Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: An Unexpectedly Good Friend
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Not long after buying middle school uniforms with Seol-i, the entrance ceremony day finally arrived.
Today, I decided to take the bus instead of my bike.
I just didn't feel like riding a bike on the very first day.
"Bye~"
"Have a good day."
"Come home safe~"
"Sure~"
I left home at 7:30 a.m. after their send-off—a perfect time.
So perfect it had me yawning.
Still, it was fine. I had plenty of time left.
I walked slowly down the street and pulled out my phone.
Then I sent Seol-i a message.
[Seol-ah]
[Whatcha doing?]
Less than ten seconds after I sent it, Seol-i read it and replied right away.
[Seol-i: Just woke up]
[Seol-i: (sleepy squirrel emoticon)]
Even her emoticons looked just like her.
How was she this cute?
[Don't be late]
[Seol-i: I know!]
[Seol-i: (pouting squirrel emoticon)]
Her barrage of adorable emoticons nearly had me cracking up.
Honestly, I felt great having such a cute childhood friend.
Of course, there was one person even more important than Seol-i today.
"Kim Do-yoon…."
Kim Do-yoon.
The protagonist of this novel world. The jerk who'd dumped Seol-i twice.
The guy who'd brought tears of sadness to her eyes. The one who'd driven her out into the rain because she couldn't hold back her sorrow.
I absolutely didn't want Seol-i in the same class as him. Absolutely not.
If she was, she'd definitely fall for the protagonist.
Hook, line, and sinker—thanks to his handsome face and kindness.
What if Seol-i fell for him again, chased after him relentlessly, confessed her feelings, and got rejected once more?
I didn't think I could just stand there and watch it happen.
Seol-i wasn't just some character from a novel anymore.
To me, she was my most precious friend—the one person I wouldn't trade for anything.
I never wanted to see someone like that looking sad.
As I boarded the bus, I prayed fervently one more time.
Please let that jerk and Seol-i end up in different classes.
Fortunately, there was one silver lining.
The school's class assignment system.
They ranked boys and girls separately by test scores, then mixed them as evenly as possible.
The novel described the protagonist as incredibly smart. He was probably number one in the placement tests too.
But I was certain of one thing. At least for this round of assignments, I was number one.
To a 23-year-old army vet, those elementary school tests were child's play—full marks or bust.
And I'd even put in some actual study time, even if it was just for show.
Tremble in fear, you 14-year-olds.
This was the sharpened mind of a battle-hardened adult.
If you wanna beat me, come back when you're in high school.
I might lose by then, but that didn't matter.
First-year entrance was what counted.
But back then, I had no idea.
I was number one, sure—but Seol-i's scores, from always sticking right by my side, had changed too.
Hers had shot up even higher than they should've, flipping the girls' rankings entirely.
In the end, I couldn't stop Seol-i and the novel's protagonist, Kim Do-yoon, from landing in the same class.
Class 3, where Seol-i was. And there he was—a boy with the name tag reading Kim Do-yoon.
"…Haa, fuck."
With Seol-i right there—and me still just a kid—I'd never sworn once until now.
If I'd known this was coming, I never would've helped her study. Way too careless.
In the end, I only had one option left.
Please don't let Seol-i fall for Kim Do-yoon. Don't let her give him her heart at first sight.
Don't let her develop any feelings for him.
"…I swear."
-clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap
With my pledge finished, applause erupted. I exchanged greetings with the principal as the class rep, wrapping up the middle school entrance ceremony.
Once the ceremony ended and break time hit, I headed straight for Class 3, where Seol-i was.
And there in Class 3…
"Haneul…!"
Seol-i came running over to me.
I glanced at her, then stole another look at Kim Do-yoon—the guy I'd memorized earlier.
He was definitely stupidly handsome.
How does a first-year middle schooler look that good? Talk about novel protagonist logic.
Suddenly, I wanted to curse the author. If he was gonna stick me in the story, why not give me a ridiculously handsome face packed with plausibility instead of my old one?
Objectively speaking, my looks were dead average.
Not ugly, but not handsome either.
My eyes weren't big, and they slanted just enough to give me this aggressive vibe—an absolute joke next to the protagonist's face.
Just to be safe, I asked Seol-i,
"Seol-i, how're the kids in your class?"
If she'd gotten close to Kim Do-yoon—or fallen for him—she'd probably mention him to me. At least her face would give off that unmistakable glow of infatuation.
That was how the novel described it, and the Seol-i I'd observed matched perfectly.
But there wasn't a hint of that from her.
She just gave a plain, straightforward rundown of her classmates.
"No bullies or anything. No real friends yet, though."
"No boys or girls coming up to talk to you?"
-She shook her head.
…Looked like no one was buddying up to Seol-i right away.
Especially not Kim Do-yoon, who hadn't even approached her yet.
For the time being, I'd have to drop by her class every period and check.
Ask if Kim Do-yoon had said anything about being friends.
And then a month passed…
"Hey, Kim Do-yoon! Pass it, pass!"
"Kang Haneul, how am I supposed to pass if you're right there…?!"
…There I was, playing soccer with Kim Do-yoon at lunch.
How the hell did it come to this?
It all started with the most ridiculous thing: first-year boys' lunch-time soccer.
Early March. While things were still awkward, the third-years were off on their school trip, and the second-years on retreat.
I wondered why they did that stuff in March, but whatever—it meant first-years got the playground at lunch.
One popular guy rounded up 22 soccer fans from each class, and somehow I ended up on the team.
Maybe because I played class leader during PE and helped everyone out, earning some goodwill.
Or maybe this aggressive look of mine was kinda popular with the boys.
Either way, that's how I started playing soccer—and decided to buddy up with Kim Do-yoon while I was at it.
Figured if I got close to him first, I could block any moves he made on Seol-i.
But…
"Kang Haneul, you're pretty good. Nice one."
"Thanks. Solid pass."
"I play a bit."
Surprisingly, Kim Do-yoon turned out to be a decent guy.
Nah, straight-up, he was a really good guy.
Boys' soccer can get heated, even turn into fights—but whenever it looked like trouble, he'd head it off early.
And any time someone pulled off a good play, he'd praise them on the spot. Impossible to feel bad around him.
Thinking back, the novel never painted him as a bad guy. Sure, he was oblivious as hell with Seol-i—to the point he'd seem like a monster to her—but he cared about her plenty. And he was great with friends too.
He was just a clueless idiot. Everything else was fine.
Flip that around, and he was prime friend material.
In the end, after my classmates, Kim Do-yoon was the one I got close to fastest…
"Hey, drink bet today?"
"Going out at lunch?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Quick trip out's no biggie."
"Don't get caught by a teacher."
"Ugh, you nerd. We can buy after school."
…And that's how we ended up tight enough to bet on drinks.
And that wasn't even the end of it.
Seol-i was taking Kim Do-yoon way more in stride than I'd expected.
"Do-yoon? Hmm… nice kid? That's the vibe."
Just a "nice kid." Nothing more, nothing less.
…So did that mean all my worries were for nothing?
It sure seemed like it.
Far from chasing after Kim Do-yoon, Seol-i spent more time hanging out with other girls—or me.
Though lately, I was starting to worry a little.
She'd been showing up whenever we played soccer or basketball.
What if, without me knowing, she'd fallen for Kim Do-yoon? And she was hiding it super well?
On top of that, she seemed kinda dissatisfied with me lately.
The ever-kind Seol-i didn't show it outright, but it worried me.
She had a habit of bottling up complaints before speaking up.