Chapter 3
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: First Meeting (2)
It had been four days since enrolling at New Moon Academy.
I was living the best life imaginable.
In three years, I'd be leaving this body anyway.
With no pressure about grades, I could sleep through classes without issue, and after school, I could soak in endless dopamine at home.
Games, comics, novels, dramas, you name it. I indulged in every bit of entertainment my room had to offer. When I got too lazy to cook, I'd order delivery without a second thought.
"Ha... that was fun."
The enemy's central base exploded, and 'Victory' flashed boldly in the center of the screen.
Having fully enjoyed my game session, I took off my headset and set it on the desk.
"I'm the best in another world!!"
I jumped up from the desk and flung myself onto the bed, shouting at the top of my lungs.
I'd enjoyed everything there was to enjoy, and with no money worries, how could life get any better?
The one thing I'd worried about most when I possessed this body—Cha Ji-hyuk's attention—was no longer a concern.
He was too busy spending time with Ryu Ah-young to notice me.
During classes, during breaks.
Cha Ji-hyuk was putting in every effort to win her affection.
Just like in the original story, he'd build up her favor this way before unleashing his abilities in earnest to train Ah-young.
All to redirect her suddenly surging lust solely toward him.
Ryu Ah-young still seemed relaxed enough by his attention to keep giving me unnecessary glances, but from what I could tell, that would end next week.
Once Cha Ji-hyuk started using his powers, she wouldn't have a moment to spare for me—she'd be completely under his control.
She'd probably spend the whole day blushing, her body twitching uncontrollably.
Her classmates would notice and ask if she was okay, and Ryu Ah-young would try her best to play it off, mumbling, "N-no, I just feel a bit off today," while brushing it aside.
'Kyaa! It's like I've already watched a full erotic episode.'
Anyway, everything was going according to plan.
All of Cha Ji-hyuk's focus was on Ryu Ah-young, and thanks to my consistent naps, I was gradually becoming like air in the class.
At this rate, three years would fly by.
Finishing my reverie, I lay back comfortably and turned on the TV.
"Ah... I'm getting a little hungry..."
As I was about to watch the new cooking competition show, a wave of boredom hit me.
Everyone knows binge-watching a series is a national rule only with snacks in hand.
I immediately got out of bed, threw on a tracksuit, put on a mask, and headed out the door.
Summer hadn't arrived yet, so the night air was still pretty chilly.
Rubbing my arms, I hurried with quick steps to the convenience store right in front of my place.
This world was just like Earth, except for New Moon Academy.
I grabbed my usual snacks, picked out some imported beers—four cans for ten thousand won—and headed to the counter.
"Hum-dee-dum~"
The thought of rushing back home to devour snacks and binge my series had me humming cheerfully.
I set the items down at the counter, and the part-timer scanned each barcode with practiced ease before looking up.
"Can I see your ID?"
...Huh?
I froze for a moment, having never heard those words in my life, but I pulled out my wallet from my tracksuit pocket and handed over Kang Seo-ah's ID.
"Could you pull down your mask for a sec?"
I lowered my mask and showed him my face.
The clerk flinched visibly upon seeing it.
"Y-you're good. Uh, um! Want a bag?"
"Yes, please."
His earlier calm was gone; he couldn't even meet my eyes and was stammering.
Embarrassed by his reaction, I snatched the bag and bolted out of the store.
"Ugh... I still can't get used to this."
I understood since I knew my new body, but seeing guys react like that was torture.
It made my toes curl in secondhand embarrassment, so I hurried home even faster.
But then.
Riiip! Clang-clatter!!
The plastic bag I was carrying tore, and the cans inside tumbled to the ground.
"Argh, seriously... why now..."
I needed to get home quick, and now this accident.
I hastily scooped up the fallen beers with frantic hands.
One, two.
I crammed them into my pockets however I could and reached for the rest when another hand picked one up and handed it to me.
Unlike my small hand barely wrapping around one can, this large hand gripped two at once.
"Thank you—"
I looked up to thank my helper but couldn't finish the sentence.
It was a face I knew all too well.
The smug mug from New Moon Academy I was most wary of.
Cha Ji-hyuk.
"Think you can carry all that? Need a hand?"
He offered with a kind smile.
Any normal girl would have blushed and nodded, but not me.
"No!! Thank you. See ya."
I grabbed the beer from him and fled the scene before he could do anything.
"Hey!! Wait a sec!!"
I heard his voice calling from behind, but I ignored it completely and picked up speed.
'Why the hell is he here?!'
Panic, confusion, and a gut feeling that something had gone wrong.
I ran like mad.
Ding-ding-ding, ring-riing~
Thud-crash!!
The moment I slammed the front door shut after getting home, I collapsed to the floor.
Running into Cha Ji-hyuk right near my place—I finally admitted how complacent I'd been.
In the original story, he lived in a one-room apartment just five minutes from school.
He had to bring girls back to his room and go all night, so it made sense.
But I'd overlooked it... There were so many one-rooms around school that I'd let my guard down like an idiot.
"Uwaaa... what do I do? If he recognizes me..."
I'd lowered my mask for the ID check.
Remembering that I'd shown him my real face made my head throb.
From his reaction, it didn't seem like he'd realized I was Kang Seo-ah from class, but I was still terrified.
What if he spotted me at school...
"You're that girl from in front of the convenience store... right?"
"Gaaah!! No way!!"
Just imagining it was horrifying.
If that happened, Cha Ji-hyuk would pull every trick in the book on me.
"No... he barely saw me... he'll forget soon enough."
Paranoia.
I muttered to myself, trying to calm down.
It was Friday evening, the start of a happy weekend.
But for me, it was filled with anxiety.
A quiet Friday evening had settled in.
It was late, but Cha Ji-hyuk's mind was sharper than ever.
Normally, he'd be texting Ryu Ah-young nonstop, but tonight he was just scrolling through SNS, ignoring her messages.
'Who the hell was she...'
His head was completely occupied by the girl he'd bumped into in front of the convenience store earlier.
He racked his brain through countless celebrity faces, but none matched the shock he'd felt in that moment.
Strikingly beautiful features.
A figure impossible to ignore.
Cha Ji-hyuk had been utterly entranced the instant he saw her.
And now, he was regretting that moment intensely.
"Ha... I should've grabbed her then..."
He thought he should have asked for her number or Star ID to stay in touch.
All he could do now was resent how she'd bolted before he could even react.
He'd scoured SNS late into the night trying to find her, but there wasn't a single trace.
With looks like that, stalkers would've spread her pics everywhere by now, yet not even a sneaky street photo circulated. It was bizarre.
She definitely lived nearby.
She'd come out of the store in light clothes like she'd just stepped out for a quick errand.
'Who could she be... She looked about my age. Does she go to an academy? ...Nah, if so, she'd have stood out at the entrance ceremony...'
Ding! Ding~
-No word from you since dinner? Everything okay?
An alert snapped Ji-hyuk out of his thoughts.
A message from Ah-young.
The prettiest freshman he'd seen at the ceremony.
He'd planned to test his newly awakened powers on her and seduce her, but not anymore.
Ignoring her text, Ji-hyuk replayed that moment again.
Most girls reacted to his face in one of two ways.
They'd come on strong, trying to make a connection, or blush shyly but unable to look away.
But yesterday's girl was different.
The second she saw his face, her expression hardened like stone.
Her eyes shook violently, her face full of disbelief, like she couldn't trust what she was seeing.
'Was it 'cause my face is too handsome?'
Thinking like the egomaniac he was.
But Ji-hyuk shook his head.
If that were the case, it didn't explain why she'd run off like her feet were on fire.
'This sucks.'
Having found not a single photo of her on SNS, Ji-hyuk felt an unfamiliar emotion.
The frustration of things not going his way.
This world was supposed to bend to his will.
That was natural. That was how it had to be.
But not now.
He craved her this badly, yet couldn't even reach out.
A clear displeasure welled up from deep in his chest.
"Haa... forget it."
Irritated, Ji-hyuk tossed his phone onto the bed and lay down.
After staring at SNS for so long, his eyes were heavy with fatigue.
He rubbed them lightly and thought.
He was a guy with no regrets.
Any girl he wanted, he could have—powers or not.
There was no reason to get this worked up over some mystery girl.
...There shouldn't be.
But even now, with his eyes closed,
her stiffened expression as she looked at him lingered in his mind.
Not a bright smile, not sad tears.
A face devoid of any life, yet it burned so vividly in his memory.
And that wasn't all.
Her retreating figure as she fled.
The curves hugged by her tight tracksuit, the pale legs revealed by her shorts.
Cha Ji-hyuk gritted his teeth without realizing it.
An inexplicable displeasure
slowly spread through his chest.
And so, he spent the weekend hugging that persistent unease.