I Hate Him, Really (1)
***
"Ah, umm... umm... Principal, Teacher... th-that's it."
"Yes~ Mr. Aren. Want to come up with some excuse?"
Suddenly, Eira's appearance sent a wave of bone-chilling cold through the room, making Aren's body tremble like a poplar tree.
It wasn't the cold radiating from Eira.
Aren was a top-tier powerhouse, so he had some tolerance for heat and cold. The chill in the room was barely enough to be like turning the AC a notch higher. His trembling wasn't from the cold at all.
It was pure fear.
While I'd call it grand to say "fear," to me it just looked like a kid getting scolded by his parents for messing up.
Aren kept sending me glances begging for help, but what was I supposed to do?
He'd already accepted my apology, and the truth was already known to Eira anyway.
"Mr. Aren~? You were running away like a thief earlier, but now why aren't you saying anything~?"
"U-um, that's—!"
*Thud!*
Eira's hand grabbed Aren's earlobe, pulled him close to her eye level, and smiled as she spoke.
"How about we have a quiet little chat, just the two of us, after a long time?"
"No, no! P-please save me! Principal! E-eek!!"
Aren had been looking at me desperately the whole time, but even if I repeated myself, there was nothing I could do. I just watched him get dragged away by Eira with the most pathetic scream.
"U-uhm. Hey, you kids? From now on, you get half. As long as the students don't cause trouble, it's fine. Just be careful."
"Yes. Understood."
Seong Yu-ra answered with an awkward smile and told me that if I didn't want to participate, I could leave half of it. I said I understood, packed my stuff, and stood up.
"Then let's go, Yuna."
"Ah, yeah. Let's go, Seong."
"Eh? Ah! Speaking of which, you kids. Do you remember the potion I drank earlier?"
Just as Yuna and I were about to leave the infirmary, Seong Yu-ra stopped me and mentioned the potion I'd drunk.
"Ah... yes. The pink recovery potion, right?"
"U-uh-huh."
I answered with disbelief, and Seong Yu-ra asked if I remembered the taste. I forced a slightly furrowed brow, noticing my cheeks had turned a faint pink.
"D-do you remember how it tasted...?"
As expected, Seong Yu-ra asked about the taste of the recovery potion with her own bodily fluids in it. Inside, I cursed that perverted girl out, but I just nodded with a stiff face.
"Yes. It really tasted good."
Because I knew what was in the potion, my face twisted in disgust for a moment. But the pervert was too caught up in the fact that it tasted good to notice my distorted expression.
"Haha, then we'll take our leave."
I grabbed Yuna's hand and hurriedly left the infirmary, not wanting to see that pervert anymore.
Some guys might think that a woman's bodily fluids would make a potion the ultimate reward, but why would the bodily fluids of a woman who isn't mine be called a reward?
I don't consider anyone else's bodily fluids a reward. Especially not when it's a pervert who gets excited by someone else drinking their own fluids.
I'd rather have drunk Yuna's—
*Gulp!*
'That crazy bastard. What the hell is he thinking?'
Lately, I'd been running into too many weirdos, so my own head might be messed up. I bit my tongue hard to snap myself out of it and headed halfway.
"Eh? Ah! Hey! You okay?!"
As I entered halfway, Kim Ha-jin spotted me, jumped in shock, and rushed over to check if I was fine.
"Why so much fuss? I'm fine, so I came, right?"
"But you were bleeding like crazy earlier. Huh? Who are you, exactly?"
"My girlfriend."
"Oh~! Really? Then are you his sister-in-law? Hello. I'm his friend, Kim Ha-jin."
"You didn't even know me until today."
I gave Kim Ha-jin an odd look as he called Yuna his sister-in-law, and asked if he was only meeting me today now. Kim Ha-jin laughed it off, saying why would I care about such things? I couldn't help but smile faintly and agreed.
"Ah, I'm Lee Yuna."
Yuna blushed because the word "sister-in-law" sounded embarrassing and crossed her arms with me while introducing herself to Kim Ha-jin.
"Hey~ How did you end up dating such a beauty? Huh? Got any tips?"
"I don't know. I still don't get why Yuna likes a guy like me."
"What? Did she confess first?"
Kim Ha-jin looked at me with playful jealousy in his eyes and asked about the things I had with Yuna.
The more I looked at him, the more he reminded me of Arthur. I felt a strange sense of closeness and, true to my nature, sat down and started telling him the kind of stories I usually wouldn't.
"Hey! I heard you got hurt. You okay?"
"I'm fine, so I came."
When I sat back down, Yoo Hwa-young there asked if I was okay. I said I was fine and sat down. Yoo Hwa-young leaned over and poked my elbow with hers.
"Hey, hey. I've heard a lot about the nurse being pretty. What do you think?"
"You really say things that make me wonder if you're not a woman but a man. I thought you already knew I wasn't interested in that kind of thing. Why ask me?"
"What's wrong~? I'm curious, that's why. And like me, another pretty woman? No, it's Yuna, right? Shut up."
"It's fortunate that you know so much."
"Only the basics, you bastard."
The bickering between Hwa-young and Seong drew everyone's eyes. Amidst the envious, jealous, and admiring glances, the owner of a pure gaze approached the two of us.
*Thud!*
"Ah! Hey! What are you doing! If you hit someone, you should apologize—"
The one who bumped into me without a word of apology walked away. The person I bumped into turned to look back.
*Whoosh*
The blue eyes of the blue-haired person who was looking back, as if staring at an empty cloudless sky, were unreadable to me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"U-um... umm... nothing, really."
"?"
The sudden drop from arrogant to polite and submissive left the blue-haired person who'd turned around walking away with a puzzled look.
"Hm? Why is that guy...?"
Cheon Seong, sensing the gaze and the tiny emotion from his direction, spotted the approaching student and furrowed his brow.
"Huh? Why are you suddenly acting like that?"
Yoo Hwa-young asked in confusion as Seong suddenly made a face like a wolf growling at its prey. "Huh? Why are you doing that?"
Seong had noticed the gaze and was staring at the blue eyes, completely at a loss. He felt even more curious about Hwa-young's question than anything else.
Those blue eyes that gave no interest or gaze to anyone else, only locking onto him. The tiny joy with the gaze, which no one else would notice, but to me, who knew that guy well, was visible in his excited steps.
"Eh, eh?"
"Why did he suddenly do that?"
"U-um, speaking of which, we were supposed to go to the vending machine. Let's go."
"Y-yeah."
As I got closer, the people ahead of us felt some strange weight and instinctively made way, parting like Moses' miracle. Those unreadable, empty eyes that had been compared so many times in the past timeline and mocked as nothing but nothing.
*Tap.*
The black, dark pupils in front of me looked down at me, similar to my own, but with a clear blue sky in them.
*Shrill!*
His eyes sparkled for a moment, and he reached out with interest in his gaze and said to me.
"You... are interesting."
The student who entered the academy after him, Seol Si-yun, the top student, who had been boring before. His eyes, which were usually empty, narrowed slightly and he smiled at Seong.
"Let's be friends."
The students around Seol Si-yun were shocked, frozen in place as they waited for Seong's answer.
Seong, the one being asked to be friends by Seol Si-yun, answered with a face that was not only furrowed but shattered.
"Get lost. You bastard."
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"Hey, you okay? You just rejected the top student's friend request?"
Seol Si-yun's friend suggestion.
At first, I thought it was just some casual thing, but let me explain it easily.
A friend suggestion from someone who had success guaranteed in every single thing. A friend suggestion from a future superstar who had no friends, the only person who felt genuine interest and offered it.
Can you really call it just a friend suggestion?
There was.
If the person had strong pride, they would have rejected it even if it scratched their pride, but I wasn't in a position to pick and choose. Seol Si-yun, who would kill five Celestials alone in this future where their arrival was being rushed ahead, would be the biggest power for me.
But I'd already thought my pride was gone, so maybe I did have a bit of useless pride left.
Seol Si-yun, looking at me with eyes that seemed to have found a fun toy, felt unpleasant and disgusting.
More than anything, those eyes overlapped with Afinity, the one I'd died with, making it even more disgusting.
Unlike me, who was discarded in every way, the guy was born with everything.
If I wanted to move forward, I'd crawl through a swamp of talent I couldn't overcome, covering my body in mud to go a little further. Seol Si-yun, in contrast, walked with perfect dignity and elegance.
*Quack—*
Unlike my desperate struggle, the back of a guy who walked without a single reaction.
I was trying my hardest to advance a little further, but I couldn't protect him because he had nothing,
So why does that face of yours exist when you have everything?
That's why I...
Hate Seol Si-yun.
I really hate that guy who, despite having everything, envies me for not having everything.