Whose Side Are You On? (7)
“Scared now? You had the guts to call me a slut to my face, but no confidence in your own virginity?”
“D-don’t come closer!”
-Thud!
Chairs stacked beside the shelves toppled over at An Seong-gyeong’s frantic wave as she stumbled back. Like dominoes, they crashed in a chain reaction, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that billowed through the storage room.
“Eek!”
“Don’t run! Fight back!”
An Seong-gyeong ducked into the dust cloud for cover, but in this cramped storage room, no matter how nimbly she dodged, she was soon within my reach.
-Grab.
Wearing her uniform skirt instead of gym clothes made it way harder for her to move. Her skinny, non-athletic arms were no match—they ended up in my grip in no time.
“L-let go!”
“People always obsess over what they lack... or run from it in disgust.”
“What the hell are you talking about...!”
“You were so hell-bent on dragging me down, so prove I’m the slut here. Why run instead? Don’t tell me you lack confidence.”
“...”
The class president choked, unable to respond.
“No way, class prez.”
“...Fine. I’m not a virgin. So what? That precious hymen label of yours... I already tore it off.”
...
“...Hilarious.”
I was crouched in the corner of the storage room, looking down at An Seong-gyeong with her head buried between her knees. My mouth said it was funny, but no real laugh came out. More like a hollow chuckle, a sigh shaped like breath—empty defeat.
“Acting all model student with your study vibes and classroom atmosphere lectures, but you get up to all kinds of shit behind the scenes? Gotta say, I’m impressed.”
“Shut up. It was just once, okay?”
An Seong-gyeong wiped at her reddened eyes—red like the rims of her glasses—and bit her lip. Unlike how she’d sneered at me for supposedly not being pure, surprisingly, she’d climbed the adult stairs before the main heroine, Ban Do-young.
“So, who’d you give that one time to?”
“...”
“C’mon, that’s fair game to ask. Or should I give you a five-minute demo right here? Starting with mine?”
“...Forget it. Must be nice being such a fine virgin.”
She clicked her tongue and turned away. Maybe my clowning around had softened her up a bit. Or maybe she figured she had nothing left to lose. Either way, after a deep sigh, An Seong-gyeong finally spoke.
“...Shim Young-tae sunbae. That senior.”
“...Who’s that?”
“The soccer club captain you dated for three days back in middle school.”
Yeah, and who the hell is that, you otaku?
“What? Why’re you acting like you don’t know? Don’t tell me you actually don’t remember?”
It was no issue with Do Ha-min, who didn’t know past Ban Do-young at all. But conversations with Sa-hyung, Hye-rang, or Dad—people who did know her—sometimes derailed like this. I’d possessed Ban Do-young’s body and vaguely inherited her talents, but not her memories. Our memory overlaps just didn’t match.
An Seong-gyeong was the same. Not besties like Sa-hyung and Hye-rang, but we’d gone to the same school, so she knew Ban Do-young’s history.
“Oh... kinda short? Wore glasses? Kinda wavy hair?”
“That’s Do Ha-min’s description.”
“Oh, right.”
“Sigh... You really don’t remember. Fine, to you, Young-tae sunbae’s just some guy. But he was my crush all through middle school.”
Her voice faded like a dying candle flame, shrinking inward—shame and embarrassment from the past, but those feelings had been real, so she couldn’t deny them outright. The lingering regrets spilled from her lips in trembling sighs.
“When I heard you two broke up, I thought... maybe I had a chance. With me.”
“What, ’cause our boobs are the same size?”
“...I’m being serious, so listen properly.”
“Sure thing, slutty prez.”
“Ugh...!”
She’d hidden it like some lifelong secret, but now An Seong-gyeong was demanding my full attention instead.
“Young-tae sunbae said he liked quiet, modest girls. You got tons of confessions from guys and were super popular, so obviously not his type. I had zero guy experience back then, so I figured he’d like me. We’d sneak off and meet in here, just like this...”
“I see. So you called him here like you did Do Ha-min and played pure lovebirds.”
“What’s ‘pure lovebirds’?”
Bulsago Middle and High were run by the same foundation, so they shared the gym building for PE. The storage rooms were identical too. An Seong-gyeong had always been class president in middle school too—everyone took it for granted, so she won elections easily. Grabbing the storage key would’ve been a breeze, just like today. And the soccer captain? No one would bat an eye at him coming and going from the gym.
The ‘class president’ position, made to enforce school rules smoothly, ironically gave her free access to the ultimate ‘room you can’t leave till you do it.’
“Thought you were born just to salute and stand at attention. Who knew our slutty prez had this backstory?”
“Ugh! I’m not a slut! I told you, just once!”
“Zero and one ain’t the same.”
“Fine, good for you, you virgin Mary bitch!”
Official virgin certification from the class prez herself. Main heroines really are something else.
“So why only once with your crush sunbae?”
“...He dumped me.”
She dropped her head again, anger at me fizzling out.
“Right after our first time, he said my boobs were like yours so he did it, but he couldn’t date me. Said he couldn’t picture it looking at my face.”
“...”
“I liked him so much... I really thought we could be together. That I could replace you, Ban Do-young... I believed it.”
An Seong-gyeong buried her face, trying to look away from the painful memory. But scars like that don’t fade from your eyes—they etch into your mind, stain your heart. You can’t dodge by averting your gaze.
“In the end, I couldn’t replace you for him. Just a fun detour, nothing more or less. Exactly like that Do Ha-min you drag around... right?”
“Watch your mouth, bitch.”
“...Huh?”
-Slap!
I swung my right hand at her left cheek. Ban Do-young’s delicate hand might be small, but as the dojo owner’s daughter, it packed a punch. Her cheek flushed bright red almost instantly.
“Don’t whine about a little slap—you started this.”
“...”
An Seong-gyeong touched her swollen cheek, staring up at me in a daze.
“Look, I don’t give a shit if you call me a slut or whatever. Doesn’t matter if I hooked up with some guy in the past or jumped on his dick.”
“...”
“But dragging Do Ha-min to empty gym storage, abandoned club rooms, or that H-cup nurse’s office in her tight corset and garter belt? That I won’t tolerate.”
“W-what are you even saying?”
“Stay the hell away from Do Ha-min.”
Thanks to binging all those pure love stories, I handled this emergency fast. Almost got dangerous there. Even if I guarded Ban Do-young’s virginity to the death, if Do Ha-min lost his to some other girl, Half Half Island’s perfect ending would slip away. And my chances of returning to my original world? Toast.
“One more time you lure him to a ‘can’t-leave-till-you-do-it’ room like this? All-ages rating be damned—I’ll call an emergency bullying committee. Got it?”
“Got... I get it.”
“You really get it?”
“I said yes. I just didn’t want him turned into your plaything like me... If that’s not what you’re doing, I won’t interfere anymore.”
“Good. That’s all I needed.”
I helped An Seong-gyeong up from where she’d collapsed on the floor and brushed the dust off her uniform skirt.
“So now you and I are back on the same team, right, prez?”
“...Same team?”
“Yeah, same team.”
“...”
“Oi, answer properly, slut.”
“Ugh! I told you, just once!”
“Kyahahaha!”
Her punches, swung with a scowl, stung a bit, but compared to her verbal jabs, the sting faded fast.
...
“Oh, perfect timing—they’re here.”
As An Seong-gyeong and I stepped out of the storage room, Sa-hyung, Hye-rang, and Do Ha-min were waiting by the door.
“You two sort it out okay?”
“Yup, cleared up all the misunderstandings, no grudges left. Right, prez?”
“...Yeah. I admit I was wrong. Sorry. For calling you a slut.”
“Y-you guys just talked, right? No violence or anything?”
Do Ha-min eyed An Seong-gyeong’s swollen red cheek worriedly as she meekly followed along. But thanks to our fresh promise, she hesitated to answer him.
“W-why no answer?”
“...Sorry. Can’t talk to you right now, Ha-min.”
“Huh? What do you mean, prez...?”
“Anyway, that’s how it is. Let’s go—PE’s almost over.”
“Sigh, too bad about that badminton bet for a drink. Was gonna score some Zero Lime from Satan’s minions.”
“...Well, as long as you two worked it out.”
Five minutes till third period ended and assembly time, so we headed out of the gym toward the center of the field.
“Hey! Heads up—the ball’s coming!”
-Whoosh!
That’s when it happened. A soccer ball charged straight at us standing by the gym door.
“Huh?”
“Danger! Duck!”
“Huh?”
Do Ha-min shoved me and Sa-hyung’s backs, leaning our upper bodies away. I felt the wind from the ball whizzing over our backs.
“Guh!”
-Thud!
The ball from the field smashed Do Ha-min’s face and glasses, flattening him on the gym floor.
“Hey... nerd!”
“Your nose... blood!”
“Eek! You okay, Ha-minnie?”
“Ugh...”
Thank god he was conscious, but he couldn’t speak. Dark red blood streamed from under his philtrum, dripping past his lips.
“Yo, first-years! Can you kick the ball back?”
Spotting our blue gym uniforms, a guy in a red second-year uniform waved as he approached. Same PE period, so upperclassmen using the field.
“Oh? Ban Do-young? Knew you’d make it to Bulsago High!”
“...Y-Young-tae sunbae.”
“That asshole?”
The tanned, tall, handsome guy who’d brazenly KO’d one of us without a sorry or anything, just demanding his ball back. Shim Young-tae sunbae, the soccer captain who’d deflowered An Seong-gyeong.
“Oh, Seong-gyeong’s here too. Anyway, Do-young, great to see you! Makes me so happy running into you here. Did you come to Bulsago to see me again? I’d be thrilled.”
“...Hey, prez.”
“Huh?”
“I told you earlier what happens if you mess with Do Ha-min.”
“...Huh.”
-Boom!
The ball that downed Do Ha-min bounced right to my feet. Without a second’s hesitation, I curved a kick straight back where it came from.
“Gah!”
“You okay, Shim Young-tae sunbae?!”
-Splat!
The spinning ball nailed the soccer captain right in the crotch.
“Fireball! You fucking bitch.”