Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Picnic
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"Damn... damn it... What kind of picnic is this...!"
Sweat pouring down her face, Chaeyeon grumbled as she climbed the mountain.
"Huff... haa... Exactly..."
Mijin, climbing right beside her, agreed with Chaeyeon's words.
"But we can't help it. They won't let us skip unless there's a real reason."
Eunbi, looking far more composed compared to the two of them, gave a wry smile as she spoke.
This time of year always brought the school picnic, one of the annual events.
It was called a picnic, but climbing a steep mountain that no one ever tackled otherwise made it pure hell for the kids.
"Short break!"
A gentle slope with a wide open area finally appeared, and that's when the call for a short break came from up ahead.
"Ughhh."
"Haaah."
The long-awaited break finally arrived, and Chaeyeon and Mijin collapsed onto the hard, dirt-covered ground without a care for how filthy it was.
"Maybe... I should make them exercise more?"
Na-young watched them from the side, seriously pondering.
She couldn't understand how they were dying like this from just this much, and her mind was filled with thoughts of pushing them even harder.
"What... why?"
Chaeyeon was chugging water with a pitiful look in her eyes. Feeling my gaze, she suddenly felt an inexplicable unease.
Then, with a sly, mischievous face.
"Wallet. Want some?"
She grinned and seductively licked the rim of the water bottle.
Not stopping there, she brushed the sweat-soaked strands of hair clinging to her neck behind her ear, exposing her pale, glistening nape.
It was utterly unlike something a girl our age would do.
A reasonable suspicion crept in—maybe she had regressed like me.
Her body might be young, but her mind seemed like that of a full-grown auntie.
Anyway,
"Guh...!"
"!!!!!"
They were so stunning that they drew the stares of all the boys around us, whether we wanted it or not.
They were just panting from exhaustion, but there was some inexplicable allure that caught everyone's eyes.
And when Chaeyeon acted like that, the boys swallowed hard.
"I'm good."
"You really don't want any?"
"I said no."
"Heehee. What a waste."
Chaeyeon's pranks were getting bolder by the day.
At some point, it was impossible to tell if she was joking or seriously trying to seduce me.
It seemed to ramp up even more after Heera noona got prettier. Was it just my imagination?
"Alright. Let's head out again."
"Aww..."
"I wanna rest more."
The call to resume brought nothing but complaints from everyone.
But what could we do? If they say go, we go.
The kids stood up listlessly.
A few nearly collapsed, their legs giving out.
"Just a little further. Just a bit more. We're almost at the summit. We'll eat our lunches there, okay?"
"Yeeesss..."
Even the promise of lunch to fill their hungry stomachs didn't spark any enthusiasm. Their responses were weak.
Still, the mountain climb couldn't be stopped.
"Ugh... Wallet... carry meee..."
Chaeyeon clung to my back, pleading.
I exercised regularly, so I wasn't too tired, but the heat was unavoidable.
Our bodies were already generating plenty of heat, and with her stuck to me, the tolerable hike turned grueling, the intense swelter tormenting me.
"Get off. It's hot."
"Nooo... no way... carry me... carry meee..."
No, seriously, why was this kid acting like this?
And Na-young wasn't even trying to stop her girlfriend from clinging to her boyfriend—she just watched us with a satisfied look.
Honestly, Na-young's beauty wasn't normal, and neither was her mindset.
I had no idea what she was thinking, casually accepting my harem from the start without me even needing to convince her.
"Ughh. Me too. Carry me."
Suddenly, even Mijin latched on, tormenting me.
"Hey, come on. It's hot!"
"Carry meee!"
"I'm dyinggg!"
No matter how much I yelled at them to get off, the two refused to budge.
With no choice, I somehow reached the summit with the two leeches attached to me.
We made it, but.
"Why are you using my thighs as pillows?"
I was sitting with my legs stretched out in exhaustion when Chaeyeon and Mijin sneaked up like ghosts.
Each claimed one of my legs and laid their heads on them.
No, I could understand if it was Na-young, or if I didn't have a girlfriend, but why were these two doing this?
Did they actually like me?
They were Na-young's first friends, so poking at it might ruin not just things with them, but with Na-young too. I decided not to stir things up.
So I kept it at classmate friends. Nothing more.
'Would those two actually develop feelings for a guy like me?'
'Without me doing anything?'
'Me, who isn't even that handsome?'
'No way...'
I knew myself best.
Even with Na-young, boasting absurd beauty, as my girlfriend, it was unlikely for Chaeyeon and Mijin—pretty in their own right, though not quite at her level—to take interest in me.
So I shoved aside those pipe-dream thoughts and spoke to the two still pillowed on my thighs.
"I'm tired too. Get off."
I shook my legs, but they held on stubbornly.
"Wallet... are you telling cute girls like us to lay our heads on the dirty ground?"
"Lies... no way."
Chaeyeon looked utterly incredulous, while Mijin was aghast.
"Sigh... you have bags. Use those."
"Eek...! Wallet! Are you saying we should use our precious bags?!"
"Lies...! Lies!"
Aah. My head suddenly hurt.
"Aren't my legs precious? And I'm taken, you know?"
I sighed as I said it.
Chaeyeon beamed as if she'd been waiting for those words.
"Na-young."
"Yeah? What?"
"Lend me your boyfriend's legs."
"Ji-hoon's legs?"
Na-young glanced at me.
"Yeah. Sure. Go ahead."
She nodded with a bright smile.
Damn it.
This was bad.
"Heehee. Wallet. Your owner Na-young approved. So it's okay to use them, right?"
"......"
If they weren't so damn pretty, I'd have punched them regardless of gender.
Na-young's nice friends turned evil only toward me, and it was all my fault for catching the eye of these troublemakers.
On top of that, the jealous glares from the boys—burning holes because I hung out with Na-young and the three next-most beautiful girls in school—were piercing.
I wanted friends too.
Real ones to overcome tough times with through friendship. But I was too flawed for that.
Not just Na-young, but my vibe with the three girls went beyond simple friendship.
To others, it looked like I'd built a harem. To the boys, I wasn't just the enemy of women—I was like North Korea right before mandatory enlistment.
Even I wouldn't want to befriend a guy cozying up to such pretty girls.
Any who approached would have ulterior motives, using me as a stepping stone to those four.
So I still had no guy friends.
Sigh.
In contrast.
"Girls."
"Yeah... what...?"
"Lunchtime."
"Oh...! Got it. Thanks!"
Chaeyeon and the girls had tons of friends.
"Hum hum. Lunch~ lunch~"
Chaeyeon jumped up and rummaged through her bag for the lunch to fill her starving belly.
"Ji-hoon. Your lunch!"
Na-young beamed and handed me a lunchbox.
"Thanks."
"No problem~"
I took the lunchbox and carefully opened the lid.
Na-young watched me tensely.
For reference, she'd bought ingredients last night when they told us to bring lunches for the picnic, woken up early this morning, and made this for me herself.
"Oh... looks delicious."
It was a pretty standard lunch setup.
But knowing Na-young had gone out to buy ingredients and gotten up early for me made it look tastier than any other.
"Really...?!"
Na-young smiled radiantly.
"Whoa... insane."
Chaeyeon, who had pulled out her own lunch and was ready to eat, stared blankly at Na-young and muttered.
Ignoring her, I picked up a piece of rolled omelet and popped it in my mouth.
"How is it...?"
"Delicious."
"Heehee!"
Honestly, the taste was average too, but right now, it beat any five-star hotel buffet.
"Here. Try this too!"
Na-young picked up a sausage from her lunch and brought it to my mouth.
"Mm. This is good too."
"Really?! Really really?!"
"For real."
"Heehee! Then this?"
"Oh. This is good too. But... Na-young. Aren't you eating?"
Our lunches were identical in form and contents.
She could just eat from hers, but Na-young kept picking from her own to feed me.
"Yeah, I will. But first, try this!"
She said she'd eat, but fed me another side dish.
Na-young, who loved food, was acting like this, so she must be in an exceptionally good mood. I decided to let her be.
I let her, but when she'd fed me nearly half, I started feeding her in return.
In the end, here we were at the school picnic, sweetly feeding each other like a couple.
"So jealous..."
Chaeyeon, who had been watching us, muttered with a bitter smile. She and Mijin had a strange jealousy on their faces.
Oddly, that jealousy seemed directed not at me, but at Na-young. What was that about?