Chapter 40

Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly announce in the classroom that I'd wanted to use that article to wreck the mood.

Of course, the article didn't contain a single word about me and Ha-neul dating. It merely implied it, through our outfits, posture, and the atmosphere between us. But it was effective. Effective enough that my own servants tiptoed around me after reading it. Effective enough that the kids in this class couldn't take their eyes off the two of us.

Still, I couldn't exactly stand in front of kids who'd already swallowed the story and announce, "We weren't doing all that to make you believe the article." Not that I planned to outright say, "We're dating," either. My plan was, if anyone asked later, I'd snap back with something like, "What makes you think you can just assume that?"

......But it seemed like I'd pushed things too far.

Yu Ha-neul, face flushed bright red and head bowed low at her own desk, must have been thinking the same thing.

That didn't mean Yu Ha-neul had completely misread my intentions. Rather, the problem was that she had read them too well, without knowing the article's contents.

This wasn't Yu Ha-neul's fault. Some of it was mine. I'd given her no information and just charged ahead, assuming she'd read the article and was acting accordingly.

"......."

Well, whatever.

At least my head cleared up. Once I realized Yu Ha-neul hadn't done all that because she secretly had feelings for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me, my mind felt lighter. Sure, it seemed like Yu Ha-neul might have gone a little overboard midway through, but knowing it was a misunderstanding put me at ease. After all, I could keep playing the attention-seeker for a while longer.

And when I thought about it, I'd hammered the point home hard enough to shake up the kids around us. Even now, they were blatantly stealing glances at me, not even trying to hide it.

I walked over to Yu Ha-neul, who had returned to her seat.

Leaning close to her ear, I spoke quietly.

"I've been thinking about it, and going forward like this doesn't seem half bad."

At those words, Yu Ha-neul whipped her head toward me. I'd more or less gotten used to it lately, but when I was suddenly hit by the light radiating from that face at close range, my vision practically went white.

I narrowed my eyes and Yu Ha-neul's absolutely flustered expression came into focus. Honestly, that face was a little funny, so I let out a short laugh and spoke.

"There's no need to panic after going that far just last period."

Some kids nearby must have heard me say that, because I heard people suck in their breath all around the room.

So what. As far as I was concerned, Yu Ha-neul cooperating that actively was great. I'd been a little worried when I couldn't figure out her intentions, but if there were no sexual feelings involved, I could relax a lot more.

Besides, honestly, when a beautiful girl that cute casually initiates physical contact, it's not like that feels bad.

.......

......No, wait. Even so, that seated face-to-face position was really not okay.

Yu Ha-neul went way too far there. I needed to talk to her about that later. Still, it would probably be good to set some boundaries.

Just as we'd roughly wrapped up the conversation, the sound of the school bell signaling the start of class rang out through the speakers. Funnily enough, not a single kid in this class had moved from their seat the entire break.

Didn't they realize ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that 'reacting like that' still counted as a 'reaction'?

The classroom door rattled open. The next subject's teacher walked in, carrying her teaching materials.

Had she heard about it from the teacher who'd been here last period? She glanced at me where I'd pulled my chair over to sit next to Yu Ha-neul, then opened her mouth as if about to say something to Yu Ha-neul.

But I shot up from my seat.

"......."

The teacher stared at me, mouth still hanging open. From the slight tremor in her eyes, she must have known what I'd been up to during the last class.

Well...... I could probably relax about this one.

Yes, I'd originally planned to do something else during second period.

I dragged my chair back to my original spot, then gave Yu Ha-neul a light tap on the shoulder and spoke.

"I've got something to take care of. I'll step out and come back. I'll be back before this class ends."

If Yu Ha-neul were left alone, I had no idea what the other kids might do. I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an invisible person, but Yu Ha-neul was someone they simply ignored. And those two situations were fundamentally different. No matter what I did, no one could get angry at me, but for Yu Ha-neul, that 'ignoring' could easily escalate into physical harassment.

Yu Ha-neul wasn't the type of character to just take it...... but there was another problem on top of that.

Other kids aside, Yu Ha-neul had entered this school by taking an exam as an outside admit. She had no solid backing whatsoever. I'm not trying to disparage Yu Ha-neul's family. What I mean is, her family was extremely vulnerable when it came to wealth and power.

So basically, if the people who'd been ignoring her ever started actively bullying her, she'd have no way out. She'd just be helpless against it.

She might be able to overcome even a situation like that since she was the protagonist, but I didn't want to watch my friend get treated that cruelly. So I planned to finish my business within class time, when other students couldn't openly harass her. Then I'd come back and stick close to Yu Ha-neul again. That was the best solution I'd come up with.

"Ah, then I'll come......"

"No."

I placed a hand on Yu Ha-neul's shoulder just as she tried to stand. It wasn't that she was overpowered by strength; Yu Ha-neul just froze mid-motion, still in the posture of someone about to rise.

"Whether I'm here or not, my attendance gets marked no matter what. But you're someone who strictly needs to be here."

It wasn't about necessity. It was about whether the other party could deny or challenge that fact.

If Yu Ha-neul came out with me here, it would have a seriously negative impact on her grades—whether it counted as an absence or early dismissal.

It seemed Yu Ha-neul had accurately caught my meaning. I felt relieved when I saw her bite her lip in frustration and sit back down.

"Then, I'll be back."

I turned and started walking.

People's gazes stuck to my back like something sticky, but I didn't care.

I mean, I was doing it so they'd watch.

I walked confidently, threw the classroom back door wide open, and stepped out.

I didn't close it. Well, let's say the wind blew it open. Though a sliding door wouldn't actually open because of the wind.

Alright, then.

Which class was Lee Su-a in again?

*

Truthfully, I already knew exactly which class Lee Su-a was in. But going directly there wouldn't draw enough attention. Right now, in this moment, I was an attention-starved maniac obsessed with drawing all eyes on me.

So, obviously, I was going to check every single neighboring classroom, one by one, with painstaking dedication.

Bending deeply at the waist, shoving my face right into theirs.

"Ah, not here either."

Leaving behind the students who had frozen solid at the sight of me, someone they'd never, ever seen in their classroom before, I once again left the door wide open and walked out of the classroom.

I'd come in through the back door and left through the front, so naturally, both doors were now wide open.

I made the rounds through four classrooms like that.

Yu Ha-neul and I were in Class 1, and Lee Su-a was in Class 6. I'd saved her classroom for last, so of course she was there.

Through the window in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠door, I spotted Lee Su-a. Sitting in the very back corner seat, she seemed a bit deflated, her whole mood entirely different from when I usually met her.

Just like any other class in Hwayeong High School, only a handful of kids in Class 6 were seriously listening to the lesson. Most were just wasting time, chatting idly among themselves. Even the kids who looked like they were paying attention weren't actually focusing on the class; they were just working through problem sets spread open on their desks, material far ahead of the actual lesson.

Sitting among those kids, without a single person talking to her, Lee Su-a seemed isolated.

As expected. Getting tangled up with me had caused her some kind of disadvantage. If you talked to Lee Su-a, the topic of me was bound to come up.

Lee Su-a's situation probably wasn't as precarious as Yu Ha-neul's. Lee Su-a was one of this school's 'wealthy family' scions. If people just avoided bringing me up, she might even be able to blend back in among the students. But knowing Lee Su-a's personality, she hadn't done that.

......I'd anticipated this, but seeing it in person pissed me off.

I deliberately threw the door open. The door, true to a classroom in an expensive school, well-oiled and maintained, slid cleanly along its track and slammed into the end stop with a loud bang!

The students who'd been in class, and the teacher at the front who'd been writing something on the board, all flinched and jerked their shoulders. Then, the teacher turned toward me with an annoyed expression, and froze solid.

"......Sara?"

Only one person called my name, in a thin voice.

Eyes wide with surprise, Lee Su-a was staring at me. I gave that startled, shining face a little smile.

Now then, what should I do here?

Regrettably, this classroom had no empty seats. If there'd been a spare chair, I would've sat beside her, but this school managed even its supplies meticulously, tailoring everything to the students. Plenty of kids from wealthy families traveled back and forth overseas, so students transferring in or leaving mid-semester did happen, but in those cases, the school added or removed furniture immediately as soon as they got word of a student's arrival or departure.

Really precise, aren't they.

Let's see if they're that precise when it comes to ignoring me.

I walked over with deliberate, heavy footsteps and planted myself beside the teacher who was in the middle of class.

In this school, the students weren't the only perpetrators. If anything, it was the teachers who silently condoned that behavior, which was what made it possible to one-sidedly ignore Ye Sa-ra. I had no idea how much money they'd taken under the table to act like that.

Though I suppose they must have taken enough to let Ye Sa-ra's attendance still get marked even when she skipped school.

As I stared steadily up at the female teacher, beads of sweat formed on her temple.

Yeah, this is a first for you, isn't it?

The only time Ye Sa-ra ever acted out, craving attention, was back in elementary school. Even then, she'd accepted reality and quit not long after. So the middle school teachers, and kids, had never had to endure Ye Sa-ra's rebellion.

And that held true for high school too.

"Th-then, from now on—"

The teacher tried to ignore me and continue the lesson.

Yeah, no.

That's not going to happen.

How did Ye Sa-ra rebel in elementary school? According to the Original Story, she screamed, threw things, and walked out of the classroom. But everyone ignored her.

I'd walked out of the classroom too. But the rebellion I was staging was going to be a bit different in nature from those past ones.

Slowly, moving with exaggerated gestures like a slapstick comedian, I picked up the chalkboard eraser.

Then, I began slowly erasing everything written on the board.

"Ah!"

The teacher let out that little cry when she saw me. Why? Barely anyone was even listening.

When I turned to look at her, she hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth and averted her gaze.

After staring at her for a moment, I turned back to the board and continued slowly erasing its contents.

"Ahh......."

The teacher made a dismayed sound, and I whipped my head around again. The young teacher once again clamped her mouth shut.

"Pfft."

Someone who'd witnessed the situation made a noise trying to stifle a laugh. Though of course, everyone went quiet again the moment my gaze landed on them.

Yes. This was the line of my rebellion.

Every time Yu Ha-neul poked my side during the previous class, someone had let out a stifled laugh. After seeing that happen several times over, I realized one thing. You can somehow manage to hold back a curse, but holding back laughter is harder than you'd think.

You know, there's even a part of U.S. military training where they practice suppressing laughter while looking at a crying duck doll.

Starting today, I was going to put these kids through that kind of training.

What happens if they can't hold it in to the very end? Well, they'll have no choice but to listen to me.

I looked up at the teacher and gave her a bright, beaming smile. Her face went pale.

Why so shocked?

It's only been one hour since I started.

Let's see if you can endure every single one of the attention-whoring antics I spent all Sunday agonizing over.