121) Chapter 18. No? (7)

“…Are you trying to hide it until the end?”

Soi asked, her face on the verge of tears.

That expression struck my conscience like a hammer.

But—wait—I haven’t done anything wrong?

I’m not lying! And besides, if I ever liked someone—romantically liked someone—why would I hide it from Soi and Chae‑yi? They’re the closest to me. I’d tell them first.

“N‑no! I’m not!”

I shouted.

The girls looked at each other, then back at me.

Soi narrowed her eyes. The tears clinging to her lashes hadn’t dried yet.

No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t believe me at all.

But at least the desperate, cornered atmosphere from earlier had eased a little. They still clearly suspected something, but the “Rua is lying because she fell for Jinwoo” vibe had weakened.

“I‑I’m serious!”

Riding the momentum, I shouted again, and while they were quiet, I hurried to continue.

“I‑I mean, no matter how you look at it, she doesn’t seem like a boy…”

“Haa…”

Soi let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face.

She didn’t fully accept that Jinwoo was a girl, but maybe she at least believed I was being honest.

“Well, Rua isn’t good at lying anyway.”

Looking a bit tired, Soi plopped down into a chair.

“So you’ve been thinking Jinwoo was a girl this whole time?”

“N‑not from the very beginning.”

“Then?”

“Well…”

Thinking about it, the reason I started believing Jinwoo was a girl wasn’t exactly normal.

“So, um…”

“So?”

Soi’s voice carried suspicion again, so I squeezed my eyes shut and yelled:

“H‑her chest.”

“…Chest?”

Soi, Chae‑yi, and Hyeonji all muttered at the same time.

“I‑I touched her chest before.”

“……”

Cold.

Their gazes turned ice cold.

Hey! You three shove your faces into my chest all the time! You even take turns! You were planning to do it again today!

So why are you looking at me like that just because I touched someone else’s chest!?

Okay, fine, maybe it’s jealousy rather than blame—but that’s unfair too!

“During training! During training!”

My voice kept getting louder every time I tried to explain, making me sound more pathetic, but I shouted anyway because I was desperate.

“I was restraining her, and my ability touched her! That’s how I knew!”

“…But Jinwoo doesn’t have a big chest or anything, right?”

Chae‑yi asked.

“Yeah. He’s delicate, but not enough to make you doubt he’s a boy.”

“Even if you touched something, that alone doesn’t prove he’s a girl.”

Soi agreed, and Hyeonji added a very reasonable point.

True. From the outside, she looks completely flat. And even if there was a little shape, that alone wouldn’t prove anything. There could be many explanations.

…Why am I even thinking this deeply about it?

“B‑bandages.”

So I said it as seriously as I could.

“W‑what I felt wasn’t chest or underwear—it was bandages.”

“Bandages?”

Soi blinked.

She wiped away the remaining tears with her sleeve and fell into thought.

“…Maybe he injured his shoulder?”

Hyeonji suggested.

“I‑if it were her shoulder, she wouldn’t wrap it like that.”

“So… it was wrapped exactly around the chest? Like a tube top?”

“…Yeah.”

The more I talked, the more embarrassed I felt.

Not just embarrassed—guilty.

Jinwoo hasn’t done anything wrong to me. And this “secret” isn’t some huge scandal. It’s just a deeply personal thing.

If she were a villain and exposing her secret was some satisfying justice, that’d be different. But this is just… private.

Was it really okay for me to say this just to protect myself?

That thought finally hit me.

Not just because of the weight of my words—but because Soi, Chae‑yi, and Hyeonji had calmed down.

“Well, he is pretty feminine normally… Like how he always sits with his legs together, even though he’s not wearing a skirt.”

Chae‑yi said.

“And he really likes sweet things.”

Soi added, still thinking.

“…He also said she uses a dorm room alone.”

Hyeonji murmured blankly.

They didn’t look fully convinced, but more like, Oh… now that you mention it…

At least they weren’t treating the bandage story as a lie.

Even though I felt guilty for revealing someone else’s secret, I couldn’t help feeling relieved at their reactions. I felt like a coward.

“…Unicorn.”

After a moment of silence, Hyeonji suddenly said.

“Huh? Unicorn?”

“Yeah. Unicorn. Unicorns don’t care about men. Well, they’re technically monsters, but biologically they’re basically horses, so individual preferences can vary… but generally, unicorns like ‘women with little sexual experience.’”

Hearing it phrased like that made it sound like some perverted creature.

But unicorns are like that.

…And I can’t complain, since I nitpick that kind of thing when reading novels too.

“But during the first class, the unicorn went toward Jinwoo.”

“Huh? Did it?”

“It did. It stuck its horn under Rua’s arm and aimed straight at Jinwoo.”

“…You were watching?”

When I asked, Hyeonji’s face flushed slightly.

Why?

I just meant she was paying attention in class because she’s a model student…

Anyway, thanks to her, we had another piece of evidence. I’d forgotten about that.

“……”

Soi and Chae‑yi fell silent.

And Hyeonji looked dazed.

“So… you’re saying a girl has been living in the boys’ dorm?”

Hyeonji was the first to speak again.

Well, yeah. That’s what it implies.

If the original story really was designed that way, something big would’ve happened already.

But this academy is for the children of heroes.

Even if she’s revealed to be a girl, as long as she doesn’t share a room with anyone, it should be fine.

Even if she did share a room…

“……”

Okay, I can’t be sure. If everyone here were truly righteous because they’re heroes’ kids, then why did that jerk pick a fight with me?

And in the original, plenty of people bullied Jinwoo.

Here, it’s only different because I didn’t bully anyone. In the original, lots of kids were influenced by “Seo Rua’s logic” and bullied Jinwoo.

“Eh, no way.”

Soi waved her hand, looking relieved now that she no longer suspected me.

“You probably misunderstood. Maybe his inner shirt was rolled up.”

“N‑no, I don’t think so.”

Why would a shirt roll up that high unless she did it on purpose?

“Hmm.”

Chae‑yi thought for a moment.

“Then we should just confirm it.”

“…C‑confirm?”

“Yeah. Confirm. Just ask her directly.”

“W‑would that be okay?”

“Well, she’s hiding it, sure… but we’re her friends, right?”

Chae‑yi frowned slightly.

“It’s annoying how she keeps pretending to be a boy and following us from an awkward distance.”

“Yeah, exactly. If she wants to get close, she should just talk to us. It makes it look like we’re bullying her.”

Soi agreed.

“…She does seem way too timid.”

Hyeonji said, glancing at me.

Why she looked at me, I don’t know.

“H‑huh?”

The conversation was going in a direction I didn’t expect, and I panicked.

Soi then declared:

“Okay, then. Tomorrow, we’ll ask her.”

“B‑but what if Jinwoo feels uncomfortable?”

“Uncomfortable? So pretending to be a boy and following us around wasn’t uncomfortable? It’s fine. She won’t mind if we know.”

“R‑really?”

Is that how it works?

“Hmmm.”

Seeing me flustered, Soi leaned on the chair armrest and propped her chin on her hand.

“Why? Are you worried she’ll say no? Is that why you said all that? Because we were suspicious?”

“N‑no, that’s not it.”

But I was a little worried.

She might deny it fiercely, and…

W‑what if…

She’s actually a boy pretending to be a girl?

No, Jinwoo doesn’t seem like the type, but… what if?

What if she approached Soi or Chae‑yi with bad intentions…

…Okay, I know I was 99% sure she was a girl until five minutes ago, but still.

“What do you two think?”

“Best to ask. If she’s not, then she’s not. But Rua still deserves punishment for lying to us.”

“P‑punishment?”

“For trying to avoid suspicion by pretending your friend is a different gender.”

Shouldn’t Jinwoo be the one complaining about that, not you?

But saying that now would get me nowhere.

“Hyeonji, what do you think?”

“We should ask.”

Hyeonji said firmly.

“It’s a big problem if a girl is living in the boys’ dorm.”

Ah. She’s fixated on that.

I figured she would be.

Well, that’s fine, but…

Soi and Chae‑yi’s eyes were… not normal.

No way… they’re not actually planning some kind of punishment, right?

They look almost excited.

…No, that’s just my imagination.

Let’s go with that.

Otherwise it’s scary.

*

So, asking her is fine.

But why did they choose that place—the same corner where Jinwoo was bullied last time?

“H‑hey, g‑guys…?”

Well… judging by how terrified she looks, I guess it’s effective.

But still… isn’t this a bit much, girls?

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Pub: 13 May 2026 06:03 UTC

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