The Gyaru Junior, Choi Su-yeon

Did Lee Yu-ri really not know that I lived alone?

No, she definitely knew.

I had told her myself last week, and she was the one who submitted a formal request to discuss it as an agenda item during the faculty meeting.

But did that mean I was some upright, model student?

Of course not.

I, Han Seong-jin, was a notorious first-rate delinquent not just at Jinsu High Education Academy but across the entire area. I was attached to every filthy rumor imaginable involving women.

I'd cleaned up my act now, but the truth was that a huge chunk of those rumors had been completely accurate. I used to be that promiscuous.

In other words, I was nothing like those dense, impotent male leads you find in typical rom-coms. Definitely not like that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bastard Gong Yeong-bae.

So when a guy like me said a girl could come over to his place while he lived alone, did she even understand what that implied?

"R-right, got it...! I'll head in first!"

Lee Yu-ri blurted out the words, then immediately looked embarrassed by her own reaction. She hurried back toward her own apartment. I watched her go, let out a small snort of laughter, then walked past her building toward mine.

The apartment complex where Yu-ri lived was the kind of place where respectable middle-class families stayed. My neighborhood, on the other hand, was a little further out on the outskirts—a straight-up slum.

Rows of multi-family houses lined the streets. The hygiene here was so bad that the whole area reeked of something like piss. Garbage bags were piled up in front of the houses like miniature mountains.

Collection day made it slightly better, but right before pickup—like now—it was absolute hell.

Rats occasionally scurried across the street, and once night fell, the yowling of stray cats digging through the trash became so common it barely registered anymore.

This was the neighborhood I called home.

I walked into the most rundown-looking multi-family house in the whole filthy area.

There wasn't even a basic door lock. I stuck the key into the old-fashioned metal door and turned it. The moment it opened, an incredibly dirty and messy room was revealed.

The box by the entrance used for collecting trash was overflowing with more than a dozen convenience store lunch box plastics.

There was no bed. Instead, a mattress lay directly on the floor, still rumpled exactly as I'd left it when I woke up that morning.

Clothes that had never been put away were scattered everywhere, forming little piles. The only other things in the room were an old, barely functional computer and a guitar leaning in the corner.

I was twenty years old—an adult—but in this world I was still a student at the High Education Academy. Yet the place I lived in looked less like a student's room and more like the apartment of some fresh graduate who'd just started living on his own.

The fact that it was even this clean was because I'd been working hard to organize it. When I first took over, it had been ten times worse.

The original Han Seong-jin had spent far more nights sleeping somewhere other than this house...

"Guess I need to make this place look like an actual human lives here before Yu-ri comes over."

I dropped my bag and grumbled to myself as I started cleaning again.

The house wasn't even that big, but there was no end to the mess. No matter how much I cleaned, more trash kept appearing. Just scraping off the mold and grime that had built up in every corner looked like it would take days.

I roughly filled my stomach with a convenience store lunch box, then turned on some YouTube music and started scrubbing the bathroom like my life depended on it.

One hour... Two hours...

The bathroom that had practically been a cockroach breeding ground was, after several days of backbreaking labor, finally starting to resemble somewhere a person could actually use. My arms were sore and sweat poured off me like rain.

No matter how fit and strong a young man I was, hard work was still hard work.

"Ugh, I'm thirsty."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my collar and opened the fridge, only to curse.

"Ah, fuck."

There was no water.

Since there wasn't a water purifier in the house either, I muttered more curses under my breath, grabbed my check card, and headed to the nearby convenience store. I bought two big bottles of water.

"That'll be 6,600 won."

Beep! Transaction completed.

Along with the familiar electronic sound, my phone vibrated.

When I checked the text message that arrived, I couldn't help but sigh.

Only about 160,000 won left in my account.

Yesterday had been rent day, so I still had a month until the next payment, but at this rate I wasn't even sure I'd make it that far.

'I need to find a part-time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠job right away.'

After cutting ties with his parents, the original Han Seong-jin hadn't gone through a real estate agency. He'd simply called the number on a crappy flyer that said "Room for Rent" stuck to a utility pole, made a direct contract with the landlord, and lived here ever since.

Even though he couldn't expect any help from his parents, he'd managed to survive without working a single part-time job. That was because he'd been living off the money his gang extorted from people and the "tributes" he collected after beating up delinquents from other schools.

But I had put a stop to all that trashy behavior. I had no intention of making money that way.

Naturally, what followed was financial hardship.

The reason I only ate convenience store lunch boxes wasn't just because I couldn't cook. Living expenses played a big part in it too.

But even that had reached its limit.

After returning home, refilling the water, and finishing the bathroom cleaning, I went back to that same convenience store and asked the clerk at the counter.

"Excuse me, I have a question."

"Uh... yes?"

The male clerk, who looked a bit too old to be a regular part-timer, flinched the moment he saw my face.

"I saw a 'Help Wanted' sign when I came in earlier. Have you already filled the position?"

"Ah, you're looking for a job."

Only then did the clerk's expression relax a little.

"No, we haven't found anyone yet... Have you ever worked at a convenience store before?"

"Yes, I have. I'll adapt faster than you might think."

That was only half true.

It wasn't Han Seong-jin who had the experience—it was the person I used to be before the fusion.

"But are you really okay with it? I'm the manager here, and this neighborhood is... well, you know."

"It's in rough shape, right? Lots of minors trying to buy cigarettes or alcohol, and plenty of punks who come in to cause trouble."

"Huh? How did you..."

How did I know? Easy.

Up until last year, this had been the store Han Seong-jin and his gang visited most often when they wanted to force minors to buy them cigarettes.

The neighborhood was bad and public safety was nonexistent. When a whole pack of delinquents including Han Seong-jin came swarming in, there was no way the staff would see the area as anything but dangerous.

Of course, I couldn't exactly tell him I used to be the leader of that pack, so I gave a vague answer.

"I live around here. I've seen all kinds of weirdos coming and going, so I have a pretty good idea."

"...And you still want to work here? All sorts of kids come through. Most part-timers don't even last two months before they quit. That's why we're looking for someone who'll stay long-term..."

"Don't worry. I can guarantee that nothing like that will happen while I'm on shift. And even if it does, I'll take care of it. So could you please let me work here?"

At my earnest request, the manager had me wait while he called the store owner.

He repeated "Yes, yes" several times during the conversation, then hung up and came back over to me.

"Well then, when would you be able to start?"

"The sooner the better."

"Ah, then are you free right now? There's a part-timer on the afternoon shift, but she's in the bathroom at the moment. Normally two people work the afternoon, but one quit... If you're willing, we can start your training today."

"But I haven't filled out any paperwork yet, and I don't have a health certificate."

"Don't worry about that. If you're starting, the owner will come in tomorrow and we'll get the contract done immediately. Just bring the health certificate as soon as you get it issued."

They were willing to hire me without a contract or health certificate. They must have been really desperate for help.

If they were planning to pull any shady stuff with the contract, I already knew how to handle it, so I accepted the job without much concern.

The manager immediately explained my hourly wage and working hours. While he was doing that, the afternoon-shift part-timer who'd gone to the bathroom came back.

"Manager, I'm back... Huh? Who's this next to you?"

"Ah, say hello. This is the new afternoon-shift worker. This young lady here will be working the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠afternoon shift with you from now on."

When I turned around, an incredibly beautiful girl was standing there.

......

......

Her hair was dyed the same blonde as mine and tied in a ponytail. Unlike me, she had lightly tanned skin.

Her makeup was quite heavy, and she wore a ton of accessories on one arm, giving her a very flashy look. She was the very definition of a gyaru stereotype.

On top of that, she had breasts just as enormous as Lee Yu-ri's. Her figure was the kind that would draw any man's eyes straight to her chest.

I knew this girl.

"Choi Su-yeon?"

She was a junior one year below me at Jinsu High Education Academy, a gyaru from the second-year delinquent crowd, and—just like the other heroines—one of the girls who had been stolen from the original protagonist through netorare. Her name was Choi Su-yeon.

"Seong-jin sunbae?!"

And it seemed Choi Su-yeon knew me too.