A Delinquent's XX Party

Late afternoon.

After earning the Ambidextrous trophy, one of the empty slots lingering in the detection function had finally been filled.

Challenge Detection randomly displays three challenges with a high likelihood of completion. He set aside his gripe that it couldn't have been a higher-grade trophy and leaned back against the classroom chair.

What the hell is this crap? So boring.

Right as 7th period wrapped up. Maybe because it was prime time to crave heading home, Gemma was listlessly flipping through her textbook, doodling on the faces of great Shangju heroes featured in their tales of glory.

"You need to learn some respect."

I only respect folks I've actually seen before.

"Figures the clutch bag girl would spout some ignorant bullshit and just sit there."

You think I want no shoulder strap? Dad wouldn't let me go to school with one, you premature punk!

"Yeah, baseless slander."

Next time, I'm definitely recording proof...!

"How're you gonna do that?"

Hmm. How should I make you pay?

Gemma smirked, grabbing the cola bottle on the desk and smoothly sliding her hand up and down the neck.

What the hell kind of gesture is that?

"...What'd you do to make your ancestor wanna clock you with a bottle?"

U Hyo-chung's remark shattered the oddly flowing vibe.

Hey, you fucking grandson—manage your shit properly!

The empty bottle Gemma swung nailed U Jeong-guk's afro—twisted in a wry grin—and bounced right back. Insane elasticity on that hair.

U Hyo-chung scratched his head, looking dumbfounded at Gemma suddenly attacking his grandpa.

"Heh heh."

Mun Hee-jeong, sitting next to me, stifled giggles at the sight. It'd only been a few days, but she looked way brighter than our first meeting.

Well, can't blame her—my and U Hyo-chung's looks probably didn't leave a great first impression. Good thing we're at least at the chit-chat stage now. Not asking for bosom buddies or anything.

That said, Mun Hee-jeong seemed to crack up easier than expected. That Billi Jean drip last time was divisive, and U Hyo-chung's tone-deaf comments pissed off more people like Gemma did.

Just a random thought, but it'd be nice if she was easygoing about other stuff too. Like—

Slap!

I smacked my own right cheek with my palm.

Hah, at it again. Lately you've been self-harming a ton, huh?

Ignoring Gemma's snickering question about when I awakened to masochism, I rubbed my stinging cheek hard.

It'd been happening more lately. This tanned blond delinquent body I'd possessed was influencing my mind more than I could ignore—the urges of a pubescent teen rearing up now and then.

Gemma included, Mun Hee-jeong, Shin Sua, even Seol Romi who I hadn't properly talked to yet. Every time I saw a girl, pointless thoughts popped into my head, so these past few days I'd had to slap my own cheeks mid-class several times to shut them down.

"What was that all of a sudden?"

Mun Hee-jeong, oblivious to my plight, asked worriedly in her cautious tone.

"Just... sleepy."

"Hmm. Okay."

Mun Hee-jeong suddenly reached for my inner thigh.

"Ack!"

I reflexively cupped my crotch, but she pinched my thigh first.

"This wake you up?"

She looked up at me innocently. The angle made certain parts stand out way too much.

Ah. Hilarious. What'd you expect?

Gemma poked my hand—frozen awkwardly midair—and snickered.

But weirdly, you react better to her pinching than when I tease you. Right?

"...Shut up."

Gemma's expression turned subtly pouty. I brushed off Mun Hee-jeong's hand—still pinching my thigh with that puzzled look—and faceplanted onto the desk.

"Her?"

"Yeah. Rural quota kid."

That was when it hit. My overly sensitive hearing post-possession caught voices from up front.

"Pretty face and she's already in heat with that delinquent punk."

"Leave 'em. In the sticks, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's all they got to do—mess around with each other."

"Classroom ain't their damn living room."

A guy and girl shooting dirty looks our way like we'd soiled their eyes. Group 2 goons under Yeom Jin-gwan.

Hostility toward Yeom Jin-gwan plus irritation at my crew getting dissed kicked my body into gear.

Thud!

Suddenly my leg was propped hard on the desk.

"Got shit to say? Say it to my face. Half-baked rice cake rejects lighting candles during happy hour."

"What?!"

"Where's a loser punk yelling from? I'll early-adopt your asses into coffins real quick."

Threatening to skip their lives straight to ancestor spirit status, the two nerds huddled and whispered just out of my earshot.

Lol. Delinquent punk's freaking out hard.

I snapped to—every student staring. Like I was a maniac.

"......"

Did it again. This delinquent flesh was slowly corrupting my mind.

I felt ashamed reacting full-throttle to kids' gossip when my phone buzzed.

Reading the chat blanked my mind.

I didn't reply and closed the app.

"...Yeah. Who knows."

I couldn't answer questions about stuff even I didn't know.

* * *

After school, I made a quick request to Yun-ju sunbae and headed to the infirmary. To snag drugs for screwing over Yeom Jin-gwan.

Baek Je-in's relationship rank was currently 2. Bonus was extra meds on request—no skimping there.

Nurse seems to like you.

"Fall for that delusion and embarrass yourself like last time—you taking responsibility?"

Oho. Not falling for it!

I shut up her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cheeky grin by jabbing a spirit-energy finger into Gemma's cheek.

Beep.

Down to the first floor, my phone buzzed. Message from Gong In-myeong—we'd swapped numbers two days back.

Reeked of suspicion. Self-proclaimed loner who hated mingling—what wind blew this way?

He ain't gay, right?

"Don't arbitrarily cut off a fine Confucius lineage."

Come on, what's his reason to hit you up first? What gain's there rubbing with a punk like you?

"Yeah. Makes me wonder what the hell he ate wrong."

Club my ass—a guy with no hobbies beyond rooftop naps and tunes. What ulterior motive for this crap?

Fishy how he's acting buddy-buddy.

"...Ah."

Ancestor bless.

Recalling game memories, I roughly guessed Gong In-myeong's angle.

In the main story, Gong In-myeong helped mend Shin Sua and Seol Romi's frosty dynamic. Not that he saw Shin Sua romantically, but pitied her crumbling social circle from childhood friend fallout—so by endgame, he'd warmed up even the hostile Seol Romi, hitting group outings with the trio.

Guy who rarely got invested in others but loyal—pitying Shin Sua, found her friends, and accidentally fixed his own social life. That was my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠take on Gong In-myeong.

Approaching me this time? Probably same context. Picking me as Shin Sua's buddy meant he didn't see me as total trash.

Sucks doing mismatched work, but I'll play along some. Planned to recruit him soon anyway.

I recalled last sparring training. While others did 1v1s, Gong In-myeong and Seol Romi took intense sessions against Jang Han-nam solo.

Considering Seol Romi's hate-lose-more-than-die vibe, she'd probably drag Gong In-myeong to the training room daily after school.

I searched Seol Romi's ID in the emergency contacts app and fired off a chat.

Right, Gyeongsang-do girl. Dialect in chats for ease.

No reply, but unread count dropped—I knew Seol Romi was moving.

His garbled typos brought a satisfied grin.

Whoa...

"What."

Nah, just... you're inhuman.

"You wanted to smack him too."

True. Hated how he just chills solo.

Imagining Gong In-myeong's pained face, I finished typing.

Last line deliberate for Seol Romi to see. Once Gong In-myeong and Shin Sua joined Map-making Club and improved, curiosity would draw her in.

Building a team I could steer would take effort, but for the happy ending, no choice.

Ignoring Gong In-myeong's desperate plea oozing through the chat, Gemma and I headed into the infirmary where Je-in-ssi waited.