episode_0024

Despite the significant scale of friction with Jegal Hwaryun’s gang, the news didn’t immediately spread throughout the school.

I suspected Ojakgyo’s media control as the reason.

“Even though it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in the original work, there were broadcasting and newspaper club members from each school under Ojakgyo.”

If I were Alice, would I have left the media students alone?

Absolutely not.

She would forcibly keep those idle girls under Ojakgyo’s influence to dominate the media.

Shining a light on Ojakgyo students’ volunteer activities, boasting about their outstanding academic achievements, or having students who receive special treatment from Ojakgyo praise the school, and so on.

Various methods immediately come to mind.

Alice’s Ojakgyo wasn’t simply established with fists.

Even in the current news section of the Hakdo community, there were many posts highlighting the positive aspects of Ojakgyo.

“[Ojakgyo Executive, Jegal Yeonhwa. Donates most imported models to the Red Cross Hakdo Branch (1,088 views) (350 likes)]”

“[Hakdo Senior Eun Yuri, establishes group Zoom classes within Ojakgyo. ‘I want to reduce students’ educational disparities.’ (668 views) (121 likes)]”

“This is insane, utterly insane.”

As I muttered quietly, Kim Noeul next to me showed interest.

“What’s insane? The world?”

“To students, school is practically the world, so it’s not entirely wrong. This Hakdo is crazy right now.”

I advised Kim Noeul while grumbling.

“So, Kim Noeul, you need to work even harder. Confident about winning at the competition, right? If you bring home another gold medal from Ojakgyo this time, things will really look grim.”

“Don’t worry. I had no trouble with the written test.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

It would be difficult to regard Hakdo’s competition at the level of a typical contest. Hakdo students, on average, excel academically compared to students outside Hakdo, making the difficulty of discernment in the questions much higher.

A prime example of this is the separate Hakdo-administered mock exams, in addition to the nationwide joint mock exam.

Students who score perfectly on national mock exams often struggle with Hakdo’s internal mock exams.

For instance, in my case, I scored full marks on the third nationwide mock exam, but made several mistakes on the Hakdo mock exam.

Of course, there are geniuses who excel in both academics and physical prowess. The problem is that both of these prodigies are part of the Ojakgyo faction.

“If Kim Noeul is confronting Alice with her physical strength, then I should be dealing with Eun Yuri using my academic abilities… Is that even possible?”

As I pondered over this dilemma, Kim Noeul brought up the story of her previous encounter with Jegal Hwarin’s gang.

“I heard you and Yuna-senpai were attacked by Jegal Hwarin. Did the student council members protect you?”

“Yeah, they did. Jegal Hwarin couldn’t do anything against the student council president. If I could, I’d want to go to and from school with the student council in the future.”

In the latter part of the original work, the conflict with Ojakgyo intensifies to the point where there is an incident where the student council escorts the students home.

When I expressed my desire to go to and from school with the student council, Kim Noeul narrowed her eyes.

“Weren’t you planning on going with me anyway? There’s no need to involve the student council. They’re already so busy.”

“….”

“Why?”

Kim Noeul met my ambiguous gaze with a puzzled expression. I sighed and gave her the answer she was looking for.

“Alright, you make me feel safer than the student council. Happy now?”

As I spoke with a smile, Kim Noeul’s cheeks flushed slightly. She cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Come to think of it, our counseling department’s gathering got canceled. We should plan something today. Ask Yuna-senpai about it.”

As Kim Noeul mentioned, I had completely forgotten about the counseling department’s gathering. Why was it canceled again?

“Oh, right. Yuna-senpai was busy dealing with the delinquents that day. After that, she went to the seniors’ house…”

I stopped my train of thought as my face began to redden, realizing it was unnecessary information for Kim Noeul. I focused on controlling my expression.

“I’ll send a message.”

Nonchalantly, I entered the counseling department group chat.

[Me: Senpai, are we having the gathering today?]

[Me: Jegal Hwarin has been taken care of, and the president finished the competition, right?]

[Yuna-senpai: Anytime!]

[Yuna-senpai: I knew this would happen!]

[Yuna-senpai: I’ve saved up a lot of money for this]

[Yuna-senpai: (Emoji of a cow wearing sunglasses and flexing)]

[Yuna-senpai: I’ll treat you all to meat]

I was taken aback by her sudden mention of money. Kim Noeul also seemed uneasy as she checked the contents of the message.

[Kim Noeul: Let’s just pay separately.]

[Me: I think that works for me too.]

[Nayuna: No, I’ve received a lot of help from you guys. When Jegal Hwarin attacked last time, I couldn’t be of any help at all.]

[Nayuna: I want to relieve my guilt.]

After considering her earnest tone, Kim Noeul glanced at me. “Then this time, the senior pays for me, and next time, we’ll treat you. I don’t see any sign of you giving in.”

“…That makes sense.” I responded positively, but I felt frustrated deep down. I knew well the underlying basis of Nayuna’s psychology.

She still doesn’t see the two of us as equal friends. Nayuna seems to think of herself as a parasite to us, almost inadvertently.

Her self-loathing was famous even in the original work. In the webtoon, because she was a guy, female fans overflowed with “real-life loser” comments, but I didn’t view that positively.

“She needs to change.”

She’s relieving her need for recognition through broadcasting, but if this continues, it won’t be good for Nayuna at all.

In the future, there will be a need for continued care from me, Kim Noeul, and Teacher Chae Yubin.

The term “care” made me think of a character that appeared in the original work.

“The adult who helped Nayuna find confidence in real life… It’s about time for Nayuna to meet them.”

Nayuna met that adult a few weeks before the final exams.

I replied to Nayuna with a complicated expression.

[Me: If you put it that way, I’ll gratefully accept.]

[Nayuna: What do you want to eat? Pork? Beef?]

[Kim Noeul: Pork belly is safe.]

After our discussion, the three of us met at the school gate after class. Nayuna still had long bangs covering her eyes.

Approaching Nayuna, Kim Noeul looked at her bangs intently.

“Noeul? Is there something on my head?”

“Senior, how about trying a bridge?”

“A bridge?”

As Kim Noeul’s makeup lesson began, Nayuna was taken aback. Kim Noeul lightly touched Nayuna’s skin, marveling.

“Leaf cool tones really suit you, which is quite rare. Especially in the summer, green shades are popular. It’s a shame to not doll up a bit and go out.”

“T-Thanks…?”

I couldn’t interject into the two women’s conversation. It was natural, considering I had never put on makeup in this life or my past life.

Even though it’s a world of gender reversal, it’s not like women don’t wear any makeup at all. They do makeup just as much as women did in my past life. They’re just more straightforward about it.

Even tough fighter Kim Noeul, upon closer inspection, clearly cared about her appearance. Her eyebrows were groomed, her lips shone attractively, and there was a hint of perfume near her collarbone. Kim Noeul’s style seemed like she didn’t put effort into looking made up.

As Kim Noeul went on with her monologue to Yuna, I thought to myself, ‘Noeul, Yuna senior already knows what you’re talking about.’ She’s a broadcaster, for goodness’ sake. How could she not know that? She’s even a famous streamer for her looks…

“I should bring a full-length mirror to the counseling department sometime. Counselors should also present themselves well in terms of appearance, right? Let’s coordinate together.”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

Yuna, burning with enthusiasm, clenched her fists tightly. Noeul, who was watching Yuna with a satisfied expression, soon turned her gaze towards me.

After staring at me for a moment, she opened her mouth.

“Maru, it’s better for you not to dress up.”

“What?”

Her tone, implying that dressing up was pointless, momentarily dampened my spirits. Just as I was about to say something, Kim Noeul muttered quietly.

“It’s just more trouble when girls get more complicated for no reason.”

I lost my words. Kim Noeul looked serious, so I couldn’t even crack a joke.

“Maru is unbeatable even without dressing up…”

Yuna unknowingly praised my appearance. Kim Noeul sighed as if she found it annoying.

“You already attract enough attention dealing with those oddballs on your own. If you start paying attention to your appearance, it’ll become even more of a hassle.”

“Why do you criticize me while you put on makeup?”

“…I’m a woman. Men need to be more careful.”

Engaged in meaningless conversation, we walked along the school’s food street.

There’s not much time to walk around comfortably without any worries. It’s important to be present in the moment.

We had arrived at a barbecue restaurant before we knew it. Perhaps because it was the weekend, the voices of customers chatting could be heard from all directions.

“Welcome, how many in your party?”

“Three, please.”

“I’ll show you to your table.”

In response to Kim Noeul, the staff led us to a table for six.

“When you’ve decided on your order, please press the call button.”

The staff said this and then hurried off to another table. Kim Noeul and Na Yuna took off their school blazers.

“Phew, that was stuffy.”

Na Yuna stretched as if to relieve herself of a heavy heart. It seemed like her uniform was a bit small.

“Should we go ahead and order for three people?”

“Yeah, choose whatever you like.”

In response to Kim Noeul’s question, Na Yuna nodded. I stood up and looked around.

“Where are you going?”

“To pick some flowers.”

Kim Noeul replied with an indifferent expression upon hearing my answer, then turned her gaze back to the menu.

“Then I’ll go ahead and order?”

“Sure.”

After replying, I asked a staff member about the restroom location and headed there. Upon entering the men’s restroom on the right, I quickly finished up.

While washing my hands, I noticed a CCTV camera pointing towards the entrance of the men’s restroom. There was no CCTV on the women’s restroom side.

Every time I saw scenes like this, I keenly felt the sense of being in a reversed world.

As I was washing my hands, I heard murmuring from the direction of the women’s restroom.

“Yeonhwa, your shots were particularly shaky today. Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just not feeling well.”

“A model can’t be like that. Rest well when you’re tired. Your tired face shouldn’t appear in magazines.”

I stopped drying my hands and focused on their conversation.

“Yeonhwa? That’s not a common name… Could it be…”

“With finals coming up, we need to quickly handle our schedules. I’m not avoiding rest because I don’t want to. I just don’t want to.”

“You work hard too. Eat a lot and relieve stress today. You don’t like crowded places, so you left all the staff behind, didn’t you?”

The two women came out of the restroom and met my gaze.

One was a stylishly dressed woman in her late twenties to early thirties, while the other was a high school girl wearing a white shirt and a short skirt.

The high school girl had proportions reminiscent of a Barbie doll, with a figure that seemed close to an eight-head ratio. Despite being taller, her legs appeared almost as long as mine.

Another peculiar point was that the high school girl’s face bore a striking resemblance to someone I knew very well. It was a very familiar face because it belonged to the girl I had slapped. However, the girl I had slapped had short hair, while the girl in front of me had long hair.

“Jegal Yeonhwa….”

A leader at Ojakgyo, the student council president at a Korean high school, and a representative celebrity of the students. Although I hadn’t come face to face with her when I overheard a conversation before, now our gazes met for quite a while.

“Huh? Do you know each other?”

When Jegal Yeonhwa stared at me, the woman next to her asked. Jegal Yeonhwa glanced at my name tag and her mouth curled up.

“Oh~ I know him well. My younger brother caused a scene.”

It seemed like Jegal Hwarin’s breakdown had reached her ears.

“Hmm….”

After hearing Jegal Yeonhwa’s explanation, the woman scrutinized me, making strange noises and sparkling her eyes. Sensing my confusion, she waved her hand.

“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t eye-raping you, just checking out your potential.”

I couldn’t understand her use of the term “eye-raping,” and her mention of “potential” was even more perplexing.

“What do you mean by ‘potential’?”

“This is who I am.”

She handed me her business card. As I took the card, my eyes widened. In response to my surprise, she raised her nose as if it were obvious.

“You must have heard of me at least once. We practically monopolize the modeling market in the education industry.”

The business card read:

-School Celebrity Co., Representative Im Ju-hee

I was surprised not because of the company’s name, contrary to Im Ju-hee’s expectations. In the original work, Im Ju-hee was cast as Nayuna and played the role of a mentor instilling confidence in her as a model.

In the original, she too had undergone TS and was female, unlike the original work.

“Is your name… Maru Student? I sense an endless potential from you. My instincts have never been wrong. Won’t you try spreading the wings of possibility?”

“…”

As I remained silent, Representative Im Ju-hee’s face turned grim, not responding.

“Oh, this student next to you is Jegal Yeon-hwa. Yes, Jegal Yeon-hwa. Wherever she goes, her face stands out. I discovered her too. You could also become a star!”

Despite being the representative of a fairly large company, Im Ju-hee, when encountering raw talent, takes on the attitude of a subordinate rather than a superior. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons for her success.

“Instead of standing here and talking, shall we have a meal together? Do you have any companions? I can cover the cost of the meal.”

It would be beneficial to befriend Im Ju-hee for Na Yuna’s development. However, if Im Ju-hee joins us for the meal, Jegal Yeon-hwa will also…

When I glanced at Jegal Yeon-hwa, Im Ju-hee did the same.

“I see. Respecting Yeon-hwa’s wishes, huh? What a sweet guy, isn’t he? Yeon-hwa, if having a meal together is burdensome, I’ll give up as well. No matter what, I value existing models more.”

Upon hearing this, I silently gave up on having a meal together. Jegal Yeon-hwa must hold animosity towards me. There’s no way she’d agree to eat together. However, unexpectedly, Jegal Yeon-hwa nodded.

“It’s okay to have a meal together.”

“Really? Someone who dislikes crowds suddenly agrees?”

Jegal Yeon-hwa smiled and gazed at me with crescent-shaped eyes. After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion.

“I’m sorry, but I can only accept it in spirit. I can’t unilaterally decide on a club gathering.”

“That’s a shame. But since I’ve given you my business card, it shouldn’t matter. We’ve finished our meal, so I should be going now.”

Im Ju-hee adjusted her taste and moved away. Jegal Yeon-hwa waited until Im Ju-hee had completely left before speaking.

“Why did you refuse? I thought you’d use the meal as an excuse to dig for information about me.”

“Because I don’t like you.”

I replied honestly.

“Even though I’m a year older, you’re using informal language? It’s more charming than being overly gentle.”

The original setting is maintained. The perverted desire to inflict pain on others and dominate them while experiencing pleasure remained unchanged.

“This time, I scored a hit. So next time, I’ll be the one scoring.”

“If you can, go ahead and try.”

“Why do you keep tempting me?”

It’s no use. Despite her provocation, which was like what she would do to another woman, Jegal Yeonhwa seemed rather excited.

“Haah, it’s been a while since an interesting target came up.”

Jegal Yeonhwa, who steadied her rough breathing, distanced herself from me.

A moment later, a message popped up.

[Kim Noeul: What are you doing? I’m grilling meat.]

[Me: I’m coming now.]

Finishing the message, I left the restroom entrance with mixed feelings.