75) Chapter 13. She Says She Wants to Talk to You (2)

Well… somehow, this ended up looking like a delinquent gang cornering a nerd.

But it’s not like I called her here to bully her.

Besides, I don’t have the guts to bully anyone. In my previous life, I was the kind of loser who hid in the corner of the classroom. Honestly, if we’re talking about “relatability,” I relate more to Nam Jinwoo than to Hyeonji, Soi, or Chae‑yi.

Maybe that’s why I picked up that novel in the first place.

A male protagonist who was treated like nothing eventually grows, gets acknowledged, and becomes the center of a harem.

Looking back now though, that wasn’t exactly the case.

…….

Well, whatever the original story was.

Talking to her is fine. It’s fine, but—

“……Why did we come here?”

“Huh? Didn’t you want to say something you couldn’t say in front of others?”

Soi asked.

She tilted her head and smiled brightly like usual, but somehow her face looked terrifying. Why does a pretty smile on a pretty face make my knees shake?

“Right. Maybe Rua has something embarrassing to say.”

No.

It’s not that embarrassing…

…….

Okay, it is embarrassing.

Actually, it’s not just embarrassing—it’s something no one should hear.

Especially not Soi, Chae‑yi, or Hyeonji.

I glanced toward Hyeonji.

She was leaning against the wall a little distance away from us.

We were behind the school building.

Since the school was built by cutting into a mountain, the back side faced the slope. It wasn’t tall enough to be called a mountain, but it was higher than the building, casting a gloomy shadow.

Yes.

This was the place where Nam Jinwoo had been cornered by other kids before.

With Jinwoo pressed against the wall, me standing in front of her, and Soi and Chae‑yi flanking me, it looked like we were blocking her escape.

One side of the building had a small storage shed, leaving barely enough space for one person to squeeze through. The only real exit was where Hyeonji stood leaning against the wall.

This looked exactly like a group dragging a nerd behind the school to extort money.

We were all girls, but numbers matter more than gender. And even if someone is bigger, most people can’t bring themselves to hit someone easily. Just imagining a fight is enough to scare them.

Not that gender matters much in front of Jinwoo anyway.

“……Hey.”

Soi and Chae‑yi’s stares were burning holes in me, so I finally opened my mouth.

I think I understand why this happened. Soi and Chae‑yi are extremely worried about me being alone with a boy.

Even if that “boy” is Nam Jinwoo, they’re still worried.

“Uh, uh?”

“You…”

What should I say?

What I really want to know is Jinwoo’s gender. Not the “boy” she presents as, but her real gender. If she’s actually a boy, I can just keep my distance. If she’s a girl… well, I’ll think about that later.

And I do feel a little guilty. It feels like my existence changed the story and left her isolated.

“……You live in the dorms, right?”

Since I can’t expose her secret in front of these three, I decided to ask something else I was curious about.

“Uh, yeah, but…”

Soi and Chae‑yi tilted their heads.

Well, every student here lives in the dorms unless there’s some special exception. And even those exceptions are just theoretical—everyone in the original lived in the dorms.

“Then… do you share a room with someone?”

Soi and Chae‑yi tilted their heads in opposite directions this time.

Why do they keep doing that?

Their faces were still smiling, but somehow even scarier. Jinwoo had shrunk so much she looked shorter than us. Her neck was bent so far forward I was worried she’d develop a hunchback.

I’d never looked closely at her face before, but she was definitely pretty.

Not “no way she’s a boy” pretty, but “if she wore girls’ clothes, people would get confused” pretty.

Actually, not confused—she’d just look like a short‑haired tomboy. Though her personality would still be timid.

“Uh… no?”

Jinwoo’s face was full of suspicion.

“Then you’re alone?”

“I—I use it alone.”

“How?”

This time I tilted my head, and Jinwoo’s eyes trembled.

“I—I don’t know. I’ve always been alone.”

“……”

So the principal knows.

Of course she would. Even if Jinwoo dresses as a boy, you can’t fake the gender on your ID.

Just like she put me, Soi, and Chae‑yi together, she must’ve arranged Jinwoo’s room to avoid trouble.

“……W‑why?”

“Huh?”

“Is it… bad if I use a room alone?”

Wow.

Look at her.

She still looked timid, but there was a tiny hint of defiance on her face.

“……”

Does she think I’m easy?

No, it’s not that I’m angry at her.

It’s just… my overall impression.

I saved her once. I don’t think it was a big deal, but she saw me beat a delinquent boy who had her pinned.

And no one in our class has beaten me in sparring yet. Next week I’ll face Hyeonji or Soi, so who knows, but so far I’m definitely in the upper ranks.

So why is she only acting like this toward me?

“Ah.”

Right. I grabbed her chest.

So she’s not treating me lightly—she’s genuinely threatened.

She’s scared I’ll expose her secret.

Hmm.

“……”

I stared at Jinwoo, who was glaring at me nervously, and wondered what to say.

Nothing I say in this setup will sound believable.

Then… should I just be nice? Show her I’m not hostile?

I tilted my head, thought for a moment, then asked:

“What are you doing after school today?”

“W‑w‑w‑what!?”

“R‑Rua is…”

Why are you two so shocked?

I’m just talking to her.

Sure, it might look weird since she’s “a boy.”

But don’t high school boys and girls hang out normally?

They did when I was in high school.

“W‑why after school?”

“……Just? You look like you don’t have friends.”

“……”

Jinwoo’s face turned bright red as she failed to deny it.

Her name sounds masculine, but looking at her like this, she really does fit the heroine role more than the protagonist.

Come to think of it, the original never had an illustration of Nam Jinwoo. Just a little emoticon the author added as a courtesy.

Anyway.

Why is it so easy to talk to her?

Maybe I instinctively recognize people who are “safe.” I lived as an easy target for so long that I can tell who I can get along with.

“……We’re going to eat dinner after school. Want to come? You always eat alone in the corner of the cafeteria.”

“I—I like eating alone…”

I understand.

I really understand.

When you get used to being alone for a long time, even someone talking to you during a meal feels annoying.

It was like that at work. There was this older lady who kept trying to pry into my life, and it drove me crazy.

“Hey.”

But Soi reacted immediately to Jinwoo’s answer.

“Rua asked you to eat.”

“Uh, uh?”

Jinwoo, who at least responded to me, turned pale at Soi’s words.

“……”

And Chae‑yi just stared at her silently.

Hmm…

I hope this doesn’t traumatize her.

I glanced at Hyeonji.

She was watching me with a “seriously?” expression.

Like, “Do you really need to make it this dramatic just to invite someone to dinner?”

She could make that face because she knows what I’m actually like.

…But honestly, that’s unfair.

I didn’t make this atmosphere—Soi and Chae‑yi did.

I’ve never been a delinquent in my life. Even if I tried to look scary, how scary could I be?

*
*
*

It was terrifying.

Seo Rua stood in front of her with a blank, unreadable expression, as if she were looking at something insignificant.

Im Soi looked furious no matter what Jinwoo said.

Moon Chae‑yi stared without blinking.

If Rua had been alone, she wouldn’t have been scary. But with those two beside her, it was bone‑chilling.

What were they planning to do today?

She glanced toward Baek Hyeonji, the class rep candidate, but Hyeonji was leaning against the far wall, inspecting her nails, clearly uninterested.

“Hey.”

Hic.

At Soi’s voice, Jinwoo hiccuped.

“Uh, uhh.”

And she ended up answering like that.

“Really? Then let’s meet around six. You haven’t been anywhere except the cafeteria yet, right?”

Rua said with a strangely bright expression.

But because that expression contrasted so sharply with the two girls beside her, Jinwoo couldn’t bring herself to smile back—she only nodded.

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Pub: 15 Apr 2026 07:15 UTC

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