I Don't Need Someone Like You
I Don't Need Someone Like You
"Hey~ aren't you going to take your corn? Here."
Cheon Hae-won pushed Hu-deok-i's teeth, which had fallen on the floor, down the stairs.
He even stepped on a few, crushing them...
"... My blazer."
"Ah, no wonder there were two. My bad?"
"Forget it. I have plenty in the closet."
I looked around to find it but couldn't, so I wondered where it went; it seems he used mine when he tied up and threw Dae-du.
Even though it's stained with blood, it's black so it won't be very noticeable, but if it spreads to the shirt underneath, I'll end up ruining two pieces of clothing.
My side chest is a bit exposed, but I have to endure it, what else can I do?
I tilted my head up to look at Cheon Hae-won.
I have a lot to ask, but I need to say what I have to say first.
"Um... I don't know how you knew, but thanks for the help."
"Not really? I didn't come to save you, you know? Just because you're Isha's friend doesn't mean you're mine. You were being noisy while I was smoking, so I got annoyed and cleared you out, so don't worry about it."
"O-oh, is that so..."
Cheon Hae-won shrugged and chuckled.
A moment later, he took a small, square pack, a little smaller than his palm, out of his dress shirt's chest pocket.
Ah.
Was he really here just to smoke that?
Cheon Hae-won shook the cigarette pack slightly, pulled one out, and put it in his mouth.
"Want a drag? It's not tobacco, it's Mana Herb, so it's good for your body."
"Dried weeds are all cigarettes, what are you... put that away, I don't smoke."
"True, is it a bit too early for a brat like you?"
"Who's a brat?!"
The hopeless height difference. Even though I customized him, the fact that he's over a head taller makes it uncomfortable to look up.
The words "Before I possessed this body, I was pretty tall too, even if not as much as you" rose to my throat, but I barely managed to swallow them back down.
Even if I said, 'I came from another world, and you're a game character!', he wouldn't understand and would just think I'm a crazy bitch.
Cheon Hae-won, who was fiddling with a lighter he took out of his pocket, asked.
"You're always stuck to Isha, so were you alone?"
"Just... I was looking around the Academy and it just happened. Why, are you worried about her?"
"... As if."
Cheon Hae-won slightly avoids my eyes.
I was going to make up an excuse because saying I looked for you to ask about Aisha would make the atmosphere weird, but I didn't expect him to throw the bait first.
He's not the type to answer if asked directly, so I decided to probe a little.
"For someone who says that, you were acting like you hated her a lot earlier."
"What?"
Hiccup.
"I-I just thought it looked like that..."
Uh... surely I won't get my teeth pulled out too, right?
Shak-! I leaned against the wall and hid both hands behind my back.
"... What do you mean 'acting' like I hate her. I really do hate her."
"You don't hate Aisha, do you?"
At the time of their first meeting. Cheon Hae-won said to Aisha, 'Why are you here', and 'I thought I'd never see you again'.
He even pointed out her hair that had turned cherry-blossom pink.
At the time, I was too emotional and angry to notice, but looking back, for something said to someone you hate...
'It's... a bit kind.'
If it were a relationship where he didn't even want to see their face, wouldn't he have said 'get lost' or 'I never want to see you again'?
It's just a guess, but it strangely bothered me that a guy who pulls teeth and breaks fingers without hesitation suppressed his anger and left the scene.
"What are you trying to say, brat."
Cheon Hae-won narrowed the distance, bracing his arm against the wall above my head.
He flicked away the unlit cigarette and stuck his foot between my legs to keep me from moving.
In an instant, I was well and truly trapped.
'Damn... did I provoke him too much?'
"I'd like you to have a talk with Aisha."
"Who are you? Isn't that a bit too nosy for a friend?"
Never mind that if you don't rehabilitate, we'll hit a bad ending; above all, I need to survive.
The fastest way to make him act nice was to use his childhood friend Aisha, but... it seems I was too hasty.
Let's just make up a decent excuse for now.
"Because I don't want to see someone looking sad."
"... Yeah, that's a cool thought. But did you not think about what I might demand in exchange for granting your request?"
I felt Cheon Hae-won's uniform brush against my thigh, and then he pressed completely against me.
As he put pressure on his knee touching my lower abdomen, I felt like an insect pinned by tweezers.
Beyond the uncomfortable feeling, I couldn't escape.
"Augh..."
"If I said I'd sleep with you instead of talking, would you offer your body? You wouldn't, right? Coming into a pathetic place like this, what, do you feel like you've become a real hero? There are no heroes in this world, brat. There are no heroes, and there are no humans worth protecting anymore."
"That kind of value isn't something you or I can decide, you idiot."
People are things that can change in tens of thousands of ways.
Even if they meet an evil person and get tainted, if you embrace and wait for them with the bond of love, people will eventually live up to your expectations.
Yuwi-jeonbyeon (all things are impermanent), was it? I don't know where the word came from, but it was one of the things the orphanage director used to say until my ears wore out.
Cheon Hae-won let out a bitter laugh as if he was dumbfounded.
"You're not even a monk, yet you know a lot......... Hmm?"
"I'm secretly quite smart. So, don't beat around the bush. Are you willing to talk now?"
"..........................."
.....................
...............
.........
"... Hey, Cheon Hae-won. Are you listening to me?"
It was cringey, but it was a pretty cool line, so I thought he might have been touched and moved at first.
Even so, it feels like I've waited too long, why is there no answer?
Feeling something was off as the pressure on my lower abdomen weakened, I looked up.
"......... Keck?!"
I was grabbed by the throat.
My feet, lifted off the ground, couldn't reach it even when I stretched and stood on tiptoes.
I was lifted so high that the height difference with Cheon Hae-won was only about a head's length.
"Hey, what is this, suddenly...!"
Cheon Hae-won glared at me, flicking my twitching nose tip.
An attitude clearly different from the sarcasm or condescension from just a moment ago.
A cold, anger-filled voice without a hint of playfulness.
Gulp.
The saliva I tried to swallow flowed back and dripped from the corner of my mouth.
"Let go. I said, let go...!"
"Why do you smell like that bastard."
"Who, who are you talking about..."
Tighten-
Cheon Hae-won's solid, thick forearm slowly tightened its grip.
He didn't seem to have any intention of explaining what he was talking about, nor listening to me, so I struggled with all my arms and legs.
But even though I punched his ribs and kicked his shirt until it was covered in footprints, Cheon Hae-won didn't budge in the slightest.
"Kwon Do-ah, what kind of woman are you?"
A scent he hates.
It's highly likely that Cheon Hae-won's attitude changed because of the body odor wafting from me.
That's why I couldn't understand it even more.
It's not just that I don't know what kind of smell it is, but it's so different from the reaction of the trash who were burying their noses in my hair just a few minutes ago.
'... Resident of the Magi Zone.'
Is it related to Kwon Do-ah's background, who is called a Sewer Rat?
It would be one thing if there was a setting where Magi turns people into Magic Beasts.
But the very fact that Kwon Do-ah is a cadet at Utopia Academy, which protects humanity from those two things, doesn't make sense.
If it's not my background...
'I don't know, fuck.'
I don't know.
I'm racking my brain to death and I don't know why he's like this, so what do you want me to do?
"Are you acting like you don't know, or are you holding out?"
Thud-
My body, which had been pulled forward, was slammed back into the wall.
"Kack, ugh, kkk...?!"
My vision is out of focus.
Is it because my head was struck? I felt nauseous because my vision was scattered into three or four.
It hurts.
It's painfulstopitgetoffletmegoIcan'tbreathestopitpleaseletmegoI'mdyingIcan'tbreatheDon'tdoitI'mdizzyI'mdyingI'mgoingtodieeverythinginfrontofmeisshiningandsparklingmyheadisgoingemptywhyareyoudoingthis.
It was then, as my consciousness faded and my hands and feet trembled.
"........................... Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."
"Haa...!"
As Cheon Hae-won let go, my body fell helplessly through the air.
Splat!
I collapsed forward, barely gasping for air, when nausea, which had been blocked around my chest from being choked, began to rise violently.
"Wuek... ugh, waaak...!"
Since I hadn't eaten anything, I only vomited up a lot of stomach acid.
My face, which couldn't be lifted from the floor, my lips, the bridge of my nose, my forehead, and my uniform were all covered in vomit.
Even so, because of the tears that came out reflexively, my throat was choked up, and I was going crazy.
In my eyes, which I barely managed to lift up, I could only see Cheon Hae-won's shoes.
He didn't say anything, didn't move, and just stood in front of me.
Unable to stand it anymore, I spat out profanity first.
My mouth was sticky all over, so my pronunciation was slurred.
"What are you uup... what are you doing. You son of a bitch...!"
"Sorry, you smelled like that guy, so I wondered if it was him, but I guess I guessed wrong."
You almost killed someone by going off the handle, and you say sorry?
Kwon Do-ah.
Me.
I, fuck.
I have to rehabilitate a piece of shit like this?
Isn't that too much?
"... I guess it's not you. Are you okay, brat? You're still alive, right?"
The very idea that I had to rehabilitate this guy was just a delusion I thought up on my own.
The premise was wrong from the start.
There's no need for that.
I don't need someone like you.
I don't need a protagonist.
I'll survive on my own, so you can live your whole life enjoying how great you are.
"...... off."
"I don't have many, but it's called a Senzu Bean, a miracle drug that heals you instantly if you eat it, I'll give you one specially. Can you eat it—"
"Get lost. I said get lost."
I shook off Cheon Hae-won's hand and stood up on my own.
My stomach hurts.
My solar plexus, which was punched by the Circle guy, is throbbing, and my choked neck feels numb, as if Cheon Hae-won's traces were left behind, the handprint still stinging.
If he won't get lost, I'll be the one to get lost.
"Aisha is too good for someone like you."
I left Cheon Hae-won standing there like a totem pole and went down the stairs.
Why he tried to distance himself from Aisha, I don't want to know anymore.
Who cares.
Let's wash my face first.
The uniform... it'll get wet, but if I soak it in water once, it won't show, right?