Chapter 5
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Chirp- Chirp chirp-
“...Ah.”
I opened my eyes at my family home again today. The face reflected in the mirror was still that of a youthful high school student.
“Damn it, seriously...”
Am I really supposed to live here forever?
Just in case, I had asked several times over the weekend for the name of the high school I attended, but the answer I got was always the same.
“Shinyeon! Shin! Yeon! High School!!”
“Ah, ah! That hurts!”
After getting smacked on the back so hard it left a stinging sensation, even I had no choice but to accept reality.
“It’s not like you have early-onset dementia. How many times are you going to ask? Huh?! The hospital said there’s nothing wrong with your brain!”
“O-Okay! There’s a reason for it.”
“What reason!”
I had transmigrated into the novel I wrote. As for how to go back, I had no idea.
I sat there blankly, then let out a hollow laugh.
“Fine... If it’s come to this, if I can’t go back, I’ll just study for the next three years. I’ll get into S University...”
Since I wasn’t getting a job anyway, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to study as if my life depended on it, get into a good university and a good department, and start a new life.
It’s not like the whole world has gone crazy. The only crazy ones are the protagonists, right? Then I just need to avoid getting involved with them.
Right. As long as I did not get deeply entangled with the male leads, I would be able to live a fairly realistic life without even realizing I was inside a novel.
As long as I don't get involved!
“Hi, Hayeon-ah.”
However, on the very first day of the new semester, my ambitious plan came crashing down.
“......”
Because Kang Sunwoo, whom I had met before, immediately greeted me like he knew me.
I could feel everyone around us turning their gazes in this direction all at once.
“Can I sit next to you?”
I had taken a seat in the very back corner to avoid attention, but now I stared at Kang Sunwoo, who was smiling and pointing at the seat next to me, as if I were looking at the Grim Reaper.
I had deliberately entered without making a sound and sat in this corner seat so no one would notice me.
Who would have thought it would turn out like this on the very first day of the new semester?
The whispers of our classmates, who kept glancing at Kang Sunwoo and me, stabbed at my ears.
“Is it not okay?”
At the sight of Kang Sunwoo smiling gently at me, I swallowed back tears. If I said no, it felt like I would only attract more attention.
“...No, it’s fine. Sit.”
The silence was becoming suffocatingly long, so I had no choice but to nod.
I tried my best to keep a calm expression, but I could not hide the slight stiffness in my tone.
As soon as he heard my answer, Kang Sunwoo plopped his bag down on the desk beside me, pulled out the chair, and sat down.
“I’m glad there’s someone here I recognize.”
I stared at Kang Sunwoo’s face, which looked so harmless and morally upright on the outside, and nodded absentmindedly.
“Yeah.”
I had fainted during the entrance ceremony, so I did not know anyone. Except for this lunatic.
“Did you get home okay last time?”
“Yeah, I got checked out, and they said there was nothing wrong.”
I only exchanged the kind of light small talk anyone might have with Kang Sunwoo. Even so, the curious, piercing stares directed at us made me uncomfortable.
They’re probably interested in Kang Sunwoo, not me.
It was obvious why they were paying so much attention to one student on the very first day of school.
Because in my novel, there was a line that said, ‘As the handsome heir of an elite family, he had been well-known since middle school.’
I want to die...
The character I had carelessly scribbled down when I was a senior in high school was now alive and breathing beside me.
An indescribable sense of shame washed over me. Unable to endure it, I decided to change my way of thinking.
No. This isn’t a novel. This is reality. Not a novel, but reality.
Kang Sunwoo, who was sitting next to me, was just a living, breathing human being. Not a character from a novel, but a person.
Something I wrote? There was nothing like that.
What did I write? I didn’t write anything.
Slide—
In the middle of trying to brainwash myself, the back door of the classroom suddenly flew open. At the same time, the piercing stares that had been fixed on me vanished in an instant.
Even without looking, I instinctively knew it was a male lead, and I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut.
I caught a brief glimpse of a large-built male student stepping into the classroom.
With a crossbody bag slung over his shoulder, wearing track pants instead of the school uniform, and a zip-up hoodie on top, there was no way he would not stand out.
Wait... Is that even allowed for a student? Then again, it feels like they wouldn’t even have a uniform size that fits that body.
After briefly scanning his appearance, I turned my gaze away. He was just another student. A male lead? I did not know anything about that.
At that moment, I heard the classmates around me whispering.
“No way. Is that Kim Chanseung?”
“Kang Sunwoo is here too, and now he’s here? All the famous kids gathered in one place.”
My hand twitched on its own because I wanted to cover my ears.
Holding back the urge to cry, I was forced to listen to the voices of my classmates, who sounded as if they were narrating from the sidelines.
“Who is he?”
“He’s the one who was selected for the national swimming team. He’s on the school’s sports team.”
“He’s on the national team?”
“He’s tall. Is he really a freshman? I’d believe it if you said he was a third-year in college.”
The classmates cruelly did not give me a single moment to forget that this was the novel I had written.
Stop... Please stop.
The only piece of information I gained from this torment was that the name I had written in my memo app as ‘Kim ChanX’ was not that at all, but ‘Kim Chanseung.’
“That’s amazing. I’ve never seen a national athlete before.”
“Does that mean he competes in the Olympics and stuff?”
I wanted to change his name in my memo from Kim ChanX to Kim Chanseung, but with Kang Sunwoo sitting right next to me, I could not do that.
Just imagining him catching me taking notes sent chills down my spine.
At that moment, Kang Sunwoo, who was sitting beside me, made eye contact with Kim Chanseung as he walked past and waved at him in a friendly manner.
“Hi.”
At Kang Sunwoo’s greeting, Kim Chanseung turned his head and looked this way.
He’s all bundled up.
With his hood pulled low and even a mask on, it was hard to see his face clearly.
After looking at Kang Sunwoo, Kim Chanseung briefly lifted his hand to a level that made it unclear whether he was returning the greeting or not, then lowered it. Then he started walking toward us.
His personality… What was it like again...?
The biggest trait was the stalking setting, but aside from that, I tried to recall whether there had been any other strange traits as I stared at Kim Chanseung, observing his actions.
As he approached, our eyes met for a split second.
Kim Chanseung quickly averted his gaze, walked over quietly, placed his bag on the desk in front of me, and dropped into the seat.
“Uh...?”
What? Why was he sitting here?
With Kim Chanseung sitting there, even more attention was drawn to us than when I had been with Kang Sunwoo earlier.
Feeling burdened by all the stares, I let out a sigh inwardly and looked down at my phone.
If I looked forward, there was Kim Chanseung. If I looked to the side, there was Kang Sunwoo.
In many ways, it was hard to turn my gaze anywhere. While I was quietly staring at the black screen of my phone, Kang Sunwoo called me.
“Hayeon-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“This is Kim Chanseung. He’s a friend from the same middle school as me.”
Just when I was trying to stay quiet, Kang Sunwoo stepped in and started introducing us. I greeted him while looking at his mask rather than his eyes.
“Hi.”
There was no reply. As I kept staring at the mask and then glanced upward, our eyes met immediately. He silently nodded.
...Does he not talk?
I did not think there had been a setting like that. As I tilted my head, retracing my memory, Kang Sunwoo whispered softly to me.
“Chanseung doesn’t talk much.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe because he used to miss school often for swimming since he was young, but he’s pretty shy around classmates and not very outgoing. He’s not intentionally ignoring you, so don’t misunderstand.”
Only then did I understand the reaction Kim Chanseung had shown when I first met him.
“So that’s why when I greeted him before, he didn’t say a word...”
“Before?”
“Oh, at the pre-orientation day...”
After entering the newly learned information into my phone while shielding the screen, I lifted my head, only to lock eyes directly with Kim Chanseung, who had already been looking this way.
I flinched in surprise, my body trembling. The intensity of his gaze startled me so much that I almost let out a scream.
“You two have met before?”
At Kang Sunwoo’s question, my pupils shook as if there were an earthquake.
I wondered if I should not have acknowledged him so casually, but I thanked him twice back then, so pretending not to know him now would have been awkward.
“Yeah, it was nothing much. When the class lists were posted, I couldn’t find my name, and he helped me.”
I brushed it off as casually as possible.
“Really? That was nice of you.”
Kang Sunwoo spoke to Kim Chanseung as if praising him. Kim Chanseung, who had been scratching his head, only gave a slight nod again and averted his gaze.
He really must be very shy.
If he was that timid, then the chances of getting entangled with him would decrease just as much, so maybe that was actually good for me.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I checked the time on my phone and turned off the screen.
Bang!
The front door of Class 1 slammed open. Everyone’s attention turned toward it.
“Hello, everyone.”
It was the teacher I had seen in the infirmary when I collapsed.
“Everyone’s here, right? It’s the first day of school, so you shouldn’t be late.”
As expected, he seemed to be my homeroom teacher. Standing at the podium, he tapped it a couple of times with a ruler.
“The teacher is here, and you’re still chatting? Quiet down. You all saw my face at the entrance ceremony, right?”
“Yes.”
“Today we’ll take attendance, choose a class president, and briefly arrange seats before wrapping up. Since you’re first-years, you probably don’t have close friends yet anyway. It’s fine to change seats like this, right?”
I, who momentarily made eye contact with the teacher, desperately yet not too noticeably nodded enthusiastically.
But after looking at me, the teacher widened his eyes, lifted the attendance book, pointed in my direction, and shouted.
“Oh, you!”
“Y-Yes?”
“You, Hayeon? Lee Hayeon, right? Are you feeling okay?”
“Oh... Y-Yes. I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief. You gave me a scare back then.”
Just when I thought the attention from the others had finally settled down a bit, all eyes focused on me again. It was seriously burdensome.
With the feeling of wanting to cry, I forced an awkward smile and looked down at my desk.
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