episode_0066

3:45 PM. Little time remained until 4 PM, when the matches for the second-year valedictorian and salutatorian would begin.

Cheon Soyul and I were sitting apart in the waiting room beneath the stadium, killing time.

“……”

“……”

Silence filled the air. It was an utterly quiet time. Though the waiting room wasn’t particularly spacious, there was no conversation between us.

A drastically different atmosphere from usual.

I was spending time zoning out, pretending to casually scroll through my smartphone, while Cheon Soyul had been in front of the mirror for a while now.

If you looked closely, she wasn’t really doing anything, yet she kept fiddling with her hair.

Honestly, I was certain. Right now, both Cheon Soyul and I were probably feeling the same thoughts and emotions.

In other words, this was awkwardness.

The minor incident that had occurred at the pub the previous evening. Jiwoo Noona’s mischievous remark and Cheon Soyul’s mistake of reacting to it.

I grumbled inwardly, a hint of dissatisfaction within me. If she had just laughed it off then, none of this would be happening now, would it?

‘It’s not like she hasn’t heard that one or twice before, really.’

A sigh escaped my lips.

First love and all that nonsense, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard such ridiculous talk for an entire year, was it?

Given how closely we had always stuck together, I thought it was a problem we ought to endure, but the key point was that Cheon Soyul had already become accustomed to such remarks. At least, that had been the case until now.

But she had to blush at that particular moment. Her words stumbled, and her eyes wavered so much they almost lost focus, making it awkward to even look at her.

What had changed? Was it merely because the one making such playful remarks wasn’t a classmate but someone else?

It wasn’t an entirely impossible inference, but somehow, it didn’t feel like that was the whole story.

“……”

Pretending to look at my smartphone, I only moved my eyes to sneak a glance at Cheon Soyul, and at the same time, I tightly clenched my inexplicably sweaty hands.

That brat.

Cheon Soyul.

Lightning bolt.

Perhaps that sparky lightning-wielder… didn’t just hold affection for me as her best friend, but went even further than that.

Me—.

‘……me…….’

I sighed in futility, squeezing my eyes shut. And finally, unable to bear it, I stood up from my seat. I put my smartphone away.

Cheon Soyul seemed to have been glancing at me while pretending to look in the mirror too, as she flinched, her shoulders trembling.

Even if I glanced at the clock, there was still some time left until the match began.

I decided to just go outside first and pass this awkward time.

“Ah, uh…?”

Just as I was about to step onto the stairs leading out of the waiting room, Cheon Soyul, for some reason, became greatly agitated and parted her lips.

Her large eyes wavered with bewilderment, followed by a sudden cry.

“W-Wait!”

Cheon Soyul urgently stood up from her seat.

Thud! The chair scraped back slightly.

I, too, flinched slightly in surprise. Cheon Soyul stood frozen in place, repeatedly looking up at me with awkward eyes.

“……Th-Th-Uh.”

“……”

As soon as I read the expression in her eyes, which seemed to be stomping their feet with petty worries, I couldn’t hold back and ran a hand over my face.

“Haaah.”

A sigh escaped.

It was mine.

Cheon Soyul flinched and began to watch me with a timid gaze. Even as I quietly watched to see if she would speak or not, she absolutely refused to open her mouth.

Suddenly, I found myself dumbfounded, wondering what both she and I were doing.

A hollow laugh naturally escaped me, and the thought occurred to me that staying in this awkward atmosphere for no reason was inappropriate.

I moved. Turning around immediately, I headed not for the stairs, but towards Cheon Soyul.

“Uh, uh?”

Cheon Soyul’s frozen expression rapidly turned into confusion.

Her expression showed she didn’t understand why I was coming closer to her, but it wasn’t my concern, was it?

I simply pushed her against the wall, and to prevent her from escaping further, I immediately lowered my head and pressed my lips against her soft ones.

“……?!!”

Cheon Soyul’s back instantly straightened. Her arms stuck tightly to her sides, forming a natural attention posture…

Her eyes, meeting mine, didn’t move, as if petrified. They were completely fixed.

And so, after about 10 seconds, after performing a kiss that was light yet, in a way, intense.

“Pwah…!”

As if she couldn’t take it anymore, Cheon Soyul squeezed her eyes shut and urgently pushed me away.

She lightly wiped her lips with her sleeve, then looked at me with eyes like an earthquake had struck.

“Y-Y-Y-You, what is this suddenly-!”

I had expected obvious words to burst out. Moreover, I had no intention of wasting this short time by exchanging useless words.

I immediately grabbed Cheon Soyul’s wrist and kissed her again. This time, I inserted my tongue deeper and tasted the soft, yielding sensation.

If this saliva, which should clearly be bland, felt like an incomparable aphrodisiac, was my mind perhaps a little strange?

Or perhaps the emotion of affection itself was such a dangerously incomparable drug.

I pressed my body closer to the wall. I pushed my knee between Cheon Soyul’s legs, and moved my free hand, the one not holding her wrist, to gently cup her chest.

“……!!!”

Cheon Soyul’s expression finally contorted in horror. Her gaze, seeming to ask what this madness was, pierced through my face.

I paid no mind. As I said, Cheon Soyul’s confusion was none of my concern.

I pulled my lips away again with a soft sound, and as I wiped away the saliva and strands of hair clinging to Cheon Soyul’s mouth, I murmured softly.

“Later, let’s talk later.”

“……W-What?”

And then I moved onto the next step. I kissed her, touched her chest, and pushed my knee deep inside her skirt.

“Ugh, hnn…?!”

Stimulated in a rather private area by my uniform trousers, Cheon Soyul’s body convulsed.

She trembled all over, like a frog receiving an electric shock, and clenched her fingers.

Then, almost instinctively, habitually, Cheon Soyul placed her hands on my shoulders and passionately embraced me without realizing it.

Continuing the kiss, I decided to take off her skirt. I moved my hand downwards.

Cheon Soyul trembled slightly.

But there was no further resistance.

Her reason was already all but paralyzed by the sudden assault.

She merely entrusted her body to my touch, erasing her thoughts.

“……Hoooh…….”

I, too, let out a deep, hot breath, and met Cheon Soyul’s gaze.

Her ardent golden eyes were fixed solely on me.

The air in the waiting room began to grow scorching hot, and Cheon Soyul’s lustful gaze and mine became intertwined.

I spoke to her one last time.

“The other things, let’s definitely talk about them later.”

“……”

“Suddenly, there’s a lot I want to hear from you.”

Was it tension, or was it a thrill? Upon hearing my words, Cheon Soyul’s face flushed deeply, and her entire body trembled.

I finally pulled Cheon Soyul’s skirt halfway off, and reached for her underwear.

Nothing could stop us.

Yes, truly──.

[Second-year valedictorian Cheon Soyul, salutatorian Lee Hyunjin. One minute remaining.]

“……”

“……”

Unless it was the monotonous mechanical voice from the speaker, announcing the start of the match.

That, at least, was a slight exception.

Cheon Soyul and I froze. And facing each other as we were, we likely conveyed the same internal conflict through our eyes.

We were presented with two choices.

To continue as we were, or to grasp our reason and stop, ending this brief torment.

In the agonizing process of that dilemma, there was one difference between Cheon Soyul and me.

‘Just a little more…….’

I, as if truly not caring about anything else, brushed her hair once more.

“……J-J-Just, j-just wait.”

Cheon Soyul, pushing away my approaching face, had apparently retrieved her reason that had flown far beyond the atmosphere.

She exhaled ragged breaths, *hoo, hoo*, yet forcefully held onto her senses.

“Alright, I get it, so, ah…”

Her wavering eyes were fixed on me. What was amusing, given the situation, was that she herself was startled and her cheeks turned crimson.

Anyway, this was a fresh reaction.

Cheon Soyul became very weak, and with trembling hands, she forcibly stopped my approach.

Trying hard not to look at me, she spoke in a voice feigning composure.

“I’ll, I’ll tell you everything. As you said, a little later, I’ll confess everything. Th-Though I don’t quite know what it is, uh, anyway…”

“……”

“……Let’s finish our match first, alright? We shouldn’t be doing this right now, we…”

Her tone was admonishing. She seemed to be trying to calm me down, yet she didn’t realize that she herself was in the most panic.

With an awkward smile she forced onto her face, Cheon Soyul patted my hand as if to soothe me.

‘Hmm…….’

It was an issue I couldn’t help but ponder as well, but what choice did I really have?

I gave in, pretending to be unable to resist Cheon Soyul’s request. I nodded.

“……!”

Then, Cheon Soyul’s face immediately brightened, and she broke into a full, blooming smile.

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

At the same time, I realized. This was a bit of a big problem.

Wasn’t she just too cute?

Yes, at that moment, truly, even more so than Baek Ayun, who would cling to me, calling ‘Oppa, Oppa’.

I lowered my head one last time and lightly placed a very short kiss on Cheon Soyul’s forehead.

My reason had returned a little. As she said, this wasn’t the time for this, and I had almost caused a major incident.

Alright, everything’s fine for now.

Let’s resolve this tournament issue first, and then think.

After the match, the conversation can wait.

I let out a short breath and thought so.

*****

The second-year valedictorian and salutatorian appeared somewhat late. And among them, the female valedictorian’s attire seemed noticeably disheveled.

At the same time, in a corner of the spectator stands, a man, with the keen sight of an exceptional Awakener, carefully observed her appearance.

Her breathing seemed somewhat ragged.

Her clothing, somewhat disarranged.

Her lips, somewhat moist.

The man’s gaze confirmed all of it.

“……Ah.”

And that man.

Cheongsong Academy’s fourth-year student council president.

Cheon Woohyuk, the eldest son of the Great Mage, was…

He collapsed in place, clutching the back of his neck.