episode_0447

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“Haaaah……”

Do I even have the right to feel this way?

Pretending not to recognize the smell of semen, I packed his luggage and returned to my room, then immediately collapsed face-down on the bed with a bitter sigh.

It wasn’t that I was disappointed in Baek Jiho.

Sure, it was ironic that Baek Jiho, who always acted like a saint in front of me, was perfectly capable of masturbating—but considering the karma I’ve brought upon myself, it wasn’t all that strange.

Maybe he preferred some random woman in porn, with whom he had no real connection, over me, who reacted with such visceral disgust in real life.

Besides, how hypocritical would it be for me, who’s been doing far worse things in secret, to be disappointed in him?

“It’s fine if I do it, but you absolutely can’t…”—who even has the audacity to think like that?

So no, it wasn’t disappointment, but…

“I really am trash……”

If I had to clumsily put this shameful feeling into words, it’d go something like this:

My boyfriend, who I thought had almost no sexual desire, apparently gets perfectly aroused—just not by me.

“……”

Far from jealousy.

I found myself feeling relieved instead.

Ah, so I’m not the only one doing disappointing things.

Ah, so he’s been doing weird stuff behind my back too.

We’re both in the wrong.

Like this.

Compared to Baek Jiho, who at least kept it to healthy self-relief…

…I’m the far worse one—the one who, in the early hours of yesterday, was drenched in sweat from going at it with another man who wasn’t Baek Jiho.

447

“…Huh? Did someone drop this?”

The start of a new week.

On the most exhausting day of the week, I headed to the infirmary and, as usual, set out to find a place to catch my breath with instant coffee in hand.

Even though midterms had ended last week, the sound of enthusiastic lessons still echoed through the classrooms along the hallway.

The grand central hall, though lavishly decorated with no expense spared, was too imposing to sit and relax in alone.

After wandering through the now-familiar academy, I arrived at a relatively quiet and chilly space.

The rooftop, where you could gaze down at the vibrant autumn leaves painting the world below in dazzling colors until you grew sick of it, was the perfect spot.

With November just around the corner, a fairly cold breeze swept across the rooftop, making it the ideal place to savor a cup of coffee.

Just as I was about to sit on a bench in the corner to rest, something caught my eye.

A disposable lighter, rolling around on the bench as if someone had tossed it there.

“Won’t light. Well, that’s probably why they ditched it.”

This is a smoking-permitted area, so it’s not that strange to find one here.

Click, click. After striking the flint a few times, I rolled it away into the rooftop scenery.

Over the weekend, I’d managed to take one step closer to Seol Dabin.

The goal was complete submission, but we weren’t quite there yet.

If I had to define it, we were hovering around the stage right before that.

The stage where she was finally starting to acknowledge—even if just a little—the pleasure she’d been so busy denying.

…Back when I first tried this plan, I’d worried it might take even longer.

But now, it looks like I might get to see something nice before the year’s end.

Like watching her hold hands affectionately and lazily have sex without a condom.

Or finishing inside her under the excuse of it being a “safe day.”

Well, even if it doesn’t go that far, there’s plenty else to do.

This winter break is shaping up to be a pretty warm one.

That said, one thing still nagged at me—Baek Jiho had been too quiet.

When I’d called him out under the pretense of treating him to a meal, he hadn’t said a word—but I could chalk that up to it being “natural” not to suspect anything when I’d invited both him and Seol Dabin.

But if I’d gotten him drunk enough to lose control of his body…

And if he’d seen me at his girlfriend’s place the next day… shouldn’t his reaction have been a little more intense than just momentary panic?

I’d been fully prepared for him to grab me by the collar or even tackle me like a wrestler, but…

…Maybe he’s just silently screaming at me to take Seol Dabin away from him already.

The thought was briefly disgusting before I let out a faint laugh and took a sip of my coffee.

“Don’t litter. It’s punishable by penalty points.”

Just as I was swallowing what might’ve been a café latte or just sugar water, a voice came from above my head.

Leaning back on the bench, I looked up to see Baek Seoyeon’s face staring down at me upside down, her expression dripping with pity.

Her skin had a healthy glow lately, as if something good had happened to her, but I didn’t mention it.

This woman—instead of appreciating compliments, she’d just get angry.

I didn’t want to get dragged into anything exhausting first thing in the morning.

“What litter?”

“The lighter. You just tossed it over there.”

“How long have you been watching?”

“Since you rolled the lighter’s wheel and said, ‘Won’t light.’”

“…Are you stalking me?”

“How rude. I just stopped by a familiar spot. Did you forget? I claimed this place as my hideout two years before you did.”

Now that she mentioned it, I had turned right around and headed back down the stairs the moment I spotted Baek Seoyeon on the rooftop before.

As I hazily recalled something that had happened over half a year ago, the sound of clicking heels followed.

Up until now, she must’ve been walking as quietly as a fox spirit, because I hadn’t heard a thing.

Baek Seoyeon, now relocated, picked up the lighter I’d carelessly tossed aside and sat down next to me.

Next might be an exaggeration—there was enough space between us on the bench to comfortably fit a chubby guy.

But her voice reached me as clearly as if she were right beside me.

“Anyway, unauthorized littering is a one-point penalty.”

“How long are you going to harp on that? It wasn’t even my lighter to begin with.”

“Talking back to my judgment? How about I make it five points? That’d mean you’d have to do some dirty work for the academy, like cleaning the bathrooms. Sound good?”

“…Do whatever. Guess you were bored today.”

Leaving her to her whims, I downed the rest of my coffee.

This was as good a time as any to wrap up my short break.

As I got up to return to the infirmary, I crumpled the paper cup and lightly tossed it toward the large trash bin in the center of the rooftop.

Right then, Baek Seoyeon stood up from the bench and spoke in her usual expressionless tone.

“Then I’ll see you after school. I’ll assign you to something relatively easy.”

“……”

Naturally.

I answered by flipping her off.

Um, I’m Dabin’s friend.

Dabin’s been acting weird today.

From greeting friends in the morning,

to debating lunch options,

and even now, with afternoon classes almost over—it’s like her mind’s somewhere else entirely…

Because of that, today I even got to see the rare sight of Dabin getting scolded by a teacher.

During the training dummy simulation, she was uncharacteristically flustered and barely made it through.

The way she kept making small mistakes and getting scolded reminded me of Hayun back in the day.

So I spent today watching Dabin closely, trying to figure out what’s wrong…

I think it’s probably her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend, who should’ve been a third-year by now, dropped out and is doing something else, right?

I’m sure she’s acting like this because she’s lonely from not being able to see him.

Lovesickness. I don’t know much about it in real life, but it shows up a lot in comics, right?

I mean, whenever I talk about things I’ve seen in comics in front of my friends, they always tell me to “get a grip on reality” or “cut that gloomy bangs already,” but…

Anyway, lovesickness makes sense, doesn’t it?

This time, I’m sure I’m right. Definitely!

If that’s the case, the solution’s simple.

Getting her to meet her boyfriend… isn’t something I can arrange right now.

Telling her to find new love… is basically telling a happy couple to break up, so I can’t say that.

That leaves this last option.

This should at least help fill the void in her heart a little!

Wholesome fan activities!

“…What is this?”

“This folder is candid shots of Yoo Siwoo, this one’s of Seo Woojin sunsaengnim—though interest died down after he went public with Hayun—and this one here is…”

Thwack.

We were in a corner of the training grounds, but we weren’t even training.

Still, a dull pain suddenly flared in my head.

The stinging sensation… must’ve been Dabin flicking me.

At a speed so fast it was practically invisible.

But I only did it because her mind was totally elsewhere… Hng…

“Delete all of it. What the hell is this?”

“Eeeh… It’s not just my collection, it’s a shared treasure among us…”

“That makes it even creepier. Isn’t this borderline illegal?”

“W-well, everyone kind of knows about it…”

“Sigh… You’re a snake variant, so why are you acting like a crow?”

“Ahaha…”

Eek. I did get a lot of these from a crow-variant friend…

She couldn’t have guessed that, right?

Anyway, I guess the void in Dabin’s heart isn’t big enough to recruit her as a “comrade” yet.

Maybe if I’d taken more time and approached her carefully, it would’ve worked.

For now, I’d better quickly hide my phone and pretend nothing happened.

From the way her fingers are moving, she’s probably swiping through the photos, so if I take advantage of her distraction…

“…Huh?”

“…….”

That’s when it happened.

Outside Training Ground B, beyond the transparent doors, I saw Seo Woojin sunsaengnim walking off somewhere in the distance.

Judging by the direction, he was probably heading to the convenience store?

The sunlight was perfect—even a quick shot would’ve turned out great, but with Dabin right next to me, I had no choice but to hold back.

“…Huh? W-wha—?!”

I never expected Dabin to start deleting files from my phone in the brief moment I was distracted…

Luckily, I noticed in time, so only the Seo Woojin sunsaengnim folder was gone…

Phew…

“…….”

…Wait, but wouldn’t you usually delete the first one first?

Seo Woojin sunsaengnim was the second folder.

Did her finger just happen to land there?

“W-what if you’d deleted them all…”

“If you get caught with that, you’re in serious trouble. I mean it.”

“But… if I don’t get caught… I mean… Okay…”

Well, whatever.

It’s fine, really.

I have backups.

I can always ask my friends to send them again.

If this sense of justice helped lift Dabin’s mood, then that’s good enough.

I sacrificed myself to bring Dabin back to normal. Let’s go with that. Yeah.

Just as I was about to head back to our friends with Dabin, who was sighing deeply…

“…Hm.”

The student council president just passed by.

The guys would go crazy for pics of her.

But she walked by too fast, like she was chasing something, and I missed the shot…

What a shame…