episode_0111

“Now, now, wait, why don’t we calm down and talk this over again?”

Of course, neither Baek Ayun nor I were monsters who buried people when bored, and there was no reason to bury Rachel just for playing a little prank.

But perhaps it was because the expressions of those speaking were so serious and nonchalant.

“Oh my…! Even if I did act ‘a bit’ cheeky, how could you say something so cruel as burying a classmate in the ground!”

Rachel did her best, moving both arms and hands, gesturing to protect herself.

I didn’t actually intend to eat her, but.

If she showed such an amusing reaction, wouldn’t I be tempted to play a little prank too?

Feigning a slightly colder expression than before, I flicked my hand.

Crackle!

“Eek!”

A bolt of lightning grazed right past Rachel. It was just an electric current that hit the floor and dissipated weakly, but…

It was probably enough as a threat. Rachel’s complexion turned even more ashen.

I crossed my arms and gestured towards Baek Ayun with my chin. It was a wordless command, but she seemed to cleverly grasp my playful intention.

“Ahem.”

A short cough, seemingly uttered to set the mood in her own way.

That voice, appropriately lowered, unfortunately didn’t quite suit her.

Just as Rachel’s expression was about to become odd again… Baek Ayun lightly loosened her shoulders.

As if stretching.

And then.

“──!”

Crash!!

“……!”

Without minding her neatly dressed skirt, she brought her raised leg down very deeply.

With an objectively significant roar, a corner of the alley’s floor was deeply dented.

‘Black.’

Of course, I briefly focused on a certain ‘sight’ that occurred during the process rather than the result.

Such a thing was an insignificant fact. I casually turned my head, pretending not to know.

“……Hiccup.”

In any case, the threat seemed to have worked twofold.

It was as intended.

Rachel’s pupils quivered along with a hiccup that seemed involuntary.

Her gaze darted between the spot where the heavenly lightning had grazed and the moderately caved-in pit next to it.

Whatever it was, weren’t these enough ingredients for her imagination to run wild?

Her face had long since turned pale.

I crouched in front of her again, striking a cocky pose. My hand twitched, one arm casually resting on my knee.

“Rachel.”

“Huh, huh?”

I called her. Rachel, even in her confusion, seemed to catch my call and snapped her head up. I continued speaking nonchalantly.

This was important now. The core of this prank was to mess with Rachel, no matter what.

What was most needed for that act? First of all, the attitude and expression I should adopt in this situation were:

“You know, I don’t want the scene of my infidelity to reach Soyul.”

It was precisely the demeanor of ‘a scumbag who, in any case, seems to care a lot about his fiancée.’

-Pfft!

“…….”

Let’s try to ignore the sound of my sister’s laughter from behind, which seemed to escape her control.

Indeed, it was a ridiculous thing to say when the three of us had already been skin to skin, but still.

That wasn’t what was important. After all, Rachel didn’t know that fact.

In fact, Rachel seemed to have understood the intent of my threat in time, as her expression hardened.

“You’re telling me not to do anything useless? So, don’t write the article?”

“That’s right.”

“……Uh, it probably won’t do much good if I argue for freedom of the press, right?”

“That’s also right.”

At my nonchalant replies, Rachel frowned, looking displeased.

For me, this whole farce was utterly ridiculous.

She seemed to be taking the situation seriously in her own way. Otherwise, why would she react with such a hardened expression?

At least, that was ‘my’ judgment at the time.

“……What if I don’t listen to your warning and publish an article in the school newspaper? Uh, what would happen?”

“Hmm.”

Before I could fully commit to that conviction, Rachel spoke again.

At first glance, her eyes and tone seemed to be seeking a final confirmation.

‘What is it?’

I felt something, something I couldn’t quite explain, an ominous chill.

It was like the chilling sensation I felt right before I once scattered cold air in the classroom…

To put it simply, Rachel’s gaze right now was subtle.

It was clear she was tense, but was she afraid? Well…

I didn’t think I had made a particularly plausible threat.

Still, given the situation, couldn’t she shrink back? Probably, at least for now.

But no. Rachel was tense right now, but she wasn’t looking at me with a sense of dismay or any sign of being intimidated.

It was a bit more, how to say, a gaze filled with a lot of ‘fervor’.

…

…

…

I’ve seen that look before.

And from quite ‘a few people’ too.

I couldn’t immediately grasp the nature of the ominous premonition that suddenly struck me.

Anyway, she had asked me a question, and I was in a position where I had to answer.

With a puzzling feeling, I awkwardly opened my mouth.

“……If you don’t heed the warning……”

“…….”

“Hmm……”

But it was also true that I didn’t have much to say.

What line would be best to say here?

Feeling somewhat awkward, I just scratched the side of my head. And then, off the top of my head, I blurted out two phrases:

“……Your school life will become very difficult. Because I know best how to effectively torment a female student.”

“……!”

And then, silence.

‘……Wow.’

Even I thought it was a truly scummy remark. It seemed I had just blurted out something like a rake while trying to maintain the concept.

Startled, I suddenly became concerned and turned around to find Baek Ayun’s expression was indeed a sight to behold.

“……Hmph, hmph, huff.”

The short, sharp breaths were, by all accounts, laughter—that of someone trying to suppress a great burst of it.

My face flushed crimson in an instant, but there was no way to take back the words I had already uttered.

Baek Ayun gave me a thumbs-up from an angle Rachel couldn’t see.

It was as if she was saying…

-Oppa, you’re the best.

‘Shit.’

Late shame suddenly washed over me, starting to turn my face bright red.

As I said, it was already too late.

‘Oh, whatever.’

Since it had come to this, I decided to stick with this scummy concept to the very end.

My initial thought of just teasing Rachel for a bit and then calmly talking to her had long since vanished from my mind.

Grab!

“Huh, huh?”

I grabbed Rachel’s arm. And pulling her up, almost roughly, I lifted her from where she lay sprawled on the ground.

Then, with a ‘Thump!’, she was pressed against the wall, her back leaning against it—Rachel.

My fierce expression was reflected in her trembling blue eyes.

“Rachel Brehelton.”

The low, guttural voice wasn’t very familiar even to me. But the effect was certain, and Rachel flinched, answering:

“……Yes, y-yes.”

…Why it took the form of honorific speech was inexplicable, but I roughly assumed it meant the effect was ‘very’ certain and moved on.

Anyway, I leaned closer to her and whispered, softly into her ear.

“Don’t go blabbing about what happened today.”

“Hmph, mph.”

“……Unless you want something bad to happen to you, that is.”

Is this right?

Could it be right?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure either. It felt wrong, but there was no way to turn back now, so I just decided to go all the way.

I roughly grabbed Rachel’s wrist and pushed her high against the wall. Thump!

And finally, the moment I made eye contact with her, intending it as a warning.

“……Ah.”

Rachel’s expression melted away in an instant.

Like chocolate that had been exposed to intense heat.

“?”

Before I could even register a question mark or voice my doubts at that reaction.

She limply slumped, and then a blush spread across both her cheeks…

“Oh.”

From Baek Ayun’s lips, as she stood a step away watching our farce from beginning to end, a cry mixed with admiration escaped.

“……Oh…….”

It was the same for me. I probably had the same intuition as Baek Ayun, but my sigh was different in meaning from her exclamation.

It finally dawned on me. Though late.

…The identity of that fervent gaze Rachel was giving me now, which had been present moments ago and was now even more intense…

It was probably something I, among all the male students in this academy, knew best.

“…….”

A cold sweat trickled.

I realized I was screwed.