some survey, autumn was said to be Koreans’ favorite season.

But when they conducted the survey again recently,

people’s preference had shifted from autumn to spring as their favorite season.

Of course, it’s not that autumn did anything wrong to lose popularity.

Clearly, it’s because the inconsiderate jerk in front of it doesn’t know when to step aside,

refusing to give up its spot, thus reducing autumn’s chances to assert itself.

While autumn is losing its rightful place,

spring, on the other hand, is firmly maintaining its position.

“Wow, the cherry blossoms are blooming so beautifully.”

“Yeah… cherry blossoms at night are pretty too.”

Plus, spring has this invincible flower.

.

.

.

“Dohamin, look! Cherry blossom petals are falling on your virgin head!”

“D-don’t say that so loudly…!”

Dohamin and I came out for a light stroll on the walking path behind us for a change of mood.

It was already past midnight, but

the path didn’t feel too dark thanks to the streetlights above and the nightscape created by the lights from entertainment districts bustling for the weekend.

“By the way, is it okay to be wandering outside at this hour without telling the master?”

“What can I do? It’s annoying to wake someone who’s sleeping soundly.”

“So you really don’t wake people who are sleeping soundly….”

Of course, being outside at this hour was a secret from my dad.

When I went down to the living room, he was already asleep on the sofa after watching TV, so I couldn’t tell him even if I wanted to.

His daughter is studying late into the night alone with a dark-skinned guy her age in her room,

yet he’s sleeping so peacefully, snoring away, as if he has no idea what could happen.

This lax attitude toward protecting his virgin daughter,

does it come from his trust in Ban Doyoung?

Or from his trust in Do Hamin?

I felt slightly indignant and wanted to deliver Magical Girl Marina-chan’s finishing move, Pure Fire Punch, right to his testicles to prevent the birth of a fourth late-born child,

but I gave up since they’re my mom’s private property and shouldn’t be damaged carelessly.

In the end, I just covered him with a blanket so he wouldn’t catch a cold,

took a quick photo of the scene, and went outside.

“I don’t care if Dad catches me. I’ll just tell him I’ll send Mom the photo of him drinking beer and falling asleep on the sofa with the TV on, and he’ll let it slide.”

“Ah… that’s definitely something your mom shouldn’t see.”

“You should try it with your parents too. It surprisingly helps improve parent-child relationships. Of course, it also helps improve mom and dad’s relationship.”

“Hahaha… if, if I get the chance.”

Dohamin nodded with a strange expression, as if he understood.

Of course, I was just joking, so I didn’t have high expectations.

For a well-behaved young man like Dohamin who can’t even properly kiss

when a heroine closes her eyes and offers her lips, the traditional moral principles must be an insurmountable wall.

“Besides, what’s wrong with coming out for some fresh air? It’s not like we’re doing anything bad.”

“Well, from the master’s perspective, he can’t help but worry… how could a parent not worry about their child wandering around late at night?”

“Then you protect me well. Keep the bad guys away.”

“Huh…?”

A question mark appeared above Dohamin’s head.

When the heroine asks for protection, what’s a protagonist supposed to say? Just say yes.

This guy, seriously.

“You could just pick up a fallen branch and take care of them with your kendo skills. You learned it for a reason.”

“I, I think it’s more important to prevent such things from happening in the first place.”

“Ugh, you’re talking like a loser again. You should say ‘Trust me’ and reassure me.”

“S-sorry….”

I couldn’t help but sigh at Dohamin, who still couldn’t shake off his inherent loser-like qualities

despite learning kendo and building up some physical strength.

I wish I could start seeing some actual growth from him.

A loser learns martial arts and becomes stronger,

then teaches bullies a lesson—that plot.

It’s the most common cliché in Korean webtoons.

Just go to any webtoon site,

click on a thumbnail with a narrow-shouldered loser in a school uniform and glasses glaring with a red background,

and you’ll easily find one.

I wonder when we’ll get to see our Dohamin like that.

“Sigh… never mind. I don’t think you’d go around swinging sticks just because you learned some kendo. You’re not the type to hit people recklessly, are you, Dohamin?”

“O-of course not…! I’ve never hit anyone carelessly before. And I won’t in the future either!”

“Hehe. I thought so. Come to think of it, saying ‘Trust me’ would sound kind of loser-ish too.”

Dohamin’s purpose for learning kendo was solely to build up the physical strength needed for studying.

It wasn’t for revenge against bullies,

nor to prevent his busty childhood friend heroine from being NTR’d by a gang of bullies,

but purely a self-improvement activity supplementary to his studies.

Someone like him wouldn’t recklessly throw punches

just because he exercised a bit and learned some martial arts.

He may be a loser,

but he’s clearly the protagonist of this world.

That’s what I like about him.

Ah, if I were to add one more reason for learning kendo,

it might be to avoid being teased by me for being weak.

‘…Wait a minute.’

That makes it sound like I’m the bully he wants revenge against.

What did I do wrong?

I only made him buy me Zero Lime at the school store,

had him donate blood to watch a movie,

and sent fake texts to his mom so he couldn’t go home.

Isn’t that level of bossing around acceptable?

We’re going to exchange virgin Adas in the future anyway.

Though I’d prefer not to still be in this body by then, if possible.

“Still, thanks to this, I learned that cherry blossoms at night are incredibly beautiful too. There are things you can only discover by coming outside.”

“Yeah, this place is actually prettier at night than during the day. Since it’s a famous cherry blossom path, it’s probably busy with people during the day, so right now is the best time to focus on the cherry blossoms.”

I like cherry blossoms.

Actually, who wouldn’t?

Of course, I like mugunghwa (hibiscus) too.

Mugunghwa samcheolli hwaryeogangsan uri nara manse.

As someone who’s possessed the main heroine of a Korean webtoon,

I’m just disappointed I don’t get to see mugunghwa as often as cherry blossoms.

In contrast, cherry blossoms leave a glamorous yet wistful trace of pink

on the fresh ground full of green and brown hues,

And they only gloriously decorate spring,

lasting for just a dozen or so days out of the entire year, that ephemeral quality.

They’re incredibly beautiful,

blooming so gloriously and abundantly that they capture everyone’s attention at once,

and then disappearing in an instant when they fall.

A flower with both beauty and rarity,

filled with elements that people can’t help but love.

That’s why musicians seeking seasonal business and never-ending royalties

emerge in droves targeting this time.

At this point, it’s not that cherry blossoms bloom in spring,

but rather spring is parasitic on cherry blossoms.

In fact, people don’t love the season of spring itself;

they have no choice but to love it because spring is the only season when cherry blossoms bloom.

And here now,

under the fully bloomed night cherry blossoms,

walk perhaps the two people who best match cherry blossoms in this world.

Ban Doyoung, the most beautiful woman in this world who preserves her virginity like the flower language of cherry blossoms and possesses the same beauty and rarity,

and Do Hamin, the cherry boy who preserves his Ada like the flower language of cherry blossoms.

“They’re pretty, but it’s sad to think they’ll all be gone by the time midterms end.”

“Yeah… they’re really beautiful. My mom wanted to come see them together, and now I feel bad for seeing such a sight without her… Oh, is this what you called ‘eommigi’?”

“Oh, you’re finally catching on to my rhythm?”

Dohamin and I sat on a bench along the path and stared blankly at the falling cherry blossoms for a while.

Even Dohamin, who had been pouting slightly until just now, naturally blushed cherry blossom pink on his cheeks as he watched the cherry blossoms spreading in pink under the streetlight.

“So, do you like it?”

“Yeah… it’s so beautiful I could keep looking forever.”

“More beautiful than me?”

“No, not that… Huh? What did you just say?”

The honest answer from Dohamin, caught off guard by my casually thrown question, jumped right out.

“Hehehe…”

“Damn… sigh.”

Realizing he’d been caught again, Dohamin hung his head in embarrassment,

but unlike before, he couldn’t shout out loud and quietly lowered his reddened face between his legs.

It seems he felt more shame than anger this time.

“About earlier… you won’t accept it even if I say it was an April Fool’s joke, right?”

“Oh? So you’re saying the true meaning of what you just said was that cherry blossoms are prettier than Ban Doyoung?”

Dohamin, who was asking if he could just pass it off as an April Fool’s prank,

perhaps because he knew he couldn’t win against me and had somewhat let go of his reservations,

seemed to have become a tiny bit more shameless than before, I felt.

“…Alright, fine. I’ll acknowledge that was a lie.”

“Really…?”

“Then since you played an April Fool’s prank on me, I should play one back as revenge.”

I subtly scooted my butt closer, narrowing the gap between Dohamin and me.

“Everything I do from now on is just a joke and a lie.”

“W-what are you trying to do to me—”

-Tap

I gently moved my face forward and stopped his words with my lips.

A one-second touch where our breaths mingled.

That was the most I could do right now.

“W-what was… w-what did you just do…?”

“…April Fool’s prank.”

Yes, everything I’m doing now is all lies. All jokes.

“If you don’t want to take it that way, you can think of it as a reward for helping me study for the exam.”

However you want to interpret it is up to you,

but at the very least, I’m going to pass it off as an April Fool’s joke.

Acting as the heroine to return to my original world.

A prank I can pull because it’s April Fool’s Day,

a lie I can tell because it’s April Fool’s Day.

If I don’t do that,

it might be dangerous.

My hands, which were always cold except when doing kendo, were somehow full of sweat now.

My face, including my forehead, was burning hot.

Yeah, it must be because of the cleansing tissues.

When you rub hard on areas with concealer, they get really hot.

“Now, virgin Ban Doyoung! I’m going to tell an April Fool’s lie to Ada Dohamin under the cherry blossom tree!”

“S-suddenly…?”

I hurriedly stood up from the bench and leaned against the railing of the walking path.

I felt like I needed to cool my face and body against something cold to maintain my expression.

“Phew…”

“A-are you okay?”

“You know, I…”

Calmly, with my usual smile,

I spread my lips wide, which still carried the scent of the rolled eggs Dohamin had eaten,

and said to him:

“I don’t like you even half of half as much.”