Chapter 19: Who is your partner?

“Being out with you after so long makes me so happy!”

While pushing a cart loaded with groceries, Harin smiled at me as she spoke.

I responded indifferently.

“It’s just grocery shopping.”

“Everything is special when I do it with you!”

Harin, apparently in a very good mood, hummed a little tune as she headed toward the fruit section.

She expertly picked out an apple with her small hand and held it up proudly.

“What do you think about this? It’s so red and looks delicious!”

“Don’t we have some left at home?”

“We finished them. And this variety is much sweeter and tastier.”

Harin carefully placed the apples into the cart and naturally moved toward the vegetable section.

“What about pumpkins? They’re in season now and should taste great,” she suggested.

“What are you going to make with those?”

“Pumpkin stir-fry, pumpkin stew, or maybe even pumpkin pancakes!”

She was already planning meals in her head.

“Do whatever you want.”

At my halfhearted response, Harin pouted and came closer to me.

“Hey, take this seriously! I’m picking all of this for your meals!”

“Fine. Just hurry up.”

Harin sighed as if giving up, then quickly brightened up again as she selected sweet potatoes and tofu with precision.

I silently admired her meticulousness.

‘She really is good at housework.’

Full of energy, Harin clung to my arm as we shopped, hopping around in excitement.

“It’s been so long since you came out grocery shopping with me. It makes me so happy.”

Momentarily stunned by her earnest tone, I felt a tiny twinge of guilt stir inside me.

‘Am I a terrible person?’

Harin took care of all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and every household chore, and this was our first time shopping together.

‘I should do this more often if it makes her this happy.’

I looked at her smiling face and spoke.

“…If I have time, let’s do this more often.”

Her face lit up like blooming cherry blossoms.

“Hearing you say that makes me so happy! You’re truly my favorite person in the whole world!”

I regretted my words immediately.

I wanted to take them back.

***

The next morning, I found a single MyCho chocolate snack sitting on my desk instead of the usual bread and milk.

‘So now it’s MyCho, huh… after I told her to stop putting bread and milk on my desk.’

I sighed and picked up the MyCho. It was obviously Harin’s doing.

Even though I tried to let her off easy yesterday, it seemed like I’d need to be more direct.

The problem was, I had no idea what class Kang Minwoo was in.

Wandering through the noisy hallway, I grabbed a passing girl.

“Hey, do you know what class Kang Minwoo is in?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she looked up at me with a bashful expression.

“Um… I think… Class 1-A?”

She quickly scampered away to her classroom, leaving me feeling like a celebrity.

With a shrug, I headed toward Class 1-A.

When I entered, Kang Minwoo was sitting at the back of the classroom, furiously scribbling in a notebook, his eyes glued to the pages.

‘What a nerd,’ I thought.

“Hey,” I called softly as I approached him.

Minwoo jumped and quickly hid his notebook.

“H-Hero?”

‘Seriously, stop calling me that.’

Sighing, I rested my arm on his desk.

“You put the MyCho on my desk, didn’t you?”

Minwoo started sweating and waved his hands nervously.

“N-no, it wasn’t me…”

His eyes kept darting toward the notebook he was trying to hide.

‘What’s up with this guy?’

I swiftly grabbed the notebook from his hands.

“No! Don’t!”

Despite his protests, the notebook was already in my hands.

“What’s so important about this?”

I flipped it open and froze.

‘What the hell is this?’

The pages were filled with detailed drawings of a superhero in a sleek suit battling villains.

The disturbing part was that the hero’s face looked suspiciously like mine, and the villains bore a striking resemblance to Gihoon’s gang.

‘This guy is insane.’

Despite my thoughts, the quality of the drawings was impressive, more like a full-fledged comic than random doodles.

“You drew all of this?” I asked without taking my eyes off the pages.

Minwoo quietly nodded.

‘So he’s genuinely crazy.’

I closed the notebook with a heavy heart.

“Hey, Minwoo.”

He stared at me nervously.

“You… always draw stuff like this?”

“I’ve liked drawing since I was little…”

His voice trailed off into a mumble.

“Hey, hey. Look over there. Maybe the rumor about him taking down Choi Gihoon’s gang by himself is true.”

“Is he extorting money?”

To any bystander, it definitely looked like I was bullying Kang Minwoo.

I sighed and handed his notebook back to him.

“Fine, but don’t leave weird stuff on my desk again. Got it?”

Kang Minwoo lowered his head and muttered, “Yes, I understand.”

‘This guy better straighten up for real this time. If he does it again, I’ll knock some sense into him.’

***

Our homeroom teacher closed the attendance book and addressed the class from the podium.

“Alright, everyone, listen up. You know the sports day is next Monday, right?”

A mix of groans and cheers rippled through the classroom.

Some students slouched in exhaustion, while others whispered excitedly to their neighbors, full of anticipation.

“For each event, you’ll need to decide your roles, and everyone must participate in at least one event. Once you’ve decided, the class rep will submit the list to me.”

At that, the groans in the room grew louder.

“Teacher, do we really have to participate? I really don’t want to.”

“Can’t our class just put all our effort into tug-of-war or something?”

Ignoring the complaints, the teacher began writing the list of events on the chalkboard.

• 100m Dash
• Soccer
• Three-Legged Race
• Tug-of-War
• Relay Race

“Decide what you’re entering by tomorrow morning. If you don’t, I’ll assign you randomly.”

The students let out an even louder collective sigh.

I leaned back in my seat, looking out the window with a tired expression.

‘It’s so damn hot. What’s the point of this pointless event, anyway?’

In the original story, the sports day was a side event with little relevance to the protagonist, so it was always skipped.

It felt unnecessary here as well.

***

When class ended, Jinyoung strode over to my desk.

“Hey, have you decided what you’re doing?”

I glanced at him lazily.

“No. Do I have to?”

Jinyoung widened his eyes in disbelief.

“Come on, this is our chance to show off Class B’s skills! I’m entering soccer.”

He clenched his fists dramatically, already in full battle mode.

‘He looks like he’s heading into a war.’

“Soccer?”

“Yeah! Back in the neighborhood, I was a total ace, remember?”

“You? You look more like a benchwarmer to me.”

“Man, you really know how to hurt someone.”

Jinyoung grumbled as he plopped into the seat in front of me.

“What about you? What are you going to enter?”

I looked out the window, pondering my options.

‘What’s the easiest event? I don’t want to sweat under the scorching sun doing something stupid.’

“…Tug-of-war?”

At my answer, Jinyoung burst out laughing.

“Tug-of-war? You’re really trying to coast by, huh?”

“You just stand there and pull the rope. Simple.”

When I replied with a straight face, Jinyoung couldn’t stop laughing.

“Hey, did you know? At our academy, only girls traditionally do tug-of-war.”

“…What?”

“You didn’t know? Guys are supposed to enter events like running or soccer. If you go for tug-of-war, you’ll become a total joke.”

‘There’s a tradition like that? Isn’t that gender discrimination? Reverse discrimination, even.’

I stared at Jinyoung, dumbfounded.

My one easy option vanished, leaving my mind blank.

“Just enter soccer with me.”

“Are you obsessed with soccer?”

“Of course! If I’m doing this, I’m doing it properly.”

“But isn’t soccer already packed with players? Will there even be a spot left?”

Jinyoung frowned, looking slightly irritated.

“Well… Soccer is really popular, but Class 1-A is so good that everyone’s scared to compete. We had a practice match, and they completely crushed us. It was humiliating.”

‘Oh, that happened, huh? Getting beaten once and now they’re all cowards.’

At that moment, the class rep called out from the front of the room.

“Alright, everyone, quiet down! Tug-of-war and basketball are already full. The only options left are running and soccer. If you don’t pick, you’ll be assigned randomly!”

The classroom buzzed with murmurs and complaints.

Running and soccer were both tiring options, leaving no easy way out.

Jinyoung nudged my side with his elbow.

“Come on, just join soccer with me. If you’re a guy, soccer’s the way to go.”

I hesitated for a moment.

‘Soccer, huh? Not a bad idea.’

In the army, I was known for my pinpoint passes to the commanding officer.

My nickname among the officers was De Bruyne.

‘But playing soccer with a bunch of amateurs? That wasn’t worth my time.’

“…I’ll just let the draw decide. I don’t want to choose.”

Leaning back in my chair, I muttered lazily.

***

Bang! Bang!

The class rep smacked the podium with his palm.

“Alright, the rest of you are drawing lots! Come up one by one and pick!”

Reluctantly, I got up and shuffled to the front.

I grabbed a small piece of paper and unfolded it cautiously.

And then…

“Three-Legged Race.”

“…What the hell is this?”

Seeing my bewildered expression, Jinyoung rushed over.

“What did you get? Why do you look like that?”

He snatched the slip from my hand and burst out laughing.

“Pfft… Guys! Dohyun got the three-legged race!”

The classroom’s atmosphere shifted.

The laughter died down, and the girls began glancing at me with interest.

“Dohyun in the three-legged race…?”

“Who’s going to be his partner?”

“I’d love to run with him.”

The girls whispered among themselves, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

‘Here we go again with the nonsense.’