Why Are You Here?
Since I had no intention of playing along with anyone, I was drinking alone, humming a tune to myself, when Kim Gicheol—who had just finished a song and passed the mic to a friend—came over and sat beside me.
“Man, one of the girls is gonna be seriously screwed.”
“Why?”
“I called exactly five girls to match the number of guys.”
Yeah, balancing the numbers is basic when guys and girls hang out. In places like this karaoke room, things can get pretty heated once the alcohol starts flowing. Technically, the establishment bans anything explicit, but since Kim Gicheol personally picked this spot, it was obvious they turned a blind eye to that kind of stuff.
“You can just handle two of them. Didn’t you say once that you wanted to grab a different pair of tits in each hand? Go ahead and try sweet-talking them into it.”
“I’d love to, but honestly, with my face, is that even possible? You’re the only one who could pull that off.”
“Oh. Look at our Gicheol finally growing up and facing reality.”
“Fuck, that pisses me off. Even if I said it myself, hearing it from a handsome bastard like you makes me want to punch something.”
Instead of venting his frustration, Kim Gicheol just downed the beer he’d poured. Smart move. I don’t go easy on people just because they’re friends. I can take a joke, but if someone comes at me seriously—whether it’s a guy, a girl, a friend, or family—I’ll crush them without hesitation.
“You really like hanging out with girls that much? No matter how good the vibe is, the girls coming today are probably just the usual crowd, right?”
“Nah, this time I rounded up nothing but fresh-faced first-year juniors. And none of them are even in Ijin-hoe.”
“First-years are coming here?”
Kim Gicheol might be my friend, but objectively speaking, he looks like a total delinquent. Plus, guys and girls drinking and singing in a karaoke room? It wasn’t going to be some innocent, wholesome high-school hangout. Tags like sleazy, pleasure-seeking, and delinquent were practically guaranteed. If they were new Ijin-hoe members, maybe. That group only recruits actual problem students. But Kim Gicheol had said these girls weren’t part of it.
“How’d you convince them?”
“I told you. I used your name. When I went to the first-year classrooms and said even our school’s vice president was coming, they all swarmed. Dude, you’re insanely popular with the juniors right now.”
“So you went around the first-year classrooms yelling that I was going to a karaoke bar?”
“Exactly. Heh.”
The guy was grinning like an idiot. Smack—! I slapped the back of his head, hard.
“Aaaagh! What the fuck, why’d you hit me all of a sudden?!”
“Because thanks to you, I’m gonna get on the president’s bad side again tomorrow.”
“You said I could use your name!”
“Yeah, I figured you’d use it on the Ijin-hoe guys and bring a few of them. Who told you to go blabbing to the entire first-year floor?”
I’d already told Cha Yeri on the entrance ceremony day that I had nothing to do with Ijin-hoe. If word got out that I went to a karaoke bar with Ijin-hoe members, she’d definitely hear about it. Watching her get angry was hot as hell, but I still needed to vent by smacking the idiot who’d made things worse.
“Ah, fuck… You should’ve said that from the start. But is there actually a reason you can’t get on the president’s bad side?”
“Of course there is.”
“What is it? What is it? It’s weird seeing the great Kang Ijin care about someone else’s opinion. Tell me.”
“No. I’m not telling you, so get lost.”
“Come on! Just tell me. I’ll even buy you a 300,000-won whiskey today.”
Trying to buy me off with a 300,000-won bottle? Pathetic.
“Order it right now.”
“Okay!”
A 300,000-won whiskey… Too tempting to refuse. Expensive liquor like that always tastes best when someone else is paying. Kim Gicheol brought over a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue—the kind you see in movies—and sat down next to me with a grin. The guy who’s famous for never opening his wallet unless it’s for girls had actually bought a 300,000-won bottle. He must be in a really good mood about the pretty juniors coming.
“I’m only telling you this, so don’t you dare spread it. If it gets out, I’ll know it was you, and I won’t let it slide.”
“…I know, I know. I wanna live a long life too. Who’d want to piss you off? Anyone who’s seen you fight would be too scared to mess with you anyway.”
When I added a little threat, his expression instantly froze. Kim Gicheol might be dumb, but he knows when to back down. He wouldn’t spread rumors if it meant getting beaten by me.
“I’m planning to make the president mine.”
“F-For real? The president is Cha Yeri, right? The rich, strict ice princess.”
“Ice princess?”
“You don’t know? She’s pretty famous. The moment she enrolled, hundreds of guys confessed because she’s rich and pretty. She rejected every single one while straight-up explaining exactly why, and after that, the number of confessions dropped like crazy.”
She hit them with facts. Getting fact-bombed by a girl like Cha Yeri would definitely sting.
“Now I want her even more.”
If I could have a girl like that, I’d be one step closer to becoming the protagonist. No risk of ending up in prison, either—I could just use her family’s influence to get out. No matter how strong-willed a woman is, once she tastes my cock, she can’t resist. Cha Yeri wouldn’t be any different.
“You’re insane… I don’t like girls who are like flowers on a cliff. Girls should be cute and lovable. The president is obviously just an ornamental flower.”
“You never know. Maybe she’s a total tease once you strip her down.”
“Well, good luck. I’m kinda curious now too. Whether you win or the president wins. If you actually fuck her, give me the details later, heh. That’d be hot as hell.”
“I’ll tell you the story, so buy me expensive liquor again when that happens.”
“Obviously. The story of you banging the president sounds fucking awesome.”
Kim Gicheol left to sing again. The excellent whiskey and the loud music. It had been a while since I’d enjoyed this kind of atmosphere. It felt like returning to a paradise I’d been exiled from. Since Jeong Sua hated places like this, I’d had to quit coming if I wanted to raise her affection. But… no matter how hard I tried to hide it, the DNA that enjoyed this kind of thing was still inside me. It was like the world was saying, “No matter how hard you try to become the protagonist, you’re still that kind of guy.”
Annoying… The moment I admit I like this stuff, it feels like I’m admitting I’m just some extra named Ijin.
What’s the fun in a protagonist who’s only kind? A bad protagonist like me can be plenty charming too. There’s no rule saying only pure, kind protagonists get to have pretty heroines. Who knows—maybe the heroines would be happier living with a guy who has good technique, like me. While thinking that… like some guy with a lot on his mind, I quietly drank… and just as I started thinking I wanted to make Jeong Sua mine soon, the guys suddenly stopped the music. They were staring at their phones, slicking their hair back with wax and even spraying on cologne. The girls must have arrived. Since Kim Gicheol said they were pretty juniors who weren’t in Ijin-hoe, the guys probably wanted to look good and maybe even score. I wasn’t interested in any girls except the ones I’d already claimed. When the smell of alcohol mixed with various colognes started to stink, I frowned and covered my nose with my wrist.
“Idiots. You think that’s gonna change anything? Ease up on the cologne.”
“Shut up, Kang Ijin, you damn con artist.”
“Yeah. Just drink your booze. I’m definitely scoring with one of them tonight.”
“We’re helping each other out, so fair play, right? Make sure the girls get drunk.”
Once the guys finished their pathetic grooming, the door burst open and the girls walked in. Just like Kim Gicheol said, a line of pretty girls entered one after another. Every single one of them looked too fresh and innocent for a place like this. The moment they came in, they looked around and smiled at me. They greeted everyone politely, but their eyes always ended up on my face.
They seem to have high expectations. Too bad they’re gonna be disappointed.
Even the fourth girl who walked in smiled at me, but the moment I saw the last one enter, I shot up from my seat. Jeong Sua, who I thought would be at home, walked in hesitantly.
What the hell is she doing in a place like this…
She obviously came to see me, but that didn’t make me happy. When I shot her a look, she avoided my eyes. So she came here knowing exactly what kind of place this was, just to see me? Cute, but it also stirred up a strange mischievous feeling. Feeling like I’d drawn too much attention, I sat back down. Even among the pretty girls, she was on another level. She looked uncomfortable in this setting, shrinking into herself. Naturally, all the guys’ eyes were glued to her.
Don’t stare! That’s my territory, you bastards.
If they’d kept looking for five more seconds, I would’ve gouged their eyes out, but thankfully the girls sat down and the attention scattered. The first to speak was Kim Gicheol, who’d organized this.
“Since you’re our juniors, I’ll speak casually. How about we mix up the seating? If you came to a place like this, you should sit boy-girl.”
“I’m fine with that. But how do we decide the seats? Honestly… I want to sit next to the vice president…”
“Hey, you can’t just say that first! Me too! I want to sit next to the vice president too!”
“Me too, me too. I’ve thought the vice president was really cool and witty ever since the entrance ceremony.”
The girls were all trying to sit next to me. I didn’t care about that, though—my eyes were fixed on Jeong Sua, who was fidgeting with her fingers, head down, unable to say a word. The guys didn’t look happy that all the attention was on me, but what could they do? Were they going to hit me? They just forced smiles, pretending they weren’t hurt.
“Haha… You juniors don’t know, but this guy only looks decent. He’s not much fun.”
“Right. Look at him—he hasn’t said a word since you got here, just drinking. He might seem like that, but he’s actually super shy.”
I stayed silent even after hearing that. From their perspective, they had to drag my image down if they wanted any chance. I had no interest in stealing girls I didn’t care about. The only girl I was interested in was Jeong Sua. As long as they didn’t touch her, I was getting free drinks anyway, so I decided to play along.
“Just seeing his face is fun enough.”
“If he’s the vice president on top of that face, and he’s even funny? That’s cheating.”
“Why wouldn’t the vice president be funny? That time he yelled curses during the entrance ceremony was hilarious.”
“Right. I was so shocked when I saw that, then I burst out laughing.”
Even when the guys tried to badmouth me, the girls covered for me and giggled among themselves. The guys looked stunned.
“Anyway, our Ijin’s popularity is exhausting.”
“Yeah. Only us, his best friends, are suffering.”
When badmouthing didn’t work, the guys switched tactics and started emphasizing how close they were to me. Huh. This was surprisingly entertaining just to watch. So this is what an alpha male’s life is like. Studying and training like crazy to become vice president wasn’t for nothing.
“Then let’s decide fairly with a game. That way it’ll be fair for you too.”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
“I agree~”
“Let’s see, what game should we use to pair up? The simplest would be rock-paper-scissors—”
“O-Object choice!”
Jeong Sua suddenly shouted, cutting him off. The guys’ eyes widened.