Letting My Guard Down (1)
From that day on.
“Philin. Good morning.”
Just like always, Junhyuk came to pick me up every morning.
“Is there anything you feel like eating today?”
“Not really. Did you have breakfast?”
I eased up a little on my wariness toward Junhyuk.
He looked genuinely startled by my words, hesitated for a moment as if choosing what to say, then answered in a slightly dazed voice.
“Ah, me… I just grabbed something quick?”
“I’ll buy us toast on the way later.”
“It’s fine.”
“I haven’t eaten either, so.”
The faint smile that rose on Junhyuk’s face at that looked a little happy.
As far as I was concerned, I could just live thinking I was making a good friend. Junhyuk would be happy thinking he was gradually repairing his relationship with Philin.
That made it a win-win, right?
“What do you like?”
“Ah, I…”
I caught the bitter look that briefly crossed Junhyuk’s face and immediately understood what he was thinking. Originally, this would have been something he already knew without asking.
But he quickly recovered his smile.
“Two egg toasts, please.”
He placed the order and held out his money.
“It’s okay. I’ll pay.”
I brushed his hand aside in front of the ajumma who was about to take the cash and thrust out my card instead. I didn’t know for sure, but I probably had more money than this guy.
The toast came out quickly. The moment I took a bite, the warm, savory flavor spread through me and lifted my mood.
It hadn’t been any particularly meaningful kindness, but watching Junhyuk chew his toast, I got the sense he didn’t think of it as meaningless either.
And yet that sight…
wasn’t entirely welcome.
I no longer needed to run away from Junhyuk as if fleeing, but getting too close was also a problem.
After all, in this world Junhyuk was nothing more and nothing less than a friend who could help me. But he would think of me as a heroine. I had to carefully manage things so his affection didn’t climb too high.
I needed to keep a proper distance.
“Hwaaaam.”
Today’s lecture was just as drowsy. Trying to study when it was completely against my nature made me restless and hard to endure.
I was cheerfully getting ready to head home when silver-fox Lim Sowon stood at the front of the lecture hall and called out, “Everyone, just a moment!”
What now? With a bored expression I crossed my legs and decided to listen.
“For the midterms, the practical subjects will be replaced by group evaluations. The assessments will be conducted in teams of four to five, so it would be good to secure your members in advance. That’s all!”
The students gave a perfunctory “Yes” and filed out of the classroom. The atmosphere was thick with irritation that their free time had been delayed by a whole minute.
Why bother saying something like that at this timing?
The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
Practicals were already done in groups, so most students would simply take the exam with their current lineup without any change. Looked at that way, “practical subjects will be replaced by group evaluations” was the kind of trivial information that could have been dropped in the group chat without anyone batting an eye.
Had she stood up there burning with a sense of duty as class representative? Unlikely. She had her fox-like side, but Lim Sowon was smart. She would know what was more efficient without anyone having to teach her.
That left only one possibility.
She had wanted to deliver some kind of message under the guise of an announcement.
“Miss Philin. Do you have a moment?”
Sure enough.
With a bright smile, Sowon approached me—the one person who wasn’t already practicing in a group of four or five.
Junhyuk, standing beside me, must have sensed something was off; his expression wasn’t good. He looked like he was about to say something to her, but—
“It’ll probably take about an hour. Want to go ahead?”
I cut him off by asking first. Junhyuk hesitated a moment, then shook his head.
“No. I’ll wait here.”
“Then see you later. I’ll text you.”
I gave a light wave and left the classroom.
“You said you weren’t anything special, yet now you don’t even hide that you’re going around together.”
This time Sowon’s expression wasn’t good. I shrugged and joked.
“Even if we’re not anything special, is there a reason we shouldn’t hang out?”
“Are you going to the mart together again later?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Miss Philin.”
My refusal to back down an inch and my constant needling finally made her face twist as she raised her voice.
At this rate there was neither need nor atmosphere for a proper conversation. I snapped at her, irritation thick in my tone.
“What’s your business? Stop being a pain and just say what you came to say.”
At that she seemed to try to recover her composure a little late, took a couple of deep breaths, and finally spoke the words she had originally intended.
“For the group evaluation this time, I’m joining the team you two are on.”
“Says who?”
“I’m not asking for permission.”
Her attitude was so firm it was brazen; a hollow laugh escaped me.
“Then just do it. Why bother calling me over?”
“Consider it a kind of declaration of war.”
How dramatic. I was about to scoff and brush past her when, suddenly—
Sowon’s eyes held the solemn resolve of a soldier preparing for war, just as her words claimed. Looking at her like that, a certain curiosity rose in me.
Why was she this obsessed? Simply jealousy toward a rival in love?
“Do you like Yeom Junhyuk that much?”
I wondered if I had bothered asking the obvious, but Sowon’s attitude was serious. She nodded heavily, then made another suggestion.
“I’m sorry I got angry earlier. Let’s move somewhere else.”
Since I would have to keep living at this academy, I needed to learn any background I didn’t know.
I nodded.
“…So you’re a mint-chocolate person.”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll drink both.”
“It’s fine.”
Without asking, I ordered two mint drinks as compensation for my precious time and mental damages. Seeing that I had already ordered through the app so she couldn’t even try to change them, Sowon clicked her tongue.
“Maybe I’ll be able to drink it.”
Saying so, she put her lips to the straw and carefully took a sip—
“Ugh…”
The way her face scrunched up brought me a small sense of satisfaction. Now I felt I could listen properly no matter what she said.
Wanting to lift my mood even more, I took a big drink of mint-chocolate latte, let the refreshing taste linger on my lips, and spoke.
“So. What’s so great about Yeom Junhyuk?”
Saying it like that gave me a strange sense of satisfaction, as if I owned him. From this silver fox’s perspective, he must look like little more than a pair of hands and feet—someone who would fetch water if asked and carry her bag anytime.
Sowon let out a heavy sigh, her expression complicated.
And the words that came from her mouth were—
“Originally, Junhyuk and I were much closer.”
A little—no, a lot—unexpected.
It wasn’t empty posturing meant to make me jealous. If anything, the one whose hand trembled slightly around her drink from failing to suppress jealousy was Sowon.
“We’d been close since the start of the semester—no, since orientation…”
In other words.
“You’re saying I stole Yeom Junhyuk? From you?”
“We weren’t dating, so that wording isn’t quite right… but yes, something like that.”
Looking uncomfortable, Sowon switched which leg she had crossed. Her long, pale legs radiated mature allure.
Come to think of it, Sowon was full of a seductive charm hard to believe belonged to a twenty-year-old. Her clear features and the ample chest that strained against her uniform were more than enough sexual appeal for a main heroine.
Compared to her, the only distinctive strength Philin—or rather, I—possessed was one thing.
Having horns.
I briefly wondered if Junhyuk was such an extreme horn fetishist that he had dumped the main heroine to cling to Philin, but that possibility seemed low.
“The moment you appeared, my relationship with Junhyuk suddenly fell apart.”
“…The moment I appeared?”
“He won’t tell me why. He won’t talk to me. He just… feels like a different person.”
A sudden change in relationship that made no common sense. I had a guess.
In some bishoujo dating sims, you need to raise affection with other heroines past a certain level in order to pursue a specific one.
Of course, from the player’s perspective all attention is on that “specific heroine,” so the other heroines’ situations are just necessary quests they don’t care about.
But what about the feelings of that “other heroine” in reality?
Not many girls would calmly accept “Ah, the route changed” after building good feelings and meeting the protagonist, only to watch him suddenly switch to another heroine one day.
Anyway, the relational background of the hidden route I currently belonged to was “the Lim Sowon route was progressing when the Philin route barged in and mixed everything up.”
Sowon had had the protagonist stolen by Philin without even knowing why.
“I see.”
“You talk about it like it’s someone else’s story.”
I didn’t know how to answer her exasperated reaction, but I felt a little wronged myself.
On the other hand, I also felt sorry for her.
Unlike her jealousy, I had zero intention of trying to make things work with Junhyuk.
And strictly speaking, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the hidden route was a “no-romance happy ending.”
After all, at my core… I was a man.
“Join the group. It’s fine.”
“…Really?”
“I told you. We’re really not anything special.”
It must have been a completely unexpected response; Sowon’s expression brightened for a moment, then darkened again with suspicion.
“I appreciate the goodwill, but don’t think that means I completely trust you, Miss Philin.”
So prickly. I took another drink and answered firmly.
“I said you can join the group. Do whatever you want inside it. Isn’t that enough?”
Sowon still seemed unable to trust me, but it didn’t matter.
Until I knew what ending the “hidden route” was aiming for, carelessly making enemies of other characters would be hasty.
From what I’d heard, there was still plenty of room to make Sowon an ally, so I decided to try building friendly relationships.
After finishing the conversation I sent Sowon off first, then contacted Junhyuk. There was no need to poke at his feelings after talking about something like this.
“Yeom Junhyuk. You know that café from before? Come there.”
“Got it. I’ll head over right now.”
His diligent voice. Ever since I learned that his head wasn’t completely filled with the single thought of conquering Philin, dealing with him had become a little easier.
I briefly considered telling him to stay for dinner tonight, but—
“…No, no.”
Meeting at night still needed more observation.
I was absently playing with the hair that had grown long enough to start spilling over my shoulders when I spotted Junhyuk running from a distance.
“Sorry. Did you wait long?”
If a guy with that much stamina was panting this hard, I could easily imagine how desperately he must have rushed.
The image formed in my head and a smile rose unbidden.
Good. Daytime was definitely safe.
“Hah, hah. What did you talk about?”
“The group evaluation this time. Sowon said she wanted to join, so I told her fine.”
He must have been dying of curiosity to ask that before even catching his breath. I took a sip of the drink I hadn’t finished and had packaged to go, smiling inwardly.
But then—
“Why?”
Junhyuk, who had been gasping just moments ago, quickly steadied his breathing.
He straightened up and looked me straight in the eyes as he asked.
Startled by the suddenly cold tone and gaze, I fumbled for words.
“Huh? Just… the two of us alone wouldn’t make a proper group anyway. We need one or two more people, right?”
For an excuse that came out in a rush, it was pretty logical. Junhyuk listened, stared at me blankly for a moment, then—
“Yeah.”
He said that and nodded.