53) Chapter 9. Do You Want Me to Be a Villain? (5)
“Gasp.”
I woke with a start after being forced to sleep between Soi and Chae‑yi, and immediately felt something was wrong.
A bad feeling crept over me as I reached around with my hands.
“Hnn.”
A strange sound came from right beside my ear.
“H‑huh!?”
“Mmnh.”
Startled, I jerked my body the other way—only to hear another weird, suggestive noise.
I tried moving to find my phone, but no matter which direction I shifted, all I felt was soft, warm, squishy sensations!
Somehow, during the night, one of my arms had ended up stretched above my head. It must’ve been like that for a long time, because my shoulder hurt terribly.
My other hand was completely buried in Soi’s arms, and no matter how I moved, it felt… wrong.
At least my legs were tightly pressed together—probably because my body had instinctively tensed up from the warmth on both sides all night.
“Rua, really…”
“H‑huh!?”
A half‑asleep voice murmured beside me, and I flinched—only for both sides to squeeze me tighter, freezing me in place.
This wasn’t unusual, normally.
The difference was that usually I’d slowly inch toward the wall, and Soi would cling to my back.
Being hugged tightly from both sides like this was—
“Oh.”
Hugged?
Honestly, it shouldn’t be a big deal. A hug isn’t some monumental act. Friends can hug, family can hug.
And distinguishing between “being hugged” and “hugging” is pointless. The essence is the same. Why separate the one who gives and the one who receives?
But my mind separates them anyway.
I don’t know why I can’t stop it. Even with regular counseling, my brain refuses to accept it.
My body slowly stiffened. Sweat dampened my forehead, and a cold, draining sensation crept from the back of my head, like all the blood was leaving my body.
I didn’t want to tremble. It wasn’t cold, and I definitely didn’t want to show fear when the two people I trusted most were hugging me.
But no matter how much I told myself that—
No matter how much I reminded myself that they treasured me—
No matter how well I knew that these two would risk their lives for me—
Still—
What if someday, while holding me like this—
“Ah.”
Soi suddenly gasped and pulled away.
She must’ve clung to me half‑asleep and only just realized what she’d done.
It made me feel awful. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t feel guilty at all.
“Sorry. Are you okay?”
She didn’t need to apologize for hugging a friend.
“…Yeah. I’m fine.”
“….”
Chae‑yi also slowly pulled away.
Finally free, I sat up quickly.
My arm, which had been above my head, cracked loudly as I lowered it. It was incredibly stiff.
…But wait. If my arm was up there, then where was Soi’s face?
…No. Stop thinking about it. We were all asleep. People sleep in weird positions all the time. Yes.
Soi and Chae‑yi also looked like they’d just woken up.
“Ah.”
And then I remembered why I woke up.
I felt too refreshed.
And anyone who goes to school or work knows what that means.
Overslept.
That refreshing feeling only comes when you sleep longer than usual!
I scrambled for my phone—
“Whew.”
—and sighed in relief. It was only 7 a.m.
Plenty of time to wash up and get ready. We lived in the dorms anyway.
“You could’ve slept more. I set an alarm.”
Soi said.
“O‑oh. Right.”
I had slept since yesterday afternoon. It would’ve been strange if I wasn’t rested.
“Rua, you always stay up too late, remember? I didn’t want you oversleeping on the first day, so I made sure you slept properly.”
Soi said it proudly, and I couldn’t argue.
I did stay up too late.
People need to move around during the day to sleep well at night, but since I stayed home most days, I’d end up scrolling on my phone at night.
I avoided reading my own posts online because they made my heart drop, so I usually read manga instead.
Even though I trained with Soi and Chae‑yi in the evenings, it wasn’t intense enough to exhaust me.
“Hm.”
While I was gathering my thoughts, Soi seemed to be thinking too.
“Should we shower together?”
“H‑huh!?”
Her sudden suggestion made me jump.
“There’s only one bathroom in a four‑person room, right? So to save time in the morning, we should shower together.”
For reference, our house had three bathrooms and two showers. Two bathrooms and one shower on the first floor, one bathroom and one shower on the second. We never had to wait.
So to Soi, one bathroom for four people must’ve felt… cramped.
“E‑even so…”
“Yeah. I’m not showering with you two. Why should I see Soi naked?”
“…Why are you assuming we’re showering together?”
“Because if you shower with Rua, then I have to shower with Rua too.”
“What are you talking about? Why would Rua shower with some random girl? We’re sisters and family, so of course we shower together.”
“Hmmm.”
“…What?”
“Nothing. You said ‘family.’ I see~ family, huh~”
“What does that even mean?”
“Nothing.”
“U‑um…”
This conversation was going in a weird direction.
But that wasn’t the important part.
I couldn’t accept this.
Not because I hated it—more like… conscience. For several reasons.
“C‑can’t we just… shower one at a time…?”
Also—
I glanced at the empty bed.
Hyeonji must’ve left early. She wasn’t in the room or the bathroom.
If she always left early, then maybe Soi’s plan wouldn’t cause problems. But what if she left late sometimes?
Or on weekends?
If she ever walked in and saw us showering together… after the way she looked at us yesterday…
…Would she misunderstand?
Maybe she’d think it was just a pajama party thing? Surely she wouldn’t think… that.
…Would she?
Wait.
Baek Hyeonji is the “disciplinary committee” type in the original.
Aren’t those characters usually the ones who think the worst first…?
“Rua?”
“What’s wrong?”
“N‑nothing.”
My face must’ve gone pale, because Soi and Chae‑yi looked worried.
But I couldn’t calm down.
I had to stop this.
If I didn’t, she’d misunderstand forever…!
I could handle it, but I didn’t want people thinking Soi and Chae‑yi were the type to cling to girls like that.
I decided: I would talk to Hyeonji today and clear up any misunderstandings.
*
But… how?
Unfortunately, in my previous life, I had completely forgotten how to make new friends.
In college, I sat alone in the corner of lecture halls. After getting a job, I barely spoke to coworkers.
Actually, could I even call them coworkers? I only exchanged the bare minimum of words.
This life wasn’t much different. The friends I had in elementary school were really just Soi’s friends, and after I dropped out of middle school, those connections disappeared.
So I genuinely had no idea how to make new friends.
“…”
…But even so, this wasn’t right.
Even if I wanted to talk to her, following her around like this was weird.
I wasn’t stalking her or anything, but still.
And with Soi and Chae‑yi following me, it looked even stranger.
And then—
“Who are you creeping after like that? So gloomy.”
Of course. My reputation was already bad.
And whenever someone said something bad about me, the same thing always happened.
“What? What did you just say?”
Soi stepped forward with a tone she never used with me—rough, sharp.
Her attitude… felt oddly natural.
Too natural.
It reminded me a little of my past trauma.
…It was probably just a coincidence. This world’s Soi didn’t go down a bad path.