Cleanup – 2

“Why would someone who dislikes playboys act like that?”

Seol-ah rebutted without batting an eye.

“It’s only cheating if you do it secretly. I don’t plan to hide anything.”

I got goosebumps at her statement. How twisted had her views on relationships become in such a short time? Didn’t she say she lived over 20 years on Earth?

“I told you before. I already have a fiancée. I’m spoken for. From the beginning, I’ve consistently only had eyes for Hestia. When have I ever given you any opportunity?”

I have a clear conscience. I did accept her clinginess a few times with Hestia’s approval for our operation, but besides that, never…

“You accepted when I threw myself at you earlier.”

“That was unavoidable! You were crying and throwing yourself at me—how could I avoid that?”

Oh, there was that. But this is a bit unfair.

“The very idea that having a fiancée doesn’t matter is strange. You said you lived more than 20 years on Earth, so why are you like this?”

“I guess my thinking became strange because I came to a strange world.”

“This world practices monogamy too.”

“That’s what I’m going to change.”

Her determination was unwavering. She really seems to intend on changing the law to polygamy.

“Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you succeed in changing it. Even then, Hestia and I would never accept you as our…”

“As your what?”

“Secondary wife.”

After a brief but deep contemplation about what to call her, I chose the term ‘secondary wife.’ Terms like concubine or second seemed too crude.

“What are you saying?”

Suddenly Seol-ah became serious. Was there something in what I just said that bothered her?

“Who said anything about being a secondary wife?”

“Is that really the issue here?”

She came at me with a completely shameless attitude. Does this mean she wants to push Hestia aside and take the position of primary wife?

“Just kidding, just kidding. Your fiancée’s family is better anyway, so I don’t even aspire to be the primary wife. As long as you share your love equally.”

“You’re really okay with that?”

“The important issue isn’t about being primary or secondary wife, but love.”

“Isn’t the important issue that I don’t want to hurt Hestia and that I can’t return your feelings?”

Why is she rushing ahead by herself? As sorry as I am to her, I have no intention of returning her feelings, and I don’t want to hurt Hestia by doing such a thing.

“So if you got permission from your fiancée, it would be fine?”

“She would never give permission. And even if she did, I said I don’t want to.”

“That remains to be seen. Are you really confident you won’t flinch even if I keep coming on to you throughout the rest of our Academy life?”

To be completely honest, I’m not confident. My head says no, but my body is honest. Just earlier when I saved her, if I hadn’t been thinking of Hestia, I might have crashed lips with her.

“Yes.”

But if I admitted that honestly, who knows what would happen. I lied with a straight face.

“Then let’s make a bet?”

“Whatever the bet is, I’m not interested.”

The best way to not lose a bet is to not make one in the first place. Why on earth would I make a bet with her?

“Are you scared?”

“Yes.”

She tried to provoke me, but it’s useless. I’m not simple enough to fall for a “are you scared” taunt.

“Just hear me out first. If you have absolutely no feelings for me by graduation, I’ll quietly give up.”

“And if I develop feelings?”

“Then you have to accept me. I’ll take care of convincing your fiancée, so don’t worry.”

I thought about the terms of the bet. Can this even be called a bet?

“Isn’t this just common sense rather than a bet?”

“No. If you refuse the bet, I’ll continue pursuing you even after graduation, after you marry Hestia.”

“Are you crazy?!”

I shrieked. What dangerous thing is this woman saying now? It’s already risky to pursue a man with a fiancée, but she’s saying she’ll chase after a married man?

“Goodness! Why are you shouting?”

“Because you’re saying something insane!”

“Then you should accept my bet.”

“What’s the standard for determining if feelings have developed?”

“I’ll leave that to your conscience.”

I thought about it for a bit. Ideally, no feelings would develop at all, but even if they did, couldn’t I just grit my teeth and deny it?

“Isn’t this condition too favorable for me?”

“I have faith.”

“In what?”

“That you, Bada, aren’t the type to lie about such things.”

That struck my conscience hard. The triangle in my heart is spinning like it has a motor attached. I feel extremely guilty.

“…How can you trust me so much when you barely know me?”

“When you like someone, you naturally want to trust everything they do.”

“That’s just being love-blind.”

“I know. And I also know you were just thinking about lying.”

How did she know?

“You were just thinking ‘how did she know?’, weren’t you? You may not realize it, but you can’t lie. Everything you think shows on your face. It’s even more obvious because your expression is cold. You, your fiancée, and Cordelia are all the same in that regard.”

“Isn’t it a bit much to put me in the same category as Cordelia?”

Not only is it shocking to learn I can’t lie, but it’s even more shocking to be grouped with those two. Surely I’m not that bad.

And if she knows I was going to lie, why is she still willing to make this bet?

“And if you know I was planning to lie, why did you say you trusted me?”

“Because I’m confident. You don’t lie to your fiancée, do you?”

“It’s not that I never lie. Right now, I’m hiding this meeting and my identity from her.”

“But you don’t lie except when absolutely necessary, right?”

As Seol-ah said, I’m trying my best not to lie to Hestia. I don’t want to hide anything or create any more secrets from her.

“By graduation, I’ll make you stop lying to me too.”

I warned her in advance.

“Just to be clear, I won’t be accepting any more of your clinging or anything like that.”

“I know. Just watch.”

“I’ve clearly seen through this incident that you’re not talented at planning things.”

The operation is now over. There’s no reason for me not to put up a wall against her anymore. And I don’t think I’ll fall for her shoddy plans.

“One more thing. Did you apologize to Cordelia?”

“Apologize?”

“The original story is completely shattered anyway. So there shouldn’t be any problem with apologizing to Cordelia, right?”

I’ve been concerned about the relationship between Seol-ah and Cordelia. While I don’t have romantic feelings for Seol-ah, we’re each other’s only real confidants, so I’d like to be friends. But if I become friends with Seol-ah, doesn’t that leave Cordelia, who fought with her, in an awkward position? I’d prefer if the two of them reconciled and made up.

“…”

She seems to be contemplating. I recalled how she had wailed that all the characters from the original story felt like fictional characters to her, that she couldn’t feel anything for them.

“Don’t tell me you still feel that way?”

“Feel what?”

“That people all seem fake to you…”

“Not anymore.”

Seol-ah denied my words.

“This incident made me realize it clearly. I’d been thinking everything would flow as I knew it would, but that wasn’t the case. It was natural because I was making it flow that way. When that pervert Wilhelm discovered I was acting and kidnapped and imprisoned me, it hit me hard. Even if this world is from a novel, the people here are real people living their lives.”

Her words carried sincerity.

“Then couldn’t you choose someone other than me now?”

“That’s really mean. How can you say that?”

Seol-ah glared at me. She seems a bit hurt by my words.

“What?”

“Now it’s not because you’re from Earth that I like you; I just like you as a person.”

“You keep trying to jab at me, but I’m not going to waver.”

“Jabs aren’t meant to knock out anyway.”

Seol-ah grinned. She keeps acting all seductive, but it’s not going to work.

“So, will you apologize?”

“Fine.”

“Why did you hesitate earlier?”

“I was wondering if she’d accept my apology at this point.”

“It’ll be okay. If you apologize first, I think she’ll accept.”

Even if she doesn’t accept right away, I could encourage her by saying things like, “The one who forgives wins,” or “Being able to forgive others is also part of chivalry,” and she’d probably accept quickly. Though she’s a bit childish and simple, Cordelia is by no means a bad person.

“Alright. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Seol-ah finally agreed to my suggestion. She promised to apologize to Cordelia tomorrow. I felt a bit relieved. Being caught between feuding women is very uncomfortable.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

I’ve asked most of what I wanted to ask Seol-ah. Why she suddenly ignored me, what her new plan was.

For now, her feelings for me are settled in the form of a bet. Anyway, all I have to do is put up a wall against her until graduation.

The relationship between Seol-ah and Cordelia, which had been concerning me, was also resolved with her agreeing to apologize. Now all that’s left is the plan for the future.

“Are you planning to just graduate from the Academy and live in this world? Or do you have some other plan?”

“Hmm, honestly, I’m not sure either. What should I do now? The original story…”

“You’re still talking about the original story?”

“Who’s following it? As I said earlier, this incident made me realize clearly. The original story is just the original story; events flow differently depending on what we do. I’m just wondering what to do since in the original story, they got married right after graduating from the Academy.”

Seol-ah said that and looked me up and down. Her gaze is intimidating. It’s a gaze like she’s going to devour me.

“What did you do back on Earth, Seol-ah?”

“Why?”

“I’m thinking your boyfriend must have had a hard time.”

Judging from the way she was just looking at me and her statements about being fine with being a secondary wife as long as I loved her, I’m guessing she had an extremely open and progressive approach to love that I couldn’t handle…

“I didn’t have one!”

Hearing my words, she shouted with an incredulous expression.

“If you didn’t have one, just say so. Why are you shouting like that?”

“Because you’re making a ridiculous assumption! I’ve never even held hands with a guy before!”

After Seol-ah’s sudden declaration of being forever alone, I momentarily pondered how to respond. She too seemed to realize she’d said something embarrassing, as her face turned red and she fidgeted.

“Well, I was like that too, so hang in there.”

I squeezed out what I hoped would be comforting words. Actually, I had held hands before, but I’d never properly dated, so that’s safe to say, right?

However, Seol-ah didn’t seem to find my comfort very reassuring, as she ran away with her face still red.

“I’m going first!”

She didn’t even finish her sentence before running away at a speed I’d never seen before. The final “first!” echoed from already quite a distance away. Is being forever alone really that embarrassing?

I returned to the dormitory and tried to sleep.

“Mikhail!”

Seol-ah threw herself into my arms. I had become her lover. She and I wandered around together building various memories. I was notably quiet, and Seol-ah chatted enthusiastically by herself.

“Shh! Mikhail, this is the library. We came here to study.”

We were enjoying a library date to prepare for midterms. Seol-ah, sitting next to me, whispered in my ear. Her slender fingers ran up and down my thigh.

“How is it, Mikhail? This is a place I discovered. Pretty, isn’t it?”

After requesting an overnight stay out of the dormitory, we laid out a mat and spent all night looking at stars and talking. The stars in the night sky looked like they were about to fall.

“Let’s go over there this time! They say it’s a haunted house. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

We also explored the school festival together. She was very excited, holding food in one hand and dragging me around.

“Mikhail, don’t say anything.”

On a hill with the sunset, I stand with Seol-ah. It’s unclear how many years have passed; the youthfulness has faded from both our faces. Seol-ah closes her eyes and offers her lips toward me. I too close my eyes and respond to her. Our lips overlap and the background changes.

“Bada, shall we go see a movie?”

“Noona. We saw a movie yesterday.”

“So what? Is there somewhere you want to go?”

The two people are standing on a street on Earth. I am holding the arm of some woman with Kang Bada’s body, not Mikhail’s. Who is this woman whose arm I’m holding? I sensed that she was Seol-ah. I just could feel it. I think something like this happened before. Seol-ah is a beauty with straight black hair and a puppy-like face. She gives the impression of being the most popular female student in the department. Is that her original appearance?

To her question about where I wanted to go, I pointed somewhere with my fingertip.

“How about there?”

“In broad daylight?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

The place I pointed to was a motel. What? Where?

-BANG!

Déjà vu? I feel like something like this happened before. I woke up from my dream as I rolled off the bed. Getting up while holding my sore bottom that had hit the floor, I realized it was exactly my usual waking time.

With a dazed expression, I brushed my teeth while thinking about the dream I’d just had. It’s as vivid as if someone had etched it into my mind. I feel like I could revisit each location from the dream, except Earth. Maybe it’s because of what happened yesterday—what a strange dream to have. I must have been subconsciously worried.

I quickly washed up and prepared for school. I need to leave at this time to go to school with Hestia. Though I wonder if it’s too early, it feels like fulfilling the fantasy of going to school with a girlfriend that I couldn’t achieve on Earth, so it’s not particularly difficult.

I headed to the place where I always met her at exactly my usual departure time.

“Hestia…?”

“Good morning.”

“And next to you…?”

“Since you went through such a difficult time yesterday, I thought I would help you for a while.”

Standing next to Hestia was Seol-ah. Hestia, you don’t understand. That woman is extremely dangerous. She might become a huge threat to our happy married life.