The Rival Appears
"Alright. This should be good enough. Let's head out now. I'll clean up, so you fill out the infirmary visit pass."
In truth, her nosebleed had stopped a while ago, but she'd lost quite a bit of blood, so she might still feel dizzy. That's why I'd stayed to watch over her, but at this point she looked perfectly fine.
"Y-yeah... Thanks."
"No big deal. It'd feel wrong making a sick person clean up. Especially since I'm the reason you're sick in the first place."
The ice pack could be refrozen, and the towel was half mine anyway, so there wasn't much to tidy. Even though I'd only been sitting on it, I fluffed up the slightly wrinkled blanket. The fabric, faintly warmed by body heat, felt strangely intimate. Wait, what the hell was I even thinking? Gender reversal or not, puberty was still puberty. My mind kept drifting toward perfectly healthy thoughts.
"Okay, shall we go then? It's a shame I didn't get to see the nurse. Did she step out to the bathroom? Too bad."
It was unfortunate I didn't get to see my friend the nurse, but it wasn't a serious injury. I'd just mention it next time. Whatever.
When we left the infirmary, the hallway was deserted. Everyone was still in class, so there wasn't a soul around. Walking together down the empty corridor made me feel like the protagonists of the world or something.
Ah, I was but a small canary on the stage called life.
...But it was still class time. No time to dawdle. We had to hurry.
"Come on, we're in the middle of class right now. We need to get back fast."
Given her timid personality and petite build compared to mine, her walking speed was slow. Man, this was frustrating. Seriously!
I grabbed her hand and pulled her along. After a short jog, we soon arrived in front of the classroom door.
"Huff! Huff! I... can't... breathe...!"
Sheesh, making such a fuss over that little run.
"You're such a weakling."
"I-I'm already breathing through my mouth, and I was a little dizzy, then running... ugh...!"
"Ah... right. Sorry. I really am sorry. I should've just carried you."
We couldn't stand in front of the classroom chatting forever, so I opened the door and stepped inside. Our seats were at the very back, but in situations like this it was best to enter through the front.
Sliiide—. In an instant, the quiet classroom erupted into noise as if someone had flipped a switch. It was our homeroom teacher's period. He was about 173 centimeters tall with average height. Put him through a gender-reversal filter and he'd be a gentle, angelic female teacher... which meant without the filter he was simply an angelic male teacher.
He looked at me with concern, then rapped the attendance book against the lectern.
"Siwoo, I heard. You helped Daseul when she suddenly got hurt. Did you come from the infirmary?"
"Yessir. The nurse wasn't there so I didn't get a pass, but I'll submit the nosebleed from earlier as court evidence."
"Haha, not guilty! Kang Siwoo and Im Daseul, take your seats. Everyone else, quiet down! Let's continue class."
After we returned to our seats, a strange heat radiated from the desk beside me throughout the entire lesson. Daseul would either stare blankly into space while holding her pen or glance at me, let out a little "Eek!" and bury her head on the desk. She was definitely designing our honeymoon home in her head or something.
Her reactions are seriously jackpot.
I stole glances at her and chuckled to myself. As a military-discharged otaku social butterfly, watching these pure reactions was more entertaining than any gacha game.
I'd occasionally lean slightly toward her to savor the effect, and each time she'd shiver and plant her face on the desk.
Ding-dong-dang-dong—. At last, the lunch bell I'd been waiting for rang.
Normally the Kang Siwoo of this world would already be leading the sports club girls or the popular crowd to the cafeteria, but today was different.
"Hey, Siwoo! They say today's lunch is stir-fried pork. Let's go quick!"
A female student from the physical education club who usually hung out with me, her short haircut suiting her perfectly, tapped my shoulder. Her touch was bold, and she clearly assumed I'd be joining them without question.
But instead of grabbing my bag, I turned to Daseul, who was hunched in her seat and watching the situation nervously.
"Sorry, but I have a prior engagement today."
"Prior engagement? With who?"
"Who else? My desk mate."
I tapped Daseul's desk.
"Daseul, let's go eat."
"...Eh?"
Daseul's eyes widened in disbelief. The atmosphere in the classroom froze instantly. The sports-club girl stared at me with her mouth agape, and the other students began whispering, "For real? Kang Siwoo with Im Daseul?"
"G-going... together? With me?"
"Yeah. We decided to start 'training' from today, didn't we? Eating is an excellent form of training too."
I extended my index finger and placed it above my smiling lips. Somehow every little gesture like this just came naturally.
I gently took the wrist of the flustered Daseul and helped her up. The moment my fingers touched her wrist, she trembled as if she'd received an electric shock.
All the way to the cafeteria the stares were piercing. To exaggerate slightly, it felt like every student in the cafeteria had their eyes glued to the two of us. Normally people wouldn't pay attention to others, especially hungry students. But the combination of the school's most popular platinum-blonde flashy Yankee guy and the gloomy girl who hid her face behind her hair was something else. It wasn't exactly a gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast, but this unusual pairing naturally drew everyone's attention whether they meant to or not.
"U-um... Siwoo. Everyone's staring..."
As soon as we sat down with our trays, Daseul spoke in a voice that seemed to crawl into itself. She looked like she might suffocate from all the blatant stares; the hand holding her spoon was trembling.
The girls around us openly gossiped. "No way, why is Siwoo with a girl like that?" "Is he being blackmailed or something?"
"Let them stare. They're just jealous I'm eating with such a handsome guy."
Then I flashed a bright smile at the frozen Daseul.
"What, is the food not going down? Want to practice this too? Should I feed you? Say 'ah~'."
"...!"
In the end Daseul started scarfing her food so fast it was hard to tell if she was eating with her mouth or inhaling through her nose. She clearly looked like she might get indigestion, but once caught in my pace it seemed she had no option to refuse.
I casually added some stir-fried pork to her tray and enjoyed this peaceful yet chaotic lunch.
"Whew... That was good. Right, Daseul?"
Right after we returned our trays, Daseul leaned against the wall with a look like half her soul had left her body.
"S-Siwoo... I really feel like I'm going to die..."
"Aww, don't be so dramatic. I told you eating is training too. Now, let's go for a palate cleanser. What do you usually do after lunch?"
To my question, Daseul adjusted her hood and answered in a tiny voice.
"I just... go to the library. It's quiet there..."
"The library? Oh, you're surprisingly studious. Nice, I'll tag along."
"...Eh?"
"What, can't a Yankee read books? I'm actually a pretty intellectual guy, you know."
Honestly the library wasn't even in my memories. The fact that nothing came to mind even when I tried meant I either never knew or had completely forgotten it. As expected, the relationship between a Yankee and a library was like a desert and a polar fox.
"Alright, lead the way to the library!"
"O-okay..."
Unlike the classroom or cafeteria, the library maintained its unique silence even in this gender-reversed world. The faint scent of paper and old wooden desks. As soon as Daseul stepped inside, her shoulders relaxed as if she'd been relieved of a burden.
"This place... is only visited by people like me, so no one pays much attention."
Daseul carefully guided me to a corner. A sunlit window seat. But someone was already sitting there.
"Ah, Daseul. You're here?"
The kid organizing books looked up and smiled sweetly.
For a moment I doubted my eyes. Fair skin, large sparkling eyes, and soft hair falling to the shoulders. Above all, a small and delicate frame that instinctively triggered protective feelings. Anyone would agree that the nickname "Angel of the Library" suited this beautiful girl perfectly.
"T-this is my friend Wooju. My fellow otaku friend...!"
Her eyes were filled with pure admiration and affection. Certainly, just looking at her now, it was easy to see why. Honestly even I thought she looked like a fairy sitting by the sunlit window.
For Daseul, who usually feared people, to react so unguardedly. From her perspective this must be a true friend who shared her taste for quiet corners and got along with her perfectly.
But.
...Wait a second.
The radar in my brain started blaring alarms. The intuition of a full-term discharged Korean army sergeant, plus the instinctive "man's sense" of this gender-reversed world, were both screaming. That guy is male.
The slightly thick finger joints, the very subtle protrusion of the Adam's apple, and so on. One could dismiss it if one wanted, but instinct spoke louder. Definitely a guy.
"Hmm? Daseul, who's next to you...?"
That kid—Wooju—looked at me and tilted his head. The neutral voice was clear and lovely, not husky at all.
"Ah, this is my desk mate Kang Siwoo. Siwoo, this is Wooju. My... friend."
Wooju stared at me for a moment, then gave a pretty smile and extended his hand.
"Hello, Siwoo? Nice to meet you. I'm Han Wooju. I've heard a lot about you from Daseul. She was really happy about getting a desk mate."
"...Really? You weren't badmouthing me or anything, right?"
"N-no, of course not...?"
As expected, the palm felt a bit firm for a girl's. Just as I thought.
Daseul sat next to Wooju and, unlike her usual self, started chatting energetically. "Wooju, the book you lent me last time was really interesting!" She clearly believed without a doubt that he was a "cool friend" with perfectly matching tastes.
Watching the two of them, I scratched the back of my neck.
A boy who was more girlish than the girls in a gender-reversed world. And my (future) toy, Daseul, was completely smitten, eyes sparkling at him.
An unexpected love rival has appeared.
A friend who shared the same hobbies was a threatening enough rival.
I stroked Daseul's head and grinned at Wooju.
"Wooju, right? Thanks for being friends with our Daseul. It'd be great if we could get along too!"
Well, that was that. It was good to make friends, right?