137) Chapter 20. Because I Hate Villains! (6)

“……”

“Heh, hehe.”

“……”

Hyeonji said nothing. Jinwoo just kept laughing awkwardly.

And I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to say to the two of them.

Come to think of it, until now, I really hadn’t done anything unless someone else talked to me first.

Maybe it was because Soi and Chae-yi were always beside me, energetically talking to me from both sides even if I stayed quiet.

“U-um, Rua.”

“Yeah?”

“Th-that guy over there gave this earlier.”

What she held out toward me as she said that was a canned coffee.

“I already drank one.”

“O-oh, I see.”

Jinwoo answered in a strangely deflated voice.

What? Should I have just accepted it and drunk it?

“N-no, um, it has caffeine in it. If you drink too much, you can’t sleep and stuff.”

“Yeah.”

Only after I added that awkward excuse did Jinwoo smile again.

What’s going on?

“U-um, I maxed out my game level yesterday.”

“Oh…… really?”

Actually, I’d been steadily playing too, in my own way, and sometimes Soi and Chae-yi and I casually talked about it in passing.

But we’d almost never seriously talked about games like this. Maybe it would’ve been different with Jihye or Mirae, who I still contacted occasionally these days.

“And also, lately I started watching dramas.”

She mentioned the title of a trending drama being streamed on an OTT service.

I actually hadn’t watched it.

To be honest, I usually don’t really watch works with “real people” in them. It’s mostly comics or animation for me. It’s not like I deliberately avoid live-action dramas or movies, but somehow it just turned out that way.

“I see. Sounds fun. Maybe I’ll watch it later too.”

“Oh, okay. Then I won’t spoil the ending.”

……I really feel like I have to watch this now. Somehow, if it comes up again later and I still don’t know it, it feels like Jinwoo will be incredibly disappointed.

But huh.

“……Have we ever actually talked like this on our own before?”

“U-uh, p-probably not?”

If you really thought about it, we had talked one-on-one before.

But those conversations were usually about Jinwoo’s personal circumstances. We’d barely ever talked about things I liked or things Jinwoo liked.

I knew what Soi liked and disliked. We’d already spent a long time together. If I said I didn’t know, that would practically be betrayal.

The same went for Chae-yi.

But somehow, despite having known them for three months already, there was still so much I didn’t know about the Jinwoo and Hyeonji sitting beside me.

……No, wait. Wasn’t this actually normal? I mean, there are plenty of cases where someone’s been friends with a person since high school and still never once seen their parents’ faces. Maybe the strange thing was that we’d already learned far too much about each other in just three months.

“……Are things okay lately in the dorms?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, nothing’s happening? Nobody’s picking fights with you or bullying you or anything?”

I don’t know if it was just my imagination, or if I noticed it more because I knew Jinwoo was actually a girl.

But lately, Jinwoo’s atmosphere had started to feel more “feminine.”

Not in some sexist way, but, you know, appearance-wise.

It went beyond just the difference between “pretty” and “handsome.” Somehow her waist looked slimmer, and below that seemed unusually emphasized.

Her chest was still completely flat unlike when she wore girls’ clothes, probably because she was still wrapping it with bandages.

I just thought things could get troublesome in a lot of ways if the other dorm kids noticed.

“No? Th-there’s nobody like that.”

Jinwoo tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression, then smiled softly.

“Are you worried about me?”

“Of course I’m worried.”

I let out a light sigh as I answered.

“No, it’s okay. I barely talk to the other kids anyway. Once I go back, I mostly just sleep…….”

“…….”

No, the way she said that so lonely-like just made me feel guilty for no reason. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

Still, was it my imagination that the “I mostly just sleep” part sounded especially lonely?

“You.”

“Hweh.”

A voice suddenly came from my left, making me flinch.

When I slowly turned my head, Hyeonji was looking at me.

“You talk just fine in front of her.”

“Uh, uh?”

Was she paying attention to that?

Since she usually barely talked, I thought she didn’t really care about things like that.

“Uh, um, well.”

I glanced toward Jinwoo.

Come to think of it, yeah.

Honestly, I was aware of it too. That I didn’t stutter when talking to Jinwoo.

But it wasn’t because I treated Jinwoo specially or anything. It was just because Jinwoo felt easy to deal with.

If someone asked me who I was closest to in my heart, it would still be Soi and Chae-yi.

But even so, I couldn’t exactly proudly say, “It’s because you’re easy.”

“U-uh, so.”

I quickly scanned Jinwoo up and down before blurting out,

“B-because you’re smaller than me? And you feel cute?”

“…….”

At those words, Hyeonji fell silent.

And Jinwoo went quiet too. When I looked back, her face was bright red.

No, what the hell did I just say?

Did anyone nearby hear that? I hurriedly glanced around everywhere, but it didn’t seem like anyone had.

Ugh, no matter what, that was way too dangerous of a thing to say to “someone crossdressing as a boy”—

“…….”

I suddenly felt a prickling sensation and turned my gaze elsewhere.

Soi and Chae-yi were glaring at me.

Both of them were still working. Maybe because they barely used their abilities? How did Hyeonji manage it? Did she freeze the floor and slide things around or something?

I stood up.

“W-wanna go get some air for a bit?”

Yeah. Running away first was the answer.

Sure, even if I ran away I’d probably still be in huge trouble later, but just sitting here waiting to be devoured didn’t sound great either.

As I quickly started walking away, Hyeonji and Jinwoo hurried after me.

*

“Now that I think about it again.”

Hyeonji, who had regained her composure while we moved away, spoke up.

“You were like that even before you knew her height.”

No, seriously, she’s persistent.

“U-uh, w-was I?”

“You were.”

Hyeonji’s eyes stared directly at me.

“U-uh, but why?”

“……What do you mean, why?”

“I-I mean, the thing about me not stuttering when talking to Jinwoo. Why did you ask about that?”

Ah, maybe phrasing it like this made it sound too confrontational.

But Hyeonji didn’t look offended.

Rather, after hearing me, she tilted her head slightly and sank into serious thought.

“……Maybe because I’m jealous?”

“……Jealous?”

Of what?

But before I could ask that, Hyeonji spoke first.

“No.”

“No?”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think that’s it.”

“You don’t think so? What isn’t?”

“I mean, I don’t think I’m really jealous.”

“Hehe.”

For some reason, Jinwoo scratched the back of her head and laughed shyly at Hyeonji’s words, which only made me more confused.

No, so what’s the point here? She’s jealous that I don’t stutter in front of Jinwoo? Hyeonji doesn’t stutter in front of anyone. If anything, sometimes she’s overly confident.

“……Right. Now I’m curious too.”

“Hweh!?”

Soi’s voice startled me so badly I nearly jumped.

No, when did she get here!?

When I turned around, a wave of heat hit me.

She flew over!

She flew over the moment she finished working!

“S-Soi?”

“See? You stutter like this even in front of me.”

Soi spoke with an expression like something was bubbling and boiling inside her.

“But Jinwoo is small and cute, so you don’t stutter in front of her?”

“Hehe.”

Jinwoo laughed in a voice that somehow sounded like, “You flatter me,” and it made my temper flare up. Couldn’t she read the room a little?

“N-no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Hm~ I see. So Rua doesn’t think I’m particularly cute, huh? Well, I am too tall. I should’ve been smaller than Rua.”

“N-no, it’s not that, Soi is cool just the way she is.”

“……Cool?”

And strangely enough, Soi froze at that single sentence.

“Huh? Yeah? Right?”

When I answered like it was obvious, Soi’s face turned a little red.

Huh.

“H-hm~ really?”

“W-what about it?”

“What part of me is cool?”

“Huh? U-um, your attitude? Your looks? The way you take care of me?”

But for some reason, after my last answer, Soi suddenly looked overwhelmingly confident, and I immediately regretted saying that last part.

“Hm~ is that so?”

I jumped again at Chae-yi’s voice.

When I turned around, Chae-yi was there wiping sweat from her forehead.

Looks like she ran over the moment she finished working too.

“Then what do you think about me?”

“Ch-Chae-yi is pretty, right?”

“Pretty?”

Even Chae-yi, who had been questioning me almost accusingly, blushed at my answer.

No, what is wrong with these girls today all of a sudden?

I was standing there confused without properly understanding the situation when Chae-yi asked,

“Where? What part?”

“U-um, your face and hair? And your attitude?”

“Hm~ I see?”

Chae-yi smiled like she was incredibly pleased and unnecessarily covered her face with her hands.

“…….”

And somehow, the atmosphere suddenly felt icy cold.

“Hhk.”

Creak—forcing my stiffened neck to turn, I looked behind me and saw Hyeonji staring at me intently.

But why was it?

She wasn’t exactly glaring, and yet somehow it felt like she was.

“U-um.”

I was trying to think of what I should say to Hyeonji when suddenly a smell brushed past my nose.

“Huh?”

Without realizing it, I sniffed at the smell.

“Something burning?”

I muttered.

No, of course there’d be a burning smell nearby since this was a fire scene.

But this smell was different from the one lingering earlier. It was a thick, acrid smell carrying fresh heat.

But before I could even judge the situation, someone was already shouting from far away.

“Fire!”

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Pub: 24 May 2026 08:09 UTC

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