First Meeting (1)
Scritch, scritch!
Thud—!
I nudged the wood chip that had fallen to the floor with the tip of my shoe.
“…Already thirty minutes, huh.”
I lifted my head and looked straight ahead. The red light of the setting sun spilled through the windows, wrapping around the empty desks of the classroom in a soft, dreamlike glow.
I took a short break to appreciate the surreal scenery, then once again set the carving knife in my hand to work with focused intensity.
Scritch— thud!
What I was carefully refining long after school had ended was a wooden owl figurine, perched on a thick branch with its wings half-folded.
“Hoo…”
I held my breath for a moment, pouring every ounce of concentration into the tip of the blade to bring out the fine grain of the feathers.
How long had I been absorbed in the pursuit of creating a perfect piece?
Suddenly I felt someone’s gaze right beside me. The moment I registered that I wasn’t alone, a familiar scent of shampoo brushed past the tip of my nose.
So I kept my head fixed on the owl carving and only shifted my eyes slightly to the side to check.
There, as always, was a familiar face.
Chin resting on her hand, she was staring straight at me with a bright, beaming smile.
It was Choi Sua, a third-year senior and one of the most well-known figures at our school.
“Hey~ Our Hanyoung High’s very own Swordmaster, Kim Sihun. Still hard at sword practice today?”
Sua-senpai casually pulled out the chair right next to me and sat down, tossing out the joke. The way she playfully swung an invisible sword through the air with her fingers and laughed was more eye-catching than the sunset outside the window.
The “sword practice” she was referring to was, of course, my wood carving. Apparently my hands moved a little too fast, leaving afterimages every time I carved. My friends had jokingly slapped the grandiose nickname “Swordmaster” on me, and Senpai seemed to love it enough to use it every single time.
“It’s not swordsmanship—it’s sculpting. You can’t just flip people’s professions around like pancakes.”
My blunt reply didn’t faze her in the slightest. Instead she hummed a cheerful little tune under her breath. Then she glanced back and forth between the owl figurine on the desk and the carving knife in my hand, narrowing her eyes.
“So when are you going to make my sculpture? I’m looking forward to it so much~”
Her voice, dripping with completely baseless assumptions, tickled my ear. If I’d been some ordinary clueless student, I probably would’ve fallen head over heels already and been busy raising great-grandkids by now.
I blew the sawdust off the blade and answered flatly.
“You’ll have to make time first, Senpai. I can’t finish it from imagination alone—I need to look at you while I work. But you keep saying you’re busy and putting it off.”
At my answer she stretched both arms out to the sides and leaned back against the chair as if she might tip over.
“Aaaah, I want to model for you as soon as possible too. But I’ve still got three more commercials to shoot~”
She let out an exaggerated sigh, and her long legs, stretching out from under her school uniform skirt, kicked idly through the air as if she were swimming. Watching her, I half-unconsciously let my mind drift.
Even in a school uniform, her exceptional proportions and striking features couldn’t be hidden. That face poured out of the TV every time you turned it on—cosmetics, clothing, you name it—so her complaints weren’t empty boasting. I’d heard her Instagram followers already topped 600,000… how much was she raking in a month?
Anyway, this was a world where a girl actually took an interest in a loner who preferred to play by himself. Right—this wasn’t reality. It was a typical Japanese-style light novel rom-com that had been given a Korean patch.
The original male protagonist was around here somewhere, along with the heroines who got tangled up with him and their flashy setups, all living and breathing just fine. There was no reason for someone with ordinary looks and an ordinary build like me to force my way into that noisy main stream. I’d grasped reality and my place in it early on.
So since I’d been given another life in a Korean-setting world, I simply wanted to quietly chase the dream of becoming a sculptor that I’d had to abandon in my previous life when I slammed into the harsh walls of reality. Creating new works with my own hands felt far better than becoming someone’s savior or saving the world with some grand destiny.
And yet Choi Sua—who wasn’t an original heroine but had been more popular than most of the main ones as a supporting character—kept showing up after school every day to claim the seat next to me in the empty classroom.
I carefully refined the owl’s eyes with the carving knife as I spoke again.
“Once you’ve finished shooting all three commercials, I’ll carve it for you then. So head home for today. Isn’t your manager waiting desperately outside the school gate?”
“Aww, Sihun always tries to chase me away even though I came all this way to sit next to him. So cold, seriously.”
Sua-senpai pouted and flopped forward onto the desk. Then she began staring intently at the carving knife dancing at my fingertips. Her face drew close without the slightest hesitation, hovering at a dangerously near distance.
“I’m gonna watch a little longer before I go. Watching you use that knife somehow heals my heart. It really feels like magical swordsmanship.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Of course it’s a compliment! Is that why they call you Swordmaster?”
“I’m telling you I’m not a Swordmaster.”
Outside the window the red sun was completely sinking behind the mountains. In the classroom where the light was fading, only the space around Sua-senpai still felt as bright as if a fluorescent light had been left on.
I started to say something, then let out a small cough at the scenery that involuntarily stole my breath, and fixed my gaze back on the tip of the blade.
“…Anyway, watch as much as you like, but please don’t tell your manager you were late because of me.”
“Of course not~ My manager already knows I bother you a ton!”
“Glad you at least know you’re being a bother.”
“Right? I’m a bit of a… wait, hang on—what did that mean?”
Choi Sua, who had been about to take it as praise and feel good, suddenly realized there was another meaning buried in the words. Instead of answering further I simply sank back into my own world.
“Hey! What did you mean by that? Did I actually bother you? Did I?!”
Beside me her noisy voice demanding an explanation showed no sign of quieting down… but that was fine. From the moment I focused on a piece, nothing could shake me.
Instead, because I concentrated so completely on myself, I found myself recalling, without meaning to, the moment things had ended up like this.
Time rewound a little.
Back to right after I had realized the true nature of this world and safely finished my first year.
After spending my entire first year keeping my head down in case something went wrong, the first day of the new semester in second year—when the main story would properly begin—dawned.
I stopped in front of the back door of the classroom right by the central staircase, then looked up to check the nameplate.
Class 4, Year 2.
If it was predictable, it was predictable—a twist of fate. This place was basically a minefield where the original true protagonist, Lee Hyunwoo, had been assigned along with no fewer than two main heroines all at once.
Just imagining all the misunderstandings, mix-ups, and chaotic rom-com noise that would unfold here made a sigh slip out on its own.
“Hoo… Even though this is already the thirteenth time I’ve walked into a classroom on the first day of a new semester, I still can’t get used to it.”
I muttered quietly and was about to grab the sliding door handle when suddenly someone’s firm arm hooked around the back of my neck and pulled me into a shoulder hug.
“Well, well, look who it is. Our Hanyoung High Swordmaster, Kim Sihun!”
A very cheerful, high-toned voice. I didn’t even need to turn my head to know who it was instantly.
Tall, with a neat yet somehow free-spirited charm flowing from him—this world’s true male lead, Lee Hyunwoo.
This guy’s another twist of fate. I deliberately kept my distance in first year because I didn’t want to get involved.
Somehow he’d ended up casually helping me with my clay work in the art room one day, and from then on we’d become unnecessarily close. The male lead’s trademark meddlesomeness and social magnetism had easily punched through the shallow defenses I’d put up.
“Don’t call me by that nickname. And get your arm off.”
“Aww, why so cold on the first day of the new semester? Do you even know how happy I was when I saw the class assignment list?”
Lee Hyunwoo didn’t even pretend to listen to my blunt reaction and just grinned even brighter. Other girls from different classes who were passing by paused mid-step at the sight of his smile. Truly befitting a guy with the original work’s officially broken good looks and social skills.
Of course, that was that, and I still tried to pry his arm off somehow—but instead he tightened his grip on my shoulder and flung the sliding door wide open.
Rattle—!
With a noisy sound the entire scene of Class 4, Year 2 came into view at once. The classroom, still filled with the characteristic first-day restlessness and unfamiliar air, shifted ever so slightly the moment Hyunwoo appeared.
“What are you hesitating outside for? Let’s get in already!”
Lee Hyunwoo patted my back firmly and shoved me into the classroom. Instantly I could feel the countless gazes inside concentrating on us—or more precisely, on the protagonist standing next to me. Mixed in among those gazes would of course be the stares of the main heroines who would form the core of this story.
…Damn it, already twisted from the start.
I’d just wanted to quietly knead some clay in a corner seat, but right from the opening I’d gotten swept up in the male lead’s entrance effect.
Lee Hyunwoo quickly scanned the back of the classroom and pointed to the most secluded window seats.
“Oh, two empty seats over there. Long time no see—wanna be desk partners?”
“You’re seriously… Don’t make me swear.”
“Haha, just kidding, just kidding~ More importantly, you’ve gotten even pricklier over break.”
“Because you keep spouting nonsense every chance you get.”
“I only do it because your reactions are funny, so don’t worry.”
He spoke as if he’d finished teasing and strode ahead first. As I followed behind him and we were about halfway through the classroom, I suddenly felt a sharp prickle and turned my head without thinking.
Where my gaze landed, a girl was sitting with her chin in her hand, looking out the window. Long black hair covered her shoulders, and her indifferent eyes remained calm as if completely unbothered by the surrounding noise.
…Whoa, what? She’s ridiculously pretty.
With that level of looks and presence she had to be one of the original main heroines. She looked somewhat familiar too. But I couldn’t quite remember exactly who she was.
Anyway, while I was briefly lost in thought and about to turn my head again to find a seat—
Ah, our eyes met.
But I didn’t panic. I’d already imagined this kind of situation countless times and prepared for it. Faster and more naturally than anyone, I immediately averted my gaze and hurried my steps to follow Lee Hyunwoo.
Don’t get involved. All I need is my sculpting tools and some clay.
After that I set my bag down at the rearmost window seat he’d chosen. He plopped into the seat right next to me and pulled out not a textbook but some magazine from his bag.
“Oh right. Did you finish all those wooden dolls you were carving over break? You said you’d work with oil clay next once those were done.”
“Yeah. Finished them.”
I opened my bag zipper and instead of a pencil case pulled out an old tin case, shoving it deep into the desk drawer. Inside were a loop tool and wire cutter I’d keep sharp during free periods today, plus a small sponge that still held a bit of moisture.
Hyunwoo leaned over with interest, eyeing the tin case I’d pushed into the drawer.
“Let me tag along next time you go to the art room. Watching you spin the turntable and work the clay is kinda fun, you know.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just watch for the homeroom teacher to come in.”
When I turned my head toward the window, Hyunwoo gave a short laugh and straightened his posture.
A spring breeze slipped through the gap in the window and brushed my cheek.
In the middle of a classroom swarming with a noisy male lead and dangerous heroines, my goal from the moment of possession until now had been only one:
To erase my presence as much as possible like air until the day I graduated, and protect the peace of everyday life in this treacherous rom-com world together with the sculpting tools in my bag.