Chapter 88: Baek Seol’s Move
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 88: Baek Seol’s Move
The exams were over, and a major incident—in more ways than one—had passed.
“Hello there.”
I was back at the Academy for the first time in a while, enjoying a leisurely daily life.
I’d eat the breakfast Ha-ni made for me, chat and laugh with my classmates during lunch, and enjoy training with my friends after the day’s schedule was over.
Ah, this is true healing. This is what an academy story is all about.
“Hmm, focusing is a good thing. Yes, I really don’t want to break my junior’s concentration, but still, couldn’t you at least pretend to look at me?”
There were minor happenings, of course. I was surprised to hear that Professor Cathy was on administrative leave during class, and when Ga-eul packed me a lunchbox again, Ha-ni insisted on making an even more extravagant one as if she were marking her territory. But overall, things were peaceful.
“That’s not how you do it~”
“Hey, So-hyun.”
“Yeah, Lilac. What’s up?”
“…Don’t you think you should answer her soon?”
“Haha, what are you talking about? There’s no one else here but us. Stop talking nonsense and let’s get back to training. You asked for help, didn’t you?”
Today, I was helping Lilac with some special training at his request. It seemed the sting of defeat from that day still lingered for him.
“Hmm, that’s strange. Unless my talent has changed to invisibility, it feels like my junior is intentionally ignoring me. Even I’ll get hurt if you hate me this much for no reason, you know?”
…It really would have been perfect if not for this ‘impurity’ that had been sticking to me with damn persistence since this morning.
Honestly, if it weren’t for this idiot Lilac, I would have kept ignoring her. But since he kept glancing over so obviously, it was starting to get on my nerves too.
Baek Seol.
The President of the Leilan Academy Student Council, who possessed suspiciously high authority, and the woman I hated even more than the villains back when this world was just a novel.
I thought she would leave the Academy immediately after the incident was resolved, but for some reason, she stayed and had been pestering me all day.
“It’s truly fascinating. Do you really hate me that much?”
“Oh, how could I ever dare to say something so rude to a senior?”
“You know that’s basically the same as saying you hate me, right?”
“Of course! I was insulting you indirectly. Ah, is your head such a flower garden that you couldn’t understand that?”
“Ah, seriously. If I knew I had such a cute junior, I would’ve attended the Academy more diligently. Where did a cutie like you pop out from?”
Lilac stopped training and tilted his head, looking as if he couldn’t understand our conversation at all.
Don’t worry, Lilac. You’re right to be confused. I don’t understand why this conversation is going this way either.
I was pouring out my genuine loathing without a shred of pretense, yet the more I did, the more this woman clung to me as if she were loving every second of it.
“Hmm, I was thinking of helping my cute juniors with their training, but you’re being so prickly I can’t even get close.”
Baek Seol naturally drifted toward Lilac.
“For example, our junior here should hold his sword a bit more—”
“Don’t go near him.”
In an instant, a voice so cold I couldn’t believe it came from my own throat escaped my lips.
“…Oh, are you two in that kind of relationship? Were you angry because I was interrupting?”
“Stop talking such disgusting nonsense and quit playing games. My friend here is a bit innocent, so if a beauty like you approaches him, he might get the wrong idea.”
“So-hyun…?”
“My, thank you for calling me a beauty. Haha, don’t worry~ I’m not really into guys who are just conventionally handsome. A man needs to have a bit of mystery to him.”
“…Senior?”
Baek Seol, who had been studying my expression for a moment, nodded with a beaming smile.
“Then, shall we spar?”
“What? Suddenly?”
“I want to get close to my juniors, but it seems one of them hates me quite a bit. How about we settle this cleanly with a duel? You two can even come at me together. If I lose, I’ll give up and leave you alone.”
“And if we lose?”
“Hmm, then I’ll gain a cute junior. It just so happens that the Vice President position is vacant since In-young disappeared. This is actually a losing deal for me~”
Don’t give me that.
This woman was looking down on us.
She was making such a proposal because she was confident she could completely overwhelm us even in a two-on-one fight.
And she was probably right.
In the original story, her help was the only reason they were able to catch that overwhelming perverted elf bastard.
If I was the counter to that perverted elf, she was the perfect ‘neutralizer’ who didn’t care about match-ups at all.
It was because her talent, ‘Perfect World,’ was the ability to seal all talents within a certain range around herself.
Yes, she was that ‘power-nullification’ type character that appears in every series.
There was a reason readers used to call her the true protagonist.
Well, since it was simply an ability to seal talents weaker than her own, one might wonder if it was really that broken. But her true value lay in the skills she displayed after sealing away supernatural powers.
She was a combat specialist in every sense of the word.
Which meant she was a terrible match-up for someone like me, who barely scraped the entry level of a superhuman without my reinforcements.
“I’m not doing it.”
“Hmm? Then I’m going to keep interfering. Is that okay with you~?”
Oh, I really hated her, but that was a completely empty bluff and a load of unrealistic nonsense.
“I wonder. Can a senior like you really continue doing something so unreasonable?”
For the first time, a flicker of genuine surprise crossed Baek Seol’s face, which had been plastered with a constant smirk.
Baek Seol wasn’t that kind of person.
I wasn’t sure what part of me she found so interesting, but if left alone, she would eventually judge that saving people with her abilities was more rational and valuable than satisfying her own whims.
Even if I didn’t take the bet, she would eventually get lost on her own.
“You know, I’m actually really regretting something right now.”
“And what would that be, Senior?”
“I should have taken an interest in the freshmen sooner. I should have scouted you for the Student Council.”
“Haha, what a horrific thought. I’d prefer it if you stayed uninterested from now on.”
We looked at each other, both wearing wide smiles.
“…Why are you two talking about things only you know?”
Lilac, who had been silently swinging his sword because he had nothing to say, muttered with a hurt expression.
Lilac, stay away. She’s bad news. Don’t get interested.
* * *
Cathy sat still, staring at the contact info on her smartphone.
Kang So-hyun.
If she just pressed the name written there, she could easily hear his voice.
No matter how much she insisted she was fine, her dear friend and boss had ordered her to take a week of administrative leave at home. He claimed he couldn’t let her return to the Academy until the results of her thorough medical examination were out.
Considering she had been brainwashed by an enemy, it was a natural precaution. She knew the ‘suspension’ was actually meant to give her time to recover, but she couldn’t help but feel pouting.
It had only been one day.
She hadn’t seen him for just one day, yet she missed him so much.
She wanted to hear his voice, at the very least.
— In front of me, you don’t have to be the cool Professor Cathy. You can just be Cathy Noona.
“Hehe.”
Ah, this wouldn’t do.
Just thinking about it made her cheeks feel like they were melting into a smile.
She couldn’t be this out of control when they ran into each other at the Academy.
To be honest, until now, the image of Kang So-hyun in her mind was quite far from the word ‘cool.’
If anything, he was on the cute side—a friendly, younger brother-like figure.
But with this recent incident as a turning point, that image had changed in a very positive way.
— It’s okay now.
Just recalling the smile and the warm touch that lingered faintly in her memory made her body flush.
She reflexively brushed her own hair with her hand, but it didn’t feel the same.
It was more… like this. It felt different.
She squirmed on her bed, recalling his touch.
She gently stroked her hair, trying her best to mimic that soft, reassuring sensation of him touching her.
“Whew…”
It felt good in its own way, but it wasn’t enough.
She needed a stronger stimulus than her own hand.
“So-hyun…”
In the end, she gave in to her desires and operated her smartphone to place a call.
[Yes, Professor?]
The moment she heard his voice, it felt as if her own hand on her head became just a little more comforting.
“Ah, yes. It’s nothing. I just… I couldn’t go to the Academy because of my leave. I was wondering if you were doing okay.”
It was a ridiculous excuse.
How different could Academy life be just because she wasn’t there?
She had only called because she wanted to hear his voice, but even so, she secretly hoped that he—So-hyun—would say he hated that she wasn’t there.
[Actually, well, it wasn’t that different, but…]
As expected. It had only been a day, after all. It wasn’t enough time to truly feel someone’s absence.
Just as she was about to accept that and move on, he betrayed her expectations in the best way possible.
[It’s definitely a bit lonely without you, Professor.]
Ah.
The moment she heard that he needed her, it felt like an electric current ran through her body.
“I-Is that so?”
[Yes. It’s only a week, but I hope it passes quickly.]
How could this boy say exactly what she wanted to hear so effortlessly?
Ah, I’m glad this is a phone call.
I must be making a face I could never show So-hyun right now.
The hand stroking her own hair became a bit more frantic.
[…Professor?]
Perhaps because he heard her breathing over the phone, a hint of worry mixed into his voice as he called her.
“Yes, So-hyun.”
[Ah, I just thought maybe it was just a check-in call. Nothing’s wrong, right?]
“Yeah, what could happen when I’m just staying at home? It’s just…”
I called because I missed you.
For some reason, it was a bit embarrassing to say that.
She felt like she had already done too many things to be embarrassed by something like this, but embarrassment was still embarrassment.
It was her first time harboring romantic feelings for someone, so it couldn’t be helped.
“What were you doing, So-hyun?”
[Me? I was training with Ha-ni.]
“Oh my, was I interrupting?”
[No, I was just about to take a break anyway.]
She almost laughed at the thought of him working so hard.
“I see. I’m glad nothing’s wrong…”
[Hey~ Junior, are you training in the evening too~?]
…A woman’s voice?
[Ah, Professor, an uninvited guest just arrived, so I’m going to hang up. I think I might say some harsh words.]
Goodness.
Cathy, who had frowned in displeasure, was now half-genuinely surprised.
Who on earth could it be for the kind So-hyun to show such blatant hostility?
And how could they speak so casually while receiving such hostility?
…He called them ‘Senior,’ right? Did some nasty upperclassman latch onto him?
In a corner of Cathy’s heart, something dark and murky squirmed, contrasting with the warm emotions from moments ago.
‘He’s mine.’
“No, what am I saying?”
She tried to ignore the emotion that had momentarily swirled inside her and focused back on stroking her hair.
‘There’s no way So-hyun would hang out with a bad senior.’
* * *
“Hey, So-hyun. Why do you hate that senior so much?”
When I finished training and came out after showering, Ha-ni, who had showered first and was waiting, asked with a look of curiosity.
It seemed my sharp reaction to Baek Seol, who had interrupted again during my training with Ha-ni, had been weighing on her mind. Honestly, I was reflecting on it a bit too.
Hating someone is one thing, but I shouldn’t have made it so obvious in front of the others.
To put it bluntly, that woman hadn’t actually done anything seriously wrong yet.
It wasn’t like there was zero chance of her being reformed, so acting like this already was, frankly, a bit much.
“…Yeah, I guess I’m being too prickly.”
Ha-ni was probably worried about me reacting so sharply…
“I asked why you hate her so much. Why are you giving me a non-answer? Even Ga-eul forgave her, so she must have done something pretty bad. I’m asking so I can bash her with you if she’s no good.”
Oh, I was wrong? She was just genuinely curious about the reason?
Seeing her mimic throwing light jabs into the air almost made me laugh.
“No, it’s really nothing special. I guess she’s just someone I instinctively dislike.”
“So you have people like that too, So-hyun.”
“The way you say that makes it sound like I’m someone who doesn’t care who I hang out with.”
“Aren’t you?”
“…What makes you say that?”
“Ga-eul.”
Oh, that was a good one. I have no rebuttal.
Come to think of it, Ga-eul wasn’t exactly a pleasant character either.
But honestly, I never hated Ga-eul that much. Maybe because she appeared so briefly?
Or maybe because she wasn’t a major hindrance to the protagonist.
“Anyway, if anything happens, don’t hide it and tell me, okay? I’ll help you right away.”
“Hmm, well, it’s not something I’m hiding, but can you help me with something this weekend?”
“Huh? This weekend?”
“Yeah, this weekend.”
“What are we doing?”
“I’m going to do some volunteer work at an orphanage.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Are we all going together?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I was planning on going with just you.”
Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak would grow just fine on their own for a while out of sheer competitive spirit.
And this time, it wouldn’t be efficient to bring everyone anyway.
“…Really?”
But it’s a bit awkward if you start blushing like that…?