Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Remember. You're a Man. Got it?
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Ja-an dragged a chair over from my room.
I sat obediently on it.
"Can I use just one towel from the bathroom?"
"Yeah. That's fine."
A towel draped over my shoulders.
I pulled a pair of scissors from my pocket.
"...Why are scissors coming out of your pocket?"
"I didn't give my dorm number to anyone. Thought you might be an intruder."
"Sorry... I should've let you know ahead of time."
"It's fine. I didn't really mind."
I replied to Ja-an's apology like it was no big deal.
He gripped the scissors and snipped lightly at the air a few times.
Snip, snip.
The blades were sharply honed, producing a satisfying sound.
"I'm starting. Don't move."
"Got it."
I felt a presence behind my back.
Soon, large hands began grabbing sections of my hair.
"How short?"
"Just... not poking my eyes, but not too short or it'll look weird."
"Hm, shoulder-length?"
"Yeah. That sounds good."
Snip.
Hair was cut.
The severed strands tumbled to the floor.
They looked like pale green skeins of yarn.
Snip, snip.
It was a little scary.
The last time I'd let someone else touch my hair was at the salon with my mom.
She'd used me as an excuse to go chat with her friend, the salon owner.
She'd never spent money on me.
Neither Mom nor Dad had.
They say you end up resembling what you hate, right down to the smallest details—like mirror images.
After that, I'd always taken care of my own hair.
I hadn't touched it since coming to this world—too hectic—but I'd planned to cut it myself anyway.
Handing it over to Ja-an now was just an impulsive decision.
...Hng.
His fingertips occasionally brushed my nape or the edge of my ear.
A chill ran down my spine.
I couldn't tell if it was goosebumps or just ticklish.
An unfamiliar sensation.
To shake it off, I opened my mouth.
"You're cutting it well."
"No mirror—how do you know?"
"You look skilled."
"I cut hair often on the front lines."
"This good from the start?"
"Nah, first time it looked like rats had gnawed it. Got chewed out a lot."
There are people in the world who yell at volunteers?
My head throbbed.
Ja-an chuckled softly.
"Injured comrades struggle with washing up or hair care. Long hair gets matted with blood—bad for hygiene."
"......"
"So I practiced cutting it short and neat. It made them feel a bit better."
His matter-of-fact tone carried the weight of a heavy past.
My own history felt insignificant.
Just getting knocked around a little by my parents and calling it lifelong trauma—nothing like his.
Orphaned from birth, yet he lived for saving others.
Willingly diving into hell.
And repeating it endlessly.
A past the game never revealed.
'Maybe he's an even better guy than I thought.'
I could never be a hero.
Like my father said in that nightmare, I'm selfish. I put myself first.
I opened my mouth.
"Hero suits you after all."
"...Huh?"
"I came to the academy to survive. Actually, closer to stumbling in by accident."
"......"
"So seeing someone like you, who joined for others... it throws me off a bit."
Ja-an's hands paused for a moment.
"I'm not that kind of person."
"Huh?"
"I glossed over my reason for joining, remember?"
He continued.
"I glossed over it because it's embarrassing."
"What?"
"I joined the academy for the money. Front lines pay more, academy gives scholarships, and graduating as a hero means even bigger bucks."
What the...
His mouth didn't stop.
"As a kid, I thought money was everything. With enough of it, you could have anything. So I just liked money."
"So... you came to the academy for money?"
"Yeah. At first."
The game never mentioned this.
The protagonist was a flawless superhuman, unwittingly charming every woman around him—a magnetic force of nature.
That was the whole setup.
No human flaws. A deus ex machina.
That was my image of the protagonist.
I asked.
"And now?"
"...I want to be a hero."
"Why?"
"Because others shine so brightly."
He resumed moving his hands, focusing on cutting my hair.
The reason for his change of heart was so very Ja-an.
I liked it.
"Can you lower your head a bit?"
"Like this?"
"Yeah. I'll trim the back."
I bowed my head.
My nape was exposed, cold and vulnerable.
The scissor blades grazed near my neck, almost touching.
Just moments ago, I'd been thinking of slashing my wrist with those same scissors. Now they were trimming my hair.
It was a little funny. Just a tiny bit.
Was this what they meant by not seeing even an inch into the future?
"All done. Now the front."
Ja-an stepped in front of me.
His gaze towered over me in the chair, so he bent at the waist to match my eye level.
Close.
Too close—his breath brushed my skin.
His face right there in front of mine, and strangely, my own face heated up.
'I'm not gay.'
I made that face myself.
Me admiring it, feeling a bit tense—it was all perfectly natural. Yeah.
Hoo.
I steadied my mind.
"Close your eyes? Hair might get in them."
"Uh... yeah."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
His fingertip touched my forehead.
The careful strokes cutting my bangs were oddly ticklish.
Snip, snip.
With my eyes closed in darkness, my hearing and sense of touch sharpened.
His breathing, the rustle of clothing, the snip of scissors.
Even the warm puff of breath teasing my forehead.
I kept my eyes shut like that for a long while.
"All done."
Ja-an's voice reached me.
I opened my eyes.
My vision was bright.
The oppressive bangs that always stabbed at my eyes were gone, revealing a clear view where Ja-an wore a satisfied smile.
"How is it?"
Ja-an pulled out his phone and turned on the camera.
The screen showed an unfamiliar girl.
Pale green hair swayed neatly above her shoulders, and the shaggy bangs were trimmed cleanly near her eyebrows.
Definitely much better than before.
"Nice work."
"Glad you like it. Does it suit you?"
"Why not become a barber instead of a hero? You could make a killing."
"Haha..."
Ja-an gave an awkward smile as he brushed the hair off the floor and my clothes.
He opened his mouth.
"Vacuum?"
"No, I'll handle that. Can't make you clean up after the haircut too."
"Your hand's injured. You."
Ugh.
I winced.
He ignored me and eventually found the vacuum, starting to push it across the floor.
He looked oddly domestic running the vacuum.
'What the hell kind of guy is he?'
Handsome, great fighter, perfect personality, decent at haircuts, good at cleaning?
Needs a balance patch.
How am I supposed to survive as a guy like this? Annoying bastard.
.
.
.
After cleaning was done, I expressed my thanks.
Separate from him being annoying, I'd definitely owed him today... A decent person returns the favor.
"Thanks."
"It was fun. Been a while."
He flashed a bright grin.
For a brief moment, I could escape my reality—and that felt good.
I smiled faintly.
A natural smile.
"Oh, you smiled."
"...I smile too. When something's fun."
"You should smile more often."
Ja-an headed straight for the door.
I was a little curious.
How I looked in his eyes.
Not that his gaze bothered me—just how I appeared to others. That's what I meant.
I bent at the waist and asked carefully.
"Hey."
Ja-an turned around.
"Yeah? What?"
"How do I look now?"
Only after the words left my mouth did I realize my mistake.
I'd said something a girl would say.
No matter the mood, wasn't this crossing a line? I'm a guy?
My face heated up a bit.
Spilled water anyway...!
I had to hear his answer.
He glanced aside and scratched his head.
"Uh, yeah. Not bad... Clean and nice to look at."
"That's it?"
The response was so lukewarm.
Not that I'd expected lavish praise, but with sub-heroine looks, "not bad"?
I pouted without thinking.
"Whatever. Get home safe."
"Yeah. Rest up. See you tomorrow."
Ja-an fled through the door with strangely awkward steps, closing it behind him.
Bang.
"Picky jerk... Tsk."
Left alone in the empty room, I checked my face again on the phone camera.
Slightly flushed.
Ha.
I'm losing it.
You're a proud son of Korea. Remember. You're a man. Got it?
The girl on the screen nodded.
Okay.
Agreement reached.
.
.
.
Wednesday morning.
As soon as I woke up, the Status Window greeted me.